Bethsaida

This paper explores the competitive relationship between the three surviving sons after the death of Herod: Archelaus, Antipas, and Philip. The rivalry between Philip and Antipas has attracted some discussion in recent literature, but the more significant rivalry seems to have been between Archelaus and Antipas, or perhaps—as we shall see—between Antipas and any rival; first Archelaus, then Philip, and later Agrippa I.

Published in the most exhaustive treatment of Johannine-narrative character studies to date: Character Studies in the Fourth Gospel, WUNT I 314, edited by Steven A. Hunt, D. François Tolmie and Ruben Zimmermann (Tübingen: Mohr/Siebeck, 2013), 162-82.

An extract from a larger paper presented to the Bethsaida session at the 2013 SBL International Meeting in St Andrews, Scotland. This report covers the 139 coins from the Bethsaida Excavations during the period 2001 to 2012. The report includes key identification details (IAA reference, basket numbers, etc) as well as detailed descriptions of the coins, where an identification is possible. There are no photographs of the coins in this version of the report, but these will be added at a future date. This extract is the version that will be updated from time to time as new information becomes available. Updates so far have been made on these dates: 29 & 30 July 2013; 26 December 2013.

Everyone loves a good mystery! In the world of biblical archaeology there are many mysteries to solve, one being the location of the town of Bethsaida. Lost to history centuries ago, two sites are currently the leading candidates as the true location of this biblical town. This article will explore the evidence for the two leading candidates, et-Tell and el-Araj, to determine which site is the likely location.

On May 25, 2011 a small bronze coin was recovered at et-Tell (Bethsaida) in Area A West, locus 2222. The coin was assigned the basket number, B23284. At the time of writing, the coin has not been cleaned or weighed, and its precise composition has not been determined. Nor has a formal identification yet been completed by the Israel Antiquities Authority. However, it is possible to identify the coin and offer a preliminary interpretation of its significance.

This paper was presented to the Bethsaida session of the 2013 SBL International Meeting at St Andrew's, Scotland. It completes the initial publication process for the 139 coins from the Bethsaida Excavations during the period 2001 to 2012. The report includes key identification details (IAA reference, basket numbers, etc) as well as detailed descriptions of the coins, where an identification is possible. There are no photographs of the coins in this version of the report, but these will be added at a future date. Updated versions of the paper were posted on 29 & 30 July 2013 and again on 26 December 2013, reflecting additional information about some locus numbers, grid locations, and the area of discovery that were missing from the earlier version of the paper. An extract with just the coin descriptions is also available on this site, and that is the version that will be updated from time to time as new information becomes available.

Text and Keynote™ visuals for a presentation to the SFC Research Seminar, St Francis Theological College, Brisbane on Thursday, 12 March 2015. The presentation draws on recent research into the Islamic coins from Bethsaida to highlight selected points where the coins from Bethsaida Archaeology Project (1988–2014) contribute to our understanding of the regional dynamics in Antiquity, in the Medieval period and in the Early Modern period (1700–1918).

Presentation to the Bethsaida Excavations Project session, SBL International Conference, Buenos Aires, July 2015. This report covers the 60 coins from the Medieval period (500–1700 CE) found at Bethsaida between 1987 and 2014, 50 of which are Islamic coins.

The Pharisee Yoḥanan b. Zakkai (aka Ribaz) was present in Galilee for the first eighteen years of his career, in the city of 'Arav, which is about twenty miles from Bethsaida. His time in Galilee overlaps the years traditionally ascribed to the historical Jesus. Ribaz's career in the Galilee is ridiculously truncated by many to three decisions recorded in Shabbat 16:7. From passages vetted by Jacob Neusner, much about Ribaz can be surmised. 1) He was consistently concerned with capital punishment. 2) He defeated opponents with artifice and calculation. 3) On several occasions Ribaz employed Talmudic reasoning to extend the parameters of punishment for sexual transgression. 4) In an especially significant passage, Ribaz is recorded as explaining a double execution to a prince significantly misnamed as "Antigonus the Hegemon", who is probably Philip the Tetrarch, whose territory included Bethsaida. 4) Ribaz explains the demand to destroy everything and every person connected with the sexual transgression of "high places." 5) He also explains the execution of a woman and the "cow" she approached for sex.
As noted, the official record of Yoḥanan b. Zakkai’s tenure in the Galilee is curiously truncated, and often reduced to three Shabbat provisions regarding covering threats with a dish. Using Talmudic reasoning, it is possible to extrapolate an overarching doctrine of how the Torah may be applied to a virtually unlimited range of transgressions and crimes. The only concept specifically attributed to Ribaz in Shabbat 16:7 regards the inevitability of transgression in law enforcement, and because of the curious phrasing of the passage, the case Ribaz commented on may have been his own.
Despite their disjointed appearance in Talmud, all the elements of Yoḥanan b. Zakkai's attempted prosecution of gay and lesbian gentiles before Philip the Tetrarch are present. Rabbi Yoḥanan justifies a double execution to Philip the Tetrarch (who had jurisdiction over Bethsaida), with the tetrarch’s Talmudic misidentification as "Antigonus the Hegemon". He also justifies the execution of a woman and the "cow" she approached for sex, which supports the prosecution case argued before Philip. Ribaz’s lifelong concern with capital crime is congruent with this case. His use of Talmudic reasoning to explain the grounds for extending Torah to additional varieties of sexual transgression is relevant to such a prosecution. Among these extensions is the justification for destroying everything and every person connected with the sexual transgression. Yohanan’s record of deception is congruent with the standard use of entrapment by law enforcement.

The complete list of coins recovered during the 2014 season of the Bethsaida Excavation Project, with detailed descriptions and photographs. As with the major report for the period 2001-2012 published in the John T. Greens Festschrift (see link below), this report was prepared in collaboration with and under the supervision of Donald T. Ariel, Head of the Coin Department, Israel Antiquities Authority. The contributions of Ariel Berman, David Jacobson, and Peter Lewis are gratefully acknowledged.

The authors present the results of four years of investigation (2016-2019) in their search for Bethsaida-Julias. They bring historical, geographical, and archaeological evidence to argue that Khirbet el-Araj should be considered the leading candidate for the New Testament home of the Apostles. Unlike the remote location of the alternate candidate at et-Tell, their excavations at el-Araj have demonstrated a significant Roman period settlement on the lakeshore of the Sea of Galilee, a much more likely location for a fishing village. In addition, their discovery in 2017 of a Roman bathhouse at el-Araj is characteristic of Herod Philip's urbanization of the village of Bethsaida, which Josephus reports was transformed from a village into the polis of Julias. After the Roman period, the site was abandoned for two centuries (4th-5th cent. ce), and then resettled with a monastery and Byzantine basilica, reportedly built over the house of Peter and Andrew.

Brief descriptions of the 29 coins recovered from the Bethsaida Archaeology Project during the 2013 season, along with the formal identification and description of two Islamic coins from 2013 not available at the time of the previous report. Unless otherwise indicated, the descriptions are based on formal identifications by Donald T. Ariel from the coin department of the Israel Antiquities Authority. Descriptions of the Islamic coins are based on formal identifications by Ariel Berman. [Revised: 7 Feb 2015]

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Abstract: The kingdom of Geshur narrowly appears in the Hebrew Bible, occurring only in relation to stories of David in 2 Samuel and in the descriptions of the Transjordanian border in Deuteronomy and Joshua. In a recent study, Assaf Kleiman and I reevaluated the archaeological remains from key sites in the basin of the Sea of Galilee and, accordingly,
we were able to reaffirm the identification of Geshur with et-Tell. Moreover, our archaeological and historical discussion demonstrated that if Geshur is to be identified with a polity related to et-Tell, then its commencement should be dated to the late 9th century BCE. This conclusion has an important implication for the construction of the
political history of Geshur and consequently for understanding how it was memorized in biblical literature. In the following article I shall briefly summarize the archaeological and historical discussion regarding the historicity of the kingdom of Geshur as a point of departure for examining how the memory of this political entity was shaped and reshaped in biblical literature. It will be demonstrated that even when its earliest
memory is rooted in the Iron Age geo-political reality, by the Persian Period this kingdom was mainly remembered for being a “foreign” entity within Israel.

Full citation: Sergi, O. 2019. The Memory of the Kingdom of Geshur in Biblical Literature. In: Berlejung, A. and Maeir, A. eds. Research on Israel and Aram: Autonomy, Independence and Related Issue, Proceedings of the First Annual RIAB Center Conference, Leipzig, June 2016 (RIAB 1). Mohr Siebeck: Tübingen: 315–330.

Brief descriptions of the 29 coins recovered from the Bethsaida Archaeology Project during the 2013 season, along with the formal identification and description of two Islamic coins from 2013 not available at the time of the previous report. Unless otherwise indicated, the descriptions are based on formal identifications by Donald T. Ariel from the coin department of the Israel Antiquities Authority. Descriptions of the Islamic coins are based on formal identifications by Ariel Berman. [Revised: 7 Feb 2015]