Battling for ‘bible tourism’
If the historical Jesus was indeed baptized in the waters of the River Jordan, he probably wasn’t too fussed about any nearby borders.
But for the modern-day governments of Israel and Jordan, the exact spot of the site where Jesus was said to be baptized by John the Baptist is a source of both national pride and, more importantly, tourism revenue from tens of thousands of pilgrims each year.
So UNESCO’s recent move to confer World Heritage status upon a site on the Jordanian side of the river — and not its rival across the river’s muddy waters — is a significant one.
According to The Associated Press, the UN’s cultural agency decided that the site of Bethany beyond the Jordan, also known as al-Maghtas in Arabic, “is believed to be” where Jesus was baptized. It did not nod in the direction of the opposite bank where Israeli authorities encourage tourists to visit the parallel site of Qasr al-Yahud near the city of Jericho.
Last year, Pope Francis seemed to also side with Jordanian claims when he paid a visit to al-Maghtas. He was the third pontiff to do so since 2000.
There is no archeological evidence of Jesus having been baptized in these waters, but there’s a long tradition — dating back at least to Byzantine times — of mass baptisms taking place near the site.
The decision may win Jordan some of the lucrative windfall that “Bible tourism” gives Israel every year — around $3 billion (U.S.). UNESCO observes that the site in Jordan has “immense religious significance to the majority of denominations of Christian faith, who have accepted this site as the location.”
Jordan’s tourism minister, Nayef al-Fayez, told UNESCO that Jordan is sending a message of tolerance, according to The Associated Press. The kingdom’s Hashemite rulers, “who are the direct descendants of the Prophet Muhammad . . . are the same ones who are protecting one of the holiest sites of Christianity.”
Jesus’s baptismal spot was named a UNESCO World Heritage site.