“Bethany beyond the Jordan” 319 Eusebius of Caesarea picked up Origen’s description, glossing Bhqaabarav as “beyond the Jordan where John was baptizing” (o{pou hn ΔIwavnnh" baptivzwn, pevran tou' ΔIordavnou; Onom. 58.18 nr. 290) (48). \ Jerome (Sit. [PL 23, 931]) followed suit, adding relatively little to the description (49), although he did preserve the reading “Bethany” in the Vulgate. Unfortunately, none of these sources distinguishes the location of the site any more specifically, although each attests to a tradition of Bethabara as an actual locale somewhere near the Jordan River, as a text-critical examination of John 1,28 and the related traditions suggests (see above). This dearth of evidence for a more precise localization of Bethabara was alleviated with the discovery of the Madaba Mosaic Map (ca. 560). In contradistinction to John 1,28, Origen, Eusebius, and Jerome, all of whom apparently situated the locale on the eastern side of the Jordan River, the Madaba Map identifies that site (“Bethabara of Saint John of [?] the Baptism”; Beqabara/ to; tou' aJgivou ΔIwavnnou/ tou' baptivsmato") on the river’s western bank (50). This location of Bethabara west of the Jordan on the Madaba Mosaic Map preserves the tradition of that site’s location first recorded by Theodosius (ca. 530; De situ terrae sanctae 20) (51), but the tradition itself “must have been Helias in caelum [598.1-3]. I use the translation here of J. WILKINSON, Egeria’s Travels to the Holy Land (Warminster 1981) 161, §598. Since at least the Byzan- ˇ tine period, that site on the eastern bank has been known as Gebel M˝r Ely˝s (“the Hill of Lord Elijah”); ibid., 161 n. 7. However, it is quite possible that the pilgrim was citing a prechristian tradition, according to RIESNER, Bethanien, 21. See recently R. KHOURI, “Where John Baptized: Bethany beyond the Jordan,” BARev 31 (2005) 34-43, esp. 41. (48) Eusebius adds: kai; deivknutai oJ tovpo", ejn w/| kai; pleivou" tw'n ajdelfw'n eij" eti nu'n to; loutro;n filotimou'ntai lambavnein, “The place is shown where even [ today many of the brothers still endeavor to receive a bath.” Translation that of NOTLEY – SAFRAI, Onomasticon, 59. (49) Jerome: Bethabara trans Jordanem, ubi Joannes in poenitentiam baptiza- bat, unde et usque hodie plurimi de fratribus, hoc est de numero credentium, ibi renasci cupientes vitali gurgite baptizantur [PL 23, 931]. See also M. AVI-YO- NAH, The Madaba Mosaic Map with Introduction and Commentary (Jerusalem 1954) 38 nr. 7. (50) Ibid., 38-39 nr. 7, pls. 1-2. (51) In CCSL 175, 121-122. That Theodosius found Bethabara on the west side of the river is the judgment of AVI-YONAH (Madaba Mosaic Map, 39), who argues this datum based on the fact that Theodosius connects the site with El- isha’s fountain. Cf., however, WIEFEL (“Bethabara”, 76-77), who argues for the site’s location on the eastern bank, as Theodosius had approached from Livias.