Jordan Field Study Day 2: Romans and Mysteries

I know that this post is long over due, but this month has been quite hectic for me. I've had three ten page papers and 3 finals since coming back from Jordan, and, as much as I like keeping a blog, school had to come first.

So! Without any further delay, day two of Jordan:

That morning, in Ammon, we didn't have to drive too far because our first stop was within the city. Kind of like visiting the “historic” part of any city in the states, we stopped in ancient Ammon. Most of biblical Ammon has been built over with beautiful Roman architecture. I know that I've been getting a little tired of Roman stuff because I typically care much more about Old Testament sites, but this place was pretty cool. I mean, look at these pillars!:

How did they build that? It's not like they have cranes or computer technology or anything. Sometimes I don't think we give our ancient cultures enough credit. Anyways, as much as I liked exploring the Roman remains, lets get down to the important stuff. According to Genesis 19, we know that Ammon's people came from Lot's daughters. And by Lot's daughters I mean, when Sodom and Gamora fell they decided to sleep with their father to keep the family line going. So Ammon is both the son and grandchild of Lot. I always used to make fun of my mom's genealogy for being a bunch of inbred quakers, but I guess they were just being biblical. Hah! I kid! Seriously, it's a little gross. But Ammon really did get the short end of the stick, as far as land goes. In the midst of the beautiful Gilead area that is so full of farm-able country land, prosperous in trees, Ammon got a little bowl of land with less profitable resources and not much room for expansion – not that they didn't try. We read of countless attempts by the Ammonites to expand up towards Damascus and West into Judah in the book of Judges and in the book of Samuel, during the reign of Saul. Also, Solomon's son and successor, Rehoboam the idiot king was a son of an Ammonite woman. And, as if they didn't cause enough issues in the beginning, they were also most likely some of the pagan women that the Israelites married during exile that Nehemiah told them to divorce. Thanks for nothing Ammon. This is why you don't inter-marry!

After learning about all that loveliness, we were allowed to explore a museum at the site. It was interesting. There was turkish coffee and some really pretty painted pottery. Also, some plastered skulls and another skull that had been lobotomized. Just what I want to see first thing in the morning. I suppose it was worth the trip just for the caffeine boost. We had stayed at a 5 star hotel the night before but they couldn't make good coffee. Go figure.

Then we went to Jaresh, another Roman site. Noteworthy things of mention:

Hadrien's arch -

A really well preserved and reconstructed arch. This thing is absolutely huge.

And the temple to Artemis-

It was mostly a lot of walking around and “ooh”ing and “aah”ing at the architecture. I guess it was cool, but I did not need to spend several hours looking at the whole thing.

On the way to our next stop, we pulled over by the side of the Jabbok River to get a preview into what we would be studying on day 3 of the trip. It was beautiful. Check it out:

This is where Jacob crossed on his way back into Canaan to start taking the lands for the tribes of Israel. It also eventually became the boundary marker between the tribes of Reuben and Gad. But, I like to think that it's more famously known for where Jacob wrestled with the angel of God and was renamed Israel. From birth, Jacob and Esau fought. Coming out of the womb, Esau pulled back Jacob so that he could be born first. They were the exact opposite. Esau was a wild hunter and Jacob was a civilized person who stayed at home and took care of matters there. Esau impulsively gave up his birth right for food, while Jacob deceived his father for the birthright blessing. A blessing that reflected on his future nation – wealthy and resourceful. When this happens, Esau reacts angrily and causes Jacob to flee from the land and seek his future wife. For the next several years, he works and toils for the wife whom he loves, Rachel. By the time God tells him to return to the land of his father, I'm sure that he feels as if he's been struggling with man his whole life. In reality, he was struggling with trusting and relying on God. From the point where God renames him, he seems to fully accept God as the one and only god.

Our last stop of the day is known as “Iraq”... not the country Iraq! Haha. No, it's actually a biblical site in Jordan that just happens to be named Iraq. But I thought it was a funny name. It's actually an old pleasure palace in Ammon, close to Jerusalem, that was owned by the Tobias family. Now the Tobias family is seemingly first mentioned by Josephus, but they seem to all ready be a well-established family in Ammon by the time he mentions them. So, who are they? Well, looking back in the Old Testament, there is a Tobias of Ammon mentioned in Nehemiah that opposed the rebuilding of Jerusalem. Why, though? Why would this Ammonite care so much? The family is mentioned previously in Ezra as one of the priestly families who tried to return from exile, but couldn't. See, a lot of families dropped their family names in exile in Babylon in order to conform to the Babylonian culture more and grow in the ranks among the wealthy people and royalty. And when they tried to return to Jerusalem, they could no longer prove their family history. Without which, they could not be considered a true Israelite. The Tobias family, is one of those. So, if they had been a priestly family pre-exile, then it makes sense that they would want to carry on their wealth and stature in Babylon by changing their last name and embracing Babylonian culture. Maybe they opposed the rebuilding of the temple because they had once been part of the priests but were not allowed back. But let's delve back even further than the exile. There's an Ammonite family of “Tob” mentioned in 2 Samuel 10:6 that was hired to fight against King David, and, even further back than that, in Judges 11:1-9 is the “land of Tob” in Ammon. So, there seems to be a family that is well established in Ammon that later tries to come into Jerusalem as a priestly family that can't prove their Jewishness. The question is, are they Ammonite or Isrealite? This is why I want to study genealogy and cultural backgrounds of the Bible, to try and figure out mysteries like this.

Day 1: A Little Left to be Desired

          I just need to preface the next four entries that I was not at all excited about this field study.  First of all, I hadn’t even ever thought about Jordan as a country until about a week and a half ago.  Then, our professors warned us that we couldn’t eat anything uncooked (like fruits, vegetables, or salad), the meat may or may not make you sick, and drinking the water is absolutely out of the question.  So then I ran and stocked up on snacks because it sounded like I was going to come back starved and dehydrated.  So I asked what kind of sites we would be seeing, hoping I could get excited about that, but apparently Jordan doesn’t care too much about Old Testament archaeological remains.  So none of the remains are reconstructed or kept up well unless they’re from a Roman time-period.  The last straw for my patience, was hearing that we had to up and at the bus at 6 in the morning to go through boarder control.  I was praying to get deathly ill for a day or two just so I wouldn’t have to go.  Some people may say that this makes me an ungrateful brat.  I just know where my interests lie, and it did not sound like they lie in Jordan.  The only two redeemable qualities were that we were going to Petra (shown in Indiana Jones) and there was a Starbucks at the first place we were staying at.  I’m almost out of coffee, so Starbucks sounded pretty good to me.

          Stupidly, I stayed up late the night before leaving so that I could work on a paper.  I have three ten page papers due at the end of the month and if I could just get the rough draft of one of them done before the field study, I knew I would be a lot less stressed.  But at 12:15 in the morning, three and a half pages done, I called it quits and went to bed.  So I had to wake up five hours later to wake up and make it to the bus on time.  Usually, the graduate and under-graduate students are on different buses because there are so many of us that we need two different groups.  Unfortunately, we were just taking a two hour ride to the border crossing before splitting up.  So we were all packed on one large bus, shoulder to shoulder, for two hours, after most of us had very little sleep.  We were all a little cranky.

          Border crossing wasn’t that bad, but when I sat down on the tour bus – after we had split up from the grad students – I sat down to realize that a carton of pineapple yogurt had burst in my purse.  First of all, I hate pineapple.  That’s why I hadn’t eaten the yogurt in the first place.  I was hoping to pass it off to someone else.  Second of all, not only did the yogurt now line the inside of my purse, but it got all over my gameboy and my pokemon game guide.  Yes, even the pokemon game guide.  My day was officially in ruins.  I worked hard to buy that silly little book, and it’s slowly helping me to catch them all.  Of all things to get covered in yogurt.  Of all things! 

          I worked on cleaning that out while we drove to our first stop – Succoth.  Now, I always thought that Succoth was just a Jewish holiday to celebrate the harvesting of the fruits and to pray for winter rains.  Everyone camps outside in little tents for a week and hangs out with their family.  Apparently, it’s also a place.  But, of course, there was so much wind on this particular morning, that I couldn’t hear a word our professor was saying.  All I know is that it was important for trade, Solomon used it to supply building materials for the temple, and the people that lived there only lived there in the winter and spring, in little tents.  So it sounds like there may be some connection between the site and the holiday.  This is also where I realized that my camera battery was stowed away in its camera charger, inside my suitcase, underneath the bus.  Not that there were any ruins to take pictures of, anyways.  Could the day get any better?

          Apparently, it could.  Our next stop, Pellah, had a clean bathroom for me to wash my bag in, and cheap Turkish coffee.  It’s the little things in life.  It also had a really nice view.  But Pellah doesn’t have a lot of Biblical connections.  Probably because it was a major place for trade and so Israel never really controlled it, because everyone else wanted it.  So I just sat down on a shaded porch, sipping my coffee, looking out over the Jordan valley, and watched everyone else rush to some Roman ruins that looked like every other Roman ruin I have ever set my eyes on.

          Our lunch stop was at a large Roman site called Jabesh.  I think the coolest thing about Jabesh is that everything is made of beautiful black basalt.  Basalt may not sound pretty, but when you live in a world of sandstone and limestone, basalt is a nice contrast.  What fascinates me about it, is that basalt is very hard and very brittle and the Romans carved amazing Corinthian columns and theaters out of it.  I can’t imagine how much work and effort was put into it.  I only wish I had my camera to take pictures of the theater there. 

          After lunch, we only had one more stop – Ramoth Gilead, which was really just a field in the middle of nowhere.  But!  We got to listen to the story of King Ahab being killed by the Ammorites from 1 Kings 22.  The situation with the Ammorites is that they always want Israel’s land and Israel always wants their land. The only thing that divides their land is the Rift/Jordan Valley.  I’m sure it seems fair, to both sides, to just reach over the valley and take the land on the other side – along with all its wonderful resources and extended trade routes.  Well, apparently Israel and the Ammorites were in a time of peace when King Ahab’s people basically said, “Hey, don’t you know that Ramoth-Gilead is ours?”  So Ahab consults Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, and Jehoshaphat promises to follow him into battle if Ahab asks a prophet of Yahweh.  And Ahab just whines and says, “But they always tell me stuff I don’t want to hear!”  Silly Ahab, that’s because you’re far too concerned with making money and not about pleasing God.  Anyways, he decides to ask a prophet of God and he tells Ahab that if he goes up against the Ammorites, that he will surely be killed.  So, Ahab thinks that he’ll be sneaky, disguise himself, and go into battle anyways.  When the Ammorites find Ahab on the battle field, Ahab screams and the Ammorites think, “Surely this man is too cowardly to be the king.”  And they move on.  But a stray arrow flies through the air and pierces Ahab in between his armor and he dies on the way back to Samaria.

          With Ramoth Gilead being our last stop of the day, we drove to our hotel which was next to Starbucks!  It also happened to be next to a Little Caesar’s Pizza, Papa John’s, Pizza Hut, and a KFC.  Jordan seems to be trying to westernize themselves, I think.  Anyways, Starbucks was amazing – other than that they didn’t have any chai tea… and couldn’t add espresso to it, even if they did.  So I sat down with a Caramel Macchiato, listening to Frank Sinatra, and checking my facebook.  Just like home.

That’s when I realized, I kind of miss home. 

          I hate to say it, but I think I may be a little attached to my American culture and heritage.  Though I despise my generation and what it's making my culture to become.  Though I hate the postmodern worldview.  Though I hate the corrupted government.  There's something about it that I miss.  I miss having the freedom to drive in a place where people use their blinkers and stay in their lane (mostly).  I miss walking into a Starbucks and listening to Frank Sinatra while reading a book and drinking hot coffee.  I miss having the freedom to walk places without getting hit on.  And though I want it to stay out of my church's ideology, I even miss the American dream and our can-do equality attitude about everything.