A wildfire along the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee in late July endangered bathers, shut down Highway 87 in both directions, and as the lakeside vegetation burned to a crisp, unveiled the missing town of Bethsaida.It sounds like no one was injured by this fire, which is good.It isn't that the ancient homes had been covered with foliage, only to be suddenly revealed as 2,000-year-old stone walls when the flames engulfed them. The village from the time of Jesus was – and remains – buried in the sands of time, and now ash as well.
But bared by the conflagration that consumed the Betiha Nature Reserve, small mounds are now exposed, scattered all over the archaeological site of el-Araj, sprawling over hundreds of meters.
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I have been following the debate over the original site of New Testament Bethsaida for some years. The other contender is nearby et-Tell/e-Tel. So far, the evidence seems to me to be weighing in favor of el-Araj. But I am not an archaeologist, and I haven't seen a defense recently from the et-Tell proponents. For past posts on the two sites and the debate, start here and follow the links.
Once again, a fire spared church ruins. The current article attributes the el-Araj fire to careless cigarette disposal. It's worth noting that wildfires are not always caused by deliberate arson. As I've said before, I don't know what caused the Tabyeh fire. I haven't seen any updates on the question.
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