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Jordan Tourism Board

The monastery complex at Tell el-Kharrar contains several Byzantine-era churches as well as an elaborate water system that incorporated reservoirs, springs, wells and pools. A key focus of the site was a cave (upper left in photo) that was alleged to have been used by John the Baptist to conduct baptisms. Excavators here also uncovered numerous remains indicating settlement during the Roman era and as far back as the late Hellenistic period (second century B.C.). In the plan above, the monastery is at right.