Shimon Gibson, 45, who has been excavating sites in Israel and the Occupied Territories over many years, has discovered a cave west of Jerusalem with a ritual baptism pool, rock carvings and pottery, which he has linked to John the Baptist and his followers.

The extraordinary discovery was revealed to The Times yesterday ahead of an international press conference tomorrow, when his findings will be announced at the cave.

The unusually large cave — 24m (79ft) by 3.5m (11.5ft) — is close to the village of Ain Karim, the Baptist’s traditional birthplace according to early Christian sources. It was also the area in which he spent his youth and early adult life.

Dr Gibson said that a figure holding a staff that is reminiscent of representations of the Baptist in early Byzantine art is among images primitively incised into the rock during the 4th and 5th centuries, by which time the cave had become a shrine to the Baptist.

Speaking from Israel, Dr Gibson said: “I am now certain that this cave was connected with the ancient cult of John the Baptist. Indeed, this may very well be ‘the’ cave of the early years of John’s life, the place where he sought his first solitude in the ‘wilderness’ and the place where he practised his baptisms.”

Religious leaders were excited by news of the discovery but few have so far been allowed into the cave because there was concern that thousands of pilgrims would descend on the site before the excavation had finished.

Dr Gibson, whose excavation was sponsored by the University of North Carolina in America, said he expects the cave to become a shrine again to the Baptist.

Until now, he noted, pilgrims have been able to visit only two nearby churches dedicated to him. Apart from 16th and 17th-century paintings, there has been nothing as substantial as a site with such a direct link to the man who was to baptise Christ in the River Jordan.

Dr Gibson said the cave contained archaeological remains from the time of the personalities and events described in the Gospels: “For the first time, we can point to a spot and say it is highly likely that this is where John the Baptist was baptising and undertaking his rituals. That is amazing.”

The cave’s entrance had been almost obscured by thorn bushes when Dr Gibson was asked by the local kibbutz, on whose land it is situated, to look inside. Initially, the only way to enter was by sliding in feet first. He was then confronted by the rock portrait. “I sensed I was on the verge of making a major archaeological discovery. I could feel tingling in my hands,” he said.

Waving his torch over the surface, he saw the outline of an arm with the fingers of the hand outstretched as if in greeting, and next to it a large cross. The 0.7m carving depicts a man in a rigid frontal pose that is typical of Byzantine-period iconography.

Dr Gibson, who believes that the carvings were done by Byzantine monks, said: “Renderings of John in baptism scenes always show him using the right arm for blessing and with his staff clutched in his left hand or leaning against his left arm.”

The most startling find was the ritual baptism pool — large enough to have accommodated up to 30 people. Dr Gibson has excavated several purification pools in and around Jerusalem. In contrast to this one, the others were small, for individual purification before eating or prayers, for example. Flavius Josephus, the 1st-century Jewish historian, wrote of the Baptist’s unusual baptism practices which included the renunciation of sins within groups.

An international team of experts used forensic-science techniques to decipher evidence offered in pottery, coins, pieces of cloth and remains of a ritual fire. There were signs of rituals from the 1st century including large quantities of pottery which appear to have been broken as part of a ceremony. The inner end of the cave had been used for baptism and the front for rituals involving stone circles and a stone for foot anointing.

Evidence suggests that the cave was used until the 11th century as a shrine. Dr Gibson said: “I think that there must have been a strong oral tradition linking this cave to the story of St John the Baptist. With the coming of the Crusaders in the 12th century, this tradition, like many others in the hills of Jerusalem, was disrupted.”

Dr Gibson, who trained at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London, and whose publications include an archaeological encyclopaedia of the Holy Land, publishes his findings in The Cave of John the Baptist on Thursday.

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