~*Belle 2003*~
<font color=navy>I used to be indecisive, but now
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Archaeologists have found a cave in Israel where they believe John the Baptist anointed many of his disciples -- a huge cistern with 28 steps leading to an underground pool of water.
During an exclusive tour of the cave, archaeologists presented ancient wall carvings they said tell the story of the fiery New Testament preacher, as well as a stone they believe was used for ceremonial foot washing.
They also pulled about 250,000 pottery shards from the cave, the apparent remnants of small water jugs used in baptismal ritual.
"John the Baptist, who was just a figure from the Gospels, now comes to life," said British archaeologist Shimon Gibson, who supervised the dig outside Jerusalem.
However, others said there was no actual proof that John the Baptist ever set foot in the cave, about two miles from Ein Kerem, the preacher's home town and now part of Jerusalem.
"Unfortunately, we didn't find any inscriptions," said James Tabor, a religious studies professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
Tabor and his students have participated in the excavations.
Both Tabor and Gibson said it was very likely that the wall carvings, including one showing a man with a staff and wearing animal skin, told the story of John the Baptist. The carvings stem from the Byzantine period and apparently were made by monks in the fourth or fifth century.
Gibson said he believed the monks commemorated John at a site linked to him by local tradition. Gibson said the carvings, the foot washing stone and other finds, taken together with the proximity of John's home town, constituted strong circumstantial evidence that the cave was used by John.
During an exclusive tour of the cave, archaeologists presented ancient wall carvings they said tell the story of the fiery New Testament preacher, as well as a stone they believe was used for ceremonial foot washing.
They also pulled about 250,000 pottery shards from the cave, the apparent remnants of small water jugs used in baptismal ritual.
"John the Baptist, who was just a figure from the Gospels, now comes to life," said British archaeologist Shimon Gibson, who supervised the dig outside Jerusalem.
However, others said there was no actual proof that John the Baptist ever set foot in the cave, about two miles from Ein Kerem, the preacher's home town and now part of Jerusalem.
"Unfortunately, we didn't find any inscriptions," said James Tabor, a religious studies professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
Tabor and his students have participated in the excavations.
Both Tabor and Gibson said it was very likely that the wall carvings, including one showing a man with a staff and wearing animal skin, told the story of John the Baptist. The carvings stem from the Byzantine period and apparently were made by monks in the fourth or fifth century.
Gibson said he believed the monks commemorated John at a site linked to him by local tradition. Gibson said the carvings, the foot washing stone and other finds, taken together with the proximity of John's home town, constituted strong circumstantial evidence that the cave was used by John.
