Ground-penetrating radar inspection of subsurface historical structures at the baptism (El-Maghtas) site, Jordan

The baptism (El-Maghtas) site is located to the north of the Dead Sea on the eastern bank of the Jordan River. Previous archeological excavations in the surrounding area have uncovered artifacts that include the location that was home to “John the Baptist”, who lived and preached in the early 1st Century AD and is known for baptizing Jesus. Archeological excavations have revealed walls, antiquities, and ancient water systems that include conduits, pools, and ancient pottery pipes. A ground-penetrating radar (GPR) survey was carried out at select locations along parallel profiles using a subsurface interface radar system (Geophysical Survey Systems Inc. SIRvoyer-20) with 400 MHz or 900 MHz mono-static shielded antennas in order to locate archeological materials at shallow depths. The GPR profiles revealed multiple subsurface anomalies across the study area. At the John the Baptist Church site a buried wall was detected along the profiles, and at the pool site the survey delineated several buried channels. GPR data also confirmed the extension of an ancient pottery pipe at the Elijah's Hill site through the production of a clear diffraction hyperbola anomaly related to the ancient pottery pipe that could be discriminated from the 2D profiles. The GPR data were displaced using 3D imaging to define the horizontal and vertical extent of the pipe.