Sea of Gallillee where Jesus Walked

                 The  Sea of Galillee is  a picturesque, D shaped lake set among hills in northern Israel, it is one of the lowest-lying bodies of water on earth (some 210 metres below sea level).

                     This freshwater “sea” is 21km long and 13km across at its widest point, with a maximum depth of 43 metres. Its other names include the Sea of Tiberias, the Lake of Gennesaret and (in Hebrew) Lake Chinnereth or Kinneret.

 

 In Jesus’ time  230 boats were regularly working the lake and their catch dried and exported all over the Roman world.

 Jesus made the fishing town of Capernaum the centre of his itinerant ministry in Galilee, using the lake, its boats and its shores to spread his Good News. He calmed a storm, he walked on the water

In Scripture:
Jesus stills the storm: Mark 4:35-41
Jesus tells parables from a boat: Matthew 13:1-9
The miraculous catch of fish: Luke 5:1-11

 The lake has a surface area of 64 square miles (166 square km). Its maximum depth, measured in the northeast, is 157 feet (48 metres). Extending 13 miles (21 km) from north to south and 7 miles (11 km) from east to west.

 The Sea of Galilee is Israel’s largest freshwater lake, and a focal point of life in the Galilee.

The Sea of Galilee is surrounded by picturesque hills , probably Jesus Spent time alonw with His fathers in those hills.

 In 1986 a wooden vessel from the first century was discovered near Nof Ginosar on the lake’s northwestern shore.  Studies have determined the type of wood that was used (mainly cedar and oak), the style of construction (mortise and tenon joints), the date (on the basis of construction techniques, pottery and Carbon 14 tests) and the size (26 by 7 feet – big enough for 15 men).

 

Preserved remains of boat from the time of Jesus (© Israel Ministry of Tourism)

 Preserved remains of Jesus Boat (c) Israel Ministry of Tourism

Preserved remains of boat from the time of Jesus (© Israel Ministry of Tourism)

 Located at Kibbutz Ginosar, this museum has a separate hall housing the so-called “Jesus boat” – a 2,000-year-old craft of eight meters long that was discovered in the 1980s when a drought in Israel caused the water level in the Kinneret to fall dramatically.

St. Peter's Fish

Three types of fish were primarily sought by fishermen in antiquity in these waters.  Sardines likely were the “two small fish” that the boy brought to the feeding of the 5000.  Sardines and bread were the staple product of the locals.  Barbels are so known because of the barbs at the corners of their mouths.  The third type is called musht but is more popularly known today as “St. Peter’s Fish.”  This fish has a long dorsal fin which looks like a comb and can be up to 1.5 feet long and 3.3 lbs in weight.