Travel Off the Beaten Path — The Ancient City of Philadelphia
Foreign Travel
Foreign travel can provide benefits to mind and body: educationally, intellectually, culturally, and linguistically, as well as physically. My advice to those who long for the resumption of freedom to travel, is to go now, as conditions permit, while you are in good health. Don’t’ wait until your enjoyment is limited by a walker or wheelchair.
Interesting Destinations
My recommendation for introduction to the benefits of foreign travel is to visit first the principal cities of the world: London, Paris, Rome, Athens, and Beijing, for example; then perhaps visit the land of your ancestors to learn what makes you the person that you are. It may take some analysis of your DNA to identify just where your ancestors came from. Or your bucket list may include some of the Wonders of the World: the Great Wall of China, Machu Picchu, Taj Mahal, Stonehenge, or the Pyramids of Egypt. If your passion is for nature and wild animals, then sooner or later you will want to travel to the Galapagos, get close to whales in Baja California, or make an African safari. If you are interested in brushing up on that foreign language you struggled with in High School, try a six-week course with Roads Scholar for immersion in the language and culture of Spain, France, or Germany, taught in Seville, Aix-en-Provence, or Frankfurt.
However if you want to maximize the learning experience, consider travel “Off the Beaten Path”, to interesting destinations that might not have occurred to you. My favorite destinations, some that I have written about, include Tari, Papua New Guinea; Bunlap, Vanuatu; Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia; Irkutsk, Siberia; Baddeck, Nova Scotia; Varanasi, India; Marrakech, Morocco; and Copper Canyon, Mexico. The destination that I write about here does not even make my Top Ten List: Ancient Philadelphia, in Jordan.
Ancient Philadelphia
There have been numerous cities named Philadelphia, long before William Penn chose the name for the city he founded in Pennsylvania; and, the one near Amman, Jordon is not the first, nor the biggest. However, as the present-day city of Jerash, it can claim to be the “largest and best-preserved site of Greco-Roman architecture outside Italy”. There is evidence of human occupation at this site as far back at 7500 BC. At one time, the city, built on the hills near the modern city of Amman, was known as Rabbath Ammon, as the capital of Ammonite civilization, a city that was destroyed many times over the years by earthquakes and by hostile invaders. It was in the 3rd Century BC, during the Golden Age of the Greek Empire, that Ptolemy II, King of Egypt, decided to rebuild and name the city after himself. Ptolemy II had been named Philadelphus (φιλος = philos, δελφος =delphos). The name was perhaps chose to recognize that among Macedonian nobility, it was not uncommon to have marriages between siblings in order to protect the lineage, and that “brotherly love”, in the physical sense, was even anticipated.
The second marriage of Philadelphus was to his sister, Arsinoe II. Both of these rulers were given the nickname or epithet “brother-loving” due to their sibling relationship. As King and Queen, Ptolemy II Philadephus and Arsinoe II shared rule of Egypt for seven years. An ancient city, also named Philadelphia, located North of Cairo, was dedicated by her brother to his sister/wife, Arsinoe II.
Ruins of the Ancient City
The city of Philadelphia at the site present-day city of Jerash, near Amman, Jordan, was built on hills overlooking the river valley, perfectly sited to erect temples dedicated to Zeus and Artemis at the summit.
The ancient city can still trace its boundaries by the ruins of its extensive city walls. The triumphal main thoroughfare is marked by rows of Ionic columns, leading to a large Forum, surrounded by columns. This would have been the Agora of the Greek era, the market and gathering place for the citizens. (Agoraphobia=fear of the market place.) It is easy to imagine thousands of citizens gathered each day in the Forum for commerce, to shop, and socialize. Hadrian’s Gate was the entry to the city, constructed to commemorate a visit to the city from the Emperor. Reminds me of the monstrous “Gateway of India”, built in 1924 on the waterfront of the city of Mumbai, to commemorate a visit by the Prince of Wales.
The city also boasts a Nymphaeum, Baths, Macellum, Propylaeum, and, not one, but two Amplitheatres.. Wow! Does your city offer those facilities?
Lets explain:
Nymphaeum: A sanctuary consecrated to the nymphs, especially those of springs, with five apses, where weddings were often held.
Baths: The public baths often had three pools of increasing water temperature: Frigidarium, Tepidarium, and Caldarium.
Macellum: An indoor market building where meat and fish were sold..
Propyllaeum: A building serving as the vestibule or entry to the Temple of Zeus, or Temple to Artemis.
Amplitheatre: A semi-circular theater where music, oratory, or plays were performed. The ruined theater retains its acoustic features, allowing a speaker at center stage to be heard at every seat
Outside the city walls was the Hippodrome, or as it would have been called in the Roman era, a “Circus”. The racecourse for horse and chariot races was 800 feet long, not as impressive as Circus Maximus in Rome, but it did have seating for about 15,000. Applying the ratio use by archeologists, that implies a city population of about 150,000. One end of the Hippodrome had stables for horses, and rooms under the stands were provided for tradesmen and shops selling refreshments to the crowds attending the hippodrome. In some shops, tile mosaic floors remain intact. The track of the racecourse was wide enough to accommodate several chariots abreast, fighting for the lead in the straightaway and jostling for position to negotiate the sharp turns at each end.
Off the Beaten Path
If your foreign travel takes you to Wonders of the World at Giza or Petra, you need travel only a short distance further, “Off thr Beaten Path”, to visit Ammon, capital of Jordan, and the well-preserved ruins of the ancient city of Philadelphia.
