Flight 20141013 - Flying South

Qasr Mshatta under cloud - © APAAME_20141013_REB-0028

The second day of the season started with good weather and permission to go south and be allowed access to Qasr Mshatta (an Islamic hunting lodge) now situated on the north edge of the runway at Queen Alia International airport. Unfortunately on arrival the site was cloud-covered but we were welcomed by a wonderful waft of bread being baked in the nearby factory. We moved on south to Machaerus – famous (or infamous) for being the location where John the Baptist lost his head, thanks to Salome’s nefarious activities. It was the subject of a siege by the Romans, trying to recapture it after the Jewish Revolt (AD 66-70), and now undergoing excavations by a Hungarian team.  The siege works are still visible with approximately 10 Roman camps on the surrounding hills.

Machaerus - © APAAME_20141013_RHB-0063

Further south, near the southern edge of the Dead Sea we photographed looting, on a massive scale, of the cemeteries around Fifi, Safi and al-Mazraa (Kh. Qazone).  Our spirits were lifted by some photography of Umm-er Resas (a superb Roman fort and later Islamic town and early seat of learning); then by a return to visit to Qasr Mshatta, this time bathed in sunshine and the smell of bread,  even more appealing as lunch-time approached.

Extensive looting near Safi - the site of Maqbarat Al-Nage'a - © APAAME_20141013_REB-0307

Umm er-Resas - APAAME_20141013_REB-0224

On our third and final trip, and looking for the last site of the day we were having difficultly locating it, not least because of having to keep away from approaching air traffic into Marka (our base) but also because the whole area had been eaten away by massive stone quarries.  We spotted a possible location and as we orbited we realised that we had stumbled across an abandoned Roman (?) quarry with stone columns and sections of unfinished stone,  still visible in the limestone outcrop.  Once again a hugely important site, within a few metres of large destructive modern quarries.  Our pilot (who was having to work on his birthday) took us down to a few feet above the site so we could record it in detail.

Roman (?) Column Quarry east of Marka APAAME_20141013_MND-0768

 - Robert Bewley

Flickr Featured Sets

Over the last couple of days I have been looking through the Flickr archive and updated a few of our sets.

In 'Tracking Change' we set out to fly over a handfull of sites regularly in the course of our flying seasons to photograph the changes that are occuring, whether they be seasonal, environmental or man made. We have also included a set named 'Development Impacts' which gives examples of the kinds of human activity that are encroaching on Jordan's heritage.
Some sites that have particularly changed over recent years are:

• Yajuz: a small Roman town on the outskirts of modern day Amman
• Qasr el-Mshatta: a 'desert castle' located near Queen Alia Airport
• Jarash: one of the best preserved archaeological sites in Jordan which is the focus of ongoing excavation and reconstruction
• Azraq Shishan: the oasis of Azraq that was (and is) severly under threat from overuse of its water, but has in recent years become a nature reserve in an effort to bring life back to the dying wetlands.

In 'Featured Sets' we hope to build a collection of sets that will act as introductions to the various site types and time periods that are evident in Jordan's archaeological landscape. Our collections so far include

• General Showcase: a selection of some of our favourite sites and photos of Jordan
• Classical Showcase: Classical (Greek and Roman period) sites in Jordan
• Kites: photographs of the various stone build structures known as Kites
• Wheels: a selection of the numerous and somewhat enigmatic circular structures known as Wheels
• Desert 'Castles': popular tourist attraction in Jordan, the scale and layout of these often impressively preserved structures is highly visible from above
• The Hejaz Railway and World War One: the archaeology of modern conflict is still clear throughout parts of Jordan. This set introduces trenches and railway remains from this period, well known for the Great Arab Revolt and exploits of T. E. Lawrence
• Biblical Sites: Jordan is the setting of many episodes from the Bible, and this set features some of the known sites mentioned in the Bible that we have visited.

If you want to see more photographs of a particular site, or we haven't featured one you are interested in, please use the search tool at the top right hand corner of Flickr's site window, being sure to select "Search APAAME's Photostream".

If you have any site types or periods that you think we should feature or photograph in future, please let us know!