On our way to Mount Nebo (about one hour's drive), we stopped at a Safeway. I haven't even seen one of those in the States forever. We grabbed snack items for our hiking in Petra tomorrow.
At Mount Nebo we saw a brand new church (finished months ago) on top of a fifth century Byzantine church. It had the most incredible mosaics.
The above are outside the church, under a covering.
View from the top of Mount Nebo. This is a sacred pilgrimage site where Moses went to see the promised land and passed away.
The new church.
Inside it is so simply and beautifully done, and the mosaics incredibly displayed and preserved.
We went to a workshop that specializes in traditional Jordanian arts. This woman is explaining how the mosaic tiles are done. This one will take a few hundred hours to complete.
Here she is showing how they do a mosaic "tattooing" of tiny dots on ostrich eggs. These were so beautiful, and in the end I bargained for one of these that has the mosaic from the church on Mount Nebo and the Tree of Life.
Mine doesn't look like the one above. It is wrapped up in a box for taking home.
The Greek Orthodox Church with the most extensive ancient mosaic map of the Middle East.
You can see that this is still a site for pilgrims today, seeking something from these holy places.
On the road south to Petra
Little Petra, which was a good introduction to the UNESCO world heritage site of Petra itself.
Petra and Little Petra were built by the Nabaeteans. They were carvers and commerce merchants of spices and other goods. They probably made the most money on frankincense.
Hiked up to one of the caves. These served as restaurants for the travelers. In this rare one, there are still frescoes remaining on the ceiling. You can see the cupids?
Only dared to peek in. They don't go back far but smell of animal dung from continued use of donkeys and such.
Our group had this place to ourselves.
The view from our hotel right outside the main entrance to Petra. We had a rooftop barbecue of plenty of meat while we enjoyed the lovely evening.
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