By TOI Staff - August 11, 2022
An inscription found at an excavation near the Sea of Galilee strengthens beliefs that the site was a church built over the home of Saint Peter and his brother Andrew, two of the first disciples of Jesus, archaeologists said.
Researchers believe the building is the lost Byzantine period Church of the Apostles located in the biblical village of Bethsaida.
Archeologists from the Kinneret Institute for Galilee Archeology at Kinneret College and Nyack College, led by Prof. Mordechai Aviam and Prof. Steven Notley, said Wednesday that the inscription in a mosaic floor uses a common term for Peter, strengthening their theory that they have correctly identified the location.
It begins with the donor’s name, “Constantinos the Servant of the Messiah,” and then uses a Byzantine phrase, the “Head and Leader of the Heavenly Messengers,” that refers to Peter, the first disciple of Jesus.
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