This post is mostly a photographic presentation of monuments from Jordan (Amman, Madaba, Mount Nebo, Pella).
Amman is the capital and largest city of Jordan and the country’s economic, political and cultural centre.
Conquest of the Middle East and Central Asia by Alexander the Great firmly consolidated the influence of Hellenistic culture. The Greeks founded new cities in the area of modern-day Jordan, including Umm Qays, Jerash and Amman.
The Romans conquered much of the Levant in 63 BC, inaugurating a period of Roman rule that lasted for four centuries. In the northern modern-day Jordan, the Greek cities of Philadelphia (Amman), Gerasa, Gedara, Pella and Arbila joined with other cities in Palestine and Syria; Scythopolis, Hippos, Capitolias, Canatha and Damascus to form the Decapolis League, a fabled confederation linked by bonds of economic and cultural interest.
Madaba (Ancient Greek: Μήδαβα) is the capital city of Madaba Governorate in central Jordan.
During its rule by the Roman and Byzantine empires from the 2nd to the 7th centuries, the city formed part of the Provincia Arabia set up by the Roman Emperor Trajan to replace the Nabataean kingdom of Petra.
The first mosaics were discovered during the building of new houses using bricks from older buildings. The new inhabitants of Madaba, made conscious of the importance of the mosaics by their priests, made sure that they took care of and preserved all the mosaics that came to light.
The northern part of the city turned out to be the area containing the greatest concentration of mosaics.
Mount Nebo is an elevated ridge of the Abarim in Jordan.
According to the final chapter of the Book of Deuteronomy, Moses ascended Mount Nebo to view the Land of Canaan.
Systematic exploration begun by Sylvester J. Saller O.F.M. were continued in 1933 by Jerome Mihaic of the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum. On the highest point of the mountain, Syagha, the remains of a Byzantine church and monastery were discovered in 1933. The church was first constructed in the second half of the 4th century to commemorate the place of Moses’ death. The church design follows a typical basilica pattern. It was enlarged in the late fifth century AD and rebuilt in AD 597. The church is first mentioned in an account of a pilgrimage made by a lady Aetheria in AD 394. Six tombs have been found hollowed from the natural rock beneath the mosaic-covered floor of the church.
Pella (Greek: Πέλλα) is located in northwest Jordan at a rich water source within the eastern foothills of the Jordan Valley, close to the modern village of Ṭabaqat Faḥl some 27 km (17 mi) south of the Sea of Galilee (Lake Tiberias). The site is situated 130 km (81 mi) north of Amman.
Pella is the name of Alexander the Great’s birthplace in Macedonia. It is not known who founded the Hellenistic town of Pella in Transjordan, which makes it hard to assess who exactly gave it its Greek name and precisely why. Stephanos (fl. 6th century CE), a quite late source, seems to indicate that it was founded by Alexander himself.
During the Hellenistic period, the town formed with other like-minded towns in the region a political and cultural league known as the “Decapolis”, an alliance that grew in stature and economic importance to become regionally influential under Roman jurisdiction. However, Pella expanded to its largest size during the Byzantine period, when it was a bishopric in the province of Palaestina Secunda.
(Important Note: ALL photographs of this post added to the sourced texts by NovoScriptorium after kind courtesy of our friend Ben Lee – ALL photographs originally taken by Ben Lee)