By Agencies
Archaeologists have found yet another piece of biblical history in Israel. This time, researchers uncovered the entrance gate to an ancient city. Known as Zer in the Old Testament and Bethsaida in the New Testament, the ruins in the Golan Heights were discovered by a team of 20 archaeologists working with Hebrew Union College.
According to the Jerusalem Post, the director of the Bethsaida Project and head of the archaeological discovery team, the unearthing of the gate is evidence that the Bethsaida region was correctly identified.
“There are not many gates in this country from this period. Bethsaida was the name of the city during the Second Temple period, but during the First Temple period it was the city of Zer.”
The city of Zer is mentioned in Joshua 19:35 as the home of the people of Naphtali, one of the 12 tribes of Israel. Among the other fortified cities mentioned in the verse are Ziddim, Hammath, Rakkath and Chinnereth.
In the New Testament, however, Zer takes on even greater importance. Called Bethsaida in Jesus’ lifetime, the city is where Andrew, Peter and Philip were born and raised and was the location where Jesus used His saliva to heal a blind man.
Bethsaida has been an important pilgrimage location for many years due to its association with one of Jesus’ best known miracles.
It was at Bethsaida that Jesus fed the 5,000. As such, Christian pilgrims arrive at Bethsaida in droves every year.
Avi Lieberman, the director of the park where Bethsaida is located, hopes that this latest discovery will only continue to increase the number of tourists that visit the site of Jesus’ miracle.
“The staff at the Jordan Park and the Golan Tourism are happy for the tens of thousands of visitors who visit the park every day,” Lieberman said. “The wonderful park is also an impressive archaeological site. I amazed each time by the arrival of thousands of evangelical visitors to Bethsaida. I am confident that the latest discoveries will bring more visitors to the park from around the world and from Israel.”
How the uncovered gate will effect tourism remains to be seen, but it is an exciting find nonetheless for Christians globally.
