On the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee, where the Jordan River fans into its delta, a mound of stones and reeds once seemed insignificant. Today that low rise—Khirbet el-Araj—has become one of the most important sites in New Testament archaeology. Layer by layer, excavations are revealing the remains of a first-century fishing village directly beneath a substantial Byzantine basilica. The combined evidence powerfully identifies this place as biblical Bethsaida, the hometown of Peter, Andrew, and Philip (John 1:44).

Here, fishermen once mended their nets, launched boats into the lake, and returned at dawn with catches that supplied nearby markets. Here, a young Simon and his brother Andrew learned currents and weather, only later to leave their nets at Jesus’ call. Centuries afterward, believers built a large church over the ruins of that village, honoring the memory of the apostles whose lives were transformed by the Galilean Teacher.

Khirbet el-Araj gives visible, stratified proof that the Gospels speak about real towns and real people. The soil preserves both the simple houses of a first-century fishing community and the dressed stones of a later basilica that commemorated those who once lived there. The Bible beneath our feet and the Bible in our hands speak with a united voice.

The Setting of Bethsaida on the Northern Shore

The Sea of Galilee is a freshwater lake roughly shaped like an elongated harp. Its northern end receives the Jordan River, which brings water down from the Huleh basin. At this point, the river slows, spreads, and deposits silt, creating a delta of fertile land fringed with reeds and low rises. Khirbet el-Araj sits in this delta zone, close enough to the ancient shoreline that fishermen could easily drag their boats to and from the water.

In the first century, the lake level was somewhat different from today, but the basic geography was the same. The site lay near the point where routes from the Golan and Gaulanitis descended to the lake, giving Bethsaida access to both inland trade and maritime traffic. The northern shore villages, including Bethsaida and Capernaum, formed a band of communities bound to the lake by fishing yet open to caravan routes that brought news, people, and merchandise.

Politically, this region belonged to Herod Philip, son of Herod the Great. After Herod’s death, Philip ruled the northeastern districts—from 4 B.C.E. until 34 C.E.—and he chose to develop Bethsaida into an urban center, renaming it Julias. This move helps explain the Roman-style features that archaeologists now find at Khirbet el-Araj: they reflect the overlay of Philip’s city upon an older Jewish fishing village.

When we read the Gospels and see Jesus moving between Capernaum, Bethsaida, and other nearby towns, Khirbet el-Araj offers the physical backdrop. The rising hills to the east, the curve of the lake below, and the delta plain all still exist. The site’s position makes excellent sense of the biblical picture of fishermen with ready access to both shore and settlement.

Bethsaida in the Gospels

The Gospel of John tells us, “Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter” (John 1:44). With this simple sentence, Scripture roots three key apostles in one recognizable hometown. Peter, whose given name was Simon; his brother Andrew; and Philip all grew up knowing the rhythms of Bethsaida’s shoreline. When Jesus later called Peter and Andrew by the lake and said, “Follow Me,” He was addressing men whose identities had been shaped by this fishing community.

The Gospels record several events linked to Bethsaida and its environs. Near Bethsaida, Jesus fed the five thousand with five loaves and two fish, demonstrating His authority over creation and portraying Himself as the true bread from heaven. In another episode, a blind man was brought to Jesus at Bethsaida; Jesus led him outside the village and healed him in stages, underlining both compassion and divine power.

Despite such mighty works, the town as a whole did not respond in repentance and faith. Jesus pronounced a woe upon Bethsaida, along with Chorazin and Capernaum, declaring that if the miracles performed in them had taken place in Tyre and Sidon, those Gentile cities would have repented in sackcloth and ashes. Bethsaida therefore stands as a sobering example: great privilege can be accompanied by great hardness of heart.

Yet from that same town came Peter, Andrew, and Philip—men who did respond, who left nets and family ties to follow the Messiah. Their journey from Bethsaida’s shore to apostleship and martyrdom traces a path from ordinary village life to participation in Jehovah’s saving work. Khirbet el-Araj, as the archaeological Bethsaida, becomes more than a ruin; it is the soil from which those lives sprang.

Uncovering the First-Century Fishing Village

Excavations at Khirbet el-Araj have cut down through Byzantine layers to earlier Roman-period remains. Below the basilica and associated structures lie houses, streets, and installations datable to the first century C.E., precisely the time of Jesus’ ministry and the apostles’ early years.

Archaeologists have uncovered domestic buildings constructed of local stone with packed-earth or plaster floors. The rooms are modest in size, clustered around courtyards where families would have cooked, repaired nets, and processed fish. Grinding stones, storage jars, and cooking vessels speak of daily life. The pottery styles, along with coins from the early first century, anchor these layers chronologically.

Finds typical of a shoreline village have also emerged: fishing weights, hooks, and other equipment that fit naturally with the Gospel’s portrayal of fishermen casting and mending nets. The proximity of these structures to the ancient shoreline reinforces the identification of the site as a fishing settlement.

One striking feature is evidence of a Roman-style bathhouse. Such an installation is not what we would expect in a purely rural hamlet. It reflects the influence of Herod Philip’s urbanization program when he elevated Bethsaida to city status under the name Julias. The bathhouse underscores that Bethsaida in the early first century sat at the intersection of Jewish village life and Greco-Roman civic culture.

The combination of fishing-related artifacts, first-century domestic architecture, and urbanizing features matches what Scripture leads us to expect from Bethsaida: a place where fishermen like Peter and Andrew lived, yet significant enough to be called a “city” and to draw crowds for Jesus’ teaching and miracles.

The Transformation into Bethsaida-Julias

Herod Philip’s decision to develop Bethsaida into Julias represents more than a name change. It involved the introduction of Roman architectural elements, civic institutions, and a measure of Hellenistic culture. A bathhouse, paved streets, and perhaps small public buildings would have distinguished Julias from neighboring villages.

This transformation helps explain how Peter and Andrew, though born into a Jewish fishing family, could have interacted comfortably with Greek-speaking visitors and Roman officials. The New Testament portrays Galilee as linguistically and culturally mixed. A place like Bethsaida-Julias, with both Jewish and Hellenized features, would have prepared the apostles for the broader mission Jesus later entrusted to them.

At Khirbet el-Araj, the material remains of this transformation lie in the Roman-period strata between the earliest village levels and the later Byzantine construction. Coins bearing the names of Roman emperors and local rulers, finely made imported pottery, and architectural fragments with classical profiles all testify that Bethsaida participated in the wider currents of the empire while retaining its local identity.

From a historical-grammatical standpoint, this layered picture fits naturally with the biblical data. The Gospels situate Jesus and His disciples in a Galilee where Roman power, Herodian rule, and Jewish tradition overlapped. Khirbet el-Araj embodies that overlap in stone.

The Byzantine Basilica Over the Village

Above the Roman strata lies the massive footprint of a Byzantine basilica. Its apse faces east toward the rising sun, its nave and aisles are marked by column bases, and fragments of mosaic floors show that it once gleamed with colored tesserae under lamplight. Adjacent rooms and courtyards suggest a monastic or pilgrimage complex associated with the church.

The decision to build such a substantial basilica directly over the remains of the first-century village is telling. Early Christians did not randomly choose locations for major churches. When they believed a site had strong associations with events or persons from the New Testament, they frequently marked it with a commemorative church. The basilica at Khirbet el-Araj reflects precisely this impulse.

Ancient Christian sources speak of a church in Bethsaida built over the house of Peter and Andrew. While we must treat such texts as historical witnesses rather than inspired Scripture, their convergence with the archaeological reality at Khirbet el-Araj is notable. Here we have a basilica standing on the remains of a first-century village in the correct geographical zone. The early believers in the region evidently regarded this place as the Bethsaida of the apostles and considered one part of it to be associated with Peter’s family.

Within the basilica, mosaic inscriptions and architectural emphasis on the central nave suggest that this was not a minor local chapel. It functioned as an important pilgrimage site. Christians traveling through Galilee could visit Capernaum, remember Jesus’ teaching, then move to Bethsaida to honor the memory of Peter, Andrew, and Philip, all while hearing the same Gospels read that we possess today.

The basilica’s presence atop the village strata creates a vertical testimony: first-century Bethsaida below, later Christian commemoration above, all tied together by the unbroken conviction that Jesus truly walked, taught, and called disciples here.

Khirbet el-Araj and Competing Proposals for Bethsaida

For some years, another site, et-Tell, located farther inland and higher in elevation, was proposed as Bethsaida. Excavations there uncovered impressive remains from the Iron Age and Hellenistic periods, including fortifications and public buildings. However, several factors work against identifying et-Tell as the Bethsaida of the Gospels.

First, its distance from the lake is considerable. While lake levels have shifted, the idea that et-Tell once sat right on the shore requires dramatic changes not supported by geological evidence. Second, the first-century occupation at et-Tell appears relatively limited compared with earlier phases. It does not present the clear picture of a thriving fishing center during the time of Jesus.

Khirbet el-Araj, by contrast, lies on the delta plain within direct reach of the ancient shoreline. Its Roman-period strata show robust first-century occupation, including clear evidence for fishing and urbanizing features under Herod Philip. The later basilica built over the site aligns with ancient Christian tradition regarding a church at Bethsaida.

From a conservative perspective committed to the historical reliability of Scripture, we weigh the evidence by asking which site best fits the plain sense of the biblical text. When the Gospels describe Bethsaida as the hometown of fishermen and as a place near the lake where crowds gathered and Jesus performed miracles, Khirbet el-Araj matches that description far more naturally than an elevated mound far from the water.

While archaeological debate always continues at some level, the cumulative data strongly support Khirbet el-Araj as the true Bethsaida. This conclusion is not based on speculation but on the convergence of geography, stratigraphy, architecture, and ancient tradition, all in harmony with the inspired text.

Archaeology, Faith, and the House of Fishermen

The layers at Khirbet el-Araj allow us to see how Jehovah’s providence operates across centuries. In the first century, a Jewish fishing family in Bethsaida raised sons who learned the trade, listened in synagogues, and watched the political maneuvers of Herod’s sons. Then Jesus of Nazareth walked along the shoreline and called them to follow Him. Peter, Andrew, and Philip left boats and nets to become “fishers of men,” carrying the Gospel from Galilee to the wider world.

After their ministries and the spread of the Church, generations of believers remembered that these apostles had come from Bethsaida. When conditions allowed in the Byzantine period, those believers built a basilica over the very village where the fishermen had grown up. Pilgrims came to hear Scripture, to pray, and to thank Jehovah for the faith of Peter and his fellow apostles.

Today, the basilica lies in ruins, and the village beneath it is exposed only in excavation squares. But the story they tell remains clear. The Bible’s statement that “Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter” refers to a real place that can be touched, mapped, and studied. The call of the fishermen did not occur in a mythic nowhere, but on this specific shoreline, beside these stones.

Archaeology cannot create faith, but it can remove false objections. When skeptics claim that the Gospels are late legends, detached from actual geography, Khirbet el-Araj answers quietly from the soil. The village, the bathhouse, the basilica, and the pilgrim traditions all align with Scripture’s simple statements. The more the site is uncovered, the more the Gospels’ historical rootedness stands out.

From Jesus’ Ministry to the Basilica: A Line of Continuity

Chronologically, Khirbet el-Araj illustrates the continuity between the time of Jesus and later Christian centuries. Jesus began His ministry in 29 C.E., calling disciples from Galilee and traveling among towns like Bethsaida, Capernaum, and Chorazin. His sacrificial death took place on Nisan 14 of 33 C.E., followed by His resurrection on the third day and His ascension. The apostles then preached in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

As the Gospel spread, communities formed in many regions. Some believers remained in or near Galilee, passing down memories of where Jesus had taught and where the apostles had lived. Over time, as political and social circumstances shifted, churches began to be built at those remembered places. In Bethsaida’s case, this resulted in the basilica discovered at Khirbet el-Araj, likely erected in the fifth or sixth century.

The time gap between Jesus’ ministry and the basilica’s construction is not unusual. Buildings come and go. What matters is that the tradition connecting Bethsaida with the apostles remained alive long enough for Christians to mark the location in stone. The stratigraphy at Khirbet el-Araj—first-century village below, Byzantine church above—provides physical confirmation of that memory chain.

In this way, the site demonstrates that the land itself has not forgotten the events of the New Testament. The lake still laps at the shore. The delta still stretches between hills and water. And beneath the basilica’s fallen columns lie the remains of the houses where fishermen once heard the call, “Follow Me.”

Apologetic and Spiritual Significance of Khirbet el-Araj

The significance of Khirbet el-Araj is not limited to confirming geographical details. It also carries spiritual and apologetic weight.

First, the site underscores that the New Testament authors wrote as eyewitnesses or close associates of eyewitnesses who knew the land well. They named real towns and described real relationships. When John says that Philip, Andrew, and Peter were from Bethsaida, he is not composing fiction. The excavation of their hometown strengthens our trust that everything he says about Jesus—His identity as the Word, His miracles, His sacrificial death, and His resurrection—is equally grounded in reality.

Second, Khirbet el-Araj illustrates how early Christians honored the memory of the apostles without replacing Christ as the center. The basilica existed to glorify Jehovah for what He had done through Peter and his companions, not to elevate Peter to a status beyond what Scripture allows. While later church traditions sometimes went too far in venerating human figures, the core impulse was to remember how God uses ordinary people who respond in faith.

Third, the site reminds us that Christ’s call still reaches into ordinary professions and places. Peter and Andrew were not religious professionals when Jesus called them. They were fishermen, busy in a town like Khirbet el-Araj. Their response—leaving nets to follow Christ—shows that anyone, in any occupation, can be summoned into the service of the Kingdom. The ruins of their hometown challenge us: if Christ called us away from our own “nets,” would we follow?

Finally, Khirbet el-Araj points forward to the future. The stones we see today are battered by time, but Jehovah has promised a renewed earth under Christ’s millennial reign. On that restored earth, resurrected believers will live in real places, with real lakes, hills, and villages, free from sin and death. The same God who preserved the memory of Bethsaida in stone will preserve His people in life everlasting.

The Bible Beneath Our Feet at Bethsaida

When we stand at Khirbet el-Araj and look down into excavation squares, we are looking into layers of redemptive history. At the lowest levels lie the homes of a first-century fishing community. Above them, the remains of Herod Philip’s urbanizing efforts. Higher still, a Byzantine basilica honoring the apostles. And beyond all of it, we hold in our hands the inspired Gospels, preserved with 99.99 percent textual accuracy, telling us who walked these shores and why.

Khirbet el-Araj is therefore a prime example of the Bible beneath our feet. The land bears witness that Jesus’ world was solid and specific. Bethsaida was not a literary device; it was a village where boys grew into fishermen, where nets dried in the sun, and where the Son of God called men to leave everything and follow Him. That call echoes still, reaching across centuries and continents. The stones of Bethsaida have nothing more to add. They simply confirm what Scripture has always said.

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