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city of Bethsaida בית צידה
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Bethsaida
(בית צידה “Beit Tsida” = “hunting house”) is a city mentioned in the New Testament.
Geographical information and identification problems
"Gospel Triangle".
Et-Tel, a mound known as ancient Bethsaida, is located on a basalt spur north of the Kinneret, near the confluence of the Jordan River. Tel covers an area of about 8 hectares and rises 30 meters above the fertile valley.
The name Beit Tsaid means "house of the hunt" in Hebrew. It is known that this was a fishing village. It made no sense to locate it one and a half kilometers from the coast. In addition, Bethsaida is located in the Golan (that is, east of the Jordan River). But the Gospel of John identifies this village as being in Galilee (west of the Jordan River).
To unravel the mystery of Bethsaida's location, it was necessary to realize that the shoreline of Kinneret today is not the same place as it was in the time of Jesus. This was most likely due to a major earthquake in 363 AD. In fact, the site of “modern” Bethsaida was once located right on the shores of the Kinneret.
Geological and geomorphological studies show that in the past this valley was part of the Kinneret. A series of earthquakes caused silt to accumulate, creating a valley and forcing the northern shore of the lake to retreat. The result of this process, which continued into the Hellenistic period, was that Bethsaida, originally built on the shores of the Kinneret, ended up about 1.5 km north of the coast.
The identification of et-Tel with a place mentioned in the New Testament was proposed as early as 1838 by Robinson, but has not been accepted by most modern scholars; however, excavations since 1987 have confirmed the identification.
We see around us broken families, destroyed lives, broken ties.
No more business boom, financial collapse. Burnt fields, withered crops, killed livestock in minefields... There are many other things that could be listed. And the grief grows exponentially.
Isn’t that why something that becomes unbearably heavy, huge, like a mountain, is called grief?
Who will lift it? Who will pull this?
You can look for a long time and be sad. Or you can revel in someone else’s grief. It depends on the person. And today, when there are social networks, and everyone’s “turning out” appears “inside out” there, you notice with horror that something unimaginable has happened to people! It seems impossible to meet such terrible people in life! But social networks have become a place for the release of the worst things that secretly sat in the depths of human hell, which developed in the heart. People don't just hate! This is a fire! The most terrible, the most powerful. A fire that consumes the person himself and does not allow him to calm down, to come to his senses!
The Book of Proverbs says: “If hatred is hidden in private, its malice will be revealed in the public assembly. Whoever digs a hole will fall into it, and whoever rolls up a stone will return to him. A lying tongue hates those it hurts, and flattering lips prepare ruin.” (Prov. 26; 26-28)
Carrying the Cross. E. Cherkasova
Mentions in Christian texts and research
This is the only site that is mentioned in the Gospels, associated with Jesus and is accessible to archaeologists today. Bethsaida is mentioned more often in the New Testament than any other city except Jerusalem and Capernaum.
It is believed that it was in this 20-kilometer triangle formed by the three ancient cities of Bethsaida, Chorazin and Capernaum that most of Jesus' preaching took place. For this reason it is often called the Evangelical Triangle.
Beit Tzida is the birthplace of three apostles - Peter, Andrew and Philip. Jesus himself visited Bethsaida often and performed several miracles there (and also cursed it). (Mark 8:22-26; Luke 9:10)
Some of the events associated with Jesus and the Bethsaida area include:
- Jesus' famous walk on water (Mark 6:45-51);
- It says that Jesus healed a blind man (Mark 8:22-25);
- Feeding of the Five Thousand (Luke 9:12-17).
In Matthew 11:21, Jesus cursed Bethsaida and Chorazin: “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! for if the great deeds that were done to you had been done in Tire and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.” Capernaum (also located on the banks of Cyneret) was also cursed by Jesus. “And you, Capernaum, exalted to heaven, will be cast down to hell; For if the great works that were done in you had been done in Sodom, they would have remained to this day.” (Matthew 11:23).
History of the city in the biblical period
There is no other example of an entire intact city from the biblical era.
Excavations have shown that the settlement at Bethsaida was founded in the 10th century BC. By that time, the areas north and east of the Kinneret were part of the Aramaic kingdom of Geshur. His royal family, which ruled for several generations, was related by marriage to the Davidic dynasty. King David married Maacah, daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur; she was the mother of Absalom, who later took refuge in the Land of Geshur (2 Samuel 3:3; 14:32). Her granddaughter, also Maachah, was married to Rehoboam.
Archaeological excavations carried out at the site have revealed impressive structures and fortifications, and the archaeologist therefore suggests that during this period Bethsaida was the capital of the kingdom of Geshur and the residence of its monarchs.
The city was divided into two parts: the lower city, extending over most of the mound; and the upper city - the acropolis - on the higher, northeastern part of the mound. In the 9th century BC, the acropolis was surrounded by a massive fortress wall with gates built from large basalt stones. The 6 m wide wall, together with the buttresses protruding from both sides, reached a width of 8 m.
The city gate complex discovered on the eastern side of the bodies consisted of outer and inner gates. The outer gate included a passage between two massive towers; So far only the western tower, measuring 10 × 8 m, has been excavated. In the outer gate, a 30-meter-long path paved with flat basalt stones led to a typical "four-room" inner gatehouse of the period, measuring 35 × 17.5 m. It survives to an impressive height of 3 m.
This is the largest biblical period city gate excavated in Israel. It is made of large basalt stones, some lightly finished, laid in rows. A brick superstructure rose above the stone structure, both entirely covered with light plaster. Two huge protruding towers, 10 × 6 m each, guarded the entrance to the gate. The threshold of the gate consisted of large basalt stones with recesses that served as door hinges.
Vivid evidence of the battle that took place here during the conquest of the city and the fire that destroyed the gatehouse can be found in burnt bricks, a pile of charred wood and arrowheads.
A unique feature of Bethsaida Gate is the variety of religious structures in front of the inner gate. The entire “gate altar” (bama) measures 2.1 x 1.6 m and is built of basalt stones covered with light plaster. Two steps led to the top of the bama
with a stone sink measuring 60 x 50 cm recessed by 35 cm.
A broken basalt stele was found on it, which once stood behind the bama. The stela, 1.15 m high, 59 cm wide and 31 cm thick, had a neat shape with a rounded top. On its front part was carved a stylized figure of a horned bull armed with a dagger. In the Mesopotamian pantheon, the bull represents the moon god. It was adopted by the Arameans as a symbol of their chief deity, Hadad, identified as the figure depicted on this stele.
Inside the fortress there was a wide paved area. On its northern side stood the palace of the kings, measuring 28 × 15 m with thick basalt walls (1.4 m thick). The Palace of Bethsaida is a typical example of the palaces of the Aramaic kingdoms of the biblical period; it included a central hall that served as a throne room, surrounded by eight halls.
The Aramean city of Bethsaida was conquered and destroyed by the Assyrian king Tiglath-pileser III during his campaign in the region in 734 BC. (2 Kings 15:29-30; 16:7-9)
From the time of that destruction until the Hellenistic period, the place was sparsely inhabited.
History of the city in the Hellenistic and Roman periods
The importance of Bethsaida in the Hellenistic-Roman period (332-37 BC) is evident from references to it in ancient sources. Josephus states that the tetrarch Herod Philip, whose kingdom included the northern part of the country, changed the name of the city in the early 1st century AD. on Julia, in honor of Julia Livia, the wife of the Roman emperor Augustus, and granted him municipal powers (Antiquities 104, 18, 28). Also, according to Josephus, Philip died in the city and was buried there with great pomp. (Antiquities 104, 18, 108)
During excavations, several courtyard houses from this period were discovered. Built of basalt and probably two stories high, they included a paved open courtyard surrounded by several rooms. Numerous fishing tools—lead net weights, iron anchors, needles, and fishhooks—were discovered in the houses, suggesting an economy based on fishing. In one of the houses there was a cellar in which ceramic wine amphorae and several hooks for pruning vines were found.
At the beginning of the 1st century AD. a building with particularly thick walls measuring 20 × 6 m was built over the remains of a city gate from the biblical period. Only very fragmentary remains of the foundation have been discovered. Limestone slabs brought from afar and fragments of decorated architectural elements emphasize the elegance of this building. Ritual vessels, including two decorated bronze incense scoops, indicate that it functioned as a temple. Perhaps these are the remains of a temple built by the tetrarch Philip in honor of Julia Livia.
Bethsaida is located just 5 km from Chorazin. It appears that stones from the temple of Julia Livia, wife of the Roman emperor, at Bethsaida were used in the 5th century AD synagogue. in Khorazin.
Social networks turned a man inside out, and his anger was revealed in the “national assembly”
The hatred has reached such intensity that he is no longer ashamed of his publicity. Moreover, it boasts!
Such people delight in lies. They are ready to listen to her day and night. This is food for their tongue, with which they try to hurt, but “flattering lips prepare their own downfall.”
It is sometimes difficult at Confession to listen to speeches of condemnation peppered with anger
Confession is a place and time of great reconciliation with God and people. But today people are “carried.” It sucks in like a powerful whirlwind, like a water funnel - leaving no chance of salvation!
What's a priest to do here? What should the Church do?
Two thousand years ago, Christ entered the very core of evil with His death - hell! Entered as a winner. But how did He win? “He trampled death underfoot,” we sing the Paschal troparion: he conquered with his humility before physical death for Human flesh. He sacrificed Himself not because He was God, but precisely because He was a MAN! The death of Man seemed to free the Divine. And hell became defeated.
Sometimes the Church, the priest, the Christian must cease in the face of death, so that the present hell can be buried with great humility.
Was Christ great on earth? Its significance was immeasurable! But humanity then could not accept or appreciate Him.
The Church today is also blasphemed and persecuted. The Church of Christ goes again with a crown of thorns to its Golgotha.
Tourist information
Excavations at this site are still ongoing. It is assumed that archaeologists will find new finds from the time of settlement. The most significant find at Bethsaida to date is a gate from the ninth century BC. Below it appears to be a 10th-century gate.
The facility is open to visitors. It is maintained by the Jewish National Fund. The ticket costs 50 shekels for a car and 150 shekels for a bus. You can park your car and walk about 200 meters to the entrance. The reserve is located near the Yahudia intersection at the intersection of routes 87 and 92.
