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Sea of Galilee

The town of Tiberias and the Sea of Galilee

Sea of GalileeFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Sea of Galilee, also Kinneret, Lake of Gennesaret, or Lake Tiberias (Hebrew: ים כנרת,Judeo-Aramaic: ימא דטבריא, Arabic: بحيرة طبريا), is the largest freshwater lake in Israel, and itis approximately 53 km (33 mi) in circumference, about 21 km (13 mi) long, and 13 km (8.1 mi)wide. The lake has a total area of 166.7 km2 (64.4 sq mi) at its fullest, and a maximum depth ofapproximately 43 m (141 feet).[3] At levels between 215 metres (705 ft) and 209 metres (686 ft)below sea level,[4] it is the lowest freshwater lake on Earth and the second-lowest lake overall(after the Dead Sea, a saltwater lake).[5] The lake is fed partly by underground springs althoughits main source is the Jordan River which flows through it from north to south.

Contents

1 Geography

2 Names and their etymology3 History

3.1 Prehistory

3.2 Ancient and Classic Antiquity

3.3 Middle Ages

3.4 Modern era

4 Archaeology

Coordinates: 32°50!N 35°35!E

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Coordinates 32°50!N 35°35!E

Lake type Monomictic

Primaryinflows

Upper Jordan River and localrunoff[1]

Primaryoutflows

Lower Jordan River, evaporation

Catchmentarea

2,730 km2 (1,050 sq mi)[2]

Basin countries Israel, Syria, Lebanon

Max. length 21 km (13 mi)

Max. width 13 km (8.1 mi)

5 Water use

6 Tourism

7 Flora and fauna

8 Panoramic views

9 See also

10 References

11 External links

GeographyThe Sea of Galilee is situated in northeast Israel, between the Golan Heights and the Galileeregion, in the Jordan Rift Valley, the valley caused by the separation of the African and ArabianPlates. Consequently, the area is subject to earthquakes, and in the past, volcanic activity. This isevident by the abundant basalt and other igneous rocks that define the geology of the Galilee.

Names and their etymologyThe lake has been called by different names throughout its history, usually depending on thedominant settlement on its shores. With changing fate of the towns, the lake's name alsochanged.

Lake or Sea of Kinneret

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Surface area 166 km2 (64 sq mi)

Average depth 25.6 m (84 ft)

Max. depth 43 m (141 ft)

Water volume 4 km3 (0.96 cu mi)

Residence time 5 years

Shore length1 53 km (33 mi)

Surfaceelevation

-212.07 m (695.8 ft)

Islands 2

References [1][2]

1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure.

The modern Hebrew name, Kinneret, comes from the Old Testament or Hebrew Tanakh "sea ofKinneret" in Numbers 34:11 (http://tools.wmflabs.org/bibleversefinder/?book=Numbers&verse=34:11&src=HE) and Joshua 13:27(http://tools.wmflabs.org/bibleversefinder/?book=Joshua&verse=13:27&src=HE), and spelled(Hebrew) כנרות ("Kinnerot") in Joshua 11:2 (http://tools.wmflabs.org/bibleversefinder/?book=Joshua&verse=11:2&src=HE). This name was also found in the scripts of Ugarit, in theAqhat Epic. Kinneret was listed among the "fenced cities" in Joshua 19:35. A persistent, thoughlikely erroneous popular etymology of the name presumes that the name Kinneret may originatefrom the Hebrew word kinnor ("harp" or "lyre"), in view of the shape of the lake.[6] Thescholarly consensus though is that the origin of the name lies with the important Bronze and IronAge city of Kinneret, excavated at Tell el-'Oreimeh.[7] However, there is no evidence that thecity of Kinnereth itself was not named after the body of water instead of vice versa.

Lake of Gennesaret

All Old and New Testament writers use the term "sea" (Hebrew ים yam, Greek Θαλασσα), withthe exception of Luke who calls it "the Lake of Gennesaret" (Luke 5:1), from the Greek λίμνηΓεννησαρέτ (limnē Gennēsaret), the "Grecized form of Chinnereth" according to Easton (1897).[8]

Sea of Ginosar

The Babylonian Talmud, as well as Flavius Josephus mention the sea by the name "Sea of Ginosar" after the small fertile plain of Ginosar that lieson its western side. Ginosar is yet another name derived from "Kinneret".[7]

Sea of Galilee, Sea of Tiberias, Lake Tiberias

In the New Testament the term "sea of Galilee" (Greek: Θαλασσαν της Γαλιλαιας, Thalassan tēs Galilaias) is used in the gospel of Matthew4:18; 15:29, the gospel of Mark 1:16; 7:31, and in the gospel of John 6:1 as "the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias" (θαλασσης τηςΓαλιλαιας της Τιβεριαδος, Thalassēs tēs Galilaias tēs Tiberiados), the late 1st century CE name.[9] Sea of Tiberias is also the name mentioned inRoman texts and in the Jerusalem Talmud, and was adopted into Arabic as Buhairet Tabariyya (بحيرة طبريا), "Lake Tiberias".

Sea of Minya

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Christ Appears on the Shore of LakeTiberias (Apparition du Christ sur lesbords du lac de Tibériade) - JamesTissot (Brooklyn Museum) Jesus and the miraculous catch of fish, in

the Sea of Galilee, by Raphael

From the Umayyad through the Mamluk period the lake was known in Arabic as "Bahr al-Minya", the "Sea of Minya", after the Umayyad qasrcomplex whose ruins are still visible at Khirbat al-Minya. This is the name employed by the medieval Persian and Arab scholars Al-Baladhuri, Al-Tabari and Ibn Kathir.[10]

History

Prehistory

In 1989 remains of a hunter-gatherer site were found under the water at the southern end. Remains of mud huts were found which are the oldestknown buildings in the world. See Ohalo.

Ancient and Classic Antiquity

The Sea of Galilee lies on the ancient Via Maris, which linkedEgypt with the northern empires. The Greeks, Hasmoneans, andRomans founded flourishing towns and settlements on the land-locked lake including Gadara, Hippos and Tiberias. The first-century historian Flavius Josephus was so impressed by thearea that he wrote, "One may call this place the ambition ofNature." Josephus also reported a thriving fishing industry atthis time, with 230 boats regularly working in the lake.Archaeologists discovered one such boat, nicknamed the JesusBoat, in 1986.

Much of the ministry of Jesus occurred on the shores of LakeGalilee. In those days, there was a continuous ribbondevelopment of settlements and villages around the lake and

plenty of trade and ferrying by boat. The Synoptic gospels of Mark (1:14–20), Matthew (4:18–22), andLuke (5:1–11) describe how Jesus recruited four of his apostles from the shores of Lake Galilee: the fishermen Simon and his brother Andrew andthe brothers John and James. One of Jesus' famous teaching episodes, the Sermon on the Mount, is supposed to have been given on a hilloverlooking the lake. Many of his miracles are also said to have occurred here including his walking on water, calming the storm, the disciples andthe boatload of fish, and his feeding five thousand people (in Tabgha).

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The beach of the Sea of Galilee

On the Sea of Galilee, Tiberias, 1891

In 135 CE Bar Kokhba's revolt was put down. The Romans responded by banning all Jews from Jerusalem. The center of Jewish culture andlearning shifted to the region of the Galilee and the Kinneret, particularly the city of Tiberias. It was in this region that the so-called "JerusalemTalmud" was compiled.[11]

Middle Ages

The lake's importance declined when the Byzantines lost control and the area came under the control ofthe Umayyad Caliphate and subsequent Islamic empires. Apart from Tiberias, the major towns andcities in the area were gradually abandoned. The palace Khirbat al-Minya was built by the lake duringthe reign of the Umayyad caliph al-Walid I (705–715 CE). In 1187, Saladin defeated the armies of theCrusades at the Battle of Hattin, largely because he was able to cut the Crusaders off from the valuablefresh water of the Sea of Galilee.

Modern era

Throughout the early Ottoman era, the lake had little importance within the Ottoman Empire. Tiberiasdid see a significant revival of its Jewish community in the 16th century, but had gradually declined, until in1660 the city was completely destroyed. In the early 18th century, Tiberias was rebuilt by Zahir al-Umar,becoming the center of his rule over Galilee, and seeing also a revival of its Jewish community.

In 1909, Jewish pioneers established the first cooperative farming village (kibbutz), Kvutzat Kinneret in theimmediate vicinity of the lake. The settlement trained Jewish immigrants in farming and agriculture. Later,Kvutzat Kinneret pioneers established Kibbutz Degania Alef. The Kvutzat Kinneret is considered the cradleof the kibbutz culture of early Zionism and is the birthplace of Naomi Shemer and the burial site of Rachel—two of the most prominent Israeli poets.

In 1917, the British defeated Ottoman Turkish forces and took control of Palestine, while France tookcontrol of Syria. In the carve-up of the Ottoman territories between Britain and France, it was agreed thatBritain would retain control of Palestine, while France would control Syria. However, the allies had to fix the border between the MandatoryPalestine and the French Mandate of Syria.[12] The boundary was defined in broad terms by the Franco-British Boundary Agreement of December1920, which drew it across the middle of the lake.[13] However, the commission established by the 1920 treaty redrew the boundary. The Zionistmovement pressured the French and British to assign as many water sources as possible to Mandatory Palestine during the demarcating

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Kinneret landscape

negotiations. The High Commissioner of Palestine, Herbert Samuel, had sought full control of the Sea of Galilee.[14] The negotiations led to theinclusion into the Palestine territory of the whole Sea of Galilee, both sides of the River Jordan, Lake Hula, Dan spring, and part of theYarmouk.[15] The final border approved in 1923 followed a 10-meter wide strip along the lake's northeastern shore,[16] cutting the Mandatory Syria(State of Damascus) off from the lake.

The British and French Agreement provided that existing rights over the use of the waters ofthe Jordan by the inhabitants of Syria would be maintained; the Government of Syria wouldhave the right to erect a new pier at Semakh on Lake Tiberias or jointly use the existing pier;persons or goods passing between the landing-stage on the Lake of Tiberias and Semakh wouldnot be subject to customs regulations, and the Syrian government would have access to the saidlanding-stage; the inhabitants of Syria and Lebanon would have the same fishing andnavigation rights on Lakes Huleh, Tiberias and River Jordan, while the Government ofPalestine would be responsible for policing of lakes.[17]

On May 15, 1948, Syria invaded the newborn State of Israel,[18] capturing territory along theSea of Galilee.[19] Under the 1949 armistice agreement between Israel and Syria, Syriaoccupied the northeast shoreline of the Sea of Galilee. The agreement, though, stated that thearmistice line was "not to be interpreted as having any relation whatsoever to ultimateterritorial arrangements." Syria remained in possession of the lake's northeast shoreline until the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.

In the 1950s, Israel formulated a plan to link the Kinnereth with the rest of the country by National Water Carrier, in order to supply the waterdemand of the growing country. The carrier was completed in 1964. The Israeli plan, in line with the Headwater Diversion Plan (Jordan River) ofthe Arab League, sparked political and sometimes even armed confrontations over the Jordan River basin.

Archaeology

During a routine sonar scan in 2003 (finding published in 2013[20]), archaeologists discovered an enormous conical stone structure. The structure,which has a diameter of around 230 feet (70 m), is made of boulders and stones. The ruins are estimated to be between 2,000 and 12,000 years old,and are about 10 metres (33 ft) underwater.[21] The estimated weight of the monument is over 60,000 tons. Researchers explain that the siteresembles early burial sites in Europe and was likely built in the early Bronze Age.

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Kinneret Lake. 2014

Sea of Galilee water levels January2004 – February 2012

Water useIsrael's National Water Carrier, built in 1964, transports water from the lake to the populationcenters of Israel, and is the source of most of the country's drinking water.[22]

In 1964, Syria attempted construction of a Headwater Diversion Plan that would have blockedthe flow of water into the Sea of Galilee, sharply reducing the water flow into the lake.[23] Thisproject and Israel's attempt to block these efforts in 1965 were factors which played intoregional tensions culminating in the 1967 Six-Day War. During the war, Israel captured theGolan Heights, which contain some of the sources of water for the Sea of Galilee.

About 400,000,000 cubic metres (1.4 ×1010 cu ft) of water is pumped in the National WaterCarrier each year.[24] Under the terms of the Israel–Jordan peace treaty, Israel also supplies50,000,000 cubic metres (1.8 ×109 cu ft) of water annually from the lake to Jordan.[25]

Increasing water demand and dry winters have resulted in stress on the lake and a decreasing water line todangerously low levels at times. The Sea of Galilee is at risk of becoming irreversibly salinized by the saltwater springs under the lake, which are held in check by the weight of the freshwater on top of them.[26]

The Israeli government monitors water levels and publishes the results daily at this web page. The levelover the past eight years can be retrieved from that site. By early 2013, the Kinneret water level was at an 8year high.[27] The Water Authority partly attributes the improvement to the expansion of desalinationtechnology as a water source.[28][29]

TourismToday, tourism is the Sea of Galilee's most important economic activity with the entire region being a popular holiday destination. The manyhistorical and spiritual sites around the lake, especially its main town Tiberias, are visited by millions of local and foreign tourists annually. TheSea of Galilee attracts many Christian pilgrims, because, according to the New Testament, many of the miracles of Jesus occurred on its shores—including his walking on water, calming the storm, and feeding five thousand people in Tabgha.

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View of the Sea ofGalilee from space

Tiberias hotels on the waterfront

In April 2011, Israel unveiled a 40-mile (64 km) hiking trail in the Galilee for Christian pilgrims, called the "Jesus Trail". It includes a network offootpaths, roads and bicycle paths linking sites central to the lives of Jesus and his disciples. It ends at Capernaum on the shores of the Sea ofGalilee, where Jesus espoused his teachings.[30]

Another key attraction is the site where the Sea of Galilee's water flows into the Jordan River, to which thousands of pilgrims from all over theworld come to be baptized every year.

Israel's most well-known open water swim race, the Kinneret Crossing, is held every year in September, drawingthousands of open water swimmers to participate in competitive and noncompetitive events.

Tourists also partake in the building of rafts on Lavnun Beach, called Rafsodia. Here many different age groups worktogether to build a raft with their bare hands and then sail that raft across the sea.

Other economic activities include fishing in the lake and agriculture, particularly bananas, in the fertile belt of landsurrounding it.

Flora and faunaThe warm waters of the Sea of Galilee support various flora and fauna, which have supported a significant commercialfishery for more than two millennia. Local flora include various reeds along most of the shoreline as well asphytoplankton. Fauna include zooplankton, benthos and a number of fish species such asAcanthobrama terraesanctae. Fish caught commercially include Tristramella simonis and notablyTilapia, locally called "St. Peter’s Fish".[3] In 2005, 300 short tons (270 t) of tilapia were caught bylocal fishermen. This dropped to 8 short tons (7.3 t) in 2009 due to overfishing.[31]

However, low water levels in drought years have stressed the lake's ecology. This may have beenaggravated by over-extraction of water for either the National Water Carrier to supply other parts ofIsrael or, since 1994, for the supply of water to Jordan (see "Water use" section above). Droughts of theearly and mid-1990s dried out the marshy northern margin of the lake.[32] A fish species that is uniqueto the lake, Tristramella sacra, used to spawn in the marsh and has not been seen since the 1990sdroughts.[32] Conservationists fear this species may have become extinct.[32]

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Tilapia zilli (redbelly tilapia, "St. Peter'sfish"), served in a Tiberias restaurant

Panoramic views

Panoramic view of the Sea of Galilee

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Panoramic view of the south end of the Sea of Galilee, taken from Switzerland Forest near Tiberias

See alsoSea of Galilee BoatMiracles of JesusTiberiasGalileeTourism in Israel

References1. Aaron T. Wolf, Hydropolitics along the Jordan River (http://www.unu.edu/unupress/unupbooks/80859e/80859E02.htm#Hydrography), United Nations

University Press, 19952. Exact-me.org (http://www.exact-me.org/overview/images/p31_map.gif)3. Data Summary: Lake Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) (http://wldb.ilec.or.jp/Lake.asp?LakeID=ASI-09)4. "Kinneret - General" (in Hebrew). Israel Oceanographic & Limnological Research Ltd.

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5. The 1996-discovered subglacial Lake Vostok challenges both records; it is estimated to be 200 m (660 ft) to 600 m (2,000 ft) below sea level.6. Easton's Revised Bible Dictionary, Chinnereth. (Other speculation is that the name comes from a fruit called in Biblical Hebrew kinar, which is thought to be the

fruit of Ziziphus spina-christi).7. Avraham Negev, Shimon Gibson, ed. (2001). Archaeological Encyclopedia of the Holy Land. New York, London: Continuum. p. 285. ISBN 0-8264-1316-1.8. Easton, Gennesaret.9. Easton, Tiberias

10. "Khirbet Al-Minya". Jalili48. Professor Dr. Moslih Kanaaneh. 12 May 2006. Retrieved 3 February 2015.11. In the time of the Byzantine Empire, the lake's significance in Jesus' life made it a major destination for Christian pilgrims. This led to the growth of a full-

fledged tourist industry, complete with package tours and plenty of comfortable inns.12. The Preamble of the League of Nations Mandate (http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/mideast/palmanda.htm)13. Franco-British Convention on Certain Points Connected with the Mandates for Syria and the Lebanon, Palestine and Mesopotamia, signed Dec. 23, 1920. Text

available in American Journal of International Law, Vol. 16, No. 3, 1922, 122–126.14. The boundaries of modern Palestine, 1840–1947 (https://books.google.com/books?id=jC9MbKNh8GUC&pg=PA1&dq=boundary+palestine) (2004), by Gideon

Biger. Publisher Rutledge Curzon. ISBN 978-0-7146-5654-0, p. 130.15. The boundaries of modern Palestine, 1840–1947, p. 150. and 130.16. The boundaries of modern Palestine, 1840–1947, p. 145.17. Agreement between His Majesty's Government and the French Government respecting the Boundary Line between Syria and Palestine from the Mediterranean

to El Hámmé (http://untreaty.un.org/unts/60001_120000/20/29/00039450.pdf), Treaty Series No. 13 (1923), Cmd. 1910. Page 7.18. The Arab-Israeli Conflict a brief history (http://www.guardian.co.uk/flash/0,,720353,00.html)19. The Year of 1948 (http://www.alnakba.org/chronology/sixth.htm)20. Paz, Yitzhak; Moshe, Reshef; Zvi, Ben-Avraham; Shmuel, Marco; Tibor, Gideon; Nadel, Dani (2013). "A Submerged Monumental Structure in the Sea of

Galilee, Israel". International Journal of Nautical Archaeology 42 (1): 189–193. doi:10.1111/1095-9270.12005.21. "Mysterious structure found at bottom of ancient lake". CNN.com. Retrieved 2013-05-23.22. "Black gold under the Golan". The Economist. 7 November 2015. Retrieved 8 November 2015.23. Fischhendler, Itay (2008). "When Ambiguity in Treaty Design Becomes Destructive: A Study of Transboundary Water". Global Environmental Politics.

Retrieved 2008-11-28.24. Shmuel Kantor. "The National Water Carrier".25. "Developments related to the Middle East Peace Process". UN. Retrieved 2008-02-20.26. Skynews report, 5 May 2009: Race To Save Sea Of Galilee From Disaster (http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Sea-Of-Galilee-In-Israel-Is-Facing-

Disaster-Says-Friends-Of-The-Earth-Prompting-Government-Campaign/Article/200905115274946)27. Kinneret at 8-year high despite dry period (http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=1000828295&fid=1725)Globes,10 March 1328. Kinneret Basin Water Level (http://www.water.gov.il/Hebrew/WaterResources/Kinneret-Basin/Pages/default.aspx)

Rains fill Kinneret to 4-year high (http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=1000729671&fid=1725), Globes, 1 March 2012, Yuval Azulai29. Kinneret rises 2 meters (http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=1000735826&fid=1725)Globes, Yuval Azulai, 22 March 1230. Daniel Estrin, Canadian Press (April 15, 2011). "Israel unveils hiking trail in Galilee for Christian pilgrims". Yahoo! News. Archived from the original on March

13, 2013. Retrieved 2011-05-16.31. "Still Fishers of Men". Vermont Catholic 1 (12): 3. June 2010.

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Wikimedia Commons hasmedia related to Sea ofGalilee.

Wikivoyage has a travelguide for Sea of Galilee.

32. Goren, M. (2006). "Tristramella sacra". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 2011-06-13.

External linksIsrael Bans Fishing in Sea of Galilee (http://www.greenprophet.com/2010/04/25/20291/israel-fishing-ban-sea-galilee/)World Lakes Database entry for Sea of Galilee (http://wldb.ilec.or.jp/Lake.asp?LakeID=ASI-09)Bibleplaces.com: Sea of Galilee (http://www.bibleplaces.com/seagalilee.htm)Peace Mural of the Sea of Galilee in the Chapel of the Good Shephard – Ramallah(http://www.wilkens-art.com/galilee.htm)Updated elevation of the Kinneret's level (http://www.israelweather.co.il/kineret.asp) (Hebrew).Elevation (meters below sea level) is shown on the line following the date line.Virtual Map of Israel: Kinneret (http://www.mapisrael.info/kinneret)Sea Of Galilee Water Level Application [Google Store] (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.davidorlev.miflas&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsImNvbS5kYXZpZG9ybGV2Lm1pZmxhcyJd)

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