Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 10.djvu/39

GALILEE, The Sea of, with its surrounding shores, deserves a more special description than that given of the rest of the district, as being the part of Palestine which most interests modern students and travellers. The lake was also called the Sea of Chinnereth or Chinneroth, and the Lake of Gennesaret or Tiberias; and by Pliny it is said to have been once called Lake of Taricheæ. In form it is pear-shaped, 12$\scriptstyle {\frac {1}{2}}$ English miles in length, and at its greatest width. The level is now known to be 6826 feet below the Mediterranean. The water is fresh and clear, and large shoals of fish abound in it. The formation of the lake basin occurred later than the Chalk period, and was due to a subsidence of the strata, which appears to have been sudden and violent, and probably accompanied by extensive volcanic eruptions from three centres east, west, and north of the lake. The district has always been liable to volcanic disturbance and to earthquakes. In 1837 Safed and Tiberias were destroyed by earthquake, and the temperature of the hot springs round the lake was then observed to rise considerably for a time.

Sea of Galilee.

The Sea of Galilee is best seen from the top of the western precipices, and 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 of el Ahma terminates in precipices 1700 feet 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 J aula‘m (Gaulonitis). The Jordan enters the lake through a narrow gorge between lower hills. A marshy plain, 2$\scriptstyle {\frac {1}{2}}$ miles long and 1$\scriptstyle {\frac {1}{2}}$ broad, called e1 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}; miles along the shore, and is 1 mile wide. This plain, naturally fertile, but now almost uncultivated, is recognized to be the plain of Gennesareth, described by Josephus (13. J., iii. 10, 8). The shores of the lake are of fine shingle. On the east the hills approach in one place within 40 feet of the water, but there is generally a width of about $\scriptstyle {\frac {3}{4}}$ 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 yards. A few scattered palms dot the western shores, and a palm grove is to be found near Kefr Harib on the south-east. Thermal springs are found on each side of the lake, with an average temperature of about 80° Fahr. The hot baths south of Tiberias include seven springs, the largest of which has a temperature of 137° Fahr. 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 Tabghah, the largest of which was enclosed about a century ago by Aly, son of Dhahr el ’Amr, in an octagonal reservoir, and the water led oil" by an aqueduct 52 feet above the lake. The Tabghah springs, though abundant, are warm and brackish. At the north end of the plain is ’Ain et Tinch (“ 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. The most important spring remains still to be noticed, namely, ’Ain el Madawerah (“ the round spring ”), situated 1 mile from the south end of the plain and half a mile from the shore. The water rises in a circular well 32 feet in diameter, and is clear and sweet, with a temperature of 73° Fahr. The bottom is of loose sand, and the fish called coracinus by Josephus (B. J., iii. 10, 8) is here found in abundance. Dr Tristram was the first explorer to identify this fish, and points out that it could not exist in the other springs. We are thus able to identify the “ round spring " with the fountain of Capharnaum, which, according to Josephus, watered the plain of Gennesareth.

The principal sites of 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 spur 900 feet above the lake, 2 miles north of the shore. Foundations and scattered stones cover the slopes and the flat valley below. On the west is a rugged gorge. In the middle of the ruins are the remains of a synagogue of richly ornamental style built of black basalt. A small spring occurs on the north. Tell Hfim is an important ruin on the shore south of the last mentioned site. The remains consist of foundations and scattered stones (which in spring are concealed by gigantic thistles) extending about half a mile along the shore. The foundations of a fine synagogue, measuring 75 feet by 57, and built in white limestone, have been excavated. A conspicuous building has been erected close to the water, from the fragments of the Tell Hum syna- gogue. Since the 4th century Tell Hfim has been pointed out by all the Christian writers as the site of Capernaum, but the fatal objections to such an identification are—(l) the great distance from the fountain of Capharnaum, and (2) the fact that Jewish tradition preserves another site. The ruins at Tell Hfim are not of necessity as old as the time of Christ. The name Hfim means “ black,” and is probably connected with the surrounding black basalt. The place seems to be mentioned in the Talmud under the titles Caphar Ahim and Caphar Tanhumin (see Neubauer’s Geog. Tal., p. 220). Minyeh is a ruined site at the north end of the plain of Gennesareth, miles from the last, and close to the shore. There are extensive ruins on flat ground, consisting of mounds and foundations, with traces of a wall once surrounding the site. Masonry of well-dressed stones has also been here discovered in course of excavation. Near

the ruins are remains of an old khan, which appears to have