At-Tell, commonly identified as “Bethsaida” (see discussion below), is located on a basalt spur descending from the Golan Heights, in the Bethsaida Valley northeast of the Sea of Galilee. During the Iron Age, it was a fortified city with a monumental gate towards the east. The excavators at the site suggest that this city belonged to the Kingdom of Geshur mentioned in 2 Samuel 3:3 and was destroyed during the military campaigns of Tiglath-Pileser III during the 8th century BC. Traces of settlement in the Persian, Hellenistic and Roman periods are also found in the mound. Evidence of Byzantine and Islamic settlement. The site is of great historical and religious importance to Christianity, as it is identified by some researchers as the city of “Julias” mentioned in the New Testament. In this city, several of Jesus’ disciples were born and he performed the miracle of the bread and fish in this city.
At-Tell during the Iron Age: the capital of Aramean Geshur?
A survey and a trial excavation at the site were carried out by Prof. Rami Arav on behalf of the Golan Research Institute between the years 1987-1989. Since 2009, an excavation has been carried out at the site by Prof. Arav, on behalf of various universities from Nebraska, United States.
Except for a few finds, the earliest evidence of settlement is from the Iron Age 1. The finds testify to a significant city that existed for hundreds of years and at its peak spread over an area of about 80 dunams. The settlement was planned and fortified with a wall made of basalt stones with an impressive gate that was used as a ritual center, in the courtyard of the entrance to the gate two ritual platforms were found, and next to them, several basalt standing stones among them a standing stone of worship to the moon god. According to Prof. Arav, the residents of Bethsaida during the Iron Age were Arameans. The customs of the sacrifice in Bethsaida were similar (and possibly even ancient) to those of the inhabitants of the Kingdom of Israel to the south.
A royal palace of the “Beit Hilani” type, known mainly from northern Syria, was also uncovered. Many seals were found in the palace, including Phoenician seals that indicate trade. Seals with the names “Aqaba”, “Zachariahu” and “Micah” were also found, apparently from the 8th century BC. This city was destroyed during the conquest campaign of Tiglath-Pileser III in 732 BC.
City gate:
Identifying the site in the Iron Age
The name of the settlement from the Iron Age is unclear and lacks biblical reference. Prof. Arav identifies Bethsaida with “Tzar” in the Naphtali tribe’s estate (Joshua 19, 35: “And the cities of the fortress of the sides: Tzar and Hamath, Rakat and Kinneret”). Another possible interpretation assumes that the name “Bethsaida” originates from Semitic for “hunters” (i.e. “fishermen”) and the meaning of the verse is the number of fishing cities around the Sea of Galilee and at the head of the great city “Tzar”. According to Prof. Arav, this city is mentioned as one of the seven cities of the Kingdom of Geshur. Due to the large number of monumental buildings and the many signs of worship that were uncovered, Prof. Arav suggested that Bethsaida served as the capital of the kingdom mentioned in the Bible Several times (Joshua 13:13, 1 Samuel 14:32, 2 Samuel 3:3, 2 Samuel 13:38, 1 Chronicles 2:23 ). One of the references describes the marriage of King David to the daughter of Talmai, King of Geshur.
Roman remains at At-Tell
In the higher part of the mound, there is a building from the early Roman period, according to Prof. Arav it is a temple to the wife of Emperor Augustus, Livia-Iulia. Few remains remain of this building, including offering vessels, figurines and rare coins minted by Philip in 30 AD on the occasion of changing the name of the place to “Iulias”.
The identification of the site in the Roman period sparked an extensive controversy that began at the end of the 19th century and continues to this day. The American biblical scholar Edward Robinson suggested (following the Irish bishop Richard Pococke) that At-Tell is the location of the city of Bethsaida and the Roman city of Iulias. Later, the German engineer and archaeologist Gottlieb Schumacher suggested that the remoteness of the site from the lake indicates that Tel Araj (located in the north of the Sea of Galilee, at the mouth of the Jordan River) may be Bethsaida. In the New Testament and in the writings of Josephus Flavius, Bethsaida is described as being on the shore of the lake and associated with a fishing industry. At-Tell is about 3 km from the lake, a place unlikely for an extensive fishing industry. Schumacher separated Bethsaida from the later city of Julias and claimed to identify Julias with At-Tell (and Bethsaida with Tel Araj). This identification was joined by the archaeologist and researcher Kinneret Mendel Nun. The researchers Schroeder and Anbar claim that geological changes over the years created the distance of At-Tell from the lake shore, but Nun’s research on the water level in the Sea of Galilee during the Roman period refutes this claim.
Prof. Arav identifies At-Tell with Bethsaida and with Julias and claims that Al Araj is a single-layered Byzantine site only. At the same time, in a survey conducted by the Antiquities Authority in El Araj, early Roman findings were found that may support Schumacher and Nunn’s proposal. In 2019, a magnificent Byzantine church was even found at the site, which the excavators (Kinneret Institute for Galilean Archeology led by Prof. Mordechai Aviam, in collaboration with Prof. Notley) identify as the Church of the Apostles. This finding strengthens the identification of Tel Araj as the seat of Bethsaida and Julias.
On the official maps of Israel, At-Tell is identified with Bethsaida and Julias, although the controversy has not yet been resolved.
The importance of the site in Christianity
Bethsaida is mentioned in the New Testament as the birthplace of some of Jesus’ disciples including Andrew, Peter, and Philip. The city is described as the place where Jesus managed to feed 5,000 people with five loaves of bread and two fish (Mark 6:45-52, Luke 9:10-17). Bethsaida even appears in the condemnation of the cities that did not repent (Matthew 11:21-22); In the Gospel of John it is stated that Jesus’ disciple Philip came from Bethsaida (John 1:44). Jesus cursed Bethsaida together with nearby Chorzine and prophesied their destruction: “Woe to you, Chorzine, woe to you Bethsaida, for the heroic deeds that were done among you were not done in Tire and Sidon” (Matthew 11:21).
Bethsaida is mentioned by Josephus Flavius as a city built by Herod Philip and called “Iulias”, after the wife of the emperor Augustus. The testimony of Josephus is the only documentation that Philip changed the name of the settlement Bethsaida to “Iulias” (Kadmoniot 18, 108).
According to some coins found in the excavation, the foundation of Iulias was in 30 AD, a year after the death of the empress Julia Augusta, wife of Augustus and mother of Tiberius. According to Josephus Flavius, Philip died in the year 34 and was buried with great splendor in Bethsaida-Iulias. 35 years after its founding, Bethsaida was destroyed or abandoned during the great rebellion of the Jews against the Romans (Life of Joseph 71,72).
Sources
Arav, Rami. 1999. Bethsaida. Antiquities: a journal for the antiquities of the Land of Israel and the lands of the Bible. Issue 118. pp. 78-91.
Arav, Rami. 2020. Thirty years since the excavations of Bethsaida, the capital of the forgotten kingdom, Eretz Geshur. Antiquities: a journal for the antiquities of the Land of Israel and the lands of the Bible. Issue 160. pp. 96-105.
Notley, R.N. 2007. Et-Tell Is Not Bethsaida. Near Eastern Archaeology, Vol. 70, No. 4, pp. 220-230.
Bargil, P. 1985. Searching for the New Testament Site of Bethsaida. The Biblical Archaeologist, Vol. 48, No. 4, pp. 207-216.
Biblical Hiking map