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Ancient Tell Bethsaida

Aerial Shot of Bethsaida Looking South -- University of Nebraska at Omaha 2001 Excavations

Tell Bethsaida is situated 1.5 kilometers off the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee. Bethsaida is one of the largest artificial mounds ever discovered on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Research revealed that Bethsaida was probably a fortified city known as Zer and was mentioned in the Hebrew Bible.

The Gospels mention Bethsaida more often than any other town except Jerusalem and Capernaum but Bethsaida -- meaning House of the Fisherman -- was lost to the modern world until archaeological excavations began there in 1987. An important city in the first century AD Bethsaida was destroyed by the Romans during the First Jewish Revolt (66-70 AD) and never rebuilt ...

The History of the Ancient Near East Electronic Compendium