Bethsaida: Update on Archaeological Findings

Locating Bethsaida has been a challenge, but new archaeological findings might have made progress in determining its true location as el-Araj.

The two current possibilities for Bethsaida's location are:

1. Et-Tell (previously proposed location of Bethsaida)
The photo below by BiblePlaces.com captures the site of et-Tell in the foreground, which excavators had been proposing as the location of the site of Bethsaida (el-Araj and Sea of Galilee are in the background). However, BiblePlaces.com lists several reasons to argue that et-Tell may not be the location: the distance from Sea of Galilee, elevation, lack of ancient remains, and lack of buildings from NT period. New evidence at el-Araj is shifting scholarly opinion about the location.

2. El-Araj (new archaeological finds since 2017)

A Roman-style bathhouse was found here at el-Araj (the patch of trees on the hill in the foreground; north side of Sea of Galilee). The location is closer to the Sea of Galilee than is et-Tell. And this recent update claims to have just discovered here a church's mosaic floors, perhaps the floor of the Church of the Apostles:

The Church of the Apostles, which is said to have been built over the house of Jesus’ disciples Peter and Andrew, has been discovered near Israel’s Sea of Galilee, according to a team of American and Israeli archaeologists.

BiblePlaces.com documents other evidence, external links, and discussion of the location of Bethsaida as possibly el-Araj, but counsels caution before more evidence is unearthed. That said, finding the mosaic floors at el-Araj is certainly an exciting discovering that seems to provide an additional indicator that it may have been the NT site of Bethsaida.