Madaba, Mt. Nebo and Little Petra

My time in Jordan was off to a great start!  My next destination was Madaba, the  “City of Mosaics."  Madaba has been inhabited for at least 4,500 years and is mentioned in the Bible as the Moabite town of Medeba.  It is best known as the home of the famous 6^th century Mosaic Map of the Holy Land. With two million pieces of vividly colored local stone, the map depicts hills and valleys, villages and towns as far as the Nile Delta.  The Madaba Mosaic Map is found on the  floor of the Greek Orthodox Church of St. George, which also houses many beautiful mosaics on the walls.  The tradition of mosaic making continues in Madaba and  I was able to see some mosaic makers at work in one of the local studios.  It was really intersting to see them snip the stone into tiny pieces and arrange them into intricate patterns.  I decided to give it a go myself and added about a dozen little pieces to what is on it's way to becoming the world's largest mosaic.  It's probably my chance to be part of something that will be in the Guiness Record Book.  Unless I start practicing my hoola hooping.  Unlikely. 

Part of the Madaba Mosaic Map

One of the Mosaics hanging in the Church of St. George

Trying my Hand at Mosaic Making

 From Madaba I went just a few miles to the west to Mount Nebo.  This is the place where God showed Moses the Promised Land before he died here. 

View of the Promised Land from Mount Nebo;
Hopefully the Day was not so Hazy when Moses took a Look from Here.

Distances from the Viewpoint

Me on Mount Nebo

Serpentine Cross Representing the Bronze Serpent
Moses took into the Desert and the Cross of Christ

Mosaic in Basilica on Mount Nebo

Madaba and Mount Nebo were great, but there was still more to see this day!  I decided to go to Little Petra next.  Here the caravans from the Negev, Gaza, Jerusalem, Egypt and the Mediterranean arrived, had a rest and engaged in trade.  The buildings carved from sandstone were used as residences, tombs and storages.  Just past the sandstone buildings is a Neolithic village, dating back to 7000 BC where about sixty dwellings have been excavated.  I even begin to get my mind around how old that is!

Evidently they knew I was coming and rolled out the red carpet.

Sandstone Building

Bedouin Woman Spinning

I have the whole place to myself!

Tiles on a Church Ceiling in one of the Caves



What are you going to do if you see a sign like this?
Climb up, of course!



View from the top, where some of the ancient caves are.





And this woman was up at the top selling things.

Here are a few shots taken after I left Little Petra:

This is Lot's wife turned into a pillar of salt. 

See the crack in the rock?  That's where
Moses smacked it with his staff.  There is a
spring that comes out here, but it's all enclosed
in a this building and not too picturesque.