Worldwide brochure 2022-2023

MIDDLE EAST • JORDAN
Ancient Jordan
Uncovered
Duration • 9 days & 8 nights
Category • Superior
Expert-led group tour • From £2,995 (incl. flights)
Archaeology • History
Tour overview
Travel with expert lecturer and
archaeologist Dr Konstantine Politis, who
discovered and excavated the biblical
sites of Lot’s Cave and Zoara. He also
initiated and set up the Museum at the
Lowest Place on Earth. Jordan is one of
history’s crossroads and battlegrounds,
and this tour encompasses the entire
range of its heritage and culture.
Signature Experiences
Exclusive visits to the Museum at the
Lowest Place on Earth and Lot’s Cave
Spend 3 nights in Petra, including a
candle-lit evening visit
Drive across desert sands
See beautiful early Christian
Byzantine mosaics
Trace the footsteps of TE Lawrence
Expert lecturer
Dr Konstantine Politis
has spent 33 years leading
archaeological projects
in Jordan, including three
for the British Museum.
He has published over
100 articles and five
books on archaeology. Although Dr Politis
specialises in the early Byzantine and
Islamic periods, his expertise extends
from prehistory through to Hellenistic
and Roman times in the eastern
Mediterranean.
Temple of Hercules, Amman
Day 1: Fly to Amman
Fly from London (regional connections
available) to Amman with Royal Jordanian
Airways. Evening transfer to the Boulevard
Arjaan Hotel (or similar) for 3 nights. (N)
Day 2: Amman • Desert castles
Explore the ancient citadel of Amman,
visit the early Islamic Umayyad Palace, the
Graeco-Roman Temple of Hercules, Byzantine
churches and see sweeping views across the
city. Visit the Archaeological Museum, housing
important finds spanning over 100,000 years.
Then drive to the eastern desert, passing
Umayyad Qasr Kharana and seeing the hunting
lodge of Qasr Amra with recently-restored
wall paintings. Continue to Azraq oasis, seeing
a Roman fort rebuilt in the 13th century and
later used by TE Lawrence during the Arab
Revolt, and the impressive Wetlands Reserve.
Return to Amman via the new highway and
Qasr Al-Hallabat. (B, D)
Day 3: Jerash
Drive north through the hills of biblical Gilead
to Jerash, one of the best-preserved provincial
Graeco-Roman cities in the Near East. Walk
through magnificent monumental arches,
sprawling oval piazza, colonnaded streets,
temples, theatres and Byzantine churches.
Then on to visit Umm Qais, ancient Gadara
where Jesus performed the swine miracle, then
drive down to the Jordan valley with stunning
view of Golan Heights overlooking the Sea of
Galilee, finally returning to Amman. (B, L)
Day 4: Mount Nebo • Madaba • Shobak
Drive to Mount Nebo, from where Moses
viewed the ‘Promised Land’ and see where
early Christians built the Memorial Church of
Moses adorned with beautiful floor mosaics.
Drive to Madaba on the biblical King’s Highway,
a city with many Byzantine mosaics. Visit the
Greek Orthodox Church of St George which
contains the famous sixth-century mosaic
map of the Holy Land, then the Church of the
Virgin complex. On to biblical Mefa’at at Umm
ar-Rasas, a town at the edge of the desert with
a dozen churches and important mosaics.
Continue to the crusader castle of Monréal at
Shobak, built in 12th century by King Baldwin
I of Jerusalem but later conquered by Saladin,
then rebuilt. Drive to Petra and stay 3 nights at
the Mövenpick Resort Petra (or similar). (B, D)
Day 5: Petra
A full-day’s exploration of Petra, the remote
desert stronghold of the Nabataean Arabs
who created a city in their sandstone valleys,
unique in the ancient world. Walk through the
Siq, the narrow gorge leading to the Treasury,
a magnificent Hellenistic-style rock-cut tomb
facade. Continue past the theatre, carved out
of solid sandstone, to see other sepulchres,
temples and churches. After lunch, take an
optional visit to Ad Deir, the largest tomb in
Petra overlooking Wadi Araba, the deepest
part of the Great Rift Valley. Evening stroll
down the Siq illuminated by atmospheric
candlelight. (B, L, D)
Day 6: Wadi Rum
Morning drive to Wadi Rum, the spectacular
desert made up of vast valleys and towering
sandstone peaks, which was the original base
of the Great Arab Revolt (1917-1918) and
where Lawrence of Arabia, Red Planet and
The Martian films were shot. Visit Lawrence’s
spring and see ancient graffiti with animal
depictions. Picnic lunch at a Bedouin camp.
Return to Petra to see a new museum
there. * (B, L)
Day 7: Little Petra • Sanctuary of Lot •
Dead Sea
Morning visit to the lesser-known Little Petra at
Beidah, passing the crusader castle at Wu’eira
and a prehistoric settlement. Continue through
spectacular mountain scenery down to Wadi
Araba and the shores of the Dead Sea. Stop at
Safi to see the first medieval sugar factory and
the Ottoman fort attacked by the Arab Legion
with Lawrence in 1918. Then climb up to the
Sanctuary of Lot, venerating the cave where
Lot and his daughters took refuge from the
destruction of Sodom. Below, visit the Museum
at the Lowest Place on Earth, which explains
the unique human and environmental history
of the Dead Sea. Drive along the shores of
the Dead Sea to the Mövenpick Resort & Spa
Dead Sea (or similar) for 2 nights. (B, D)
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