Capernaum – The House of St. Peter

Entry to Church House of St. Peter

On the south side of Capernaum stands the large modern church of  The House of St. Peter. It hovers over the ruins of the 5th century octagonal church, also known by the same name. This church had been built over the remains of even earlier buildings.

To begin with the earliest from the first century. Remains of the insula can still be seen beneath the later buildings. According to some archaeologists one room or courtyard within this insula received special status in the latter parts of the first century, becoming a place of assembly. The floor was covered with plaster, and the wall reworked, some even say with inscriptions. This is contested by other archeologists. No household ceramics were found in this room, only a very large amount of oil lamps.

This late 1st century structure may have been used as a domus-ecclesia or house church by the early Christians of Capernaum. [Read more...]

Olives, Olive Trees, Olive Oil

Today most of us think of olives and olive oil primarily as foods. And for very good reasons. Olive oil is considered to be one of the healthiest oils to use in food and food production.

In ancient times olives and olive oil had a much greater use. It was used in food. One of the greatest uses of the oil was for lighting in the oil lamps. It was used for offerings in the Temple in Jerusalem, as anointing oil of kings and priests, in cosmetics and in medicine. What was left over after extraction of the oil was used as fuel and as fertilizer. No wonder that the olive became one of the prestigious ‘Seven Species’ of Deuteronomy (8:8).

The Olive Tree

There are still many wild olives in Israel, but it is the domesticated varieties that are seen throughout the country from the southernmost parts of the Hills of Judea to the high mountains of the Galilee. [Read more...]

Capernaum – The Town of Jesus

25082009981

View of Sea of Galilee from Capernaum

On the north shore of the Sea of Galilee lie the ruins of the town of Capernaum. This town has in modern times become known as the Town of Jesus, because this is where he spent the greater part of the three years of his ministry.

Capernaum has been in ruins and forgotten since the 7th century. It was rediscovered in the middle of the 19th century by the American explorer Edward Robinson, mainly the synagogue. His findings were confirmed by later explorers as well as archaeological excavations. [Read more...]

The Sea of Galilee – Kinneret

Despite the name the Sea of Galilee is not a sea, but a lake, being all fresh water. It is about 28 km long and 10 km wide on the widest. When seen from above it seems to have the shape of the ancient lyre, which in ancient Hebrew was “kinor”. This may be the origin of its Hebrew name – Kinneret.

If it is not, then nobody knows where the Hebrew name stems from. Not that it really matter to the average Israeli, who on holidays or Saturdays will stream to the shores of the Sea of Galilee to bathe, water jetting or visit one of the water slide sites, nor to the tens of thousand of Christian or Jewish visitors to the area. [Read more...]