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Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: GAG-GEO |
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GALILEE, SEA OF , a lake in Palestine consisting of an expansion of the Jordan, on the latitude
Maccabees it is named Gennesar; while in the Gospels it is usually called Sea of Galilee, though once it is called Lake of Gennesaret (Luke v. i) and twice Sea of Tiberias (John vi. i, xxi. 1). The modern Arabic name is Bahr Tubariya, which is often rendered " Lake of Tiberias." Pliny refers to it as the Lake of Taricheae. Like the Dead Sea it is a " rift " lake, being part of the great fault that formed the Jordan-Araba depression. Deposits show that originally it formed part of the great inland sea that filled this depression in Pleistocene times. The district on each 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 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 fine gravel; some yards from the shore the bed is uniformly covered with fine greyish mud. The temperature in summer is tropical, but after noon falls about to F. owing to strong north-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 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 air resulting from these great differences of level. The Sea of Galilee is best seen from the top of' the western precipices. It presents a desolate 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 black basalt. On the west the plateau known as 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. objects. On the 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 gorge between lower hills. A marshy 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 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 place within 40 ft. of the water, but there is generally a width of about of a mile from the hills to the beach. On the west the flat ground at the foot of the hills has an average width of about 200 yds. A few scattered palms dot the western shores, and a palm grove is to be found near Kefr.Harib on the south-east. The hot 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 earthquake. The plain of Gennesareth, with its environs, is the best-watered part of the lake-basin. North of this plain are the five springs of et-Tabighah, the largest of which was enclosed about a century ago in an octagonal reservoir by 'Ali, son of Dhahr el-Amir, and the water led off by an aqueduct 52 ft. above the lake. The Tabighah springs, though abundant, are warm and brackish. At the north end of the plain is 'Ain et-Tineh (" spring of the fig-tree "), also a brackish spring with a good stream; south of the plain is 'Ain el-Bardeh (" the cold spring "), which is sweet, but scarcely lower in temperature than the others. One of the most important springs is 'Ain el-Madawwera (" the round spring "), situated I m. from the south end of the plain and half a mile from the shore. The water rises in a circular well 32 ft. in diameter , and is clear and sweet, with a temperature of 73 F. The bottom is of loose sand, and the 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 account of its presence suggested the identification of the " round spring " with the 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.Fauna and Flora.For half the year the hillsides are bare and steppe-like, but in spring are clothed with a subtropical vegetation. Oleanders flourish round the lake, and the large papyrus grows at 'Ain et-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 ships and boats which plied on the lake as late
Blennius and Clarias; and there is a great affinity between them and the fish of the East African lakes and streams. There are eight species of Chromis, most of which hatch their eggs and raise their young in the buccal cavities of the males. The Chromis slaloms is popularly supposed to be the fish from which Peter took the piece of 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 Egypt. From the absence of scales it was held by the Jews to be unclean, and some commentators suppose it to be the serpent of Matt. vii. so and Luke xi. ii. Large numbers of grebesgreat crested, eared, and little,gulls and pelicans frequent the lake. On its shores are tortoises, mud-turtles, 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 principal sites of interest
South of the supposed plain of Gennesareth is Mejdel, commonly supposed to represent the New Testament town of Magdala: A few lotus trees and some rock-cut tombs are here found beside a miserable mud hamlet on the hill slope, with a modern tomb- house
house
Rabbi
Rabbi
wall
Kerak, at the south end of the lake, is an important site on a peninsula surrounded by the water of the lake, by the Jordan, and by a broad water ditch, while on the north-west a narrow neck of 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 bridge over the Jordan; broken pottery and fragments of sculptured stone strew the site. The ruin of Kerak answers to the description given by Josephus of the city of Taricheae, which 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 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 Vespasian (Josephus, B.J. iii. 9, 7) fixed his 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 Decapolis, is fixed by Clermont-Ganneau at Khurbet Susieh. Kalat el-Hosn (" castle of the stronghold ") is a ruin on a rocky spur opposite Tiberias. Two large ruined buildings remain, with traces of an old street and fallen columns and capitals. A strong wall
(C. R. C.; C. W. W.; R. A. S. M.) End of Article: GALILEE, SEA OF If you wish, you can link directly to this article.
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