We are delighted that world-renowned archaeologist Dr Konstantine Politis is leading our extraordinary small-group trip to Jordan in October 2018. Here he talks charismatically about the spectacular sites we will visit, his own groundbreaking work in Jordan and the Middle East, and the stunning night’s sky in the Jordanian desert.
What first drew you to archaeology?
Well, that goes back a very long time. I remember digging in my grandparents’ garden, basically, and just liking to be in the dirt. They’d have little bits of pottery in the garden and that’s what excited me as a child.
When did you first go to Jordan and why do you find it so special?
That was a long time ago now – September 1984. First of all, I was working in the Jordan Valley – and that’s a very special place. Even if you’re not religious, you see the sunsets, you see all this ancient and biblical archaeology and it’s pretty inspiring. Quite literally the sunsets there are very different from anywhere else and it has such an amazing landscape. Jordan is very rich in all periods of history, whether you’re interested in pre-history, early man or up until the Ottoman Empire and the later 20th century. It’s a very rich cultural part of the world and it’s spiritual too.