In recent years, sensational discoveries by archaeologists have been increasingly reported, confirming the reality of the events described in the Bible. Many of these "biblical finds" have been made in Jordan. About how scientists determine the authenticity of shrines and what riddles they still have to solve - in the material of RIA Novosti.
The temple has gone down
Archaeologist Rustom Mdzhyan shows RIA Novosti the ruins of a Byzantine church not far from Jordan. Some twenty years ago, only the local Bedouins knew about the peculiarities of the town of Al-Makhtas on the eastern bank of the river (in Jordan).
“In 1996, we started exploring the area. Our team of 70 archaeologists systematically studied every piece of land, making trial excavations. If they found something somewhere, they dug it wider and deeper,”the scientist says.
The ruins of the temple at the site of the baptism of Christ in the town of Al-Makhtas, Jordan / RIA Novosti / Anton Skripunov.
And so on until they came across traces of masonry. They began to clear them - they saw a wall, and going down. Several years of excavations - and here we have a church of an unusual shape: the entrance was located on a hill, a staircase led down from it to the center of the structure. It turned out to be a large cross-shaped font with a mosaic at the bottom. And judging by the inscriptions on the surviving fragments, the church was built in the fifth century. Presumably, there was a chapel before her.
“We realized that we had reached the goal - we found the exact place of the baptism of Jesus Christ!” - exclaims the Jordanian archaeologist.
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But why is he so sure of this? Before embarking on excavations, experts have done a tremendous amount of work with the archives, carefully examining all available evidence regarding this event, so significant for Christianity.
First, the researchers relied on the gospel story of the baptism of Jesus Christ. There, the town of Beit-Abara (Bethara - in the Russian-language version of the Bible), or "the crossing of the prophets" is mentioned in passing. And secondly, they analyzed the descriptions left by medieval pilgrims.
Reconstruction of the temple at the site of the baptism of Christ in Al-Makhtas, Jordan / RIA Novosti / Anton Skripunov.
The military helped
Biblical archaeologists have a rule: if a Byzantine temple is found somewhere in the Holy Land, it means that it was built here for a reason.
This was the case, for example, with excavations near the village of Listib in the north of Jordan. In 1999, during the military exercises held here, fragments of a mosaic panel were accidentally found near the settlement. Archaeologists then excavated a sixth-century temple complex. And thanks to the preserved mosaic inscriptions and descriptions of pilgrims, researchers have established that even in pre-Christian times there was a village of Fiswa, which is mentioned in the Third Book of Kings, which is included in the Bible.
The vicinity of Mount Tel-Mar-Ilyas, where the Prophet Elijah was born and lived, Jordan / IA Novosti / Anton Skripunov.
“A Thesbite of the inhabitants of Gilead” is the prophet Elijah. Apparently, the Byzantines learned about this and decided to immortalize this place.
Now it is the hill of St. Elijah, Tel Mar Ilyas. “Archaeologists have discovered more than 60 Byzantine churches in the vicinity. There was a huge Christian community here,”says Rustom Mdzhyan.
The ruins of the temple in Tel Mar Ilyas, where the prophet Elijah was born / RIA Novosti / Anton Skripunov.
However, one should not be surprised at the abundance of churches near the biblical sites. It was much more unexpected to find a Christian temple in the south of Jordan - the oldest in the world.
Once the city of Aqaba on the shores of the Red Sea was called Aila. During the Roman Empire, it was one of the largest "hubs": the Great Silk Road passed through it to Europe.
And in the mid-1990s, researchers from the University of North Carolina decided to look for traces of a Christian presence here. Why suddenly? The fact is that the Bishop of Aila is mentioned among the participants in the first Ecumenical Council of 325.
In 1998, archaeologists discovered the ruins of an ancient basilica. It was built between 298 and 303, although Christianity in the Roman Empire was legalized only in 313. Scientists are still debating how this was possible in a large port city.
The ruins of the world's oldest Christian temple in the city of Aqaba in Jordan / RIA Novosti / Anton Skripunov.
Clue on the floor
New discoveries in the field of biblical archeology occur almost every year. Basically, scientists find artifacts that indirectly indicate this or that event. And in their search, they rely mainly on manuscripts.
In the Jordanian city of Madaba in the Orthodox Church of St. George, there is a real "cheat sheet" on holy places - for both believers and scientists. In 1894, the builders of the St. George Church found a fragment of a huge mosaic of the sixth century. It depicts numerous cities and temples in the territory of modern Israel, Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon. This is a map of the Holy Land. Thanks to her, in particular, they established the place of the baptism of Christ.
Madaba map, Jordan / RIA Novosti / Anton Skripunov.
“A fragment of five by seven meters has survived to this day, which is almost two million stones. In general, the "Madaba map" consists of five million mosaic fragments, "one of the ministers of the St. George Church in Madaba told RIA Novosti.
However, there is still one significant place on this map, although it is only a few kilometers from Madaba. Mount Nebo is considered sacred by Jews, Christians and Muslims for a reason. On it, according to legend, the prophet Moses died and was buried.
View of the Jordan Valley from Mount Nebo, Jordan / RIA Novosti / Anton Skripunov.
According to the Bible, the Lord punished him for his anger and lack of patience by the fact that he was not given to set foot on the Promised Land, he only saw it just before his death. And it happened just on Mount Nebo, from where even today you can see not only the Jordan Valley, but even Jerusalem. The main mystery of the mountain is the burial place of Moses. According to legend, he bequeathed to hide his body so that enemies could not find it and desecrate it. And for more than three thousand years people have been unsuccessfully trying to find the grave of the prophet.
Byzantine mosaic of the 7th century on Mount Nebo, Jordan / RIA Novosti / Anton Skripunov.
In the 1930s, Franciscan monks made an attempt to find the shrine. However, only a few Byzantine temples of the 6th-7th centuries with unique mosaics depicting animals and people were excavated.
“The burial place of the prophet Moses is a great mystery left to him before his death. But the burial place of his brother, Aaron, we know, it is located in the famous Petra,”notes Rustom Mdzhyan.
Temple of Al-Khazneh in Petra, Jordan / RIA Novosti / Anton Skripunov.
Russians are coming
Large-scale archaeological research is currently being carried out in Jordan. The found shrines, of course, attract pilgrims.
“Many believers see Jordan as a starting point for pilgrimage to the Holy Land. There are thirty-five Christian shrines alone in our country,”Abdul Razak Arabiyat, head of the Jordanian Tourism Department, told RIA Novosti.
View of the Dead Sea Valley from Mount Lot, Jordan / RIA Novosti / Anton Skripunov.
He added that the number of pilgrims from Russia has doubled over the past six months. The most popular place among the believers of the Russian Church is the place of the baptism of Christ.
The Jordanian authorities intend to open other biblical places for pilgrims. There is no doubt that scientists will continue their findings, and the list of shrines will expand. For Christians around the world, the Bible is being rediscovered. Paradoxically, it is thanks to science.
Bedouin in the Wadi Rum desert in Jordan / RIA Novosti / Anton Skripunov.
Anton Skripunov
