Madaba

The town of Madaba, found 30 kilometers south-west of Amman, is most famous for it's exquisite 6th-century mosaics. It's history dates back at least 3500 years, however. Madaba, known in the Bible as the Moabite town of Medaba, mentioned in the Old Testament account of Moses and the Exodus (Numbers 21: 30). David also vanquished an Ammonite and Aramean coalition near Madaba (I Chronicles 19: 7). His victory short-lived, however, as in the midninth century BCE the Moabite King Mesha freed the city from the control of the Israelites (2 Kings 3). Mesha, whose capital was the ancient city of Dibon (now called Dhiban, and found just north of Wadi Mujib), recorded his victories on the famous Mesha Stele, an inscribed stone set up in about 850 BCE. The rich farmlands around Madaba coveted and fought over by the Edomites, Moabites, Ammonites, Israelites and other local kingdoms.

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History of Madaba | Madaba Museum | The Mosaic Map of Madaba