Madaba

(Means: Waters of Quiet), is mentioned in (Numbers 21:30; Joshua 13:9- 16 and Isaiah 15:l-9). David’s general, Joab, defeated the Ammonites here (I Chronicles 19:6-15). During the Greco-Roman times it was captured by John Hyrcanus (127 BC) and given to the Nabataeans. At the time of the Byzantine Empire there resided here a Bishop see, and the city was very prosperous. During Islamic times, it was totally abandoned until re-occupied by Christian tribes from Kerak in 1880.

Today it is a city and governate containing several Byzantine churches with beautiful

mosaics. The Orthodox Church contains the Madaba Mosaic Map, which is a 6th centurymosaic map of the Holy Land making it the best preserved ancient map of Jerusalem and the Holy Land. There is also a museum containing more mosaics.