was made possible by funding from
The Gilbert M. and Martha H.
Hitchcock Foundation
with additional support from:
University of Nebraska at Omaha
Truman State University
Dana College
Doane College
Hastings College
Israel Government Tourist Corporation
Nebraska Humanities Council
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Lost for nearly 2,000 years, the ancient city of Bethsaida, located on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee near the Jordan River, has recently begun to share its long held secrets.
Bethsaida means literally "the house of the fisherman." The city was a sea port and a major crossroads of its time. From the Gospels we learn Bethsaida was home to several of the apostles and was associates with some of the most important works of Jesus. The Roman historian Josephus tells of the battles near the city in the year 67 of the Common Era (CE), a prelude to the fall of Gamla, Jerusalem, and Masada.
Yet sometime after the first century, the city was lost. For nearly 2,000 years, pilgrims, scholars and archeologists searched but the city could not be found. When it was finally rediscovered in the late 1980s, an archeological excavation began. Archeologists, historians, geologists and theologians from around the world began putting the story of a once lost city together. The excavations at Bethsaida give us a unique view of the first century - undisturbed for nearly 2,000 years.