This Weekend.

This weekend we went to Amman and made a few side trips to other archaeological sites. The first one we went to is Jeresh an old Roman city. It was really cool to see again, and since one of my friends and I had seen it last year our professor allowed to visit other parts of the site. We got to see some Roman baths, the city center and some other churches we did not get to see before, We also went back to see the temple of Artemis. We then went to a crusaders castle in Ajloun. It was great to go back and explore although there were no secret passages. Our last stop of the day was at the Mar Elias monastery. An old monastery with nicely preserved mosaics. This is also the supposed birth place of Elijah. In Amman we spent the night at ACOR (American center for oriental research), a kind of hostel for archaeologist, that also provides grants and funding for various projects around Jordan. The next day we got a tour of ACOR with its conservation rooms and massive library. Then we went to the citadel in downtown Amman. The citadel is the ruins of a fortified Roman city in the heart of downtown. The citadel has the temple of Heracles, a royal palace, and a museum. After the citadel we went to a theatre that sits at the base of the citadel. Then we went back to ACOR for Sunday dinner of pot roast and mashed potatoes, a tradition started by the dutch archaeologist about 40 years ago. This concluded our time in Amman.