The Challis messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1912-current, 1924-08-20


cictv. Washington. D. CT
The report from the Near East tina
sjordania-situated as the nam,
indicates just beyond the Jordan rive
from Palestine-is finding its indie
pendence less valuable than Its PEG
pie had thought it would be, bring.
this bit Of desert land momentarily t
world attention.
Transjordania Is q new country-f
mere tieck of desert and trouble Oh
the world map. 1t Is so new that few
persons more than 500 miles from its
borders know where or what the. king
dom is. The Versailles pastry max.
ers, like many cooks, had some dough
left over after the world molds were
filed, and this was one of the odd
| cookies.
theoretically, 1t is an independent
Arab kingdom. Actually, 1t belongs
In Britain's pantry. The Arabs can
call 1t theirs, but they must not nib
Bile ii or permit any other nation to
do 80. 1t has been rechristened both
Transj ordania and Kerak, the former
to give western ears an inkling of its
location, and the latter to soothe
Mohammedan tastes.
When the leaders of the powers
which rule the world sit In council, 1t
seems quite easy to create new king
doms. Take river mountain
range, few pencil lines and different
shades of ink on the map, and the
task Is accomplished-so far as the
statesmen are concerned. New maps
are printed and school children are
studying them before the people In
the country itself realize what has
happened.
Transjordania was among the cas-
lest. 1t served purpose. Lying
just east of the Jordan river, only
few miles from Jerusalem, 1t is
buffer between the British mandate in
Palestine and the Arabs Of the des-
ert, and at the same time an irritant
to the French mandate in Syria 1t
was nodded with the confidence of
enduring for ages.
Resembles Arizona City.
Amman is the capital of the new
kingdom. That name alone might
suggest that more than a new shade
of ink on the maps and the discus
sions of distant statesmen are neces-
sary to give a kingdom permanency.
1t has been a capital for a~es.
The Ammonites, descendants of
Lot. called II Pabbath Ammon when |
they ruled there The creek which |
divides the village keeps its old name,
Nahr Amman. Og's giant iron bed |
was trophy in Rabbath .Ammon.
Centuries later this city was the
capital Of one Of the Greek republics
of Decapolis; Ptolemy Philadelphus
built an acropolis and renamed the
place Philadelphia. The Romans and
Crusaders came and 1t was one of
their capitals. Others followed. until
now 1t has new rulers.
Amman resembles Bisbee, Arizo.,
with It's two main streets Of Tomb
stone canyon and Brewery gulch-a
.reek in the valley with houses, shops,
md footpaths struggling up the hill
sides.
The main street Winds around the
base of the big hill which once was
,rowned by the massive Greek citadel.
low u pile of ruined walls, fallen COL
INNS. and broken facades. In the
enter Of the town. near the mosque
Itself ruin Of the past, Is the pro-
cenium and arch of the later Roman
heater.
Farther along, the road curves
,cross the stone bridge, passes in
ront Of the broken stone benches of I
he old Roman amphitheater, and dis I
ppears into the solitude of the
esert.
The coping Of the little bridge has
ave loitered there since toillng backs {
rst lifted the heavy stones into place. I
Tnder the moonlight the amphltheater
lands out white and gaunt. conceal
az the scars of time. Cracking frogs
nd barks of distant dogs are the c
My sounds A helated Bedouin gal '
Ups across the bridge fading into &
engineering shadow in the distance. G
Eats now are herded in the gal /
,ries through which the gay crowds t
assed to watch the sports of Roman c
avs. In front of the Arab coffee c
hops marble columns from the Greek @
cropolis lie in the road for benches.
n which dusty Bedouins sit to smoke
nd gossip.
The empires of the past which S
hose Amman as a capital built well. e
ut they and their rulers are gone p
nd forgotten. The mighty powers f
hich ruled II are a memory, but Its I
fe goes on just the same Now 1t Is p
losen again, the kingdom has been C
aptized with new name. and the "
aps reprinted ~ II 1t all were new. u