Journey to Jordan I: Journey to a Journey

Not compromised by diabetes, my next foray into exploring our world would be Petra, the ancient and famed rose-red city in Jordan.  I’m not sure when I first glimpsed images of Petra, but I was totally captivated and it became a destination.  The attraction might not have been so strong without friends in the Middle East, but the allure of learning about other places was growing and Petra became the next target to broaden my horizons.

Serious research began after dates had been agreed upon, and the biggest discovery became learning the value of a journey to a journey.  The effort to learn about ancient ruins in the middle of nowhere would reinforce the equality across all races of humankind, educate me about current strife in the Mid-East, and nurture an appreciation for the need to take care of our planet.  The beauty is how there is no discomfort in the journey to a journey: no physical movement is required, no cash down for vague promises of exhilaration, no worries about awkward blunders from language barriers or ignorance of local customs.  There was little downside, but so much to gain from the inspiration of images of Petra.

In front of the Treasury, Petra

My initial forays around Petra focused on the Nabateans, the people who built Petra.  Ingenious Bedouin merchants, the Nabateans prospered by trafficking frankincense to European markets across a desert wasteland.  Did I say ingenious?  The glory of the Nabateans presents more proof that all humans possess equal brain power and it has nothing to do with a particular ethnicity.

You won’t have to invest much time before realizing the Nabateans overcame their dry climate by devising complex systems to channel and store seasonal rains.  Their designs included dimensioning pipes to maximize water flow…a concept only duplicated by ‘modern’ man within the last 150 years!  Grasping this recalled how Frank Lloyd Wright expressed that Mayans were the ultimate architects.  How can any of us claim our tribe is mentally superior when a simple survey of the past reveals such breadth of remarkable accomplishments?  Anyone who asserts their tribe has more smarts merely confesses to an ignorance of history.

My own ignorance was reinforced by stumbling upon Lawrence of Arabia while surfing the net for tourist opportunities in Jordan.  Do you know who Lawrence of Arabia was?  Prior to Petra, the single fact I could have shared was that he was portrayed by Peter O’Toole in a movie I never saw, and couldn’t have hazarded whether he was fact or fiction.  I must have leaned towards fiction, because I was astonished by all the offers to shadow routes he followed in advertisements for camel trekking!

So he was obviously a real person and my fascination grew upon discovering he had written a book titled “Seven Pillars of Wisdom”.  I was intrigued by this lofty title and suspected a philosopher?  Although this conclusion was somewhat mistaken, the story of Lawrence is gripping.  Just before World War I, Lawrence was a college student touring Syria to research a thesis which contradicted popular belief that Middle Eastern castles had been influenced by Europeans.  Lawrence pointed out that it was quite the opposite, with returning Crusaders bringing Arabian influence back to Europe.

Lawrence’s familiarity with the Middle East would lead to his involvement there during World War I.  A stupid American, I never realized that there was a second theater during WWI.  The United States never declared war against the Ottoman Empire and my countries’ exposure was limited to Europe despite the significant conflict in Arabia.  But Lawrence was bound to become a legend in this second front.

While “Seven Pillars of Wisdom” was not what I anticipated, it is the amazing autobiography of Lawrence’s adventures during the war.  He basically supported the ‘Arab Irregulars’ – a hopeful contingent of Arabs the British encouraged to rebel against centuries of dominion by the Ottoman Empire.  Lawrence roamed the region to lend assistance to the revolt and a key accomplishment was his notion to sack the port village of Aqaba by venturing 600 miles across deserts and attack the fortress by land (all of the armaments pointed towards the sea).  Lawrence’s subsequent thrusts were intentionally non-life threatening and he preferred to blow up railways and disturb the foe’s supply chain rather than plot direct confrontations which would cost lives.

Discovering Lawrence led to the even more profound discovery of Gertrude Bell, an extraordinary British woman who was deeply connected to Middle East events after World War I.  I highly recommend Janet Wallach’s book “Desert Queen” to learn about an incredible life.  What I found remarkable in Lawrence’s work was his discussion of how the Arabs had no concept or desire for a “nation” --- they were tribal communities with no aspiration for being unified into something bigger.  Gertrude would likely echo these sentiments as she devoted the final years of her life in a futile attempt to unify Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds into the nation of Iraq during the 1920’s.

The struggle to unify Iraq eighty years ago was plagued with the same issues that would cause so much agony in the recent conflict, except Gertrude tried to overcome through tact and intimate connections with the people as opposed to military force.  I think Gertrude came closer to succeeding all those years ago, but I am left to wonder if we plunged into the affair without digesting the readily available legacy from Lawrence and Gertrude.  Those who refuse to learn history…

Bringing up Iraq is relevant because that country shares a border with Jordan…but Jordan also shares a border with Israel.  So the other Mid-East struggle that crops up is Israel and the Palestinians.  Once again I am ashamed at how little I knew about this situation and I won’t bore or aggravate you with my opinions.  I will share that I was thoroughly disgusted after reading several books on the situation: all were biased works aggressively pushing a pro-Israeli or pro-Palestinian agenda and I longed for a balanced viewpoint.

God bless Tom Friedman, because he provided the balanced view I desperately sought.  I wholeheartedly recommend “From Beirut to Jerusalem” if you want an honest dissection of what is going on there.  Even though the book is a bit dated now, I believe he has articulated the reality and roots of the conundrum with utmost impartiality.   You can’t sum up such a situation easily, but Tom helped me reconcile my feelings and realize that both sides share blame for this continuing debacle.

Nature is the last stop in this prelude.  I was the last one who would have suspected environmental concerns in a country that is more or less a desert, but Jordan is ground zero for examples of how mankind is messing up the planet. Beyond Petra, the Dead Sea was the only other place in Jordan I could initially name.  The lowest point on Earth, the Dead Sea is 400 meters below sea level and an astounding site.

For eons the Jordan River has drained into this pool to create a unique environment.  Driven by massive evaporation, the salt content of the Dead Sea is seven times what you experience in any ocean.  You can’t swim in the Dead Sea because it is so buoyant, but don’t shave because the salt will smart like heck!

I only wanted to learn about the Dead Sea as a tourist, but the journey to a journey helped me understand that the Dead Sea is dying.  Mankind’s thirst for water has reduced input to the Dead Sea to the point where it can’t maintain status quo.  It is believed that the Dead Sea will be gone in fifty years.

Compounding this discovery was having my eyes opened to a more devastating eco-disaster driven by the relentless search for water - the destruction of the Azraq Oasis.  This natural pooling ground, which provided a unique water reservoir for 250,000 years, was destroyed in less than twenty years when recklessly drained to provide water for Jordan’s capital, Amman, around 1980.  I invite you to read Alanna Mitchell’s “Dancing at the Dead Sea” to appreciate this disaster and how short-sighted we are (Sting’s “Walking in Your Footsteps” has been ringing in my ears ever since opening this book).

This newly acquired addiction for stomping about the planet was begging a lot of preliminary investigation and opening quite a few doors.  Thanks to diabetic research which permitted my existence to continue, I was able to survive long enough to appreciate the breadth of our planet and my ignorance of this remarkable diversity.  My anticipation for the adventure to come was heightened by the attempts to appreciate the destination: as much as I had learned I knew further revelations were near at hand.