Jordan is renowned for its long history, rich and varied culture and warm hospitality. The small city of Madaba, 30 km south of the Jordanian capital Amman, offers interesting sights, fine shops and restaurants, and a friendly welcome worthy of the Arab tradition.
Once known as Medeba, a prosperous town in the ancient land of Moab, Madaba has been inhabited for more than 4,000 years. In 850 BC, Moabite King Mesha mentioned Madaba in the text inscribed on the Mesha Stele, a stone he erected to commemorate his victories over the Israelites. Centuries later, Moabite rule gave way to the reign of the Nabataeans, the incense and spice traders who had built the monumental cities of Petra in Jordan and Medain Saleh in Saudi Arabia. In 106 GC, Madaba was incorporated into the Roman Empire. As in all their provincial cities, the Romans endowed Madaba with handsome public buildings and colonnaded streets.
The early Byzantine period, particularly the sixth and seventh centuries, saw a building boom in Madaba. The local rulers commissioned many monuments and wealthy inhabitants had lavish homes constructed. The buildings were graced with impressive mosaic floors and it is these fine Byzantine mosaics that are Madaba’s most famous attraction today.
Little is known of the skilled artisans who produced these masterpieces, but several of the mosaics are signed, and the Arabic names reveal the artists’ local origins. It is thought that Madaba maintained a training school where young apprentices were instructed by experienced mosaic-makers. The floors were made not from tiles, but from colored stone cut into small squares called “tesserae.” The vivid, varied colors of the local stone and the painstaking, expert technique of the artists produced floor mosaics that are still vibrant and largely intact today, 1,400 years after their creation.
There is a general similarity among the designs and motifs used in the mosaics of the period, since the artists followed pattern books that circulated throughout the Byzantine world. The mosaic-makers developed a traditional style that nevertheless allowed the craftsmen to express their individual creative talents. Their repertoire was drawn from five main sources. The natural world was portrayed in all its splendor, with a variety of plants, flowers, birds, fish, and animals including exotic beasts that the artists had probably never seen. Universal human activities such as hunting, fishing, farming and home- and ship-building gave the mosaics a timeless appeal. Stories and characters from Greek and Roman mythology provided many familiar subjects. Geometric designs were commonly used to enhance or frame the main images. Since the Greek language was spoken by many artists and their patrons, inscriptions in Greek letters were often included.
Madaba flourished under Roman, Persian and Christian rule until 749 GC, when a devastating earthquake buried the city and damaged many buildings and mosaic floors. After the disaster, Madaba remained silent and uninhabited for more than a thousand years. The 19th century saw Jordan’s first European travelers who began visiting the Near East in search of learning and adventure. In 1806, German explorer Ulrich Seetzen discovered the Roman ruins at Jerash, and a few years later Johann Burkhardt located Petra. Both men visited Madaba and considered it archaeologically promising.
In the late 19th century, a community of new settlers began building homes in Madaba and while clearing the foundations they uncovered numerous mosaics. In 1897, the discovery of the now-famous Mosaic Map was announced, and scholars from all over the world came to excavate, study and preserve the Byzantine-era masterpiece. The map represents the Near East from Egypt to Lebanon, including Sinai, Palestine and Jordan. Sizable sections of the mosaic had been damaged, but many features such as the Nile River, the Dead Sea and the city of Jerusalem are clearly visible.
In the following years, many other significant works were uncovered, and Madaba became known as “the City of Mosaics.” It is said that Madaba possesses the third largest number of ancient mosaics found in any city in the world, after Rome and Tunis. Many of the Madaba works have yet to be studied in detail and some still remain covered by sand.
The wonders of Madaba and its surroundings await visitors with many artistic and historical experiences to savor for a lifetime.
