LOT’S WIFE

Practically anywhere you go in the Middle East has some sort of biblical history tied to it. One particularly hot Jordanian day, I was dragged begrudgingly up the rather harsh looking Mount Nebo to see ANOTHER church. I grumbled all the way up, having forgotten my water bottle and being almost sure that there was not going to be a convenience store once we reached the summit. Once we reached the top, I was rewarded with what appeared to be a rather tiny ruined church. I took my obligatory 10 minutes to admire the floor mosaics, and then went about the truly important business of finding the nearest vendor selling water. After asking around, I discovered that the only water available was from a well in the church courtyard. And, it was community well. And there was only one ladle. And people were already drinking out of it. Hot and bothered, I plopped down in the dirt near an olive tree and settled in to pout until my group was done "enjoying" the site.

Bored, I began thumbing through the information pamphlet that I had stuffed in my camera bag. I was sitting on one of the only points in Jordan where you see a panorama of the Holy Land and the River Jordan. The West Bank city of Jericho is usually visible from the summit, as is Jerusalem on a very clear day. The 'tiny ruined church' was first constructed in the second half of the 4th century to commemorate the place of Moses' death. Many people thought that God buried Moses under one of the six tombs carved into the earth underneath the church.

The olive tree I was sitting near was planted as a symbol of Peace in 2000 by Pope John Paul II when he visited the site during his pilgrimage to the Holy Land.

Needless to say, I was humbled. Since then, I have an immediate and ultimate respect for all tourists attractions I'm dragged miles in hundred dregee temperatures to see.

Some attractions, however, are intriguing right off the bat. While driving to the Dead Sea, my father casually mentioned that Lot's wife was somewhere in the surronding hills that form the backdrop for the Dead Sea and the border between Jordan and Israel. "Her tomb?" I said, for the most part uninterested. "No, her." he said.

I had always found the story of Lot fascinating! I thought just seeing the Dead Sea (which many believe are the final resting places of Sodom and Gomorrah) would be interesting. But, suddenly, I really really wanted to see Lot's wife (or the pillar of salt that they claim is her). It was for some reason highly important to me that I see for myself what a 2,000 year old pillar of salt that used to be a disobedient woman looks like.

I get an image of a ghostly white rather beautiful woman, with a pained expression touching her perfectly preserved features as she looks back over her shoulder while extending one delicate hand behind her. The other hand would be pressed to her heart as the smooth layers of gauzy traveling clothes envelop one another in mute testimony to the timelessness of the Alimghty.

I cannot say for sure that the powerful image described is anywhere near accurate, because it seems Lot's wife is as obstinate in death as in life, and I was unable to locate the actual site. There was some debate as to whether she is in currently in Israel or Jordan. I have looked it up on the internet, and have been informed that she is claimed by the Jordanian, and listed as one of the tourist attractions when visiting the Dead Sea (along with the tomb where Lot and his daughters took refuge as God destroyed the unpious). After a good half hour on Google, the best directions I got were, "Off the highway leading to the Dead Sea". Apparantly, I'm the only one really TRULY interested in seeing Lot's wife.

Thus proving, no one likes a disobedient woman... except another disobedient woman!