All opinions expressed are those of the writer.
I have traversed, in all directions, the country of the Gospels… All this history, which at a distance seems to float in the clouds of an unreal world, thus took a form, a solidity which astonished me. The striking agreements of the texts with the places, the marvelous harmony of the Gospel ideal with the country which served as its framework, were like a revelation to me. I had before my eyes a fifth Gospel, torn, but still legible.
—Ernest Renan, The Life of Jesus
While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
—Matthew 4:18-19 (ESV 2011)
A keen eye for detail is a necessity in the field of biblical archaeology. Contrasting the historical records of the Bible with the “fifth Gospel” of the geography of the Holy Land enables Christians to move from abstract conceptualizations to an intimate understanding of people and places of the Scriptures. Whether one is analyzing Scripture or sifting through dirt at a dig site, small details can lead to great debates and discoveries.
Ernest Renan describes Israel as a “torn, but still legible” Gospel. Like Scripture, archaeological sites are subject to differing interpretations and spirited debates concerning their veracity, meaning and context. The location of Bethsaida, a fishing village home to three of Jesus’ twelve disciples, is a fascinating case-in-point. Recent discoveries along the Sea of Galilee have led many to believe that the long-held location for Bethsaida is incorrectly located.
Since the 1830s, certain scholars have claimed that Et-Tell, a site with significant Iron-Age ruins, is the village of Bethsaida. However, this view is far from secure. Close readings of Scripture and the writings of contemporary historians such as Josephus point to the fact that Bethsaida was a Galilean fishing village later supplanted by the Roman polis (administrative center) of Julias. Centuries after Christ, in 725 AD, Willibald of Bavaria described visiting Bethsaida and worshiping in a large Byzantine church built over the homes of the Apostles. It is assumed that the archaeological record of Bethsaida would complement its written record.
Et-Tell, though significant in its own right, lacks the evidence needed to be proclaimed home of the Apostles. It is situated at a significant distance and elevation from the shoreline of the Sea of Galilee; casting doubt on its status as a fishing village. Advocates for Et-Tell’s status as Bethsaida argue that the Sea of Galilee’s shoreline was several meters higher than it is today. Critics of Et-Tell counter that, while home to many Iron-Age ruins, the site is bereft of archaeological material from the Roman or Byzantine periods, raising major questions about the site’s importance during Jesus’ ministry.
Dr. R. Steven Notley of Nyack College and Dr. Mordechai Aviam of Kinneret College both suggest an alternate location for Bethsaida. For the past five years, Notley and Aviam have led teams of archaeologists, students and Bible enthusiasts on yearly excavations in El-Araj. Located close to where the Jordan River empties into the Sea of Galilee, the dig at El-Araj has spawned global interest with participants from Israel, the United States, Hong Kong and Brazil.
While only a small section of El-Araj has been excavated, the dig has already made global headlines with publications such as Haaretz and National Geographic speculating that Notley and Aviam have unearthed the “lost home of the Apostles.” Initial excavations at El-Araj have unearthed a Roman bathhouse and Herodian oil lamps used almost exclusively by Jews during the 1st Century. In addition, in 2019, further excavation of the site revealed that the remains of a large Byzantine church —complete with multicolored mosaics in geometric patterns— match the writings of Willibald of Bavaria.
These exciting discoveries are not without difficulties. In 2020, excavations were suspended due to the COVID 19 pandemic and flooding caused by near record-breaking rainfall in Galilee. Notley and Aviam are eagerly planning to return to El-Araj in the summer of 2021 with hopes of finding inscriptions within the ruins of the Byzantine church that confirm the provenance of the site as the home of Andrew, Peter and Philip.
Interested in following the progress of the dig or even rolling up your sleeves by joining the excavation in the future? Visit the 2021 El Araj Excavation and Center for the Study of Ancient Judaism and Christian Origins: CSAJCO to stay updated on the search for Bethsaida.
Learn more about the El-Araj excavation:
https://www.elarajexcavations.com/
https://www.emmausjourneys.com/2021elarajexcavation
https://biblearchaeologyreport.com/2019/09/05/biblical-sites-is-et-tell-bethsaida/