Friday, July 20, 2012
Mt.Nebo, Jordan
Last week I finally got back to Jordan and it was finally not raining or snowing, so I was able to spend a day sight seeing. I got the same driver as before and we talked through the agenda and there is SO much to see just on the outskirts of Amman! I wanted to see the Dead Sea for sure, then there was the town of Madaba where all the churches have intricate mosaics made from stones. And my driver was like "oh do you want to go see where Jesus was baptized?" ???@!!!! Really- did I want to see it? Was he serious? Of course I did. So we ended up on the road for over 6hrs but it was so worth it.
Madaba was our first stop. It is a local town, with no buildings over 2 stories. The churches were nice, but after seeing the Hagia Sophia and the White and Blue Mosques, they seemed very small and not as impressive to me. So I had to change my mindset- these were churches built in the first centuries, and these mosaics survived over a thousand years, and these were small towns, etc, etc, I tried to wrap my head around all the history of it, and it worked- kindof.
Next we drove up and up and up into the mountains to see Mt.Nebo. The site is very famous, mentioned in both the Bible and the Torah, and lots of connections to Moses. There was a monastery and basilica built on the site in the 4th century, so more mosaics, and the monastery was a very large complex which is mentioned in many illuminated manuscripts.
The odd thing when I was there, the mosaics from the floor of the basilica had been razed and put outside under a tent. The site of the basilica not had what looked like a modern day pole barn construction on it, and the church was no where to be found. My driver told me "Oh yeah, they tore down the old one and they're building a new church there. !!! What? I can not believe they just tore down the 4th century church because they want a better one with a tourist center!
NOW; Not to get political or religious- but this was kind of a re-occuring theme throughout my day. All these Christian sites are not in modern day Jordan, which is a Islamic country, and as I was touring these sites I got the feeling that they really don't care so much about these places as it is not their "holiest of holy" sites like if it was Mecca.
The BEST part of my trip to Mt.Nebo was the views. O.M.Goodness, the views. From Mt.Nebo, Moses showed his people the promise land, and you can see for miles. The heights, and depths, and mountains... my pictures can not even begin to show you. It felt like I was dreaming because it was just barren and so massive for as long and far as I could see. Completely breathtaking. A great memory.
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