(Daily Star)
Matt Mathers August 23, 2019 00:51
Archaeologists claim they may have found the biblical city of Bethsaida in Israel where Jesus is believed to have given a blind man sight.
Bethsaida was the “house of hunting” or “fishing” and is mentioned in the New Testament, referenced in John 1:44.
After archaeologists in Israel announced the discovery of the Church of the Apostles, questions followed and a team of researchers set about finding Bethsaida.
Excavations began in 2016 under the direction of Professor Mordechai Aviam from the Kinneret College Israel. With a small budget and team, the researchers set off for the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee.
The team was convinced that there was a settlement at el Araj over a thousand years spanning the Roman, Byzantine, Islamic and Crusader periods — precisely the time frame of Bethsaida, according to historical records.
At the ancient site, the team found remains from a Crusader sugar factory that had mostly reused still-standing Byzantine walls.
After the initial excavation in 2016, the team returned to the historical site the following season to find a Byzantine monastery accompanied by a church — a common combination in Galilee.
Although the archaeologists were unable to identify the walls of the church, its existence was signaled each season by the discovery of individual gold-gilded glass tesserae.
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