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GALILEE, SEA OF

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Originally appearing in Volume V11, Page 406 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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GALILEE, See also:SEA OF , a See also:lake in See also:Palestine consisting of an expansion of the See also:Jordan, on the See also:latitude of Mt. See also:Carmel. It is 13 M. See also:long, 8 m. broad, 64 sq. m. in See also:area, 68o ft. below the level of the Mediterranean, and, according to See also:Merrill and See also:Barrois (who have corrected the excessive See also:depth said to have been found by Lortet at the See also:northern end), 15o ft. in maximum depth. It is See also:pear-shaped, the narrow end pointing southward.. In the See also:Hebrew Scriptures it is called the Sea of Chinnereth or Chinneroth (prebably derived from a See also:town of the same name mentioned in See also:Joshua xi. 2 and elsewhere; the See also:etymology that connects it with Ii13, " a See also:harp," is very doubtful.) In See also:Josephus and the See also:book of See also:Maccabees it is named Gennesar; while in the Gospels it is usually called Sea of Galilee, though once it is called Lake of Gennesaret (See also:Luke v. i) and twice Sea of See also:Tiberias (See also:John vi. i, xxi. 1). The See also:modern Arabic name is See also:Bahr Tubariya, which is often rendered " Lake of Tiberias." See also:Pliny refers to it as the Lake of Taricheae. Like the Dead Sea it is a " rift " lake, being See also:part of the See also:great See also:fault that formed the Jordan-Araba depression. Deposits show that originally it formed part of the great inland sea that filled this depression in See also:Pleistocene times. The See also:district on each See also:side of the lake has a number of hot springs, at least one of which is beneath the sea itself, and has always shown indications of volcanic and other subterranean disturbances. It is especially liable to earthquakes.

The See also:

water of the sea, though slightly brackish and not very clear, is generally used for drinking. The shores are for the greater part formed of See also:fine See also:gravel; some yards from the See also:shore the See also:bed is uniformly covered with fine greyish mud. The temperature in summer is tropical, but after See also:noon falls about to° F. owing to strong See also:north-See also:west winds. This range of temperature affects the water to a depth of about 49 ft.; below that depth the water is uniformly about 59° F. The sea is set deep in hills which rise on the See also:east side to a height of about 2000 ft. Sudden and violent storms (such as are described in Matt. viii. 23, xiv. 22, and the parallel passages) are often produced by the changes of temperature in the See also:air resulting from these great See also:differences of level. The Sea of Galilee is best seen from the See also:top of' the western precipices. It presents a desolate See also:appearance. On the north the hills rise gradually from the shore, which is fringed with oleander bushes and indented with small bays. The ground is here covered with See also:black See also:basalt.

On the west the See also:

plateau known as See also:Sahel el-Ahma terminates in precipices 1700 ft. above the lake, and over these the black rocky tops called " the Horns of Hattin " are conspicuous. See also:objects. On the See also:south is a broad valley through which the Jordan flows. On the east are furrowed and rugged slopes, rising to the great plateau of the Jaulan (Gaulonitis). The Jordan enters the lake through a narrow See also:gorge between See also:lower hills. A marshy See also:plain, 2i m. long and i4 broad, called el-Batihah, exists immediately east of the Jordan inlet. There is also on the west side of the lake a small plain called el-Ghuweir, formed by the junction of three large valleys. It See also:measures 3; m. along the shore, and is i m. wide. This plain, naturally fertile, but now almost uncultivated, is supposed to be the plain of Gennesareth, described by Josephus (B. J.iii. to, 8). On the east the hills approach in one See also:place within 40 ft. of the water, but there is generally a width of about of a mile from the hills to the See also:beach. On the west the See also:flat ground at the See also:foot of the hills has an See also:average width of about 200 yds. A few scattered palms dot the western shores, and a See also:palm See also:grove is to be found near Kefr.Harib on the south-east.

The hot See also:

baths south of Tiberias include seven springs, the largest of which has a temperature of 137° F. In these springs a distinct rise in temperature was observed in 1837, when Tiberias and Safed were destroyed by an See also:earthquake. The plain of Gennesareth, with its environs, is the best-watered part of the lake-See also:basin. North of this plain are the five springs of et-Tabighah, the largest of which was enclosed about a See also:century ago in an octagonal See also:reservoir by 'See also:Ali, son of Dhahr el-See also:Amir, and the water led off by an See also:aqueduct 52 ft. above the lake. The Tabighah springs, though abundant, are warm and brackish. At the north end of the plain is 'See also:Ain et-Tineh (" See also:spring of the fig-See also:tree "), also a brackish spring with a See also:good stream; south of the plain is 'Ain el-Bardeh (" the See also:cold spring "), which is sweet, but scarcely lower in temperature than the others. One of the most important springs is 'Ain el-Madawwera (" the See also:round spring "), situated I m. from the south end of the plain and See also:half a mile from the shore. The water rises in a circular well 32 ft. in See also:diameter, and is clear and sweet, with a temperature of 73 ° F. The bottom is of loose See also:sand, and the See also:fish called coracinus by Josephus (B.J. iii. io, 8) is here found (see below). Dr Tristram was the first explorer to identify this fish, and on See also:account of its presence suggested the See also:identification of the " round spring " with the See also:fountain of Capharnaum, which, according to Josephus, watered the plain of Gennesareth. There is, however, a difficulty in this identification; there are no ruins at `Ain el-Madawwera. See also:Fauna and See also:Flora.—For half the See also:year the hillsides are See also:bare and See also:steppe-like, but in spring are clothed with a subtropical vegetation.

Oleanders flourish round the lake, and the large See also:

papyrus grows at 'Ain et-See also:Tin as well as at the mouth of the Jordan. The lake swarms with fish, which are caught with nets by a gild of fishermen, whose boats are the only representatives of the many See also:ships and boats which plied on the lake as See also:late as the loth century. Fishing was a lucrative See also:industry at an See also:early date, and the See also:Jews ascribed the See also:laws regulating it to Joshua. The fish, which were classed as clean and unclean, the good and See also:bad of the See also:parable (Matt. xiii. 47, 48), belong to the genera Chromis, Barbus, Capoeta, Discognalhus, Nemachilus,'SEA OF 405 Blennius and Clarias; and there is a great See also:affinity between them and the fish of the East See also:African lakes and streams. There are eight See also:species of Chromis, most of which See also:hatch their eggs and raise their See also:young in the buccal cavities of the See also:males. The Chromis slaloms is popularly supposed to be the fish from which See also:Peter took the piece of See also:money (Matt. xvii. 27). Clarias macracanthus (Arab. Burbur) is the coracinus of Josephus. It was found by Lortet in the springs of 'Ain el-Madawwera, 'Ain et-Tineh and 'Ain et-Tabighah, on the lake shore where muddy, and in Lake Huleh. It is a scaleless, snake-like fish, often nearly 5 ft. long, which resembles the C. anguillaris of See also:Egypt.

From the See also:

absence of scales it was held by the Jews to be unclean, and some commentators suppose it to be the See also:serpent of Matt. vii. so and Luke xi. ii. Large See also:numbers of grebes—great crested, eared, and little,—gulls and pelicans frequent the lake. On its shores are tortoises, mud-turtles, See also:crayfish and innumerable sand-hoppers; and at varying depths in the lake several species of Melania, Melanopsis, Neritina, Corbicula and Unio have been found. Antiquities.—The See also:principal sites of See also:interest round the lake may be enumerated from north to west and from south to east. Kerazeh, the undoubted site of Chorazin, stands on a rocky See also:spur goo ft. above the lake, 2 M. north of the shore. See also:Foundations and scattered stones See also:cover the slopes and the flat valley below. On the west is a rugged gorge. In the See also:middle of the ruins are the scattered remains of a See also:synagogue of richly ornamental See also:style built of black basalt. A small spring occurs on the north. Tell Hum (as the name is generally spelt, though Talhum would probably be preferable for several reasons) is an important ruin on the shore, south of the last-mentioned site. The remains consist of foundations and piles of stones (in springconcealed by gigantic thistles) extending about half a mile along the shore. The foundations of a fine synagogue, measuring 75 ft. by 57, and built in See also:white See also:limestone, have been excavated.

A conspicuous See also:

building has been erected See also:close to the water, from the fragments of the Tell Hum synagogue. Since the 4th century Tell Hum has been pointed out by all the See also:Christian writers of importance as the site of See also:Capernaum. Some modern geographers question this identification, but without sufficient See also:reason (see CAPERNAUM). Minyeh is a ruined site at the north end of the plain of Gennesareth, 22 M. from the last, and close to the shore. There are extensive ruins on flat ground, consisting of mounds and foundations. See also:Masonry of well-dressed stones has also been here discovered in course of excavation. Near the ruins are remains of an old See also:khan, which appears to have been built in the middle ages. This is another suggested identification for Capernaum; but all the remains belong to the Arab See also:period. Between Tell IJum and Minyeh is Tell `Oreimeh, the site of a forgotten Amorite See also:city. South of the supposed plain of Gennesareth is Mejdel, commonly supposed to represent the New Testament town of See also:Magdala: A few See also:lotus trees and some See also:rock-cut tombs are here found beside a miserable mud See also:hamlet on the See also:hill slope, with a modern See also:tomb-See also:house (kubbeh). Passing beneath rugged cliffs a See also:recess in the hills is next reached, where stands Tubariya, the See also:ancient Tiberias or Rakkath, containing 3000 inhabitants, more than half of whorl] are Jews. The walls, flanked with round towers, but partly destroyed by the earthquake of 1837, were built by Dhahr el-Amir, as was the See also:court-house.

The two mosques, now partly ruinous, were erected by his sons. There are remains of a Crusaders' See also:

church, and the tomb of the celebrated See also:Maimonides is shown in the town, while See also:Rabbi Agiba and Rabbi See also:Meir See also:lie buried outside. The ruins of the ancient city, including See also:granite columns and traces of a sea-See also:wall with towers, stretch southwards a mile beyond the modern town. An aqueduct in the cliff once brought water a distance of g m. from the south. See also:Kerak, at the south end of the lake, is an important site on a See also:peninsula surrounded by the water of the lake, by the Jordan, and by a broad water ditch, while on the north-west a narrow See also:neck of See also:land remains. The plateau thus enclosed is partly artificial, and banked up 50 or 6o ft. above the water. A ruined citadel remains on the north-west, and on the east was a See also:bridge over the Jordan; broken pottery and fragments of sculptured See also:stone strew the site. The ruin of Kerak answers to the description given by Josephus of the city of Taricheae, which See also:lay 3o stadia from Tiberias, the hot baths being between the two cities. Taricheae was situated, as is Kerak, on the shore below the cliffs, and partly surrounded by water, while before the city was a plain (the See also:Ghor). Pliny further informs us that Taricheae was at the south end of the Sea of Galilee. Sinn en-Nabreh, a ruin on a spur of the hills close to the last-mentioned site, represents the ancient Sennabris, where See also:Vespasian (Josephus, B.J. iii. 9, 7) fixed his See also:camp, advancing from Scythopolis (Beisen) on Taricheae and Tiberias.

Sennabris was 3o stadia from Tiberias, or about the distance of the ruin now existing. The eastern shores of the Sea of Galilee have been less fully explored than the western, and the sites are not so perfectly recovered. The site of Hippos, one of the cities of See also:

Decapolis, is fixed by Clermont-Ganneau at Khurbet Susieh. See also:Kalat el-Hosn (" See also:castle of the stronghold ") is a ruin on a rocky spur opposite Tiberias. Two large ruined buildings remain, with traces of an old See also:street and fallen columns and capitals. A strong wall once surrounded the town; a narrow neck of land exists on the east where the rock has been scarped. Rugged valleys enclose the site on the north and south; broken sarcophagi and rock-cut tombs are found beneath the ruin. This site is not identified; the See also:suggestion that it is Gamala is doubtful, and not See also:borne out by Josephus (See also:War, iv. 1, I), who says Gamala was over against Taricheae. Kersa, an insignificant ruin north of the last, is thought to represent the See also:Gerasa or Gergesa of the 4th century, situated east of the lake; and the projecting spur of hill south of this ruin is conjectured to be the place where the See also:swine " ran violently down a steep place" (Matt. viii. 32). (C.

R. C.; C. W. W.; R. A. S.

End of Article: GALILEE, SEA OF

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