Aournd the Sea of Galilee

26 The Testimony, January 2003 Daniel surrounded by lions, his three friends in Romans of what Paul actually preached while he the fiery furnace, Jonah, Elijah, Jesus carrying a was in Rome. The ecclesia in Rome was a multi- lamb, Jesus and the disciples breakfasting upon cultural, multiracial group, as is evidenced by the seashore and many more besides. One such the twenty-seven Greek, Latin and Jewish names book is The Catacombs of Rome by Benjamin Scott, on the ecclesial roll, as noted in Romans 16. It described as “the substance of lectures originally was to people such as these that Paul “expounded delivered before an audience of working men in and testified the kingdom of God, persuading London”, in the 1890s. them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of What is equally interesting, however, is to Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning learn that it was not until the fourth century that till evening” (Acts 28:23). It is true that he did pictures began to appear bearing halos, crosses, not convince everybody (v. 24), but one is Madonnas, Trinitarian symbology and all the prompted to wonder why it is that, if Paul found paraphernalia of the apostate church. Might this prophecy so useful in preaching the gospel, more be a remarkable reflection of the Constantinian ecclesias do not make greater use of Old Testa- earthquake of conversion to pseudo-Christianity ment promises and prophecies in their gospel (Rev. 6:12-17)? proclamation activities. What makes such a visit even more impres- John Ramsden sive is to bear in mind the accounts in Acts and Forest Hill, London EDITOR: Tony Benson, 26 Tiercel Avenue, Norwich, Prophecy, History NR7 8JN. Tel./Fax 01603 412978; e-mail: [email protected] and Archaeology Around the Sea of Galilee 3. The fishermen Tony Benson BOUT HALFWAY along the eastern side supper overlooking the lake on a balmy evening of the Sea of Galilee is a kibbutz called En with the sun setting behind the hills opposite; A Gev, founded in 1937. It nestles under then, as darkness draws on, the lights of Tiberias the steep slopes of the Golan Heights, and from opposite cascading down the slope like a water- the War of Independence in 1948 until the Six- fall; a stormy night, with the wind soughing in Day War of 1967 it was the subject of regular the trees and the rain lashing at the windows, shelling by the Syrians from the heights above. provoking thoughts of Jesus and the disciples The Israeli conquest of the Golan Heights in the out on the lake in such fear-producing condi- Six-Day War brought peace. Now it has a popu- tions. lar hotel, where visitors stay in chalets or mobile En Gev is the home of Mendel Nun, who was homes under date palms and eucalyptus trees born in Latvia in 1918, emigrated to Israel in by the edge of the lake. 1939, and has lived at the kibbutz since 1941. He It is a lovely experience to spend some time has become the greatest expert on the Sea of here, overlooking the lake on which some of the Galilee in all its aspects. His book about the lake disciples of Christ earned their living and over is available only in Hebrew, but two booklets in which they and their Master often sailed. In the English are available locally, The Sea of Galilee course of a number of stays here I have experi- and its Fishermen in the New Testament and Sea enced the calmness of the lake at sunrise, with of Galilee: Newly Discovered Harbours from New pied kingfishers hovering over the water and a Testament Days (both published in 1989), and little egret standing sentinel by the water’s edge; he has written articles in Biblical Archaeology The Testimony, January 2003 27 Review.1 These booklets and articles are the source of material for Jordan Beit - Saida this article. Zaki Aish Fishing ports from the time of Jesus Capernaum The Sea of Galilee has virtually Kefar Aqavya no natural harbours, and, unless Kinnrot Tabgha boats were simply dragged onto Gennesar the shore, the provision of artifi- Kibbutz cial harbours is therefore re- Ginnosar quired, especially in view of the sudden storms for which the lake is notorious. It was not until the 1970s, however, that the first such Magdala Gergesa harbour was discovered, below Migdal Kursi the present waterline. It is thought that the level of the lake was about four feet lower Ein Gofra in New Testament times, with the waterline being as much as 150 Ein Gev feet further out. The reason for Tiberias this change, says Mendel Nun, Anchorage is that during the Middle Ages of Susita the outlet of the Jordan at the Harbour of southern end of the lake became Susita (Hippos) blocked with silt for a while, al- lowing the water level to rise. Sennabris Droughts, and the increasing abstraction of water for Israel’s Haon burgeoning population, have Harbour of Gadara lowered the waterline in recent Philoteria decades, enabling more of these Old Jordan harbour remains to be discov- outlet Beith Yerah ered, especially at the end of the summer before the onset of a new season’s rains. Jordan In his 1989 booklet Nun refers to the remains of thirteen harbours having been discovered, Sea of Galilee ancient harbours but evidently more were discovered later, for his 1999 article refers to there be- thought to have been used for administration. ing sixteen ancient harbours. Included amongst Stone anchors and stone blocks to which boats them are harbours found at Capernaum, Tiberi- could be moored were discovered at Tiberias, as and Magdala, all towns mentioned in the and at Gergesa a hundred small weights, which Gospels. The harbours discovered usually have would have been attached to nets to keep them one or more short piers and a long curved break- under the water. At Capernaum the remains water, with only a narrow channel for boats to enter the harbour. This gave the boats good pro- tection from storms. 1. “Cast Your Net Upon the Waters: Fish and Fisher- men in Jesus’ Time”, Nov./Dec. 1993; “Ports of Gali- At one site, ancient Gergesa on the eastern lee: Modern Drought Reveals Harbors from Jesus’ shore, a shallow pool was discovered, thought to Time”, July/Aug. 1999. See also “A Good Catch: have been to keep fish in alive until they could Mendel Nun’s Netful of Knowledge About the Sea be sold, and a building adjacent to the pier, of Galilee”, Yadin Roman, Eretz, Autumn 1990. 28 The Testimony, January 2003 Reconstruction drawing of the harbour at Capernaum. © Ritmeyer Archaeological Design. Reprinted with permission. discovered indicate a promenade 2,400 feet (800 Another of its habits is to take the eggs into the metres) long, with pairs of curved piers, short, mouth after laying until they hatch, and this straight piers and even triangular ones (see habit of carrying things in its mouth has led to reconstruction drawing above). Somewhere here the suggestion that the fish with the coin in its Matthew would have had his office for exacting mouth caught by Peter was of this species (Mt. tolls from the maritime traffic on the lake (Mt. 17:27). 9:9). It is because of this supposed association with Peter that the fish is marketed as ‘St Peter’s fish’, The fish and the promenade at Tiberias is today lined There are three kinds of edible fish which are with open-air fish restaurants all selling it, fried native to the Sea of Galilee. In addition grey whole and served with chips, to tourists. It is the mullet and silver carp have been introduced. In only large fish in Galilee that moves around in the late 1980s there were four large and sixty- shoals, and must therefore have been the kind five small fishing boats on the lake, with 165 caught in the miraculous catches recorded in the fishermen, so fishing is important today, as it Gospels (Lk. 5:1-11; Jno. 21:1-6). clearly was in New Testament times. The other large fish caught and eaten is the The well-known fish caught in Galilee is that barbel, of which there are three species found in popularly referred to as St Peter’s fish, of which the lake. This fish does not live in shoals and is there are five species. The Arabs call it musht, therefore caught individually. For this reason, which mean ‘comb’, because of the comb-like despite the traditional identification referred to dorsal fin; the Hebrew name is amnun, which above, it is likely that the fish caught by Peter means ‘nurse fish’, because of its habit of care- with a hook was a barbel. fully watching over its young for the first few The third type of edible fish found in Galilee days after hatching; and the Latin name is Tilapia. is the sardine, a freshwater version of the fish The Testimony, January 2003 29 Fishermen from Kibbutz En Gev hauling in their empty nets more commonly associated with the sea. These The dragnet occur in large shoals, and were preserved by The seine or dragnet is a long wall of netting, as salting. This would have been the fish miracu- much as a thousand feet (300 metres) long. It is lous multiplied by Christ in his two miracles of spread out from a boat 300 feet (a hundred me- feeding the multitudes, salted sardines being tres) from the shore, and parallel to it, and tow- often eaten with bread by the common people.

Load more