Stylite Tower

Imagine sitting in a forty foot prayer tower in the ancient Middle East and never leaving for the rest of your life.

The people who did this were called Stylites, which literally means pillar saints. They were part of a religious movement that took place about 1500 years ago in the Middle East.  Christian penitents lived on the top of towers and practiced degradation of their bodies, believing it would help the salvation of their souls. They would isolate themselves from the rest of the world, starve themselves, face harsh weather conditions, and pray.

While there is much written evidence about the Stylites, there is little that is left physically about their lifestyle. One of the only Stylite towers that remains in the world is in Jordan at a site called Umm ar-Rasas.

It’s not one of the most famous spots in the country for tourists, but one of my friends who lived in Jordan took me there because it was a good site to go prospecting for relics. Our destination was about 30 miles southeast of Madaba, Jordan. A church in Madaba houses the oldest cartological representation of the Holy Land—a mosaic map in the floor of the church. Tourists and pilgrims come from all over the world to see this marvel, but only a handful each week make it to Umm ar-Rasas.

Through the years I have loved to prospect for relics. I should have been an archaeologist as I enjoy discovering very old things that others have overlooked. Maybe that’s why I love to browse antique shops today or look for shark teeth on the beach.

Anyhow, before we ever went to see the ruins of this ancient city, we went to the “tel.” In ancient Middle East, the “tels” were the garbage dumps. As the harsh hot weather dries out the soil on the mound of dirt and debris, the infrequent rains wash away the loose dirt exposing plenty of pottery shards and other small treasures. At least they were treasures to me. They may be worthless to most people, but the real joy is in the discovery of these little jewels.

After we had spent a couple of hours prospecting the tel, we walked on over to the ruins of the city of Umm ar-Rasas, one of Jordan’s five UNESCO World Heritage Sites. One can tell just how large and important Umm ar-Rasas became by what you’ll find there today. Not only are the ruins of a large city there, but one can find the ruins of at least 16 Byzantine churches – plus the infrastructure to support thousands of residents. The largest of the ancient churches was St. Stephen which has the largest excavated ancient mosaic floor in Jordan.

To me the most fascinating thing about this forgotten city is the 40 feet tall prayer tower. Men would commit to climbing up into the small open aired room at the top via some sort of scaffolding, and the scaffolding would be removed either for a defined period or until they died. Their only contact with another human was once a day when their waste would be lowered in a basket tied to a rope, and food and water would be retrieved by the Stylite. They would receive enough minimal food and water to just keep them alive.

Looking back, one may question the sanity of committing to be a Stylite. Why would a person self-inflict so much physical pain and depravation and emotional stress to literally break their spirit to please God? However, no one can question their commitment to Almighty God. No one can deny their vow of prayer and supplication.

Perhaps the Stylites were very sane people whose commitment to the Lord was so great that they felt unworthy of a “normal” life? Or was that their calling to serve?

I am thinking “How I would react if the Lord called me to a life of prayer and mortification?”

The Middle East has been in the headlines again for the past year. We wonder what it would take to attain real peace in the Middle East in our children’s lifetimes. With hostilities once again going on and all the sophisticated war instruments that man has developed, two major weapons being used are forced starvation and depravity of a home.

Maybe Israelites and Palestinians need to be more like the pillar saints and commit to more praying and less fighting. Don’t we all?!