“I wonder how the Umayyads would have felt had they known that people would one day climb up to the top of their palaces to watch airplanes landing,” I said to Amar. It was sunset, and the both of us were standing on top of the Throne Hall of Mushatta palace, as a plane landed slowly and gracefully. Of course when you’re inside the plane you know it’s not slow, and not particularly graceful, but from on top of those ancient ruins, that’s how it looked.

The palace was supposed to be the most magnificent in the Middle East, but its founder, Walid II, was assassinated before its completion. There was no one else on the ruin premises, but you can see the military Humvee, with machine gun on top, guarding the little path to Queen Alia Airport just outside the ruins. The only time I saw people there, they were Yemeni workers at the Mushatta Industrial City surrounding the ruins. They had a day off and were enjoying it by listening to the radio, eating, and taking pictures from on top of the Throne Hall, where the Caliph would be seated. This morning I had shown Amar the Citadel in Amman, which was built in a similar manner: At the beginning, there is a large mosque. Then there is a long hallway that travels in a straight line in between all the structures in the palace, leading to a Throne Hall at the very end.

I brought Amar with me from Syria, as I was there the past two days. Amar had emailed me while I was in Fas, saying that he discovered the Umayyad tombs in Damascus, and since it’s only 2.5 hrs away, including the time at the borders, AND I was getting a free ride both ways, I couldn’t pass that up. Inshalla I will be able to talk about the new things I discovered on this short trip to Syria, before I get back to writing about Fas.