We were in Amman overnight. Amman, one of the ancient Philadelphias was also called Rabbah. This was the city that Joab was attacking when Uriah was killed (2 Sam 11). Here's aninteesting twist - in Deu. 2:19 the Lord says the land of the Ammonites was given to Lot not to Israel. If David had been followng that command Joab and Uriah would never have been there to begin with. Maybe they would have been home and David wouldn't have sinned?
As we left Ammon, we took a detour to Mt. Nebo. It had rained that morning (very unusual) and the result was form Mt. Nebo we could see Jericho, the Mount of Olives, the Dead Sea and parts of the southern Galilee. (Deut. 32:49-52) Another lesson in obedience.
From Mt. Nebo, after a brief stop in a mosaic factory in Medeba (I bought a reproduction of the Jerusalem portion of the Medaba map, an ancient mosaic that shows the ancient Israel from the 6th-7th century.) we drove straight through to Petra.
Petra called Sela in the Bible aka the invisible city, the lost city, the red city, the pink city, the city of the dea, etc. It was a city carved into the sandstone hills and is truly amazing. Built by the Nabateans it was conquered by Rome, along with everything else. The city is probably most famous today for the Indiana Jones movie The Last Crusade. However, it was also the home town of Herod, may have been the stoppong point for the Magi where they bought some of their gifts, may have been the place where Paul studied in the wilderness. The city is located alng Wadi Musa and at the head of the valley is a rock that a srpng copes out of, naturally ascribed to Moses hitting the rock.
Tomorrow we drive to Aqaba board a ferry to cross the Red Sea and drive on to Mt. Sinai. The Exodus in reverse.
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