Madaba Mosaic
The current issue of National Geographic History magazine (Vol. 7, No. 1) has a short article about the Madaba mosaic. The mosaic was one of the few things we got to see in Jordan last March before our trip was cut short because of Covid. It's unusual in that east, rather than north, is at the "top" of the mosaic.
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The town and the mosaic were certainly interesting during our visit to Jordan in October 2018. Hopefully, you can get back to Jordan to see what you missed. It is certainly an intriguing country.
I'm booked on the trip for March 2022. (March 2021, which I had booked, was cancelled.)
We hope to see it then as well.
MCD - I didn't realize the direction thing w/r to the mosaic. Even looking at my pictures it's hard to decipher. Here's a couple of the pictures from the site.
Here are some more Madaba, Greek Church, and Mosaic shots. You can also see our group having lunch and heavily in conversation after a long morning.
I have similar photos. I bought souvenir purses (made by Jordanian women) in the craft shop attached to the restaurant.
I was there in Nov 2019. I remember the mosaic and the lunch, but don't recall the lecture. Wonder if we were running late or some issue with the guide. Hmmm...
Our lecture was before we actually went to the church to see the mosaic.
The lecture in the picture was given by our local guide.
We'll certainly look forward to this in Sep 2022.
Early western maps were originally "oriented," literally meaning placing the "Orient" (Jerusalem) at the top so it's exactly what to expect of a 6th century map, especially in a church.
North at the top is a much later convention established (or at least dominated) by Claudius Ptolemy's use of it in his Geographia (an atlas for all intents) in the 16th century. Our long departed Cocker Spaniel was named Ptolemy which tells you something about me (his half-brother was Mercator).
Near the top of the Madaba map is a depiction of the Jordan River flowing into the Dead Sea (to the right, with a boat), which makes sense, since it would be the southern terminus of the Jordan. On Smiling Sam's and Virginia Traveler's photos, you can see the Old City of Jerusalem surrounded by a wall (in a horizontal white oval) somewhat underneath. I admit that, while I do recollect hearing about the orientation of the map in the lecture on the Tauck tour, I am relying on an excellent description in the National Geographic article, which I would post here but for copyright concerns. I'm sure that you can find it on the internet somewhere.
So who purchased an autographed copy of "I Married a Bedouin" at Petra?
Never made it to the Petra ruins -- just to the hotel across the street, in time for the Jordanian government to close all tourist sites. Maybe next time.