Nabi Musa
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West Bank
The Islamic shrine of Nabi Musa (= the Prophet Moses) lies in the Judaean Desert to the south of Jericho, on the West Bank of the Jordan. It can be reached from Jerusalem by leaving on the road to the Dead Sea and in 28km/17mi taking an asphalted road on the right which comes in 1km/0.75mi to the shrine.
History
At the end of the Israelites' long journey from Egypt through Sinai, the wildernesses of Zin and Paran and the land of the Edomites it was vouchsafed to Moses to see the Promised Land but not to enter it. From Mount Nebo (808m/2,651ft), Southwest of Amman, he looked down on the Dead Sea, 1,200m/4,000ft below, the Jordan valley and the oasis of Jericho, which was to be the first city west of the Jordan conquered by his people under the leadership of Joshua. Moses was buried "in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Beth-peor: but no man knoweth of his sepulcher unto this day" (Deuteronomy 34,1-6). According to an old tradition, however - probably originating among Christian pilgrims in the Middle Ages and taken over by the Muslims - he was buried on the west bank of the Jordan at Nabi Musa. Saladin knew about this place in the 12th century, and the Mameluke Sultan Baibars (1260-77) built a mosque here with a large cenotaph for Moses. Accommodation for pilgrims was provided in the 15th century.
The Islamic shrine of Nabi Musa (= the Prophet Moses) lies in the Judaean Desert to the south of Jericho, on the West Bank of the Jordan. It can be reached from Jerusalem by leaving on the road to the Dead Sea and in 28km/17mi taking an asphalted road on the right which comes in 1km/0.75mi to the shrine.
History
At the end of the Israelites' long journey from Egypt through Sinai, the wildernesses of Zin and Paran and the land of the Edomites it was vouchsafed to Moses to see the Promised Land but not to enter it. From Mount Nebo (808m/2,651ft), Southwest of Amman, he looked down on the Dead Sea, 1,200m/4,000ft below, the Jordan valley and the oasis of Jericho, which was to be the first city west of the Jordan conquered by his people under the leadership of Joshua. Moses was buried "in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Beth-peor: but no man knoweth of his sepulcher unto this day" (Deuteronomy 34,1-6). According to an old tradition, however - probably originating among Christian pilgrims in the Middle Ages and taken over by the Muslims - he was buried on the west bank of the Jordan at Nabi Musa. Saladin knew about this place in the 12th century, and the Mameluke Sultan Baibars (1260-77) built a mosque here with a large cenotaph for Moses. Accommodation for pilgrims was provided in the 15th century.
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