Large Baptismal pool

A large baptismal pool was uncovered during the excavation in the lower area of Bethany beyond the Jordan flanking the Jordan River. This large stone-built and plastered pool measures over 25m x 15m.  It was most likely used for group baptisms in the Byzantine period.  Archaeologists estimate 300 people could have been baptised at the same time.

A well-built canal directed water into the pool from a nearby spring to the north.  It carried water out of the pool’s southern wall. Material recovered from the pool dates the structure to the Byzantine period, during the 5th-6th centuries AD.