JORDAN'S ANTIQUITIES TOURISM is in some danger of becoming a victim of its own success:

Jordan seeks to preserve ancient sites
By Cecile S. Holmes
Religion News Service

Biblical history flows through the nation of Jordan, from the cave where Lot is said to have lived after his wife turned into a pillar of salt to the archaeological park where many believe John the Baptist baptized Jesus.

Abraham passed this way as he traveled from Mesopotamia to Canaan, and Moses climbed Mount Nebo to look out upon the Promised Land. In Jordan's northwest corner at Umm Qais, called Gadara in the New Testament, Jesus performed the miracle of the Gadarene swine. Near Amman is the legendary Cave of the Seven Sleepers, where legend holds that several persecuted Christian boys found shelter and slept there for 309 years.

"Jordan is the best kept secret in the world as a travel destination, especially for people of faith," said Graham F. Bardsley, a Presbyterian pastor and adjunct faculty member of Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Va.

But as more and more travelers uncover that secret, the country is trying to strike a fragile balance between attracting essential tourist dollars and preserving ancient sites from damage by visitors.

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