Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
of crossing is still disturbingly apparent: as one traveller, Nathalie Ollier, remarked, 'It's
hard for Christian visitors on either side of the water to pray when watched over by Jew-
ish and Muslim armed guards intent on making sure you don't cross the border'.
The sense of fight and flight at this point is captured in the famous mosaic map of
Madaba where a gazelle turns towards a lion (identifiable only by its tail) in hot pursuit.
They're running through the Jordan Valley towards the Dead Sea, just above the place
where John baptised Jesus, and are symbolic, perhaps, of the human flight that has marked
this poignant patch of land for centuries.
The site has only relatively recently been identified. Some ancient ruins were dis-
covered in 1899 but it wasn't until the clearing of landmines (following the 1994 peace
treaty with Israel and the Palestinian Territories) that the remains of churches, caves, ex-
tensive wells and several baptism pools were unearthed. After much debate, scholars iden-
tified the site of John the Baptist's mission and Jesus' baptism from descriptions in the
Bible and from 3rd- to 10th-century pilgrim accounts. Pope John Paul II sanctified the
claim with an open-air mass at the site in the spring of 2000.
Sights
Tell Elias
The shuttle bus makes a brief stop at Tell Elias, where Elijah is said to have ascended to
heaven. This is a significant spot for pilgrims of the three religions 'of the topic', although
there is little to see here. The rebuilt arch marks the 5th- to 6th-century pilgrim chapel,
where the late Pope John Paul II authenticated the site in March 2000. The nearby 3rd-
century rectangular prayer hall is one of the earliest Christian places of worship ever dis-
covered, dating from a period when Christianity was still illegal. The bus continues to a
modern baptism pool with filtered water from the Jordan River (the river is badly pol-
luted).
RUIN
Spring of John the Baptist
The tour continues on foot (hot in summer so take a hat and water) to one of several
places where John is believed to have carried out baptisms. Most baptisms were conduc-
ted in the spring-fed waters of Wadi al-Kharrar, rather than in the Jordan River. The path
leads through thickets of tamarisk and
argul
(wild cherry) and the yellow rose of Jericho
in spring.
SPRING
Site of Jesus' Baptism
RUIN
