 It has also been suggested, based on the names found carved on thousands of ossuaries at the site, that Bethany in the time of Jesus was settled by people from Galilee who had come to live by Jerusalem.This would explain why Jesus and the disciples, as Galileans, would find it convenient to stay here when visiting Jerusalem.As Capper writes,
Galilean pilgrims avoided potential conflict with Samaritans by travelling south on the eastern side of the Jordan.