Pictures from The Citadel

The Roman ruins sit at the top of one of the major jebels (meaning mountain in Arabic, although they are more like hills). Amman was originally comprised of seven jebels but has expanded rapidly in the last few years well beyond those initial neighborhoods. For example, where I live is not in any of the jebels, although it is relatively near the University of Jordan for anyone who is looking at a map of Amman.



The ruins date back to the Roman and Byzantine eras and the building remains at the northern and eastern ends of the site may even be from the Bronze Age (for you history buffs).





Behind the archeological museum there are extensive remains of buildings and a huge water storage pit, all built of stone and with sweeping views of the other neighborhoods of Amman (including the flag, which is apparently on the world's tallest flagpole and is one of the largest flags in existence. It is darn big I will give it that!)






The museum itself was interesting (and coming from me that means a lot because I don't do museums well). Although it is new and lacking in descriptions, it has some amazing items, including some of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the oldest statues of human figures ever discovered. Unfortunately the information is minimal, espeically in English, usually reading "statue of a man's head" and the date. Luckily for me, Justin is well-versed enough to provide historical context for the scrolls and their importance, and Josh's professor was the man who discovered the oldest human statues. Josh traveled in Jordan with him earlier this year and gave us the abbreviated version of what he knew. Sorry, no pictures from inside the museum, but I did see some sarcophagi made of clay, amazing pottery, and babies buried in clay pots. It was as strange to see as it sounds.