The Citadel and City Mall

This weekend I went to a mall that could have been yanked from any major city in America and then a ruin that contained remnants of the civilizations who have occupied this country since the Romans. It was quite a contrast. I needed to get some shoes, so my roommate and I went to City Mall, the most expensive shopping center, although not the only one, in Amman. I didn't actually get shoes there, but it was big enough that we did spend the better part of 2 hours wandering around. In addition to the Clare's, TGI Friday's, Starbucks, Gap and various other American stores, there was a gigantic Walmart-like thing attached to the mall called Carrefour. It was bigger and slightly fancier than Walmart, actually. Apparently it's a French chain. All of this combined to make me feel like I was back in the States. It was a very odd and disorienting experience. I'm not sure why I was so surprised, really, because there was something similar in Cairo called City Stars, but I don't think I'll be going back there much while I'm here.

The ruins were much more what I was expecting, although they were rather spectacular in their own way as well. We went to two sites, I think the two biggest and best preserved in Amman, the Roman Theater and the Citadel. The Roman Theater was exactly what it sounds like. I saw very similar theaters in Greece, but it was still impressive. There was also a museum attached that for the price of 1 dinar (about $1.40) you could go in, and even take pictures. It wasn't about the Romans though, but the Bedouin. There weren't many informational plaques, it was basically a collection of artifacts such as traditional costumes worn by people (mostly women) from specific areas, including some areas in Palestine, various jewelry, tools, artwork in various mediums and there were a few examples of what a Bedouin tent might look like, or a loom, etc. It was interesting, but not very informative about the history or current importance of the Bedouin culture on display. The Bedouin tribal system is still very much in evidence in Jordan today, to the point where it dictates marriages (clans that don't get along historically don't intermarry, apparently). This museum didn't go into that at all, though.

Here are some pictures of the theater:











The Citadel was a bit different. For one thing, it's the site of multiple civilizations' settlements. There weren't many informational plaques at this site either, but at the very least it was a Roman site and an Umayyad site (the first dynastic Muslim rulers, after the original caliphs, around the 700s). There didn't seem to be any rules as to what could and couldn't be touched, walked on, climbed on or sat on, although there were guards walking around who yelled if someone climbed too high. All of these ruins, by the way, were limestone, I'm pretty sure. That seems to be the local rock. There was only one intact structure, which I think was the mosque, and it had obviously been restored. Everything else was outlined by half falling down columns and the remnants of the foundation. The only information I gleaned from one of the few plaques around explained that because there was no natural spring at the site, all rainwater had to be collected and saved in underground cisterns, some remnants of which remain.

The truly magnificent part of this site, however, was the view. I may have mentioned in one of my early posts being surprised by the hills that make up the city of Amman. Well, the Citadel sits on the top of a hill that if it is not the center of the city, certainly once was. You can see, in all directions, the city sprawled out below. The entire city is probably not visible, but if not it's probably close. This is where I took my long-promised pictures of the city, since it's probably one of the few times I'll remember my camera. I even got some pictures with me in it, just to prove to my mother I'm not making all of this up.

Here are some more pictures: