Cave found used by John the Baptist, scholar says

By Seattle Times news services

KEVIN FRAYER / AP An Israeli archaeological site manager shows what is believed to be a carving of John the Baptist on a wall in a cave near Jerusalem.

E-mail this article Print this article Search archive Most read articles Most e-mailed articles

However, other scientists said there is no proof the New Testament preacher ever set foot in the cave.

"John the Baptist, who was just a figure from the Gospels, now comes to life," said British archaeologist Shimon Gibson, who supervised the dig outside Jerusalem that uncovered a stone believed used for ceremonial foot washing and 250,000 pottery shards that apparently are remnants of jugs used in the baptismal ritual.

However, James Tabor, a religious-studies professor at the University of North Carolina who participated in the excavations, said there was nothing in the cave to indicate John the Baptist was ever there.

Gibson said the carvings, the foot-washing stone and other finds, together with the proximity of John's hometown, constituted strong circumstantial evidence that the cave was used by John.

Tabor and Gibson said it was very likely the wall carvings, including one showing a man with a staff and wearing an animal skin, told the story of John the Baptist. The carvings stem from the Byzantine period and apparently were made by monks in the fourth or fifth century.

John, a contemporary of Jesus who also preached a message of redemption, is one of the most important figures in Christianity.

Gibson, who heads the Jerusalem Archaeological Field Unit, a private research group, organized an excavation in 1999. He said the cave was carved in the Iron Age, between 800 and 500 B.C., by the Israelites who apparently used it as an immersion pool. "It apparently was adopted by John the Baptist, who wanted a place where he could bring people to undergo their rituals, pertaining to his ideas of baptism," Gibson said.

The Bible describes John performing baptisms — including that of Jesus — in the River Jordan, 25 miles east of the cave, but Gibson said the site could be linked to early years "when John sought solitude 'in the wilderness.' "

Gibson said he was sure that the cave could not have been put to other uses or that it was used by any other group carrying out similar types of rituals about the same time as John.

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

E-mail this article

Print this article

Search archive

More nation & world headlines...