Um Qais

Um Qais

Since it's difficult to get a good internet connection it's taken me a long time to update this blog. Last weekend, our first weekend in Jordan, I went with my roommate Andy and two other guys from Harvard (Alex from France and Lorenzo from Italy) to the Roman ruins of Um Qais.

Having only been in the country two days, all of us were a bit jet lagged and still unfamiliar with how to work with the language and cultural barrier. Um Qais is located about an hour north of Irbid, the town we're staying in. Thus to get to Um Qais we needed a mode of transportation which we thought would be a Hejazi Company (the main bus company you see everywhere) bus. Because the bus station is in a separate section of the city we had to take a taxi. This required some slight bartering from Alex with our taxi drivers (yes, there were two but only one was driving and both of them were named Ahmed).

I believe our arrival at the bus station marks the beginning of some culture shock I'm naturally feeling in Jordan. From what I can remember (since I'm writing about this a week after it happened) the bus station was a series of run down and dirty cinder block building with worn painted signs and labels in Arabic. After asking around for an available bus to Um Qais we began talking with this guy in front of a minivan. It turns out that minibus could take us up to Um Qais except we'd have to let drive around the Greater Irbid area to drop off another passenger who needed to bring bags of raw meat to what I assume was a restaurant.

Our minivan ride around Irbid and to Um Qais was definitely an experience unlike any I've had. Naturally, the mini-van was pretty run down (it did drive safely since I'm writing this). The seat Andy and I were sitting in was partially broken so when ever we made turns the seat would move in some direction forcing us to readjust ourselves. I took about 15 minutes of video of this ride to Um Qais because I thought it was awesome for the sensually. The driver, who I'd later learn was Mahmoud, blasted Arabic music as we passed gritty streets with bits of trash blowing in the wind. The most amazing thing (in my opinion) was the military checkpoint we had to go through. This skinny dude not that much older than us in Jordanian fatigues and slung assault rifle in hand examined our IDs I guess to maintain security.

The drive to Um Qais took about 50 minutes and once we arrived there our driver asked us what time we thought we'd be done so he could pick us up and take us back to Irbid. We told him to come back within 4 hours and then went on our way to the ruins. A few yards from where our driver left us there were venders selling Arabic coffee, water, kufiyehs and post cards. I bought a small cup of Arabic coffee and a large bottle of water since it was very hot that day. Because of the lack of humidity in the air it's difficult to gage by feel the temperature. This means that the heat can be more comfortable however you lose a lot more water in your body since your sweat evaporates very quickly. That's why I bought a big bottle of water.

In addition to this refreshment tourist trip that I ran into, I got a good glimpse of one of Jordan's darker shadows. Climbing up the path to the site of the Roman ruins, we ran into two Jordanian boys who were probably 13 years old. These boys were filthy and carrying with them trash bags filled with some kind of floral necklace made up of half dead dandelions. In an effort to sell me one of these things the boys said in broken English "Welcome to Um Qais, buy from us?" I talked with them for a bit, I did not want one of the necklaces so I walked away. Looking back a week later I think I probably could have bought one, the boys were obviously very poor and as an American I could have spared a dinar despite the fact the necklaces were rather nasty and progressively turning brown.

Having never been to mainland Europe, Um Qais's ruins were my first glimpse of Ancient Romans' vestiges. From the signs at the site and the guidebook to Jordan that Alex had been carrying around I believe the Romans first inhabited the Um Qais area sometime in the late first century BC. Today the area's Arabic name of Um Qais dates back to the 18^th century Ottoman control of the region, the Romans called the city Gadera.

As we began to explore the site the first thing we ran into was one of two Roman amphitheaters. Here we met another American tourist who was from Wyoming. I enjoyed talking with her for the next two hours since she had a lot of interesting tidbits to share about the Romans, her ancestors, since she was originally from Sicily. Anyways, I was amazed by the Amphitheater's size and state of excellent preservation. Again, the experience was truly amazing for me since this my first glimpse of the Roman world 2000 years ago. To me an even more phenomenal site lay at the top of the Amphitheater.

Being the tourist, I took my time climbing the steps of the amphitheater taking pictures along the way. At the top of the amphitheater we could see an amazing view of the whole region. Because Um Qais is in northern Jordan, we could see into Syria (the approximate border was marked by the Yarmouk River valley), Israel and the Golan Heights. To my right and in the distance we could see a large body of water. I asked Alex who had the guidebook with a map of Jordan what that body of water was. "Tiberias" he said. My reaction was (ironically) you've got to be shitting me. That's Galilee right in front of me. That's where Jesus Christ did his firs ministry. That's where He walked on water and did a lot of His miracles. I was amazed at what I was staring at and its role in world history. For anyone reading this, whether you're Christian, non-Christian, or atheist you can not deny that the first century Galilean Jew named Jesus of Nazareth has left the greatest impact on human history. I was facing where this Man began his public ministry. I called my mom. It was 3 AM in the U.S. My mom's dazed voice picked up the phone with a slightly hoarse hello. "Mom, I'm looking at Galilee" I said.

After walking out of the Amphitheater I remembered something the program director Mohammad Sawaie had said to us about Um Qais. Apparently Gadera is mentioned in the Gospels since Gadera was close to the place that Jesus cured a processed man and flung demons into a nearby herd of swine. The thought of being at a place mentioned in the Bible was very interesting (as you can imagine).