Discovered: Church of the Apostles Built Over Home of Jesus’ Disciples
Archaeologists say they have likely found the Church of the Apostles in ancient Bethsaida, which is believed to have been built over the home of Jesus’ disciples Peter and Andrew.
Kineret College archaeologist Dr. Mordechai Aviam has been leading the excavation on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee for years.
“Last year we discussed the possibility there was a church there because we have tesserae (small glass blocks) from a mosaic floor, and we have pieces of marble and roof tiles. We knew there was a church, but we didn’t have it—now we have it,” Dr. Aviam told CBN News.
Aviam’s team of archaeologists discovered the southern wall of the church and more well-preserved mosaic flooring.
“Now we can clearly say that we have the church in hand,” he explained.
For years, archaeologists searched for the Church of the Apostles and the ancient Jewish fishing village of Bethsaida, which later became the Roman city of Julias.
“Now what is the city of Julias? We were talking about Bethsaida!” Aviam told CBN News in 2017. “Josephus Flavius, the Jewish historian in the first century, tells us that King Phillip, the son of Herod the Great, who ruled from there to the Golan, toward Damascus—ruled this area—decided to upgrade the village of Bethsaida and to make it a polis [city], by the name of Julias, after the daughter of Emperor Augustus.”
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