Amman Citadel

We have traveled around Jordan to see some of the sights, but we had yet to see the biggest site right here in Amman, the Citadel.

Occupying the highest point in Amman, the Citadel site has been continuously occupied since the Stone Age. For that reason, it has ruins from the Roman, Byzantine, and Umayyad periods.

The most striking feature at the Citadel is the Temple of Hercules, an ancient Roman temple, which can been seen from many points throughout the city. The kids are very into the Percy Jackson series and Greek gods and goddesses in general, so this was a pretty easy sell. 

The coolest part of the Temple of Hercules were the small remains from the actual statue itself that once stood inside the massive temple. I was surprised to learn archaeologists had little definitive proof the statue was of Hercules. They assigned the statue to Hercules based on the size of the statue itself which stood over 13 meters high. Since the statue was so large it must be of a demi-god thought to have super-human strength, right? Below, is a photo the remains of the statue, a few fingers (which are about as big around as my leg) and an elbow.

Here, Elise and the kids are checking out a 4,000 tomb cave. 

Water nymph. 

Nymph of another kind. 

At one point during our visit to the archaeological museum, Peter ran up to me and started pulling on my hand, "Daddy! Come see a dead baby in a jar!"

Naturally, I was reluctant to follow him. I was even more creeped out to learn, they then buried the dead baby in a jar under the living room floor. Eww. 

The kids also enjoyed the display of ancient bus station chairs. 

Also prominent at the Citadel site is an ancient Umayyad palace. I didn't get a good shot of the Gateway to the Palace, a doomed structure that acted as the entrance and waiting room for visitors to the ancient palace (because there was a wild Jordanian youth running around on the roof), but I did get a few shots of the interior. 

I told Clementine the beam of light she found reminded me of the scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark where Indiana Jones uses the Staff of Ra to find the location of the Well of Souls. Harrison Ford hold the staff up to the sunbeam, the ray is filtered through a stone at the top of the staff to a single beam of laser-like light that points to a map drawn on the floor indicating the location of the Well of Souls, final resting place of the lost Ark of the Covenant.

Honestly, I don't know how much longer we can keep them from watching the movie. They're basically reliving the entire plot in real life. 

And...as if on cue...here is Sam cracking his whip, doing his best Indiana Jones impression. 

Peter has recently picked up the Percy Jackson series, and he and Sam are bonding over reading the same books. 

No words.