The Baptismal Site of Jesus Christ — Attraction in Balqa

The Holy River Jordan, the meeting place of Prophet Yahya and his cousin Jesus, peace be upon them 💚

The picture shows the archaeological site of al-Maghtas, which is the place where the Prophet used to baptize people and call them to God

The Baptism is the place where Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist according to Christian beliefs. Bethany, where John the Baptist preached and baptized in the first period of his gospel. This information has been revealed following the archaeological excavations that have been carried out along the "Wadi Al-Kharar" since 1996. The evidence contained in the biblical text, the writings of Byzantine historians and medieval historians, as well as the archaeological excavations carried out recently, show that the site where John the Baptist was It preaches and baptizes, including the adoption of Jesus Christ by John the Baptist, located east of the Jordan River in the land known as the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. The Gospel of John (1:28) talks about “Bethany across the Jordan, where John the Baptist was baptizing,” and here referred to the phrase “across the Jordan” to the east bank of the river. In a later reference to the same site on the east bank, the Gospel of John (10:40) says that Jesus Christ also traveled through the Jordan where John the Baptist had initially been baptizing and went again to the same place and resided there. During the last excavations that took place in Jordan in 1997, a series of ancient sites were found related to the site where John the Baptist was baptized and where Jesus Christ was baptized. This series of sites is located along the Wadi al-Kharar, east of the Jordan River. A Byzantine monastery was discovered at the site of Tell al-Kharar, referred to as "Bethany across the Jordan." This site is located about two kilometers (2.1 miles) east of the Jordan River at the beginning of Wadi al-Kharar. There are several natural springs that form pools, from which water begins to flow into Wadi al-Kharar, and eventually flows into the Jordan River. As well as a pastoral oasis located at the beginning of Wadi Al-Kharar and the site of Tell Al-Kharar.

There are three pools in Tell Al-Kharar. The first pool is located on the lower western slope of the hill. It dates back to the Roman era, i.e. between the third and fourth centuries AD. As for the other two ponds, they are located on the top of the northern end of Tell al-Kharrar. The southern pool is rectangular in shape and has an internal staircase on the eastern side and four steps extending along the width of the pool, and this can be clearly seen. Pilgrims can go down to the pond in order to be baptized.

There are two square pools dating back to the same Roman period. Carved square stones were added to the southwest corner of the northwest pool from later periods. Perhaps it was used as a staircase to go down to the pond. The water reaches the ponds through channels covered with barrages.

The strategic location between Jerusalem and the King's Highway is already evident from the report of Joshua's book about the Israelites crossing the Jordan there. Mount Mar Elias is traditionally known as the site of the Prophet Elijah's...

By far the worst hospitality experience in Jordan!

I had guests visiting Jordan, and I planned the entire trip, which was to include a visit to the Baptism sight. I called ahead of time to inquire about the timings of entry, closing time and even ticket prices. The person Who answered the phone seemed to be very professional.

Upon the arrival of the baptism sight, google maps will attempt to take you to the actual site which is not permissible, so make sure to spot the visitor center, even though the signs are not very clear. We tried calling the number on the website (no one answers, the employees then claimed that it’s our of order) and the two mobile phones listed didn’t work either as there was no cell reception. We found the visitor center at around 4:25, by the time I entered the building it was 4:27 a we requested to buy three tickets for the 4:30 tour, and the guy named Ali at the reception refused and insisted that we wait until 5, since there was no one else - even though I was told there was a tour running every 30 mins. I tried my best to kindly request to get the the 4:30 tour but he refused, he literally said “I won’t turn on the bus for you”, and when I said my guest needs to leave at the airport and the later slot would risk us being late, he rudely said, that’s not my problem sarcastically, while sucking on the visitor pen. His attitude was aggressive, unprofessional and truly disrespectful to the genuine Jordanian hospitality. I also tried calling the same dr I spoke with, explaining the situation and was also careless about the entire situation.

We ended up leaving and not getting the tour.

I learnt later on from close friends who work in the tourism industry, that the employees at the baptism sight are extremely dissatisfied with their jobs due to their relationship with the management and thus exert their dissatisfaction on guests (locals or internationals).

I spent an entire week discovering and rediscovering and visiting sites in my beautiful country, to have the last experience to be a bitter one.

I visited the Baptism sight many times before and would recommend it, my only advice to guests is to make sure you get their earlier and have some flexibility in the schedule, just in case you are put in the situation we were in.

This type of behavior does not represent Jordan or the Jordanian hospitality. Extremely disappointed in this type of behavior in a...

Terribly disappointing experience. Was so looking forward to visiting the Baptisimal Site and exploring the 17 different points of interest shown on the map in a leaflet on Bethany which I picked up in Aqaba. However we were told at the ticket office that we couldn't walk, we had to go with a group and a guide on a bus because we were in a military area. We were herded onto a small bus and driven to a drop off point where we then walked to a small Greek Orthodox Museum. Although there looked to be some interesting artifacts in the museum there were no descriptions to explain what anything was, so a pretty futile visit. We were taken to another place to see the Jordan and the explanation given by the guide was taken straight out of the leaflet we were given at the ticket office. No added value whatsoever! We also visited the Church of John the Baptist, beautiful church but no explanation from the guide. We saw the Jordan and could touch the water. There were people being baptised on the Israeli side. Then it was back to wait for the bus, next to the gift shop. This was such a disappointment. Somewhere that is supposed to be so special for Christians lacked spirituality because people were forced to visit in groups and rushed around rather than being allowed to explore the caves or other churches at their leisure. On our return we asked at the ticket office how we could see the other places on the map and we were told we would have to make an arrangement with the Administration as it would take 4 hours to see the full site. We had allowed all day to wander the site so it wouldn't have been a problem for us but obviously we weren't aware that a special arrangement had to be made. Entrance fee was 12 JOD per person, so not cheap and in my opinion definitely not worth the money. Unless you just want to tick a box and say you have seen the site where Jesus was baptised I would give this a miss, too frustrating. See it from the Israeli...