In 1997, archaeologists discovered three churches, two wells and three cisterns, definitively locating the village of Bethany "beyond the Jordan where John baptised" (John 1: 28). The main feature of the site is a hill called Tell Mar Elias, from where Elijah ascended into heaven and where the first colony of John the Baptist was founded in the 1C. 2.7km to the west lies the second part of the site with the church of St John, and 300m beyond, the baptism site. The structures date mainly from the 5C-6C.