Day 6 - Dana, Karak Castle , Madaba

Perched on the edge of a cliff we witness the Wadi Dana, a giant canyon part of the Jordan River Valley, The Dana Biosphere Reserve close- by includes four bio-geographical zones: Mediterranean, Irano-Turanian, Saharo-Arabian, and Sudanian—made Dana ideal for human habitation. Paleolithic people first called it home, but throughout history, it has been ruled by numerous great civilizations: Egyptian, Nabatean, Roman, Byzantine/Ghassanid, and Ottoman.

Karak castle
Constructed high on an hilltop in the mid-12th century, Karak Castle was designed to oversee the traders and travellers crossing the lands between the Dead Sea, Damascus, Egypt, and Mecca.
Karak’s strategic location made it the target of many sieges. The castle stood to see both Christian and Muslim rule, including Saladin. In films Kerak Castle is in Kingdom of Heaven .
The structure is an example of a fortified Frankish Crusader Castle, using elements of European, Byzantine, and Arab designs. Over the centuries, the castle grew - the Crusader architecture exists mostly on the upper level of the castle and is identified by its dark, rough volcanic rock.
The town of Karak was once known as the Kingdom of Moab, as mentioned in the Bible. Over two millennia old, Karak was home to the Nabateans, Romans, and the Byzantines before the Crusaders took it over.
We have a little domestic with a blowhard local threatening one of the girls - the guide sorts him out with the police !
We snack on shawarma as opposed to falafel...and glass of pomegranate juice

Madaba
The world's oldest map of the holy land- this tile map is the oldest known geographic floor mosaic in existence, depicting the Middle East during the height of the Byzantine period. Installed sometime during the late 6th.C AD
Many of the map’s tiles have been chipped away or destroyed but a large piece of the map still exists illustrating locations and names .The mosaic covers lands from Egypt to Lebanon, including Bethlehem and Gethsemane, and a detailed snapshot of Jerusalem .

Mount Nebo
Moses is said to have seen the Promised Land but forbidden to enter . The church has a great view of the Dead Sea , Israel and Palestine . It has become a pilgrimage site .....with 5thC mosaics in the church.

We overnight back in AmmanRead more