MADABA
Jordan.
A town in Moab, E of the
Dead Sea, taken by the Israelites from Sihon king of the
Amorites, and later conquered by Mesha king of Moab.
In the Hellenistic period the town was in the hands of
the sons of Iambre (I Macc. 9:36). John Hyrcanus conquered it early in his reign (
Joseph. AJ 13.255;
BJ 1.63).
It was subsequently ceded to the Nabateans, in whose
hands it stayed until their kingdom was annexed by the
Roman Empire when it became one of the cities of the
newly founded Provincia Arabia. At this period Madaba
minted coins. It flourished also in the Byzantine period.
The earliest remains at Madaba were discovered in a
natural cave that had served as a burial ground for many
centuries. The earliest burials go back to about 1200 B.C.
In the Roman period Madaba was a fortified city with
a wall and seven gates. Outside one of the gates was a
pool 94 m square. The city itself has hardly been investigated, but a paved colonnaded street and remains of a
Roman temple are discernible. On the acropolis a public
building and a bath were observed. Here and there houses
of the Byzantine period were investigated. Some of these
houses had mosaic floors decorated with scenes from
Greek mythology. To the same period also belong ten
churches, situated in different quarters of the city. Most
important is a church situated close to the N gate. The
outstanding feature of this church is the mosaic pavement on which is depicted the earliest known map of the
Holy Land. It shows the natural landscape of the country, against which are marked towns, villages, holy places,
and fortresses. In the more important towns one may
identify buildings known from ancient sources or from
archaeological finds. In the compilation of the map
Roman road maps and the Onomasticon of Eusebius
were used. The Madaba mosaic map is now a major
source for the study of the geographical history of the
Holy Land in the Byzantine period. Another church, the
Church of the Apostles, dated to 578-579, has been
excavated.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
S. J. Saller & B. Bagatti,
The Town of
Nebo (1949) 80-82, 147; G. L. Harding,
Palestine Exploration Fund Annual 6 (1953) 27-33; S. J. Isserlin,
ibid., 34-37; M. Avi-Yonah,
The Madaba Mosaic Map
(1954); V. R. Gold,
Biblical Archaeologist 21 (1958)
50-70; Lux,
ZDPV 84 (1968) 106-29; M. Noth, ibid.,
130-42.
A. NEGEV
