Galilee - part 1

Our few days in Galilee were some of the most memorable moments of our time in Israel, during October.

This is the view from our hotel balcony in Tiberias, on the western shore. The Sea of Galilee, which is actually a lake, is such a tranquil place, the colour and freshness restores weary bodies and tired minds.

We travelled out to the centre of the lake in a boat similar to this one.

Once in the centre, the engine was switched off. We worshipped and had some teaching from the scriptures related to Jesus and the disciples on the lake.

The sun streaming through the clouds created a great atmosphere.

The hills surrounding the lake are also beautiful. The Sea of Galilee was one of the highlights of the trip.

We disembarked south of Tiberias, at a Museum called 'The Jesus Boat'. In 1986, when the level of the lake was extremely low, the remains of an ancient fishing boat were uncovered by two brothers, both fishermen. Archeologists were immediately brought in, and the date of the wooden structure was determined as 1st Century. A difficult recovery and restoration process then followed, as once the wood was removed from the mud it disintergrated quickly.

The museum tells the story of the find and the boat is on display. Only 9 metres in length, with only the hull remaining, it nevertheless brings the images of Jesus and the disciples, in a boat on the lake, vividly to life.

Our next stop was the Mount of Beatitudes, which remembers what is often called by Christians, the 'sermon on the mount', or another interesting description I've heard is the 'beautiful attitudes', where Jesus told the crowds who followed him, about the manifesto for the Kingdom of God.

A large Catholic church dominates the hill now, but this is part of the view looking down the hillside towards the lake. The buff coloured area between the water and the green area is a banana plantation, covered with netting.

We were told a story of a group of 1000 people who obtained permission to sit on the hillside with a speaker at the bottom, near the lake. No amplification was required as the acoustics of the natural ampitheatre worked perfectly, further reinforcing the idea of Jesus speaking to huge crowds of people.

Close by is a place called Tabgha where the 'feeding of the 5000' miracle is remembered. In the church is an ancient Byzantine mozaic floor, and jutting through this floor is a rock from even earlier times, which some believe is the actual spot where five loaves and two fish were multiplied.

Capernaum was our next location, a place which is mentioned many times in the gospels. It was the place where Peter, Andrew, James, John and Matthew were called to be Jesus' disciples.

Now, it is a huge archeological site - almost the whole town has been uncovered.

The excavations which are believed to be Peter's home lie under a modern church building, the centre of which is an open area, looking down into the ruins. But they can also be seen from the outside, beneath the building.

This octagonal shaped building is raised on concrete pillars and appears to hover in the air, reminding me of a space ship landing. It really looked very odd, and contrary to what I tried to show in an earlier post about the contrasting architecture in Israel, this was the one place where having ancient and modern together, didn't work.

Also in Capernaum is a huge ancient Synagogue, with 1st century excavations beneath, believed to be the synagogue that Jesus taught in.

The Jewish decorations on the columns were very clear:

The star of David, on the left,

The Menorah, seven-branched candelabrum, at the top,

This was a very curious one, a carriage for carrying the Ark of the Covenant.

The story was that the Ark always had to face Jerusalem, so synagogues were built that way. But for some reason this one wasn't, so a carriage was built and the Ark could be moved into the right place at the appropriate time!