The monastic complex of Mount Nebo has been the subject of several archaeological expeditions since the 1930s. Almost 100 years after the pioneering investigation carried out by the Franciscan Friars of the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum in Jerusalem, a new age of research has begun in 2012 under the direction of Eugenio Alliata and Davide Bianchi. Bianchi joined the project as a PhD candidate and recently published a comprehensive monograph that builds on his doctoral research on the complex.

A Shrine to Moses: A Reappraisal of the Mount Nebo Monastic Complex Between Byzantium and Islam is divided into two parts. The first section discusses the archaeological investigations carried out in the monastic complex of Mount Nebo and is itself divided into two chapters dedicated to the study of the complex basilica and to new data on the monastery dated to the early Islamic period. The first chapter opens with an overview of the surveys carried out in five areas of the site. This is followed by a section offering a qualitative interpretation of these findings discussing the phase of construction of the first basilica, its rebuilding, and the addition of the cella trichora, as well as the Umayyad phase. This saw the partial rebuilding of the synthronon. Following an outline of the excavation area's stratigraphic data, the author examines numismatic and epigraphic findings related to the basilica. The text then lists a series of findings uncovered in four different areas of the building. Meanwhile, the second chapter in this first section focuses on one room of the basilica (no. 103) and on the cistern found in the atrium in front of the basilica (no. 8).

Part two aims to contextualize the monastic complex of Mount Nebo with its surroundings and to offer a snapshot of its life throughout the second half of the first millennium CE. This part is divided into three chapters followed by a short conclusion and almost fifty plates. The volume's third chapter discusses the shrines of several biblical figures located beyond the river Jordan. It sheds light on both their origin and early developments, as well as on the pilgrimage routes that impacted their growth. In addition, several monastic complexes are taken into consideration. Most of these were active between the fifth and the ninth century, such as the monasteries related to the prophet Elijah, that of Deir ‘Ain ‘Abata, dedicated to patriarch Lot, and that of Jabal Haroun near Petra. The next chapter is dedicated to the daily life of the monastic community of Mount Nebo, with particular emphasis on its management and on the subsistence of its members thanks to both religious and lay euergetism. The last chapter highlights the elements of continuity and discontinuity between Roman and Islamic rule beyond the river Jordan. Several exogenous as well as internal factors are adduced as explanations behind the gradual decline of monasticism in the region, foregrounding socioeconomic and political developments at the end of the first millennium CE.

The volume has several merits that succeed in overshadowing a series of minor flaws. The author excels in the analytical presentation of archaeological data, but his historical analysis leaves something to be desired. The authenticity and degree of historicity of the literary sources he discusses remain unquestioned. Furthermore, another problem arises with the secondary literature, which is sometimes outdated. A fluent English-speaking audience may also find the English at times inaccurate or anachronistic. Although words such as “oriental” are still commonly used in Italian academia, it would have been better to avoid their use in an English-written publication. In addition, the first part of the volume appears much stronger than the second, as it is grounded in rigorous analysis of archaeological data. This is particularly apparent in the section dedicated to the tomb located at the center of the basilica's nave, perhaps the most significant find in the study of the complex of the last decades. The models, pictures, plans, and tables add great value to the author's investigation of the basilica. Simply put, the first part reads as a detailed excavation report of great value for a reader who is well-versed in archaeology and who is interested in the basilica. The second part serves a broader audience, but it does not always succeed in being as exhaustive as the first. Nonetheless, it still provides a good discussion of the social life of the complex and of its changes after the rise of Islam. While the archaeological data offered in the third chapter could have been better integrated with the literary sources (which are quoted in their entirety with brief comments in between), the fourth chapter's discussion of the monastery's management and of the epigraphical record pertaining to the donors offers several points of reflection, thus emerging as the most engaging chapter of the second part.

The volume is highly recommended to archaeologists interested in Christian archaeology in the regionduring the second half of the first millennium, as well as to any student of archaeology who would like to learn how to transpose the often-puzzling experience of an excavation into clear and concise ink on the page.