Mount Nebo and other Madaba, Jordan Off The Beaten Path Tips

"And Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho."

This is a place of huge religious significance, to both Christianity and Judaism. The Bible describes this as the place where Moses first saw the Promised Land. It is also believed that God buried Moses here on this very mountain. There's still some controversy as to whether this really is the place described in the Bible, but recent excavations of a 4th Byzantine church marking this place as exactly that suggests it almost certainly is.

The church has been rebuilt on top of the remains of the unearthed one, and inside the new walls you will find similar mosaics on the floor to those of nearby Madaba.

The Pope also visited here in 2000 to mark the importance of this site to Christians.

In addition to the historical significance, the views from the top of the mountain are magnificent. On a good day you really can see all the way to the Holy Land. With luck, places like Jericho, Jerusalem and the Dead Sea are all visible from here.

To get here you can either book a taxi, which costs 25 JD if you book it together with a trip to Bethany and the Dead Sea, which is very much advised. If you want to travel more cheaply, there is a regular bus running from Madaba for a quarter of a dinar.

Leave a Comment

According to the bible, Jesus was baptised on the Jordan river, but it doesn't say which side. Today one bank of the river Jordan is in Jordan, the other side is in Israel. Both sides claim that Jesus was baptised on *their* side of the river. My Jordanian guide was adamant, of course, that it was Jordan who had not the strongest claim, but the *only* claim.

His argument was very convincing. John the Bapist lived and died on the Jordan side of the river, ending his days to the execution order of Herod's daughter down the road in Kerak. It has been shown historically that the river Jordan has changed course over the centuries, and would have several meters inside the Jordanian border at the time of Jesus. They have found marble steps dating from the period, which were probably used for baptisms.

Most important of all, however, the Pope sided with Jordan, and you can't argue with the Pope.

The whole place is so close to the border, it is inside a Jordanian military zone. When you are driving along to the site on the tour bus, you can see Jericho on the other side of the Jordan in the Occupied Territories. When you finally reach Bethany, you can walk down to the river Jordan and stand a few feet from Israel, looking over at the Israeli's own baptism tourist site, with the Israeli flag flying proudly over it.

It costs 7JD for the tour, the bus, and the entrance fee. Don't take photographs of the soldiers, or anything military, and mind the flies. There were hundreds of them. Not biting ones, though.

This place has no public transport, so you'll need to get a taxi.

Leave a Comment

The amazing attributes of the Dead Sea you must all be aware of, but just in case you've never heard of the place, just listen to this:

1. It's a hypersaline sea, the saltiest in the world, at about 30% salinity. It's 8.6 times saltier than the ocean. This means that you can float in it. It also means that any wounds you have will sting like hell on contact, but I am told that this goes away pretty quickly. The salinity also gives the water a uniquely oily feel.

2. The Dead Sea is the lowest point on land on the planet, at 418m below sea level. The location is so unique that planes flying over the dead sea are warned that they are crashing into the ground by their automated systems. The low level means that the temperatures are at least 4 degrees higher here than in other parts of Jordan above sea level. The low level also makes the oxygen levels higher and the UV levels lower (meaning less sunburn despite the higher temperatures).

3. The human history of the Dead Sea is amazing. Jericho, the oldest constantly inhabited city in the world, sits on its southern shore. It is believed that the cities of Sodom and Gomorra also once sat on its shores. Some of the luminaries mentioned in the same breath as the Dead Sea include Jesus, John the Baptist, King Herod and even Cleopatra.

4. Geographically it is also fascinating, being part of the Great Rift Valley, which stretches from the Beqaa Valley in Lebanon to the North, all the way to Mozambique in Africa.

Leave a Comment