Picturing Jordan

There are apparently two arches built around 130 CE to honor Roman Emperor Hadrian—one in Athens and one in Jerash. The former is undoubtedly more studied, but the latter is objectively more beautiful! Maybe it’s the color of the stones in the afternoon light, the unconventional architectural features, or just the sheer size of it.

Jordan’s location in the geographical “near east” has exposed the country to dozens of civilizations over the course of history. Over the last three thousand years alone this region has experienced the coming and going of the Persian, Greek, Nabataean, Roman, Byzantine, Arab, and Ottoman — to name a few — empires, the legacies of which are often still visible today.

You could easily lose yourself — both literally and figuratively — in the endless red sand and towering rock skyscrapers of Wadi Rum. This majestic place, known to even the Greeks and the Romans, has been inhabited for thousands of years and is unlike any other place on Earth. The unique landscape has been featured in a handful of Hollywood movies, for example Lawrence of Arabia and The Martian.