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Moses and the Exodus
Several
hundred years after the narratives of
Jacob, Esau, Joseph and his brothers,
the Bible recounts the key story of the
Exodus, which marked the emergence of
Moses as the greatest Old Testament figure.
Many sites and incidents in Jordan are
associated with the story of Moses and
the Exodus route, linking his departure
from Egypt with his final moments and
death on the summit of Mount Nebo. The
Bible gives several different Exodus itineraries
through the lands of Edom and Moab (Numbers
21, 33; Deuteronomy 2; Judges 11:12-22).
The Bible
reports that when Moses and the Israelites
reached the land that is now modern Jordan,
they had to contend with the peoples and
nations that lived there, including Edom,
Moab, Ammon and several Amorite kings
in central and northern Jordan.
The
fertile plains of Bashan in northern Jordan,
renowned for their fine cattle, belonged
to the Amorite King Og (Numbers 21:33).
A giant of a man, King Og was famed for
his huge iron 'bed' (probably a coffin),
which was preserved in Rabbath-ammon (Deuteronomy
3:11).
The Amorite
King Sihon ruled the area of central Jordan
from his capital at Heshbon, widely identified
with modern Hisban due to the similarity
in names (Numbers 21:26). Song of Solomon
7:5, says "…your eyes are like
pools in Heshbon…". Modern
Hisban village is the first major antiquities
site on the King's Highway south of Amman.
Some scholars think nearby Tell Jalul
is a better candidate for ancient Heshbon.
Both sites, 20 minutes by car from Amman,
have been excavated and can be visited
easily. Fortified in the Roman-Byzantine
period and called Esbus, Hisban was also
an important early Christian station on
the pilgrims' route from Jerusalem to
Mount Nebo via the Jordan River. The excavated
ancient Tell of Hisban has been equipped
with signs and walkways that allow visitors
to appreciate its many ancient remains,
from the Iron, Graeco-Roman, Byzantine
and medieval Islamic periods.
Jethro,
the Midianite priest and father of Moses'
wife Zipporah (Exodus 3:1) is memorialised
at the "tomb of Jethro", an
important pilgrimage site in Wadi Shu'ayb,
near Salt, northwest of Amman (Shu'ayb
is the Arabic name for Jethro). At nearby
'Ain al-Jadur, west of Salt, is the tomb
of Gad, the seventh son of Jacob by his
wife Leah's maid Zilpah (Genesis 35:26);
the tomb of Asher, Jacob's eighth son,
also by Zilpah, is in an adjacent valley.
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