Capernaum

• SCHOLARLY AND FICTIONAL WORKS: see Category:Capernaum (subject)
• ANCIENT SOURCES: see Capernaum (sources)

Capernaum was a village in Galilee on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee.

Overview

Capernaum was a small village in Galilee.

The site was more structurally inhabited starting from the mid 2nd-century BCE and declined by the 12-13th centuries CE. During the Second Temple period, it remained a small settlement of farmers and fishermen, with no walls or fortifications. Mentioned by Josephus, it was the center of the preaching of Jesus of Nazareth.

In Byzantine period, Capernaum remained a small village in Galilee with a Jewish population, including a Christian community.

Capernaum in ancient sources

• See Capernaum (sources)

Capernaum in Scholarship

Capernaum was first described by American explorer Edward Robinson in 1838: "The whole place is desolate and mournful. A few Arabs only of the Semekiyeh were here encamped in tents, and had built up a few hovels among the ruins which they used as magazines." He also noticed "the prostrate ruins of an edifice which, for expense, labour and ornament, surpasses any thing we have yet seen in Palestine." He later correctly identified the ruins as that of a synagogue.

In 1866 British explorer Charles W. Wilson made some soundings and described two monumental tombs.

To protect the site from damage and vandalism, the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land purchased it in 1894.

In 1905 the excavation of the synagogue started under the direction of Heinrich Kohl and Carl Watzinger of the Deutsche Orient-Gesellschaft, followed (1906-1915) by Franciscan architect Wendelin von Menden.

Between 1921 and 1926, Fr. Gaudentius Orfali of Nazareth made additional excavations of the site and completed the restoration of the synagogue (1922-1925). It was believed that the monumental synagogue dated from the first century and was the one mentioned in the Gospels.

From 1986 to 1991, Virgilio Corbo and Stanislao Loffreda directed a systematic excavation that included not only the synagogue but also the ruins of a Byzantine octagonal church and of the entire site. In the same years, V. Tzaferis of the Department of Antiquities conducted five seasons of excavations in the nearby Greek-Orthodox property (1978-1982).

The excavations demonstrated that the monumental synagogue was built in the late 4th century. Some elements seems to suggest the presence of a previous synagogue, but the evidence is disputed.

Close to synagogue, the ruins of a Byzantine octagonal church from the 5th century CE were excavated. The church was built on some older buildings, which have been suggested could be the house where Peter and Andrew lived.

In 1986 the remains of a 1st-century fishing boat were found, and are now on display at the Yigal Alon Museum in Kibbutz Ginosar, Tiberias. Although no evidence connects the artifact to Jesus or his disciples, the boat provides a good example of the type of boat used of the time.

Today, Capernaum is a popular archaeological site. The major attractions are the ruins of the monumental synagogue and of the socalled House of Peter, and the remains of the Sea of Galilee boat.

External links

• Wikipedia
• Jewish Virtual Library / BiblePlaces.com

Pictures on the web

• Artistic Reconstruction of ancient Capernaum (Art by Balage Balogh) <ferrelljenkins.wordpress.com>