I. THE RESURRECTION OF A HOLY TOWN

     Less than a year later, the newspaper Le Monde, in its edition of 21 November 2001, rehabilitates our brothers and their astonishing discoveries in a large well-documented page devoted to this new archaeological site. At a time when La Croix, ever since the publication of the Bayard Bible, has been wearily repeating every week that «the Bible does not recount history as it actually happened, but as it was experienced by people», a string of discoveries have come to light, attesting on the contrary the incontestable historicity of the Gospels. And Le Monde is full of enthusiasm for them.

     And now behold! Following the discovery of Qumran, a few kilometres further north, on the east bank of the Jordan, a new site has been unearthed: «Bethany on the far side of the Jordan, where John the Baptist was baptising» (Jn 1.28).

THE VOICE OF THE PRECURSOR

     When John the Baptist appeared, «in the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar’s reign» (Lk 3.1), in the autumn of the year 28, the best, the most religious of the Jews were ready to receive him as a new Elijah, the precursor of the Messiah. That was the cause of the great commotion, reported by the Gospels, in «Jerusalem and all Judaea and the whole Jordan district» (Mt 3.5), from whence people made their way to him to be baptised in the waters of the Jordan and to confess their sins. Saint John recounts how the Baptist here received a commission of priests and Levites sent by the authorities in Jerusalem to ask him whether he were the Christ. He responded truthfully:

     «I myself am not the Christ» – «What then? they asked him. Are you Elijah?» He said: «I am not» – «Are you the prophet» – He replied: «No.» Then they said to him: «Who are you? We must take back an answer to those who sent us? What have you to say about yourself?» He declared:

     «I am the “voice of him who cries I the wilderness: Make a straight way for the Lord”, as Isaiah the prophet said.» (Jn 1.20-23)

     How can Saint John the Baptist say that he is «the voice of him who cries in the wilderness» in this deep river valley where «the Jordan overflows the whole length of its banks throughout the harvest season» (Jos 3.15)? To understand this, we must read the writings of Qumran. «A voice cries: “Prepare in the wilderness a way for Yahweh”.» This oracle of Isaiah’s (40.3), which John the Baptist uses to define his own mission, can also be read in the Rule of the Community of Qumran, on two occasions, to justify the withdrawal of obedience of this community, in rupture with the Jerusalem priesthood and seeking refuge “in the wilderness”:

     «They will distance themselves from the dwellings of evil men and go into the wilderness, in order to prepare the way towards God, as it is written: “Prepare in the wilderness a way for Yahweh”.»

     The coincidence is not fortuitous. It signifies that Saint John the Baptist and the anchorites of Qumran shared the same outlook, the same profound convictions: both one and the other were awaiting the coming of the Messiah and were making preparations for it. Whereas the Sadducees, the rigid guardians of the traditions of the Temple who sent priests to make enquiries along with the Pharisees, had given up waiting for the Messiah. They would have nothing to do with him!

     Now these men had been sent by the Pharisees, and they put this further question to him: «Why are you baptising if you are not the Christ, and not Elijah, and not the prophet?» John answered them: «I baptise with water. But there stands among you one you do not know, the one who is coming after me, and I am not fit to undo his sandal-strap.» (Jn 1.24-27)

The mouth of the Jordan, satellite view. (photo Garo Nalbandian)

     These affinities between John the Baptist and the traditionalist Jewish faithful of Qumran go back to the very beginning of the great events of the End of times, the Gospel events. Thirty years earlier, Saint John the Baptist’s father, Zechariah, in his “Benedictus”, an inspired canticle on the occasion of the birth of his son, had blessed God «for having visited his people».

     Now, there has been discovered at Qumran, in cave one, a scroll of Hymns replete with expressions similar to those of the Benedictus: «preparing the ways», «give the knowledge of salvation», «the Lord will visit», with the same allusion to the star of Jacob, oriens ex alto, «the way of peace».

     In fact, the word «wilderness» at that time not only referred to the banks of the Dead Sea and the “wilderness of Judah”, but was applied to every part of Israel to which the Jewish faithful had scattered: the «wilderness» is Nazareth in Galilee, it is Ain Karim in Judaea, it is above all Jerusalem where Herod the Great rules, a man who will try and smother the light as soon as it is born!...

THE VOICE OF THE FATHER

     «On the next day» after the visit of the priests and Levites, John the Baptist saw Jesus coming towards him and said:

     «Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. This is the one I spoke of when I said:

A man is coming after me
who ranks before me
because he existed before me.

     «And I did not know him myself, and yet it was to reveal him to Israel that I came baptising with water.

     «And John gave testimony saying: “I saw the Spirit coming down on him from heaven like a dove and resting on him. I did not know him myself, but he who sent me to baptise with water had said to me: He on whom you see the Spirit come down and rest is the one who baptises in the Holy Spirit.”» (Jn 1.29-33)

     «Bethany on the far side of the Jordan» was truly therefore the theatre of the spectacular trinitarian theophany that marked the baptism of Christ and His entry into public life; the crowd of witnesses heard the testimony of the Father, which Jesus will subsequently invoke several times in His controversies with the Jews: «This is my beloved Son. Listen to him!» (Mt 3.17)

     It was there that Jesus recruited His first disciples.

     Shortly before His Passion, He would return «to the far side of the Jordan to stay in the district where John had first baptised» after a violent altercation with the Jews of Jerusalem on the day of the feast of the Dedication (Jn 10.40). On that day the people celebrated the “consecration” of the Temple restored by Judas Maccabee. Now, on this occasion, Jesus will repeat the statement He had already made the previous Passover (Jn 2.13-22), openly declaring that He Himself was the new Temple «consecrated» by the Father. After having opened the eyes of the man born blind, Jesus, the «Good Shepherd», will proclaim His intention to «lead» His sheep outside the «precincts» of the Temple of Jerusalem. Then, uniting action to words, He would «leave» to make a pilgrimage to that blessed place where the Jews, on the day of His baptism, had heard the voice of God more clearly than the Hebrews encamped at the foot of Sinai in the days of Moses.

     At «Bethany, on the far side of the Jordan», He would find a whole group of well disposed people who had heard John the Baptist point Him out as the Messiah, the Chosen One, the Lamb of God, and had been purified through his baptism of water: «Many people who came to him there said: “John gave no signs, but all he said about this man was true.” And many of them believed in Him.» (Jn 10.41-42)

     The place is also named Aenon by Saint John the Evangelist, who provides this extra detail: «Aenon, near Salim» (Jn 3.23). We have suggested that, by the name of Salim, Saint John was referring to Salem, the city over which Melchisedech was king in Abraham’s time (Gn 14.18). Here Saint John repeats an old tradition according to which the meeting between Abraham and Melchisedech, «king of Salem», interpreted as Jerusalem in Psalm 76 (verse 3), took place here (cf. CRC, February 2000, p. 9).

A HOLY TOWN LONG FORGOTTEN

     «Bethany on the far side of the Jordan: this name almost disappeared from the Gospel in the third century, writes Father Michele Piccirillo, following the hasty and peremptory intervention of the great scholar Origen († 254). The latter, having come to Palestine to find traces of Jesus, the Apostles and prophets, had put his trust in informants who assured him they had never heard of Bethany on the far side of the Jordan. He had concluded from this that the town had never existed in the time of Jesus. Modern exegetes have also contributed to the oblivion that has fallen on this town in Transjordania, preferring to situate the episode reported by John in a region near Lake Galilee, close to the town of Andrew and Peter who followed Jesus at the invitation of John the Baptist.» (Bethany on the far side of the Jordan or “the rediscovered town”, LA TERRE SAINTE, May-June 1999, p. 149)

     Origen corrected the text of Saint John by replacing «Bethany» with «Bethabara», because he knew of no other Bethany than the village situated on the west slopes of the Mount of Olives, near Jerusalem. Why Bethabara, «House of the Ford»? Because in this place there was preserved the memory of the dry-shod crossing of the tribes of Israel as they entered the Holy Land under Joshua’s leadership (Jos 3.15-17), as well as that of the Prophet Elijah who had also crossed the Jordan dry-shod, in the company of Elisha, before being taken up to Heaven (2 K 2.11).

     In the Onomasticon of biblical places, written before Constantine’s victory (312), Eusebius of Caesarea follows Origen and gives the name of Bethabara for the place «where John performed his baptism of repentance», adding however that the place is well known «by many brother believers who, eager to be reborn, have themselves baptised there in these life-giving waters». Thus, he recounts, in his Life of Constantine, how the Emperor confided to the bishops gathered at Nicomedia his desire to receive baptism in the waters of the Jordan, «at the location where it is reported that the Saviour allowed Himself to be baptised by way of an example to us».

     It will fall to Emperor Anastasius (491-518) to raise a basilica on the east shore of the river as a memorial to Christ’s baptism. The first pilgrim to mention this basilica is Theodosius (circa 530).

     There were also a monastery, or “laura”, called Sapsaphas, according to the most ancient testimony to have come down to us, the Journey of the Pilgrim from Piacenza, written in 570:

     «On this bank of the Jordan, two miles from the river, there is a spring where Saint John the Baptist baptised… Around this valley live hermits in great numbers. Not far from there is the town called Livias...»

     The origin of the laura of Sapsaphas is recounted by John Moschus in the first Floweret of his Spiritual Meadow at the beginning of the seventh century. In a vision, John the Baptist revealed to the monk John from Abbot Eustorgius’ monastery in Jerusalem, as he was about to set off for Mount Sinai, the sacred character of a cave where, stricken by fever, he had taken shelter: «Please remain here, he said to him, for this little cave is of much more importance than Sinai. Often the Lord Jesus Christ used to come here to visit me. So, give me your word that you will stay and live here, and I will grant you good health.» The old man gladly agreed and gave a solemn promise to stay in this cave. He immediately recovered and there he remained for the rest of his life. He transformed the cave into a church and gathered a group of monks around him. «This place is called Sapsaphas», concludes John Moschus. The episode dates from the time of the Patriarch Elias of Jerusalem (493-513), a contemporary of the Emperor Anastasius.

     «The most important conclusion to be drawn from reading these pilgrims’ reflections, writes Father Piccirillo, is the distinction between the commemoration of Jesus’ baptism which was celebrated on the banks of the river, and the town of Bethany near the spring Ain Kharrar, the source of the wadi of the same name, on the east bank where the laura of Sapsaphas stands, in the territory of the town of Livias. The pilgrims came there from Jerusalem by travelling along the road from Jericho to Transjordania, to the sanctuary of Moses, on the high plateau of Madaba. We know of this road from Eusebius of Caesarea.» (Un progetto giubilare: il parco del Battesimo, in Il Veltro, rivista della civiltà italiana, XLIII, 1999, p. 172)

     Moreover, all the pilgrims agree on the existence in the middle of the river of a marble column, surmounted by a cross, indicating the precise place where Jesus was baptised. Theodosius is quite explicit on this point. The Pilgrim from Piacenza specifies that a set of steps allowed people to go in and out of the water.

     On the day of the Epiphany, the pilgrim went down to the river. He assisted at the blessing of the waters by a priest, and at the immersion of a crowd of the faithful: «All submerge themselves in the river for the blessing; they are clothed in a burial robe and hold numerous other objects which they keep in view of their burial.»

	Detail from the “map of Madaba”, a sixth century mosaic, discovered in the ruins of a Byzantine church, representing the Jordan with its two banks, the east bank above and the west bank below. On the right, the mouth of the river runs into the Dead Sea. A fish swims upstream to escape its salty waters. The discovery of this mosaic in 1896 awakened scientific interest in the forgotten shrines of the east bank. The monastery of Saint John (known as «of Prodromos»; cf. photo below) can be seen on the west bank, with a legend in Greek: «Bethabara, (site) of Saint John and of baptism». On the east bank: «Aenon, today Sapsaphas», next to a cave whence a spring issues amidst the bushes.

     A time would come when pilgrims would have to give up crossing the Jordan to commemorate Christ’s baptism, because of the insuperable obstacle created by Islam. Around 670, Bishop Arculf swam across the river, and there came across «a small square church built on the site where, according to tradition, the Lord’s clothing was deposited while He received baptism».

     The church, and the cross planted in the middle of the river marking the spot where Jesus was baptised, were joined to the west bank by a bridge built on arches. It is there that the good Christian people, during the centuries of devotion, drew from the water of the Jordan abundant streams of grace, faith and charity.

     At the time of the Crusades, the Jordan marked the boundary between the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem and the caliphate of Damascus. The pilgrims approached the river, under the protection of the Knights of the Temple and the Hospitallers, but they dared not cross it. Theodoric (1172) relates what he saw from the mountain of the Forty Days where Christ, according to tradition, fasted for forty days:

     «Wishing to purify ourselves along with the others in the waters of the Jordan, we descended after sunset, while it was growing dark, and as we looked down from the heights, we saw in the plain more than sixty thousand people according to our estimate, almost all with a candle in the hand, and clearly visible to the pagans of Transjordania from the mountains of Arabia.» (quoted by Father Piccirillo, op. cit, p. 169)

     This indicates that the east bank, «on the far side of the Jordan», where the founding events described by Saint John had taken place, was seen as a place of dereliction, an off-limits region marking the edge of what was considered impassable terrain. A considerable oversight when one considers the treasures thereby lost to our view. But the hour of the Virgin Mary had not yet come. It was necessary to wait for the revelations of the most precious and most lovable Heart of Our Lord and the Blessed Virgin before we might tread the providential paths of archaeology and modern history.

     The first discovery was that of the mosaic known as the “map of Madaba” (above), named after a town in Jordan, to the east of the Dead Sea, where it came to light in 1896. Dating from the sixth century AD, it locates Christ’s baptism on the west bank of the river, where the artist, following Origen, has inscribed in Greek letters «Bethabara (site) of Saint John», and «(site) of baptism».

In the desert of Judah, near the Dead Sea and seven hundred metres from the west bank of the Jordan, the monastery of Prodromos, a Greek word meaning «Precursor», corresponds to the location of Christ’s baptism according to the mosaic map of Madaba. Pilgrims of the fourth century also celebrated in this place the Ascension of Elijah carried off in a chariot of fire.

     And not a word about Bethany on the far side of the Jordan!

     So in 1896 the mosaic of Madaba seemed to corroborate nascent modernism, according to which the Fourth Gospel was “symbolic”; it was therefore considered futile to search for actual dates and geographical sites in it.

     It was necessary to wait another hundred years before there was opened up, on the opposite bank, just when the inventory of the site of Qumran was being completed, another archaeological site «on the far side of the Jordan», under the stimulus of Father Michele Piccirillo, an archaeologist and professor of history and biblical geography at the Studium biblicum franciscanum, of the Monastery of the Flagellation in Jerusalem. He was happy to send us his photographs and documentation on the state of the research. He could not have made us a more beautiful Christmas present, one that is calculated to defend and illustrate our common Roman Catholic faith, and to warm in our hearts the charity that burns in the heart of the Church.

THE REDISCOVERED HOLY TOWN

     The Franciscan archaeologist did not lack predecessors. In 1899, Father Federlin of the White Fathers of Sainte Anne in Jerusalem, inspired by the discovery of the map of Madaba, crossed the river in search of forgotten shrines.

     «In the estuary of the Wadi Kharrar, the priest noted and photographed, during his first visit in 1899, the foundations of a chapel built on arches, which suggested that it was the church mentioned by Bishop Arculf in the seventh century. During a second visit, setting out from the east, Father Féderlin noticed, at the entry of the small valley, something which he describes as “a sort of reddish earthen promontory”. In the remains of the walls, the ruins and the scattered mosaic tesserae, the explorer recognised the remnants of the Byzantine laura of Sapsaphas referred to by pilgrims.» (Piccirillo, op. cit., p. 173-174)

     «In the past, continues Father Michele Piccirillo, we had several times asked the Jordanian authorities for permission to visit the river in order to search out the shrines identified by Father Federlin on the east bank of the river. The response from the soldiers, posted on the border, in a mined zone, had always been courteous but firm: “Your undertaking is not possible. The time has not yet come (sic! reminiscent of Jn 2.4...) to venture along the river.”

     «It was in the summer of 1995 that we were finally able to realise our desire and this in a remarkably straightforward manner. The grace we were going to receive far exceeded all our expectations. On the occasion of the forthcoming publication of a work dedicated to the Moslem and Christian shrines of Jordan in which I had been invited to collaborate, I had expressed my burning desire to Prince Ghazi Ben Muhammed, King Hussein’s nephew, as well as to an officer of the court who was extremely interested in the cultural riches of the kingdom. One week later, Father Alliata and I went down to the river, accompanied by our exceptional host.»

     But we must quote at length the account of the marvellous discovery which followed: «I rely on my own personal memories, writes Father Piccirillo. On the afternoon of Friday 11 August of that year [1995], accompanied by the Prince, we took the road in the direction of the Abdallah bridge, destroyed in the war of 1967. Once we had passed the first road block, situated in the fields of Moab at the foot of Mount Nebo, the soldiers of the Prince’s escort allowed me to take over as the guide.

     «Basing myself on the literature I had read and the maps I had procured, we came to a spot about two or three hundred metres from the left bank of the river, and from there we headed north along a beaten path skirting a continuous line of abandoned passageways and fortifications. We reached the Wadi Gharaba. We had a short stop for a photograph from high up of the splendid swathe of greenery, and we then continued north after crossing the almost dry brook and the luxuriant vegetation of reeds and tamarisks at the bottom of the valley.

     «We arrived at a second enclosed wadi, before approaching the river and finding ourselves opposite a small stream leading to the place of Jesus’ baptism on the right bank. The small chapel built by Father Virgilio Corbo for the Custody of the Holy Land, with its iron cross, rose up like a vision against the backdrop of the setting sun, under the leafless branches of a dead tree. We cut a passage through the reeds and went down to the muddy river, almost stagnant in its steep-sided bed. We took the road back a little disappointed and discouraged by the impossibility of finding ancient ruins in the midst of this Amazonian jungle, the paradisiacal refuge, undoubtedly for a little while longer, of herons and wild boars.

     «The soldiers invited us to take tea at their headquarters, a moment of refreshment in the torrid heat of the valley reflected back by the steep sides of the marl hills. The embankment road passed very close to a kind of natural amphitheatre surmounted by some palm trees. Was it perhaps the source of the Wadi Kharrar, one of the two shrines we were looking for? But we dared not make a detour for fear of detaining our kind escort.

The ruins of «Bethany on the far side of the Jordan».

     «While we sat under a large eucalyptus, amidst the ancient palm trees laden with dates, the officers went to greet the Prince who was waiting for the colonel at the contingent’s headquarters. It was the latter who, on his arrival, put an end to our doubts and hesitations. With great kindness, he led us in person to the amphitheatre that we had seen. In the middle of the basin of vegetation, the colonel pointed out the object of our search: a small hill whose top was on the same height as the plain. Fragments of polychrome mosaics collected from the site and scattered about the slope, the visible tops of walls, and the remains of what was certainly Roman and Byzantine pottery, persuaded us that we had achieved the objective of a visit which we had been hoping to make for years. It had been made possible by the establishment of peace between Israel and Jordan in 1995, and also by the enthusiasm of Prince Ghazi, King Hussein’s nephew. We examined the fragments we managed to collect. They represented a style of pottery from the first century. There were also the remains of stone jugs from around the same time, which were characteristic of Jewish life and are well-known to archaeologists. From this we were led to our first observation: archaeology was proving the existence, close to the spring, of a settlement dating back to Roman times, and making it possible to affirm that the late attestation, from Byzantine times, regarding the existence on this spot of the village of “BETHANY ON THE FAR SIDE OF THE JORDAN”, was confirmation of the evidence in John’s Gospel.

     «The one most affected by our enthusiasm was the Prince himself: “When can we begin the excavations?” Rather more pragmatically we were thinking of the protection of the tell and of the little still virgin valley, till now protected by soldiers and the seclusion of this war zone. We were already trying to picture what it would look like joined to the dwellings and farms of the Jordan valley. We began to dream of a park specially set up to protect the valley with a place reserved for a Moslem sanctuary, a maqâm, dedicated to Yahya, the name of Saint John the Baptist in the Koran, and a small church on the east bank of the river to accommodate the Christian pilgrims constantly drawn to the river of the Baptist and Jesus.

     «As we discussed the projects now made possible by the new spirit breathing through the region, we climbed back up towards Mount Nebo which, in the setting sun, after a scorching hot day, showed itself at its most charming. We parted, promising each other that over time we would undo the disastrous effects of the war, even affecting a holy site in Jordan, too long forgotten because inaccessible. The Prince, clearly moved by the memory of Jesus and the Baptist whom a page in the Gospel had brought together in this corner of Jordan, said goodbye to us assuring us that that very evening he would inform the King, his uncle, all about it. Shortly afterwards, peace would make it possible for pilgrims to visit these sites on the demilitarized east bank.»

     These plans were not to remain a dead letter. A decree of King Hussein’s, dated 10 September 1997, established a «Royal Commission for the development, in the Jordan valley, of a “Garden of the Baptism of the Lord Christ” (may peace be upon Him).»

	In the foreground, excavations of the tell of «Bethany on the far side of the Jordan»; in the middle ground, the Jordan valley. In the far ground, beyond the west bank, the hills of Juda. (Photograph by Fr Michele Piccirillo.)

     Archaeologists from the Department of Jordanian Antiquities, advised and coordinated by the Franciscan archaeologists of Jerusalem and Mount Nebo, uncovered the foundations of the laura of Sapsaphas with its stones covered in mosaics and its cisterns for bringing water to the monks. Moreover, they identified the church built near the river by Emperor Anastasius and they excavated it. On the northern flank of the tell, close to the spring, they discovered the rock chapel of Saint John referred to by pilgrims.

     And so the golden rule set out in 1994 by the Franciscan Eugenio Alliata (cf. our inset, supra, p. 2) in December’s Le monde de la Bible, was confirmed the very next year. And it has already borne some delightful fruit: following the discovery of the «Middle Testament», in the caves of Qumran, here we have the New Testament perfectly connected to the Old by this “bridge”. The series of discoveries made at the end of the twentieth century reproduces the course taken by the founding events at the beginning of the first century. After Melchisedech, Joshua, and the «poor of Yahweh» who took refuge in the «wilderness», here we have John the Baptist and Jesus «at Bethany on the far side of the Jordan». It is a foundational archaeological event.