2012 Itinerary

Fly at c. 12.20pm from London Heathrow to Amman (time in the air: c. 5 hours). Arrive at the hotel at c. 6.15pm. First of three nights in Amman.

2011 & 2012: Ajlun, Jerash. Drive north through red earth hills with olive groves and Aleppo pine woods. On a hilltop commanding extensive views, Ajlun Castle was built by Arabs in response to the Crusader threat. Jerash, ancient Gerasa, leading city of the Decapolis and very prosperous in the 2nd and 3rd centuries ad, is one of the best-preserved and most beautiful of ruined Roman cities. Among the more spectacular remains are an oval forum, the Cardo with its flanking colonnades, triumphal arches, food market, hippodrome, theatres, magnificent temples of Zeus and Artemis and several Early Christian churches.

2011 & 2012: Umayyad desert residences. In the desert to the east of Amman are remarkable survivals from the early Islamic Umayyad dynasty, 7th- and 8th-century small pleasure palaces, hunting lodges and forts. Qasr al-Hallabat, converted from a Roman fort; Qasr Amra, the best preserved and most beautiful, with frescoes; the fortress–like desert complex of Qasr Kharana; the fort of Azraq, originally Roman, rebuilt in the 13th century and used by T.E. Lawrence as his HQ.

2011 & 2012: Amman, Karak. The citadel in Amman was the religious and political centre of the ancient city. Here are the remains of the Temple of Heracles, the rebuilt Umayyad palace and the city Archaeological Museum. Leaving Amman, drive southwards along the Biblical King’s Highway. The 12th-century Crusader castle of Karak, modified by the Mamluks in the 13th cent., is an impressive example of mediaeval military architecture with many chambers surviving. First of three nights in Petra.

2011 & 2012: Petra. The Siq, the narrow mile-long crevice with its Nabatean carvings and hydraulic system would itself merit a detour, but it is just the prelude to one of the most astonishing archaeological sites in the Middle East. Emerging from the Siq, the visitor is confronted by the temple-like façade of the ‘Treasury’, vast in scale, classical in vocabulary, Hellenistic in inspiration but uniquely Nabatean, the first of innumerable tombs, altars and associated chambers carved out of the living rock. Not the least striking feature is the multicoloured, striated but predominantly red sandstone. After lunch, return to the hotel or climb, via the Soldier’s Tomb complex, up to the High Place of Sacrifice (c. 800 steps) where the sacrificial furnishings are still clearly visible.

2011 & 2012: Petra. For the second day in Petra walk again through the Siq and pass through the necropolis gorge, the ‘Street of Façades’ to study the more open area around the paved and colonnaded street. The remains of various structures include two mighty buildings, the ‘Great Temple’ and Qasr al Bint. Recent excavations have revealed a church (cathedral?) with mosaic floors and a villa with trompe l’oeil wall paintings. Climb up (over 800 steps) to one of the finest rock-cut façades, Ed-Deir (the Monastery), and some staggering views of hills and valleys of contorted rock.

2011 & 2012: Little Petra, Dead Sea. ‘Little Petra’, a narrow gorge with three natural widenings, may have developed as a caravanserai after Petra itself had become urbanised. Carved façades and chambers and a fragment of naturalistic Nabatean painting. Spectacular descent through rugged and ragged sandstone to Wadi Araba, part of the Jordanian section of the Great Rift Valley. Here, the lowest place on Earth, Bedouin encampments give way to banana and tomato plantations and then to the Dead Sea. Stop at the Sanctuary of Lot, containing the remains of a 7th-century church and a new museum. Reach the hotel on the shore mid-afternoon, relax and swim. First of two nights in Sweimeh.

2011 & 2012: Mount Nebo, Madaba. Drive up from the Dead Sea, flanked by dramatic mountain scenery. On Mount Nebo, reputed burial site of Moses, a Byzantine church with remarkable mosaics. At Madaba visit the archaeological park, where many mosaics are preserved, and the 6th-century mosaic map of the Levant in the church of St George.

Drive to Amman airport (1 hour). Arrive Heathrow c. 10.00am.