Last Morning in Jordan

We checked out of our Amman hotel this morning at 7:30, and headed south. Southwest of Amman we drove by Tel Heshbon, the site of Old Testament Heshbon. We read from Numbers 21:25 (which mentions not only Heshbon but also Medeba, through which we would soon drive) and Song of Solomon 7:4.

After about 45 minutes, we made it to Mount Nebo, where we read the last chapter if Deuteronomy together, and shared the view Moses had of the Promised Land before his death:


Clearly visible were the Dead Sea, the Jordan, Jericho, Jerusalem, and Bethlehem.

There on the mount was this sculpture combining the staff of Moses and the serpent in the wilderness:


Though access to the area is no longer permitted, there are remains of four successive churches on the site, which I photographed from a distance:


The excavation of these churches have yielded some of the most magnificent mosaics ever discovered, of which this is just a small detail:


After Mount Nebo, we stopped at a mosaic school/factory/store started several years ago to revive and carry on the ancient tradition if this area:





Around noon we headed down the long, winding road from Mt. Nebo to the Jordan, the border between Jordan and Israel.

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