Bethany Beyond the Jordan

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Bethany Beyond the Jordan is where Jesus was dunked in the Jordan river by John the Baptist in a symbolic cleansing ceremony. The suspected original baptism site has been dug up, since the river has now moved a little further to the west to form the border between Jordan and the West Bank (ceded to a Palestinian State by King Hussein). Of course, the Israelis are unlikely to give up access to the water, as the current fight is more about water rights than even land.

The Jordanian signs repeatedly emphasize the Bible quotes saying Jesus was dipped on the East bank of the Jordan river. On the West bank meanwhile, there were people conducting dunking ceremonies into the now filthy waters of the Jordan creek - just a trickle so it's hard to call it a river anymore.

From a hygiene point of view, it's probably better to be immersed in the polluted Jordan than to touch the "holy water" in most Catholic churches which have been found to have higher bacterial culture counts than even supermarket shopping cart handles. Yup, it's always good to build up the old immune system eh.

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Photos

West Bank of Jordan River
Dunking in the polluted waters of the Jordan creek.