Friday here in Jordan is a holy day and we were able to take that day to visit a site near the Jordan Northern Border, spending the day in Umm Qays hiking around the ancient Hellenist and Roman ruins. We then ate lunch under the cool shade of olive trees overlooking Israel, the Sea of Galilee, the city of Tiberias, the Golan Height and Syria from the hillside of Jordan. Thank you Chris Dawson for your friendship and 40+ years of archeological knowledge and Basam for driving through the northern portions of Jordan and down through the Jordan Valley. We had an awesome time! Here are just a few of the photos of that trip.
We also visited the ancient site of Pella in the Jordan Valley. A special thanks to Chris Dawson for his expertise on this site. Pella has been occupied since the Neolithic era and in the surrounding area and there is evidence for habitation before that period. It is approximately at sea level, and located in the sub-tropical Jordan valley It is only 28 miles south of the Sea of Galilee and a mile or two from the Jordan river According to Eusebius, the early Christians fled here from Jerusalem in A.D. 70. Some believe the remains of one of the Jerusalem church leaders are buried under one of the churches.
The inhabitants of Pella in the Old Testament and intertestamental period as Canaanites.
There are three churches uncovered. The one at the entrance to the ruins is one of the largest in Jordan and has recently been subject to some restoration with mosaics being in evidence as well as opus sectile tiling. The cathedral is thought to have been the church in the civic complex (by the Wadi Jirm). There is also a church high on the hill a little to the East of the civic complex.
In keeping the presumed Canaanite inhabitants it is thought that the ‘god’ worshipped in the temple was Baal (or El) the storm god.
We also visited the ancient site of Pella in the Jordan Valley. A special thanks to Chris Dawson for his expertise on this site. Pella has been occupied since the Neolithic era and in the surrounding area and there is evidence for habitation before that period. It is approximately at sea level, and located in the sub-tropical Jordan valley It is only 28 miles south of the Sea of Galilee and a mile or two from the Jordan river According to Eusebius, the early Christians fled here from Jerusalem in A.D. 70. Some believe the remains of one of the Jerusalem church leaders are buried under one of the churches.
The inhabitants of Pella in the Old Testament and intertestamental period as Canaanites.
There are three churches uncovered. The one at the entrance to the ruins is one of the largest in Jordan and has recently been subject to some restoration with mosaics being in evidence as well as opus sectile tiling. The cathedral is thought to have been the church in the civic complex (by the Wadi Jirm). There is also a church high on the hill a little to the East of the civic complex.
In keeping the presumed Canaanite inhabitants it is thought that the ‘god’ worshipped in the temple was Baal (or El) the storm god.