pilgrimage sites have shifted throughout history. The main Christian archaeological finds from the Byzantine and possibly even Roman period indicated that the initial venerated pilgrimage site was on the east bank, but by the beginning of the 6th century the focus had moved onto the more accessible west bank of the river. During the Byzantine period, the site was a popular pilgrimage centre. The Sasanian conquest of Jerusalem in 614, river floodings, earthquakes and the Muslim capture of Jerusalem in 637 put an end to Byzantine building activity on the east bank of the Jordan, particularly in the Wadi al-Kharrar area. Early Muslim period The Muslim conquest put an end to Byzantine building activity on the east bank of the Jordan River, but several of the Byzantine structures remained in use during the Early Islamic period. With time worship took place just across the river on the western side at Qasr el-Yahud. After 670 AD the commemoration of the baptism site moved to the western side. Mamluk and Ottoman periods The structures were rebuilt many times but were finally deserted by end of the 15th century. In the 13th century an Orthodox monastery was built over remnants of an earlier Byzantine predecessor, but how long it lasted is not known. However, pilgrimage to the site declined and according to one pilgrim, the site was in ruins in 1484. From the 15th to the 19th century there were hardly any visits by pilgrims to the site. A small chapel dedicated to St. Mary of Egypt, a hermit from the Byzantine period, was built during the 19th century and was also destroyed in the 1927 earthquake. In the early part of the twentieth century, a farming community had occupied the area east of the Jordan River. Rediscovery after 1994 and tourism As a result of the Six-Day War in 1967, the river became the ceasefire line and both banks became militarised and inaccessible to pilgrims. After 1982, while Qasr el-Yahud was still off-limits, Israel enabled Christian baptisms at the Yardenit site further north. Following the Israel–Jordan peace treaty in 1994 access to Al-Maghtas was restored after Prince Ghazi of Jordan, who is deeply interested in religious history, visited the area in the company of a Franciscan archaeologist who had convinced him to take a look at what was thought to be the baptism site. When they found evidence of Roman-period habitation, this