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Bethsaida

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Bethsaida (/bɛθˈseɪ.ɪdə/ beth-SAY-id-ə;[1] from Koine Greek: Βηθσαϊδά, romanized: Bēthsaïdá; from Aramaic and Hebrew: בֵּית צַידָה, romanized: Bēṯ Ṣayḏā, lit. 'House of Fishing, or House of the Hunt', from the Hebrew root צ-י-ד;[2][3] Arabic: بيت صيدا, romanized: Bayt Ṣaydā), also known as Julias or Julia (Ancient Greek: Ἰουλία, romanized: Ioulía), is a place mentioned in the New Testament. Julias lay in an administrative district known as Gaulonitis, now the Golan Heights.

Historians have suggested that the name is also referenced in rabbinic literature under the epithet Ṣayḏān (Hebrew: צַידָן).[4][5]

The location of ancient Bethsaida or Julias has not been positively identified by modern researchers, of the three original candidates el-Araj being lately favoured due to the most recent discoveries, displacing et-Tell as the front-runner.

New Testament

According to John 1:44, Bethsaida was the hometown of the apostles Peter, Andrew, and Philip. Jörg Frey finds this attribution credible.[6] In Mark 8:22–26, Jesus restored a blind man's sight at a place just outside the ancient village of Bethsaida. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus miraculously fed a multitude of people near Bethsaida.

History

Pliny the Elder, in his Natural History (77–79 CE), places Bethsaida on the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee.[7] The Jewish historian Josephus says Bethsaida, at that time called Julia, was situated 120 stadia from the lake of Semechonitis, which is now the much drier Hula Valley not far from the Jordan River as it passes into the middle of the Sea of Galilee.[8]

The much later De situ terrae sanctae, a 6th-century Christian itinerarium, describes Bethsaida's location in relation to Capernaum, saying that it was 6 mi (9.7 km) distant from Capernaum.[9][10] The distance between Bethsaida and Paneas is said to have been 50 mi (80 km).[11]

Identification: candidates

Although Bethsaida is believed to be located on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee, within the Bethsaida Valley, there is disagreement among scholars as to precisely where. Since the nineteenth century, three places have been considered as the possible location of biblical Betsaida:[12]

  • El-Araj, an archaeological site at the place where the upper Jordan River flows into the Sea of Galilee is proposed by a second group, led by Mordechai Aviam, under the auspices of the center for Holy Land Studies (CHLS).[13] It is also known as Beit HaBek, "House of the Bey", due to the ruins of an old mansion at the site.
  • Et-Tell, an archaeological site on the east bank of the Jordan River, is promoted by the Bethsaida Excavations Project, led by Rami Arav.
  • El-Mesydiah or el-Mes‛adīyeh, an archaeological site and former Bedouin winter village about 2 mi (3.2 km) from the mouth of the River Jordan on the Jordanian side, is the third candidate, but the least likely one.

El-Araj

el-Araj
Bethsaida is located in the Golan Heights
32°53′36″N 35°37′09″E / 32.89333°N 35.61917°E
Region Lower Gaulanitis

According to Josephus, around the year 30/31 CE (or 32/33 CE) Philip raised the village of Bethsaida in Lower Gaulanitis to the rank of a polis and renamed it "Julias", in honor of Livia, also called Julia Augusta,[14] the wife of Augustus. It lay near the place where the Jordan river enters the Sea of Galilee.[15]

Julias/Bethsaida was a city east of the Jordan River, in a "desert place" (that is, uncultivated ground used for grazing), if this is the location to which Jesus retired by boat with his disciples to rest a while (see Mark 6:31 and Luke 9:10). The multitude following on foot along the northern shore of the lake would cross the Jordan by the ford at its mouth, which is used by foot travelers to this day. The "desert" of the narrative is just the barrīyeh of the Arabs, where the animals are driven out for pasture. The "green grass" of Mark 6:39, and the "much grass" of John 6:10, point to some place in the plain of el-Baṭeiḥah, on the rich soil of which the grass is green and plentiful, compared to the scanty herbage on the higher slopes.

In 2017, archaeologists announced the discovery of a Roman bathhouse at el-Araj, which is taken as proof that the site was a polis in the Roman Empire period.[12] The bathhouse was located in a layer below the Byzantine layer, with an intervening layer of mud and clay that indicated a break in occupation between 250 and 350 CE.[12] They also found what might be the remains of a Byzantine church building, matching the description of a traveller in 750 CE.[12] On account of these discoveries, the archaeologists believe that el-Araj is now the most likely candidate for the location of Bethsaida.[12]

In 2019, what some describe as the Church of Apostles was unearthed by the el-Araj excavations team during the fourth season at the site of Bethsaida-Julias / Beithabbak (el-Araj), on the north shore of Sea of Galilee near where the Jordan river enters the lake. The excavation was carried out by Prof. Mordechai Aviam of Kinneret College and Prof. R. Steven Notley of Nyack College. This Byzantine period church is believed by some to have been built over the house of the apostle brothers, Peter and Andrew. Only the southern rooms of the church were excavated. A well-protected ornamental mosaic floor, gilded glass tesserae, and a marble chancel decorated with a wreath have been found in some of the excavated rooms.[16] According to Professor Notley:

We have a Roman village, in the village we have pottery, coins, also stone vessels, which are typical of first-century Jewish life, so now we strengthen our suggestion and identification that el-Araj is a much better candidate for Bethsaida than et-Tell.[17]

In 2022, the archaeological team uncovered a large mosaic that is over 1500 years old containing an inscription. This invokes St. Peter as "the chief and commander of the heavenly apostles". and mentions a donor named "Constantine, a servant of Christ". These terminologies are consistent with Byzantine usage.[18] Because of this, Notley said that this "strengthen[s] our argument that [it] should be considered the leading candidate for first century Bethsaida."[19]

In August 2025, in the wake of a wildfire along the northern shore of the Kinneret, small mounds across the el-Araj archaeology site are being excavated as "mini-tells."[20]

Et-Tell

Archaeologists tend to agree that the capital of the kingdom of Geshur was situated at et-Tell, a place also inhabited on a lesser scale during the first centuries BCE and CE and sometimes identified with the town of Bethsaida of New Testament fame.[21]

The first excavations of the site were conducted in 1987–1989 by the Golan Research Institute. In 2008–2010, and in 2014, archaeological excavations of the site were conducted by Rami Arav on behalf of the University of Nebraska of Omaha, Nebraska.[22] According to Arav, the ruin of et-Tell is said to be Bethsaida, a ruined site on the east side of the Jordan on rising ground, 2 km (1.2 mi) from the sea. However, this distance poses a problem, as a fishing village situated far from the shore of the Sea of Galilee would be problematic. In an attempt to rectify the problem, the following hypotheses have been devised:

  1. Tectonic rift activity has uplifted et-Tell; the site is located at the West Asian end of the active and massive Great Rift Valley of Africa.
  2. The water level has dropped due to increased population usage and land irrigation. In fact, the excavation of Magdala's harbour has proven that the ancient water level was much higher than it is today.[23]
  3. The Jordan River delta has been extended by sedimentation.[24]

Bronze and Iron Ages

Excavations indicate that the settlement was founded in the 11th century BCE, in the biblical period.[25] Et-Tell was inhabited during both the Bronze Age and the Iron Age. Researchers associate the fortified town there with Geshur, which is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible.[25]

During the Iron Age, the site of et-Tell was very likely the capital of the Kingdom of Geshur.[26]

Archaeologist Rami Arav, the head of excavations at et-Tell for many years, identified in 2018 the First Temple period city there with biblical Zer, a fortified city mentioned in Joshua 19:35.[27]

Most imposing archaeological finds, mainly from the Stratum V city gate, date to the 8th century BCE,[21] but as of 2024, archaeologists have found the northwestern chamber wall of the Geshurite city gate of Stratum VI, dating to the 11th-10th centuries BCE.[25] The et-Tell site would have been easily the largest and strongest city to the east of the Jordan Valley during the Iron Age II era.[28]

The Iron Age city at et-Tell was destroyed in 734–732 BCE during the campaign of the Assyrian king Tiglath-pileser III, an event that also marked the end of the kingdom of Geshur. Archaeological evidence indicates a violent destruction, including widespread burning, structural collapse, and particularly heavy damage at the city gate. Finds such as arrowheads and the state of storage areas point to fighting and the exhaustion of supplies. The remains also show that portions of the gate complex were later dismantled and removed. Taken together, this evidence indicates that the Iron Age city came to an end in this episode and did not recover its former status.[26]

Hellenistic and Roman periods

Et-Tell was reinhabited again in the third century BCE and continued on a lesser scale during the first century CE.[29] Archaeological excavations at site have revealed fishing gear, including lead weights used for fishing nets, as well as sewing needles for repairing fishing nets. The findings indicate that most of the city's economy was based on fishing on the Sea of Galilee. Two silver coins dating to 143 BCE, as well as Seleucid bronze coins, bronze coins from the time of Alexander Jannaeus, King of the Hasmonean dynasty (reigned c. 103–76 BCE), and one coin from the time of Philip the Tetrarch (a son of Herod the Great), ruler of the Bashan (reigned 4 BCE – 34 CE), were discovered at the site.[30] Philip the Tetrarch applied the name "Julias" (Greek: Ἰουλιάδα) to the site, which he named after Caesar's daughter.[31]

El-Mesydiah

El-Mesydiah, also spelled el-Mes‛adīyeh, is a third candidate, but generally considered the least likely one. It is located on the present shoreline, but preliminary excavations, including the use of ground penetrating radar, initially revealed only a small number of ruins dating from before the Byzantine period. Gottlieb Schumacher was inclined to favor el-Mes‛adīyeh, which stands on an artificial mound about 1.5 mi (2.4 km) east of the mouth of the River Jordan.

One or two Bethsaidas?

According International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, many scholars maintain that all the New Testament references to Bethsaida apply to one place, namely, Bethsaida Julias. The arguments for and against this view may be summarized as follows.[32]

Galilee ran right round the lake, including most of the level coastland on the east. Thus Gamala, on the eastern shore, was within the jurisdiction of Josephus, who commanded in Galilee.[33] Judas of Gamala[34] is also called Judas of Galilee.[35] If Gamala, far up the slope towering over the eastern shore of the sea, were in Galilee, a fortiori Bethsaida, a town which lay on the very edge of the Jordan, may be described as in Galilee.

Josephus makes it plain that Gamala, while added to his jurisdiction, was not in Galilee, but in Gaulanitis.[36] Even if Judas were born in Gamala, and so might properly be called a Gaulanite, he may, like others, have come to be known as belonging to the province in which his active life was spent. "Jesus of Nazareth" for instance was said to be born in Bethlehem in Judaea. Josephus also explicitly says that Bethsaida was in Lower Gaulanitis.[37] Further, Luke places the country of the Gerasenes on the other side of the sea from Galilee (Luke 8:26) – antipéra tês Galilaías ("over against Galilee").

  • To go to the other side – eis tò péran (Mark 6:45) – does not of necessity imply passing from the west to the east coast of the lake, since Josephus uses the verb diaperaióō of a passage from Tiberias to Taricheae.[38]

But

    1. this involved a passage from a point on the west to a point on the south shore, "crossing over" two considerable bays; whereas if the boat started from any point in el-Baṭeiḥah, to which we seem to be limited by the "much grass", and by the definition of the district as belonging to Bethsaida, to sail to et-Tell or el-Araj, it was a matter of coasting not more than a couple of miles, with no bay to cross.[32]
    2. No case can be cited where the phrase eis tò péran certainly means anything else than "to the other side".[32]
    3. Mark says that the boat started to go unto the other side to Bethsaida, while John, gives the direction "over the sea unto Capernaum" (John 6:17). The two towns were therefore practically in the same line. Now there is no question that Capernaum was on "the other side", nor is there any suggestion that the boat was driven out of its course; and it is quite obvious that, sailing toward Capernaum, whether at Tell Ḥūm or at Khān Minyeh, it would never reach Bethsaida Julias.[32]
  • The words of Mark (Mark 6:45), it is suggested,[39] have been too strictly interpreted: as the Gospel was written probably at Rome, its author not being a native of Galilee. Want of precision on topographical points, therefore, need not surprise us. But as we have seen above, the "want of precision" must also be attributed to the writer of John 6:17. The agreement of these two favors the strict interpretation.

In support of the single-city theory it is further argued that

    1. Jesus withdrew to Bethsaida as being in the jurisdiction of Philip, when he heard of the murder of John the Baptist by Herod Antipas, and would not have sought again the territories of the latter so soon after leaving them.
    2. Medieval works of travel notice only one Bethsaida.
    3. The east coast of the sea was definitely attached to Galilee in AD 84, and Ptolemy (c. 140) places Julias in Galilee. It is therefore significant that only the Fourth Gospel speaks of "Bethsaida of Galilee".
    4. There could hardly have been two Bethsaidas so close together.

But:

    1. It is not said that Jesus came hither that he might leave the territory of Antipas for that of Philip; and in view of Mark 6:30, and Luke 9:10, the inference from Matthew 14:13 that he did so, is not warranted.
    2. The Bethsaida of medieval writers was evidently on the west of the Jordan River. If it lay on the east, it is inconceivable that none of them should have mentioned the river in this connection.
    3. If the Gospel of John was not written until well into the 2nd century, then John the Apostle was not the same person as the author John the Evangelist. But this is a very precarious assumption. John, writing after AD 84, would hardly have used the phrase "Bethsaida of Galilee" of a place only recently attached to that province, writing, as he was, at a distance from the scene, and recalling the former familiar conditions.
    4. In view of the frequent repetition of names in Palestine the nearness of the two Bethsaidas raises no difficulty. The abundance of fish at each place furnished a good reason for the recurrence of the name.[32]

Fifth Crusade (1217)

During the Fifth Crusade, the very large Christian army gathered by King Andrew II of Hungary forced Sultan Al-Adil I to abandon Beisan on 10 November 1217.[40] It then continued marching, crossed the River Jordan, pillaged, crossed it back again, and the crusaders took time to visit the holy Christian sites along the Sea of Galilee, including what Oliver of Paderborn called Bethsaida, which he described as a small casale (a village or hamlet), without offering any further details about its location.[41]

See also

From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia

Bethsaida is:

  • a city, or perhaps two cities, on the shore of the Lake of Genesareth, the frequent scene of Christ's preaching and miracles (Matt., xi, 21; Luke, x, 13).
  • in the Vulgate, a pool in Jerusalem, also called Bethesda (John, v, 2).
  • a titular see.

I. The City

(Gr. Bethsaidaa; from the Aramaic meaning "house, or place, of fishing"). The old writers, up to the sixteenth century, knew of but one Bethsaida, though they do not seem to have always indicated the same site. Since then it has been a much debated question whether there were not two places of this name: one east of the Jordan; the other west, near Capharnaum. A Bethsaida, which the Tetrarch Philip enlarged into a city and named Julias, after the daughter of Augustus, existed east of the river, near where it enters the lake (Josephus, Ant., XVIII, ii, 1; Bell. Jud., II, ix, 1; III, x, 7; Vita, 72). Near this Bethsaida took place the feeding of the five thousand (Luke, ix, 10) and the healing of the blind man (Mark, viii, 22). Whether another is to be admitted, depends on two questions on which the controversy mainly turns: whether Julias, though belonging politically to Gaulonitis, was comprised within the limits of Galilee (John, xii, 21) and whether, in Mark, vi, 45, and John, vi, 17, a direct crossing from the eastern to the western shore is intended. The negative view seems to be gaining ground. In the supposition: of two Bethsaidas, the western would be the home of Peter, Andrew, and Philip (John, i, 44; xii, 21), and the Bethsaida of Matt., xi, 21 and Luke, x, 13. Julias is identified by many with et-Tell; but, as this is somewhat too far up the river to answer Josephus's description, others prefer El-Araj, close to the shore, or Mesæadîyeh farther east. The partisans of a western Bethsaida are much divided on its site æAinet-Tâbigha and Khân Minyeh are most favored.

II. The Pool

(Gr. Bethsaida, Bethesda, Bethzatha.) Bethesda is supported by most Greek manuscripts, still Bethzatha may be the true reading and Bethesda a corruption, as Bethsaida most probably is Bethesda, probably meaning "House of Mercy." The etymology of Bethzatha is uncertain. This pool had five porches in which the sick lay "waiting for the moving of the waters" (John, v, 3) and most likely steps led down to it. Here the Savior cured a man "that had been eight and thirty years under his infirmity". The Vulgate and most of the Fathers call it a "sheep pool" (probatike, probatica), but the Greek text of John, v, 2, is commonly understood to mean that it was situated near the sheep gate. This would place it north of the temple area. The early writers speak of it as a double pool, the fifth portico running between the two basins, but give no details as to its location. From the sixth to the thirteenth century, it is mentioned as being near the present church of St. Anne. Just west of this church an old double pool was discovered some years ago, which is, there is little doubt, the pool spoken of by medieval writers, and probably the old pool of Bethesda. Since the fourteenth century Birket Isrâæîn, northeast of the temple area, is pointed out as Bethesda. Others prefer the Fountain of the Virgin (æAin Sitti Mariam, or æAin Umm ed-Derej) because of its intermittent flow; or the pool of Siloe, which, being fed by the preceding, shares its intermittence. Lastly, some advocate Hammâm esh-Shifâ (Bath of Health), west of the temple area, because of its name.

The Titular See

It is uncertain at what period Bethsaida, the former of the two cities (Julias) mentioned under I, became a titular see depending on Scythopolis. There was in the region of Nineveh another Bethsaida, with a Jacobite titular bishop in 1278.

I. In favor of the hypothesis of two cities of the same name, ROBINSON Bibl. Researches (London, 1856), II, 405; III, 358; RELAND Palätina (Utrecht, 1714), 653, 869; GUÉRIN, Galilee (Paris, 1880), I, 329; EWING in HASTINGS, Dict. of the Bible; VAN KASTEREN in Rev. Bibl., III, 65f. In favor of one, SMITH, Histor. Geogr. of the Holy Land, 457f. MARTA in Rev. Bibl., III, 445; BUHL, Geogr. d. alt. Paläst. (Freiburg im Br. 1896), 241f.; FURRER in Zeitschr d Deutsch. Pal. Ver., II, 66. See also: SCHÜRER, Jewish People (tr. New York, 1891), I, ii, 14; II, i, 135; HEIDET in VIG., Dict. do la Bible, I, 1713f.,

II. - Survey of Western Palest., Jerusalerm, 115f.; Palest. Explor. Fund, Quart. Stat., 1888, 115f.; ROBINS0N, Bibl. Re searches (London, 1856), I, 330f.; GUÉRIN, Jérusalem (Paris 1889). 282f.; LIÉVIN DE HAMME, Terre Sainte (1897), I, 338-340; TOBLER, Denkblätter aus Jerus., 53-69; SCHICK in Zeitschr. d. Deutsch. Pal. Ver., XI, 178-183; HEIDET in VIG., Dict. de la Bible, 1723f. III. - LEQUIEN, Oriens Christ., II, 1577.

F. BECHTEL

References

  1. Back to citation "Definition of Bethsaida". Dictionary.com. Retrieved 2017-12-22.
  2. Back to citation "Where Is Biblical Bethsaida, Where Jesus Walked on Water? The Case of This Jordan River Mound". Ruth Schuster for Haaretz. 19 August 2020. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  3. Back to citation Franz, Gordon (10 November 2007). "Text and Tell: The Excavations at Bethsaida". PlymouthBrethren.org (2nd, revised and updated from the one published in Archaeology in the Biblical World, (1995) 3/1: 6-11 ed.). Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  4. Back to citation Historical geographer Samuel Klein opines that this place is to be recognised in the name Ṣaidan of Mishnah Gittin 7:5, Mishnah Avodah Zarah 3:7, Mishnah Gittin 4:7 (BT Gittin 46a), and Jerusalem Talmud (Sheḳalim 6:2). Klein wrote: "`Bethsaida = Julias at the confluence of the Jordan in the lake, [a place] not proven in Jewish tradition.` (Sch.) – However, I suspect that Bethsaida occurs in the Talmudic literature called Ṣaidan....The fact that the name Ṣaidan (ציידן) is not preceded by the word 'Beth' (בית) presents no difficulty in explaining the two names as being identical, since similar things are more common among Galilean names (e.g. Maon and Meron; Beth-Maon and Beth-Meron)" (Klein 1915:167–168). Herbert Danby, in his English translation of the Mishnah, erroneously transliterated the proper name צידן in all places as "Sidon" in Phoenicia, even though Sidon is almost always spelt in Hebrew as צִידוֹן, with a waw (ו). Marcus Jastrow also follows the general view that צידן is none other than Sidon of Phoenicia. Conversely, the Yemenite Babylonian Talmud, punctuated by Yosef Amir, has distinguished between the two sites, assigning the vowels pataḥ and qamaṣ for Ṣaidan = צַידָן, but ḥiraq and ḥolam for the Phoenician city Sidon = צִידוֹן. German theologian H.W. Kuhn, citing archaeologist Richard A. Freund (Freund 1995:267–311), further supports this view, and writes: "The Rabbinic literature in which Bethsaida appears, as already mentioned, is never called 'Julias', but rather speaks of '(Beth-)saida' (ציידן = Ṣaidan, etc; [whereas] בית ציידן = Beth ṣaidan, or anything similar, also does not appear in rabbinic texts), so like the canonical gospels, it uses this name for the village. From these texts I refer merely to one [village] presumably" (Kuhn 2015:153). An anecdote has been passed down in the Midrash Rabba (Kohelet Rabba 2:11), where Hadrian asked Rabbi Yehoshua b. Hananiah about the preeminence of the Land of Israel over other lands, particularly where the Scripture (Deuteronomy 8:9) imputes of the country that it is "a land wherein you shall eat bread without scarceness, [and] you shall not lack any thing therein." When asked whether or not the country could produce for him three things: peppercorns, pheasants (phasianum) and silk, the rabbi brought for him peppercorns from Nasḥana, pheasants from Ṣaidan and silk from Gush Halav, – meaning, the place was reckoned as in the Land of Israel proper.
  5. Back to citation In the Jerusalem Talmud (Sheḳalim 6:2), after mentioning Lake Hulah and the Sea of Galilee, Saidan is then mentioned as a place where there was an abundance of different kinds of fish, as alluded to in Ezekiel 47:8–10, and where it was said of a certain river that "their fish shall be after their kinds." Klein has speculated that this Saidan refers to Bethsaida along the Jordan River (Klein 1915:167–168). Ishtori Haparchi, Kaftor wa-Ferach vol. 2, (3rd edition, published by ed. Avraham Yosef Havatzelet), chapter 11, Jerusalem 2007, p. 54 (note 30) (Hebrew).
  6. Back to citation Frey, Jörg (2022). The Jesus Handbook. William. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. p. 245. ISBN 9780802876928.
  7. Back to citation Pliny the Elder (1947). H. Rackham (ed.). Natural History. Vol. 2. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. p. 275 (book v, chapter xv, section 71).
  8. Back to citation Josephus, The Jewish War 3.10.7
  9. Back to citation Rami Arav & Richard Freund (eds.), Bethsaida: A City by the North Shore of the Sea of Galilee, vol. 3, Truman State University 2004, p. xii, ISBN 1-931112-38-X
  10. Back to citation Tsafrir, Yoram (1986). "The Maps Used by Theodosius: On the Pilgrim Maps of the Holy Land and Jerusalem in the Sixth Century C.E." Dumbarton Oaks Papers. 40: 129–145. doi:10.2307/1291534. JSTOR 1291534.
  11. Back to citation Theodosius the archdeacon (1893). On the Topography of the Holy Land. Translated by J.H. Bernard. London: Palestine Pilgrims' Text Society. p. 8.
  12. Back to citation occurrence 12.0 Back to citation occurrence 12.1 Back to citation occurrence 12.2 Back to citation occurrence 12.3 Back to citation occurrence 12.4 Noa Shpigel; Ruth Schuster (8 August 2017). "The Lost Home of Jesus' Apostles Has Just Been Found, Archaeologists Say". Haaretz. Retrieved 15 June 2026.
  13. Back to citation Pfister, Samuel DeWitt. "Where Is Biblical Bethsaida?", Bible History Daily, Biblical Archaeological Society, June 16, 2019.
  14. Back to citation E. Groag, A. Stein, L. Petersen – e.a. (edd.), Prosopographia Imperii Romani saeculi I, II et III (PIR), Berlin, 1933 – L 301
  15. Back to citation Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, XVIII, ii, 1; The Jewish War, II, ix, 1; III, x, 7; The Life of Flavius Josephus, 72.
  16. Back to citation Schuster, Ruth (2019-07-18). "Church of the Apostles Found by Sea of Galilee, Archaeologists Claim". Haaretz. Retrieved 2019-08-17; "The Church of the Apostles Discovered at Bethsaida, Says CSAJCO". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved 2019-08-17; Aviam, Mordechai; Notley, R. Steven (2021). "In Search of the City of the Apostles". Novum Testamentum. 63 (2): 143–158. doi:10.1163/15685365-12341710. ISSN 0048-1009.
  17. Back to citation Weizman, Stephen. "Ancient Galilee church unearthed, said to be home to apostles Peter and Andrew". The Times of Israel. ISSN 0040-7909. Retrieved 2019-08-17.
  18. Back to citation "Archaeologists Find Entreaty to St. Peter in Early Church by Sea of Galilee". Haaretz; Di Segni, Leah; Ashkenazi, Jacob; Aviam, Mordechai; Notley, R. Steven (2023). "The Greek Inscriptions from 'The Church of St. Peter' at Bethsaida (el-'Araj)". Liber Annuus. 73: 365–384. doi:10.1484/J.LA.5.141408. ISSN 0081-8933; Schuster, Ruth (2023-11-08). "Archaeologists may have found traditional home of Jesus' apostles by the Sea of Galilee". Haaretz. Retrieved 2024-05-01.
  19. Back to citation Heipel, Edie (2022-08-24). "St. Peter's house believed to have been found". Catholic News Agency. Retrieved 2024-04-04.
  20. Back to citation Wildfire unveils lost biblical village of Bethsaida
  21. Back to citation occurrence 21.0 Back to citation occurrence 21.1 Philippe Bohstrom (20 July 2016). "Mighty Fortifications Found by Archaeologists Show Kingdom of Geshur More Powerful Than Thought". Haaretz. Archived from the original on July 20, 2016. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
  22. Back to citation Israel Antiquities Authority, Excavators and Excavations Permit for Year 2008, Survey Permit # G-31; Excavators and Excavations Permit for Year 2009, Survey Permit # G-45; Excavators and Excavations Permit for Year 2010, Survey Permit # G-42; Excavators and Excavations Permit for Year 2014, Survey Permit # G-46
  23. Back to citation F. D. Troche, "Ancient Fishing Methods and Fishing Grounds in the Lake of Galilee" Palestine Exploration Quarterly, 148:4 (2016) 290–291.
  24. Back to citation "Bethsaida- An Ancient Fishing Village on the shore of the Sea of Galilee", Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 21 Mar 2000
  25. Back to citation occurrence 25.0 Back to citation occurrence 25.1 Back to citation occurrence 25.2 Haverkost, Ann; Arav, Rami (2024). "Bethsaida's Stratum VI City Gate, High Place, and Iconic Stele". Eretz-Israel: Archaeological, Historical and Geographical Studies. 35: 73*–80*. ISSN 0071-108X.
  26. Back to citation occurrence 26.0 Back to citation occurrence 26.1 Arav, Rami (2018). "Bethsaida: The Capital City of the Kingdom of Geshur". In Farber, Zev I; Wright, Jacob L. (eds.). Archaeology and History of Eighth-Century Judah (PDF). Ancient Near East Monographs. SBL Press. pp. 96–97. Retrieved 15 June 2026.
  27. Back to citation Zieve, Tamara. "Archaeologists Uncover Gate to Biblical City of Zer". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 11 July 2018.
  28. Back to citation Na'aman, Nadav (2012). "The Kingdom of Geshur in History and Memory". Scandinavian Journal of the Old Testament. 26 (1): 92. doi:10.1080/09018328.2012.704198. S2CID 73603495.
  29. Back to citation Arav, Rami; Savage, Carl E. (2015). "Bethsaida". In Fiensy, David A; Strange, James Riley (eds.). Galilee in the Late Second Temple and Mishnaic Periods, Volume 2: The Archaeological Record from Cities, Towns, and Villages. Fortress Press. pp. 258–279. ISBN 978-1-5064-0195-9.
  30. Back to citation Aryeh Kindler, "The Coins of the Tetrarch Philip and Bethsaida", Cathedra 53, September 1989, pp. 26–24 (Hebrew)
  31. Back to citation Josephus, Antiquities 18.2.1. (18.26)
  32. Back to citation occurrence 32.0 Back to citation occurrence 32.1 Back to citation occurrence 32.2 Back to citation occurrence 32.3 Back to citation occurrence 32.4 W. Ewing. Bethsaida. International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, 1915.
  33. Back to citation Flavius Josephus, The Jewish War, II, xx, 4.
  34. Back to citation Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, XVIII, i, l.
  35. Back to citation Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, XVIII, i, 6
  36. Back to citation Flavius Josephus, The Jewish War, II, xx, 6
  37. Back to citation Flavius Josephus, The Jewish War, II, ix, 1
  38. Back to citation Flavius Josephus, The Life of Flavius Josephus, 59
  39. Back to citation William Sanday, Sacred Sites of the Gospels, 42.
  40. Back to citation Marvin, Laurence W. (2024). The Damietta Crusade, 1217-1221: A Military History. Oxford University Press. pp. xvii, 47. ISBN 0198916191. Retrieved 30 August 2025. See map 3 on p. xvii and text on p. 47; Jessalynn Lea Bird; Edward Peters; James M. Powell, eds. (2013). Crusade and Christendom: Annotated Documents in Translation from Innocent III to the Fall of Acre, 1187-1291. The Middle Ages Series. University of Pennsylvania Press. pp. 161–2. ISBN 0812244788. Retrieved 30 August 2025. “We looked up Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter, then reduced to a small casale [village or hamlet];...” Quote from Oliver of Paderborn, ch. 2 of his chronicle, Historia Damiatina; Richard, Jean (1999) [1996]. "The rebuilding of the kingdom of Jerusalem". The Crusades, c. 1071–c. 1291. Cambridge Medieval Textbooks. Translated by Jean Birrell (reprint ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 298. ISBN 0521625661. Retrieved 30 August 2025.
  41. Back to citation Marvin, Laurence W. (2024). The Damietta Crusade, 1217-1221: A Military History. Oxford University Press. pp. xvii, 47. ISBN 0198916191. Retrieved 30 August 2025. See map 3 on p. xvii and text on p. 47; Jessalynn Lea Bird; Edward Peters; James M. Powell, eds. (2013). Crusade and Christendom: Annotated Documents in Translation from Innocent III to the Fall of Acre, 1187-1291. The Middle Ages Series. University of Pennsylvania Press. pp. 161–2. ISBN 0812244788. Retrieved 30 August 2025. “We looked up Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter, then reduced to a small casale [village or hamlet];...” Quote from Oliver of Paderborn, ch. 2 of his chronicle, Historia Damiatina; Richard, Jean (1999) [1996]. "The rebuilding of the kingdom of Jerusalem". The Crusades, c. 1071–c. 1291. Cambridge Medieval Textbooks. Translated by Jean Birrell (reprint ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 298. ISBN 0521625661. Retrieved 30 August 2025.

Bibliography

Further reading

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