Mount Nebo, Memorial to Moses
Touring Jordan
Mount Nebo is on a ridge of the Abarin mountain range in Jordan. Mount Nebo is mentioned in the Bible as the place where Moses was granted a view of the Promised Land before his death. Jericho and Jerusalem can be viewed on the distant side of the Jordan Valley.
The Italian artist Gian Paolo Fantoni created the cross sculpture. It is symbolic of the serpent invoked by Moses in the desert and the cross upon which Jesus was crucified.
We were fortunate to visit Mount Nebo often while we lived in Jordan. The modern building of Moses’ Memorial Church atop Mount Nebo houses some of the best-preserved mosaics in Jordan. The church is part of a functioning monastery.
We occasionally visited with the archeologists in the monastery. Father Piccirillo was leading the archeology team at that time. They always had interesting projects that they were restoring. Knowing that they couldn’t do all the work themselves, they helped the Jordanian government to start a school to train people in the community on the best techniques for preserving and restoring ancient relics.
Father Piccirillo wrote an extensive and detailed book, Mosaics of Jordan. We have carried it with us for many years and through many moves since we last saw him. His hope was that his book would serve the students in the Madaba Mosaic School to learn more about the mosaics found in Jordan.
Another personal connection to the church was that our family sang in the choir at the Christmas Eve Mass for several years. What a beautiful location to celebrate Christmas Mass.
We always enjoyed the view of the Jordan Valley from Mount Nebo. We knew that as the sun set, we would start to see the lights of Jerusalem.
Remembering Father Michele Piccirillo
Additional stories of Jordan and Syria here on Medium:
Palmyra: A Greco-Roman City (Syria)
Ebla, Syria — An Ancient City (Syria)