Sea of Galilee

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Lake or Sea of Galilee 2019

 The Lake or Sea of Galilee, or Lake of Tiberius, is also called the Kinneret, from the Hebrew word for Harp (a Kinor) as it has one curved and two straight sides like a harp that rests of the knee of a seated player. The Lake of Galilee has given its name to the whole area.

The Sea of Galilee is part of the Great Rift Valley system that stretches from Turkey to Africa and it is well below sea level. It is subject to sudden strong winds and violent storms. Throughout the year, its volume varies greatly from season to season. If the water level is high it means that the subterranean reservoirs are able to refill. The lake is 170 square kilometres in size but the water-level and the shore of the lake is higher than in the 1st century so that much of the ancient harbour-side facilities cannot be excavated.

It is a fresh water lake with fresh-water fish. In ‘the Jesus period’ hundreds of fishing boats plied its waters and their products were sold salted, dried, smoked and fresh and were the staple protein of ordinary people, such as the little boy who offered his five round loaves and two small fish to St Andrew (Jn. 6:1-15).

Three rivers, the Dan, the Banias and the Snir, merge and bring water into the Lake from the Upper Jordan: mainly the melting snows of Mt Hermon which is at the junction of three countries (Syria, Lebanon and Israel). The Lake discharges that water into the Jordan, which flows south. Much is used for agriculture and very little of it arrives in the Dead Sea, where it finally evaporates, leaving behind its valuable minerals and salt.

The town of Migdal/Magdala is on the West bank of the lake, at its widest point, and Capernaum is at its Northern point. Much of Jesus’ early ministry took place between these two points but, in general, it centred around and on the lake, which Jesus often crossed by boat which his disciples were perfectly capable of crewing.
South of the Lake, where the clear, clean water flows out into the Jordan River, there is a well-organised baptismal site called Yarden’it. An older baptismal site, opposite Jericho, is in an area controlled by the Palestinian Authority and over the decades has sometimes been considered unsafe for pilgrims.

Special experiences for visitors are to watch the sunrise over the Lake and to sail across its water in a replica of the kind of fishing boat used in ‘the Jesus period’.

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