Al Maghtas

Al-Maghtas, officially designated 'Bethany Beyond the Jordan', is the archaeologically identified site of Jesus's baptism on the eastern bank of the Jordan River, a few kilometers north of the Dead Sea in Jordan. The location sat along an ancient ford connecting Jerusalem via Jericho to the Transjordan lands, placing it at the crossroads of biblical geography near Mount Nebo and the King's Highway. Systematic excavations, only possible after the 1994 Jordanian-Israeli peace treaty, uncovered the remains of early churches, baptismal pools, and monastic settlements dating from the 1st to the 6th century AD. UNESCO inscribed the site as World Heritage in 2015. Visitors traverse an arid wadi landscape to reach the Elijah's Hill mound, where John the Baptist is said to have preached — drawing Christian pilgrims alongside those interested in biblical archaeology.