A continuation of faith between the Old and New Testament
The continuation of faith between the Old and New Testament is further underlined by the biblical citations and the churches built by the christians of Jordan in honour of the prophets of the Old Testament.

The christians of the region built a church to honour Moses, on the top of Mount Nebo in the Madaba territory. This church soon became the destination of many pilgrimages. Aaron, brother of Moses was remembered and venerated in a church built on the crest of Jebal Haroun at Petra, he is also mentioned in the Papyri of Petra as, “the saintly High Priest Aaron”. An inscription found on one of the towers at Umm al-Jimal, “glory to the God of Abraham, of Isaac and of Jacob” is rendered.

Lot, Abraham’s nephew and forefather of the Ammonites and Moabites, was venerated as a martyred saint. A sanctuary dedicated to the patriarch in the vicinity of Zoara to the south of the Dead Sea, has recently been brought to light, on the slopes of the mountain to the east of Ghor es-Safy, by an archaeological expedition lead by Constantinos Dino Politis.

Great onomastic veneration is witnessed to the Prophet Elijah born in Gilead (1 K 17,1). Two mosaic inscriptions which are found in the basilica dedicated to him in the city of Madaba, record the faith the christians of this moabite city had in the prophet’s powerful intercession: “he who is placed beyond the corruption that has overtaken all human nature, he who has brought back the people of Israel to the only truth”. The christians turned to him to intercede before God on their behalf to provide rain to a city that lacked water springs: “You who with your prayer sets in motion, as is fitting, the clouds, bearers of rain, and who shows mercy to the people, O prophet, remember also the benefactors and this humble city”.

Psalms are very often cited in inscriptions. Frequently, with the usual form of salutation, “Peace to all”, we find on the doors or at the entrance of churches , a citation from Psalm 121, 8 “The Lord will watch over your coming and going”, or else Psalm 118, 20 “This is the gate of the Lord through which the righteous may enter”, or Psalm 87,2 “The Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob”.

The citation from Psalm 65, 5b “Holy is your temple marvelous in righteousness”, referred to the holiness of the churches in which the christians met to lift up their prayers to God.

Psalm 86, 1-3 becomes one of these invocations: “Hear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. Guard my life, for I am devoted to you. You are my God; save your servant who trusts in you. Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I call to you all day long”. On the tower at Umm al-Jimal we find the text of Psalm 22, 11 liberally adapted from the greek translation (LXX): “From my mother's womb you have been my God. Do not be far from me”, as well as Psalm 35, 1 “O Lord God judge those who accuse us, wage war against them with your power.”

In the vicinity of the altar which gives new meaning to the sacrifices of the Old Testament offered in the temple of Jerusalem we read from Psalm 51,19 “Then there will be righteous sacrifices, bulls will be offered on your altar”.

In the baptistery area in the cathedral of Madaba, we find a citation from Psalm 77, 11b “The power of the Most High is no longer what it was” referring to the baptismal rebirth.

An organised community with bishops, priests and deacons
The dioceses in Transjordan were normally lead by bishops. Except for Bostra and Petra whose christian communities were lead by the archbishops and metropolitans upon whom depended the bishops of the Provincia Arabia and Palaestina Tertia. Thanks to the inscriptions found in the mosaics, we are now in a position to give a nearly complete list of bishops for Gerasa, Bostra, Philadelphia-Amman (which is less complete) and Esbos. The list of bishops for Madaba is complete for all of the VI century, the first decade of the VII up to the second half of the VIII century.

In the inscriptions, some bishops are praised for their wisdom, others for their goodness and meekness. Without giving too much weight to titles such as “most holy and most loved by God”, the mosaicists do emphasise the zeal the bishops had for the house of God, in common with the priests and the other members of the clergy.

The bishops were assisted by arch presbyters, priests, archdeacons and deacons, by deaconesses, lectors, paramonarii and oeconomi of the churches. There are also remembered monks and their egumenoi and presbyters.

According to the inscriptions, the sacred buildings were built with the participation of the people, lovers of Christ, with funds from the church itself, or with offerings of private and official donors. Normally they were built with the offerings of the faithful of the town or village always with the cooperation of the saint in whose honour the church was built, and with the help of God and Christ who are described as being the true builders.

The funds for the construction were offered as votive contributions to Christ, for the remission of sins, towards the salvation of those who gave the offerings, as well as in memory and for the repose of their dead relatives. The inscriptions promised such benefits to all those who, in the future, would donate funds for the holy places.

Various words are used to indicate the sacred building in which the christians met. It is called church, martyrion, temple, oratory, memorial, house, more commonly holy place or simply edifice. For church annexes, the inscriptions mention the diakonia, or diakonikon. The large basilicas have also a photisterion or baptistery, with the holy font of regeneration. Normally these are decorated with mosaics, frescos and marble on the walls with the floors in mosaic or marble in opus sectile style.

The christians were proud of their churches. The excellence of the buildings and the work carried out at the cathedral in Madaba, the most beautiful appearance given to it by bishop Sergius, stirred up the admiration of all the Madabites. According to the mosaicists who wrote the inscription in the Basilica of Moses on Mount Nebo, the ciborium that covered the diakonikon-baptistery there, was most beautiful. One of the inscriptions in the Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul at Gerasa poetically dramatises such opinion: ”Mosaic, who did offer you? He who did finance this edifice. And who is the pastor depicted? For whom does he make these works shine? His name is Anastasius, an inhabitant of the Tetrapolis. Proud is the Saviour.” The mosaics and frescos on the walls have been lost. But the surviving floor mosaics do give us an idea of the care and tastes with which these communities of a province on the edge of the arabic desert, aided also by laws and special imperial funding at the time of the emperor Justinian, did vie with one another to embellish their places of worship, be them basilicas in the cities, small churches in villages, or chapels in small monasteries and hermitages.

Beyond the naive tastes of these works and the historical interest in the inscriptions which accompany them, these churches with their mosaics are a witness to the vitality and the economic well-being reached by the people of Jordan in the VI-VII century AD.

© Michele Piccirillo
SBF