Mount Nebo

Mount Nebo (جبل نيبو) is the ridge from which Moses is said to have been shown the Promised Land before his death. The summit at Siyagha rises to a little over eight hundred metres, and on a clear day the view reaches across the Jordan Valley to the Dead Sea, Jericho and the hills around Jerusalem. A modern shelter protects the Moses Memorial Church, whose sixth-century mosaic floor is among the finest in Jordan and shows hunters, herdsmen and an improbable mix of animals. Outside stands the Brazen Serpent, a tall wrought-iron cross by the sculptor Giovanni Fantoni that combines the serpent of Moses with the crucifixion. The site is a working pilgrimage destination and has been visited by several popes. Visibility is the whole point here, so mornings and the clear air after winter rain are far better than the summer haze.