From the City of Mosaics, where I got to leave my mark on a piece of artwork.

In Madaba, there are hundreds of mosaics scattered throughout churches and homes dating from the 5th century CE. For this reason, Madaba is known as the City of Mosaics.

First stop: The Greek Orthodox Church of St. George to view one of the world’s most famous mosaics, the Madaba Map. At a first glance, it simply looks like an ancient, deteriorating work of art laid into the floor. But, upon closer inspection, it is possible to identify locations in the mosaic’s borders. I could clearly see the Dead Sea and the Jordan River. After a little more searching, I found Egypt and the ancient city of Jerusalem.

Made in the 6th century CE, the Madaba Map is the oldest known geographic floor mosaic in the world. About 1/3 of the map has been damaged by earthquakes and foot traffic, but what remains is still incredible - considering at the time of its construction there was no such thing as a road map. I found it astonishing that craftsmen in the 6th century were able to construct such a relatively accurate depiction of such a vast region.

Next stop: The Madaba Art and Handicraft Center for a lesson in constructing mosaics. My mother is an artist and I’ve made mosaics with her, so it was especially interesting to learn some new techniques. I loved learning how artists in Madaba make mosaics on pottery. Rather than affixing small pieces of stone to the pottery to form an image, artisans grind the stone into a fine powder, mix it with liquid, and paint it on the surface of the pot. Once the paint dries, they cut out small sections of the paint to create space between ‘tiles.’ This process was fascinating to me! I left Madaba feeling incredibly artistic!

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What’s Next? Bethany & Mt. Nebo!

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