Madaba | History

The Ammonites had conquered Madaba by 165 BCE, taken from them by Hyrcanus I around 110 BCE. His son Hyrcanus II later gave the city to the Nabateans in exchange for their help in recovering Jerusalem from Aristobulus II.

Near the beginning of the second century CE, Trajan ousted the Nabateans from Madaba, and the city gradually became a Roman provincial town with the usual colonnaded streets and impressive public buildings.

The Byzantine era saw Madaba enter it's most wealthy era. Grand buildings and a reservoir built, while in the sixth century CE bishops assigned to the city and several religious structures erected. Importance of Madaba as a Byzantine ecclesiastical center showed by the wealth of elaborate mosaics scattered throughout the town. After the Persian invasion of 614 CE and a devastating earthquake in the year 747, the town gradually abandoned. Madaba then lay virtually untouched until it resettled in the late 19th century by Christians from Karak.

The city's greatest treasures, it's mosaics, uncovered then when these migrants were digging foundations for their houses. Madaba's most famous mosaic found in the Church of St. George in the middle of town. The Mosaic Map of Palestine represents the Holy Land and it's surrounding regions.

Clearly visible on the map are al-Quds (Jerusalem) and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Dead Sea, the Jordan River, Nablus, al-Khalil (Hebron), Ariha (Jericho), Egypt and the Nile River, Turkey and Lebanon. The mosaic made around 560 CE, originally composed of over 2.3 million pieces, and measured a staggering 25 by 5 meters.

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