A team of world-regions and American archaeologists say they’re digging deeper into the past of a historic religion basilica, in today’s northern Israel, offering theories as to how its structure changed over the years.
Known as the Church of the Apostles, the basilica was noted by a Bavarian bishop who, in 724 A.D., placed it in the biblical city of Bethsaida. In the New Testament, Bethsaida is where Jesus performed miracles and the birthplace for several apostles. Apostles Peter and Andrew, according to Bishop Willibald’s account, lived in a residence on top of which the church was built.
Inscription from the Byzantine Church of the Apostles that mentions the renovation of the church and an unnamed bishop. Photo Credit: R. Steven Notley.
Aerial shot of el Araj excavations at the end of the 2021 season. Photo credit: Achiya Cohn Tavor.
Last week, a team of Israeli and American archaeologists revealed additional pieces of the church’s mosaics – purportedly uncovered for the first time in 1,500 years.
Mosaics from the Byzantine apse. Photo credit: R. Steven Notley.
“We identified a large apse in the east and uncovered two inscriptions,” said Prof. Mordechai Aviam of Kinneret College. “Only a small section of the first one survived, which mentions a deacon and a building project. The larger second one is a half medallion which mentions the bishop and the reconstruction of the building.”
CHURCH OF THE APOSTLES DISCOVERED NEAR SEA OF GALILEE, ARCHAEOLOGISTS SAY
Byzantine mosaics with vine and leaf design, likely part of the reconstruction of the church floor. Photo credit: R. Steven Notley.
Aviam and Professor Steven Notley of Nyack College are leading the project, known as the El Araj Excavation Project. The endeavor is sponsored by both the Museum of the Bible and the Center for the Study of Ancient Judaism and Christian Origins.
Archaeologists said in 2019 they found the church near the Sea of Galilee, where Bishop Willibald traveled during the eighth century.
Basalt Corinthian capital in secondary use on top of basalt column piece from the Byzantine Church of the Apostles. Photo Credit: R. Steven Notley.
According to a press release, excavators found that the outer walls of the church were preserved but were unable to locate an entrance.
“It is possible that directly on the same walls of the church, a sugar factory was erected in the Middle Ages,” the release said.
Byzantine-styles braid mosaic that serves as a border on the floor of the nave in the Church of the Apostles. Photo Credit: R. Steven Notley.
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“Its builders had no interest in the mosaics they discovered when they laid the foundations, and so the interior area was filled with dirt containing many fragments of sugar vessels, inadvertently burying the entire church.”
“It is also possible that the remains of the church were intentionally enclosed by a wall after it was destroyed in the earthquake. It was cleaned and renewed in such a way that the church was preserved and commemorated, even though there was no Christian community nearby, and no one came there to visit the holy place and pray.”