Free Republic

In a surprising twist of fate, a wildfire that swept through Israel’s Betiha Nature Reserve in late July has unveiled significant archaeological remains believed to be the biblical village of Bethsaida.Long thought to be lost to time, this site, located along the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee, has been under excavation since 2016 at the official approval of the Israel Nature and Parks Authority. The recent blaze, while devastating to local flora and wildlife, has provided archaeologists with an unprecedented view of structures buried for centuries.El-Araj has long been under investigation as a potential site for Bethsaida, historically...

Israeli archaeologists recently found two areas which might have been part of the ancient city of Bethsaida, which was mentioned prominently in the Bible. A Byzantine church may be the missing link needed to establish one of them as the city where two apostles were born. The areas have both Byzantine as well as Roman ruins from the eras through which the city flourished. What the researchers call “Area A” at El-Araj has the remains of the southern, western, and northern walls of the Byzantine-era Church of the Apostles. Also in that same area are the remains from the Roman...

About 25 years ago, the Government Naming Committee for State of Israel renamed a large mound on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee, which in the past had been known by the name et-Tell, as Bethsaida. The following is why they did so... Still, to solve the problem of the location of Bethsaida, scholars in the 19th century suggested there might be two Bethsaidas: They identified the one mentioned by Josephus with et-Tell and suggested a second Bethsaida existed at some still unidentified location in the Galilee. For the second Bethsaida, Robinson suggested the site of Tabgha, which...