Idea #576 – Looking for the ruines of the antique Acropolis of Madaba
Madaba has lived for at least 4 500 years. The city is quoted in the Bible as the city moabite from Mebda. After several centuries of Moabite and Nabatean domination, Mebda and the close regions are integrated into the Roman province of Arabia following the conquest of the Nabatean kingdom by emperor Trajan in 106 ap. J.C. During Ier century ap. J.C., the Christianity quickly propagated in the Roman province of Arabia but Romains persecuted the believers. Several martyrs are executed because of their faiths to Madaba, under the order of emperor Diocletian. During the IVth century, emperor Constantin was converted to the Christianity, which became afterward the dominant religion in Roman Empire. During the Byzantine period, from the Vth century, Madaba possessed his own bishop and numerous churches were built between VIth and VIIth centuries; local specificity, they contain quite extraordinary mosaics. In 749 ap. J.C. a terrible earthquake affected the city, which was then neglected.
In 1897, three Christian families consisted of 2 000 individuals migrated of Kérak, the former city of the Crusaders, to Madaba. The city became then almost exclusively Christian. Numerous mosaics were discovered during the construction of new houses and churches, intended to welcome the newcomers. Vestiges of the antique Acropolis, which were still in a state at the beginning of the XXth century, are now taken in modern housings and train a network of incredible underground passages.
Some Pictures
Where is it ?
Madaba, Jordan