When news filtered through from the authorities at the Oriental Institute that the destination of our year abroad had been changed from Lebanon to Jordan, we felt a peculiar sense of relief and disappointment. Such was – and to a large extent, is – the situation in Lebanon, and in particular Egypt, that we welcomed the last-minute change to proceedings. However, those dangerous preconceptions one often has of a foreign country took hold as friends and relatives who had visited Jordan wavered somewhere between impressed and underwhelmed. “It’s a dump!” one told me. “Jordan is so boring!” claimed another. As we near the end of our first month in Amman, I can only disagree.
Managing expectations was always going to be difficult with our minds dead-set on what Cairo and Beirut had to offer and no one here will deny that, but after the Eid break and several weeks of adjusting to life in Jordan, we have all been pleasantly surprised. Amman, Jordan’s capital, is home to the ancient ruins of the Roman citadel and a wonderfully preserved amphitheatre, while shisha bars and cafes provide the city with its own Middle Eastern authenticity. However, the country’s real attractions lie elsewhere. We are fortunate that the ancient city of Petra, the highly recommended Wadi Rum, and the port city of Aqaba lie in store for us.
We have, though, already visited the viscous waters of the Dead Sea where people can be seen rather peculiarly bobbing like corks and covering themselves from head to toe in mud. Similarly remarkable was the image of the West Bank, staring at us from just a few miles away on the other side. We followed our Dead Sea outing with a trip to Madaba, often referred to as the ‘City of Mosaics’. Its impressive archaeological park and Church of St. George are perhaps the best examples of the city’s affiliation with mosaics, particularly the latter which contains the 6th century Madaba Map, the oldest surviving map of Palestine which is said to have been 25 metres long in its original form.
While we have been reassured by the abundance of attractions outside Amman and the countless bars and cafes within, Jordan’s true wonder can be found in its peace and neutrality. With neighbours like Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Iraq, the country’s stability is quite remarkable. Comparisons are often crude and born out of ignorance, but one can see why Jordan is sometimes dubbed the ‘Switzerland of the Middle East’. Refugees, both rich and poor, flock here in their desperate attempt to escape the war and poverty engulfing their homeland, namely Syrians and Palestinians. A staggering 1/3 of Amman’s population is from Palestine, an estimate manifested in the prevalence of Palestinian taxi drivers in the capital city.
After years of widespread instability during the Arab Spring, Jordan has maintained its monarchy and has a parliament widely considered to be under the firm control of King Abdullah II, who in fact graduated from Pembroke College. In recent years, the country’s most significant outcry was caused by a rise in the price of oil from 6 Jordanian Dinars to 10 JDs per canister, which speaks volumes about Jordan as a whole. It is little surprise that Jordanians are sensitive to the prices of water and oil as they produce very little of their own, relying on imports from neighbouring countries, but there is a link between the country’s meagre resources and its longstanding harmony. Peace in Jordan cannot be explained in simple terms, but a combination of the healthy relationship between the people and the monarchy and the country’s lack of valuable resources are undeniably significant.
With no prospect of any imminent national security threats and a people full of love, warmth and friendliness, who could possibly complain? While accounts of rape and assault continue to emerge from Egypt and women in Saudi Arabia are castigated by the authorities for holding a national driving day to combat the laws banning them from driving a car, Jordanian women are encouraged by the monarchy to be educated and seek careers for themselves. It’s a shame that a country with press freedoms and a sense of gender equality cannot shed some light on its troubled neighbours.
