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Carved Rooftop, Petra
Photograph by Annie Griffiths Belt
The Nabataean capital of Petra is one of the many spectacular historical sites in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, a country of deep traditions that has worked to preserve its ancient inheritance and natural beauty while navigating modern realities in a region of continuing conflict.
Reclining on a rooftop carved two millennia ago, a Bedouin surveys the realm of the Nabataeans, beckoning from the sands of southern Jordan. Forgotten for centuries, Petra still echoes with mysteries of the past; this immense building, Al Deir (the Monastery), was probably a Nabataean shrine.
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Uncovering Mosaics, Petra
Photograph by Annie Griffiths Belt
Petra’s heyday ended when the Romans rerouted trade in the second century A.D., sending the city into a long decline. In a fifth-century Byzantine church, archaeologists found detailed mosaics.
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Amman
Photograph by Kalpana Kartik/Aurora Photos
Lights at dusk reveal the expanse of Jordan’s capital city of Amman. The city’s present-day sprawl—sunbaked white homes, modern high-rises, chic hotels, and commercial districts situated on a hilly landscape—exists side-by-side with historical sites dating to periods of Byzantine, Roman, and early Islamic rule.
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Olive Farmers, Ajlun
Photograph by AWAD AWAD/AFP/Getty Images
During the harvest season, farmers in the town of Ajlun—about 46 miles (75 kilometers) north of Amman—ready olives for pressing at oil extraction plants. Olives are among Jordan’s chief agricultural products, along with citrus, tomatoes, and cucumbers.
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Treasury, Petra
Photograph by Keren Su/Getty Images
Tourists at Petra approach Al Khazneh (the Treasury), whose function in Nabataean times is still unknown. Spurred by Jordan’s peace treaty with Israel, tourism to Petra is up tenfold since 1991, boosting the economy but raising concerns about preservation.
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Turkish Coffee
Photograph by Sylvain Grandadam/Photolibrary
Turkish coffee, served from an ibrik, is a popular refreshment in Jordan. The long-handled pot—traditionally made from brass or copper—is also used to brew the beverage. Very fine grounds and precise cooking methods contribute to the coffee’s strong, distinctive flavor.
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Dead Sea
Photograph by Peter McBride/Aurora Photos
Visitors to the Dead Sea float in its famously buoyant waters, among the saltiest on Earth. Located on the border of Israel and Jordan, the inland sea is an increasingly popular destination for tourists seeking the touted curative properties of its salts and minerals.
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Bedouin Meal, Petra
Photograph by Annie Griffiths Belt
Imhiylah al-Bedoul prepares a meal in the Petra backcountry, where her family spends the summer tending goats, using water from a Nabataean cistern. A lifelong resident of Petra, she raised six of her ten children in a cave near the city center. But after the city was made a World Heritage site in 1985, the government moved the thousand-member Bedoul tribe to Umm Sayhun, a village of cinder-block houses.
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Jebel Musa
Photograph by Martin Gray
A church and monastery dating to the fourth century A.D. stand at the summit of Jebel Musa, or Mount Nebo, near Madaba in western Jordan. Accounts in Jewish and Christian tradition place the tomb of the biblical prophet Moses at the site, from where he is said to have viewed the Promised Land. Today the mountain and surrounding holy sites draw pilgrims and tourists from around the world.
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Bedouin and Camels
Photograph by Peter Essick/Aurora Photos
A Bedouin man traveling by camel rests near Amman. Nomadic tribes throughout the Middle East have historically relied on the sturdy beasts of burden for transportation, milk, and even hair for weaving into blankets and tents.
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Jerash Ruins
Photograph by Amar Grover/Photolibrary
Sheep graze near the ruins of a colonnaded Roman street in Jerash, 30 miles (48 kilometers) north of Amman. Part of the Greco-Roman Decapolis League under Pompey the Great during its golden age, the ancient city’s remarkably well preserved ruins include public plazas, temples, and theaters.
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Red Sea Reef
Photograph by David Doubilet
Resting on a plate of stony coral, a giant carpet sea anemone coexists with bright clownfish in the Red Sea, which meets the southwest tip of Jordan at Aqaba. Isolated from the open ocean, the sea harbors a wealth of endemic marine creatures: One-fifth of the species are found nowhere else.
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Bedouin Woman
Photograph by Annie Griffiths Belt
An intimate portrait of a Bedouin woman captures the enduring traditions of those who call Petra home. The woman’s forebears were among the Bedouin encountered in 1812 by Swiss scholar Johann Burckhardt, the first modern European to see the ruined Nabataean city of ancient lore, which vanished from most maps in the seventh century.
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Wadi Rum
Photograph by Annie Griffiths Belt
Wind-combed dunes meet parched mud flats in Wadi Rum, a stark desertscape in southwestern Jordan. Revered for its dramatic sandstone and granite rock faces cut into a breathtaking span of sunbaked desert, Wadi Rum was made famous by Lawrence of Arabia, who based his operations there during the Arab Revolt.
