#madaba

Centuries in stone, Palestine's Ancient Past at St. George's Church, Madaba, Jordan.

It's Greek Orthodox, enormous, and right next to another church that I don't know what it is. My friend goes to Sunday church in the basement of the second one. There are angels painted next to the gate.

I like to go there and sit; there's a stone ledge in the wall just outside. my back goes against the iron fence over the wall. I've got John Milton's Paradise Lost in my lap, my pen twitching in my hand.

I wish I could go in, just once. That all that I am and what people tell me is hated of me could be forgotten, and I could walk inside the house of God. I don't know if I really believe it.

But it must be nice to have a quiet place, a quiet place to wish or think or beg something of a higher power. A place where all is sacred and the outside world cannot seem to touch you.

I've hidden in belltowers before, watched the sprawl of people across a city as I watched from above, legs hanging through the shitty rusted fence barely bolted to the concrete of the window. There's air up there; hot desert air that tastes like home. I cannot tell if it's the solitude or the location that gives me peace and contentment.

I don't know if I really believe it; but maybe that's just the poison of mankind leaching into faith.

Madaba Mosaic Map

The world's oldest map of the holy land gives us a fragmented glimpse of the layout of biblical nations.

Located in the Church of Saint George in Madaba, Jordan, the Madaba Mosaic Map is the world’s oldest glimpse into the cartography of the Middle East during biblical times.

This tilemap is the oldest known geographic floor mosaic in existence, depicting the Middle East during the height of the Byzantine period.

 Installed sometime during the late 6th century CE, much of the map’s tiles have been chipped away or been destroyed but a large contiguous piece of the map still exists illustrating both locations and names ranging from geographic features to cities.

 The mosaic covers lands from Egypt to Lebanon, including sites such as Bethlehem and Gethsemane, but the gem of the mosaic is the detailed representation of the city of Jerusalem. 

The Jerusalem portion of the map shows a number of specific structures and street in the city such as the Damascus Gate, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, and the Tower of David 

There are a number of recreations of the mosaic across the world, most of which are fittingly placed in the floor of a foyer, much like the original.

 There is one in a school in Bonn, 

as well as a copy in the floor of the YMCA in Jerusalem. 

The Madaba Map may not be complete, but it is still our most comprehensive overview of the biblical landscape.

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