- Title: Home of Jesus' apostles possibly found - Archaeologists
- Date: 8th August 2017
- Summary: NORTHERN SHORE OF SEA OF GALILEE, ISRAEL (AUGUST 8, 2017) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF VIEW OF SEA OF GALILEE VARIOUS OF PEOPLE SWIMMING AT SEA AL ARAJ, NORTHERN SHORE OF SEA OF GALILEE, ISRAEL (AUGUST 8, 2017) (REUTERS) VIEW OF EXCAVATION SITE VARIOUS OF DR. MORDECHAI AVIAM, HEAD OF INSTITUTE OF GALILEAN ARCHAEOLOGY IN KINNERET ACADEMIC COLLEGE EXAMINING SITE (SOUNDBITE) (English) HEAD OF INSTITUTE OF GALILEAN ARCHAEOLOGY IN KINNERET ACADEMIC COLLEGE, DR. MORDECHAI AVIAM, SAYING: "During our season here we discovered that under the Byzantine period we have the Roman layer, we have pottery. We have coins and the most important discovery was the very bottom of the dig, there was a wall and the remains of a bathhouse. Now bathhouse in the Roman period reflects the life of a town, of a city and not of a village, and therefore I think that now we have better proof that Al Araj could be better identification for Bethsaida the Julias, the town of the apostles."
- Embargoed: 22nd August 2017 15:02
- Keywords: Israel Archaeology Julias Jesus Apostles New Testament
- Location: AL ARAJ, NORTHERN SHORE OF SEA OF GALILEE, ISRAEL / UKNOWN LOCATION
- City: AL ARAJ, NORTHERN SHORE OF SEA OF GALILEE, ISRAEL / UKNOWN LOCATION
- Country: Israel
- Topics: Human Interest / Brights / Odd News,Religion/Belief,Society/Social Issues
- Reuters ID: LVA0016TAPD21
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Archeologists in Israel believe they have discovered the lost Roman city of Julias, previously known as Bethsaida, which according to Christian tradition was the home of three of Jesus' apostles - Peter, Andrew and Philip.
Several locations near the Sea of Galilee were possible candidates for Julias, but the recent discovery of an advanced Roman-style bathhouse at the multi-layered site of al-Araj excavated by Dr. Mordechai Aviam of Kinneret college, indicated that unlike the other locations, there had been a large city there and not merely a fishing village, he said.
This finding matched the report of Jewish historian Josephus Flavius, who wrote that the Jewish monarch King Philip Herod, son of Herod the Great, transformed the small fishing village of Bethsaida into a Roman polis, around 30 AD. He renamed it "Julias" in honour of Livia Drusilla known as Julia Augusta, the mother of the Roman Emperor Tiberius.
Aviam explained that the team found the remains of the bathhouse, as well as coins, in an older layer dating from the late Roman period (1st to 3rd centuries AD), below the Byzantine level.
He added that the team also found the remains of a mosaic, an indication for an elaborate church at the site - a discovery which could match an 8th century AD report of a church at Bethsaida that according to tradition was built over the house of Peter and Andrew. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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