Mount Nebo in Jordan or Back to the Old Testament

 

Mount Nebo lies in Jordan and has an altitude of 808 m [1], which isn't much, but add the 428 m below normal of the Dead Sea, which can be seen from Mt. Nebo. It's in the Fifth Book of Moses (Deuteronomy) [2], which ends with the Death of Moses, who was allowed to see the Promised Land, but not to enter it. The location of the grave of Moses is unknown as is the cave, where Jeremiah has hidden the Arc of the Covenant [3], unless you feel inclined to believe, what you have seen in the movie Raiders of the Lost Ark [4].

The mountain bears religious symbols as the  serpentine cross sculpture by Italian artist Giovanni Fantoni, which combines the bronze serpent of Moses [5] and the cross. There are monuments to commemorate the visits of Pope John Paul II (2000) and Pope Benedict XVI (2009). There had been a Christian church from the Byzantine era (4th century), which was excavated between 1933 and 1938. During the excavation between 1976-1984 a new mosaic was discovered. Between 2007 and 2016 a complete basilica was built over the ancient church to protect it.

At the foot of the mountain you can see one of the wells of Moses. Mount Nebo has a good view and one can look in the directions of Jericho or Qumran (both about 25 km away) and try to make out something in the haze. What might Moses have seen? Perhaps God allowed a vision of things to be, personal, only to him, not to be mentioned in scriptures.

Links and Annotations:
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Nebo
[2] The TV series „Fringe“ ended with the fifth season and had a beginning, but I don't think that this parallel was premeditated.
[3] Second Book of Maccabees 2:4-7
[4] „In a large warehouse, the Ark is crated up and stored among countless other crates.“  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raiders_of_the_Lost_Ark
[5] „So Moses made a serpent of bronze, and put it upon a pole; and whenever a serpent bit someone, that person would look at the serpent of bronze and live.“ Numbers 21:9 https://bible.oremus.org/?ql=508480798 (The Fourth Book Of Moses)

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