Susan, Willy, Kiya, Crew and I set out yesterday on an adventure. We wanted to find Umm ar-Rasas, a UNESCO World Heritage site re-knowned for its mosaics. It was a Roman garrison town named Kastron Mefaa which grew during the Byzantine and Umayyid periods into large-ish city. Sadly, the Umayyid's smashed up quite a lot of the human figures in the Byzantine mosaics, ruining the effect a bit.
We only got slightly lost along the way, ending up on some super sketchy kinda-sorta paved roads in the middle of the desert.
After wandering around for an hour or so in the heat, we headed about half a mile down the road to the Stylite Tower. In the fifth century, Simon Stylites, an ascetic, spent 38 years on top of a tower outside Aleppo, Syria. It started a cult of pilgrimage and imitators, who built themselves towers and ensconced themselves on top, to pray and meditate and be lampooned by Mark Twain. This particular tower is solid...no door, no stairs. Just one room on the top with four windows looking out over the desert.
We only got slightly lost along the way, ending up on some super sketchy kinda-sorta paved roads in the middle of the desert.
Along the way, we were stopped by a sheep-crossing that induced in Willy a snarling, rage-filled anger difficult to control.
back arched, ready to attack
After driving around for an hour, using only Sherry's compass for direction, we ran into a blessed blue road sign with English. And we were found!
I wish this was a carpet in my front room
adorable octopus and other sea creatures bordered the mosaics
at last I understand why the kids in Primary can't tell us apart
ruins of Kastron Mefaa
Willy, having found shade, refuses to move
Kiya spotted this creature which we were convinced was some strange giant desert tarantula. Too terrified to even get near, we tried throwing stones at it, to lure it out. Finally we walked around to get a look at the other side of the arch...
Only to find out it was a boring old well-camoflauged lizard.
Susan playing Indiana Jones and uncovering some buried mosaics
After wandering around for an hour or so in the heat, we headed about half a mile down the road to the Stylite Tower. In the fifth century, Simon Stylites, an ascetic, spent 38 years on top of a tower outside Aleppo, Syria. It started a cult of pilgrimage and imitators, who built themselves towers and ensconced themselves on top, to pray and meditate and be lampooned by Mark Twain. This particular tower is solid...no door, no stairs. Just one room on the top with four windows looking out over the desert.
3 comments:
Incredible. History in the desert with no one to protect it and slowly blowing away with the wind. Glad the three of you got to go. I can't help but wonder if Willy thinks that all the adventuring is a little bit of a nuisance. So glad he can find shade.
I see that Willy and I have the same reaction to sheep.
1. Hope you had a full tank of gas when you started.
2. You and Susan really look alike in that picture. I never noticed before.
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