THE BACKSTORY ~ Posted on the 12th Anniversary of Geographically Yours, 4 August 2022: Amazing how few pictures of Jordan have been posted on Geographically Yours! Amazing because I lived there for three months in 2001 (still looking for the pictures I took). I was a visiting scholar at the American Center of Oriental Research in Amman. My project was on the Christian population of Jordan. Every day, I would return to the library at ACOR and type up my field notes for the day. These are from March 16, 2001: “Passed up the Friends of Archaeology Tour to go to Fuheis. The mini-bus there costs only 150 fils. Fuheis is not far, just on the other side of the ridge from Suweillah. It is a Christian village. From several sources I have now heard that Muslims do not own property in Fuheis, although they live there. There seems to be a ‘conspiracy’ among the Christians to keep the town totally Christian. I am told there is a mosque, but I did not see it. You arrive in the square (a roundabout with a statue of St. George) in the middle of the village. There is a toy/trinket store, a grocery, a lunch take-away (where they gave me a free bottle of Coke), and a liquor store (yes, it sells arak along with many other liquors; you can tell it is a Christian place; and it’s not the only one in town). In the trinket store, I met the owner, Riad Jreisat and his two sons, both of whom were born in the United States. I took a picture of him and his son Ali (a Christian name?) and promised to send him a copy. The Christians in town are of three churches: Latine [essentially Roman Catholic], Roum Orthodox [Greek Orthodox], and Roum Catholic [Greek Catholic]. The medinah churches are the Latine and Orthodox churches. I took a look inside the Orthodox church, splendidly colorful icons and usual iconostasis; cruciform in shape. There must have been choir practice at the Latine Church; I could hear singing when I went by. The Greek Catholic Church is apparently upslope; I did not see it. Took a picture of the wadi, fed by a powerful, gushing spring, now channeled in concrete. Flat bottom with a small trickle of water along the side, but it must fill up in wetter weather. Trees were planted on the flat bottom land. There was a wire mesh over the stream but I could not find out why. Along the watercourse, you could see the remains of the Ottoman buildings, many of which were no longer being used. There are new houses on every vantage point all around town: suburban sprawl. I met a young man from Iraq, a village near Mosul. He was Chaldean Christian and his home village was all Christian. I think that is why he took up residence in Fuheis. The Iraqi Christians are trying to get to the US, Canada, Australia, or Denmark. They do not see themselves as permanent residents of Fuheis. The Chaldeans worship in the Latine Church – because they are catholic. He pointed out some passing young woman who he said would be going to Canada. They need money to get into these countries though, or a sponsor. Someone told me that Jordan would only have them for 6 months. There are 50-60 Iraqi Christians in Fuheis.” D.J.Z.
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