The Bethsaida Excavations Project commenced in 1987, when Dr. Rami Arav proposed that the ancient mound of et-Tell on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee was actually the site of the biblical village of Bethsaida.
Since then there have been annual expeditions to explore the site, and in the process we have uncovered the remains of a fortified Iron Age city, a prosperous hellenistic community, a Jewish community in the Hasmonean and Herodian periods, occupation in the Early Roman period, settlement in the Mamluk period, and a village in the late Ottoman period.
Our mission is to excavate the ancient city of Bethsaida, to analyse the remains that we find, and to disseminate the results to both academic and popular audiences.
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