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By Samer

Karak

Al- Karak

Al-Karak lies 140 kilometers (87 mi) to the south of Amman on the ancient King’s Highway. It is situated on a hilltop about 1,000 meters (3,300 ft) above sea level and is surrounded on three sides by a valley. Al-Karak has a view of the Dead Sea. A city of about 20,000 people has been built up around the castle and it has buildings from the 19th-century Ottoman period. The town is built on a triangular plateau, with the castle at its narrow southern tip.

Al-Karak has been inhabited since at least the Iron Age, and was an important city for the Moabites. In the Bible it is called Qer Harreseth or Kir of Moab, and is identified as having been subject to the Assyrian empire; in the Books of Kings (16:9) and Book of Amos (1:5, 9:7), it is mentioned as the place where the Syrians went before they settled in the regions in the northern of Levant, and to which Tiglath-Pileser III sent the prisoners after the conquest of Damascus. In 1958 the remains of an inscription was found in Wadi al-Karak that has been dated to the late 9th century BC.

By Samer

Temple of Hercules

Temple of Hercules

By Samer

Amman

Amman

The earliest evidence of settlement in the area is a Neolithic site known as ‘Ain Ghazal. Its successor was known as “Rabbath Ammon”, which was the capital of the Ammonites, then as “Philadelphia”, and finally as Amman. It was initially built on seven hills but now spans over 19 hills combining 27 districts.

The city is among the most popular locations in the Arab world for multinational corporations to set up their regional offices, alongside Doha and only behind Dubai. It is expected that in the next 10 years these three cities will capture the largest share of multinational corporation activity in the region.

Amman is considered one of the most liberal and westernized cities in the Arab world. The city has become one of the most popular destinations for Western expatriates and college students who seek to live, study, or work in the Middle East or the Arab world in general.

The New York Times described Ammani cuisine as a product of several cuisines in the region, writing that it combines “the bright vegetables from Lebanon, crunchy falafels from Syria, juicy kebabs from Egypt and, most recently, spicy meat dishes from Jordan’s neighbor, Iraq. It’s known as the food of the Levant — an ancient word for the area bounded by the Mediterranean Sea and the Arabian peninsula. But the food here isn’t just the sum of its calories. In this politically, religiously and ethnically fraught corner of the world, it is a symbol of bloodlines and identity.” However, the city’s streetfood scene makes the Ammani cuisine distinctive.

By Samer

Wadi Rum

Wadi Rum

Wadi Rum has been inhabited by many human cultures since prehistoric times, with many cultures–including the Nabateans–leaving their mark in the form of rock paintings, graffiti, and temples.

In the West, Wadi Rum may be best known for its connection with British officer T. E. Lawrence, who passed through several times during the Arab Revolt of 1917–18. In the 1980s one of the rock formations in Wadi Rum was named “The Seven Pillars of Wisdom” after Lawrence’s book penned in the aftermath of the war, though the ‘Seven Pillars’ referred to in the book have no connection with Rum.

Film History in Wadi Rum

Lawrence of Arabia – David Lean filmed much of this 1962 film on location in Wadi Rum.
Red Planet – Wadi Rum was used as the surface of Mars in this 2000 film.
Passion in the Desert – The area was also used for scenes in this 1998 film.
The Face – BBC Film, Rock climbing in Rum, featuring Wadi Rum pioneers Tony Howard and Di Taylor.
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen – represented as being in Egypt
The Frankincense Trail – scenes from train, and aerial filming too
Prometheus – scenes for the Alien Planet
Krrish 3 – the song ‘Dil Tu Hi Bata’
May in the Summer – a film by Cherien Dabis presented at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. Long shots of Wadi Rum set the mood for the film, it’s a place where the main character finds peace away from the world and within herself.
The Last Days on Mars – filming for exterior shots representing the surface of the titular planet for this 2013 film.
The Martian – filming for the Ridley Scott film began in March 2015, for shots that stood in for the surface of Mars.
Matt Damon on Wadi Rum:
“ I was in awe of that place. It was really, really special. One of the most spectacular and beautiful places I have ever seen, and like nothing I’ve ever seen anywhere else on Earth. ”
Theeb – It was filmed entirely in Wadi Rum.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, the area was used for scenes set on Jedha.
Aladdin (2019 film)

By Samer

The Pyramids

The Pyramids of Cairo

The Giza pyramid complex  is an archaeological site on the Giza Plateau, on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt.

This complex of ancient monuments includes the three pyramid complexes known as the Great Pyramids, the massive sculpture known as the Great Sphinx, several cemeteries, a workers’ village and an industrial complex. It is located in the Western Desert, approximately 9 km (5 mi) west of the Nile river at the old town of Giza, and about 13 km (8 mi) southwest of Cairo city centre.

The pyramids, which have historically been common as emblems of ancient Egypt in the Western imagination, were popularised in Hellenistic times, when the Great Pyramid was listed by Antipater of Sidon as one of the Seven Wonders of the World. It is by far the oldest of the ancient Wonders and the only one still in existence.

By Samer

Jerash

Jerash

The history of the city is a blend of the Greco-Roman world of the Mediterranean Basin and the ancient traditions of the Arab Orient. The name of the city reflects this interaction. The earliest Arab/Semitic inhabitants, who lived in the area during the pre-classical period of the 1st millennium BCE, named their village Garshu.

Jerash was then deserted until it reappeared by the beginning of the Ottoman rule in the early 16th century. In the census of 1596, it had a population of 12 Muslim households. However, the archaeologists have found a small Mamluk hamlet in the Northwest Quarter[9] which indicates that Jerash was resettled before the Ottoman era. The excavations conducted since 2011 have shed light on the Middle Islamic period as recent discoveries have uncovered a large concentration of Middle Islamic/Mamluk structures and pottery