ABSTRACT
Before Alois Musil began his explorations in the Madaba Plains he had already made substantial surveys in the Kerak region (Worschech 2007) and had visited Petra. After his return from Wadi Musa-Petra to Kerak he made plans to return to Jerusalem since his holidays were almost over. However, on his way to Jerusalem he wanted to explore the unknown territory of the slopes to the Dead Sea, crossing the Wadi al-Mujib and moving up towards Madaba and the northern end of the Dead Sea. He hired a man from the tribe of the Hamide, who lived in the territory north of Kerak, and whose support was needed to find the way through the unmapped country. Don ‘Abdrabbo, the priest of the Catholic Mission in Kerak, who had accompanied Musil on several occasions during his explorations of the Ard al-Kerak, offered his services again to Musil to travel with him to Madaba.
