Image Details

A Roman-style temple graced Bethsaida in the first century C.E. At that time, Bethsaida played a key role in Jesus’ Galilean ministry but only a minor one in Roman history, serving as a backwoods city on the empire’s periphery. It enjoyed an increase in status, however, when Philip, son of Herod the Great, christened Bethsaida a city in 30 C.E., renaming it Julias in honor of Julia-Livia, wife of Emperor Augustus and mother of Emperor Tiberius. This temple may have been erected as part of the renaming ceremony. Figurines and coins discovered near the temple may also have been used in the same event. Curiously, the temple’s stones were strikingly similar to those unearthed in the fifth-century C.E. synagogue at nearby Chorazin; the authors speculate that stones from Bethsaida’s temple were re-used in Chorazin’s synagogue, a mere 3 miles away.