A Guide of Jerash & Ajloun - Jordan, Middle East
In this episode of Unplugged, DBH brings you back in time to a Roman Legionnaire and Chariot Racing show taking place in Jerash's restored hippodrome. From the ancient settings to the costumes and reenactment, these performances truly make you feel like you are living back in Roman times. Leaving Jerash, David and crew head northwest to the town of Ajloun, where the beautiful Ajloun Castle towers over the valley below. Follow David to the top of this strategically located 12th Century Muslim fortress, built to protect the town from Crusader attacks and to connect/control the trade routes between Damascus and Cairo. Tour this historic castle and enjoy the amazing views that it provides of the entire region below. For everything you need to know about Jerash and Ajloun, check out the DBH Guide to Amman, also available for your Kindle. Bring along the DBH Jordan Country Guide to make your trip an unforgettable one.
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My name is David Hoffmann and for the last decade I have been traveling around the world in search of unique culture, food and history! Since starting Davidsbeenhere in 2008, I have traveled to 71 countries and over 1,000 destinations, which I welcome you to check out on my YouTube Channel, blog and social medias.
I focus a great deal on food and historic sites, as you probably have seen! I love to experience the different flavors that each destination has to offer, whether it’s casual Street food or gourmet restaurant dining. I’m also passionate about learning the local history and culture.
A Guide of Jerash & Ajloun - Jordan, Middle East
Davidsbeenhere
Jordan in 4 Days (Jerash, Ajloun Castle, Petra, Wadi Rum, Aqaba, Dead Sea and Amman)
In this episode you will visit Jordan with me in four days,
Join me on my Journey
Jerash: is the capital and the largest city of Jerash Governorate, Jordan. It is located 48 kilometres (30 mi) north of the capital of Jordan, Amman.
The city flourished until the mid-eighth century CE, when the 749 Galilee earthquake destroyed large parts of it, while subsequent earthquakes (847 Damascus earthquake) contributed to additional destruction. However, In the early 12th century, by the year 1120, Zahir ad-Din Toghtekin, atabeg of Damascus ordered a garrison of forty men stationed in Jerash to convert the Temple of Artemis into a fortress. It was captured in 1121 by Baldwin II, King of Jerusalem, and utterly destroyed.
Ajloun Castle: also known as Qa'lat ar-Rabad), is a 12th-century Muslim castle situated in northwestern Jordan. It is placed on a hilltop belonging to the Jabal Ajlun (Mount Ajlun) district, also known as Jabal 'Auf after a Bedouin tribe which had captured the area in the 12th century. From its high ground the castle was guarding three wadis which descend towards the Jordan Valley. It was built by the Ayyubids in the 12th century and enlarged by the Mamluks in the 13th.
Petra: originally known to its inhabitants as Raqmu, is a historical and archaeological city in southern Jordan. Petra lies on the slope of Jabal Al-Madbah in a basin among the mountains which form the eastern flank of the Arabah valley that runs from the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Aqaba. Petra is believed to have been settled as early as 9,000 BC, and it was possibly established in the 4th century BC as the capital city of the Nabataean Kingdom. The Nabataeans were nomadic Arabs who invested in Petra's proximity to the trade routes by establishing it as a major regional trading hub.
Although the Nabataean Kingdom became a client state for the Roman Empire in the first century BC, it was only in 106 AD that they lost their independence. Petra fell to the Romans, who annexed and renamed Nabataea to Arabia Petraea. Petra's importance declined as sea trade routes emerged, and after a 363 earthquake destroyed many structures. The Byzantine Era witnessed the construction of several Christian churches, but the city continued to decline, and by the early Islamic era became an abandoned place where only a handful of nomads lived. It remained unknown to the world until it was rediscovered in 1812 by Johann Ludwig Burckhardt.
The city is accessed through a 1.2-kilometre-long (0.75 mi) gorge called the Siq, which leads directly to the Khazneh. Famous for its rock-cut architecture and water conduit system, Petra is also called the Rose City due to the color of the stone out of which it is carved. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1985. UNESCO has described it as one of the most precious cultural properties of man's cultural heritage. In 2007, Al-Khazneh was voted in as one of the New 7 Wonders of the World. Petra is a symbol of Jordan, as well as Jordan's most-visited tourist attraction. Tourist numbers peaked at 1 million in 2010; the following period witnessed a slump due to instability around Jordan. However, tourist numbers have picked up recently, and around 800,000 tourists visited the site in 2018.
Wadi Rum: also known as the Valley of sand or the Roman Valley—the latter due to the propensity of Roman architecture in the area, known also as the Valley of the Moon, is a valley cut into the sandstone and granite rock in southern Jordan 60 km (37 mi) to the east of Aqaba; it is the largest wadi in Jordan.
Aqaba: is the only coastal city in Jordan and the largest and most populous city on the Gulf of Aqaba. The Port of Aqaba also serves other countries in the region.
Dead Sea: The Dead Sea is a salt lake bordered by Jordan to the east and Israel and the West Bank to the west. It lies in the Jordan Rift Valley, and its main tributary is the Jordan River.
Its surface and shores are 430.5 metres (1,412 ft) below sea level, Earth's lowest elevation on land. It is 304 m (997 ft) deep, the deepest hypersaline lake in the world. With a salinity of 342 g/kg, or 34.2% (in 2011), it is one of the world's saltiest bodies of water – 9.6 times as salty as the ocean – and has a density of 1.24 kg/litre, which makes swimming similar to floating. This salinity makes for a harsh environment in which plants and animals cannot flourish, hence its name.
Amman: Amman is the capital and most populous city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political and cultural centre. Situated in north-central Jordan, Amman is the administrative centre of the Amman Governorate. The city has a population of 4,007,526 and a land area of 1,680 square kilometres (648.7 square miles). Today, Amman is considered to be among the most modernized Arab cities.
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Roman Legion at the Hippodrome in Jerash, Jordan (August,2005)
I had just arrived at the Hippodrome at the huge Roman city of Jerash and this group was rehearsing for a reenactment the following week. This was filmed in August, 2005.
Ajloun Castle Jordan Touristic Place
At 73 km. north of Amman, and a short journey northwest from Jerash, through a beautiful pine-forest and olive groves, brings you to the town of Ajloun, where Hadrian stayed over the winter of 129-30 AD, and built himself an arch well outside the town, leaving unbonded its sides for future city walls to come out to meet it.
Here you will find the Castle of Ajloun or Qalaat Errabadh (Arabic for Hilltop Castle), from which there is a splendid view westwards into the Jordan Valley. It looks like a Crusader fortress, but it was built by Muslims in 1184-85 as a military fort and buffer to protect the region from invading Crusader forces. It was built on the orders of the local governor, Ezz Eddin Osama bin Munqethe, a nephew of the Ayyubid leader Salahuddin Al-Ayyoubi (Saladin), as a direct retort to the new Latin castle of Belvoir (Kawkab El-Hawa) on the opposite side of the valley between the Tiberias and Besan, and as a base to develop and control the iron mines of Ajloun.
This superb example of Arab and Islamic architecture was built as a rectangle with four square towers and an entrance on the south side dominating a wide stretch of the north Jordan Valley and passages to it. From its hilltop position, the Castle of Ajloun protected the communication routes between south Jordan and Syria, and was one of a chain of forts, which lit beacons at night to pass signals from the Euphrates as far as Cairo.
Two years after it was completed the fortress's original purpose had already been outlived, for Salahuddin defeated the Crusaders at the battle of the Horns of Hattin in 1189, which marked the beginning of the end of their occupation of the Holy Land.
In 1214-15 the Castle of Ajloun was enlarged by Aybak bin Abdullah, majordomo of the Caliph Al-Muazham Isa; in 1260 it fell to the Mongols, but was later rebuilt by the Egyptian Mamluks. No longer needed for military purposes, it was used as an administrative center responsible to Damascus.
Some of the stones with which the castle was built have crosses carved into them, giving credence to a tradition, recounted by a 13th century Arab historian that: an ancient monastery once stood on the site, inhabited by a Christian named Ajloun; when the monastery fell into ruin, the castle took its place and the name of the monk.
Climbing to the top of Ajloun Castle in northwest Jordan.
It was Friday and a holy day for locals. Ajloun Castle is an amazing place to visit. This day it was busy. Watch as we make our way to the top.
Ajloun Castle 2014
The fortress was built by Izz al-Din Usama, a commander and nephew of Salah ad-Din al-Ayyubi (Saladin), in AD 1184-1185. The fortress is considered one of the very few built to protect the country against Crusader attacks from Karak in the south and Bisan in the west. From its situation, the fortress dominated a wide stretch of the northern Jordan Valley, controlled the three main passages that led to it (Wadi Kufranjah, Wadi Rajeb and Wadi al-Yabes), and protected the communication routes between south Jordan and Syria. It was built to contain the progress of the Latin Kingdom of Transjordan and as a retort to the castle of Belvoir a few miles south of the lake of Tiberias. Another major objective of the fortress was to protect the development and control of the iron mines of Ajlun.
The original castle core had four corner towers. Arrow slits were incorporated in the thick walls and it was surrounded by a fosse averaging 16 meters (about 52 feet) in width and 12--15 meters (about 39--49 feet) in depth.
After Usama's death, the castle was enlarged in AD 1214-1215 by Aibak ibn Abdullah, the Mamluk governor. He added a new tower in the southeast corner and built the gate.
The castle lost its military importance after the fall of Karak in AD 1187 to the Ayyubids. In the middle of the 13th century AD, the castle was conceded to Yousef ibn Ayoub, King of Aleppo and Damascus, who restored the northeastern tower and used the castle as an administrative center.
In 1260 AD, the Mongols destroyed sections of the castle, including its battlements. Soon after the victory of the Mamluks over the Mongols at Ain Jalut, Sultan ad-Dhaher Baibars restored the castle and cleared the fosse. The castle was used as a storehouse for crops and provisions. When Izz ad-Din Aibak was appointed governor, he renovated the castle as indicated by an inscription found in the castle's south-western tower.
During the Ottoman period, a contingent of fifty soldiers was set inside the castle. During the first quarter of the 17th century, Prince Fakhr ad-Din al-Ma'ni II used it during his fight against Ahmad ibn Tarbay. He supplied the castle with a contingent and provided provisions and ammunition. In 1812, the Swiss traveller Johann Ludwig Burckhardt found the castle inhabited by around forty people.
Two major destructive earthquakes struck the castle in 1837 and 1927. Recently, the Department of Antiquities of Jordan has sponsored a program of restoration and consolidation of the walls and has rebuilt the bridge over the fosse.
Ajlun castle is presently open for tourism. Many areas of the castle can be explored. Tourists in Jordan often visit the castle. Inside there is also a museum exhibition with many interesting artefacts from the varios time periods of the region.
Ajloun Castle
Jerash and Ajloun Castle day tour
Jordan: Gerasa and Castle Kerak
Some impressions from Gerasa, Castle Kerak and Castle Shobeq
#BoboinJordan Travel Diary - JORDAN
Thanks Jordan Tourism Board for this awesome opportunity to visit Jordan on my birthday month!
We visited Ammna, Petra, Aqaba, Mount Nebo, Jerash, Dead Sea, Rea Sea, Ma'in Hot Spring and Wadi Rum in 7 days!
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Song: Culture Code - Make Me Move (feat. Karra) [NCS Release]
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Jordan Sights Ajloun 2012.mp4
for more information Please visit our web site jordansights.com
20101111-1 Jordan. Archeological Park in Jerash.mp4
Pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
Jordan. Archeological Park in Jerash
Ajloun Castle Circuit - Animation - Hiking in Jordan
Wander around the Ajloun Castle in Jordan.
Check out also our website with a complete overview of all trails:
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See for more information the following video on our YouTube Channel: Ajloun Castle Circuit - Video
Desert castles, Karak & Ajloun
Ajloun & Jerash - Jordania #2
Durante nuestro 2º día en Jordania tuvimos la posibilidad de visitar el famoso Castillo de Ajloun y la antigua ciudad romana de Jerash.
El castillo de Ajlun o Qala'at Ajlun, llamado anteriormente Qala'at ar Rabad, debido a que la familia Rabadi tuvo una importante presencia en la ciudad de Ajlun (también Ajloun) es un castillo islámico situado en la Gobernación de Ajlun, a unos 76 km al noroeste de Ammán, en Jordania, y a unos 15 km de Gerasa o Jerash.
Gerasa es el nombre de una antigua ciudad de la Decápolis. Sus ruinas representan una de las ciudades romanas más importantes y mejor conservadas del Próximo Oriente, y se ubican en la región de Gilead, al noroeste de Jordania.
Recientes excavaciones muestran que Jerash ya estaba habitada durante la Edad del Bronce y la Edad del Hierro (3200 a. C. - 1200 a. C.). Después de la conquista romana, en el año 63 a. C., Jerash y sus contornos fueron anexionados a la provincia romana de Siria, y más tarde se integró en la Decápolis. En 90 d. C. se incorporó a la provincia de Arabia, que incluía la ciudad de Filadelfia (actual Ammán). Los romanos garantizaron la paz y la seguridad en el área, lo que permitió a sus habitantes dedicar su tiempo y sus energías al desarrollo económico y a la construcción. En la segunda mitad del siglo I, la ciudad de Jerash alcanzó una gran prosperidad. En 106 el emperador Trajano construyó calzadas que atravesaban las provincias, lo que incrementó las actividades comerciales de la ciudad. Adriano visitó Jerash en los años 129-130. Una inscripción latina registra la dedicatoria religiosa hecha por miembros de la guardia imperial que invernaron allí. El arco de triunfo -o Arco de Adriano- fue erigido para solemnizar la visita.
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Ajlun Castle Jordan
This huge fortress was built by Izz al-Din Usama, a commander and nephew of Salah ad-Din al-Ayyubi (Saladin), in AD 1184-1185, the castle was enlarged in AD 1214-1215 by Aibak ibn Abdullah, the Mamluk governor.
Singing at JLA Madaba Graduation Ceremony for CLS Students 2015
Roman Troop Re-enactment at Jerash, Jordan
Roman Troop Re-enactment at the historic hippodrome ruins at Jerash, Jordan. All explained of
Ajloun Castle
Ajloun Castle in the north of Jordan
Al Azraq fortress, Jordan
Used as a Base by Thomas Edward Lawrence Lawrence of Arabia