For the past two decades a 70-year old man lived in a cave in northern Jordan, alone with no water or power or reliable access to food, exposed to the elements and wild animals. An unidentified caller contacted radio station Amen FM to alert them to the modern caveman. Last Thursday the kingdom’s Public Security Department (PSD) found him and brought the septuagenarian to safety.
Amen FM is the radio station for PSD, the Jordan police. A rescue team made up of the Ministry of Social Development, the police, and the radio station found the man on a rocky ledge in Wadi Shuaib in Balqa, located about 35 kilometers northwest of Amman.
“The cave is situated in a very dangerous location. The man was living in a place that lacks the minimal basics for a decent life. He was exposed to the dangers of harsh weather, stray dogs and reptiles,” a PSD officer told The Jordan Times.
The caveman has no family or relatives. He went willingly with his rescuers and is now staying with an area resident who volunteered to care for him until he moves into a government-sponsored retirement home.
Amen FM will interview the man on Sunday to assess his situation and follow-up on any healthcare services he will need, according to Maan Al-Khasawneh, Director of Public Security Radio.
Cave dwelling is rampant across the Middle East – the Bible is loaded with references to big things that happened in these small, naturally confined spaces. Green Prophet has brought you to at least five options for underground accommodation when touring Turkey, Iran, and Jordan. But this man’s natural digs were not the stuff of Israeli luxury eco-lodges.
Hard to imagine how he will adjust to his new living situation. Unlike Bedouin cave dweller (and Couchsurfing host!) Ghassab Al-Bedoul, this old man was living without bottled gas and water. More critically, he was living alone.
You can’t live any greener than he did. Let’s hope his transition to the twenty-first century is smooth.
Photos from Amen FM Facebook Page
One last thought on the cave man. The humanoid species , probably Neanderthal and early Cro-Magnon , went through substantial development while living in caves, which protected them from the harsh elements, and wild animals (unless they had to share it with cave bears). This development included use of fire for warmth and cooking, tools for making weapons, preparing food and making clothing, cave art,; and finally, primative religious beliefs and practices. As Joe wrote, some people still live in caves in many parts of the world; and some of these have been converted into modern dwellings.
While not the best accomodations by far, with a bit of ingenuity , caves can be made to be quite livable, with “natural” heating and air conditioning.
Come on, impossible and take a look at that gear, its 2 decades old, looks in pretty good shape and clean to me.
Look Joe, it is more common than you think in the area. Most mountains are rich in limestone which makes it relatively easy to carve. While in Turkey in the 1970’s, I went to visit a man who lived in one. He had pulled electricity from a nearby road and cooked with bottled gas but aside from that, his environment was pretty spartan. My wife and I had tea with the man. Very hospitable he was. His bed was carved out of the stone, mattress on top, with a lovely view of his domain down below where he raised chickens and had a vegetable patch going. I was told by other visitors that at one time he was the Mayor of a nearby town. He had sought the peace of the cave to get away from his nagging wife. And this is the truth.
You are correct but it was the term ‘cave man’ that I was referring to and that water and food was difficult for two decades made it nearly impossible to live as described. As an Israeli anthropologist, there are still Arab/Bedouin families living in caves in the Wet Bank, under difficult conditions but they have to be in contact contact with the outside world for food. Water despite the fact that there is no rain for 9 months is no problem but isolation, sans food from outside is a problem. I totally agree with the nagging wife remark…:-)
WILMA !!!!!!!!!!!!!
We may all be living in them one day, my dear.
Prophetic!
Hey, I’m almost 70; but don’t live in a cave – yet.
Hey Maurice, I know one that’s available!