Bethany Beyond the Jordan
The baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist, the act that launched Jesus' public ministry, most likely took place on the Jordanian side of the Jordan River in a perennial riverbed called the Wadi Al-Kharrar.
Here the remains of more than 20 Christian sites have been discovered, including several churches, a prayer hall, baptismal pools and a sophisticated water reticulation system. These sites date back to the Roman and Byzantine periods.
Excavations at Bethany Beyond the Jordan began only in 1996. Before then, the area had been a minefield on the front line between Jordan and Israel, whose border is the Jordan River.
The 1994 peace treaty between Jordan and Israel prepared access by archaeologists and church officials. Jordanian authorities have built a new road, a visitors' centre and walkways. Construction of several new churches has begun, the most prominent being the gold-domed Greek Orthodox Church of St John the Baptist.
The baptismal site of Bethany Beyond the Jordan (John 1:28) is near the southern end of the Jordan River, across from Jericho and 8 kilometres south of King Hussein (or Allenby) Bridge. It is 40 minutes by car from the Jordanian capital of Amman.
It should not be confused with the Bethany on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives near Jerusalem, where Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead.
At the head of the Wadi Kharrar, springs emerge from the barren landscape to create a small oasis of tamarisk and palm trees, reeds, grasses and shrubbery. From here, the Wadi Kharrar stream flows eastward to the Jordan River, its 2-kilometre route flanked by thick vegetation and identified by the murmur of running water.
The freshwater of the Wadi Kharrar stream would have been more suitable for baptisms than the murkier Jordan River, which was also subject to heavy seasonal flooding in John the Baptist's time.
The area adjacent to the baptismal site of Bethany Beyond the Jordan (called Al-Maghtas in Arabic) has many other biblical associations.
Near here, it is believed, Joshua led the Israelites across the Jordan River to the Promised Land after the waters miraculously stopped flowing (Joshua 3:14-16).
Elijah — a prophet who is often associated with John the Baptist — crossed the Jordan River on dry ground in this area and was then taken up to heaven in a chariot of fire (2 Kings 2:8-11).
Jesus withdrew to Bethany Beyond the Jordan in the New Testament after being threatened with stoning in Jerusalem (John 10:31-40).
Early Christian pilgrims visited Bethany Beyond the Jordan on a route that went from Jerusalem to Jericho, across the Jordan River and then to Mount Nebo.
John the Baptist "went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins" (Luke 3:3). The Jordan River has changed course over the centuries, and the precise spot where John baptized Jesus will probably never be positively identified.
All four Gospel writers mention Jesus' baptism, but only John specifies Bethany Beyond the Jordan location. Documentary evidence favours identifying this location as Wadi Al-Kharrar or Al-Maghtas.
Not all scholars accept this identification. Some prefer a location north of the Sea of Galilee by the Yarmouk River, where Elijah, hiding from the wrath of King Ahab, is believed to have been fed by a raven (1 Kings 17:2-6).
Identification was made more difficult by the Christian scholar Origen, who lived in Palestine in the 3rd century. Unaware of any Bethany on the east side of the Jordan River, he suggested the place name in John's Gospel should be Bethabara (which was on the west of the river). Some New Testament translators followed his suggestion, and it even appears in the King James Version of the Bible.
Jesus' baptism is also commemorated on the western bank of the Jordan River at a site in Israel called Qasr Al-Yahud. The church was built on arches.
Pilgrims as far back as 333 described visits to the baptism site of Bethany Beyond the Jordan. An account in 530 said it was marked by a marble pillar on which an iron cross had been fastened.
The 6th-century pilgrim Theodosius described a church built there by the Byzantine emperor Anastasius I. He said this square-shaped church was built on high arches to allow floodwaters to pass underneath. Archaeologists believe they have uncovered remains of the piers on which the church was built.
Later, pilgrims referred to a small church said to have been built "on the place where the Lord's clothes were placed".
The Wadi Al-Kharrar was also the centre of an active monastic life. Hermits lived in caves carved into the soft limestone, gathering weekly for a common liturgy.
A monastery with four churches developed between the 4th and 6th centuries on Tell Mar Elias (St Elijah Hill), just above the springs that feed the stream. A hostel between the monastery and the river provided lodging for pilgrims, who would immerse themselves in the waters.
Russian pilgrims particularly revered the baptismal site before the Russian Revolution of 1917. They would arrive carrying their shrouds which they would wear as they baptized each other in the river.
One church was built around a cave.
In an area of several square kilometres, now called the Baptism Archaeological Park, the Jordanian Department of Antiquities has surveyed, excavated and conserved a series of ancient remains.
These include a walled monastery containing at least four churches and chapels, a prayer hall, a sophisticated water reticulation and storage system and three plastered pools. The wall was intended to prevent erosion rather than protect against attack.
The discoveries include remains of foundations and walls, mosaic floors, fine coloured stone pavements, Corinthian capitals, column drums and bases, and hermits' cells and caves.
One of the churches appears to have been built around a natural cave containing fresh spring water — possibly the cave that Byzantine pilgrims called "the cave of John the Baptist".
The Jordanian royal family has encouraged the development of facilities for pilgrims. These facilities include a new road from the Dead Sea area, a visitors' center, and paths and walkways to the most important religious and archaeological sites.
In 2015 Bethany Beyond the Jordan was designated a World Heritage site.