Jordan culture

“This is an amazing country, which just gives and gives,” says our traveller Helen Ball, who travelled through the country exploring Jordan culture on our small group tour to Jordan. “The sounds, sights and people combine to make it unique: from the desert to the bustling town with historical sites interspersed, modern and ancient are part of it all. Learning from our local group leader – the stories of history explained from the other side – opened our eyes to so much.”

One memorable evening of Helen’s trip was an overnight stay at a Bedouin encampment in Wadi Rum. It’s an experience that features on many jaunts through Jordan, an introduction to desert customs for the guest and for the hosts a way of sustaining their centuries-old culture. Very few Bedouin still follow the old nomadic ways of their ancestors.

But while sleeping out under the stars, enjoying a zarb (a kind of underground barbecue) around the campfire, and waking to a desert sunrise is a thrilling way to learn about Bedouin life, this ever-popular activity is far from the only way to explore Jordanian culture.

One of life’s little bonuses is that getting to grips with a country’s culture usually involves exploring its cuisine as well. Jordanian cuisine shares influences with other Arabic and Mediterranean countries – hummus, baba ghanoush, tabouleh, falafel and kebabs all feature regularly on menus here. Yet Jordan has plenty of delicacies all its own, as well a winemaking tradition that’s among the oldest in the world.

Many foods, including the national dish mansaf, are served on large platters and eaten with your hands – but always the right hand, never the left. It’s common for a small cup of bitter coffee to be served to every diner before eating as a welcoming gesture.

Vegetarian dishes can be found across Jordan, but this is very much a meat-eating culture, so if sticking to your diet is crucial then be very clear at restaurants that you want entirely meat-free dishes. A big advantage of cultural small group tours in Jordan is that you’ll have a trip leader there to ensure that you can get food that suits your diet.

When travelling in Jordan, it’s very likely that you will be invited into someone’s home for a meal or drink. Not only is it considered rude to refuse an invitation, you’d also be passing up a solid opportunity to make a friend and learn more about the deep relationship Jordanians have with tea and coffee.

Just outside Petra, there’s a chance to delve deeper into traditional Jordanian cuisine with a cookery class at the renowned Petra Kitchen. Here, local women guide guests through cooking a handful of dishes before you share a meal together. And when we say it’s authentically Jordanian, we mean every aspect, right down to the tableware, aprons and table linen, all of which have been made by local co-operatives and foundations to help people earn an income and develop new practical skills.

Madaba in central Jordan has a rich culture of mosaic craftwork, largely as a result of the fine Byzantine and Umayyad examples found in its churches. The most famous is the intricate Map of the Holy Land, a well-preserved 6th-century mosaic in the floor of the Basilica of St George.

The ancient art is taught at the Madaba Institute for Mosaic Art and Restoration and this has spawned many workshops in and around Madaba. Art River Mosaic Workshop has been set up to provide training and employment for disabled people. Jobs for people with disabilities in Jordan are very limited, yet some 60 percent of the people working at Art River have some form of disability.

All the mosaics here are handmade. The stone is cut into very small pieces, a design is drawn and the stones are individually positioned with tweezers. Once all the stones are in place, the gaps are cemented, the surface polished and it is framed. This is painstaking and highly skilled work.

Art River is not a charity, it is a profit-making company, but its artists are paid an industry wage and have other employee benefits. Those who are able attend the workshop, while others can work from home if needed.