SERGIO & RHODA IN ISRAEL
Mysterious Discovery at the Church of the Apostles of Jesus​
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A team of archaeologists discovered an ancient church that was lost for almost a millennia. This church commemorates Andrew and Peter, the Apostles of Jesus. However, this church presents an interesting mystery. After excavating most of the walls of the structure, the archaeologists could not locate the entry way into the church. A true archaeological puzzle by the northern shores of the Sea of Galilee.
HADAVAR YESHIVA (Hong Kong)
Cleaning and Processing
El Araj's newly discovered St. Peter Inscription​.
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Video in Cantonese w/English and Chinese subtitles
Sergio and Rhoda in Israel
The True Location of Bethsaida
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There are two proposed locations for Bethsaida, the city which Jesus cursed. In this episode, we join an exciting archaeological dig with Dr. Steven Notley, a professor of Biblical Studies, who believes this site of El-Araj to be the true location of Bethsaida Julias.
Season 2, Episode 4.
*Credits: Map footages are taken from Google Maps.
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From the Lanier Theological Library
Lecture by Steven Notley - April 13, 2019
"Has Bethsaida-Julias Finally Been Found?”
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For the last 30 years, archaeologists working on the site of et-Tell, north of the Sea of Galilee, have identified it with New Testament Bethsaida. However, its remote distance (1.5 miles) from the lakeshore makes it an odd location for a fishing village. Since 2016, archaeologists including Notley have excavated el-Araj. In August 2017, headlines announced that Bethsaida, the home of Peter, Andrew and Philip (John 1:44) had finally been found at el-Araj. This lecture considers the method by which ancient sites are identified. Steven presents findings from the first three seasons of the El- Araj Excavation Project, which may have finally found evidence for Herod Philip's urbanization of this New Testament era fishing village, transforming it into a Jewish polis.
INSTAGRAM FEED
MEDIA REPORTS AND ARTICLES
2021
Mosaics and Inscriptions Discovered in the Church of the Apostles.
2019
The Byzantine Church of the Apostles
2018
The Reliquary of Jesus's Apostles
2017
The Lost Home of the Apostles
Articles
CHRISTIANITY TODAY: R. Steven Notley, "Have Archaeologists found the Lost City of the Apostles"
JOURNAL FOR NEAR EASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY: R. Steven Notley, "Et Tell is not Bethsaida,"
Sponsors
PRESS RELEASE FOR SEASON6
New Inscription With Petition for Intercession by Apostle Peter
Discovered at the Suggested Biblical Bethsaida
Archeologists uncovered more than 1500-year-old mosaic mentioning a donor named Constantine
and St. Peter at the "Church of the Apostles"
PRESS RELEASE AUG 10, 2022 08:00 EDT | Source: CSAJCO
Galilee, Israel, August 10, 2022 (Newswire.com) - Archeologists from Kinneret College in Israel and Nyack College, NY, led by Prof. Mordechai Aviam and Prof. Steven Notley, have uncovered a large Greek inscription during excavations of what is being called the "Church of the Apostles," a Byzantine period basilica at el Araj/Beit haBek believed to be built over the Apostles Peter's and Andrew's home. The inscription was translated by Prof. Leah Di Segni (Hebrew University) and Prof. Yaakov Ashkenazi (Kinneret College). It references a donor, "Constantine, the servant of Christ," and continues with a petition for intercession by St. Peter, "chief and commander of the heavenly apostles." Framed with a round medallion made of two lines of black tesserae, the inscription forms part of a larger mosaic floor in the church's diaconion (sacristy) that is partly decorated with floral patterns. The el Araj/Beit haBek site is located in the Beteiha nature preserve, and assistance was made by the Israel National Parks Authority. The El Araj Excavation Project is a joint project of the Kinneret Institute for Galilee Archeology at Kinneret College and Nyack College. The excavation is sponsored by the Center for the Study of Ancient Judaism and Christian Origins (CSAJCO), the Museum of the Bible, the Lanier Theological Library Foundation, and HaDavar Yeshiva (HK).
The title "chief and commander of the apostles" is routinely used by Byzantine Christian writers to refer to the Apostle Peter. "This discovery is our strongest indicator that Peter had a special association with the basilica, and it was likely dedicated to him. Since Byzantine Christian tradition routinely identified Peter's home in Bethsaida, and not in Capernaum as is often thought today, it seems likely that the basilica commemorates his house," said Steven Notley, academic director of the dig.
This discovery also bolsters the basilica's identification with the church described by the 8th century bishop of Eichstätt, Willibald, who reported that it was built over the house of Peter and Andrew.
"One of the goals of this dig was to check whether we have at the site a layer from the 1st century, which will allow us to suggest a better candidate for the identification of Biblical Bethsaida. Not only did we find significant remains from this period, but we also found this important church and the monastery around it," says archaeologist Mordechai Aviam, archaeological director of the excavation.
The Roman remains that have been excavated bear witness to the testimony of Flavius Josephus (Jewish Antiquities 18:28) that the village became a small polis called Julias that existed until the 3rd century CE. Altogether, these finds continue to strengthen the identification of el Araj/Beit haBek with the ancient Jewish village of Bethsaida.
Excavations will resume in October when the cleaning of the entire church will be completed with the aim to answer the question of its different phases and perhaps uncover additional inscriptions.
To learn more about the dig, or join in the excavations next season, click here.
BACKGROUND ON THE DIG:
During this season, students from Kinneret College, as well as volunteers from the USA, Canada, Hong Kong, Slovakia, Brazil, and the UK participated in the excavation. Efforts were concentrated on the area in and around the church, which was named by the excavators, "the Church of the Apostles," due to Willibald's description of his pilgrimage to the Holy Land. While traveling from Capernaum to Kursi he stayed overnight at a place he was told, "is Bethsaida from which came Peter and Andrew. There is now a church where previously was their house." Simon Peter was the first to declare the messiahship of Jesus (Matthew 16:16) and so was considered chief of the Apostles. His prominence is demonstrated by the church of St. Peter in Rome that was built over his grave. It seems his home was likewise commemorated in Bethsaida.
Contact: Dr. R. Steven Notley, notley@gmail.com, 845-300-5797
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PRESS RELEASE FOR SEASON 5
'Church of the Apostles' Mosaics Discovered in Biblical Bethsaida
Archeologists uncovered 1,500-year-old mosaics believed to be above Peter and Andrew's home
October 21, 2021 10:37 ET | Source: CSAJCO
GALILEE, Israel, Oct. 21, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Archeologists have uncovered for the first time mosaic floors from a lost, legendary basilica reportedly built over the house of Jesus' apostles Peter and Andrew in biblical Bethsaida. According to archeological director Mordechai Aviam, "We identified a large apse in the east and uncovered two inscriptions. While the smaller one mentions a deacon and a building project, the larger inscription is a half medallion and speaks of the bishop and reconstruction of the building." The excavation known as the El Araj Excavation Project is a joint undertaking of the Kinneret Institute for Galilean Archeology at Kinneret College and Nyack College, NY. It is sponsored by the Center for the Study of Ancient Judaism and Christian Origins (CSAJCO) and the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C.
Next year, work on the site will resume, buildings from the Roman period village will be excavated, and the entire church will be cleared with the aim to answer the question: "Who buried the Byzantine Church of the Apostles?"
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To learn more about the dig or to join the excavations next season, click here.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND: In 724 C.E., a Bavarian bishop named Willibald visited holy sites along the Sea of Galilee in his pilgrimage to the Holy Land. He reported: "And thence they went to Bethsaida, the residence of Peter and Andrew, where there is now a church on the site of their house."
Since 2016, the Kinneret Institute for Galilee Archeology at Kinneret College, and Nyack College, New York, have conducted excavations led by Mordechai Aviam and Steven Notley at the site of Beit HaBek (al-A'raj) in an attempt to identify the lost city of Bethsaida. Not only have they discovered a large and previously unknown Jewish village dated to the Roman period but also a large basilica that measures 27x16m from the Byzantine period. The excavators have now identified this church with the Church of the Apostles mentioned by Bishop Willibald.
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To the surprise of the excavators, although the outer walls were preserved to a height of one meter, not a single opening was identified. It is possible that directly on the same walls of the church, a sugar factory was erected in the Middle Ages. Its builders had no interest in the mosaics and so the interior area was filled with dirt, inadvertently burying the church.
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It is also possible that the remains of the church were intentionally enclosed by a wall after it was destroyed in the earthquake of 749 C.E. It was cleaned and renewed in such a way that the church was preserved and commemorated. Other churches in the region were also abandoned, but perhaps because of the great importance attached to the house of Peter and Andrew, the basilica in Bethsaida was especially preserved.
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Contact: Dr. R. Steven Notley, notley@gmail.com, 845-300-5797