A Visit to the Jordan
Having spent some time there at God's bidding, my will was to go as far as Arabia, to mount Nebo, where God commanded Moses to go up, saying to him: "Get thee up into the mountain Arabot, into Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, that is over against Jericho, and behold the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel for a possession, and die in the Mount whither thou goest up." So Jesus our God, who will not forsake them that hope in Him, deigned to give effect to this my wish.
Wherefore setting out from Jerusalem and journeying with holy men, with a priest and deacons from Jerusalem and with certain brothers, that is monks, we came to that spot on the Jordan where the children of Israel had crossed when holy Joshua, the son of Nun, had led them over Jordan, as it is written in the book of Joshua, the son of Nun. The place where the children of Reuben and of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh had made an altar was shown us a little higher up on that side of the river bank where Jericho is.
Crossing the river we came to a city called Livias, which is in the plain where the children of Israel encamped at that time, for the foundations of the camp of the children of Israel and of their dwellings where they abode appear there to this day. The plain is a very great one, lying under the mountains of Arabia above the Jordan; it is the place of which it is written: "And the children of Israel wept for Moses in the Arabot Moab on the Jordan over against Jericho, forty days." This is the place where, after Moses' death, Joshua the son of Nun was straightway filled with the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands upon him, as it is written. This is the place where Moses wrote the book of Deuteronomy, and where he spake in the ears of all the congregation of Israel the words of this song until it was ended; it is written in the book of Deuteronomy. Here holy Moses, the man of God, blessed the children of Israel one by one, in order, before his death.
So when we had arrived at this plain, we went to the very spot, and prayer was made; here, too, a certain part of Deuteronomy was read, as well as his song, with the blessings which he pronounced over the children of Israel; after the reading, prayer was made a second time, and giving thanks to God, we moved on thence. For it was always customary with us that, whenever we succeeded in reaching the places we desired to visit, prayer should first be made there, then the lection should be read from the book, then one appropriate psalm should be said, then prayer should be made again. At God's bidding we always kept to this custom, whenever we were able to come to the places we desired.
After this, that the work begun should be accomplished, we began to hasten in order to reach mount Nebo. As we went, the priest of the place, Livias, whom we had prayed to accompany us from the station, because he knew the places well, advised us, saying: "If you wish to see the water which flows from the rock, which Moses gave to the children of Israel when they were thirsty, you can see it if you are willing to undertake the labour of going about six miles out of the way." When he had said this, we very eagerly wished to go, and turning at once out of our way, we followed the priest who led us.
In that place there is a little church under a mountain, not Nebo, but another height behind, yet not far from Nebo. Many truly holy monks dwell there, whom they call here ascetics. These holy monks deigned to receive us very kindly, and permitted us to go in to greet them. When we had entered and prayer had been made with them, they deigned to give us "Blessings", which they are wont to give to those whom they receive kindly.
There, in the midst, between the church and the cells, there flows from out of the rock a great stream of water, very beautiful and limpid, and excellent to the taste. Then we asked those holy monks who dwelt there what was this water of so good a flavour, and they said: "This is the water which holy Moses gave to the children of Israel in this desert." So prayer was made there according to custom, the lection was read from the books of Moses and one psalm said, then - with the holy clergy and monks who had come with us - we went out to the mountain. Many of the holy monks also who dwelt by that water, and who could undertake the labour, deigned to ascend mount Nebo with us. So setting out thence, we arrived at the foot of mount Nebo, which was very high; nevertheless the greater part could be ascended sitting on asses, though a little bit was steeper and had to be climbed laboriously on foot, which was done.
We arrived, then, at the summit of the mountain, where there is now a church of no great size, on the very top of mount Nebo. Inside the church, in the place where the pulpit is, I saw a place a little raised, containing about as much space as tombs usually contain. I asked the holy men what this was, and they answered: "Here was holy Moses laid by the angels, for, as it is written: 'No man knoweth of his burial', since it is certain that he was buried by the angels. His tomb, indeed, where he was laid, is shown to this day; for as it was shown to us by our ancestors who dwelt here where he was laid, so do we show it to you, and our ancestors said that this tradition was handed down to them by their own ancestors."
So prayer was made anon, and all things that we were accustomed to do in their order in every place were done here also, and we began to go out of the church. Then they who knew the place - the priests and holy monks - said to us: "If you wish to see the places that are mentioned in the books of Moses, come out of the door of the church, and from the very summit, from the side on which they are visible from here, look and see, and we will tell you each place that is visible from here." Then we rejoiced greatly and immediately came out.
From the door of the church we saw the place where the Jordan runs into the Dead Sea, which place appeared below us as we stood. On the opposite side we saw not only Livias, which was on the near side of Jordan, but also Jericho, which was beyond Jordan; to so great a height rose the lofty place where we stood, before the door of the church. The greatest part of Palestine, the Land of Promise, was in sight, together with the whole land of Jordan, as far as it could be seen with our eyes. On the left side we saw all the lands of the Sodomites and Segor which is the only one of the five cities that exists to-day. There is a memorial of it, but nothing appears of those other cities but a heap of ruins, just as they were turned into ashes. The place where was the inscription concerning Lot's wife was shown to us, which place is read of in the Scriptures.
But believe me, reverend ladies, the pillar itself cannot be seen, only the place is shown, the pillar is said to have been covered by the Dead Sea. Certainly when we saw the place we saw no pillar, I cannot therefore deceive you in this. The bishop of the place, that is of Segor, told us that it is now some years since the pillar could be seen. The spot where the pillar stood is about six miles from Segor, and the water now covers the whole of this space.
Then we went to the right side of the church, out of doors and opposite to us two cities were pointed out, the one Esebon, now called Exebon, which belonged to Seon, king of the Amorites, and the other, now called Sasdra, the city of Og the king of Basan. Fogor, which was a city of the kingdom of Edom, was also pointed out from there, opposite to us. All these cities which we saw were situated on mountains, but a little below them the ground seemed fo be flatter. Then we were told that in the days when holy Moses and the children of Israel had fought against those cities, they had encamped there, and indeed the signs of a camp were visible there. From the side of the mountain which I have called the left, which was over the Dead Sea, a very sharp-cut mountain was shown to us, which was formerly called Agri specula. This is the mountain on which Balak the son of Beor placed Balaam the sooth-sayer to curse the children of Israel, and God refused to permit it, as it is written.
Then, having seen everything that we desired, we returned in the Name of God through Jericho back to Jerusalem along the whole of the route by which we had come.
