Far-Flung Postcards is a weekly sequence through which NPR’s worldwide crew shares moments from their lives and work world wide.
It was a quiet day in Jordan’s capital, Amman. Town had simply endured practically two weeks of frequent civil protection sirens, asserting missiles crossing Jordanian airspace through the Israel-Iran struggle in June.
Since a ceasefire was holding, I took a break from my put up coordinating Center East protection to go see some native sights. My colleague, correspondent Jane Arraf, prompt a number of highlights to go to, and I selected the closest one: the Amman Citadel.
I by no means imagined what a sacred historic place it might be.
Sitting atop one of many seven hills overlooking the town, the positioning is like an archaeological mosaic the place fragments of paganism, Christianity and Islam from completely different eras and empires coexist. And I had the place virtually all to myself, besides for workers and only a few different guests quietly wandering the grounds.
One of many beautiful shows is that this colossal hand sitting beside ruins of an historical Roman temple, which date again to the second century. Researchers imagine the hand belonged to an enormous statue of Hercules. Close by are the stays of a Byzantine church and an Umayyad palace. Strolling these hallowed grounds, every monument incorporates its distinctive structure and symbolism, every brings its personal which means to the mosaic.
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