According to the archaeologist who supervised the project for many years, his team’s goal was to leave Machaerus for the next generations both as “an authentic and reliable historical and archaeological place” and as a Christian pilgrimage site.
Hungarian archaeologist Gyozo Voros has announced that after five decades of excavations, his team has finally managed to “restore” the Machaerus fortress, the Jordan Times reports.
Located on a hilltop in Jordan on the eastern coast of the Dead Sea, the fortress is believed to be the place of the execution of one of the most prominent New Testament figures, John the Baptist.
As Voros explained while speaking at the “Book Launch and Public Lecture Machaerus III” event at American Centre of Oriental Research in Amman, he declared that the legendary biblical site, which has an acreage of about 5,000 square metres, has finally become a “historical reality” after being lost for more than 1,735 years.
“The definitive goal of our scientific project is to leave Machaerus for the next generations as an authentic and reliable historical and archaeological place, but most importantly, as a Christian pilgrim site”, he said as quoted by the newspaper.
According to Voros, the scholars sought to “situate the archaeological site in its New Testament context, and reconstruct it as clearly as possible in the light of 21st century historical, architectural and archaeological research”.
Sourse: sputniknews.com
