Sela Due Traditional Cache
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Sela castle is located in Tafila south of Jordan, about 2hours and half drive from Amman, i would say that 99% of Jordanians haven't heard of it and for sure haven't been there, including the people of Tafila!!! that makes it more exciting to discover....
Sela was the capital of Edom, situated in the great valley extending from the Dead Sea to the Red Sea
Sela (the rock from which King Amaziah hurled 10,000 Edomites to their death);
It was near Mount Hor, close by the desert of Zin. It is called "the rock" When Amaziah took it he called it Joktheel (also spelled Jokteel (JPS) and Jectehel (DRB) "the blessedness of God" or "subdued by God";[1] Latin: Jectehel) or Kathoel in the Septuagint. It is mentioned by the prophets (Isaiah 15:1; 16:1; Obadiah 1:3) as doomed to destruction.
Sela is identified with the ruins of Sela, east of Tafileh in Jordan (identified as biblical Tophel) and near Bozrah, all Edomite cities in the mountains of Edom.
Sela appears in later history and in the Vulgate under the name of Petra. "The caravan of all ages, from the interior of Arabia and from the Gulf of Persia, from Hadhramaut on the ocean, and even from Sabea (Sheba) or Yemen, appear to have pointed to Petra as a common centre; and from Petra the tide seems again to have branched out in every direction, to Egypt, Palestine, and Syria, through Arsinoe, Gaza, Tyre, Jerusalem, and Damascus, and by other routes, terminating at the Mediterranean." (See Edom [2].)
to reach Sela fort you have to drive down a valley where you can leave your car and start a hike, the walk is not very long, it took us about an hour (it should took less, we were going on relatively slowly), there should be around 300 steps to reach the top, i haven't counted, but there are quite a lot.
once you are on top don't expect a castle or fort like Shobak or Karak or Ajloun, you will find some opening (like doors) in rocks, some steps, the scenery is very nice though and worth it
note: to drive down the valley it's better if you have a 4x4 car even though not necessary, we did it in our small 1200cc car
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
haqre pnabcl
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