Jordan, a museum of history and nature. |
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Collection title
Religious tourism.
First broadcast date
1998
Abstract
The program is about the city of Madaba with its wonderful mosaics dating back to the sixth century. During the Byzantine period, Madaba reached the top of prosperity. With its buildings and worship houses, it was considered as a Byzantine ecclesiastic center. Mount Nebo is ten kilometers west of Madaba, it overlooks the Dead Sea, The Jordan valley, Betlehem and El Qods. On one of the Mount Nebo peaks, a Byzantine monastry was built by monks from Egypt, on bases considered to have belonged to an ancient church.
Broadcaster
JRTV - Jordan Television
Audiovisual form
Documentary
Primary theme
Byzantine Empire
Secondary themes
- Tourism and cultural sites / Museum
- Tourism and cultural sites / Archaeological sites
- Tourism and cultural sites / Tourist sites
Credits / Cast
- Al raidi Bechar - Director
- Abanda Fakher - Journalist
- Erratima Abderrahmane - Journalist
Map locations
- Jordan - Transjordan Plateau - Southern Jordan
Additional information
Madaba - jewellery - Mount Nebo - mosaic - churches
Context
Jordan: The museum of natural history
Norig Neveu
The creation of a Christian heritage in Jordan is in part the result of Orientalism and the emergence of biblical archaeology in the 19th century. The first archaeologists to excavate in what is now Jordan were mainly Westerners interested in the country's biblical and Byzantine Christian heritage. These excavations influenced how the Jordanian heritage was seen and defined under the British mandate. They also played an important part in defining national identity, traditions and historical heritage in the independent Jordan. This influence is evident in this short documentary that shows us the country's Nabataean and Byzantine heritage.
The documentary opens by showing two central sites of Jordan's Byzantine heritage. The mosaic of the Holy Land at Madaba and the site of Mount Nebo nearby. During the Byzantine period Madaba was an important centre, as we can see by the presence of so many 5th and 6th century churches. In the 19th century workmen digging the foundations of a ruined Greek Orthodox church discovered a mosaic showing the Holy Land. This map is the oldest representation of the Holy Land and so has been a fundamental source for biblical archaeology, identifying the sites of Christ's baptism and Mount Nebo, which according to biblical tradition is where Moses died.
So from 1933 the site of Mount Nebo was excavated by the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land in Jerusalem, which had bought the land to build a monastery. On the site archaeologists discovered the ruins of a church shaped like a basilica, with three naves, and the foundations of an early monastery. From the 1970s Father Michele Piccirillo was responsible for this site, and he became one of the most renowned specialists in Jordan's mosaics. The map of the Holy Land and Mount Nebo are now central places in Jordan's Christian topography. Their visit by Pope John Paul II in 2000 confirmed them as belonging to the Christian Holy Land. Christian religious tourism has now increased significantly around these sites.
The documentary ends by showing Petra, occupied from the 6th century B.C. by the Nabataeans who made it one of their capitals because of its location on the caravan routes. In 1812 the Swiss traveller J. L. Burckhardt rediscovered Petra. The site generated enormous interest among Orientalists and scientists until the early 20th century, and because of this in the 1920's the site was further developed by public and private institutions.
These three sites have been important in the evolution of Jordan's national heritage, direct descendant of Orientalist and colonial influences. They hold a key place in the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities' policy to promote the country, and are among the most visited sites, especially Petra.
Bibliography:
Christian Augé et Jean-Marie Dentzer, Pétra: la cité des caravanes, Paris, Gallimard, 1999.
Benedict Anderson, L’imaginaire national, Paris, La Découverte, 2006.
Herbert Donner, The mosaic map of Madaba: an introductory guide, Kampen , Kok Pharos, 1992.
Irene Maffi, Politiques du patrimoine et politiques de la mémoire en Jordanie, entre histoire dynastique et récits communautaires, Dijon-Quetriny, Edition Payot Lausanne, 2004, p.358.
Michele Piccirillo, Mount Nebo, Jerusalem, Custodia Terra Santa, 1988.