27 October 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

The place where John the Baptist was martyred

The infamous birthday banquet of Herod Antipas, which culminated in the beheading of St John the Baptist — a preacher who foretold the coming of Jesus — was sentenced to death around A.D. 29, took place in the royal city of Machaerus, east of the Dead Sea in what is now the country of Jordan.

The site of Herod’s palace was conclusively identified in 1968, when a German scholar uncovered the ruins of the siege wall constructed by the Roman soldiers, after being lost for more than a thousand years after it was demolished by the Romans at the conclusion of the First Jewish Revolt in 71/72 A.D.

Dr. Gyz Vörös, a Hungarian architect and archaeologist, has directed the excavation and restoration operations at Machaerus for more than a decade, after winning a contract from Jordan’s Royal Department of Antiquities.

Dr. Vörös was in Rome to receive the Pontifical Academies’ coveted Gold Medal of the Pontificate in honor of his excellent work on Machaerus, which has been published in three volumes.

Machaerus
Machaerus ruins

After receiving the Dr. Győző Vörös award, he attended an interview with Christopher Wells of Vatican Radio.



📣 Our WhatsApp channel is now LIVE! Stay up-to-date with the latest news and updates, just click here to follow us on WhatsApp and never miss a thing!!



“They contacted me in 2009 as an answer to the wish of his Holiness, the Pope emeritus Benedict XVI, as during his papal visit to Jordan, he expressed his interest concerning Machaerus, or Macheronte in Italian; the most important Gospel scene in Jordan,” said Dr. Vörös, in an interview with Vatican News.

“They wanted to have it seriously excavated and also discover the opportunities for monument presentation [and] the conservation of the ruins.”

 Time capsule

The Bible and the ancient writer Flavius Josephus (A.D. 37-100) both describe how King Herod Antipas, a son of King Herod, had John the Baptist executed. Josephus specified that the execution took place at Machaerus, a fort near the Dead Sea in modern-day Jordan. The location of John’s execution was confirmed some 250 years later by the Christian writer Eusebius of Pamphilia.

Herod Antipas feared the growing influence of John the Baptist among the population and so he executed him Josephus wrote. The Bible, on the other hand, tells a far more elaborate tale, claiming that Herod Antipas had John the Baptist executed in exchange for a dance.

Archaeologists believe that this niche represents the remains of the throne of Herod Antipas. From here, the decision to execute John the Baptist may have been made. (Photo: Győző Vörös)
Archaeologists believe that this niche represents the remains of the throne of Herod Antipas. From here, the decision to execute John the Baptist may have been made. (Photo: Győző Vörös)

“In addition to the uniqueness of its historical value, there are two unique characteristics” of Machaerus, said Dr Vörös. The first “is that it is an archaeological site [that has] remained as a time capsule… it’s unbelievable. It’s a miracle that you have a Gospel scene that has survived as an archaeological time capsule.”

The site is also unique in that it affords historians – but also visitors – the opportunity to gain a truly accurate picture of a Gospel event.

Dr. Vörös and his team have been able to present a reconstruction of Herod’s palace, the very place where the daughter of Herodias danced for Herod Antipas and his guests and was promised the head of John the Baptist.

“These are Bible illustrations of reality, and this is the heart of the [archaeological] mission” at Marchaeus, said Dr Vörös. He said, adding that archaeological research is able to provide “the framework and the real context for the Gospels in the Holy Land.”

Noting that we will soon mark the 2,000th anniversary of the martyrdom of St John the Baptist (who died in 28 or 29 A.D.), Dr. Vörös said he hopes the archaeological site of Machaerus will be ready to be presented “in a very clear way, a very authentic way, which is most important” – and that he hopes, with the Jordanian authorities, that Machaerus “will be once again on the map of the Holy Land when the next Pope of Rome will visit this sacred archaeological site.”

Vatican News

Related Articles

Rare Astrolabe Discovered in Verona Sheds Light On Islamic, Jewish, and Christian Scientific Exchange

6 March 2024

6 March 2024

An eleventh-century rare astrolabe bearing Arabic and Hebrew inscriptions was recently discovered in a museum in Verona, Italy. It dates...

Archaeologists discovered 7,000-years-old Neolithic Settlement in the Czech Republic

31 July 2024

31 July 2024

Archaeologists have discovered a Neolithic settlement of about 7,000 years old near Kutná Hora, east of Prague in the Czech...

Evidence of a 1500-year-old Byzantine church found on the beach of Ashdod, Israel

22 February 2022

22 February 2022

Recent rain in Israel has unearthed the remains of a marble pillar dating to around 1,500 years ago on a...

One of the Largest Early Medieval Silver Hoards Ever Found in Sweden Unearthed Near Stockholm

13 October 2025

13 October 2025

In an astonishing find that could reshape our understanding of early medieval Scandinavian wealth, a private individual digging for earthworms...

Prehistoric Star Map Carved in Stone Discovered in Bulgaria

14 July 2025

14 July 2025

A recently uncovered archaeological site in the Rhodope Mountains of southern Bulgaria is now entering the scientific spotlight. In a...

The remains of a very uncommon’ dinosaur species have been discovered in Brazil

20 November 2021

20 November 2021

Researchers have uncovered the remains of a toothless, two-legged dinosaur species that lived 70 million years ago in Brazil, calling...

Historic Leeds cemetery discovery unearths an ancient lead coffin belonging to a late Roman aristocratic woman

14 March 2023

14 March 2023

Archaeologists in northern Britain uncovered the skeletal remains of a late-Roman aristocratic woman inside a lead coffin, as well as...

Archaeologists opened an untouched Etruscan tomb

31 October 2023

31 October 2023

In Vulci Archaeological Park, central Italy, a 2,600-year-old intact double-chambered Etruscan tomb that was discovered in April and had remained...

The mythical hero of Troy and Rome Aeneas’s peerless mosaic discovered in Türkiye

11 May 2023

11 May 2023

A large mosaic depicting the legendary Trojan hero Aeneas, the protagonist of Virgil’s epic poem “The Aeneid” and the ancestor...

Tang-e Chogan bas-relief carvings, Majestic treasures of Sassanid art, are under threat of destruction 

9 March 2022

9 March 2022

Treasures of Sassanid art, some of Tang-e Chogan’s bas-reliefs are under threat of complete destruction due to lack of maintenance...

Medieval gold ‘lynx’ earrings from Ani Ruins

29 December 2022

29 December 2022

A pair of lynx-shaped gold earrings have been unearthed near the ruins of Ani, the once great metropolis known as...

Scientists Create a 3D Model of Lost Temple Relief from a 134-Year-Old Photo Using AI

13 November 2024

13 November 2024

The researchers developed a neural network that can take a single 2D photo of a three-dimensional object and produce a...

An unknown church with a special floor plan discovered in Erwitte, northwestern Germany

18 September 2023

18 September 2023

Archaeologists from the Westphalia-Lippe Regional Association (LWL) have discovered the remains of a former church from the 10th century near...

Young Metal Detectorist Discovers Huge Viking Treasure Hoard in Denmark

23 April 2023

23 April 2023

A group of hobby metal detectorists has discovered two Viking treasures buried a few meters apart near the ruins of...

Archaeologists discovered the earliest Iron Age house in Athens and Attica

26 May 2023

26 May 2023

A research team from the University of Göttingen discovered the earliest  Iron Age house in Athens and Attica. Archaeologists from...