In Arabic and Hebrew the site is now known as Beit Jimal - the monastery is sometimes referenced as Beit Gemal or Beit Jimal. The name of the site is said to be from its original name (in years past) as the Jewish village of Kfar Gamla (כפר גמלא‎), meaning Village of the Camel or Village of the Recompense, and purportedly so named for Gamaliel, president of the ancient Jewish legislative body, the Sanhedrin. The Christian tradition believes that Gamaliel was buried here, as was Saint Stephen, the first Christian martyr, and Nicodemus. In 415 their remains were disclosed in a dream and discovered by the priest Lucian, and removed at the orders of John, Bishop of Jerusalem, for depositing in the Church of Hagia Sion on Mount Zion, at the site of today's Abbey of the Dormition. Thanks to the excavations carried out by Andrzej Strus on site, it is now largely accepted that in Byzantine times this was considered to be the burial site of St Stephen, Gamaliel, Nicodemus and Gamaliel's son Abibos.