Tel Beit Tsaida
Tel Beit Tsaida is an archeological site situated on a channel of basalt descending from the Golan Heights about one-and-a-half kilometers northeast of the Sea of Galilee, near the Jordan River.
Beit Tsaida is mentioned in Jewish texts of the Second Temple period (586 BCE–70 CE). Yosef Ben Matityahu (Flavius Josephus), a Second Temple/Roman era historian, writes that, in 30 CE, Herod’s son Philip raised Beit Tsaida to the status of a city (polis) and changed its name to Julias, after the wife of Caesar Augustus (Octavian). Four years later, Philip died there and was buried with considerable pomp and ceremony.
In Talmudic literature, Beit Tsaida is mentioned as being near the Babylon-Land of Israel highway in an area rich in fish. Rabbi Simon Ben Gamliel counts 300 different types of known fish.
According to Christian tradition, three of Jesus’ disciples were born in the city: Peter, Andrew and Philip. And it is claimed that two miracles were performed there: the miracle of the loaves and the fishes, and the healing of a blind man. Jesus cursed Beit Tsaida and nearby Corazin and prophesized their destruction: “Woe to you, Corazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had occurred in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago” (Matthew 11:21).
The location of Beit Tsaida (Bethsaida)
Beginning in 2008, Archeologist Prof. Rami Arav directed excavations that uncovered an ancient city with an impressive gate at its entrance. This is apparently the Biblical “Tser,” mentioned in the Book of Joshua as one of the fishermen’s cities on the Sea of Galilee coast: “And the fortress cities are Tsiddim, Tser and Hammat, Rakkat and Kinneret” (Joshua 19:35). Prof. Arav identified it as the capital of the kingdom of Gashur, which existed in the southern Golan Heights in the Biblical period. Gashur had special relations with the kingdom of David— Maacah, the daughter of Talmai, king of Gashur, was married to King David and gave birth to Avshalom.
In 1838, American explorer Edward Robinson, on a historic research visit to the Holy Land, suggested that a site known as a-Tell or et-Tell (in today’s Jordan Park) was the site of Beit Tsaida. Prof Arav’s findings support that identification. However, in recent years, Prof. Mordechai Aviam has been conducting archeological excavations on the banks of the Sea of Galilee in Hurvat Beit Habak (al-Araj) and believes that this site is Beit Tsaida. Archeologists are divided on which site is in fact the lost city of Beit Tsaida.
Findings from the Biblical period
During the Biblical period, the city was strengthened with a massive array of fortifications unlike anything discovered so far in the Land of Israel. These included a rampart topped by a massive wall, complete with watch towers, that was impenetrable to siege rams, the main way of breaching a city’s defenses in that period.
The city gate
In our tour of Beit Tsaida, we will pass through the city gate, the largest such gate to be discovered in Israel. It had four chambers used for storage , and tall watch towers on both sides. In a corner of the gate, near the entrance, was an alter and, behind it, a basalt monument depicting a figure with the head of a bull armed with a dagger, evidently the Aramean god Hadad. The gate was destroyed in a fire at the time of the Assyrian conquest in 734 BCE.
The palace
Excavations uncovered a palace similar to palaces found in northern Syria of an architectural style known as Bit Hilani. The palace is constructed of huge basalt stones. Beyond the façade of the southern entrance is a foyer leading to a large hall surrounded by eight chambers. Bit Hilani-style palaces have a large hall known to be the king’s throne room.
Findings from the Second Temple period
Excavations revealed a simple living quarter consisting of a number of private houses with courtyards. “The fishing house” is named for the large amount of fishing equipment found there. “The vintner’s house” has a cellar in which flasks of wine were found. Another public structure was identified by archeologists as a shrine built in honor of Julia-Livia (the wife of Caesar Augustus). Among the unusual finds was a bronze censer of the type used in Roman rites.
Excavations at the site were carried out by the Consortium of the Bethsaida Excavations Project under the direction of Dr. Rami Arav, of the University of Nebraska in Omaha, and the late Dr. Richard A. Freund.
See: Bethsaida Excavations Project | University of Nebraska Omaha (unomaha.edu)
An easy, marked path leads visitors around the site.
