Amman, Jordan Cityscape From The Citadel - 1
In this photograph and the next two in this series, one is faced with three separate views of Amman's hillside apartments. One can sometimes find such scenes a little disconcerting simply because, differently from most photographs, the eye has nowhere to go or perhaps everywhere to go at once. Usually photographers work to compose their images with a place that draws the eye. Here I have worked to present everything in the picture equally. It makes for an interesting and almost abstract image of what is essentially highly realistic. ©Gerald Diamond All rights reserved
Amman, Jordan Cityscape From The Citadel - 2
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Amman, Jordan Cityscape From The Citadel - 3
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Amman, Jordan Cityscape From The Citadel - 4
Roman Amphitheater, Amman, Jordan - The city is thousands of years old and was originally built on seven hills. Wherever you go you see Roman, Greek and Byzantine influences and ruins. In the Old Testament the city is referred to as Rabbath-Ammon. It was renamed Philadelphia during Helenistic times and finally reverted to "Amman" in modern times. ©Gerald Diamond All rights reserved
The Jordanian countryside northwest of Amman - 1
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The Jordanian countryside northwest of Amman - 2
From another angle, the Jordanian countryside looking northward up the rift between the valley in the East and the mountains in the West. ©Gerald Diamond All rights reserved
©Gerald Diamond All rights reserved
Dead Sea Spa on the Eastern shores in Jordan.
©Gerald Diamond All rights reserved
©Gerald Diamond All rights reserved
This extraordinary tableau takes in what was once the Roman town we now call Jerash. Although it has neolithic roots it became a true city during the reign of Alexander the Great around 330 BCE. Ultimately the Romans took control and during Hadrian's rule the city grew to a great size. Here you can see the distant arch on the horizon which is called Hadrian's gate, built to commemorate the Emperor's visit in 129 AD. Also visible is Zeus' Temple on the right on the hillside and parts of the circle of columns of the Agora in the center mid-way up the field of view. ©Gerald Diamond All rights reserved
A few spectacular temples are found wihtin the ruins of this old city. This is the Artemis Temple built from 138 to 174 AD. Jerash, Jordan. ©Gerald Diamond All rights reserved
In Jerash the Nymphaeum holds a very special place of honor among the ruins. It is easily the best preserved structure and one can explore amazing details of what was essentially a large and complex fountain. It was built in 191 AD and was dedicated, as the name implies, to the nymphs of water. Originally faced in marble, water cascaded form seven lions heads onto the tiered pools below. ©Gerald Diamond All rights reserved
The Nymphaeum. ©Gerald Diamond All rights reserved
Agora or Oval Plaza , this area acted as a marketplace, or meeting area as it is located in a depression and surrounded by Ionic columns. ©Gerald Diamond All rights reserved
Ancient Roman carved decorative stones lie in the fields of eroded boulders. ©Gerald Diamond All rights reserved
The main cardo or colonnade street. The town had many large interconnected and intersecting avenues lined by literally hundreds of columns. ©Gerald Diamond All rights reserved
Arches and colonnades lead out toward one of the major gates of the town. ©Gerald Diamond All rights reserved
Ajlun Castle is an Islamic fort built around 1185 AD for Saladin, a powerful Sultan who at his height ruled over much of the Middle East. This fortress was one of the few built specifically to provide protection from the Franks and other Crusading Europeans. ©Gerald Diamond All rights reserved
Vertical folds of Siq - Petra, Jordan
Petra is a town that was built in the southern Jordanian desert in the centuries before Christ. It was built by a people known as the Nabateans. They occupied a broad valley whose southwestern entrance was a set of almost impassable and easily guarded narrow canyons or "siqs". Since this was an important land trade route between Africa and the East, the Nabateans took full advantage of their position and became suppliers of water, food, animals and lodging to travellers and caravans. They became quite wealthy and built an astonishing city of about 30,000 people. ©Gerald Diamond All Rights Reserved
Siq (Canyon) Rock Formations of Petra, Jordan
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©Gerald Diamond All Rights Reserved
Sandstone canyon walls play to the rising sun. ©Gerald Diamond All rights reserved