We are Amman, Jordan!

Good evening everyone! It is now about 9:50 p.m. here. I think it is about 1:50 p.m. in Minnesota. I hope you are having a blessed day!
Today we went into the ancient city of Petra. The old part of the city is not really a city anymore but is simply a tourist destination. A new city has been built up around the old city. The ancient city of Petra is the a gorge formed out sandstone by floods. It is a bit like the Grand Canyon, but much smaller, narrower and with no river at the bottom (by the way, I have never been to the Grand Canyon, I am remembering pictures I have seen and what I have learned from other sources to make this comparison).
This area was first inhabited by the Edomites, who were descendents of Esau, the son of Isaac and Rebekah and the brother of Jacob. You will remember from Scripture that Esau was the oldest, but Jacob, with the help of his mother, fooled Isaac into giving him the birthright blessing. Esau and Jacob fought for many years thereafter.
The Edomites called the city Sela (the Hebrew word for rock) and the Israelite king, Azariah, conquered the city and renamed it and I forget the new name at this moment - look at 2 Kings 14:1-10 for the answer:). I was not aware of this detail in Scripture until our guide mentioned it today. This means the descendents of Jacob beat out the descendents of Esau and this shows that God's blessings are forever! This also means that I was wrong when I wrote yesterday that the city had never been conquered - the Israelites are the only ones who have done so. The history of the city is not well known for some time after it was conquered by King Azariah.
We do know that at some point the Nabataeans, an Arah nomad people began to inhabit it before 300 B.C., when the Greeks unsuccessfully tried to conquor the city The Nabataeans renamed the city after the Greek word for rock and developed Petra into a major trading post and became quite wealthy. They brought in sculptors and artists to carve in the soft sandstone beautiful facades in the various popular styles of the day (many were from the city of Alexandria, Egypt). The Nabataeans also carved caves out of the sandstone that served as tombs.
The Nabataeans also controlled the trade route on the King's Highway, which went from Damascus in Syria (nearly 500 miles north of Petra) to the Arabian Peninsula to the south. It was a major trading route then and continues to be so today.
However, after the Roman conquored the region they began a plan to put Petra out of business as a major trade center and they succeeded. The Romans built ten cities, called the Decopolis, in the region to serve as trading posts. The cities were near the King's Highway and diverted traders from Petra. Eventually the city was abandoned by the Nabataeans and it was lost from the Western world awareness.
Another group of Arab nomads, the Bedouins, began to inhabit the city nearly 300 years ago. The Beouins lived in the caves. They discarded all the bones and much of what was left by the earlier inhabitants. The city was rediscovered by a Swiss man named John Louis Burkhart (sp?) in the early 1800's. The Swiss helped make Petra known in the Western world and have given a great deal of money in recent decades to help make it a tourist destination. Now no one is allowed to live in the ancient city. The Bedouins were moved out of the city and given new homes and buildings in a new constructed city just outside of the ancient city. The tourism industry brings great numbers of people to Petra each year, mostly from Europe.
I had a little fun on the way back out of the city - I rode a horse for part of the way. Some of you may remember that some scenes from the third Indiana Jones movie was filmed in Petra. However, the horse I rode on was nothing like the one Indiana rode on. I simply go to ride on the horse (the owner held the reigns and led the horse)- and watch a few people take pictures of me on the horse (one person was from Japan, I think). I guess one would not expect to see a priest on a horse in Petra, Jordan:)!
After seeing the Petra we boarded the bus and headed back north. We were scheduled to celebrate Holy Mass on Mt. Nebo. This is the spot from which Moses was permitted by God to view the promised land. You may recall that because he offended he was not permitted to lead the Israelites into the promised land. That duty was given to Joshua. It was a holy place and it truly gave a great view of the land God promised to the Israelites. We celebrated a votive Holy Mass in honor St. Moses. I offered Holy Mass for the souls in purgatory - thinking about how Moses led the Israelites through the desert for 40 years and remembering our deceased brothers and sisters who are awaiting their final arrival in the Heavenly Promised Land. It was also a special visit because Pope John Paul II visited this spot in 2000 and Pope Benedict XVI just visited Mt. Nebo this past May. It was a great blessing and helped make sense out a number of key details in Scripture. I would like to explain them but my eyes are starting to get really heavy. I will have to do that later.
We then went into Amman and checked into our hotel. The food tonight was the best yet. Our hotel is called the Meridian and it has a website if you want to search for it. It is an international hotel and the dining had people from all over the world eating in it. By the way the coffee was great, but it must have been decaf:)!
Tomorrow we go to see a school support by the Knights and Ladies of the Holy Sepulchre and will celebrate Holy Mass at the parish church near the school. I am not sure what else we will do, but I will fill you in. Thank you for your prayers and I am praying for you!
God bless you and your families!
In Christ through Mary,
Fr. Kasel