Madaba and Mt. Nebo – The Land of Mosaics, an Introduction to Christian Jordan

July 10, 2023 by admin

Just south-west of Jordan’s capital Amman lies a little piece of the Holy Land steeped in old and new testament history. This area consists of the urban center of Madaba and the hilltop shrine of Mount Nebo, a one-two combo of attractions that can rival most in the Holy Land, or anywhere in Jordan for that matter. Welcome to a slice of Christian Jordan, an important community within the mostly Muslim land that surrounds it.

PS: If you like Byzantine and Arab Era mosaics, you will have enough to see here for a lifetime.

Madaba
Mt. Nebo
Conclusion

Madaba

Considered to be a hotspot of Christian in Jordan, it is also a great spot to find a shot with cheap alchool. Only certain hotels and christian shops can sell the holy drink and as such this is a great place to avoid the heavy markups you will find in Petra and most of the lands south of Madaba.

You will find free parking near the very pretty stone built visitors center. Inside you will find a free two-room museum.

Old Town of Madaba

The picturesque town core combines many elements that are typical of early Jordanian society, notably that of the resettlement of abandoned ruins. You see the city was occupied by the Persian Sasanian Empire and then the Arab Umayyids before it was levelled by an earthquake in 746 A.D.

An important bishopric during the Roman and Byzantine Empires it was resettled by 90 Arab Christian-convert families from Al Karak, in the south of Jordan in 1880. The mission was led by two Italian priests from the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem and since then the region has rebuilt a christian presence. It is during this period that archaeological research began on the ruins leading to the archaeological parks seen later in this post.

The town mostly consists of stone buildings as well as beautiful little churches. There are many shops and restaurants and it has become a bit of a tourist hot spot due to the Madaba map.

Madaba Archaeological Park I

From the parking lot, the easiest place to visit is that of the first Madaba Archaeological park. Located in the very center of the city it is much more expansive than what I thought it would be like. The second Archaeological Park, the one that contains the ruined foundations of the Burned Palace, a 6th century building, and can be found on the opposite block near the church of the martyrs. I found it to be less impressive than the first park in my own personal opinion. Both parks are covered by the Jordan Pass.

The park is walled off from the rest of the city so you will need to find the gate.

From here there will be a ticket office. There are always a few people trying to sell you on tours, but you do not need it. These imposters have little knowledge of the site and will not add to your experience.

Inside the site you will find the a warehouse housing the remnant of the Virgin Mary Church and a collection of artifacts from the larger Madaba area.

The warehouse is navigable by cat walks that will give you a view of the mosaics below.

The centrepiece of the Virgin of Mary church is its circular main hall with its finely decorated floor. It is estimated that the Virgin Mary church dates from the 7th century A.D and was built over the nearby Hippolytus Hall.

Just beside the church you will find the the Hippolytus Hall. It was discovered under the church vestibule by the homeowner Sulayman Sunna in 1905, while digging beside the Church of the Virgin Mary that he had discovered 10 years earlier.

The mosaic is in in provenance of a private villa from the 6th century. It depicts scenes seen in Byzantine times through the tragedy of the Greek dramatist Euripides. The play follows Hippolytus, son of Theseus, who is a follower of the goddess Artemis. This worship angers Aphrodite who plots her revenge against him. You can read more about the play here.

Outside you will find more items on display. This exhibit has an item from the 1st-century and is the oldest mosaic found in Jordan.

You will also find the remnants of a Roman Era road, my favourite part of the archaeological park.

Among the items scattered about are relics of Roman presence such as columns, and pedestals, many of which were pillaged by the later Arab invaders to fund new construction, a process that is quite common in history.

Don’t miss the Crypt of Saint Elianus, located on the south side of the Roman street opposite to the Hippolytus Hall. This cavern is decorated with some beautiful mosaics from 595 and is located under the destroyed Church of the Prophet Elias.

Church of the Martyrs & Archaeological Park II (including the Burned Palace)

As mentioned previously the second archaeological park can be accessed via the Church of the Martyrs. Here you will find the foundations of the burned palace and get a cool view of the golden Hussain Mosque dome.

St. George’s Greek Orthodox Church and the Madaba Map

The most popular sight in Madaba is surely the famous Madaba Map. Located in the picturesque St. Georges Orthodox Church in the north-eastern corner of the city’s core.

The 19th century orthodox church houses the leftovers of Madaba’s old St. George Byzantine Church.

On the church floor is the Byzantine mosaic of the old church. Called the Madaba map it is the oldest map of the Middle east, particularly the Holy Land and includes many of the important towns and cities, especially Jerusalem.

King Hussain Mosque

I cant make it through this post without mentioning Jordan’s majority religion Islam. Even though this part of Jordan is strongly tied to Christianity historically, there is still a large Muslim population. Their main shrine is the King Hussein and is known for its golden dome. It looks rather new to me but I couldn’t find much info on the structure out there!

Madaba Archeological Museum

This is another one of those hard to find places in Madaba. Established in 1978, the Museum is located in a residential courtyard at the end of a blind alley that branches off from Balqa Street. The institution consists of several old houses and courts which display mosaic floors found on site or retrieved from other locations for conservation purposes. The most important piece of this collection is the The Bacchic Procession, the first mosaics encountered by the Christian Bedouins of Karak, who settled on the ruins of Madaba in 1880.

Tell Madaba West Acropolis and the Al-Masarwa Cathedral Ruins

Little is left of the tell Mabada archaeological site but ruined archways. Worth taking a look if you have time. This warning applies doubly to the Al Masarwa Cathedral ruins.

Church of the Apostles

Hope you are not sick of mosaics yet! This simple rectangular church from 578 A.D is is famous for the twelve apostles figures inscribed on the walls of the church and its wealth of …. you guessed it, mosaics! This church is also free withe the Jordan Pass.

St. John the Baptist Roman Catholic Church

Located on the western side I would say that this church is the most underrated in the city, where St. Georges is packed with tourists, St. John’s is almost devoid of them.

I cracked a smile when I saw that it was the shrine of the Beheading of John the Baptist, I had recently visited the fortress of Machaerus and as such it I was thrilled to continue learning about this fascinating figure.

In the courtyard you will find the detritus of times past with ancient columns displayed for all to see! The church itself is of Roman Catholic denomination and dates from the 20th century.

Inside the church you will find a small museum with pictures of the old city as well as another mosaic. The pictures are dating from 1902 to 1911 the mosaic is a replica of those found at Umm Ar Rasas.

The coolest part of the church is a “Secret Staircase” leading down to to the Acropolis Museum.

The crypt displays several levels of history dating from the Maobite era on. It also has more collections of mosaics on display. The Kingdom of Moab is a Semitic kingdom often opposed or in conflict with the early kingdom of Israel.

You of course you have a shrine to St. John in the basement, with his head on a platter, as ordered by Salome to King Herod Antipas at Machaerus.

For those not so familiar with the story of John the Baptist, the story is laid out for visitors nearby. As an aside, I wish more historic churches did this type of display for those less familiar with the biblical stories they are named after, it really ads to the appreciation of the building and the subject of its affection.

The next display ties in to the land of Moab. The display is the tent of Ruth and takes place between the 12th and 11th centuries.

It involves a woman named Naomi and her husband, Elimelech that immigrate to Moab. Elimelech dies, and Naomi’s sons both marry Moabite women. The sons die but one of the two step-wives called Ruth desires to accompany Naomi back to Israel. She converts to Judaism and it his here that Ruth goes to a man named Boaz’s tent and lays herself at his feat. They would marry and it is her line that would lead to that of King David himself.

You can find the whole story here.

From here a narrow vaulted passageway takes you to the ruins of a byzantine church.

You will also find a giant cross.

…and passageways.

As well as the remnants of more Byzantine mosaics.

Before you leave make sure yo check out the 3000 year old Moabite well, it is surprisingly still operational!!!

Take a second to admire the church interior.

From the church hall, climb the tower up to the belfry. You will have to manoeuvre around the bells and the space is tight.

From the top you will have a fantastic view of the city!

Mt. Nebo

Mt Nebo, the famed holy place where Moses looked down at the land of milk and honey – the promised land of Canaan – before delivering his last breath (Book of Deuteronomy), is a viewpoint of historic and culture value to both Christians and Jews. Unfortunately, just as my luck would have it, the clear day that I was promised had not materialized leaving the view of Moses a tad incomplete!

The site and church complex requires a ticket that you can purchase at the front gate. This is understandable as much work has gone into the maintenance of religious and cultural artifacts on the site. After all this is an archaeological site of great importance and a lot of work has gone into preserving the original byzantine mosaics found on site.

According to christian tradition Moses was actually buried on Mount Nebo after ascending to see the Land of Cannan but this is disputed as many other places claim to contain his grave including Nabi Musa. In 2 Maccabees (2:4–7), the prophet Jeremiah hid the tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant in a cave located on Mount Nebo.

Just for the record, I am atheist, but I really enjoyed what they have done with the site here (I’m giving the church a thumbs up on this one! – Fantastic).

One of the first exhibits on the site is one displaying the history of the site in therm of the archaeological digs conducted here, much of witch was conducted by highly educated Franciscan monks and priests. You will find a roofed structure over exterior mosaics and placards that detail the first digs by Sylvester J. Saller, continued in 1933 by Jerome Mihaic and then taken over by Bellarmino Bagatti in 1935. Virgilio Canio Corbo later excavated the interior of the basilica. In 1963, he was put in charge of restoring the original pavements for exhibition. As you can see this has been an active dig site for a large part of the 20th century.

While walking up to the highest point of the mountain, Syagha,you will find the the Abu Badd. This rolling stone known was once used as the fortified door of a Byzantine monastery in the village of Faisaliyah (Kufeir Abu Badd).

At the top of the hill you will find the Moses Memorial Church, a structure that houses the remains of a Byzantine church and monastery that were discovered in 1933.

In front of the chapel you will find the remains of the old monastery foundations.

As well as this pretty olive three, planted by Pope John Paul II during his visit. During his visit he planted an olive tree beside the Byzantine chapel as a symbol of peace.

At a lookout point near the chapel you will find a serpentine cross sculpture (see the Brazen Serpent). It is symbolic of the bronze serpent created by Moses (Numbers 21:4–9) and the cross upon which Jesus was crucified (John 3:14).

From the lookout a sign will tell you the direction of many biblical towns but it was too foggy to see very far. I need to come back when its sunny!

After you enter the modern memorial church you will get to see the ruins of the remains of the byzantine era chapel, the first to be erected on the site. It was constructed in the second half of the 4th century to commemorate the place of Moses’ death.

The church is typical of Roman basilica’s. It was was enlarged in the fifth century in 597. It was an important place of pilgrimage in the early medieval era.

The most stunning part of the site is the remnants of richly detailed mosaic floors. Lastly six tombs have been found hollowed from the natural rock beneath the mosaic-covered floor of the church. You will be able too see the mosaics from the guardrail & catwalk system taking you through the site.

Conclusion

I hope this brief oversight of Christian Jordan was enough to entice you to this small Middle-Eastern nation. Yet it should be but a part of your adventure of discovery. Jordan is a land with much to discover including a wealth of ancient Roman remains, Circassian Muslim town centers, ancient Nabethian Ruins, Crusader castles, Ottoman town cores, desert castles and much more.