Jeff gets a no-prize in a cave for bringing us this summary of a new archeological find in Israel:

Archaeologists said Monday they have found a cave where they believe John the Baptist anointed many of his disciples - a huge cistern with 28 steps leading to an underground pool of water.

Which is a little misleading, because not all the archeologists working on the site think the evidence indicates such a conclusion. Certainly what is presented in the article is pretty circumstantial.

Hints in Luke's two books (the Gospel and Acts) seem to indicate that John's movement was both separate from and competitive with Jesus's, and that John's movement continued for some time after Jesus's crucifixion. But hints are all we have at the moment about a man and a movement that had a murky but no less unusual relationship with Jesus and the early church. If this find provides more than that, potentially much more, it could still be very important, even if John himself never set foot in the place.