GALILEE, SEA OF V) OciAcco-acc ri)s Pa?aalas.); also called The Sea of Tiberias' (rijs TOE piciaos), and The Lake of Gennesaret' (17 XiAvn l'evyncragr), and emphatically The Sea' OciXacra-a, Matt. iv. 15). In the O. T. the only name given to this lake is The Sea of Cinnereth' (r1-.1n-C+, or ninn). it is a remarkable fact that in the whole of the O. T. it is only mentioned three times ; and then incidentally in giving the daries of the tribes east of the Jordan (Num. xxxiv.
; Josh. xii. 3 ; xiii. 27) ; while it forms one of the most prominent names in N, T. history. The prophets never allude to it. It would almost seem as if they had been ignorant of its existence. Their attention was directed to other scenes and localities.
The ancient name Cionereth was derived from a fenced city situated somewhere on its western shore ; adjoining this city was a little territory of the same name (CINNERErn). By a change in the pronunciation, and a corruption therefrom, this became amon,g the later Jews. n=, Genesar.
Hence the Greek Pconiodp of the Apocryphal writers and Josephus Maccab. xi. 67 ; Joseph.
Bell. Yied. io. 8), and the TEN,710-apft of the Evang,elists. The theories of the Rabbins regard ing the origin of this name are given by Lightfoot (opp. i. 498), and are elsewhere referred to (GEN NESARET). The lake got its other names from the province of Galilee, which extended along its whole western shores ; and from the city of Tiberias founded by Herod Antipas.
The Sta of Galilee is described particularly by Pliny and Josephus. The former says, the Jordan discharges itself into a lake, by many writers known as Genesera, sixteen miles long and sir wide ; which is skirted by the pleasant towns Julias and Hippo on the east, of Tarichea on the south (a name which is by many persons given to the lake itself), and of Tiberias on the west ' (v. 15). Josephus refers to other features. The lake of Gennesareth derives its appellation from the adja cent district. It is 40 furlongs (five Roman miles), broad, by 14o (17.A. miles) long. Its waters are sweet, and extremely pleasant to drink, as they flow in a clearer stream than the muddy collections of marshes, and they can be drawn free front impurities, being throughout confined by abrupt and sandy shores. They are of a medium tempera ture, milder than those of the river or the fountain; yet uniformly colder than might be expected from the expanse of the lake .. .. The kinds of fish found here differ from those elsewhere met with ' (Bell.
7zid. io. 7).
Recent measurements have shewn that the dimensions of the lake have not been quite cor rectly given by either writer. Its extreme length is 121 geographical miles, and its breadth 6; equal to about 16 by Roman miles. It is of an oval shape, or rather the form of an egg, with the large end to the north. The Sea of Galilee has none of those picturesque or sublime features for which the lakes of Italy and Switzerland ale justly celebrated ; it has not even the stern grandeur of the Dead Sea. The shores are singularly uniform. There are no bold cliffs jutting far out into deep water; there are no winding bays running away inland. The bed of the sea is like a huge basin. Along its eastern and western sides the banks rise steep, bare, and rugged, to the height of nearly 2000 feet ; and their tops, especially those on the east, are as level as a wall. At the north and south ends, where the Jordan enters and passes out, there are wide openings, through which views are gained up and down the valley. Yet nature has not left this scene altogether destitute of ornament. The scenery is not quite so dreary, nor are the hues of the landscape so dead and sombre as Dr. Traill would have us imagine (Traill's 7osephzes, p. cvi.) True, when the sun is high and the sky cloudless, and when the pilgrim looks down from the top of the mountains, there is a dreariness in the land scape, and a uniformity of cold gray colour, which wearies the eye; but let him go down to the shore and wait till the sun declines, and he will be en chanted with the deep ethereal blue of the smooth water, and the tints, rose-coloured, pearl-gray, and purple, blended together,' and thrown in soft shades over the sides of the encircling hills. The
pale blue cone of Hermon, with its glittering crown of snow, forms a glorious back-ground (Van de Velde, 388; Robinson, ii. 38o, sq.; Stanley, 362; Handbook for S. and P., 418). Round the whole shore, with only one or two short interruptions, there is a broad strand of white pebbles, mixed with little shells. The Jordan enters at the extreme northern end of the lake, and leaves again at the southern. The utter loneliness and absolute stillness of the scene are exceedingly impressive. It seems as if all nature had g,one to rest, languishin,g under that scorching heat. How different it was in the days of our Lord ! Then all was life and bustle along the shores ; the cities and villages that thickly studded them resound ed with the hum of a busy population ; while from hill-side and corn-field come the cheerful cry of shep herd and ploughman. The lake, too, was dotted with dark fishing-boats, and spangled with white sails. Now, a mournful and solitary silence reigns alike over sea and shore. The cities are in ruins. Capernaum, Chorazin, the two Bethsaidas, Hippo, Gamala, and Tarichea, are completely deserted. Tiberias and Magdala are the only inhabited spots; and for several miles inland in every direction the country looks waste and desolate. The inhabi tants—merchants, fishermen, and peasants—are nearly all gone. The few that remain in the shattered houses of Tiberias, and the mud hovels of Magdala, and the black tents of the wandering Bedawin, seem worn and wasted by poverty and sickness. When the writer last visited it (185S), the Sea of Galilee could just boast of one small boat, and it was so rotten and leaky as not to be sea-worthy. The fish, however, are as abundant as ever ; for though only little hand-nets are used, a considerable sum is paid to the government for the privilege of fishing (Burckhardt, Travels in Syria, 332; Robinson, ii. 386). It was observed by Hasselquist that some of the same specii of fish are found in the Sea of Galilee as in the Nile (Travels, p. r58) ; the same fact had been noted by Josephus Yud. to. 8). The kinds referred to are Cyprimis Benni, Stherus, Nor myna, etc. (See Wilson's Lands of the Bible, ii. 113; Robinson, ii. 386).
The most remarkable fact in the physical geo graphy of the Sea of Galilee, is its great depression. Its surface is about 650 feet (some make it as much as 845) below the level of the ocean ! (Van de Velde's Memoir of Map of Palestine, p. This has a marked effect 011 the temperature, climate, and natural products. The heat is intense during the summer months. The harvest on the shore is nearly a month earlier than on the neigh bouring high lands of Galilee and Bashan. Frost is unknown, and snow very rarely falls. The trees, plants, and vegetables, are those usually found in Egypt ; such as the palm, the lote-tree (Ziwhzes loins), and the indigo plant, etc. (Robinson, ii. 388; Josephus, Bell. "ied. iii. 10. 7 and S). Though the whole basin of the lake, and indeed the Jordan valley, is of volcanic origin, as evidenced by the thermal springs and the frequent earth quakes, yet the main formation of the surrounding wall of mountains is limestone. A large number of black stones and boulders of basaltic tufa are scattered along the slopes and upland plains, and dykes of basalt here and there burst Through the limestone strata in the neighbourhood of Tiberias and along the northern shore (See Robinson, /. c.; Hasselquist, p. 283 ; Wilson's Lands of the Bible, 112, 15I).—j. L. P.