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Madaba, which
lies 30 km to the south of Amman, was first
mentioned in the Old Testament at the time of
Exodus, about 1300 B.C. Thereafter, the city
witnessed several civilizations such as the
Moabites, Armaeans, and Amonites, later on the
Nabateans, Romans and Byzantines. Evidence of
these ancient civilizations lie below the modern
city of Madaba.
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Modern Madaba
was established by early Arab Christian settlers
that emigrated in the early 19th Century from
Karak, a town to the South of Jordan.
In 1995, the
present owner of the house Mr. Ibrahim Jumean teamed
up with Mr. Zaid Goussous, a city planner, turned
restaurant, to convert this house into a
village of food & crafts.
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The
southern part of the restaurant was built in
1905 using the cross vault construction method
with stone floor "acquired" at the time from the
Roman Road, which is merely 200m away.
The
northern part, built in 1923, features
colorful terrazzo tiles imported from Haifa,
Palestine: typical floors of the well to do at
the time.
The souk
and craft shops were recently built using
stone from the same site that once was homes for
other Jumean families. |
