Reminiscence from the Levant: Part Fifteen – The magic of Madaba
Earlier in the day, I went to see the famous Madaba church… Madaba is a very gentle town… full of cresty-troughy roads and genuine warmth in the air… it strengthened my belief that if one has to come to Amman airport then Madaba should be the destination and not Amman.
Madaba has a vast history…. Starting, as Charles told me, from the Neolithic age. Though, today the town is famous for its Byzantine mosaics… and the famous Jerusalem Mosaic. The mosaic still lies on the floors of Saint George Church, the Greek Orthodox Church that holds a wonderful treasure of Madaba mosaics.
Pilgrims from all over the Levant used to throng at Madaba before going further towards the holy city of Jerusalem… to help them chart their journey… the Jerusalem mosaic was made in probably the 8-9th century, within the periphery of a grand Byzantine Church…. The mosaic represented the way to Jerusalem and the location of religious sites in the city of Jerusalem. But with the ravages of time… the Byzantine church perished… and gave way to ruins… long after that in the 19th century, the Greek Church was made at its place… and excavations revealed the Jerusalem mosaic again… the ancient art form was revived… and Madaba mosaics have achieved their rightful place in the world of arts.
The Madaba mosaic making technique uses a large variety of coloured pebbles to make beautiful portraits and maps and sceneries… it is different because of its riot of colours… and because of its religious significance. For instance, I had seen some mosaics in Alexandria (in the villa of birds) and also in Cyprus… but there the colour scheme was very limited and they were essentially used to decorate places, only.
The Madaba mosaics are to be seen to be believed… they are so beautiful so as to enliven the entire scenes of the life of Jesus… it is a beautiful experience to stand in the beautiful Saint George Church and look at the mosaics all around you.
Beyond the church, Madaba also has a nice museum… though I could not see it due to lack of time… but I had a nice walk around the town in the evening… t people are friendly…and warm… I met a group of children, who surrounded me and urged me to take their photographs… I obliged them… they were very happy to see themselves in my camera.
When I came back from the Dead Sea… Charles told me that my trip to Petra seems to be in jeopardy… the bus to Petra, through the King's Highway, operates only if there are three passengers for the trip and that the two who wanted to go with me… have backed out. He told me that in case the trip doesn’t materialize then I can go back to Jordan and proceed to Petra through the Desert Highway. I was shattered, for even though the route through the Desert highway was shorter, less time and money taking… yet it was bland and boring in comparison to the King's Highway…. That takes you through the picturesque valleys of the Jordan Rift Valley system… and only for this reason, I had booked the bus. Though I had one more thing troubling me.
Back in Damascus… at Hamiddiya Market- I purchased a lot of knick knacks… and it had made my backpack very heavy… I had devised a very good technique to counter this problem… I tend to carry a lot of old clothes that I keep on discarding on the way- this solves two purpose, one of course it unburdens you, two it gives me a mechanism to give my old clothes to needy people. This mechanism used to work flawlessly in India… and even in rural Egypt… but in Jordan, where the standard of living is very high… it was difficult to be implemented.
I, however, during the evening walk in the town cited a beggar (with difficulty, of course) and told him that I had some old clothes and that I would like to give it to them… he said that he will love to accept them… I rushed back to the hotel, to get all my old clothes- but by the time I went back to the place where he was sitting… he was gone. I was in a fix.
But on my way back to the hotel, I met another man in Galabiya (Arab gown often worn by the villagers and poor people), sitting along the road side… I asked him if he would like to accept the clothes… he nodded and I gave him the clothes… most of them were woolens (considering that Jordan has enough of winters… it was all the better for him)…. He was overwhelmed … and was confused when I thanked him for taking the clothes (for him it should have been the other way round, right.)…. Well!!! Funny are the ways of life.
When I came back to the hotel after the evening walk, Charles told me that I was lucky…. And four people have shown interest in the King's Highway tour for tomorrow… and that I was all set to proceed for the trip. I was much relieved.
The evening was spent in the swimming pool… it was very refreshing after last few days of wanderings… the swimming pool at Hotel Mariam was a small one, but very well lit and quite clean…. To get such a hotel for 30 odd US dollars in a country as expensive as Jordan was a luxury. According to my plans… the next few days… were going to be very basic for me… I anticipated roof-top sleeping in Petra… and dorms in Jerusalem if I go there, at all.
The next morning I had a sumptuous breakfast by the poolside… I tasted a local variety of honey… absolutely heavenly… I hadn’t tasted anything like that ever before…
A local Christian family had also come down to have breakfast… a little girl from the that family became very friendly to me… she started handing me over, everything her mother gave her to eat… It made me remember me of my son…
Madaba was one of the nicest places, I had visited…. It had to be forever etched in my mind….
Madaba has a vast history…. Starting, as Charles told me, from the Neolithic age. Though, today the town is famous for its Byzantine mosaics… and the famous Jerusalem Mosaic. The mosaic still lies on the floors of Saint George Church, the Greek Orthodox Church that holds a wonderful treasure of Madaba mosaics.
Pilgrims from all over the Levant used to throng at Madaba before going further towards the holy city of Jerusalem… to help them chart their journey… the Jerusalem mosaic was made in probably the 8-9th century, within the periphery of a grand Byzantine Church…. The mosaic represented the way to Jerusalem and the location of religious sites in the city of Jerusalem. But with the ravages of time… the Byzantine church perished… and gave way to ruins… long after that in the 19th century, the Greek Church was made at its place… and excavations revealed the Jerusalem mosaic again… the ancient art form was revived… and Madaba mosaics have achieved their rightful place in the world of arts.
The Madaba mosaic making technique uses a large variety of coloured pebbles to make beautiful portraits and maps and sceneries… it is different because of its riot of colours… and because of its religious significance. For instance, I had seen some mosaics in Alexandria (in the villa of birds) and also in Cyprus… but there the colour scheme was very limited and they were essentially used to decorate places, only.
The Madaba mosaics are to be seen to be believed… they are so beautiful so as to enliven the entire scenes of the life of Jesus… it is a beautiful experience to stand in the beautiful Saint George Church and look at the mosaics all around you.
Beyond the church, Madaba also has a nice museum… though I could not see it due to lack of time… but I had a nice walk around the town in the evening… t people are friendly…and warm… I met a group of children, who surrounded me and urged me to take their photographs… I obliged them… they were very happy to see themselves in my camera.
When I came back from the Dead Sea… Charles told me that my trip to Petra seems to be in jeopardy… the bus to Petra, through the King's Highway, operates only if there are three passengers for the trip and that the two who wanted to go with me… have backed out. He told me that in case the trip doesn’t materialize then I can go back to Jordan and proceed to Petra through the Desert Highway. I was shattered, for even though the route through the Desert highway was shorter, less time and money taking… yet it was bland and boring in comparison to the King's Highway…. That takes you through the picturesque valleys of the Jordan Rift Valley system… and only for this reason, I had booked the bus. Though I had one more thing troubling me.
Back in Damascus… at Hamiddiya Market- I purchased a lot of knick knacks… and it had made my backpack very heavy… I had devised a very good technique to counter this problem… I tend to carry a lot of old clothes that I keep on discarding on the way- this solves two purpose, one of course it unburdens you, two it gives me a mechanism to give my old clothes to needy people. This mechanism used to work flawlessly in India… and even in rural Egypt… but in Jordan, where the standard of living is very high… it was difficult to be implemented.
I, however, during the evening walk in the town cited a beggar (with difficulty, of course) and told him that I had some old clothes and that I would like to give it to them… he said that he will love to accept them… I rushed back to the hotel, to get all my old clothes- but by the time I went back to the place where he was sitting… he was gone. I was in a fix.
But on my way back to the hotel, I met another man in Galabiya (Arab gown often worn by the villagers and poor people), sitting along the road side… I asked him if he would like to accept the clothes… he nodded and I gave him the clothes… most of them were woolens (considering that Jordan has enough of winters… it was all the better for him)…. He was overwhelmed … and was confused when I thanked him for taking the clothes (for him it should have been the other way round, right.)…. Well!!! Funny are the ways of life.
When I came back to the hotel after the evening walk, Charles told me that I was lucky…. And four people have shown interest in the King's Highway tour for tomorrow… and that I was all set to proceed for the trip. I was much relieved.
The evening was spent in the swimming pool… it was very refreshing after last few days of wanderings… the swimming pool at Hotel Mariam was a small one, but very well lit and quite clean…. To get such a hotel for 30 odd US dollars in a country as expensive as Jordan was a luxury. According to my plans… the next few days… were going to be very basic for me… I anticipated roof-top sleeping in Petra… and dorms in Jerusalem if I go there, at all.
The next morning I had a sumptuous breakfast by the poolside… I tasted a local variety of honey… absolutely heavenly… I hadn’t tasted anything like that ever before…
A local Christian family had also come down to have breakfast… a little girl from the that family became very friendly to me… she started handing me over, everything her mother gave her to eat… It made me remember me of my son…
Madaba was one of the nicest places, I had visited…. It had to be forever etched in my mind….
3 comments:
Once again I suggest that you write a book and it will definitely sell...
Thanks for your appreciation....
I will definitely write a book... but let the right time come....
Blog writing has done one good thing to me... it has made me more eloquent with my emotions....especially while writing
By the way did you check this blog of mine.... I have conjured up an idea to write a book
http://pranav-ganesh.blogspot.com/2007/10/some-time-ago-i-struck-upon-idea-to_06.html
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