Scientists have been excavating the ancient village for 32 years, and it seems that the result was worth the time spent. Archaeologists believe that they managed to find a place that was mentioned in the Bible. According to the Holy Scriptures, it was in this location that Jesus performed some of his miracles.
A team of scientists who spent 32 years conducting research in the Golan heights near the mouth of the Jordan river, is confident that they can show the world the village where Jesus walked on water.
In the Holy Scriptures, this settlement was called Bethsaida, and it was in this place that three of Christ’s disciples, Andrew, Peter, and Philip, were born. It was in this village, according to the Bible, that Jesus fed five thousand people with two fish and five loaves, cured a blind man by putting his hands over his eyes, and walked through the waters of the sea of Galilee.
Rami arav, a Professor at the University of Nebraska, believes that this is the place that he and colleagues managed to find, writes the Daily Mail. According to the scientist, the archaeological site of Et-tell, where the excavations were conducted, is the same Bethsaida.
As proof, scientists cite the works of the Roman historian Josephus.
“Joseph wrote that this town was located on the “lower Golan” at the mouth of the Jordan river — the same place as the site of the Et-tell excavation, ” the daily Mail quotes the Professor as saying.”
The name of the village also became one of the arguments of historians. The word “Bethsaida” is translated as “hunting house” or “fishing house”, and one of the names of Et-tell is Zed. Rami arav believes that this may be a slightly modified version of the word “Tzed”, which in Hebrew means both fishing and hunting.
The Professor believes that this word has been transformed into Beit-tzed or into Bethsaida, meaning “Bethsaida”. There was a snag in the scientists ‘ coherent theory. In the biblical description, this location is located right on the shore of the sea of Galilee, but Et-tell is located a kilometer from the water.
Rami arav has an explanation for this discrepancy.
“We must take into account that the sea of Galilee lies in the center of the Syrian-African fault and is subject to shifting tectonic plates.”
According to the Bible, Bethsaida was cursed by Jesus and then destroyed. Archaeologists believe that the village they excavated has been abandoned since the fourth century. However, this does not help them confirm their theory very much.
