| According to
Matthew 11: 20-24, Jesus performed most of his miracles in
Chorazin, Bethsaida
and Capernaum.
This evangelist tells us that "leaving Nazareth,
He came and settled in Capernaum" (4:13) and later he
singles out the village as "His own city" (Mt
9:1). Indeed, many references
in the gospels place Jesus very centrally here.
Why did Jesus choose
Capernaum as a base? The Bible gives no reason, and we shall probably never know.
The principles of historical geography apply mainly to large groups;
in the case of a teacher and
a handful of students, more particular
motives may come into play.
At its height in
the Byzantine period, Capernaum probably did
not have more than 1500 people. It spread over 15
acres, stretching
for 300 yards along the north shore of the
Lake of
Galilee.
Graves mark its northern limit at less than 200 yards inland.
(Jews do not bury inside their towns.) The sole village on
this shore, it included within its sphere of influence the springs of
Tabgha almost two miles to the west and the mouth of the
Upper Jordan three miles to
the east.
Although the Franciscan
archaeologists found walls and pavements dating from the second millennium
BC, they discovered nothing from the entire Israelite period (1200
- 587 BC). This makes good geographical sense: in that time, there
were as yet no bridges in the land, so the
Great Trunk Road could not cross
the mouth of the Upper Jordan en route to
Damascus.
Instead it stretched due north to
Hazor,
from which one could either head east to ford the river or farther
north to circumvent its springs.
The Romans introduced
bridges. The trunk road could now make a major shift, following the
northern shore of the lake and crossing the mouth of the Upper Jordan. To this shift
the village of
Capernaum
owed its blossoming. (Indeed, 100 yards to the north of its shoreline
a Roman milestone was found.) Thus, if you were using the trunk road
coming from the tetrarchy of Herod Philippus, this was the first town
you encountered in the tetrarchy of Herod Antipas. It makes sense,
then, that the
tax collector lived here.
Coins and imported
pottery indicate that the village's commercial contacts were mainly
with the north: the Upper Galilee, the Golan, Syria, Phoenicia, Asia Minor
and Cyprus. There was hardly
any contact, it seems, with the central or southern parts of the country.
|
|
The
village had other advantages, apart from the road. The northern shore
is a favorite haunt of tilapia galilaea, today called Peter's
fish, a culinary favorite then as now. Tilapia is found in
nature only here and in the lakes of eastern Africa,
such as Lake Victoria.
Both regions belong to the Syro-African rift valley: there may
have been a time (before the rising of the land and the formation
of the Dead Sea)
when these bodies of fresh water were connected. If this fish is
of African origin, we can understand its preference for the northern
shore: the springs at Tabgha are
warm. They are probably the springs that Josephus meant, when
he wrote of a spring called "Capernaum,
which some consider to be an offshoot of the Nile,
because it breeds a fish very like the perch caught in the lake
of Alexandria."
|
In
addition, the natural rock cover is a type of basalt that has just
the right texture for grinding grain. Many millstones, some unfinished,
were found at Capernaum, suggesting that it may have manufactured
them for export.
|
Capernaum (main page)
A visit to Capernaum
Peter's House
The synagogue
at Capernaum
Logistics for a visit
©
2003
Near East Tourist Agency
(NET)
Text
© 2003 Stephen
Langfur
Scripture
taken from the NEW AMERICAN
STANDARD BIBLE(r),
(c) Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977,
1995 by
The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
(www.Lockman.org)
|
|
