• Cambridge Scholars Publishing

    "[Engaging Art: Essays and Interviews from Around the Globe is a] collection of astonishing scope, Roslyn Bernstein delves into archives, exhibits, the built environment, and the lively characters who create them. She keenly engages the creativity that enriches, probes, and inspires the world."

    - Alisa Solomon, Columbia University, USA

The Case for Bethsaida after Twenty Years of Digging: Understanding the Historical Jesus

Bethsaida, located on the Sea of Galilee, is mentioned more frequently than any other town in the New Testament except for Jerusalem and Capernaum. It was the home of Jesus’ closest friends, possibly nine of the apostles and his aunt Salome. The name means “house of fishermen”, and it was renowned as a place of healing. Many of the “mighty works” of Jesus were performed here (one text mentions fifty three). It was to Galilee that the apostles returned after his execution and here Christianity was spawned. Galilee was destroyed by an earthquake in the early second century, which had a major impact on the topography of the area. Bethsaida, originally located on the shore, was now a mile and a half from the Sea of Galilee. This made fishing impractical and the town was not rebuilt, unlike other towns associated with Jesus. It was a pile of rubble for nearly 2000 years. There are twenty-nine extant journals of pilgrims who attempted unsuccessfully to find it. In 1987, a probe by Dr Rami Arav verified that this site did go back to Roman times and beyond. It is the only archaeological site that goes directly back to the time of Jesus. Here, his words and actions come alive, and, as such, the town has to be taken into account in the search for the historical Jesus.


Dr Elizabeth McNamer is Assistant Professor and holder of the Zarek Chair of Religious Thought at Rocky Mountain College, USA. She serves on the Board of the Bethsaida Excavation Project, and is the author of the book The First Century of Christianity in Jerusalem and several articles on archaeology and scripture. She has been featured on the History Channel and Public Television in several documentaries, including The Lost Years of Jesus: In Search of Christmas; Search for the historical Jesus; The Fifth Gospel; and The land and sea of Galilee.

"Dr. McNamer covers all the archaeological evidence in her book, but also paints a vivid picture of Bethsaida as a place of commerce, a center of political and economic importance, and a city inhabited by well-educated, cosmopolitan men who would have been well equipped to hear the Word of God -- and take that Word to others in the ancient world. "
Kilian Melloy
Assistant Arts Editor, EDGE Media Network

Buy This Book

ISBN: 1-4438-9086-3

ISBN13: 978-1-4438-9086-1

Release Date: 14th July 2016

Pages: 135

Price: £41.99

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ISBN: 1-4438-9498-2

ISBN13: 978-1-4438-9498-2

Release Date: 26th July 2017

Pages: 135

Price: £24.99

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