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...]