_Sea of_. This inland sea, or more properly lake, which derives
its several names, the lake of Tiberias, the sea of Galilee, and the
lake of Gennesareth, from the territory which forms its western and
south-western border, is computed to be between seventeen and eighteen
miles in length, and from five to six in breadth. The mountains on the
east come close to its shore, and the country on that side has not a
very agreeable aspect: on the west, it has the plain of Tiberias, the
high ground of the plain of Hutin, or Hottein, the plain of Gennesareth,
and the foot of those hills by which you ascend to the high mountain of
Saphet. To the north and south it has a plain country, or valley. There
is a current throughout the whole breadth of the lake, even to the
shore; and the passage of the Jordan through it is discernible by the
smoothness of the surface in that part. Various travellers have given
different accounts of its general aspect. According to Captain Mangles,
the land about it has no striking features, and the scenery is
altogether devoid of character. “It appeared,” he says, “to particular
disadvantage to us, after those beautiful lakes we had seen in
Switzerland; but it becomes a very interesting object when you consider
the frequent allusions to it in the Gospel narrative.” Dr. Clarke, on
the contrary, speaks of the uncommon grandeur of this memorable scenery.
“The lake of Gennesareth,” he says, “is surrounded by objects well
calculated to heighten the solemn impressions made by such
recollections, and affords one of the most striking prospects in the
Holy Land. Speaking of it comparatively, it may be described as longer
and finer than any of our Cumberland and Westmoreland lakes, although
perhaps inferior to Loch Lomond. It does not possess the vastness of the
lake of Geneva, although it much resembles it in certain points of view.
In picturesque beauty, it comes nearest to the lake of Locarno, in
Italy, although it is destitute of any thing similar to the islands by
which that majestic piece of water is adorned. It is inferior in
magnitude, and in the height of its surrounding mountains, to the Lake
Asphaltites.” Mr. Buckingham may perhaps be considered as having given
the most accurate account, and one which reconciles, in some degree, the
differing statements above cited, when, speaking of the lake as seen
from Tel Hoom, he says, that its appearance is grand, but that the
barren aspect of the mountains on each side, and the total absence of
wood, give a cast of dulness to the picture: this is increased to
melancholy by the dead calm of its waters, and the silence which reigns
throughout its whole extent, where not a boat or vessel of any kind is
to be found. The situation of the lake, lying, as it were, in a deep
basin between the hills which enclose it on all sides, excepting only
the narrow entrance and outlets of the Jordan at either end, protects
its waters from long-continued tempests: its surface is in general as
smooth as that of the Dead Sea. But the same local features render it
occasionally subject to whirlwinds, squalls, and sudden gusts from the
mountains, of short duration; especially when the strong current formed
by the Jordan is opposed by a wind of this description from the
south-east, sweeping from the mountains with the force of a hurricane,
it may easily be conceived that a boisterous sea must be instantly
raised, which the small vessels of the country would be unable to
resist. A storm of this description is plainly denoted by the language
of the evangelist, in recounting one of our Lord’s miracles: “There came
down a storm of wind on the lake, and they were filled with water, and
were in jeopardy. Then he arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of
the water; and they ceased, and there was a calm,” Luke viii, 23, 24.
There were fleets of some force on this lake during the wars of the Jews
with the Romans, and very bloody battles were fought between them.
Josephus gives a particular account of a naval engagement between the
Romans under Vespasian, and the Jews who had revolted during the
administration of Agrippa. Titus and Trajan were both present, and
Vespasian himself was on board the Roman fleet. The rebel force
consisted of an immense multitude, who, as fugitives after the capture
of Tarichæa by Titus, had sought refuge on the water. The vessels in
which the Romans defeated them were built for the occasion, and yet were
larger than the Jewish ships. The victory was followed by so terrible a
slaughter of the Jews, that nothing was to be seen, either on the lake
or its shores, but the blood and mangled corses of the slain; and the
air was infected by the number of dead bodies. Six thousand five hundred
persons are stated to have perished in this naval engagement, and in the
battle of Tarichæa, beside twelve hundred who were afterward massacred
in cold blood, by order of Vespasian, in the amphitheatre at Tiberias,
and a vast number who were given to Agrippa as slaves.
its several names, the lake of Tiberias, the sea of Galilee, and the
lake of Gennesareth, from the territory which forms its western and
south-western border, is computed to be between seventeen and eighteen
miles in length, and from five to six in breadth. The mountains on the
east come close to its shore, and the country on that side has not a
very agreeable aspect: on the west, it has the plain of Tiberias, the
high ground of the plain of Hutin, or Hottein, the plain of Gennesareth,
and the foot of those hills by which you ascend to the high mountain of
Saphet. To the north and south it has a plain country, or valley. There
is a current throughout the whole breadth of the lake, even to the
shore; and the passage of the Jordan through it is discernible by the
smoothness of the surface in that part. Various travellers have given
different accounts of its general aspect. According to Captain Mangles,
the land about it has no striking features, and the scenery is
altogether devoid of character. “It appeared,” he says, “to particular
disadvantage to us, after those beautiful lakes we had seen in
Switzerland; but it becomes a very interesting object when you consider
the frequent allusions to it in the Gospel narrative.” Dr. Clarke, on
the contrary, speaks of the uncommon grandeur of this memorable scenery.
“The lake of Gennesareth,” he says, “is surrounded by objects well
calculated to heighten the solemn impressions made by such
recollections, and affords one of the most striking prospects in the
Holy Land. Speaking of it comparatively, it may be described as longer
and finer than any of our Cumberland and Westmoreland lakes, although
perhaps inferior to Loch Lomond. It does not possess the vastness of the
lake of Geneva, although it much resembles it in certain points of view.
In picturesque beauty, it comes nearest to the lake of Locarno, in
Italy, although it is destitute of any thing similar to the islands by
which that majestic piece of water is adorned. It is inferior in
magnitude, and in the height of its surrounding mountains, to the Lake
Asphaltites.” Mr. Buckingham may perhaps be considered as having given
the most accurate account, and one which reconciles, in some degree, the
differing statements above cited, when, speaking of the lake as seen
from Tel Hoom, he says, that its appearance is grand, but that the
barren aspect of the mountains on each side, and the total absence of
wood, give a cast of dulness to the picture: this is increased to
melancholy by the dead calm of its waters, and the silence which reigns
throughout its whole extent, where not a boat or vessel of any kind is
to be found. The situation of the lake, lying, as it were, in a deep
basin between the hills which enclose it on all sides, excepting only
the narrow entrance and outlets of the Jordan at either end, protects
its waters from long-continued tempests: its surface is in general as
smooth as that of the Dead Sea. But the same local features render it
occasionally subject to whirlwinds, squalls, and sudden gusts from the
mountains, of short duration; especially when the strong current formed
by the Jordan is opposed by a wind of this description from the
south-east, sweeping from the mountains with the force of a hurricane,
it may easily be conceived that a boisterous sea must be instantly
raised, which the small vessels of the country would be unable to
resist. A storm of this description is plainly denoted by the language
of the evangelist, in recounting one of our Lord’s miracles: “There came
down a storm of wind on the lake, and they were filled with water, and
were in jeopardy. Then he arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of
the water; and they ceased, and there was a calm,” Luke viii, 23, 24.
There were fleets of some force on this lake during the wars of the Jews
with the Romans, and very bloody battles were fought between them.
Josephus gives a particular account of a naval engagement between the
Romans under Vespasian, and the Jews who had revolted during the
administration of Agrippa. Titus and Trajan were both present, and
Vespasian himself was on board the Roman fleet. The rebel force
consisted of an immense multitude, who, as fugitives after the capture
of Tarichæa by Titus, had sought refuge on the water. The vessels in
which the Romans defeated them were built for the occasion, and yet were
larger than the Jewish ships. The victory was followed by so terrible a
slaughter of the Jews, that nothing was to be seen, either on the lake
or its shores, but the blood and mangled corses of the slain; and the
air was infected by the number of dead bodies. Six thousand five hundred
persons are stated to have perished in this naval engagement, and in the
battle of Tarichæa, beside twelve hundred who were afterward massacred
in cold blood, by order of Vespasian, in the amphitheatre at Tiberias,
and a vast number who were given to Agrippa as slaves.