Madaba & MT.Nebo
Madaba&MT.Nebo
Distance by Road: 30 kilometers from Amman.
The first stop heading south along the scenic King's Way is the mosaic city of Madaba. The city lies in central-southern Jordan. Built on a natural elevation of the transjordanian plateau commands the surrounding fertile countryside that extends to the north, south and east.
Madaba has been inhibited for at least 4,500 years and was mentioned in the Bible as the Moabite town of Medeba (Numbers 21:30, Joshua 13:9, 16).
During In the early Christian Byzantine times, Madaba produced some of the finest collection of mosaics of the world which are well preserved and displayed throughout Madaba.
The most remarkable of the mosaic collection is displayed in the Greek Orthodox Basilica of St. George - an original 6th century Byzantine map of the Holyland made up of more than two million tiny pieces of colored stone tesserae.
The present-day city is known for the many mosaics found in the remains of floors of private homes and public buildings. It is the site of the famed Madaba Mosaic Map.
The Tour: St. George Church with its mosaic floor map, Madaba Archaeological Museum and Church of the Apostles with its large cluster of mosaics.
MT. Nebo- The Memorial of Moses
Distance by Road: 10 kilometers west of Madaba.
Mt. Nebo is one of the revered sites in Jordan. It is the memorial of Moses; the alleged site of Moses death and burial place. A small church was built on the spot by early Byzantine Christian as early as 393 AD and later expanded into a vast complex. The church houses a large cluster of mosaic designs featuring hunting and pastoral scenes, with a number of exotic animals including lions, a panther and a bear, a zerba and a humped ox zebo, a spotted camel and what appears to be an ostrich.
Most of the mosaics from the center aisle of the basilica are displayed on the walls of the modern building constructed to shelter the sanctuary.
Mount Nebo's highest crest reaches an altitude of 800 meters above the surrounding Belqa plateau.. The other peaks are slightly lower, all of them rising from 700 meters. Of these, the two most important, historically speaking are the peaks of Siyagha (710m.) on the western side and the peak of el Mukhayyat (790m.) on the S-E. All the year round several streams flow down the sides of the mountain: Ayoun Mousa and Ain Jemmaleh on the north, Ain Judeideh, Kanisah and Ain Hery on the south.
The Tour: Visit the Franciscan Church with its beautiful mosaics. From a platform in front of the church, visitors can see the breathtaking view across the green swathe of the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea. On a clear day, the roof tops of Jerusalem and Bethlehem are also visible.