Discover Jordan

We truly believe that one doesn’t always need to travel to far-flung destinations to experience the holiday buzz, and often the best holiday memories are made right here at home. There is an unexpected world in Jordan. Let›s unveil it together to meet the beauty, religiousness and history of this holy land. We craft authentic local experiences that surprise, inspire, challenge or entertain. Whatever they do, they keep you coming back for more. With a vision to inspire travelers to experience Jordan in a unique way, Alkawn-Global Travel offers you a wide array of unique travel experiences, from the aromas of Petra›s red rocks, to the warm waters of Aqaba’s Red Sea, from the pink sand dunes of Rum to the dark mud of the Dead Sea. Beach resorts, camps, restaurants, train rides have joined our portfolio which expanded over the years.

Our selection is diverse; spanning land and water, adventure and relaxation, local individuality and iconic opulence.

Travel with us and treat yourself to a different taste of Jordan!

The capital of Jordan is a unique blend of Old and New, situated on a hilly area between the desert and the fertile Jordan Valley. Explore the Jordan Museum — Discover the history and cultural heritage of Jordan at this national museum that tells the ongoing story of Jordan’s past, present, and future. Amman was known as Rabboth Ammon in the Old Testament and Philadelphia in the New Testament. The Citadel, a historical site in the center of the country’s capital, stands tall atop one of the seven hills that originally comprised the city, it is where King David sent Uriah the Hittite to meet his death.

It is one of the oldest continuously inhabited places in the world: there is evidence of people living there since the Neolithic period. The hill later became the capital of the Biblical Kingdom of Ammon, and was later occupied by Babylonians, Ptolemies, Seleucids, Romans, Byzantines, and the Ummayads.

Today, the remains of the uncompleted Roman temple of Hercules, a Byzantine church, and a Ummayad Palace can be still visited.

A spectacular natural wonder the Dead Sea is perfect for religious tourism and fun in the sun with the family. With its mix of beach living and religious history you can soak up the sun while Biblical scholars can get their daily dose of religious history. The leading attraction at the Dead Sea is the warm, soothing, super salty water itself – some ten times saltier than sea water, and rich in chloride salts of magnesium, sodium, potassium, bromine and several others. The unusually warm, incredibly buoyant and mineral-rich waters have attracted visitors since ancient times, including King Herod the Great and the beautiful Egyptian Queen, Cleopatra. All of whom have luxuriated in the Dead Sea’s rich, black, stimulating mud and floated effortlessly on their backs while soaking up the water’s healthy minerals along with the gently diffused rays of the Jordanian sun.

The Bible variously calls the Dead Sea the “Sea of Arabah,” the “Salt Sea,” or the “Eastern Sea.” Medieval texts refer to it as “the Devil’s Sea,” but the Arab people have always known it as Bahr Lut (Lot’s Sea).

The infamous Sodom and Gomorrah and other cities of the Dead Sea plain were the subjects of some of the most dramatic and enduring Old Testament stories. On a hillside above the town of Zoar (modern-day Safi), Byzantine Christians built a church and monastery dedicated to St. Lot where they believed he and his daughters found refuge in a cave after the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. The Bible says Lot’s daughters gave birth to sons whose descendants would become the Ammonite and Moabite people, whose kingdoms were in what is now north and central Jordan.

The Byzantine monastery complex near the presumed location of Lot’s Cave has been excavated and can be easily visited today. The entire length of the Dead Sea’s eastern shore — from the Jordan River in the north, past the world-class hotels, resorts, spas and thermal springs, to the broad plain at the southern end with its enormous salt formations – is easily accessible on roads from central and southern Jordan.

A spectacular natural wonder the Dead Sea is perfect for religious tourism and fun in the sun with the family. With its mix of beach living and religious history you can soak up the sun while Biblical scholars can get their daily dose of religious history. The leading attraction at the Dead Sea is the warm, soothing, super salty water itself – some ten times saltier than sea water, and rich in chloride salts of magnesium, sodium, potassium, bromine and several others. The unusually warm, incredibly buoyant and mineral-rich waters have attracted visitors since ancient times, including King Herod the Great and the beautiful Egyptian Queen, Cleopatra. All of whom have luxuriated in the Dead Sea’s rich, black, stimulating mud and floated effortlessly on their backs while soaking up the water’s healthy minerals along with the gently diffused rays of the Jordanian sun.

The Bible variously calls the Dead Sea the “Sea of Arabah,” the “Salt Sea,” or the “Eastern Sea.” Medieval texts refer to it as “the Devil’s Sea,” but the Arab people have always known it as Bahr Lut (Lot’s Sea).

The infamous Sodom and Gomorrah and other cities of the Dead Sea plain were the subjects of some of the most dramatic and enduring Old Testament stories. On a hillside above the town of Zoar (modern-day Safi), Byzantine Christians built a church and monastery dedicated to St. Lot where they believed he and his daughters found refuge in a cave after the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. The Bible says Lot’s daughters gave birth to sons whose descendants would become the Ammonite and Moabite people, whose kingdoms were in what is now north and central Jordan.

The Byzantine monastery complex near the presumed location of Lot’s Cave has been excavated and can be easily visited today. The entire length of the Dead Sea’s eastern shore — from the Jordan River in the north, past the world-class hotels, resorts, spas and thermal springs, to the broad plain at the southern end with its enormous salt formations – is easily accessible on roads from central and southern Jordan.

Through rolling hills that give way to the countryside that eventually reveals the desert moonscape that T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) once called “vast, echoing and God-like.”

Before the days of the Rashidun Caliphate, the Wadi Rum desert belonged first to the Nabatean kingdom, then to the Roman empire and, finally, to the Byzantines. It was during this last period when, apparently, it got its current name: the inhabitants of the desert —mainly Bedouin tribes who either worshiped Roman gods or had become Christians— would refer to the Christian monastic and ascetic communities established in the region as “Rum,” that is, “Romans,” a word that would apply to Eastern Romans (that is, Byzantines) and Greek alike.

Enjoy a jeep or camel ride (or both) through the desert amid sandstone hills and windswept valleys. Enjoy the sunset before making your way to a Bedouin-style camp, where you will enjoy a traditional meal as you listen to timeless music and the whispers of the desert.

Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people…..Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed Him.”
— Matthew 4:23, 25

Jerash, formerly known as Gerasa, is one of the best-preserved Greco-Roman provincial cities. Within a large ecclesiastical complex inside the city there is a fountain where Byzantine citizens once annually celebrated Jesus’ miracle of turning water into wine. Today, the “Fountain Court” is a popular destination for pilgrims who want to re-enact the travels and teachings of Jesus in one of the splendid 1st Century cities of the Decapolis.

“Then Moses climbed Mount Nebo from the plains of Moab to the top of Pisgah, across from Jericho.”
— Deuteronomy 34:1

Mount Nebo was the final station in Moses’ historic flight from Egypt. Moses and his people camped “in the valley near Beth-peor,” a place long associated with the site known today as Ayun Musa (Springs of Moses), a small lush valley northeast of Mount Nebo. Another name for Mount Nebo is Pisgah (Syagha in Arabic).

The Bible account says it was on this hilltop that the Lord showed Moses the Land that he would never enter. Moses died and was buried here in Moab, “in the valley opposite Beth-peor,” but to this day his grave remains unknown.

Mount Nebo became a place of pilgrimage for early Christians and a small church was built there in the 4th century to commemorate the end of Moses’ life. Some of the stones from that church remain in their original place in the wall around the apse. The church was subsequently expanded in the 5th and 6th centuries into a basilica with a remarkable collection of Byzantine mosaics.

The Serpentine Cross, a modern statue which stands just outside the sanctuary, is symbolic of the bronze (or brazen) serpent taken by Moses in the desert and the cross upon which Jesus was crucified.

In the year 2000, St. Pope John Paul II commemorated the beginning of the new millennium with a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, starting his visit with prayers in the basilica at Mount Nebo. He then stood on the promontory and took in the same view that Moses saw more than 3,000 years ago. The viewing platform erected for the pope’s visit remains and is used by pilgrims to enjoy the same panoramic view of the Holy Land around the Jordan Valley, the Dead Sea and the distant hills of Jerusalem.

In 2016, the Memorial of Moses was reopened after nearly a decade of restoration. “This is meant to be a place of prayer first and a place to visit because of the artistic mosaics that have been preserved inside,” according to Father Eugenio Alliata, professor of archaeology at the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum in Jerusalem. He said the site is still yielding archaeological finds. While the mosaics were being restored, he explained, “a tomb possibly never used, lined with beautiful alabaster stones, was discovered in the middle of the basilica.”

Visitors to Mount Nebo now find a church structure of limestone and pale wood housing more than 8,600 square feet of mosaics depicting a braided cross, flowers and fauna.

“The restoration has given new life and new colors to the most precious mosaics of the region,” said Italian mosaicist Franco Sciorilli. Sciorilli served as the director of final works for the reopening of the Memorial of Moses.

Mount Nebo is also an active Franciscan monastery and the headquarters of the Franciscan Archaeological Institute. It is a popular setting for Christmas and Easter Masses. A new organ now graces the Memorial of Moses.

“Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided”
— Exodus 14:21

Whereas tradition claims Moses crossed into Jordan through the Red Sea, in the south, and made his way to the north up to to Mount Nebo, what neither Moses nor his brother Aaron ever dreamed of doing was going scuba diving in the Red Sea, now one of the main reasons why tourists go in flocks to the southern city of Aqaba. Magnificent coral reefs await those who, rather than crossing the sea, plunge into its depths.