Greetings from Amman, Jordan, where history lends a colossal hand. It was a quiet day in Jordan's capital, a city that had endured nearly two weeks of frequent civil defense sirens during the Israel-Iran war in June. Since a ceasefire was holding, I took a break from coordinating Middle East coverage to explore local sights. My colleague, correspondent Jane Arraf, suggested the Amman Citadel, a sacred historical place I never imagined. Sitting atop one of the seven hills overlooking the city, the site is an archaeological mosaic where fragments of paganism, Christianity, and Islam from different eras and empires coexist. I had the place almost to myself, except for staff and a few other visitors. One of the stunning displays is a colossal hand sitting beside the ruins of an ancient Roman temple, which dates back to the second century. Researchers believe the hand belonged to a massive statue of Hercules. Nearby are the remains of a Byzantine church and an Umayyad palace, each monument containing unique architecture and symbolism, adding to the mosaic. See more photos from around the world, including Russian nesting dolls in Yimianpo, China; an icebreaker ship attracting polar bears in the Arctic Circle; jacaranda blooms in Johannesburg, South Africa; and 'prairie-style meat' in Colombia's Andes.
