A Shrine to Moses

The Reappraisal of the Mount Nebo Monastic Complex between Byzantium and Islam

by Davide Bianchi

Book cover: A Shrine to Moses

Extent: 240 pages

Publisher: Austrian Academy of Sciences Press

Subjects: Architecture, Mediterranean Archaeology, Religious Studies

Series: Denkschriften der philosophisch-historischen Klasse

Series volume number: 527

Language: English

Paperback (Published)

(April 2021)

ISBN: 9783700186489

Price: $163.00

In stock

This book offers new insights into the Memorial of Moses on Mount Nebo, one of the most renowned coenobitic monasteries in the Byzantine period in Arabia. Between 2012 and 2014, the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum carried out new archaeological investigations in the southern wing of the monastery and in the church. The excavation in the central nave unearthed an empty tomb adorned with alabaster marble, placed on the highest point of the mountain. Starting from the archaeological data, the author critically reflects on the architectural phases of the basilica, how the monastery was run and its daily life. Special attention is also given to pilgrimages to the monastic shrines beyond the River Jordan and their progressive abandonment.

  • By (author) Davide Bianchi