Population: 137 100

Madaba is located 30 km south of Amman. It has prestigious Byzantine mosaics from the VIIth century. Its history goes as far back as 3 500 BC. Madaba is called “the city of the mosaics”. The Bible locates the Ammonites’ and Aramaeans’ defeat against Moab in the middle of the IXth or Xth century BC. Madaba has a strategic position and it has always been populated during the first centuries AD, and then it fell progressively under the Roman domination.

  The Palestine map
The Palestine map or Madaba map probably dates from the VIth century (Justinian reign). It recounts the Byzantine Middle East geography. It was exhumed at the end of the XIXth century.

  Mount Nebo
Presumed as the site of Moses’ death, Mount Nebo’s altitude is more than 800 m. From there we can see the Dead Sea, Jericho and the Jordan River. In the IVth century a small church was erected. Then a large basilica was built with three naves and outbuildings. In 531, the baptistery was decorated with a mosaic. In the VIth century, there were some new improvements of the site.