Overview
Bethsaida is a recently rediscovered city located along the eastern bank of the Jordan River about a mile and a half north of Lake Kinneret (Sea of Galilee), at a site formerly known as et-Tell, or "the Mound." Although identified by its Roman period, New Testament name, Bethsaida rests atop a massive Iron Age city that its excavators believe was once the capital of the Geshurite kingdom, known from both the Bible (Joshua 13:13; 2 Samuel 3:3; 13:37) and the Egyptian official correspondence recovered at Tell el-Amarna.
The site, roughly 21 acres in size, occupies both a strategic yet precarious position in the region. On the one hand, its inhabitants throughout the centuries enjoyed proximity to the great lake – offering fishing, transportation, and a natural defense barrier – a broad vista northward through the Jordan valley, and access to major trade routes. On the other hand, sitting atop one of the world's most active fault lines, Bethsaida has experienced its share of destructive earthquakes, likely the cause of its ultimate abandonment in the early centuries of the Common Era. Geological studies conducted near the site indicate that Bethsaida, which means "House of the Fishermen," once abutted the edge of the water, but that seismic activity occurring in the region since New Testament times affected the flow of the Jordan, resulting in formation of a delta that moved the water away from the city, perhaps shutting down its primary economic enterprise.
Bethsaida has been continuously excavated since 1987 by Rami Arav from the University of Nebraska at Omaha and supported by a consortium of other schools.
The archaeological strata uncovered at the site, as illustrated in the site plan, date to the following periods:
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Hellenistic–Roman Period |
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Iron IIB Period |
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Iron IIA Period |
