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9km away from Madaba, Mount Nebo is
the place where Moses is said to have seen the Promised
 Land,
a land he was him-self forbidden to enter. In Christian
and Jewish tradition, Moses was buried somewhere on
Mount Nebo, but Muslims believe that his body was
carried across the river and placed in a tomb now lying
off the modern Jericho-Jerusalem highway. The site was
visited by Pope John Paul in 2000 which made it flicker
into the international spotlight. Mount Nebo overlooks
the Jordan Valley, the Dead Sea and the rooftops of
Jerusalem and Bethlehem.
There are two peaks on Mt Nebo,
Siyagha (Monastery in Aramaic) and Al Mukhayyat. During
the sixth century, a Byzantine monastery was constructed
at Siyagha. It was built on the foundations of an
 even
earlier chapel, which was erected by monks from Egypt
during the third or forth century to commemorate the
final days of Moses' life. The mosaic of this period can
be seen inside the modern-day shrine at the top of Siyagha. The main mosaic depicts the monastic pastime of
wine-making, hunters and an assortment of animals.
The Serpentine Cross is outside the
building. It represents the bronze serpent taken up by
Moses in the desert, as well as the cross on which Jesus
was crucified. The palace in the village of Nebo, now
known as Khirbet Al Mukhayyat, was mentioned in the
bible as well as on the Mesha Stele. Villagers
constructed their own church dedicated to the saints Lot
and Procopius. The floor was decorated with another rich
carpet of mosaics which can be seen today.
Centuries ago, pilgrims flocked to
Mount Nebo
 on their final destination to visit the
sanctuary. These pilgrims left behind vivid accounts of
their travels, which helped archaeologists identify this
sanctuary.
A huge bronze memorial symbolizes the
suffering and death of Jesus on the cross and the
serpent that Moses lifted up. |
