The Gospels place Jesus's baptism by John on the lower Jordan, at 'Bethany beyond the Jordan.' Two sites face each other across the river today: Al-Maghtas on the Jordanian side — inscribed by UNESCO in 2015, with the remains of Byzantine churches, chapels and baptismal pools built to mark the tradition — and Qasr al-Yahud on the western bank. Christian pilgrims have come to this stretch of river since at least the Byzantine period, so the memory is early; the exact spot is not certain.
- Where it is
- Al-Maghtas, Jordan / Qasr al-Yahud, West Bank — the lower Jordan River
- Scripture
- Matthew 3:13-17 · John 1:28
What the evidence confirmsEarly Christian pilgrimage and a cluster of Byzantine churches and baptismal structures on the lower Jordan show the baptism was being commemorated here from ancient times.
What it does not proveThe precise place cannot be fixed — two rival sites claim it — and nothing physically proves the event at either; the general lower-Jordan setting rests on early tradition, not archaeology.
Sources & further reading