Oldest Mosaic Map, Mount Nebo and the Dead Sea

On my first Saturday in Jordan I got to experience the first of the two field trips that we have planned for this Study Abroad. Yet another reminder that the focus of this program is the Arabic language not the Jordanian history and fun facts, although, as a true archaeologist in the making I try to fit in a little of this too.

First stop on the itinerary was Madaba and a short visit to a Greek Orthodox church which houses the oldest mosaic map that has been discovered thus far. It is a picture of the Holy Land used by the early pilgrims during the crusades to get an orientation of the lands they were travelling. I saw a similar map when I was in Greece last year but it was focusing on the travels of Paul instead.

The picture of of the map in Greece (my camera was out of batteries when we were in Madaba so I don't have any pictures from it)

After Madaba we headed to Mount Nebo. The drive there followed the road known as the Kingæs Highway, which is actaully mentioned in the bible. 

"Let me pass through thy land: we will not turn into the fields, or into the vineyards; we will not drink of the waters of the well: but we will go along by the king's high way, until we be past thy borders"

Numbers 21:22

Mount Nebo was magical. The view was beautiful and stunning and almost everything a view should be. The picture below almost does it justice. I loved being able to visit this site after having hiked Sinai in Egypt. It's like I've experienced both ends of the journey of Moses. The beginning when he got his calling from God through the Burning Bush on Sinai, and the end where he finished his work on this earth on the top of Mount Nebo. Wow, just thinking about it now makes me super excited! I realize these may not be the exact places, especially Mount Sinai, but I still think it kind of counts. There is so much history in these countries that just come to life when you get to be there to experience it yourself. Looking out over the view of the Promised Land from Mount Nebo and imagining to be Moses seeing the country that the Israelites would be given is such an enlightening experience. I wish the sky was clearer but according to our Dil the Boss we were extremely lucky to see as much as we did. The heat here causes the air to become less clear and so it is hard to see very far, although supposedly one could see the beginning of the hills of Jerusalem from where we stood.

View of the Holy Land

Memorial marker for Moses

I guess this is how I felt one poses when on Mount Nebo

Stone tools! There is a small museum at the top of the mountain with artifacts found during the excavation of a church that was discovered at the site. Supposedly the mosaics are to die for, but the housing for them was being remodeled. I will just have to come back in 2014...

After Mount Nebo we headed off to our third holy site for the day: The River Jordan. It is a small, lazy river but would have been much larger in the days of Jesus. Today it is drained by both Israelis and Jordanians before it reaches the point in the picture, as well as filled with waste water from the surrounding agriculture. The river is actually one of Jordan's main sources of water. (Okay, I'm only writing all of these details because I had to read an article about it for one of my Arabic classes). The weirdest part of the experience of the Jordan was looking across the three meter wide river into Israel. I've looked across and crossed plenty of borders before but never stood so close but felt so far away. Part of it was probably the fact that there was a river between, but most of it was because although the crossing of the river looked easy I knew that it would be one of the hardest things to actually do because f the extreme security they have on the boarders here. Not quite the same as driving across the boarder to Sweden...

When we first got to the river people were actually getting baptized! There is a hotel right across from the Jordanian view point and apparently the guests there could rent a white robe and go into the river itself and get baptized, under heavy supervision from security forces of course.  What a weird experience that would be. It was also possible to enter the river from the Jordanian side so I got to touch the water. Another check on my Bucket List: Touch the Jordanian River and not get shot: Check.

Russian orthodox church on the banks of the River Jordan. There were churches of all types everywhere around this area.

This is the site that Byzantine traditions believed Jesus was baptized, it would of course have been filled with water and acted as a little pool on the side of the river itself.

People on the Israeli side getting baptized. There were about five of them when we first came.

A dove! By the river. I thought that was kind of wonderful.

The next and final adventure of the day was the Dead Sea. Okay, so I have read about the Dead sea tons of times and imagined what it must be like to just simply float by myself but it just can't be imagined properly. Really, I could try to explain the feeling of letting go of the ground beneath me and expecting to sink, at least a little, and then realize I am perfectly buoyant, but it just has to be experienced. One thing people had never told me about the Dead Sea though is how absolutely horrible it tastes and how it makes every single cut and soar you have burn. Do not drink the water! I guess with 20% salinity not many people would be tempted but I accidentally splashed a little and some landed on my lips and the taste was brutal. One of the other students on the trip suggested drinking the water could be a form of torture and I'm pretty sure I'd break quickly if that was used on me.

And of course no trip to the Dead Sea would be complete without a good exfoliating mud bath. 

So final story of this post: They sell buckets of mud at the beach for those who are interested but one of the students managed to find some under the sand in a certain area of the beach. After we had all covered ourselves with it the mud bucket man came down to tell us that the mud we were using was from a waste drain he was standing next too. We unanimously decided that he was only saying this because he was mad at us for finding our own mud and not buying his...