During the Iron Age Ammon was known as Raggath-Ammon and later as Philadelphia.

It is known as “The White City” due to its low, small white stone houses.

It is one of the hilliest areas I have ever seen.

We meet our group tonight.

It is mostly made up of women for some reason. It seems to be this way most often.

The population here in Jordan has doubled in the last ten years due to the influx of people from the neighboring countries.

The traffic and all infrastructure has been tested to its core.

We will have a late start tomorrow at nine and visit a local Museum.

One member of our group of twelve is a private pilot as a hobby. She reads the NTSB reports. I watch a program about plane crashes and the results of the inquires, as well. It is very sad of course. But it is interesting how the reasons for the crashes are often figured out and make travel ore safe for all of us.

There was a wedding reception here at the hotel tonight. The ladies gowns were form fitting and some beaded. But all were lovely in their own way.

The elevators require you keycard to be inserted into a slot to make them operate. That’s a nice security feature.

We and a few fellow travelers had a discussion in the elevators as we tried to make them work.

When we reached our room it turned out that we had traded our card with another member of our group. They were waiting for us down in the lobby when we showed up there, looking for them.

So it has begun.

In 539 B.C., the Persians conquered the Babylonians and took over the territories that were under their control. Jordan was most likely part of the Persian Nbr Nahrain province that also included parts of Palestine.

This area was taken over in 635 ce, it later went into decline and then disappeared. In 1878 the Ottoman Empire resettled it. The British established the country of Transjordan in 1921. Amman became the capital. Its modern development and growth was created by its independence in 1946.

Wars change the borders of countries and have for thousands of years.