Day X – Madaba – Mt. Nebo – Dead Sea

Travel along the 5000 year old Kings Highway (see Numbers 20:14-21) to the ancient city of Madaba “The City of Mosaics”.  Visit the Greek Orthodox church of St. George, see a 6th century ACE mosaic showing the entire region from Jordan and Palestine in the north, to Egypt in the south. Literally, hundreds of other mosaics from the 5th through the 7th centuries are scattered throughout Madaba’s churches and homes. Madaba has a long history, dating back further than 1300 BC. It was first mentioned in the Bible as Medeba at the time of the Exodus (Numbers: 21, 30; Joshua 13:9), it was then an Amorite town close to the Moab border, and it changed hands frequently. It was named in the famous Mesha Stele, or Moabite Stone which recorded the achievements of Mesha, King of Moab in the mid-9th century BC – one of which was to regain Madaba from the Israelites. Continue to Mount Nebo (the highest point in the Moabite Range) to see what Moses saw as he overlooked the “promised land”, but was not allowed to enter.  (See Deuteronomy chapters 32 and 34). Then descend to the lowest point on earth to the Dead Sea.