Madaba |
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First broadcast date
2000
Abstract
The programme shows the restoration of the most important mosaics in Madaba and Saint George church which was built on the ruins of a Byzantine church.
Many vestiges, mainly of ancient churches, are found in the city which is considered as one of the most important tourist destinations in Jordan.
Broadcaster
JRTV - Jordan Television
Audiovisual form
Documentary
Personalities
- ELHACHIMI Abdelhad - King of Jordan
Primary theme
Tourism and cultural sites
Secondary themes
- Art, Culture and Knowledge / Fine arts
- Tourism and cultural sites / Archaeological sites
- Tourism and cultural sites / Eco-tourism development
- Tourism and cultural sites / Tourist sites
Credits / Cast
- Naif Khelifa - Director
- Mahmoud Atell - Speaker
- Kobeilat Oubed - Author of original work
Map locations
- Jordan - Transjordan Plateau - Madaba
Additional information
Aerial views of Madaba - Internal and external views of the churches - excerpts from the royal tour to Madaba - picture of the king and the queen planting trees.
Context
The region of Madaba
Norig Neveu
This documentary made in 2000 shows the town of Madaba and its region, focussing on its Christian heritage and its value as a place of pilgrimage on the Christian tourism circuit.
Madaba is 35 km south-west of Amman. Mentioned in the Old Testament as a Moabite city, the town was occupied until the sixth century before being abandoned. In 1881 Christian tribes from Karak came and settled here. The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem played an essential part in the development of the town, and during the 20th century its demographic composition became much wider, first as the region's nomadic Muslim tribes settled here and then as Palestinian refugees began to flood in after 1948 and the proclamation of the State of Israel.
Madaba has been the subject of a major tourist drive because of the Byzantine mosaic showing the map of the Holy Land. This map was discovered in the late 19th century when a Greek Orthodox church was being built on the ruins of one of the town's ancient sites. This map is the oldest picture of the Holy Land and for that reason has been a fundamental source for biblical archaeologists who were trying to find where Christ was baptised and which of the many hills was Mount Nebo, where according to biblical tradition Moses died. The documentary also shows Mukhawar, the place near Madaba where John the Baptist is said to have been executed and where now there are the remains of a Byzantine church.
The Christian heritage of the Madaba region has become a major tourist attraction, especially since the visit of Pope John Paul II in 2000, during his pilgrimage to the Holy Land. His visit has made these sites officially part of the Holy Land, helping the development of religious tourism (Katz, 2003).
Madaba is now one of the most visited towns in Jordan, and has been improved and developed, with for example the construction of tourist facilities. A school of mosaic has been created to renew the tradition and an archaeology museum has been open since 1962. In 2010, approximately 23,000 tourists visited the site. The site of Mount Nebo is also very popular.
The discovery of the map of the Holy Land and the development of religious tourism during the 20th century has encouraged a Christian perspective on history which can be seen as a response to the growing Muslim population. Many books (biography, local history), have been written about the region, revealing the conflicts between Catholic and Orthodox Christians (Chatelard, 2004).
Bibliography
Géraldine Chatelard, Briser la mosaïque : Les tribus chrétiennes de Madaba, Jordanie, XIXe-XXe siècle, Paris, CNRS edition, 2004.
Herbert Donner, The mosaic map of Madaba: an introductory guide, Kampen, Kok Pharos, 1992.
Kimberly Katz, «Legitimizing Jordan as the Holy Land : Papal Pilgrimages-1964-2000», Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East, 23:1 et 2, 2003, pp. 181 à 189.
Michele Piccirillo, Madaba, Mount Nebo, Umm er-Rasas: Brief Guide to the Antiquities, Amman, al-Kutba, 1990.
Patricia Maynor Bikai and Thomas A. Dailey,Madaba Cultural Heritage, Amman, American Center of Oriental Research, 1996.
