I'm interested in this new report that Group Discovers John the Baptist Cave. I don't know if the claims about this particular spot are true, but John the Baptist is an interesting figure whose significance isn't fully appreciated. He is critical figure in the story of Jesus, and he is a thread through the esoteric strands of Chrisitian history. One of my favorite wines is from the farm of John the Baptist in Tomar, a center of the Knights Templar that still has a well preserved circular church.

Water baptism was a Mithra ritual. Mithra (born December 25th) was venerated by the Roman legions that had recently occupied Palestine. The Romans were running into problems with the monotheists of the region. They were not as amenable to conversion to the official religions of the Roman Empire as the other pagan peoples the Roman has conquered. I see John's baptism as a way to break with the religious past and make the locals more amenable to Roman manipulation. Christianity originated out of that effort, eventually becoming the official religion of the empire.  ¶ 11:13 AM