A wall from Peter's house at Bethsaida? Maybe.

ANCIENT ARCHITECTURE: Archaeologists May Have Found Traditional Home of Jesus' Apostles by the Sea of Galilee. Below an early church in the village they think was Bethsaida, archaeologists uncovered a ‘sacred wall’ – that couldn’t have been from Peter the Apostle’s house. However, the one next to it could have been (Ruth Schuster, Haaretz).

By the Sea of Galilee, smack beneath the apse of a Byzantine-period basilica in what may be the lost village of Bethsaida, archaeologists have found remnants of a wall that predates the church. The builders of the ancient church may have believed that the wall, which they seem to have venerated and carefully ensconced below the apse of their edifice, belonged to the home of Jesus' apostles: Peter and Andrew.

It can't have, though. That wall is from the second or third century, aver the researchers directing the excavation at el-Araj, Prof. Mordechai Aviam of the Kinneret Academic College and Prof. R. Steven Notley of Kinneret Academic College and Yeshiva University.

But perpendicular to it, in a lower archaeological layer also beneath the apse floor, was another wall. This remnant actually is from the first century – the time of Jesus and his apostles. Whether it was actually part of Peter’s home we cannot know, but it’s from the right time.

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This is a big development.

There are two main contenders for the site of the city of Bethsaida in the time of Jesus. This one, el-Araj, is one. The other is et-Tell/e-Tell. Discoveries at el-Araj in the last couple of years have persuaded me that the weight of evidence is in favor of it. (Disclaimer: I am not an archaeologist.) For background and discussion, see here and here and links. I have been following this debate for years. If you are interested, just keep following those links.

The state of the question up to now is that this fifth-century church had a dedication to the Apostle Peter (mentioned by title but not by name), which seems to clinch its identification as the Church of the Apostles. This means that in the fifth century the site was identified with Bethsaida.

Now, below the church, archaeologists have excavated carefully preserved (venerated?) remains of a second/third century wall, which is in turn built over remnants of a wall dating to the first century CE. That implies, but does not prove, that this identification is very early and is likely correct.

This is not yet a first-century "Welcome to Bethsaida" sign. But it tips the weight of evidence further in the direction of el-Araj being Jesus' Bethsaida.

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