The Memorial of Moses
After being relaxed by the kind hospitality of the hermits near the Springs, Egeria took the last stage of her journey, which in her memories had been also the most difficult and painful.

"Then we set off for the mountain, and with us came the holy clergy and monks who had accompanied us, and many of the holy monks who lived near the spring were kind enough to come too, or at least the ones who had the energy to ascend Mount Nebo So we set out and came to the foot of Mount Nebo; it was very high, but mostly possible to ascend on the donkeys, though there were some steeper parts where we had to dismount, and it was hard going.

On reaching the mountain-top we came to a church, not a very big one , right on the summit of Mount Nebo, and inside, in the position of the pulpit, I saw a slightly raised place about the size of a normal tomb. I asked about it, and the holy men replied. «Holy Moses was buried here - by angels, since the Bible tells us «No human being knoweth his burial. And there is no doubt that it was angels who buried him, since the actual tomb where he was buried can be seen today. Our predecessors here pointed out this place to us, and now we point it out to you. They told us that this tradition came from their predecessors.

Soon we had the prayer and the other things which were usual in a holy place, and we were about to leave the church".

The excavations conducted by the Franciscan Archaeological Institute on behalf of the Custody of the Holy Land, owner of the sanctuary on the mountain since 1933, have sufficiently clarified the history of the sanctuary of Moses.

The Franciscan archaeologists had been led by the enthusiasm of a Croatian brother, Jeronymus Mihaic, who was fascinated by biblical recollections which he had meditated on at Jericho, where his monastery was, with his eyes and mind constantly turned towards that mountain rising to the east of the river. A friend of the Emir Abdallah of Transjordan and of the Bedouins of the area, he managed to obtain the concession of the Siyagha stony site for the friars of the Custody of the Holy Land.

Then, so that the archaeologists could start their work without useless delay, or extra efforts, he opened a road to reach the ruins, he built a modest little house and guaranteed a water supply by putting the ancient cisterns, he had found among the ruins, back into service. On July 13th, 1933 the archaeological research started.

During three long archaeological seasons, which were a blessing for the Bedouins of the mountain too, as the drought caused them to beg for a fistful of flour to make their bread with in order to survive, the Franciscan archaeologists brought back to light a big basilica slightly atypical in shape and flanked with chapels, at the centre of a wide monastery with its cells organized around cloisters.

The floors of the sanctuary turned out to be decorated with wonderful mosaics rich in inscriptions, from which it became possible to know the names of the bishops of Madaba leaders of the diocese when the buildings were constructed and the names of the numerous patrons who had contributed to the work, which was finished in 597. The excavations were interrupted by the second world war and were taken up again during the sixties when the restorations began. New discoveries were made on an artistic and historical level. The sanctuary which Egeria visited in the IV century had been enlarged little by little till it reached its maximum extension with the restorations of the Vl century. In August 1976, one metre below the mosaic floor of the northern chapel, one of the masterpieces of the mosaicists of Madaba which decorated the ancient baptistry of the sanctuary which had been laid in 531 was brought to light . At the eastern end of the southern aisle of the basilica was built a kind of platform, the memorial altar to remind pilgrims of the Prophet Moses in whose honour the church had been built.

The origin of the Memorial of Moses on Mount Nebo
The same road taken by Egeria must have been taken by bishop Peter the Iberian, by now old and infirm, in search of a cure for his afflictions in the Hot Baths of Moses at the foot of Mount Nebo, and later on at the Hot baths of Baaru in the region of Madaba..

His biographer, who went along with him on the journey, tells us that they went directly to the hot springs of Moses, much praised by the pilgrims, but the old man found very little benefit, because the springs were not very hot. Some of the faithful from Arabia who came to see the holy man, suggested that he continue to the hot springs of Baaru where the waters were much hotter and more curative. Without delay, the next day, his party took the road to Madaba, that is, the one which goes up from Livias to Esbus and then descends to Madaba, and from there on to Ma‘in and the hot springs of Baaru.

To take the detour which the priest of Livias had indicated to Egeria offered a twofold advantage. First of all, it reduced the distance to Madaba considerably, and secondly, it offered bishop Peter, and his companion, the opportunity to stop at the sanctuary of Moses, where he had been as a youth before his conversion, of which the biographer pauses to mention its miraculous origin.

"On the following day we travelled to Madaba. Midway there we came to the holy hill of Moses, whose name is Abarim, i.e., Fasga (Pisga), where God said to him: Go up and die. On it there is a venerable and very large temple, named after the prophet, and many monasteries, which are built around it.

Full of joy on account of our arrival at this place, we together with the aged man offered up prayer and thanksgiving to God, who honored us with the blessing and veneration of such a prophet.

On that occasion we learned from the inhabitants of that mountain, how the builders of that temple were convinced that the body of holy Moses was lying there and how, over it the temple was built and the table and altar stand, and under the altar the vessel of oil and of grace, although holy Scripture clearly and unmistakably states: Moses, the servant of the Lord, died in the land of Moab according to the word of the Lord, and they buried him in the land near the house of Fogor, and no one up to the present day found out about his end. They told us: A shepherd from the village of Nebo (Nabu), which is situated on the south side of the mountain, whilst leading his flock to pasture, brought it to this place. On arriving here, he saw, as in a vision, a very large cave, filled with much light, pleasing odour and splendor. Filled with astonishment—for never before had anything of the kind been seen at that place—he, strengthened by divine power, ventured to descend into that cave, and saw a venerable old man whose face was brilliant and beaming with kindness, and who was reposing on a luminous bed resplendent with glory and grace. And since he realized that this was holy Moses he immediately ran with great fear and joy to the village and hastened to inform those who lived there of the vision. Enlightened by God he collected small stones and made many stone heaps at that place, where he had the vision, since he bore in mind the possibility that after his departure, it might again become impossible to recognize the spot—and this actually happened. For when the inhabitants of that village heard it, they all came in great crowds to the (place of the) vision and looked for that cave. And that shepherd calling God to witness declared: At this place where these heaps of stones are, I beheld that vision and I went down into that cave and saw the holy prophet. And for this very reason I made these heaps of stones, in order that, if the prophet at God's command should again conceal himself, nevertheless the heaps of stones would indicate the place. And so, since they and many more saints were convinced that the vision was a true one, and all the inhabitants of that region together hurriedly brought building material, this temple was built in the name of the great prophet and lawgiver, and he proclaims publicly to every man and so that no doubt is possible his goodness and power by means of signs and wonders and cures, which since that time have occurred at this place without interruption. For it is a place of cure both for the souls and for the bodies, and a place of refuge for all those, who come here from all places and are afflicted in soul and affected with many kinds of sufferings of the body.

After we had prayed there and as a viaticum had received the prayers of the great prophet, we reached the town mentioned above (namely, Madaba)"

(From the Life of Peter the Iberian translated by S. Saller, The Memorial of Moses on Mount Nebo, 1. Jerusalem 1941, pp. 341-347).

From the basilica of Moses, and the surrounding monastery, the research was later progressively extended to the ruins of Khirbet el-Mukhayyat, the south east top of the mountain. The Franciscan archaeologists have put together solid arguments for the identification of the ruins with the village of Naba, which the Onomasticon gives as a desert place 8 miles from Esbus (On. 136, 6), and which Peter the Iberian knew as a village on the mountain inhabited by Christians in the V century. The village enjoyed a relative prosperity in the VI century. To that period belong the splendid floor mosaics with which the Christians of the village decorated their little churches dedicated to Saint George (on the highest peak of the Acropolis), to the holy Martyrs Lot, possibly Abraham's nephew, venerated as a martyr, as well as Procopius of Caesarea.

The church of Amos and Casiseos, the oldest building among the houses of the village had the northern chapel (known as the Priest John Chapel) paved with mosaics twice: the first at the time of Bishop Fidus, the second, enlarged and built on a higher level on the same spot, at the time of Bishop John. The donors were the rich ladies Porphyria; Epiphania and Rome. The name of the patron Rome as well as the patterns of the mosaics show the deep cultural influence exerted under Justinian, in the first half of the Vl century by the classicized taste which was predominant in Byzantium, the capital. Next to the scholarly personifications of the fruitfulness of the Earth, and the Seasons, the more familiar scenes of sheep-rearing, hunting, harvesting and fishing depicted by the Madaba craftsmen, give a note of gaiety and serenity to the modest sanctuaries, the only buildings of a certain importance among the houses of the village of Nebo.

© Michele Piccirillo
SBF