Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Not everything in the region has changed, however. The fish
in Madaba's famous mosaic, twisting back from certain death
at the mouth of the River Jordan, show that the Dead Sea was
as insupportable of life in Byzantine times as it is today.
The Dead Sea might be virtually bar-
ren, but the surrounding cliffs are not:
small oases of date palm and hanging
gardens of fern hide noisy Tristam's
grackle (a native starling), and the
sandstone bluffs shelter the elusive
and endangered Nubian ibex.
East Bank Plateau Ecosystem
High above the Jordan Valley - cut by a series of epic gorges
carved out in slow motion by the wadis of Zarqa, Mujib and
Hasa - is the hilly and temperate East Bank Plateau. It com-
prises the forested hills of northern Jordan (less than 1% of
Jordan is wooded), rich in Aleppo pines, oak and red-barked
strawberry trees and home to ill-tempered wild boar, polecats,
stone martens and porcupines.
In spring wildflowers, including pink hollyhocks, poppies and yellow daisies, bloom in
magnificent abundance. This is the time to spot the black iris (actually a deep purple), the
national flower of Jordan.
The East Bank plateau contains the main centres of population (Amman, Irbid, Zarqa
and Karak) and has been crossed by caravans for centuries. The plateau landscape of fig
and olive groves, occasional vineyards and closely cropped pasturelands reflects this hu-
man interaction. Hike near Madaba in the summer and you'll see Bedouin grazing their
stock on the hillside; they descend to lower ground in winter to escape the bitter winds.
Since the time of Moses, their husbandry has shaped the land, etching ancient paths
around the closely cropped contours.
Pockets of pristine plateau wilderness remain towards the southern end of the plateau
around Dana. This rocky wilderness of outstanding biodiversity is the habitat of elusive
caracals (Persian lynx), felines with outrageous tufts of hair on the tips of their outsized
ears. It is also home to ibex, endangered goats with enormous horns that cling to the
craggy folds of limestone.
From a height of 600m to 900m above sea level, the plateau ends near the Red Sea port
of Aqaba.
Desert Ecosystem
On its eastern flank, the East Bank plateau glides gradually into the desert. More than
90% of Jordan is desert, but it's home to only 5% of the population. The forbidding vol-
canic basalt rock of the northeast gives way to soft-whittled sandstone and granite in the
south and the famous escarpments of Wadi Rum. In between, the stony wasteland known
