Introduction
The transjordanian territory was the ideal place where the christians of the region, as well as the pilgrims who came from far away, could re-live in prayer, the episodes found in the Bible relating to the Patriarchs: Abraham and Lot, Isaac and Jacob, the Prophets, starting from Moses and the roaming people of God of which they felt they were heirs.

The most moving and vivid example of christian pilgrimages in Arabia has been handed down to us by Egeria. She started her voyage from the distant west, probably from Galicia on the Atlantic Coast, in the second half of the IV century AD to visit Jerusalem. Having spent three years in the Near East, visiting the shrines and sanctuaries in Palestine, mentioned in the Gospels and the holy places in Egypt and the Sinai Peninsula, she felt the desire to complete her pilgrimage to the biblical lands with a voyage to Mount Nebo in Arabia.

Today this pilgrimage has not lost its actuality. The modern christian pilgrim has the possibility to re-live, in jordanian territory, the same experience of faith. Today’s pilgrim can visit the same places, tracing the same itinerary of his predecessors from centuries back, stop in prayer in the Moses Memorial Sanctuary on Mount Nebo, climb the Jebal Haroun in Petra, descend into the valley by the banks of the River Jordan, where John preached and baptised (anticipating), a forerunner to the message of Jesus whose mission started here.

The origin of the christian communities of Transjordan
From the universalistic biblical viewpoint, all the inhabitants of the territory east of the Jordan River are seen as distant relatives, descendants of common fathers: the Arabs, the Midianites as well as the Israelites descendants of Abraham (Gen 25,1ss); the Moabites and the Ammonites sons of Lot, the Patriarch’s nephew (Gen 20, 30ss); the Edomites descendants of Esau, Jacob’s brother. In confessing his faith, every Israelite had to pronounce, in the sight of God, “My father was a wandering Aramaean.” (Deut 26,5).

These are the common origins and traditions to which the stories of the Patriarchs go back to in the Bible, which stories frequently refer to the transjordanian territory. Jacob has a teophany at Peniel (Gen 32, 31) and his passing along the river Jabbok (al-Zarqa’) is at the origin of the cities of Mahanaim (Gen 32,2) and Succoth (Gen 33,17). The Dead Sea Valley, the Garden of the Lord, was generously bestowed by Abraham to Lot his nephew, and to his descendants the Ammonites and the Moabites (Gen 13,10ss). From the height of Mount Nebo, having reached the end of his life and mission, Moses, looked with hope at the land of rest which the others would take possession of. (Deut 4,26; 34,1ss).

Later on, the territory that lies between Arnon and Hermon was forcibly occupied by the tribes of Gad, Reuben and half of the tribe of Manasseh (Num 21,21ss). The occupation of the land became a cause of friction between Israel and the neighbouring people because the latter felt that they had been defrauded of their rights (Jg 11).

David, at the height of Jerusalem’s political power, managed to subdue all those who lived in Transjordan, making them pay tributes. He thus controlled also the caravan routes that crossed the land and which united the east with the markets in the west. (1Ch 18-20). Having fled Jerusalem as a result of the rebellion instigated by his son Absalom, David was warmly welcomed not only by his subjects but also by the ammonite governor (2Sam 17,24ss).

After Solomon’s death the kingdoms of Israel and Judah were engaged in continuous border fighting opposed to the aramaic kingdom of Damascus to the north, to the Ammonites and Moabites in the centre and the Edomites together with the arab tribes to the south. This fighting fomented mutual hatred and resentment which have never been healed. Despite this, the prophets of Judah and Israel returned to the patriarchal traditions and to the memories of David’s times to fuel the messianic hope of a future that would see all the nations of the region united in peace and faithful to the one God. A future in which Zion-Jerusalem would be mother of all people finally befriended (Ps 87).

The text of Psalm 60, 9-10 which clearly refers to King David: “Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine; Ephraim is my helmet, Judah my scepter. Moab is my washbasin, upon Edom I toss my sandal; over Philistia I shout in triumph.", is given a messianic meaning by Eusebius bishop of Caesarea on the Sea. The spread of christianity in these regions, as early as the IV century AD is taken as the fulfillment of God’s promise to David: “Those who pass through the arab regions can see for themselves the fulfillment of these prophecies when they see the great number of converts, who have filled the church of God, amongst the Moabites and Ammonites…The same can be said of those who go to Idumea there too can be seen the multitudes of the church of God” (PG, XXIII, 567-570).

Transjordan is part of the geography of the Gospel
Other sources tell us that christianity was quickly and enthusiastically accepted in the region that is beyond the River Jordan, the province called Peraea, (in Greek, Transjordan). This province, by right, belongs to the geography of the Gospel.

John the Baptist preached and baptised by the east bank of the river, in the territory of Peraea. This is witnessed to by the evangelists who all write about the beginnings of John’s mission. The most explicit is the Gospel according to John, 1,28: “This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.” (the text is once again repeated in Jn 10, 40-42).

In Peraea, the uncomfortable prophet was arrested and locked up in the fortress of Machaerus on orders from the Tetrarch Herod Antipa. Here John tragically sealed his witness to truth. Both the Gospels and the historian Josephus Flavius relate the fact.

This is how Mark the Evangelist relates the end of John the Baptist in a dramatic page of his Gospel.” King Herod heard about this, for Jesus' name had become well known. Some were saying, "John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him." Others said, "He is Elijah." And still others claimed, "He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of long ago." But when Herod heard this, he said, "John, the man I beheaded, has been raised from the dead!" For Herod himself had given orders to have John arrested, and he had him bound and put in prison. He did this because of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, whom he had married. For John had been saying to Herod, "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife." So Herodias nursed a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. But she was not able to, because Herod feared John and protected him, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard John, he was greatly puzzled; yet he liked to listen to him. Finally the opportune time came. On his birthday Herod gave a banquet for his high officials and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. When the daughter of Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests. The king said to the girl, "Ask me for anything you want, and I'll give it to you." And he promised her with an oath, "Whatever you ask I will give you, up to half my kingdom." She went out and said to her mother, "What shall I ask for?" "The head of John the Baptist," she answered. At once the girl hurried in to the king with the request: "I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on a platter." The king was greatly distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he did not want to refuse her. So he immediately sent an executioner with orders to bring John's head. The man went, beheaded John in the prison, and brought back his head on a platter. He presented it to the girl, and she gave it to her mother. On hearing of this, John's disciples came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.” (Mk 6, 14-29).

In parallel with what is related in the gospel, which does not indicate the place where John was held in prison and executed, the first century hebrew historian Josephus Flavius, after relating a defeat of Herod’s army at the hands of the Nabateans from Petra writes: “It seemed to many Jews that the destruction of Herod’s army was an act of God who vindicated John nicknamed the Baptist. Effectively Herod had killed this saintly man who exhorted the jews to cultivate virtues and to be just in their relations amongst themselves. He also preached devotion towards God through baptism. Many people followed John because they were roused by his words. Herod, fearing that this might give rise to seditious action, thought it better to arrest him. He was imprisoned at Machaerus where he was killed.” (Jewish Antiquities XVIII, 116-119).

This important site in evangelical geography in Jordan, which has been identified as Qal’at al-Mishnaqa close to the village of Mukawer, has kept the old name of the herodian fortress built to guard the southern boundary of Peraea against the onslaught of the Nabateans from Petra. The site has recently been the object of archaeological research, which started in 1978, by the archaeologists of the Studium Biblicum Francescanum under the direction of fr Virgilio Corbo. The excavations have identified the palace-fortress built by Herod, situated on top of an isolated mountain standing in the middle of the wadi (valley), as well as the city built on the steep northern slopes of the mountain where, one can imagine, John the Baptist was held prisoner prior to his tragic death.

Jesus, together with his apostles used to take the road in Transjordan when travelling to Jerusalem. We read in the Gospel of Matthew: “When Jesus had finished saying these things, he left Galilee and went into the region of Judea to the other side of the Jordan. Large crowds followed him, and he healed them there.” (Mt 19, 1-2). In Peraea too, Jesus sought refuge against his oppressors who accused him of blasphemy: “Again they tried to seize him, but he escaped their grasp. Then Jesus went back across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing in the early days. Here he stayed and many people came to him. They said, "Though John never performed a miraculous sign, all that John said about this man was true." And in that place many believed in Jesus.” (Jn 10, 39-42).

© Michele Piccirillo
SBF