Synopses & Reviews
Throughout the ages, pilgrims and scholars have tried in vain to identify the places where scenes described in the Gospels actually occurred. In 2000, Shimon Gibson, a well-respected archaeologist, became the first person to find a site that can be authentically dated to personalities and events central to the New Testament. In the village near Jerusalem where John the Baptist was born, Gibson unearthed a cave that showed unmistakable signs of ritual use during the time of Jesus and contained the earliest examples of Christian art ever found, including drawings of John the Baptist and a depiction of the three crosses of the Crucifixion. The Cave of John the Baptist, Gibson's first-person account of this historic breakthrough, sheds new light on the life and mission of John the Baptist and the Jewish world into which Jesus was born. Using state-of-the-art forensic techniques, Gibson and his team of international experts have already established facts that contradict the familiar image of John as an isolated, impoverished figure living in the wilderness. Their evidence indicates that he was a member of the religious elite with its own distinct beliefs and practices and was, in many ways, closer to contemporary Jewish expectations of the Messiah than Jesus was. By examining the cave and analyzing the coins, bones, pieces of cloth, and other artifacts found there, in addition to interpreting the drawings with reference to both contemporary literary sources and historical information available in scholarly texts, Gibson was able to piece together an unprecedented picture of the lives of the very first Christians and of John the Baptist's relationship to Jesus. He examines John's messianicideas and the significance of the rite of baptism within the context of the time, and describes the cult surrounding John, which grew up side-by-side with the cult of Jesus and still exists in some parts of the world today. An exciting new perspective on John the Baptist and the advent of Christianity, The Cave of John the Baptist is also a gripping intellectual detective story and a dramatic look at the impact of modern scientific and historical techniques on our understanding of age-old religious beliefs and practices.
Synopsis
The first archaeological evidence of the historical reality of the Gospel story.
From a historical point of view, the uniqueness of this cave is that it contains archaeological evidence that comes to us from the very time of the personalities and events described in the Gospels. For here is the largest ritual bathing pool ever found in the Jerusalem area, and found in the village where John the Baptist was born, showing unmistakable signs of ritual use in the first century AD. Also in the cave is the earliest ever Christian art, depicting John the Baptist as well as the three crosses of the crucifixion.
By using the forensic techniques available to the modern archaeologist, Gibson and his international team have been able to draw information from the drawings, pottery, coins, bones, remains of ritual fire and pieces of cloth found in the cave and match these up with the contemporary literary sources. This is a unique opportunity to build up a picture of the very first Christians, how they lived and even what they believed.
As Gibson writes: “By fitting together the new archaeological facts with the historical information available (and sometimes buried) in scholarly literature, I believe I am able to throw an amazing amount of light on the personality and mission of John the Baptist. Who was he? Where did he come from? What were his beliefs and what was the baptism all about?”
About the Author
Dr. Shimon Gibson is a field archaeologist working in Israel and Palestine. He is currently in charge of excavations on Mount Zion.