Bethsaida [key] [Heb.,=house of the fisher], in the Gospels, birthplace of Jesus' disciples Peter, Andrew, and Philip. Herod Philip (4 b.c.–a.d. 33) is said to have renamed it Julias after the daughter of Augustus, who died in 2 b.c. Some identify Bethsaida with the Julias just E of the Jordan and N of the Sea of Galilee (Lake Tiberius); others would place it on the eastern shore of the lake; still others suppose two Bethsaidas. Archaeologists began excavating the site on the eastern shore of the lake in 1995.
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