Judaism · Christianity
جبل نيبو
Mount Nebo
“Across the river, where the promised land opens far away”
Photo: Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin FRCP(Glasg) · CC BY-SA 4.0
Scenes
Meaning
At the end of the ridge the Jordan Valley opens below you, and on a clear day far hills beyond the Dead Sea rise through the haze.
Deuteronomy tradition holds that Moses climbed this summit to look across the Jordan to the promised land, and there closed his eyes. At the top a Byzantine-era memorial church of Moses and its mosaic floors remain, and a Brazen Serpent monument stands facing the valley, recalling together the serpent of the wilderness and the cross.
Field notes
- Location
- Madaba · Jordan · N31.8° · E35.7°
- Best time
- Early morning, when the air is clear and the Jordan Valley can be seen far off
- Getting there
- A 20-minute drive from Madaba, with the road reaching the memorial church.
- Etiquette
- Keep quiet before the memorial church and its mosaics.
Sources
- · Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land
- · Encyclopaedia Britannica
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