Jordan Times
Empires are like glass. They shatter into pieces when their days are over, the USSR being a recent example. The Ottoman Empire met a similar fate in the not too distant a past. It broke up liberating its centuries old domains and retracted to its original territory after the First World War, leaving parts of the Middle East as the French Mandate of Syria and the British Mandate of Palestine. It was from the later that the state of Jordan emerged; covering 80% of the territory east of Jordan River called Trans Jordan. It gained independence in 1946 and King Abdullah 1 of the Hashemite family became its first sovereign in 1951. King Hussein Bin Talal ruled the country for the longest period until his death in 1999, leaving the reigns of this constitutional monarchy to his son King Abdullah 2
Jordan is an interesting landscape with an arid desert plateau in the east and highlands in the west. Jordan River separates the country from Israel. It has 26 km long coast line in the Gulf of Aqaba. Jordan River Valley or the Rift Valley forms the arable area. The highest point in the kingdom is 5689 ft and the lowest is the Dead Sea 402 m below sea level becoming one meter lower every year. Climatically it has four seasons of excellent weather. The cooling effect of plateau keeps the summer temperatures within 25–35 degree Celsius with low humidity and frequent breezes. Spring and fall temperatures are extremely pleasant and winters are mild though the night time temperatures may drop to near zero. It snows a couple of times in certain areas every year. We visited the place in the months of August and October and it was reasonably pleasant out there in the open, the hotel being centrally air conditioned remaining comfortable round the clock.
It is a country with limited natural resources. Oil is imported from Iraq and gas from Egypt. Water supply is scarce. Daily needs are met with by desalination of the sea water. We were putting up in Holiday Inn Hotel where I saw a notice in the wash room for the hotel guests reading: ‘Water is precious like oil, please don’t waste it’. This area being a cradle of ancient civilization attracts a lot of tourists from all over. Tourism alone contributes 10–15% to gross national product. It has unique ancient places, desert castles and other cultural and religious sites. Petra is a city that was completely carved in the mountains. A Roman theatre, a monastery and Royal tombs display the rich heritage the place can rightly boast of. Unique ultra saline waters of the Dead Sea make it a favourite resort with the tourists. A number of scenes for the famous Hollywood movie Lawrence of Arabia were shot on the locations in colourful Wadi-e-Rum in Jordan. Jordan River is a holy water channel for the Christians where Jesus is believed to have been baptized by John the Baptist. Mount Nebo, as claimed in the Bible, is a place where Prophet Moses went to get a view of the Promised Land before his death.
The news of this Arab Kingdom flashed in the Pakistani media in 1968 when the then Crown Prince of Jordan Prince Hassan bin Talal took a Pakistani girl as his bride. Sarvath, later Princess Sarvath, met the Crown Prince in London before they tied the knot and lived happily ever after. The Crown Prince missed the throne by a whisker as did the Princess. The terminally ill King Hussein, who was undergoing oncology treatment in the United States, flew to Amman for a couple of days, appointed his son Prince Abdullah as the new crown prince replacing Prince Hassan bin Talal, and died shortly after landing back in the US. The long cherished coronation for Hassan- Sarvath couple became ever elusive. Nature has its own ways. Royal palace is on a hill in the old sector of Amman. This Royal Court Compound also houses the palace of Prince Hassan and Princess Sarvath. These quarters were previously used by the British resident in pre independence days.
Amman, the capital city of Hashemite Kingdom, sits astride many centuries, inhabited by several civilizations throughout history since 6500 BC. It has been conquered by the Persians, Greeks, Umayyads, Abbasids and Ottomans over the centuries. The Ottoman rulers set up Hejaz railways from Damascus to Medina for Hajj pilgrimage and permanent trade. When Emirates of Trans Jordan was formed in 1921 no palatial building was available to house the office of the Emir who set up his first office in a train car to rule the country. The country developed rapidly under the rule of King Hussein after 1952. It has modern shopping malls, tree lined boulevards and number of hotels catering to the needs of different categories of tourists. Queen Aliya International Airport, named after King Hussein’s third wife who died in an air crash in 1977, is about thirty minutes drive from Amman. Buses and inexpensive Mercedes taxis provide a respectable means of transport.
Most of the city is well paved and renovated and its tourist locations are well policed. Though situated in a region of frequent conflicts Amman remains a safe and interesting place to visit. Tourist interest locations are just forty five minutes drive away in a car. Our rented Chevrolet car took us to historical places as well as gave us an opportunity to look around the town. Citadel hill of Amman, Temple of Hercules built by the Roman Emperor, Roman theatre (AD 138–161) with a capacity of 6000 spectators and still functional for sporting and cultural events are some of the old monuments besides some of the grandest mosques in the Middle East and a modern sports city. Despite the changes much remains of the original character of the older down town area, bejeweled with its traditional souks and King Hussein mosque. The city is abuzz with kebab stalls and cafes selling Arabian coffee. Jordan postal museum, Amman shopping mall and Royal cultural centre are a few minutes drive from the Holiday Inn Hotel.
In a population of nearly six million the Palestinian refugees form the bulk, numbering around one million, in Amman. These Palestinians sought refuge in Jordan and poured into the Kingdom in three stages that is after the 1948 war from Gaza Strip and Israel, during the Six Day war in 1967 and after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1991 (mostly servants and domestic workers). Jordan had gone through a crisis from September 1970 to July 1971 when Black September Organization (BSO), a Palestinian militant guerilla organ of PLO, attempted to overthrow King Hussein’s government. The King sought the help of Israel, Egypt and the training mission headed by Brig. Zia ul Haq (later General and the President of Pakistan) who successfully averted the crisis leading to the expulsion of PLO to Lebanon. Things seem to have settled thereafter leading to the prevalence of peace in the country. Other refugee population of substance is from Iraq which is now almost beating the Palestinians in numbers game. Chechens, Kurds and Lebanese are also found in traces. With the highest literacy rate in the Arab world it is astonishing to see nearly three hundred thousands guest workers, mostly from Egypt, working in different fields. English is the second language after the native Arabic.
We had a number of Palestinian students from Jordan with us during our college days and while walking through a posh market area I was scanning the boards of the doctors for my friend’s name. I could not locate my college friend but was lucky to find an old colleague who was extremely happy to see me and my family. He told me he could not believe his ears when his receptionist told him there was a Pakistani family waiting to see him outside his surgery. He took us for lunch and showed us around the town in his car. The friendly weather, hilly landscape and hospitable people made our trip to the Kingdom a memorable one and we carried extremely fond memories of the place.
Written by Dr. Shahid Qayyum
Published by Alisha Khuram
