Jordan is resuming the export of consecrated water from the site where Jesus Christ is believed to have been baptised for the first time in almost 100 years, officials say. The export of sacred water from River Jordan came to a halt with the defeat of the Ottoman Turks, who controlled Jordan and other Middle East countries before the outbreak of the First World War.
For much of the past century, the area on the eastern side of the Jordan river has been a declared military zone.
"Jordanian firms have been qualified for the bottling and packing of consecrated water from the baptism site," Dia Madani, chairman of the Baptism Site Board, told the German Press Agency dpa.
"For economic reasons, the businesses at the start confined their activity to the local market. But now they are turning to the world market through forming coalitions with international firms," he said.
"We have pictures in our archives dating back to 1906, when wooden barrels were filled with water from River Jordan and exported to the United States and Europe where the water was used to baptize children," he said.
Madani said that the export of consecrated water from Jordan came to a halt since the demise of the Ottoman empire because the Baptism site area was then declared a military area.
Now Jordan has started exporting consecrated water to the United States, Europe, Mexico, Canada and African countries, he said.
The bottles of consecrated water receive the consent of the Catholic and Greek churches before their export is permitted.
The Baptism Site, about 50 kilometres west of Amman, is the place where Jesus came to meet John to be baptized by him.
Pope Benedict XVI performed pilgrimage at the site during his journey to the Holy Land in 2009.
SIC: TIMES Live