Mount Nebo, Bethany and the Dead Sea
Me on the Jordanian coast of the Dead Sea looking toward the Palestinian West Bank
The Dead Sea is an example of a salt lake because of its abnormally high concentration of salt and other minerals, and at over 1200 feet deep it is the deepest salt lake in the world. What’s more, its shores represent the lowest exposed surface on the planet. Its waters have throughout history been purported to have therapeutic benefits.
Soon after arriving in Madaba we had a driver ready to take us from the Mariam Hotel to the famous Biblical sites of Mount Nebo and Bethany, and to the beaches of the Dead Sea. We went to the free-to-enter portion of the beach, as the rest of the coast was occupied by fancy shmancy resorts catering to the “medical tourist” crowd.
View from the summit of Mount Nebo, from which it’s possible to see Jerusalem (if you squint)
Mount Nebo, on the other hand, is over 2800 ft above sea level. This is the place where Moses is said to have seen Jericho and Jerusalem for the first time. Moses is apparently buried somewhere in the mountain or valley, though the exact location is not known. The tourist site includes ruins of a church and monastery, but much of it was under renovation the day we were there. A small museum showcases mosaics which are famous in the history of this region of Jordan.
The site where Christ was baptized by John the Baptist, in Bethany, Jordan
