The most beautiful religious buildings Dead Sea And Kings Road

The Orthodox Church of St. George built in 1986 has some beautiful icons. But above all it houses the very first map of Palestine, also called the Map of Madaba. It was displayed on the floor of the 6th century Byzantine church that preceded it. This map is considered a historical treasure, as it is the oldest representation of the Holy Land, especially Jerusalem. A Greek dedication inscription engraved in a tank beneath the church gives historians a valuable clue as to the date of construction of the Byzantine church: " This is the work which our most pious emperor Flavius Justinian had done with munificence, under the auspices of the most holy Constantine, priest and Hegumen, in the year 13 of the indiction ", i.e. after 550. The mosaic is the work of unknown artists and was probably made on the initiative of the Christian community of the city, which was an important bishopric during the Byzantine Christian era. Unfortunately, the master builder of the new Orthodox church was not impressed by this antiquity and took little care to preserve or even enhance it. He found nothing better than to plant pillars in the middle of a large fragment. Entire sections of the map disappeared in the course of the work, especially the part describing the area between Hebron and Beersheva. As a result, the mosaic is poorly displayed and is barely protected by a security cordon that must be walked around repeatedly to appreciate the details.

The map was originally quite exceptional in size (21 meters by 7 meters, as opposed to the current 16 meters by 5 meters) and was composed of more than two million tesserae.

The work represents the Holy Land, from Lebanon to Lower Egypt and the Nile delta, including the places mentioned in both the New and Old Testaments. The territory is depicted with astonishing realism and attention to detail. One can see, for example, boats crossing the Dead Sea, or fish going up the Jordan River to avoid ending up in the salty sea, or bridges spanning the river...

The artists used letters of different sizes and colors (black, white and red) that mentioned the names of biblical territories and the relative importance of cities. There are more than 150 legends written in Greek letters and, to this day, all the names of these cities have been identified. Jerusalem (surrounded by walls) and the major holy places are, of course, included in this list, as well as the names of all the tribes that populated the region at the time. This map provides a great deal of information to historians, especially about the size and influence of the various cities in the 6th century, or the flora and fauna that could be found in the different regions. Beyond its historical or geographical interest, the map is a true work of art. It deploys rich and deep colors and draws a dizzying profusion of details.

The cities. The cities are precisely drawn, like a city map without perspective. You can see Jericho and its palm trees, Bethlehem, Gaza, Ashkelon (Israel), Peluse (Egypt), Flavia Neaoplis (Nablus), Kerak. Jerusalem is recognizable by its two maximum Cardo lined with columns, its Damascus Gate or its church of the Holy Sepulchre topped with a golden dome.

The surroundings. We can thus clearly see the organization of the space of this province of Palestine, articulated around a main axis constituted by the Jordan River, which flows into the Dead Sea. The drawings evoke very well the landscapes visible in Palestine (dark mountains, bright valleys). If you look closely, you can see a lion (rather iconoclastic, because in small mosaic squares) chasing a gazelle in the desert of Moab.

Read the map. It may be wise to purchase the map sold in the welcome shop if you wish to understand the innumerable details of the map. First of all, you should know that the map faces east (east is up). The north is therefore on your left. Jerusalem, with its walls, towers, and gates, is the centerpiece of the map and the real masterpiece of the mosaic. It provides valuable information about the layout and architecture of the city in the 6th century. It shows the Cardo, the main artery dividing the city in two (with the Damascus Gate at its northern end), and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The city walls are punctuated by twenty-one towers, the main one being the so-called Tower of David, and pierced by only six gates, the last one, the New Gate, dating from 1890.

To the south of Jerusalem (on the right) is Bethlehem. You will also recognize other sites: the Jordan Valley, planted with palm trees, the Dead Sea, represented with boats and sailors. On the shores, you can see lions and gazelles. Below the mouth of the Jordan is the palm-tree oasis of Jericho. On the right side of the map you can see the colourful peaks of the Sinai and not far south the Nile delta.

The large shed at Umm ar-Rasas contains the remains of four churches, a chapel, a baptistery and four courtyards. All the buildings date back to the Byzantine period and were erected between the 6th and 8th centuries. A raised platform allows to observe their sumptuous mosaics. The most beautiful of them, and the most important archaeologically, is the church of Saint Stephen. This major discovery has brought to light the largest mosaic in Jordan in a very good state of preservation. The mosaic that lined the apses and the three naves of the church represents cities on both sides of the Jordan Valley, scenes of daily life in the Nile Delta and beautiful floral or geometric patterns. Indications left by the mosaicists can attest that the pavement of the choir was made between March 756 and October 785. In addition to the long and delicate work of realization, it is likely that its progress was also related to its financing.

The theme of the tormented river is used in the creation of the mosaic that covers the main nave. Around this raging element were represented the fortified cities on both sides of the Jordan. We find among others Jerusalem (near the gate), Nablus, Sebastia, Caesarea, Ashkelon, Gaza for the "Israeli" side; and Kastron Mefaa, Amman, Madaba, Hesban, Ma'in, Rabbah and Kerak for the "Jordanian" side. The cities are presented in the order in which the pilgrims passed through them.

This church has some of the most beautiful mosaics in the city. Discovered by chance in 1902, the mosaic would date from 568, as mentioned in the central medallion. It is signed by the mosaicist Salomios and represents the 12 apostles. The most important mosaic is in the nave. It depicts various aspects of the sea with the main subject being a woman (perhaps Thetis) emerging from the waves with all sorts of fish and sea creatures around her.

Like the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, this place was the scene of some of the most dramatic events in the Old Testament, including the story of Abraham's nephew Lot. According to legend, his wife was turned into a statue of salt for disobeying God. She turned around in her flight to see Sodom in flames. The Bible records that Lot and his two daughters survived and found refuge in a cave near the small town of Zoar (Gawr as-Safi today). Lot's daughters gave birth to sons whose descendants would become the Ammonites and Moabites. Their kingdoms were located in what is now central Jordan. Byzantine Christians built a church dedicated to St. Lot in the sixth century on a hillside above the city. The famous Madaba mosaic, which depicts a map of Palestine, clearly places ancient Zoar on the site of present-day Gawr as-Safi. On the other hand, the two words Zoar and Segor are equivalent, and mean "small", one in Syriac, the other in Hebrew. It is therefore quite likely that the cave near Gawr as-Safi is the one once occupied by Abraham's nephew. The church was discovered by teams of archaeologists a few years ago. It seems to have been abandoned in the middle of the 8th century, probably after the great earthquake that shook the region. The cave and the monastery can be visited.

The Church of the Lions is the only one on the site of Umm ar-Rasas that has three apses. The central apse housed the choir, which was situated on a raised platform that is still present. The nave was lined with a mosaic, of which a few pieces remain. These are protected from erosion and light by a thick covering of sand. A representation of Kastron Meefaa, the ancient name of Umm ar-Rasas, has been found between two columns, but the most beautiful fragment is that of two lions framing a tree, hence the name of the church.

Built in the ^6th century on the ruins of an ancient Roman temple and adjoining the villa of Hippolytus, this church contains a mosaic featuring an inscription in homage to the Blessed Virgin dating from 662. It reads: " If you wish to look upon Mary, the virginal mother of God, and upon the Christ she bore, the universal Lord, the only Son of the only God, purify your mind, your flesh and your works. May you purify God's creatures through prayer

The remains of this early 7th century Byzantine church are located in the Archaeological Park, west of the Church of the Virgin Mary. It is named after the medallion bearing the name of the prophet Elijah, which can be seen in the nave. This was once decorated with a peacock. The crypt is located under the altar and was connected to the nave by two staircases. It would be older than the church and dates back to 595. It is composed of a simple apse with 3 niches.

The remains of the church of Saint-Loth-and-Procopius are the most spectacular. The superb mosaics representing trees, domestic or mythological animals dating from 560 are now protected under a shed. The black trace on the main mosaic was left by a bread oven, as a house was built on top of this church. The site contains the remains of three other churches, a monastery and an ancient citadel (a little higher up).

The church of Bishop Sergius is reached after crossing the church of Saint Stephen. Here the pavement is much more modest artistically speaking, because the iconoclasts erased the human faces. Nevertheless, the names of the generous donors remain, as well as pastoral scenes: a farmer leading his grapes to the press, birds hunting, harvesting... The four seasons are represented in the corners of the carpet, from which the Virginia creeper spills out to form a frieze.