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| The monument at Mt Nebo |
Today we headed up Mt Nebo. It is somewhere near here that Moses saw the promised land, died and was buried. The remains of a Byzantine (late 4th century) church were discovered here. The mosaics and church are being restored.
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| Standing on the edge of Mt Nebo - Israel in the distance |
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| Looking toward the Dead Sea |
We celebrated Mass in the small chapel of the Franciscan Friars. John, a Franciscan Friar, presided!
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| Modern Mosaic in the Chapel |
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| St Joseph |
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| Christ, Pantocrator - modern mosaic |
The church was built over the Byzantine church, which has some amazingly complete mosaics. The church is closed while it's being renovated (it will open soon), but if one is fortunate...
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| Just before we were thrown out! |
From there we headed for Bethany beyond the Jordan for lunch. Afterwards we had a walking tour come reflection with a Lutheran Pastor and his wife along the banks of the Jordan river.
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| Interior of the Lutheran Church |
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| The Jordan River (and the border) is between the far churches and the scrub in front of the buildings at the bottom. |
Lunch was at the Russian Pilgrim House - complete with large photos of Mr Putin who supported the building of the place. Nearby is the shell of a huge, cathedral sized Catholic Church under construction. It looks like a bit of "mine is bigger than yours".
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| John the Baptist spring |
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| An ancient baptismal pool |
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| The scrub in the area |
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| A trail through the bush, as it must have been in Jesus' time |
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| The Chapel of the Jordan River |
The actual place thought to be where Jesus was baptised by John is marked by the ruins of three churches, one replacing the other and stone steps leading down to where the Jordan used to flow. The actual place is the pillar with the roof over it where a metal cross is set into a marble column. The chapel is built over where Jesus was thought to have disrobed to be baptised.
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| Not that happy about being photographed! That is Israel across the Jordan and the Israeli effort to syphon off some baptismal tourism |
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| The Jordan |
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| The Catholic Church of John the Baptist under construction |
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| At an alternative baptismal site |
After a time of prayer and reflection we headed on to Amman, the capital of Jordan.
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