Occurrence of Attributes in Original Text
The text related to the cultural heritage 'Baptism Site “Bethany Beyond the Jordan” (Al-Maghtas)' has mentioned 'Jordan' in the following places:
| Occurrence Sentence | Text Source |
|---|---|
| Archaeological site in Jordan | WIKI |
| Al-MaghtasNative name Arabic: xd8xa7xd9x84xd9x85xd8xbaxd8xb7xd8xb3xe2x80x8eExcavation of baptism siteLocationBalqa Governorate, JordanCoordinates31xc2xb050xe2x80xb214xe2x80xb3N 35xc2xb033xe2x80xb201xe2x80xb3Exefxbbxbf / xefxbbxbf31.837109xc2xb0N 35.550301xc2xb0Exefxbbxbf / 31.837109; 35.550301Websitewww.baptismsite.comLocation of Al-Maghtas in Jordan UNESCO World Heritage SiteOfficialxc2xa0nameBaptism Site "Bethany Beyond the Jordan" (Al-Maghtas)CriteriaCultural:xc2xa0(iii)(vi)Reference1446Inscription2015 (39th session)Area294.155xc2xa0ha (1.13574xc2xa0sqxc2xa0mi)Bufferxc2xa0zone957.178xc2xa0ha (3.69568xc2xa0sqxc2xa0mi) | WIKI |
| Al-Maghtas (Arabic: xd8xa7xd9x84xd9x85xd8xbaxd8xb7xd8xb3xe2x80x8e, Hebrew: xd7x91xd7x99xd7xaa xd7xa2xd7x91xd7xa8xd7x94xe2x80x8e), meaning "baptism" or "immersion" in Arabic, is an archaeological World Heritage site in Jordan on the east bank of the Jordan River, officially known as Baptism Site "Bethany Beyond the Jordan" (Al-Maghtas). | WIKI |
| The strategic location between Jerusalem and the King's Highway is already evident from the Book of Joshua report about the Israelites crossing the Jordan there. | WIKI |
| [6] The complete area was abandoned after the 1967 Six-Day War, when both banks of the Jordan became part of the frontline. | WIKI |
| Contents 1 Names 1.1 Bethany 1.2 Bethabara 1.3 Al-Maghtas 2 Geography 3 Religious significance 3.1 Israelites' crossing of the Jordan 3.2 Prophet Elijah 3.3 Baptism of Jesus 3.3.1 Historicity 4 History and archaeology 4.1 Pre-Roman settlement 4.2 Roman and Byzantine periods 4.3 Early Muslim period 4.4 Mamluk and Ottoman periods 4.5 Rediscovery after 1994 and tourism 5 Features 5.1 Tell el-Kharrar or Elijah's Hill and the baptismal pools 5.2 Bankside area (Zor) 5.3 Hermitages 5.4 Tombs 6 UNESCO involvement 7 Site management 8 See also 9 References 10 External links | WIKI |
| Two passages from the Gospel of John indicate a place "beyond the Jordan" or "across the Jordan": | WIKI |
| John 1:28: These things took place in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptising. | WIKI |
| John 10:40: He [Jesus] went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing earlier, and he remained there. | WIKI |
| [2] Noticing that in his time there was no place called Bethany east of the Jordan, he suggested to amend the name to Bethabara, which did indeed correspond to a site that was located there. | WIKI |
| east of) the Jordan" where John the Baptist preached and performed baptisms, where he met with a group of priests and Levites sent by the Pharisees to investigate his ministry, and where he baptised Jesus (Yeshua) (John 1:28xe2x80x9329). | WIKI |
| While the initial site of veneration was on the eastern side of the River Jordan, focus had shifted to the western side by the 6th century. | WIKI |
| Israelites' crossing of the Jordan[edit] | WIKI |
| According to the Hebrew Bible, Joshua instructed the Israelites how to cross the Jordan by following the priests who were carrying the Ark of the Covenant through the river, thus making its waters stop their flow (Joshua 3, mainly Joshua 3:14xe2x80x9317). | WIKI |
| The Hebrew Bible also described how Prophet Elijah, accompanied by Prophet Elisha, stopped the waters of the Jordan, crossing to the eastern side, and then went up by a whirlwind into the heavens. | WIKI |
| At Al-Maghtas there is a short brook, Wadi al-Kharrar, which flows to the Jordan, and is associated with the baptism activities of John. | WIKI |
| [4] ICOMOS in its consideration of "Bethany Beyond the Jordan" as a UNESCO World Heritage Site notes that sites historically associated with Jesus' baptism also exist on the west bank across the river as well[29] and puts forth that their investigation into the Al-Maghtas site for recognition as a World heritage Center does not prove without doubt that the archaeological structures there actually relate historically to Jesus' baptism and further notes that other sites along the Jordan River have historically made similar claims. | WIKI |
| The Byzantine emperor Anastasius I Dicorus erected between 491xe2x80x93518 a first church dedicated to John the Baptist on the eastern banks of the River Jordan. | WIKI |
| The Sasanian conquest of Jerusalem in 614, river floodings, earthquakes and the Muslim Siege of Jerusalem (636xe2x80x93637) put an end to Byzantine building activity on the east bank of the Jordan, particularly in the Wadi al-Kharrar area. | WIKI |
| [40] Following the Israelxe2x80x93Jordan peace treaty in 1994 access to Al-Maghtas was restored after Prince Ghazi of Jordan, who is deeply interested in religious history, visited the area in the company of a Franciscan archaeologist who had convinced him to take a look at what was thought to be the baptism site. | WIKI |
| [1] Jordan fully reopened al-Maghtas in 2002. | WIKI |
| [35][41] In 2007, a documentary film entitled The Baptism of Jesus Christ xe2x80x93 Uncovering Bethany Beyond the Jordan was made about the site. | WIKI |
| Since then, thousands of Christian pilgrims from around the world annually have marked Epiphany at Bethany Beyond the Jordan. | WIKI |
| In 2015, the UNESCO declared the Al-Maghtas site on the east bank of the River Jordan as a World Heritage Site, while Qasr el-Yahud was left out. | WIKI |
| ICOMOS evaluated the report presented by Jordan from 21xe2x80x9325 September 2014. | WIKI |
| Following this evaluation, the site was inscribed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site under the title "Bethany Beyond the Jordan (Al-Maghtas)". | WIKI |
| The Baptism Site xe2x80x9cBethany beyond the Jordanxe2x80x9d (Al-Maghtas) is located in the Jordan Valley, north of the Dead Sea. | UNESCO |
| xe2x80x9cBethany beyond the Jordanxe2x80x9d is of immense religious significance to the majority of denominations of Christian faith, who have accepted this site as the location where Jesus of Nazareth was baptised by John the Baptist. | UNESCO |
| Criterion (iii): xe2x80x9cBethany beyond the Jordanxe2x80x9d represents in an exceptional way the tradition of baptism, an important sacrament in Christian faith, and with it the historic and contemporary practice of pilgrimage to the site. | UNESCO |
| The majority of Christian connotations accepted that Bethany beyond the Jordan is the authentic location of Jesus of Nazarethxe2x80x99s baptism, a conviction which strongly characterized historic and present practice of the cultural tradition. | UNESCO |
| Criterion (vi): The Baptism Site, xe2x80x9cBethany Beyond the Jordanxe2x80x9d (Al-Maghtas) is directly associated with the Christian tradition of baptism. | UNESCO |
| The size of the property allows the whole valley to be viewed and appreciated by visitors and in most directions integrates the wider setting of the Jordan Valley. | UNESCO |
| The Baptism Site xe2x80x9cBethany beyond the Jordanxe2x80x9d (Al-Maghtas) is considered by the majority of the Christian Churches to be the location where John the Baptist baptised Jesus. | UNESCO |
| The property and its buffer zone are likewise protected by the Jordan Valley Authority Laws and on the site level by the By-Laws of the Baptism Site Commission. | UNESCO |
| The authority responsible for the management of the Baptism Site xe2x80x9cBethany Beyond the Jordanxe2x80x9d is the Baptism Site Commission, which is directed by an independent board of trustees appointed by H.M. King Abdullah II bin al-Hussein and chaired by H.R.H. | UNESCO |