Sea of Galilee
Antiquity
The Sea of Galilee lies on the ancient Via Maris, which linked Egypt with the northern empires. The Greeks, Hasmoneans, and Romans founded flourishing towns and settlements on the land-locked lake including Gadara, Hippos and Tiberias. The first-century historian Flavius Josephus was so impressed by the area that he wrote, "One may call this place the ambition of Nature." Josephus also reported a thriving fishing industry at this time, with 230 boats regularly working in the lake.
Much of the ministry of Jesus occurred on the shores of Lake Galilee. In those days, there was a continuous ribbon development of settlements and villages around the lake and plenty of trade and ferrying by boat. The Synoptic gospels of Mark (1:14-20), Matthew (4:18-22), and Luke (5:1-11) describe how Jesus recruited four of his apostles from the shores of Lake Galilee: the fishermen Simon and his brother Andrew and the brothers John and James. One of Jesus' famous teaching episodes, the Sermon on the Mount, is supposed to have been given on a hill overlooking the lake. Many of his miracles are also said to have occurred here including his walking on water, calming the storm, the disciples and the boatload of fish, and his feeding five thousand people (in Tabgha).
In 135 CE the second Jewish revolt against the Romans was put down. The Romans responded by banning all Jews from Jerusalem. The center of Jewish culture and learning shifted to the region of the Kinneret, particularly the city of Tiberias. It was in this region that the so-called "Jerusalem Talmud" is thought to have been compiled.
In the time of the Byzantine Empire, the lake's significance in Jesus' life made it a major destination for Christian pilgrims. This led to the growth of a full-fledged tourist industry, complete with package tours and plenty of comfortable inns.
The lake's importance declined when the Byzantines lost control and the area came under the control of the Umayyad Caliphate and subsequent Islamic empires. Apart from Tiberias, the major towns and cities in the area were gradually abandoned. The palace Khirbat al-Minya was built by the lake during the reign of the Umayyad caliph al-Walid I (705-715 CE). In 1187, Saladin defeated the armies of the Crusades at the Battle of Hattin, largely because he was able to cut the Crusaders off from the valuable fresh water of the Sea of Galilee.
Modern era
In 1909, Jewish pioneers established the first cooperative farming village (kibbutz), Kvutzat Kinneret. The settlement trained Jewish immigrants in farming and agriculture. Later, Kinneret pioneers established Kibbutz Degania Alef. The Kinneret is considered the cradle of the kibbutz culture of early Zionism and the birthplace of Naomi Shemer and the burial site of Rachel - two of the most prominent Israeli poets.
In 1917, the British defeated Ottoman Turkish forces and took control of Palestine, while France took control of Syria. In the carve-up of the Ottoman territories between Britain and France, it was agreed that Britain would retain control of Palestine, while France would control Syria. However, the allies had to fix the border between the British Mandate for Palestine and the French Mandate of Syria. The boundary was defined in broad terms by the Franco-British Boundary Agreement of December 1920, which drew it across the middle of the lake. However, the commission established by the 1920 treaty redrew the boundary. The Zionist movement pressured the French and British to assign as many water sources as possible to Palestine during the demarcating negotiations. The High Commissioner of Palestine, Herbert Samuel, had sought full control of the Sea of Galilee. The negotiations led to the inclusion into the Palestine territory of the whole Sea of Galilee, both sides of the Jordan river, Lake Hula, Dan spring, and part of the Yarmouk. The final border approved in 1923 followed a 10-meter wide strip along the lake's northeastern shore, cutting Syria off from the lake.
The British and French Agreement provided that existing rights over the use of the waters of the Jordan by the inhabitants of Syria would be maintained; the Government of Syria would have the right to erect a new pier at Semakh on Lake Tiberias or jointly use the existing pier; persons or goods passing between the landing-stage on the Lake of Tiberias and Semakh would not be subject to customs regulations, and the Syrian government would have access to the said landing-stage; the inhabitants of Syria and Lebanon would have the same fishing and navigation rights on Lakes Huleh, Tiberias and River Jordan while the Government of Palestine would be responsible for policing of lakes.
On May 15, 1948, Syria invaded the State of Israel, capturing some Israeli kibbutzim near the Sea of Galilee. By the end of the war, Israel had recaptured the eastern shore.
Sea of Galilee Boat (Jesus Boat)
In the Galilee seaside village of Kibbutz Ginosar, an historic archaeological discovery was made on January 24th, 1986. The discovery rocked the worlds of faith, history and archaeology.
Following a prolonged drought that lowered the Galilee's sea level, two fisherman brothers, Yuval and Moshe Lufan, discovered an ancient boat. At the same time a brilliant double rainbow crowned the skies over the Galilee. Extremely rare, many thought these rainbows and other simultaneous unexplainable events were signs from God, hailing the discovery of this ancient boat. Were these events just a coincidence - or were they actual signs from God?
To prevent looting or other inadvertent damage, the Lufan brothers, kibbutz members, famous marine archaeologist Dr. Kurt Raveh, Texas A&M University biblical archaeology professor Dr. Shelley Wachsmann and renowned Galilee scholar Mendel Nun sought to keep the find secret until it could be properly excavated. Despite their best efforts, news of the boat spread like wildfire throughout the region. Much of the news was based on rumor rather than factual information. Because of this, most of those who heard about the boat were more interested than they would have been with a typical archaeological find.
In Israel, a land blessed with a rich history and hundreds of thousands of artifacts, important discoveries happen on a fairly regular basis. This discovery, though, was different; there must have been something more to the story. Experts were brought in to establish the boat's authenticity and exact age using scientific methods, including three independent precision Carbon-14 dating examinations. Dr. Wachsmann, Dr. Raveh, Dr. Orna Cohen (an archaeologist and a world specialist in artifact restoration, and in charge of the Jesus boat restoration and preservation), and many others played key roles in the boat's complex and dangerous rescue over an intense and perilous eleven-day rescue period.
Word of this unprecedented discovery traveled far and fast throughout the scientific community and to people of faith around the world. What had been found was a Bible-era artifact like no other. Some consider it to be among the top ten biblical archaeological discoveries ever found. The Jesus Boat is a one-of-a-kind actual touch-point back to the exact time and place of Jesus!
Mount of Beatitudes
The so-called "Sermon on the Mount" is recorded in Matthew 5-7 and Luke 6. The alleged discrepancy between Matthew's version being on a hill and Luke's being on a level place is easily reconciled with observation of many level places on the Galilean hillsides. Scripture gives no indication of the exact location of this event, but the Byzantines built a church to commemorate it at the bottom of the hill. Some of Napoleon's men placed it on the nearby Arbel mountain.
The suggestion of this hill for the location of the Sermon on the Mount is a good one. Once known as Mt. Eremos, this hill is located between Capernaum and Tabgha and is just above the "Cove of the Sower." This spacious hillside provides much room for crowds to gather, as evidenced by preparation for 100,000 Catholics to observe mass nearby with the Pope's visit in March 2000 (it rained and fewer came, but the space was available).
Chapel
The mountain is topped by a Catholic chapel built in 1939 by the Franciscan Sisters with the support of the Italian ruler Mussolini. The building which was constructed by the noted architect Antonio Barluzzi is full of numerical symbolism. In front of the church, the symbols on the pavement represent Justice, Prudence, Fortitude, Charity, Faith and Temperance. Inside the church hangs the cloak from Pope Paul VI's visit in 1964.
The Beatitudes
"Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake" (Matt 5:3-11 KJV).
Tabgha
Tabgha is an area situated on the north-western shore of the Sea of Galilee. It is the traditional site of the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes (Mark 6:30-46) and the fourth resurrection appearance of Jesus (John 21:1-24) in Christianity.
According to the Gospels, when Jesus heard that John the Baptist had been killed, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place near Bethsaida.
The crowds followed Jesus on foot from the towns. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick. As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, "This is a remote place, and it's already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food."
Jesus replied, "They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat."
"We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish," they answered.
"Bring them here to me," he said.
Jesus directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.
Cana
In Christianity, the transformation of water into wine at the Marriage at Cana or Wedding at Cana is the first miracle of Jesus in the Gospel of John. John 2:1-11 states that while Jesus was attending a wedding in Cana with his disciples the party ran out of wine. Jesus' mother (unnamed in John's Gospel) told Jesus, "They have no wine," and Jesus replied, "O Woman, what have I to do with you? My hour has not yet come." His mother then said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you" (John 2:3-5). Jesus ordered the servants to fill containers with water and to draw out some and take it to the chief steward waiter. After tasting it, and not knowing where it came from, the steward congratulated the bridegroom on departing from the custom of serving the best wine first by serving it last (John 2:6-10). John adds that: "Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee and it revealed his glory and his disciples believed in him (John 2:11)".
Capernaum - see separate page
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