Iraq Al-Amir

First of all, we did not go to Iraq! We went on a day trip just west of Amman to an ancient palace in the Wadi Al-Seer valley called Iraq Al-Amir.

As was explained to us by our guide, the Iraq of the infamous war and current events and Iraq Al-Amir don't share a name by happy coincidence. Mesopotamia, the land lying between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers has many tributaries, like the veins on a grape leaf, and the valley wherein Iraq Al-Amir lies is one of the tributaries leading to ancient Mesopotamia, or modern-day Iraq.

Legend has it the palace was constructed by a member of the Tobias family (this theory is seemingly corroborated by the inscription of the family name --in Hebrew -- on a nearby cavern) who fell in love with the daughter of a nobleman. When he asked for her hand in marriage, the nobleman said that Tobias could only have her hand if he built the so-called "Castle of the Slave." But the palace was never finished. 

The stone blocks used to build the walls of the palace were very large and heavy, so laborers would have had to employ construction methods similar to those used by the Ancient Egyptians to build the Great Pyramids. 

The frieze was adorned by reliefs of lions. 

After touring the palace ruins, we drove a very short distance to see ancient cave dwellings, though I got the impression they may not be quite so ancient, but may have been used fairly recently to escape both the heat of the summer and the cold and wet of the winter. The interior of the cavern dwellings' walls had been charred black by cooking fires and it was evident that at least a few animals still used the caves for one distinct purpose. 

A network of arrow tunnels connected at least two of the caves. Fortunately, no children were lost amidst their spelunking. 

A donkey resting in the shade.

After exploring the caves, we stopped for a traditional lunch of maqluba at a women's society home in the small town outside the palace site. Maqluba consists of meat, rice, and fried vegetables placed in a pot, which is then flipped upside down when served, hence the name maqluba, which translates literally as "upside-down" in Arabic. 

In addition to lunch, the women's community center also included a small shop with handmade pottery and another with handmade stationary made by local women.