In January of 2020, The Robert C. Cooley Center for the Study of Early Christianity hosted the “Gospel in the Land” lecture series.  In the first lecture entitled “Finding the Lost City of the Apostles,” Dr. Notley discussed the excavation of El-Araj, offering it as an alternative location for Bethsaida.

In a recent interview with The Bible Archaeology Society, Dr. Notley and his colleague, Dr. Mordechai Aviam, shed additional light on why they believe El-Araj is the best candidate for the Biblical Bethsaida. We invite you to read the interview to learn more about the findings of the first four seasons of their excavation project.

We also encourage you to watch a related Cooley Lecture entitled “Household Archaeology: My Career Lies in Ruins” (2019). All Cooley Lectures are available online.