Archaeologists excavating el-Araj on the shores of the Sea of Galilee say they have found Bethsaida, the lost biblical city home to Jesus' apostles. The excavation team spent a decade peeling back layers of ruins in northern Israel, searching for the ancient settlement where the Bible records that Jesus performed miracles, including restoring sight to a blind man and feeding thousands.
Bethsaida was the home of three apostles: Peter, Andrew, and Philip. Researchers say a Roman bathhouse, hundreds of fishing weights, a ruined fifth-century church mosaic, and first-century domestic wall remains at el-Araj match ancient historical and biblical accounts of the settlement's transformation from a Jewish fishing village into a city.
Dr Steven Notley, the academic director of the excavation, told the Daily Mail he "absolutely" believes the team has uncovered the lost biblical city that was home to the apostle Peter. "Everything we bring out of the ground affirms and strengthens that identification," Notley said. "Nothing that we have found would challenge it at all."
Biblical miracles and gospel accounts
For Notley, the ruins at el-Araj bring into view the setting of Gospel accounts in which Jesus restored a blind man's sight and fed thousands with five loaves and two fish. "I think Jesus was there on multiple occasions," Notley said. "I think we probably have a number of miracles."
In Mark 8:22-26, people bring a blind man to Jesus at Bethsaida, and Jesus leads him outside the village before restoring his sight. Luke 9:10-17 places Jesus and his apostles in what the King James Version calls "a desert place belonging to the city called Bethsaida," where he feeds about 5,000 men.
Notley explained that the plain surrounding el-Araj fits that description as open grazing land beyond the settlement rather than a sandy desert. "We have no deserts up there," Notley said. "But they're pastoral areas, where your flocks will be eating outside of where people are living." He added: "The Gospels identify this as the area where you have the feeding of the multitudes."
Territorial jurisdiction and the apostles
Jesus also rebukes the city in Matthew 11:21, saying: "Woe unto thee, Bethsaida!" The passage criticizes its inhabitants for failing to repent despite the miracles performed there.
Geographically, el-Araj lies just beyond the Jordan River. During Jesus' lifetime, it was ruled by Herod Philip, placing it outside the jurisdiction of Herod Antipas, who ordered John the Baptist to be beheaded by a king around 30 AD. Notley connects the site with Matthew 14:12-13, which describes Jesus withdrawing by boat after learning of John's death. Although that passage does not name Bethsaida, Notley interprets the settlement's position as another reason Jesus would spend time there.
John 1:44 provides the explicit link to three apostles, stating: "Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter." Notley noted: "At least a quarter of his disciples came from Bethsaida … it played a very important role as the setting, the stage for Jesus' life and ministry in the North."
Evidence of Roman urbanization
The strongest archaeological clue emerged in 2017 when researchers uncovered mosaics, marble, roof tiles, and ceramic heating vents belonging to a Roman bathhouse. The discovery connects directly to first-century historian Josephus, who described Bethsaida's transformation from a village into a city and left eyewitness accounts of Jesus on trial and his crucifixion.
In Antiquities of the Jews, 18.28, Josephus records how Herod Philip elevated the lakeside settlement's status and renamed it Julias. Notley noted that this history gave researchers two specific criteria: "You should find evidence of a Jewish fishing village, and you should find evidence of urbanization." El-Araj, he argued, provides both.
Hundreds of fishing weights point to the lakeside industry supporting the settlement, while chalkstone vessels associated with Jewish purity practices identify its religious character. The bathhouse supplies evidence of urban development matching Josephus' account. "You do not build a Roman bath in a Jewish village," Notley said.
Summer excavations revealed walls built over earlier walls, showing successive construction phases. Stone vessels continued to appear in later layers, suggesting the growing settlement retained its Jewish population. "It doesn't lose its Jewish identity, it maintains that, but it's much larger," Notley said, estimating the settlement covered 15 to 16 acres. "Everywhere we're digging, we're finding extensive settlement on the site."
Rebutting competing sites and excavation history
Notley contrasts el-Araj with et-Tell, a competing candidate site located nearly two miles inland from the modern lakeshore. He argues that et-Tell's impressive Iron Age ruins give way to weaker evidence around the first century, when Josephus describes Bethsaida growing in importance. "It completely contradicts the historical record," Notley said.
Excavations at el-Araj began in 2016, with Notley working alongside excavation director Mordechai Aviam. "Everyone thought I was crazy, everyone thought we were crazy, that there was nothing there," Notley recalled.
The Church of the Apostles and Saint Peter's house
A late fifth-century church added another line of evidence linking the settlement to the apostles. "No one knew there was a church there," Notley said. "We didn't go looking for a church." Gilded glass mosaic pieces first suggested an elaborate Christian building, and by 2018 the team had identified the outline of a basilica.
The discovery prompted Notley to revisit the written account of Willibald, an eighth-century pilgrim who described a church at Bethsaida built over the house of Peter and Andrew. In August 2022, researchers uncovered an intact mosaic inscription north of the apse, the sacred eastern section of the church.
The inscription honored a local official and benefactor named Constantine before seeking intercession from "the chief of the apostles and the keeper of the keys of heaven," in Notley's description. Christians recognize Saint Peter, who was born Simon Peter and worked as a fisherman until meeting Jesus, as the leader of the early Church following the ascension. According to the Bible, Peter received the keys to the kingdom of heaven from Jesus.
"That title can have no other reference than Peter, which confirms the church's identification with Peter," Notley said. He noted that very few Byzantine churches in the Holy Land were connected with Peter, with most marking places associated with his Gospel appearances. At el-Araj, Notley believes the dedication commemorates Peter's hometown.
Excavation beneath the sacred apse
Willibald's account gave the team a prediction to test: if the church commemorated the apostles' home, earlier domestic remains should survive directly beneath the apse, where sacred relics were often preserved. "There should be a first-century house under the apse," Notley recalled predicting.
In October 2023, a conservator removed and preserved the mosaic floor, allowing archaeologists to excavate below the sacred area. They uncovered a house wall dating to the first century, placing domestic remains from the apostles' lifetime directly beneath the later Christian building. "It doesn't get much better than that," Notley said. While the wall cannot establish who lived there, its age and position support the tradition that the church commemorated an earlier home.
Beneath the fifth-century basilica, researchers also identified a fourth-century Christian structure that the team believes may have been an earlier church. Notley connected that sequence with early fourth-century historian Eusebius, who associated Peter and Philip with Bethsaida. "There's a continuing memory of Peter's connection to Bethsaida," Notley said.
The case joins evidence from different periods: a Jewish fishing community, Roman urban development, and successive Christian buildings honoring an apostle whose hometown was Bethsaida. While acknowledging that "archaeology has its limits" and does not provide proof of miracles, Notley said the discoveries restore the physical setting of Jesus' ministry and his closest followers. "I have no difficulty seeing Jesus spending considerable time there," Notley said, calling el-Araj "the last lost city of the Gospels."
