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Nbadan
08-16-2004, 05:34 PM
Snip from Times
By Dalya Alberge, Arts Correspondent

A BRITISH archaeologist has uncovered evidence for the existence of John the Baptist that could have a huge impact on Christian history.

Shimon Gibson, 45, who has been excavating sites in Israel and the Occupied Territories over many years, has discovered a cave west of Jerusalem with a ritual baptism pool, rock carvings and pottery, which he has linked to John the Baptist and his followers.

The extraordinary discovery was revealed to The Times yesterday ahead of an international press conference tomorrow, when his findings will be announced at the cave. The unusually large cave — 24m (79ft) by 3.5m (11.5ft) — is close to the village of Ain Karim, the Baptist’s traditional birthplace according to early Christian sources. It was also the area in which he spent his youth and early adult life.

Dr Gibson said that a figure holding a staff that is reminiscent of representations of the Baptist in early Byzantine art is among images primitively incised into the rock during the 4th and 5th centuries, by which time the cave had become a shrine to the Baptist. Speaking from Israel, Dr Gibson said: “I am now certain that this cave was connected with the ancient cult of John the Baptist. Indeed, this may very well be ‘the’ cave of the early years of John’s life, the place where he sought his first solitude in the ‘wilderness’ and the place where he practised his baptisms.”

Religious leaders were excited by news of the discovery but few have so far been allowed into the cave because there was concern that thousands of pilgrims would descend on the site before the excavation had finished.
More:

Times Online (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,170-1217975,00.html)