Sunny Land introduced a new tour program covering the major archeological sites of Jordan and Syria. The 15-Day Ancient Civilization Tour provides extensive archeological visits at Pella in the Jordan Valley with visible structures dating from the Iron and Bronze Ages. The tour then heads to Umm Qais, known as Gadar in antiquity, with a magnificent view over the Jordan Valley and Sea of Galilee. Visits include the Temples of Zeus and Artemis at Jerash, one of the best-preserved Roman cities of the east. A short visit will also be made to Saracen Castle at Ajlun, built by Saladin in his successful campaign to oust the Crusaders from Jordan in 1189. On the way from Amman to Petra, visits will be made to the ancient Mosaic City of Madaba. The tour visits the alleged burial site of Moses at Mt. Nebo overlooking the Dead Sea and the Jordan Valley. In Petra, two full days are spent exploring this ancient Nabatean City carved from solid red rocks with its most impressive monument El Khazneh, "The Treasury."
After a short flight from Jordan to Damascus, Syria, the trip explores Palmyra, with the Great Colonnade and Temples of Bel, the Theatre, and funerary Towers. Palmyra, once an important power under the reign of Queen Zenobia, ruled as far as Persia and the entire Middle East until defeated by the Roman Aurelien in 272 A.D. Archeological sites covered on this tour include a Seleucid fortress built around 300 B.C containing Greek and Oriental temples as well as a synagogue and the earliest known Christian church built around 272 A.D. In Mari, visits will be made to the recently excavated 300-room palace built by the Amorite King Zimri-Lim between 1813 and 1781 B.C.
Other sites visited on this tour include the imposing Crusader castle known as Krack Des Chevaliers, and various Crusader castles at Halabia and Rasafah. Two days are spent in Damascus, visiting Arab architecture, ancient monuments and local bazaars. Damascus is considered one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. The tour also visits Maaloula, a village whose inhabitants still speak Aramaic, the language spoken by Jesus. The Ancient Civilization tour is fully escorted with guaranteed weekly Saturday departures from the U.S. at all-inclusive rates starting from $4,000 per person in deluxe hotels and include round-trip air from JFK on Royal Jordanian Airlines. For more information, call 800-783-7839 or visit www.JordanHotDeal.com.
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