Madaba and Mt. Nebo

This is the main road into Madaba, the third largest city in Jordan.

It is a city of churches and mosques. 

We are here to visit the church of St. George. This is a Greek Orthodox church built over an ancient sixth century AD partial mosaic of the Holy Land.

The mosaic is the oldest surviving original cartographic depiction of the Holy Land and especially Jerusalem.

In the afternoon, we visit Mt. Nebo, the place where Moses viewed the Promised Land and died. Too bad it was a hazy day.

At the summit is the Memorial Church of Moses, a church built between 2007 and 2016 to protect the archaeological remains and serve as a place of worship. It houses exquisite Byzantine mosaics, some of which are displayed in situ and others are mounted on the walls.

Following the visit we descend from Mount Nebo at 2300 feet ABOVE sea level to the Dead Sea at 1300 BELOW sea level on one short serpentine bus ride!