1st Day, 21st May. Jordon-Jericho-Nazareth

Holy Land Tour- Day 1

Day one, would be a journey from Amman, through Madaba, Mt Nebo, across the Allenby bridge, to Jericho for high tea. Thereafter we proceed northbound through the Jordan valley for Nazareth where would spend the night.


Arrival Queen Alia International Airport via Dubai on the 21st May 2006. Hardly had much sleep after departure KLIA at 2am.

Our entry into Israel would be via Amman, Jordon

On the road to Madaba in Jordon.

This is along the same route the Israelites led by Moses took to end up at Mt Nebo. Called the King's Highway.

King's Highway

Our first stop would be Madaba.

Madaba is a moderately-sized city in Jordan located 25km southwest of Amman. Madaba has become known as "the City of the Mosaics" for the many Byzantine mosaics that have been uncovered throughout the city. The most famous of these is the Madaba Map, a 6th-century mosaic map of the Holy Land.

The town of Madaba was once a Moabite border city, mentioned in the the Bible in Numbers 21:30 and Joshua 13:9.

Below: Meriam and I in front of the church in Madaba.

The mosaic map of Madaba was discovered in 1896; the findings were published a year later. This discovery attracted the attention of scholars worldwide. It also positively influenced the inhabitants who shared the contagious passion of F. Giuseppe Manfredi, to whose efforts we owe the discovery of most of the mosaics in the city. Madaba became the "City of Mosaics" in Jordan.

These mosaics date back to 5th century.

Seen below is a mosaic that contains the earliest extant representation of Jerusalem, labeled the "Holy City" (Η ΑΓΙΑ ΠΟΛΙC). The map has been a major key in developing scholarly knowledge about the physical layout of Jerusalem after its destruction and rebuilding in 70 AD.

Mosaic showing the Baptism site by the Dead Sea on the right of photo. (See Day 7 for details on this site)

Road direction to Mt Nebo

It was at Mount Nebo that Moses was told that because of disobeying God's instruction to strike the Rock once, (he struck it twice), he would not be able to cross over into the Promised Land. It would be Joshua his deputy who would be leading the Israelites.

Scripture for this:

Deut 32:49-52

"Go to Moab, to the mountains east of the river, and climb Mount Nebo, which is across from Jericho. Look out across the land of Canaan, the land I am giving to the people of Israel as their own possession. 50 Then you must die there on the mountain and join your ancestors, just as Aaron, your brother, died on Mount Hor and joined his ancestors. 51 For both of you broke faith with me among the Israelites at the waters of Meribah at Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin. You failed to demonstrate my holiness to the people of Israel there. 52 So you will see the land from a distance, but you may not enter the land I am giving to the people of Israel." NLT

Memorial to Moses below.

Rising over 700m above the Jordan Valley, Mount Nebo offers spectacular views of the Promised Land as seen by Moses.

Below: Beth Peor now known as Wadi Musa.

Deut 3:29
"So we stayed in the valley opposite Beth Peor. 

Deut 34:5-6

So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD. 6 And He buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth Peor; but no one knows his grave to this day.

Both of us standing in front of the symbolic "bronze serpent"

Mt NEBO
The mountain from which Moses saw the Promised Land (Deut 32:49; 34:1), and in a ravine of which he was buried (32:50; 34:6). It was the head or summit of Mt. Pisgah (which see), a portion of the general range of the "mountains of Abarim." Josephus says of Abarim (Ant. 4.8.48) that it "is a very high mountain, situated over against Jericho, and one that affords a view of much of the excellent land of Canaan." This is corroborated by Eusebius and Jerome. The mountains of Abarim are a mountain range forming the Moabite tableland, which slope off into the steppes of Moab.(from The New Unger's Bible Dictionary.)

Marble stone, erected at about the spot on which Moses stood to look across at the 'Promised Land' of Caanan.
Then Moses climbed Mount Nebo from the plains of Moab to the top of Pisgah, across from Jericho. There the Lord showed him the whole land.... Then the Lord said to him, "This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when I said, 'I will give it to your descendents.' I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over into it." And Moses the servant of the Lord died there in Moab, as the Lord had said. He buried him in Moab, in the valley opposite Beth Peor, but to this day on one knows where his grave is. --

Deuteronomy 34:1-6

Photo below is in the same direction as the marble above for Jericho. Although a hazy day, what a magnificent view it was of the promised land.
This is the same view that Moses would have seen of the "Promised Land"

View in the direction of the Dead Sea.

Num 21:7-9
Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, "We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD and against you; pray to the LORD that He take away the serpents from us." So Moses prayed for the people.
Then the LORD said to Moses,"Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live." 9 So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.

On the platform at the summit of Mt Nebo is a modern sculpture by an Italian artist representing Moses' staff and Jesus' words in John 3: "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up."
Below: Sculpture symbolic of the Bronze Serpent that the Israelites looked up to for healing in the wilderness.

Memorial Church of Moses built on the summit of Nebo
Just inside the entrance to the left is the excavated Old Baptistery, which has one of the most interesting ancient mosaics in Jordan. The baptistery and the mosaic can be precisely dated to August 531 thanks to a Greek inscription, which also names the three workers who created it and the bishop at the time.
The mosaic of 531 is a large square divided into four strips of scenes of men and animals, surrounded by a chain-style border. The top two sections depict fierce hunting scenes: a shepherd fighting a lion, a soldier fighting a lioness, and two horseback hunters defeating a bear and wild boar.

Below: Memorial of Moses - a write up

Map of the Mt Nebo area

From Mt Nebo we descended down to the valley; passing over the Jordon river via the Allenby Bridge. Then it was through Israeli Immigration and Customs who were very, very, strict and thorough. Stopover at Jericho for refreshment on the way north to Nazareth.
Below: View of the Mt of Temptation at Jericho. See day 5 for details. Part of the ruins of the walls of Jericho which we will get to see in detail on Day 5.
We are about 2 hours behind schedule and its already evening. After high tea in the restaurant (Ahava which I think also means Temptation) below, we proceed north from Jericho along the Jordon valley heading for Nazareth. We would staying at the Plaza Nazareth for the night