2007 Bethsaida Field Report

Thirty two loci were excavated in 2007 in areas A. They are located at the courtyard, the paved road to the city and probes in chamber 3. Area A-West, was designated as a separate area. It is located west of the city gate and includes the plaza and the immediate areas near the gate. Area C was excavated for only 8 days and revealed further segments of the Hellenistic Roman residential quarter. All these areas yielded rich finds and enhanced our understanding of the site

2004 Bethsaida Field Report

The excavations this season concentrated in two main areas, the gate – Area A and the Hellenistic Roman residential section, area C. A total of 23 loci were excavated in Area A and 3 in area C. Since the first excavations season, the excavation system of Bethsaida suggests replacing locus numbers as soon as changes in the terrain are noticed this in order to reduce the possibility of getting pottery mixed from more than one deposit. Some of the loci will consolidate in the process of the final report

2005 Bethsaida Field Report

The 2005 excavation season was concentrated in three main areas, two locations in Area A, and one in Area C. The purpose of the excavations in Area A was to obtain further data on the Roman and Hellenistic levels south of the Roman temple. For this report, this area is called Area A West. This area surrounding the Roman temple is important in understanding the temple. The temple has been excavated in the previous seasons and it is identified with the Roman Imperial cult, built by Philip, the son of Herod, in the year 30 CE. Chamber 2 at the Inner City Gate was excavated in order to reveal the nature of Stratum 6 in this area. The third excavated place this season was the road leading to the outer city gate. This area yielded more segments of the paved road leading to the city. Area C contains Roman and Hellenistic remains of a residential quarter. So far, a few buildings and two intersecting paved lanes have been discovered. The purpose of the excavation in this place was to obtain more data on the Hellenistic and early Roman private homes

2008 Bethsaida Field Report

Four areas were excavated during this season at Bethsaida. Area A West, east of the city gate, Area A city gate, Area A plaza and Area C. This area includes remains of early Roman residential area adjacent to the temple and some fragmentary walls dating from the Middle Ages

2005 Bethsaida Field Report

The 2005 excavation season was concentrated in three main areas, two locations in Area A, and one in Area C. The purpose of the excavations in Area A was to obtain further data on the Roman and Hellenistic levels south of the Roman temple. For this report, this area is called Area A West. This area surrounding the Roman temple is important in understanding the temple. The temple has been excavated in the previous seasons and it is identified with the Roman Imperial cult, built by Philip, the son of Herod, in the year 30 CE. Chamber 2 at the Inner City Gate was excavated in order to reveal the nature of Stratum 6 in this area. The third excavated place this season was the road leading to the outer city gate. This area yielded more segments of the paved road leading to the city. Area C contains Roman and Hellenistic remains of a residential quarter. So far, a few buildings and two intersecting paved lanes have been discovered. The purpose of the excavation in this place was to obtain more data on the Hellenistic and early Roman private homes

2010 Bethsaida Field Report

The excavation season of 2010 consisted of two sessions of two weeks each with an extended week at the end of the second session. Altogether the excavation extended from May 23 until June 25. Ninety-seven students and faculty members participated in the dig. As usual the expedition was housed in Kibbutz Ginosar. We are very grateful for the extraordinary hospitality that has been consistently shown to the expedition since 1994

2011 Bethsaida Field Report

The excavation season of 2011 consisted of two sessions of two weeks each in the month of June and an early bird week in the end of May. As usual the expedition was housed in Kibbutz Ginosar. We are very grateful for the extraordinary hospitality that has been consistently shown to the expedition since 1994

2003 Bethsaida Field Report

The purpose of this season was to clarify and retrieve more information on several issues that were unsolved during past seasons and were needed for completing the final report on Stratum 5 for Bethsaida volume IV. This season of excavation took place only in Area A (the city gate area)

2018 Bethsaida Field Report

THE EXPEDITION A two weeks session of excavations was conducted from June 25th to July 4th , 2018. Since the expedition was arranged late in time, the group of excavators was limited to 16 participants. The team included the architects Kenneth Bensimon from Washington State, Nic Birt from New Zealand, co-director and area supervisor Dr. Carl Savage, Drew University, Dr. Stefania Peluso Greco-Roman pottery expert, Haifa University, photographer Hanan Shafir, co-director Dr. Jerome Hall, University of San Diego, and director Prof. Rami Arav, University of Nebraska at Omaha and the Hebrew Union College Jerusalem. This year the expedition was lodged at the guesthouse of Kibbutz Gadot. The team wish to thank the hosts for the nice, cordial and efficient hospitality. This season was conducted under the sponsorship of the Hebrew Union College, Jerusalem. We wish to thank Dr. David Ilan, the director of the Nelson Glueck School of Biblical Archaeology at the Jerusalem campus of the Hebrew Union College, for his efforts to sponsoring the excavation. Special thanks for Koret Foundation of San Francisco and Justice Abraham David Sofaer for the generous support to the success of this excavation season. Bethsaida Excavation Project, Field Repor