The Jordan

31°50′N, 35°32′E · Bethany beyond the Jordan

Historical Overview

The Jordan River runs from the slopes of Mount Hermon in the north to the Dead Sea in the south. It is the river that Israel crossed to enter the promised land (Joshua 3–4), and it was the site of Naaman’s cleansing (2 Kings 5). By the first century, it had become the symbolic boundary of the land — the place where a Jew re-entered after traveling abroad.

John the Baptist preached in the wilderness of Judea and baptized in the Jordan. His baptism was a ritual of repentance, a public sign of turning back to God and being made ready for the coming judgment. The Fourth Gospel places the baptism at “Bethany beyond the Jordan” (John 1:28).

What the Archaeology Shows

The traditional site of the baptism, on the eastern bank of the Jordan opposite Jericho, was identified by Origen in the third century and venerated continuously until the site was abandoned in 1967. It was rediscovered in the 1990s and has since been excavated by the Jordanian Department of Antiquities.

Excavations at the site have revealed three baptismal pools from different periods, remains of a fifth- or sixth-century church, and monastic cells cut into the surrounding hills. The site is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site and has been identified by the Vatican, the Greek Orthodox Church, and the Armenian Apostolic Church as the authentic site of the baptism.

What Happened Here

All four Gospels record the baptism of Jesus by John. It was one of the earliest events of the ministry, and the Fourth Gospel treats it as the beginning of Jesus’ public work. The baptism is one of the few events in the Gospels that is corroborated by an independent non-Christian source: Josephus records that John was executed by Herod Antipas for drawing crowds (Antiquities 18.116–119).

The baptism is also the setting for the first public revelation of Jesus’ identity — the descent of the Spirit in the form of a dove, and the voice from heaven declaring him the beloved Son.