The Rough Guide to Jordan (2009)

The fourth edition of the Rough Guide to Jordan by Matthew Teller was published in 2009. I had it with me on a trip to Jordan during which I had the opportunity to check (some of) the facts presented in it - down to the smallest detail.

One thing I checked was the price level. In many cases the prices are the same or almost the same as they were in 2009. The typical price to enter a museum or a historical site is still 1 or 2 Jordanian Dinars.

[1 JD is almost the same as 1 Euro.]

One important exception is the price for a visa to enter Jordan. According to the book the price is 10 JD (page 65). But in 2011 the price had doubled to 20 JD. This amount must be paid in cash and with Jordanian money. You cannot use a credit card, and you cannot use foreign money. There are no ATMs in the arrival hall, but the Bank of Jordan has a counter where you can change foreign money into Jordanian money (for a substantial fee).

This guidebook is in many ways useful and reliable, but I have to mention a few things which bother me:

(1) On page 101 we are told that the new national museum in Amman, known as the Jordan Museum, “opened in late 2009.” This is not true. It was going to open, but things did not go according to plan. In 2011, when we were there, it was still not open. Security staff at the gate told us that it would be open soon, whatever that means.

(2) On page 159 we are told that “the Circus Maximus in Rome could accommodate over 157,000 people.” This strange figure looks like a misprint for 175,000. But even this round figure is not high enough. The Circus Maximus could seat some 250,000 spectators.

[Lonely Planet’s guidebook to Jordan gives the same strange figure (page 128). I wonder where it comes from.]

(3) On page 287 Teller presents the Treasury – the most famous monument in Petra – and then he adds: “Access to the interior is barred, but you can poke your nose in.” This is not true. The fence in front of the monument is about four m from the columns which are another four m from the doorway. There is no way you can poke your nose in when you standing some eight m from the doorway.

(4) On page 366 we are told:

 

“The emperor Constantine had already converted by 324 when he made Christianity the official religion of the eastern empire.”

[Two almost identical passages appear on pages 155 and 265.]

[This is a common misunderstanding. Lonely Planet’s guidebook to Jordan makes the same claim two times: pp. 40 & 131.]

But it is not true. Constantine recognised Christianity in a decree of AD 313, but Christianity did not become the official state religion during his reign. This happened much later, during the reign of Theodosius (379-395). Some observers say it happened in AD 380, but perhaps it is more correct to say it happened in AD 391.

If you think these mistakes are minor, please remember that this is the fourth edition of the book. Mistakes # 2-4 could and should have been discovered and corrected long ago, and with regard to mistake # 1, the author only has himself to blame.

He was told the new museum would open before the end of 2009 and he chose to believe it. He decided to use the past tense for something that was going to happen in the future. Reporters often use this trick to cover an event that is expected to happen after their deadline, but it is risky, because things do not always go according to plan. In this case they did not, and the trick did not work very well.

In the section on car travel (pp. 39-40) Teller mentions several car rental agencies, but he does not mention any maps. He could mention the double map of Jordan & Syria published by ITMB. He does not. Nor does he mention the word GPS. If you are going to drive by yourself, I strongly recommend that you get a rental car with a GPS, which may help you even more than a map.

It is obvious to compare the RG to Jordan with LP’s guide to the same country. In many respects they are identical. They cover the same sites, mention (almost) the same hotels and restaurants, and give almost the same historical background. The RG is a bit longer than LP, while LP is a bit more expensive than the RG. When I study the contents, I think the RG is a bit stronger than LP when it comes to background information. Teller knows, for instance, that:

** The Roman road built by Emperor Trajan is called Via Nova Traiana (page 366) - and not Nova Via Traiana, as the LP says on page 38.

** The Roman road built by Emperor Diocletian is called Strata Diocletiana (page 366) - and not Strata Diocletian, as the LP says on page 39.

** The term Decapolis comes from Greek (page 156) - and not from Latin, as the LP says on page 338.

The Rough Guide seems to be slightly better than Lonely Planet, but not enough to give it five stars, because I cannot ignore the mistakes and misunderstandings mentioned above. Therefore I can only give it four stars.

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Matthew Teller,

The Rough Guide to Jordan,

Fourth edition, 2009, 432 pages

 

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