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Karak Castle is a very famous crusaders castle that was assaulted and besieged many times by Salah al-Din (Saladin). A very ruthless Frenchman lived in the castle and abused the local Arabpopulation beyond imagination. Saladin tried and tried to establish piece but could not avail the ruthless invaders. Saladin was ultimately forced to invade and siege the castle, and after several attempts, Karak fell to Saladins troops. The castle itself is incredibly well preserved and we were given free rang to walk and explore. We had one hour to explore, but I was only able to see a fraction of what the castle had to offer.
From the balustrades, on a clear day, one is able to see the city of Jerusalem in the distance. It was however not a clear day, but it did offer a breathtaking view of the dead sea and the surrounding landscapes.
After the castle tour, we traveled to the Dana Nature Reserve and a small group of us immediately embarked upon a mountain hike. It was supposed to take two hours, but we did it in just over one. It is incredible to think that people were afforded the opportunity to live in environments like the one we walked through for their entire lives. It is only in recent history that industrialization and irrigation has deteriorated the natural state of the environment. I have placed some pictures of our hike on Facebook for any who are interested.
We had a nice dinner and then enjoyed some Bedouin tea under a large, open air tent. I stayed up a while to look at the starts--there seemed to be thousands visible, in a mostly dark landscape. I could have stayed out lying on the ground all night but I was eventually forced to turn in (I did not care to meet a hyena or other wild animal). A group of us woke up early from another hike with Byron McCane to a series of caves where a local Byzantine church had been carved out of the sandstone. We awoke early and set out by 6:30 on our quest to find it.
Our slowly began scutling down a dirt trail as we continued to wipe the sleep from our eyes. Just as we rounded the first bend, the son errupted from behind a looming mountain's stony veil. Just as the morning heat began to arrive, we reached the end of the dirt trail and began to scale a series of fmall rock walls leading up to a group of caves 50 or so yards above. We explored many but did not find any that resembled a church. We eventually began to see pottery sherds (not shards!) but still not church. After climbing a rather tricky slanting rock-face, we started the discussion of beginning to head back. Just then a few of us decided to explore one more cave. This cave broke through to another side--something we did not expect. As we began searching, Nick, a student from the University of British Columbia, yelled out that he had found it. He repaired from around a rock and guided us across skinny ledge. I chose not to look down as I crossed.
After crossing the ledge, we began to see holes carved into the wall--places that would have been perfect for placing icons. After another few steps we were greeted with a wide stone opening and an intricately carve structure. An apse (a semi-circular vaulted ceiling) adorned the far side from which arches sprang in order to provide support to the sandstone structure. Indentions adorned several locations, possibly providing a space for a cross bean adorning tapestry. Needless to say, I was overcome with feelings of awe and wonder. We stood in the same location where faithful Christians, Muslim bedouin, and countless travelers had camped or lived in the past.
We left earlier this morning and have recently arrived in Aqabah. Tomorrow, a large group of use are planning to go to the Royal Diving Academy, a private beach just south of Aqabah for snorkeling. Monday, we start our leg of the dig. I can't wait.
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