“Tsoka iwe, Betsaida!” Yesu anadzudzula m’ndime ina ya m’Chipangano Chatsopano, akudandaula kuti anthu okhala mumzinda wa m’Baibulo umenewu sanavomereze uthenga wake pambuyo pa zozizwitsa zimene anaona. M’tauni imeneyi ya ku Galileya yotchulidwa kangapo m’Mauthenga Abwino, amakhulupirira kuti mtumwi Simoni Petro ndi mbale wake Andireya anabadwa ndi kuti kuchulukitsa kwa mikate ndi nsomba kunachitika chapafupi. Flavius Josephus akuwuza mu 'Jewish Antiquities' (18:28) kuti mudzi wa asodzi wodzichepetsa unakhala mzinda wawung'ono waku Roma wotchedwa Julias, womwe udalipo mpaka zaka za zana la XNUMX AD. madzi a Nyanja ya Galileya. Masiku ano malo angapo akuyenda ngati olowa m'malo mwake. Chimodzi mwa izo ndi kukhazikika kwa El Araj, pakati pa Kapernao ndi Kursi, ku Golan Heights. Zotsalira za nyumba zachiroma ndi zachiyuda zapezeka kumeneko, komanso zotsalira za tchalitchi cha Byzantine, chomwe amakhulupirira kuti ndi Mpingo wa Atumwi, womangidwa motsatira mwambo wachikhristu pa nyumba ya San Pedro ndi San Andrés. Zolemba za m’Chigiriki zimene zapezedwa m’mabwinja aposachedwa kwambiri zafika pofuna kutsimikizira mfundo imeneyi.
Akatswiri ofukula zinthu zakale ochokera ku Koleji ya Kinneret ku Israel ndi Nyack College ku New York, motsogozedwa ndi maprofesa Mordechai Aviam ndi Steven Notley, omwe anali ndi zithunzi mu dikoni (sacristy) ya kachisi, yokhala ndi maluwa komanso zolemba zojambulidwa mu medallion yozungulira yopangidwa ndi reverse of black tesserae. Malinga ndi kumasulira kwa mapulofesa Leah Di Segni (Yunivesite ya Chihebri) ndi Jacob Ashkenazi (Kinneret College), amatanthauza wopereka, "Constantine, mtumiki wa Khristu", ndipo ali ndi pempho la kupembedzera kwa Saint Peter, "mkulu ndi wolamulira." wa atumwi akumwamba.
Olemba achikhristu a ku Byzantine ankagwiritsa ntchito dzina lakuti "mkulu ndi mkulu wa atumwi" ponena za Petro Woyera, El Araj Excavation Project, yomwe imathandizidwa ndi Center for the Study of Ancient Judaism and Origins, adatero m'mawu ake. (CSAJCO), Museum of the Bible, Lanier Theological Library Foundation ndi HaDavar Yeshiva (HK).
Mwinamwake wodzipereka kwa Petro Woyera
"Kupeza uku ndi chizindikiro chatsopano koma kuti Pedro anali ndi mayanjano apadera ndi tchalitchicho, ndipo mwina adadzipereka kwa iye. Popeza mwambo wachikristu wa ku Byzantine unkazindikiritsa nyumba ya Petro kukhala Betsaida, osati Kapernao, monga momwe anthu ambiri amaganizira masiku ano, tchalitchicho chiyenera kuti chinali chikumbutso cha kwawo,” anatero Steven Notley, mkulu wa maphunziro a kafukufukuyu.
Kupezekaku kumathandiziranso kuzindikirika kwa tchalitchicho ndi Tchalitchi cha Atumwi chomwe Bishopu Willibald waku Eichstätt adafotokoza m'zaka za zana lachisanu ndi chitatu, paulendo wake wopita ku Dziko Lopatulika. Paulendo wake wochokera ku Kapernao kupita ku Kurisi, anagona pamalo amene, mogwirizana ndi zimene anauzidwa, “ndi Betsaida kuchokera kumene Pedro ndi Andrés anamaliza. Tsopano pali tchalitchi kumene nyumba yake inali.
Mordechai Aviam, wotsogolera ofukula zakale wa ntchitoyo, ananena kuti "chimodzi mwa zolinga za pofukula uku chinali kutsimikizira ngati tili ndi gawo la zaka za zana loyamba pa malowa" ndipo akwaniritsa. "Sikuti timangopeza zotsalira zazikulu kuyambira nthawi ino, komanso tchalitchi chofunikira ichi ndi nyumba ya amonke yozungulira."
Pamodzi, izi zidzatsimikizira kulimbikitsa chizindikiritso cha El Araj/Beit haBek ndi mudzi wakale wachiyuda wa Betsaida.
