Acts 8:26–40 recounts the conversion and baptism of the minister of Ethiopia’s Queen Candace by Philip the evangelist:
“But an angel of the Lord said to Philip, ‘Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.’ This is a desert road. And he rose and went. And behold, an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a minister of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of all her treasure, had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning; seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. And the Spirit said to Philip, ‘Go up and join this chariot.’ So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and asked ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’ And he said, ‘How can I, unless some one guides me?’ And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. Now the passage of the scripture which he was reading was this:
“‘As a sheep led to the slaughter or a lamb before its shearer is dumb, so he opens not his mouth. In his humiliation justice was denied him. 046Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken up from the earth.’
“And the eunuch said to Philip, ‘About whom, pray, does the prophet say this, about himself or about some one else?’ then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this scripture he told him the good news of Jesus. And as they went along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, ‘See, here is water! What is to prevent my being baptized?’ And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught up Philip; and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. But Philip was found at Azotus, and passing on he preached the gospel to all the towns till he came to Caesarea.”
It is clear from the text that the main setting of these events was on a road leading from Jerusalem to Gaza. However, the specific location of the baptism is not given, and where it occurred has long been disputed. Recent archaeological investigation at Ein Yael (see “What’s a Roman Villa Doing Outside Jerusalem?” in this issue) has shown that a Christian settlement, and possibly a church, existed on the site as early as Byzantine times (fourth to seventh centuries A.D.). The Byzantines often established churches or monasteries at sites where they believed significant events in Christian history had occurred. The ancient farm at Ein Yael, with its abundant water, was situated on the western Roman road going from Jerusalem down to Gaza, possibly the road mentioned in Acts 8. Furthermore, an 18th-century A.D. icon in an ancient Jerusalem monastery depicts Philip baptizing the eunuch by a spring that may be the spring of Ein Yael. When this combination of facts is considered, the question arises: Was Ein Yael the site of the baptism?a
A little more than a century ago, Victor Guérin recorded that a guide who showed him some remains at Ein Yael told him that these were the remains of a monastery.1 That this may have been a local tradition also tends to confirm a Christian presence at the site. Three seasons of archaeological excavations (1986–1988) have confirmed the existence of an early Christian settlement on the site. Abundant pottery dating to the Byzantine period was found. Among the thousands of baskets of pottery sherds recovered, we discovered fragments of slipper-type oil lamps bearing parts of Greek inscriptions based on a formula that translates as: “The light of Christ shines beautifully for all.” A complete oil lamp was found, the upper half of which bears a crucifix in molded relief. In addition, excavation revealed a large chunk of white marble carved in the shape of a cross surrounded by a floral motif. Another cross was discovered, painted in a niche on the wall of the upper bathhouse. Preliminary soundings on the uppermost terrace west of the Roman villa have led excavator Gershon Edelstein to suggest that the ruins of a large building in that area may have been a church.
But the question remains: Was Ein Yael the place of the eunuch’s baptism? Let’s look closely at the angel’s assertion in Acts 8:26 that Philip should “Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza,” and that this is a “desert road.”
There are actually two routes the eunuch might have taken (see map). One set out from Jerusalem, went down to Hebron, then on to Birosaba (modern Beer-Sheva). From there the traveler took the road going west, which brought him directly to Gaza. This route did not pass by Ein Yael. The second route led southwestward from Jerusalem to the coastal plain by way of Eleutheropolis. By going south on the coastal plain road, the traveler would eventually arrive at Gaza. Ein Yael was a stop on this route. Although the first route, which does not pass by Ein Yael, may have been designated as “toward the south” because of its southward departure from Jerusalem, this does not 047substantially weaken the possibility that the second route, which does pass Ein Yael, was the one the eunuch took. The second route, too, leads generally southward, since Gaza is south of Jerusalem. The Ein Yael route is the shorter, and thus the more direct, road. Indeed this road may have been paved in Roman times and may thus have been suitable for chariots such as that used by the eunuch.
What does the text mean when it says that “this is a desert road”? In the original Greek it is not clear whether the term “desert” (eremos) refers to the road or to the city of Gaza. Most commentators prefer the former, that is, the road. Nevertheless, the famous Holy Land geographer George Adam Smith at the turn of the century contended that no route going from Jerusalem to Gaza could be called desert.2 Some scholars have therefore reasoned that the city of Gaza must have been intended. However, the adjective eremos does not always refer to a barren, arid region. It is also used to denote an uncultivated place, which is nevertheless fit for pasturage. While most of the important English versions of the New Testament translate the word eremos in Acts 8:26 as “desert,” this same word, used as a noun, is translated “wilderness” in Matthew 24:26 and John 6:31 in the Revised Standard Version.3 The physical appearance of the land between Jerusalem and Ein Yael, five miles away from the Old City, makes it apparent that a long stretch of this road through the Judean hills is today, as it probably was in Philip’s time, uninhabited wilderness, hence may indeed be described as “desert.”
If Philip heard the angel’s call in Jerusalem, which had been his residence, it is reasonable to assume that he encountered the eunuch not far outside the city, since Philip was traveling on foot (Acts 8:30). Thus, the close proximity of Ein Yael to the Old City of Jerusalem is additional support for the identification of Ein Yael as the place of the baptism.
Our excavations at Ein Yael confirm that the perennial spring there was known in early Roman times. We found clear signs of first-century A.D. occupation at the site, including pottery, and an undecorated stone ossuary (or bone box, used for secondary burial), apparently of the same period, was discovered shattered on the stone pavement of a modern courtyard. Three coins recovered from different areas of the site date to the First Jewish Revolt against Rome (66–70 A.D.). The material of this period cannot yet be clearly associated with any structure, and it is not as well represented as that of the preceeding Iron Age II or the succeeding Late Roman periods when the villa and at least one of 048the two bathhousesb were constructed. Nevertheless, the presence of a bathhouse assures us that the spring was known in the Early Roman period and that there was probably occupation of some sort at Ein Yael at about the time that the events of the story in Acts occurred.
Ein Yael is not the only candidate for the location of Philip’s baptism of the eunuch. Other sites along both possible routes from Jerusalem to Gaza have been suggested. Some scholars see a clue in the statement of Acts 8:40 that “Philip was found at Azotus [Ashdod],” on the coast. They reason that the baptism must have taken place on the coastal plain or at least somewhere nearby. Edward Robinson and F. F. Bruce have suggested Wadi el-Hasi on the route from Beit Gubrin to Gaza as a possible location.4 Long-standing tradition, on the other hand, places the baptism in the Judean hills. Eusebius in the early fourth century, the fourth-century Bordeaux Pilgrim, Jerome at the turn of the fifth century and the sixth-century Madaba mosaic map in Jordan unanimously identify a spring on the southern route near Beth-zur, evidently Ein ed Dirweh, as the site of the baptism.5 A later tradition puts the baptism at Ein Hanniya, located approximately one mile west of Ein Yael on the western route. Guérin believed that the tradition placing the baptism at Ein Hanniya could not be earlier than Crusader times.6 The waters of the spring of Ein Hanniya flow from below a classical-style niche into a pool. Guérin noted that here was an ideal place for a Christian oratory and suggested that a statue of St. Philip could have been placed in the niche in Crusader times.
In the Monastery of the Cross,c in the valley below Jerusalem’s Israel Museum, there hangs an impressive icon, painted in 1770, that depicts many Christian 049shrines of the Holy Land. A scene in the lower right corner of this large, mountain-shaped icon portrays Philip baptizing the eunuch by a spring, somewhere in a valley southwest of the Old City of Jerusalem.d In his recent book about the monastery and its paintings, Vassilios Tzaferis suggests that this spring is that of Ein Yael.7 In light of the later tradition placing the baptism at nearby Ein Hanniya, it seems more reasonable that Ein Hanniya was the place intended in the scene. Yet, instead of water flowing from below a niche, as would be expected at Ein Hanniya, water is seen issuing from a vaulted springhouse, which is more appropriate for Ein Yael. Even so, the springhouse in the painting is not much like that found today at Ein Yael. While Ein Yael’s springhouse is only a single story tall with a vault as its roof, the springhouse depicted in the icon is three stories high and is topped with a gabled red-tile roof. It may simply be that the artist was less than accurate in his depiction of the springhouse (as is the case with a number of other details of the icon). On the other hand, it is interesting to note that when we uncovered the springhouse in the second season of excavations at Ein Yael, it was obvious that the structure had undergone extensive alterations in its final stages, sometime before it was buried beneath mounds of terrace fill.
Putting aside tradition, which at various times has placed the site of the baptism at Ein Hanniya and at Ein ed Dirweh, several factors weigh in favor of Ein Yael as the place described in Acts for the encounter between Philip and the eunuch: Ein Yael has abundant water and is located along the most direct Roman road between Jerusalem and Gaza; indications that the road was paved demonstrate that it may have been a road suitable for chariot travel; the site was not far outside of ancient Jerusalem; and it was known and apparently inhabited in the first century A.D. Although the matter cannot yet—and perhaps never will—be fully resolved, there exists a strong possibility that the spring at Ein Yael was where Philip paused to baptize the Ethiopian eunuch.
Acts 8:26–40 recounts the conversion and baptism of the minister of Ethiopia’s Queen Candace by Philip the evangelist:
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My thanks to Phyllis Arnburn who first called my attention to the question discussed in this article. She was in charge of pottery restoration during the 1986 excavations at Ein Yael.
2.
In my view, the upper bathhouse may be later than the lower one.
3.
The Monastery of the Cross was founded at the end of the fifth century and subsequently destroyed. It was rebuilt during the reign of the Byzantine emperor Justinian in the sixth century.
4.
The icon shows the Holy Places and the events associated with them in correct geographical location and topographical setting, and it is oriented toward the east. The scene of the baptism is found to the right of the Monastery of the Holy Cross and slightly lower. It is therefore to be located southwest of the monastery.
Endnotes
1.
Victor Guérin, Description de la Judee (Paris, 1868), vol. 1, p. 108.
2.
George Adam Smith, The Historical Geography of the Holy Land (Jerusalem, 1966), p. 136.
3.
See W.E. Vine, An Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1984), p. 289.
4.
Edward Robinson and Eli Smith, Biblical Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arabia Petraea (London: 1841), vol. 2, p. 641, and F.F. Bruce, The Acts of the Apostles (London, 1951).
5.
Eusebius, Onomasticon 104:31, “The Bordeaux Pilgrim,” Itinerary from Bordeaux to Jerusalem, Palestine Pilgrim’s Text Society, vol. I (London, 1896); Jerome, Epistle 103.
6.
Guérin, Descrlptlon, vol. 3, p. 293.
7.
Vassilios Tzaferis, The Monastery of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem (Jerusalem, 1987), p. 30 (in Greek).
