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"BUT ABSALOM
FLED, AND WENT TO TALMAI, SON OF AMMIHUD,
KING OF GESHUR. DAVID MOURNED FOR HIS SON DAY AFTER DAY"
II SAMUEL 13:37
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It’s
well known that Bethsaida was the hometown of Peter
and Andrew who were called by Jesus to be fishers of
men. It’s also known that Jesus healed a blind
man
at Bethsaida. And that the disciples were rowing
en route to Bethsaida when a wind whipped up the sea
and Jesus came to them, appearing as a ghost, as he
walked on water. (Mark 6:48)
What’s not well-known is that one thousand years
earlier, David married the princess of Bethsaida, or
Gishur, as the city was called during the Israelite
period. Her name was Maacah, daughter of King
Talmai. The son of this royal marriage between
David and Maacah was Absalom. After Absalom
killed his half-brother Amnon, he fled to Gishur,
spending three years with grandma and grandpa,
before he dared return to Jerusalem. |
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Courtesy of Dr.
Jimmy Albright |
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Tel Bethsaida before the
excavation began |
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I first
visited Bethsaida, two miles north of the Sea of
Galilee, with Father Bargil Pixner of the
Benedictine order in 1991. He had been
exploring the site for 20 years already. At
that time Bethsaida was still heavily mined from the
Syrian occupation before the Six-Day-War. He
told us that his trick was to walk in the tracks of
the cows – they were heavier than he was. He
showed us Iron Age pottery which was scattered all
about. Father Pixner was perhaps the first to
associate Bethsaida with earlier Gishur,
When Rami Arav, an Israeli archeologist now teaching
at the University of Nebraska, began to dig at
Bethsaida in 1987, he hadn’t dreamed that he would
find the largest Iron Age gate complex in the entire
country. The city gate is well-preserved with
four chambers, complete with a cultic “high place.”
Massive steles (standing stones) stood at the gate
opening and one is decorated with a bull-faced
warrior. |
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Photo: Gila
Yudkin |
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Iron Gate city gate at Bethsaida |
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Photo: Gila
Yudkin |
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Bethsaida's city gate is the
largest Iron Age gate found in Israel |
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| Near an altar-shaped
stone they found lots of burnt barley. City
residents could have been using the barley as an
offering – or the guards could have making beer.
Perhaps that’s why the city gates were breached so
easily by the Assyrians from northern Iraq.
The guards could have been stone-drunk!
Now that the eighth century BC gate complex has
been revealed, the excavators are probing the
earlier Iron Age gateway, dated to the tenth and
ninth centuries BC. (The kingdom of David is
dated to the tenth century BC)
After excavating 13 years in the Negev, Dr. Jimmy
Albright from St. Joseph, |
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Missouri joined the dig at Bethsaida in the |
Courtesy of Dr.
Jimmy Albright |
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late 1990s. In his words, |
Carbonized wheat |
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“The Iron Age Gate is the place I feel most
connected to in Bethsaida -- with its stone
pavement access ramp, the guard towers and
fortress walls, the Baal altar at the front gate,
the gate entrance and the four guard rooms.
Because so much of my work over these years
focused on this specific area, my heart always
swells as I walk up the tel toward the gate, round
the corner, and there before me, see that
unbelievable spectacle of that gate, which we
certainly had no idea even existed when we started
excavating the Roman stratum above it.”
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Photo: Gila
Yudkin |
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Archeologist Jimmy Albright
sitting by an Iron Age guard tower |
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Bethsaida is one of my favorite sites, cause
it’s “raw” and authentic, not overly
reconstructed. I recommend that you
allow enough time for a thorough visit.
We’ll read of the feeding of the 5,000 and
the healing of the blind man. We can
talk about Peter who struggled with his own
sense of unworthiness and failings of faith
and courage. What better place than
Bethsaida, Peter's home town to dissect his
character and the nature of his relationship
with Jesus? |
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Photo:
Silvia Hess |
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Retelling the story of
David's rambunctious son Absalom |
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And then we’ll talk of Absalom who raised
his hand against his father and perhaps
consider David’s handling of his
rambunctious, ambitious and revengeful son.
If you come during the summer season, I’d be
happy to arrange a talk on site with Dr.
Albright, whose enthusiasm for New Testament
Bethsaida and Old Testament Gishur
is contagious. |
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Copyright 2008, 2009 Gila Yudkin. Permission
needed for any reuse. |
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Courtesy of
Dr. Jimmy Albright |
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Tel Bethsaida Roman
cooking pot found intact |
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Here's an unusual account of a visit to Tel
Bethsaida in the 1980's before the
excavation began,
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In '86 or '87, while touring with Dale
Nystrom [of IGM Tours], our bus got stuck
in the mud at Bethsaida for about 3 hours.
I decided rather than getting bummed out,
it was a blessing to be in the place from
which Jesus called his disciples for a few
extra hours -- so I went exploring,
marveling at my good fortune.
The tel looked interesting. So I
stepped over the low barbed wire fence and
headed off. I was stopped by one of
my fellow tourers telling me to STOP!
He was pointing to a little triangular
sign from the wire fence. "Landmines!" he
yelled.
Bummer. No cow tracks, so I slowly
found my own tracks in the wet winter
grass and retraced my steps.
Great trip. Great adventure.Jay
Baggett, Sacramento, California
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Photo: Gila
Yudkin |
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A well-preserved village road from the
time of Jesus, Bethsaida |
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Gila Yudkin,
who calls herself a Connecticut-born Yankee
living now in King David's court, has been
teaching the Bible on site for twenty-five
years. Most of all she enjoys sharing
her passion for adventure in the Holy Land
with like-minded pastors, teachers and
students of the Bible.
Although Bethsaida was discovered by
Connecticut Yankee (and
biblical geographer)
Edward
Robinson
in 1838, it hasn't yet been added to the
standard itinerary of the multitudes.
Contact Gila for tips about how
to include Bethsaida on your next
pilgrimage with her. |
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More Biblical Archeology: |
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Armageddon/Megiddo |
Model of Jesus' Jerusalem |
Jerusalem: Solomon's
digs |
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Gezer: Solomon's
dowry |
Abraham at Dan? |
Joshua burning Hazor |
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GILA
YUDKIN
•
TCHERNIKOVSKI
64A
•
JERUSALEM
•
ISRAEL
gila@itsgila.com
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