The street that passes in front of the office of the Israeli Prime Minister, in Jerusalem is called “Derech ‘Azza” – that is Gaza Road. It starts at the Jaffa Gate, where, in Jesus’ time, stood the citadel of Herod. The street is new, not its name. It appears in the Acts of the Apostles (8:26):
Then, the angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, “Get up and head south on the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza (…).”
In the aftermath of a persecution against the Church in Jerusalem (Acts 8:1-3), the disciples scattered throughout Samaria and the coastal cities. Philip – the deacon, not the apostle – had been quite busy evangelising Samaria (Acts 8:4-8). He is now summoned by the angel of the Lord to spread the Gospel in the southern part of the coastal plain, in the cities of Gaza, Ashkelon, and Ashdod (Azotus).
Those three cities, once the heartland of the Philistines, were, in Jesus’ time, thriving Greek cities populated by a melting pot of Arabs, Idumaeans, ethnic Greeks and Macedonians that greatly outnumbered the few Jews that dwelt in them. Philip, himself, is found active in Ashdod -also named Azotus- (Acts 8:40) before settling in Caesarea Maritima, where he and his daughters hosted saint Paul and his companions on their way to Jerusalem (Acts 21:8-9).
The Gaza Road and ‘Ain Hanniyah
Upon leaving the municipal boundaries of modern Jerusalem, Gaza Road follows the course of Emeq ha-Refa’im – the Valley of the Ghosts – and passes along a series of springs. The spring called Ayn Haniyah has been associated by ancient Christian traditions with the site of the encounter and baptism of the eunuch. It is located 12 km away from the Old City of Jerusalem.
The Gaza Road and ‘Ain Hanniyah. Map of Jerusalem (detail) by Conder and Kitchener, Palestine Exploration Fund (1870s).
The account of the Acts of the Apostoles continues (Acts 8:27-29):
Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Candace, that is, the queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury, who had come to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and was returning home. Seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 The Spirit said to Philip, “Go and join up with that chariot.”
This eunuch was a major officer of the queen of Ethiopia. He probably was also a “proselyte”, that is a non-Jew who came to worship the God of Israel. Standing on his chariot, he was reading the passage of the Suffering Servant in the book of Isaiah (Is 53:7ff). Either because he did not master the Hebrew language or because the spiritual meaning of Isaiah’s words was still hidden to him – or both – he asked Philip to join him on his chariot.
Both may have driven a few kilometres together during which Philip would have endeavoured to explain as fast as possible to his companion how those prophetic words indeed applied to Jesus’ Passion. At a certain point, as the Refa’im stream begins to wind its way through the hills, the eunuch spotted a spring with abundant water and said to Philip: “Look, there is water. What is to prevent my being baptized?” (Acts 8:36).
The Valley where Philip baptized the eunuch
Vallis ubi Philippus eunuchum baptizavit (The Valley where Philip baptized the eunuch). Ager Hierosolimitanus, late 16th-century map of the holy sites in Jerusalem’s surroundings.
Without any connection with the episode of the baptism of the eunuch, a nymphaeum – a monumental fountain – was then built, by the Romans, upon the spring. The structure might have been inserted into the apse of a commemorative church, in the Byzantine period.
Main basin of the spring of Ayn Haniyya. Photo: Henri Gourinard (2026)
Devoted pilgrims have been visiting the site, for centuries. In the late Middle Ages, the Franciscans who guided their pilgrims from Bethlehem to Ayn Karim (the Visitation and the house of Zachariah), never omitted to stop by the “Fountain of Philip”.
The nymphaeum built by the Romans above the fountain. Photo: Henri Gourinard (2026)
Today, the site is extremely popular among the Ethiopian Christians, who never fail to stop there and immerse themselves in the fountain’s water to commemorate the inception of the Christian faith in their nation.
By Henri Gourinard