Your pilgrimage begins as you depart the USA on an overnight flight.

Arrive in Amman. Check into your hotel at the Dead Sea.

This morning, you will arrive in Amman. Travel to Madaba, the City of Mosaics, to visit the Church of Saint George with its sixth-century, Byzantine, mosaic map showing Jerusalem and other holy sites. Continue to Mount Nebo, where Moses caught a glimpse of the Promised Land (Deut. 34). On a clear day, you can see all the way across the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea to the rooftops of Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Return to your hotel at the Dead Sea for dinner and overnight. 

Explore the city of Petra. Its entrance passes through a long, narrow gorge known as the Siq and can only be accessed by carriage, horseback, or on foot. Once inside the city, marvel at the intricate detail of a city that was cut into the cliffsides of rose-colored rock. Return to your hotel at the Dead Sea for dinner and overnight. 

Ten minutes north of Petra is Siq Al-Barid, which is referred to as ‘Little Petra’ due to its similarities to the main site. Explore what was once an important suburb of Petra before traveling to Wadi Rum. Otherwise known as the Valley of the Moon, the landscape of Wadi Rum with its immensity, color and awe-inspiring shapes creates an almost supernatural atmosphere. The setting for the film Lawrence of Arabia, and the actual location where T.E. Lawrence set his camp, whose book “The Seven Pillars of Wisdom” was named after the seven natural columns varying in height located en route to Wadi Rum.  Bedouin camps are evident in the Wadi, which is still home to several Bedouin families, who welcome visitors with the hospitality and generosity that Bedouins are so famous for. Explore the desert with a 4x4 driven by a local Bedouin, and overnight in a real Martian tent in the middle of the desert. 

Travel to Amman City and see the citadel, the archaeological museum, the Roman theatre, the Folklore museum, and the Royal Automobile Museum. The capital, Amman, is known in history as Rabbath-Ammon and in Greco-Roman times as Philadelphia. High above the city, at the ancient citadel, study the traces of Amman’s many lives: the regal columns of a roman temple in silhouette against the sky, the elegant capitals of a Byzantine church, endlessly inventive carvings in the Umayyad Palace, fascinating displays in the Archaeological Museum, and digs and ruins everywhere you step. At the foot of the Citadel, take a seat in the Roman Theatre, a deep-sided bowl carved into the hill and still used for cultural events. Check into your hotel in Amman for dinner and overnight. 

These three desert castles (Kharraneh, Amra and Azraq) are all disseminated on the black basalt desert running East of Amman. Qasr Al- Kharrana remains the best preserved, most dramatic and enigmatic of the “desert castles.” It lies 55 kilometers east of Amman, just south of the main road. Two stories high, with powerful stone walls interspersed with rounded interval and corner towers, this caravanserai, like some other desert castle, was never fully completed. Continuing 15 km past Qasr al-Kharrana is Quseir ‘Amra. Certainly, the finest of the Umayyad “desert resort pavilions” the interior of this bathhouse reveals a breathtaking treasure of splendid, sensuous frescoes from the mid-8th century. It is believed to have been built either by the Caliph Walid I, who built the famous mosque of Damascus, or by his son Yazid II, the buildings were constructed of limestone, yet the real attraction to Quseir Amra are the extensive frescoes. Qal’at al-Azraq is located on the ancient main trade route and served as a key junction between Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Syria. Pools of fresh water, now depleted, made it the largest oasis in the Jordanian desert. These pools of water gave name to the castle, which means blue in Arabic. Journey to Jerash, one of the best-preserved Roman cities in the world. Stroll through the oval piazza and wander along colonnaded streets etched by the wheels of ancient chariots. Stand in the grand theatre where an onstage whisper can be heard in the top row. Continue to your hotel in Amman for dinner and overnight. Return to your hotel in Amman for dinner and overnight. 

Arrive home with a new understanding of the Bible, the land and the life of Jesus!