Uriah's Last Stand (The Citadel, Downtown Amman) Traditional Geocache
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Uriah's Last Stand (The Citadel, Downtown Amman)
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
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The Citadel is in the heart of Amman, Jordan. Lots of ruins and
walking around rubble.
*** This has been temporarily replaced by a fellow GC'er. If another GC'er has a more permanent container please help out. Thanks to the GC'er that put in a temporary! ***
The Citadel (Jabal Al-Qal’a), in the heart of Amman, Jordan is the home of ruins ranging from the Roman to the early Islamic. The name of the city originates from the city known in the Old Testament as Rabbath Ammon, home of the Ammonites.
King David captured the city in the early 10th century BC. During this battle, David shacked up with and impregnated Bathsheba, the warrior Uriah’s wife. Subsequently, David brought Uriah back to the City of David in order to have him lie (in the biblical sense) with his wife, to explain away the pregnancy. Uriah, thinking of his fellow warriors who were sleeping in open fields, refused to live in better conditions than them and therefore would not enter his house to sleep with his wife. David then sent him back to Rabbath Ammon, to the hill of the Citadel, carrying a note to his commander, Joab, which said, “Place Uriah in the front line of the fiercest battle and withdraw from him, so that he may be struck down and die.” (2 Samuel 11:15)
In later times, Amman was subsequently ruled by Assyira (8th century BC), Babylonia (6th century), the Ptolemies, the Seleucids (3rd century BC), the Romans (1st century) and later by the Umayyads (7th century).
After entering the complex you will find the temple of Hercules on your left. Built between 162-166 AD the temple was larger than any temple in Rome. Continue to the right of the path and you will see the Umayyad mosque. While much of the facade and the interior (including the dome) have been restored, you can see the original parts of the mosque. Walking through the mosque to the other side, you will come to the Umayyad palace complex. Have fun finding the cache :) There is a 2 JOD entrance fee (approx. 3 USD) and is open from 8am to 6pm (Thanks to Strandflieder for the info on the hours of operation).
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Svaq n fvta bs gur bprna, gur bar uvture hc, tb gb vg'f onpxfvqr, fgrc hc, naq ybbx hc naq gb gur evtug.