Das WinzHaus – WinzHäuser im Film

 

Raum ist in der kleinsten Hütte
Friedrich Schiller [2]

Kapitel 10 – WinzHäuser im Film

Das Thema WinzHäuser im Film ist prinzipiell zu umfangreich für einen Blogpost, aber man kann sich ja auch beschränken, denn wichtig ist nur, daß es vom Film her Anregungen geben kann. Es gab eine US-Serie, die vom ZDF 1966 ausgestrahlt wurde, mit dem Titel: „Raum ist in der kleinsten Hütte“ [3]; natürlich hatte der Originaltitel „Room For One More“ überhaupt nichts mit Hütte zu tun, aber Dank ZDF paßt es hier herein.

Der erste Film, den ich erwähnen möchte, ist „Nanuk der Eskimo“, der im Original „Nanook of the North“ hieß [4]. In diesem Film wird u.a. der Bau eines Iglus und das Leben im Iglu gezeigt. Da haben wir zunächst einmal das Reizwort Eskimo. Meist werden mittlerweile die Eskimo als Inuit bezeichnet. Eskimo [5] ist eine Sammelbezeichnung für die indigenen Völker des nördlichen Polargebietes. Eine der Hauptgruppen sind die Inuit im östlichen Bereich, aber dann leben dort noch die Iñupiat und weitere Ureinwohner, die weder mit Eskimo noch mit Inuit korrekt bezeichnet werden. Trotzdem wahrscheinlich ist heute die Bezeichnung Inuit haben unverfänglichsten. Das Wort Eskimo ist seine Fremdbezeichnung und es ist gar nicht so eindeutig, woher sie stammt. Man hatte Eskimo aus dem Wort „ashkipok“ aus der Sprache der Anishinabe hergeleitet. Da es  Rohfleischesser (eater of raw meat) bedeutet, ist es nicht gut geeignet; allerdings ist diese linguistische Herleitung widerlegt worden. Man leitet Eskimo nun aus dem Cree-Wort aayaskimeew (Schneeschuhflechter / Englisch: snowshoe netters)  her. Es gibt noch weitere Theorien, aber diese scheint mir die sinnvollste zu sein. Eskimo oder Inuit -: es bleibt eine Fremdbezeichnung.

Ich meine, daß der Film „Nanook of the North“ auch heute noch begeistert, Er stammt aus der Stummfilmära (1922) und ist der erste längere amerikanische Dokumentarfilm. Es fiel auch die Bezeichnung ethnographischer Film, aber ich meine Dokutainment würde es besser treffen; das Wort hatte man damals noch nicht geprägt. Der Film wurde von Robert Joseph Flaherty erstellt. Regie, Drehbuch, Produktion, Kamera: Robert J. Flaherty [6]. Zurück aus der Arktis ließ er sich bei Musik (Rudolf Schramm) und Schnitt (Charles Gelb) helfen. Der Film begleitet Nanuk und seine beiden Ehefrauen Nyla und Cunayou, den jungen Sohn Allee und das viermonatige Baby Rainbow durch die Arktis. Schneesturm, Härte des Alltags aber auch Freude und die Schönheit der Natur bringt uns der Film näher.

Das Leben im Iglu [7] konnte nur gezeigt werden, da ein Wandteil des Iglus weggerissen wurde. Kommen wir zum Wort Iglu, es bedeutet Wohnung oder Haus und bezeichnet im Original nicht nur Schneehäuser sondern auch Torf-, Stein-, Erd- oder Holzhäusern. Das Wort kommt aus dem Inuktitut [8] und schreibt sich: ᐃᒡᓗ. Diese Schrift können Sie wahrscheinlich genauso wenig wie ich lesen, sie ist aus der Ojibwe-/Cree-Schrift hervorgegangen. Die Deklination des Inuktitut kennt drei Numeri und acht Kasus, u.a. Ergativ, Terminativ, Prolativ, Äquativ … aahhh, aber jetzt muss ich ganz schnell zurück auf die richtige Spur.
Iglus können schnell aufgebaut werden, die Bauzeit beträgt weniger als eine Stunde für zwei geübte Personen. Der Schnee gefriert und wird dadurch windfest. Der Eingang liegt in der Regel auf der windabgewandten Seite. Die runde Form ist nicht nur für den Aufbau wichtig, denn die Schneeblöcke werden in einer Spirale aufeinander gepackt. Von innen her wird die Oberfläche verdichtet und ggf. auch an Stellen erwärmt, damit ein besserer Abschluß erfolgt. Später kann der Temperaturunterschied zwischen außen und innen 50° C betragen. Wikipedia führt aus: „Bei einer Außentemperatur von −46 °C sind −6 °C auf Bodenhöhe (Schlafsockel) und sogar +4 °C auf Schulterhöhe möglich.“ Zu warm darf es auch nicht werden, denn dann tropft es ins Iglu. In einem anderen Film mit Inuit habe ich die Männer mit nacktem Oberkörper gesehen. Wintersiedlungen mit (größeren) Iglus wurden auch über Monate bewohnt; Wikipedia nennt 7 m Durchmesser.

So ein Iglu sieht in der Form ähnlich aus wie ein Ger bzw. eine Jurte. Ich stelle hier eine Hypothese auf, da ich keine entsprechenden Angaben im Internet gefunden habe. Ich bin der Überzeugung, daß die runde Form den Wind besser ableiten kann als eine eckige Form und damit stabiler ist.

Der nächste Film sind sechs Filme, nein besser gesagt zwei Trilogien: „Der Herr der Ringe“ und
„Der Hobbit“ [9]. Die Hobbit-Wohnung ist ein Haus mit einer runden Tür und kann auch Fenster haben, ist aber in den Hügel eingelassen. Das Buch „The Hobbit“ von J.R.R. Tolkien beginnt so: „In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit hole, and that means comfort.“ [10] Im Internet gibt es genügend Beispiele für solche Wohnungen, in der man einmal wie ein Hobbit schlafen oder auch wohnen kann [11]. Aber das führt wieder in eine falsche Richtung. Mich hat Tolkiens Hobbit-Höhle angeregt, über reale Höhlenwohnungen mit Komfort nachzudenken.

Als erstes fielen mir die Höhlenwohnungen in Kappadokien in der Zentraltürkei ein, die bereits in   der Frühgeschichte bewohnt beziehungsweise erstellt worden sind. Der Lebensraum ist vom  hethitischen Großreich bekannt. Diese Felswohnungen sind hervorragende Rückzugsorte gewesen. Xenophon berichtete davon und wurde so im Wikipedia-Artikel zitiert [12]: „Die Häuser waren unter der Erde, am Eingang (eng) wie ein Brunnenloch, unten aber weit. Die Eingänge für das Zugvieh waren gegraben, die Menschen aber stiegen auf Leitern hinab. In den Wohnungen fand man Ziegen, Schafe, Rinder und Federvieh nebst den Jungen derselben.“

Und danach fiel mir selbstverständlich Vorsitzender Mao, also Mao Zedong (毛泽东) ein, denn auf dem Langen Marsch (Lange Marsch (长征) kamen sie nach Shaanxi (陕西省) und insbesondere nach Yan'an (延安市). Dort fanden Schulungen für die kommunistische Partei statt und Mao hat  dort wesentliche Texte verfaßt. Ich erinnerte mich an Bilder von Wohnungen, die in den Löß getrieben worden sind. Es kann sein, dass ich das in Edgar Snows Buch „Roter Stern über China“ [13] gesehen habe. Ich müßte das einmal nachschlagen. Aber auf jeden Fall kann man heute noch Bilder sehen, die über diese Wohnungen berichten. Die Wohnungen sind ähnlich wie bei den Hobbitwohnungen in den Löß getrieben worden und vorne ist ein Abschluss mit Fenstern und Eingangstür. Die Wohnungen werden als im Sommer angenehm kühl und im Winter als angenehm warm beschrieben [14].

Der nächste Film, auf den ich eingehen will, stammt aus dem Jahr 2015 und heißt „The Martian“ [15]; er hatte vom deutschen Verleiher in einem Anfall von galoppierender Idiotie den Titel „Der Marsianer – Rettet Mark Watney“ bekommen. Regie führte Ridley Scott und die Hauptrolle spielte Matt Damon. Der Protagonist wird versehentlich allein auf dem Mars zurückgelassen und ein  großer Teil des Film spielt in der großartigen, einsamen, stillen Leere der Wüste. Die Wüstenaufnahmen wurden im Wadi Rum [16] in Jordanien gedreht. Dieser Teil wird auch „Tal des Mondes“ genannt und bietet eine einerseits karge, andererseits wunderschöne Landschaft mit Granitfelsen und rotem Sand. Hier sind auch andere Filme gedreht worden; darüber habe ich schon geschrieben [17]. Man kann das Wadi Rum besuchen und auch ein Gefühl der Isolation erleben und sich an der Ungeheuerlichkeit der Landschaft erfreuen. Dafür gibt es als Folge des Films Camps und Touren. Mark Watney hatte die begrenzten Wohnmöglichkeiten der Crew nutzen können und im Film wird sein Wohnbereich immer winziger. Verschiedene Camps im Wadi Rum imitieren mit zeltartigen Strukturen eine Basis auf dem Mars; andere Camps bieten Wüstenzelte für Touristen. Wenn man sich diese Camps ansieht, dann haben die einzelnen kleinen Kuppelbauten, die etwa das bieten, was ein Hotelzimmer ausmacht, eine Form wie ein Iglu oder ein Ger (eine Jurte).

Was können wir von diesem Ausflug in die Welt des Film für das Projekt WinzHaus mitnehmen? Ein WinzHaus kann überall aufgebaut werden, aber es muss sich der Landschaft und den Witterungsbedingungen anpassen. Die Form kann, muß aber keine Rolle spielen.

Links und Anmerkungen:
[1] Hinweise auf das Projekt finden sich in der Einleitung: https://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/2024/01/das-winzhaus-einleitung.html
[2] „Raum ist in der kleinsten Hütte / Für ein glücklich liebend Paar.“ Friedrich Schiller https://zitate-aphorismen.de/zitat/raum-ist-in-der-kleinsten-huette/ Quelle:  Friedrich Schiller: Der Jüngling am Bache, Sämtliche Werke 1-5, Hanser, München/Wien, 10. Auflage 2004, S. 407, Band 1, Lyrische Gedichte, ISBN: 3446205012.
[3] https://www.fernsehserien.de/raum-ist-in-der-kleinsten-huette  
[4] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanuk,_der_Eskimo  
[5] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eskimo Fun fact: In dem Film Hard Powder (Originaltitel Cold Pursuit) [5a] mit Liam Neeson wird ein Killer mit dem Namen „Eskimo“ engagiert, denn wenn man jemanden kalt machen will, holt man den Eskimo. Der Film besticht durch schwarzen Humor nund jede Menge Schnee.
[5a] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_Powder
[6] Robert Joseph Flaherty (1884-1951); interessant ist auch sein Film Elephant Boy (1937) mit dem jugendlichen indischen Hauptdarsteller Sabu. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_J._Flaherty  
[7] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iglu  
[8] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inuktitut
[9] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Der_Herr_der_Ringe_(Filmtrilogie) und
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Der_Hobbit_(Filmtrilogie)
[10] Übersetzung: „In einer Höhle im Boden lebte ein Hobbit. Kein hässliches, schmutziges, nasses Loch, gefüllt mit Wurmenden und einem schleimigen Geruch, und auch nicht ein trockenes, kahles, sandiges Loch, in dem es nichts zum Sitzen oder Essen gab: ss war eine Hobbit-Höhle, und das heißt Komfort.“ J.R.R. Tolkien: The Hobbit, or There and Back Again. George Allan and Unwin, London 1966. Übrigens ist die Erstausgabe von 1937 für schlappe 19.000 € erhältlich. Das Bild stammt von meiner Ausgabe von 1966.
[11] https://my-little-luxury.de/hobbiton/  Ich habe eines der Angebote herausgegriffen, aber man kann es auch einfach selber googeln.
[12] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C3%B6hlenarchitektur_in_Kappadokien  
[13] Edgar Snow: Roter Stern über China. März bei 2001, Frankfurt 1975. (Ich bin mir nicht 100% sicher, daß dies meine Ausgabe ist, sieht aber so aus. Das Buch ist in Köln und nicht in der Eifel.)
[14] Temperatur-Rekordhöhe 38,3° C, Temperatur-Rekordtiefe -23,0° C. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yan%27an
[15] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Der_Marsianer_%E2%80%93_Rettet_Mark_Watney  
[16] Das Wadi Rum ist UNESCO-Weltkulturerbe. Es umfasst eine Fläche von 720 km², was etwas geringer als der Shenandoah-Nationalpark in Virginia (USA) ist, abero groß wie Bahrain ist. Die höchste Erhebung ist Jebel Rum (1.734 m über dem Meeresspiegel). Man kann durch das Wadi wandern, auf die Felsen klettern, in Lagern übernachten, Petroglyphen besichtigen und vieles mehr.
[17] https://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/2022/04/wadi-rum-and-mars.html  

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A Visit to Ad Deir in Petra

Recently I've looked at the stamp collection of my late father and found some old stamps from … you might remember this line [1], but it continues … from Jordan. On two stamps of one series there was the motif of Ad Deir [2]. Petra is best known for the iconic monument Khazne al-Firaun, which also appeared in Steven Spielberg's movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade [3]. But Ad Deir has the distiction of being the second most commonly visited monument in Petra.

Together with a group I climbed up the 800 odd steps to Ad Deir. We were often overtaken by donkeys with other tourists – some wearing high heels (not the donkeys). Al Deir was waiting for us at the top. A tomb like others, but which the Bedouins called the monastery, which is, what Ad Deir means. We went further up to an excellent vantage point.

Ad Deir has been carved out of the rock by the Nabataeans during the 1st century (CE). And though the façade bears column like structures, they are not necessary to support but serve aesthetic purposes. The conical roof is topped by an urn. Ad Deir has a heigth of 48 m and the urn itself measures 9 m. I'm surprised that I could not find anything about the function of the urn on the top of  Nabataean monuments like Ad Deir, Khazne al-Firaun, and especially the Urn Grave [4].

There have been controversies about the Nabataean funerary rites since ancient times as Strabo [5] quoted in his Geography (Book 16): „Dead bodies more fit to be cast out than dung“. The Nabataean word however means tomb or village, but the sound was close to the Greek word for dung-heap. If Strabo had seen the monuments, he might have doubted the validity of his source.

Links and Annotations:
[1] https://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/2022/06/ali-qapu-palace-in-isfahan.html
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ad_Deir
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiana_Jones_and_the_Last_Crusade
[4] Even this interesting article is mute concerning an answer to my question: https://www.world-archaeology.com/features/petra-behind-the-monumental-facades/
[5] Strabo is better known in Latin than the Greek Στράβων Strabon – we still use strabismus – who was named after his squint.
[6] https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1179/peq.1969.101.2.113?journalCode=ypeq20
 

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Wadi Rum and Mars

 

Half a year ago I had the opportunity to visit Jordan and of course Wadi Rum, where some movies have been shot [1]. This part of the desert is also known as the Valley of the Moon, but there are some other places also called Valley of the Moon on Terra. The barren landscape is covered in red sand, in which islands of granite cliffs are swimming. If you look at pictures from Mars, Wadi Rum comes very close.

I like the movie „The Martian“ (2015) starring Matt Damon as Mark Watney, who is left behind on Mars after an emergency mission abort because of a storm. He has to survive on Mars. As a botanist he is growing potatoes. This would work in Wadi Rum – if you have the water – , but not on Mars, because the sand there is composed of toxic minerals [2].  Nowadays there are tentlike structures resembling a base on Mars, that visitors may sense „isolation and the enormity of the landscape both in Wadi Rum and on Mars.”

I've been interested in Mars since childhood. The Italian astronomer Schiaparelli [3] published his maps on Mars according to telescopic observations after the great opposition (1877), which allowed a closer look at the surface than at other times. He saw linear structures, which he called „canali“ in Italian [4], which has been mistranslated as canals (constructed) but should actually be translated as channels (naturally created); in addition, areas without elevations like those on the moon were named seas. This initiated speculations that there could be intelligent life on Mars. This is not the case. But look at the science fiction literature that has been published since then, like „Two Planets“ by Kurd Lasswitz, „The War of the Worlds“ by H. G. Wells, or „The Sands of Mars“ by Arthur C. Clarke, just to name three.

There have been other movies like „Dune“ or „Lawrence of Arabia“, which were filmed in Wadi Rum; please look these movies up in the Wikipedia article, which I have already cited.

Let's come back to Wadi Rum, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It covers an area of 720 sqkm, which is a little less than Shenandoah National Park in Virginia (USA) or as large as Bahrain. The highest elevation is Jebel Rum (1,734 m above sea level). You can walk through the wadi, climb the rocks, stay in camps, look a petroglyphs, and much more.

I hiked westwards through the valley. The track went slightly uphill. I then saw a way to get higher on a rock and climbed up there, too. But it wasn't a good spot for watching the sunset and too dangerous for my way back. I then found a nice spot about 1.5 km away. Very nice sunset. I then walked quite quickly between the Martian camps to the road and the railroad tracks. Got a lift back to my camp.

The next morning I got up very early and took a jeep ride to a sunrise spot. I climbed onto a rock with a plateau. It was windy and cold. Very nice view. Marvelous colors. I then drove to Lawrence Cliff where I had tea [5].

Links and Annotations:
[1] https://matadornetwork.com/read/movies-filmed-wadi-rum/ and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wadi_Rum
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martian_soil
[3] Giovanni Virginio Schiaparelli (1835 – 1910) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giovanni_Schiaparelli
[4] I've found a drawing of such maps in: Die Stadt Gottes. Illustrierte Monatsschrift für das katholische Volk. Jg. XX. Steyl Missionsdruckerei, 1897; p. 253
[5] https://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/2021/11/drinking-coffee-and-tea-in-jordan.html

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The Grail and the Mosaic of Madaba

 

I started reading the book “Der Gral” by Konrad Burdach [1], which I already had mentioned in a German text [2]. I like the literary style of the late Burdach, which consists of high standard German, Latin and Old Greek (which I can't read, I have to admit).

Burdach tells us about the mosaic at Madaba [3]. He describes a bulbous, double-handled cup which, without the handle, would be more like a vase, but which would correspond to sixth-century depictions of the eucharistic chalice. As I hadn't seen such a chalice on the mosaic at St. George's Church in Madaba [4], I decided to do some research.

Burdach quoted a notice of three pages in the “Nuovo bullettino di archeologia cristiana” from 1897 by Orazio Marucchi [5]. Marucchi writes: “Finalmente fra le due iscrizioni, e sempre nel pavimento della nave stessa, è rappresentato pure in musaico un vaso ansato in forma di calice dipinto di colore azzurro imitante il vetro, il cui interno è colorito in rosso, per indicare che conteneva del vino.” [6] and: “Il calice rappresentato a musaico nel pavimento della basilica di Madaba sarebbe senza dubbio un calice ministeriale, cioè destinato alla comunione dei fedeli; ...“ [7] The second half of Burdach's footnote referred to a book by August Heisenberg, which did not yield any additional information to the topic [8]. Marucchi's notice included a painting of the chalice, which looked quite like “The new Lod mosaic with doves” as mentioned by Bowersock [9]. So the chalice on the mosaic could be a eucharistic chalice or a hint at the grail, but still -: why didn't I see it?

I remembered that portions of the Madaba Map had been destroyed when the new church had been built on the remnants of the olf Byzantine church. The homework of a student in Greifswald has been very helpful [10]. Rest of the old foundation had been destructed after the decision to rebuild the church in 1886. The old floor with more mosaics had been almost complete destroyed. “Only Kleophas Koikylides [11], a librarian of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Jerusalem, recognized the importance of what he saw while inspecting the construction site, but it was already too late for about 2/3 of the so-called Madaba map. Around 800,000 of the approximately two million mosaic stones are still preserved today.” Marucchi didn't have a photograph of the mosaic or of the chalice and I doubt that he had access to first photograph of the Madaba Map by Germer Durand (1897), which shows better, what has been destroyed, than recent pictures [12]. So we have to be contended with the drawing of a part of the lost mosaic in Madaba.

Chalice, vase or amphora - at Gerasa

Chalice, vase or amphora - at Petra

Now I can calmly go back to my reading about the Grail. Let's see if this leads me back into the Holy Land.


Links and Annotations:
[1] Konrad Burdach: Der Gral. Forschungen über seinen Ursprung und seinen Zusammenhang mit der Longinuslegende. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft Darmstadt, 1974. ISBN: 3534068084. Enriched reprint from the original of 1938. Konrad Burdach lived from 1859 until 1936; so he didn't see his research in print.
[2] Translation of my German text: I held the book "Der Gral" [The Grail] by Konrad Burdach, a late medievalist, in my hands and leafed through it, because you should think twice about whether you want to commit yourself to 550 pages, got stuck on p. 72 and read: "But if we walk in the light as he is in the light...". Just two weeks ago I read these verses with surprise. But I think that Isidore of Pelusium, or to learn more about his role in the legend of the Grail, were the decisive factors in reading the book. https://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/2022/01/sammelsurium-205-15012022.html
[3] Burdach, loc. cit. p. 117
[4] For more on the Madaba Map: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madaba_Map
[5] Orazio Marucchi: Nuove scoperte a Madaba (Palestina). In: Nuovo bullettino di archeologia cristiana: ufficiale per i resoconti della Commissione di Archeologia Sacra sugli Scavi e su le Scoperte nelle Catacombe Romane. Vol. 3, Rom 1897; p. 147-149. https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/nbacr1897
[6] Marucchi, loc. cit. p. 148, Translation: “Finally between the two inscriptions, and always in the floor of the ship itself, a panted vase is also represented in mosaic in the form of a chalice painted blue imitating glass, whose interior is colored red, to indicate that it contained del wine.”
[7] Marucchi, loc. cit. p. 149, Translation: “The chalice represented as a mosaic on the floor of the basilica of Madaba would undoubtedly be a ministerial chalice, that is, intended for the communion of the faithful; ...”
[8] August Heisenberg: Grabeskirche und Apostelkirche. Leipzig 1908.
https://archive.org/details/grabeskircheund00heisgoog/page/n153/mode/2up
[9] Glen W. Bowersock: Religion in Early Fourth Century Roman Palestine: The Kfar ʿOthnay Mosaics. P. 65-72; Fig. 4. https://doi.org/10.4000/syria.6289
https://journals.openedition.org/syria/6289?lang=en; photograph by:  https://journals.openedition.org/syria/docannexe/image/6289/img-4.jpg
[10] Jana Vogt: Architekturmosaiken am Beispiel der drei jordanischen Städte Madaba, Umm al-Rasas und Gerasa. Hausarbeit (Hauptseminar) [Homework (advanced seminar)] Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-Universität Greifswald, Greifswald 2004. https://www.grin.com/document/59736
[11] Héron de Villefosse Antoine. Un mosaïque géographique découverte à Madeba par le R. P. Cléophas. In: Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, 41ᵉ année, N. 2, 1897. pp. 140-143; doi : https://doi.org/10.3406/crai.1897.70936
https://www.persee.fr/doc/crai_0065-0536_1897_num_41_2_70936 Also includes a map on millimeter paper, drawn by P. Kleophas Koikylides; text in French.
[12] Yiannis Meimaris: The Discovery of the Madaba Mosaic Map. Mythology and Reality.  https://web.archive.org/web/20131106065242/http://www.christusrex.org/www1/ofm/mad/articles/MeimarisMap.html
 
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Mount Nebo in Jordan or Back to the Old Testament

 

Mount Nebo lies in Jordan and has an altitude of 808 m [1], which isn't much, but add the 428 m below normal of the Dead Sea, which can be seen from Mt. Nebo. It's in the Fifth Book of Moses (Deuteronomy) [2], which ends with the Death of Moses, who was allowed to see the Promised Land, but not to enter it. The location of the grave of Moses is unknown as is the cave, where Jeremiah has hidden the Arc of the Covenant [3], unless you feel inclined to believe, what you have seen in the movie Raiders of the Lost Ark [4].

The mountain bears religious symbols as the  serpentine cross sculpture by Italian artist Giovanni Fantoni, which combines the bronze serpent of Moses [5] and the cross. There are monuments to commemorate the visits of Pope John Paul II (2000) and Pope Benedict XVI (2009). There had been a Christian church from the Byzantine era (4th century), which was excavated between 1933 and 1938. During the excavation between 1976-1984 a new mosaic was discovered. Between 2007 and 2016 a complete basilica was built over the ancient church to protect it.

At the foot of the mountain you can see one of the wells of Moses. Mount Nebo has a good view and one can look in the directions of Jericho or Qumran (both about 25 km away) and try to make out something in the haze. What might Moses have seen? Perhaps God allowed a vision of things to be, personal, only to him, not to be mentioned in scriptures.

Links and Annotations:
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Nebo
[2] The TV series „Fringe“ ended with the fifth season and had a beginning, but I don't think that this parallel was premeditated.
[3] Second Book of Maccabees 2:4-7
[4] „In a large warehouse, the Ark is crated up and stored among countless other crates.“  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raiders_of_the_Lost_Ark
[5] „So Moses made a serpent of bronze, and put it upon a pole; and whenever a serpent bit someone, that person would look at the serpent of bronze and live.“ Numbers 21:9 https://bible.oremus.org/?ql=508480798 (The Fourth Book Of Moses)

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Strange Umbrellas and Birdcages above Streets

 

Pula in Sardinia

When I travelled this year in Sardinia and Jordan I've found strange installations. Maybe it's just a touristic / public relations gimmick, but at least I found an installation in Syndney in 2015 [1]. Concerning umbrellas I've found the Ágitagueda art festival in Portugal [2] and other canopies as well [3]. Let's have a look at my discoveries: 

Alghero in Sardinia

Amman

Amman

So there are also baskets. And I don't supect any art movement behind these eyecatchers. Just looking good.

Amman, next to Rainbow Street

Links and Annotations:
[1] https://ruthspitzer.com/2015/08/02/hidden-gem-in-sydneys-lane-way-suspended-birdcages/
[2] https://www.boredpanda.com/floating-umbrellas-canopy-street-agueda-portugal-2014/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic
[3] Someone on Pinterest has found 30 streets with umbrella canopies around the world: https://www.pinterest.de/kanamovana/umbrella-streets-around-the-world/

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The Madaba Mosaic Map in the St. George Church

 

In the center it reads in red: ΒΗΘΛΕΕΜ (Greek for Bethlehem)

St. George is an early Byzantine church in Madaba, Jordan. Church an map date back to the period between 542 and 570 [1]. As being a mosaic it survived the vicissitudes of time and is „the oldest surviving original cartographic depiction of the Holy Land and especially Jerusalem“ nowadays. During the 8th century some figural motifs had been removed, but the city had been abandoned after a devasting earthquake in 746.

In red one can read ΗΑΓΙΑΠΟΛΙΣΙΕΡΟΥΣΑ[ΛΉΜ],
which means Holy City of Jerusa(lem)

Map used in an anjacent room of the museum
to avoid explanation inside the church

In 1884 the mosaic was rediscovered during the excavations on occation of the building of a new Orthodox Church on the old site. During the 1960ies German archeologists were working on the restauration and conservation of the mosaic (Heinz Cüppers and Herbert Donner). There is an interesting work in German by Jana Vogt [2]. About 150 towns and villages are depicted on the map. Even without knowing ancient Greek one can decipher quite a lot of biblical locations.

The rather unobtrusive church

Artisan working on the Jerusalem part of a mosaic replica

Modern mosaic replica of the whole map

Links and Annotations:
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madaba_Map    
[2] https://www.grin.com/document/59736 cited in [1] as: Jana Vogt: Architekturmosaiken am Beispiel der drei jordanischen Städte Madaba, Umm al-Rasas und Gerasa. Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-Universität Greifswald, Greifswald 2004 (Hausarbeit – seminar paper)

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The Hejaz Railway at Wadi Rum

 

When you spend your desert adventure in Jordan, you will do so most probably at Wadi Rum, retracing the steps of films like “The Martian” or “Lawrence of Arabia”. Your bus or jeep will also stop at an old train on the Hejaz Railway [1].

The Hejaz Railway ran from Damaskus to Medina [2]. The name Hejaz Railway had been coined, because a very long stretch of the 1300 km was operating in the Hejaz region in Saudi Arabia. The Hejaz region is composed of Mecca, Medina, Ta'if and Al Abwa, with more 460,000 sqk, which would place this region between the states of Cameroon and Papua New Guinea. Construction started in 1900 and parts were opened in 1907, the railway was operational in between 1908-1920 with interruptions during the World War I. The original idea was to shorten the time for pilgrims to Mecca, but later it turned out that such a railway could be use for military transport. That is where Lawrence of Arabia comes into play, as he and Prince Faisal recruited in Wadi Rum and „fought a guerilla-style war by interrupting train passages on the Hejaz Railway“ [3].

Jordan is still using parts or had been using until recently: from Amman to Damascus as the Hedjaz Jordan Railway, but this service has been suspeneded [4] and from the phosphate mines near Ma'an to the Gulf of Aqaba. The phosphate railway is also history; the Hejaz Railway had been abandoned long ago and from 1975 until 2018 there had been the Aqaba Rail, which had to be abandoned because the new habour of Aqaba is without railway connection [7] There had been rumours about establishing a Haifa – Riyadh railway using parts of the Hejaz Railway [6], but maybe COVID-19 has frozen the enthusiasm since 1918.

Maybe there is another problem – the track gauge. The Hejaz Railway uses a narrow gauge ot 1,050 mm, whereas most other railways use the 1,435 mm gauge [7].

Near Shakaria you can visit the refurbished locomotive and a couple of waggons, which are locked by the way, but you can climb up and take a picture  from the outside. I like the remnants of bygone eras and visited a few of them [8].

Links and Annotations:
[1] You can look at the spot on Google Maps: 29.69965678126896 N, 35.39611450921805 E. A settlement close by (southeast) is called Shakaria, but Google always wants to correct it to Shakira. If that nips you, nips don't lie.
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hejaz_railway  
[3] https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/hejaz-railway-train-wadi-rum
[4] https://www.seat61.com/Jordan.htm
[5] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aqababahn
[6] https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20180619-israel-saudi-preparing-for-railway-link/
[7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_track_gauges 55% of world wide tracks use the 1,435 mm gauge.
[8] Here is a picture of the Uyuni railway graveyard: https://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/2021/06/lyrik-taschenkalender-2018_14.html I've also seen the train, which had been robbed by Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid – I haven't published this picture, yet. Or the train, in which Kim Song Il went to Pyongyang: https://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/search/label/NorthKorea     

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Mandi, Mandi

„Monday, Monday (ba-da ba-da-da-da)“, who wouldn't be reminded of the song by the Mamas & the Papas?! At least the song came to my mind, when I recently tried a spice mix labelled Mandi Spices on a dish of mixed vegetables and the taste was delicious. So I wanted to know more about this Mandi spice mix, which I had bought in Jordan three weeks ago.

Mandi is a traditional dish that originated from Yemen [1]. Meat (originally lamb, camel or goat, now more chicken) together with rice and Mandi spices are cooked in a pit underground. This meal has been cooked for us in Wadi Rum. The meat juice saps into the rice, which is yellow (because of the spices), but being vegetarian I didn't pay too much attention to this treat. They cooked potatoes in another container for me. Mandi is served in other Arabian countries, specially in the Levante, but also in Pakistan and India. It's a treat for special occasions like wedding or Eid al-Fitr (Feast of Breaking the Fast).

For the spice mix I've looked at some pages on the internet [2]. White and black paper is used, which I think we may agree is pepper. Ingrediends may be cumin seeds, coriander seeds, cardamoms, cloves, cinnamon,  fennel seeds, turmeric, star anise, bay laurel, ginger, nutmeg, chillies, peppercorns. The ingrediends are heated, not burned in a skillet for a about three minutes and grounded. Or you have the chance to buy it, but I hadn't seen it in shops in Germany; and I am spoiled by specialty food stores in Cologne.

This picture isn't from Jordan as I didn't have the chance to make a good picture due to time constraints. This picture is from Iran (Shiraz).

The ready made spice mix won't last long, so I'm prepared to make my own.

Links and Notes:
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandi_(food)
[2] https://www.shanazrafiq.com/2020/06/homestyle-chicken-mandi.html
http://aldanat.ae/en/mandi-spices
https://recipesaresimple.com/mandi-spice-mix-spice-powder-for-mandi/
https://cookpad.com/uk/recipes/15549950-homemade-mandi-spice-mix-masala https://nithisclickncook.com/mandi-spice-mix/

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