Posted on 08/16/2004 8:10:12 PM PDT by missyme
TZOVA, Israel (Reuters) - A British archeologist has dug up evidence linking John the Baptist to a cave used for bathing rituals in hills near Jerusalem in what he said could be one of the biggest recent finds for Christian history.
Shimon Gibson, who has been digging in the Holy Land for nearly three decades, told Reuters he believed the cave, hewn 24 yards deep into a rocky hillside, might also have been visited by Jesus as well as New Testament preacher John.
Discovered by Gibson in 1999, excavations at the cave since then have revealed a large bathing pool as well as objects used for anointing rituals that would be quite different from those used by most Jews there nearly 2,000 years ago.
Gibson, 45, said evidence of specific links to John at the site came from drawings made 400 to 500 years later, which portrayed him in a similar way to other Byzantine art. One of the pictures also showed John's severed head.
"Nothing like this has been found elsewhere," Gibson said. "It is the first time we have finds from the early baptismal period ... It is an amazing discovery that happens to an archeologist once in a lifetime."
The discovery, 15 minutes drive into hills west of Jerusalem, is due to be announced officially Tuesday, ahead of the launch of a book by Gibson.
"IN THE WILDERNESS"
Any discovery of sites linked to the Bible is certain to stir controversy and its share of skepticism, but Gibson said he had carried out many tests to satisfy himself that his theory was sound. The Bible describes John performing baptisms -- including that of Jesus -- in the River Jordan, a good 25 miles east over the Judean desert.
But Gibson said the site at Tzova could be linked to early years "when John sought solitude 'in the wilderness."'
"In addition to John the Baptist, there's a possibility that Jesus used this cave as well," said Gibson.
The site at the edge of a kibbutz's nectarine orchard, is about three miles from the village of Ein Kerem, which has traditionally been seen as John's birthplace and is the site of several churches dedicated to him.
Steps lead straight from the door down to the pool at the bottom of the cave, which is four yards high and about the same wide.
Gibson said he believed it had been so well preserved because it had been lost around the time that Crusaders arrived in the late 11th Century in a fight to end Muslim rule over the Holy Land.
Other Biblical sites that were identified by then tended to be the subject of major subsequent building work, which made modern archeological digging very difficult, Gibson said.
Gibson said he was sure the cave could not have been put to other uses -- as a water store or a hideout for example -- or that it was used by any other group carrying out similar types of rituals around the same time as John.
"I don't believe in that kind of coincidence," said Gibson, who said he was not religious himself. "Pilgrims will be flocking to the cave."
"Heads" of John the Baptist all over Europe. Crowns of Thorns, too!
I cannot find anything in Scripture which would back Gibson.
you may find it in the book of skerry.
My good friend, who is a Jesuit priest, told me of these scams some many years ago.
I saw a coffin that allegedly contained John's head in Damascus in the second oldest Mosque in the world. I didn't look inside to make sure.
Second time I've seen this nonsense posted today. "linked to" means "we are saying it because it is monitarily in our interests to do so despite the lack of any evidence on which to base such a conclusion. But we're working on it while we are planning to line our pockets with the cash earnest idiots will come and pay us so they can revere the creation more than the creator whilest being simultaneously misled"..
Wowing people with rhetoric is apparently a good substitute for substance in some circles..
He looks so natural.
I don't believe in that kind of coincidence," said Gibson, who said he was not religious himself. "Pilgrims will be flocking to the cave."
Sounds like money. Flocking pilgrims get a little fleeced.
When I saw it back in 1969 I wasn't expecting it and didn't know what it was until the interpreter repeated it about three times.
Don't buy it, and who really cares? What will this do to affect my salvation?
BTTT
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