ON THE SEA OF GALILEE
We are in a fisherman’s skiff on the Sea of Galilee. We have just left
Tiberias, the ancient city of Herod near the southern end of the lake,
and are on our way to Capernaum, that white spot which you can see on
the shore at the north where Christ lived and preached. It seems strange
that one can carry the whole Sea of Galilee in his eye. I have always
thought of it as only a little less than an ocean, or at least as big as
the largest of our great freshwater lakes. The truth is that compared
to Lake Michigan it is only a puddle. It is about half as large as Lake
Cayuga, at Ithaca, New York, and standing on any of the hills rising
precipitously about it one can plainly see the whole body of water.
This so-called sea is only six miles wide at its widest part from east
to west, and from where the Jordan flows in at the north to the place
where it empties out at the south the distance is a scant thirteen miles.
The sea lies in the depression of the Jordan Valley, the river forming a
winding canal two hundred miles long which connects it with the Dead Sea
at the south.
Lake Superior is a little more than six hundred feet above the level of
the ocean. The Sea of Galilee is more than six hundred and eighty feet
below that level and lies in a nest of beautiful mountains which slope
up from the water in picturesque shapes.
Over there at the west the shores are bright green and are spotted with
wild flowers. The grass makes a waving sheet of emerald velvet which
seems almost to reach the fleecy white clouds of the blue sky above.
Farther to the south are the Galilean mountains, now gray in the morning
sun, with masses of smoky clouds hanging over them. They are full of
water; and as I look, lo! the rain comes. The sun is still shining and
has painted a rainbow over that part of the lake covering the town of
Magdala, which, as you remember, was Mary Magdalen’s home.
Looking through the rainbow you can catch sight of the Mount of the
Beatitudes where our Saviour sat when He preached the Sermon on the
Mount. On the sloping little hill at the left it is said He commanded the
weary multitude to sit down on the grass and fed the five thousand.
Now look eastward to the lands on the opposite sides of the lake and the
Jordan. They rise straight up from the water. The hills are so steep that
it would be almost impossible to climb them, and they are ragged and
rough. That is the land of the Gadarenes, where our Lord cast out the
devils into the swine which ran violently down a steep place into the sea.
All about us are the most familiar scenes of the Scriptures. Every bit
of these shores has been hallowed; and as we look the figures of the Old
and New Testaments spring into life. It is impossible to read the Bible
in the Holy Land and not feel that its people were real men and women.
The apostles had the same feelings as ours; they lived in a world much
the same; they breathed the same air; they loved and sorrowed as we do
to-day.
[Illustration: In a galvanized iron shack, the home of newly arrived
colonists, the bread of Bible times is made by a Jewess from modern
Europe. Palestine, as a national home, has had a special appeal to the
persecuted Jews of Poland and southeastern Europe]
[Illustration: Near the waters of Lake Merom, where Joshua smote
the Philistines, we see to-day the new farmer of Palestine and his
transportation. At last even the roads of that backward land are being
improved so that motor cars may go over them]
I doubt not our Lord appreciated the beauties of Galilee. Its scenery
is as picturesque as that of any lake in the Alps, and its loveliness
changes every hour of the day. I saw the sun set last night. The clouds
hung heavy over the hills to the east of the Jordan and the sun gilded
the top of the Mount of the Beatitudes as it went down in the west. A
little before that these waters were a glorious yellow which faded away
into a rich copper bronze. At the same time the heavens were burnished
copper, cloud piled upon cloud, and the whole was mirrored in the glassy
surface beneath. The Sea of Galilee has always been noted for its
wonderful beauty. It was a pleasure resort at the time of Herod Antipas,
and the palaces of Tiberias and Capernaum were famous all over the East.
Later on I had still another view of the lake. It was moonlight on the
Sea of Galilee. The great round queen of the heavens, her golden face at
its full, shone out of a mass of dark blue with black clouds behind it.
The rays of the moon striking the sea obliquely painted a wide path of
silver running from the hills of Gadara across the waters to Tiberias.
I gazed at the scene from the window of my hotel over the minarets of a
Mohammedan mosque. It reminded me of Lake Como and of some Scottish lakes.
As we ride up the lake to-day I watch closely the fishermen handling
our craft. We are in a skiff about thirty feet long and four feet wide.
It has a white leg-of-mutton sail which is filled by the wind from the
south, and we are speeding over the water. Our boat leaves a pathway of
diamonds dropped there by the sun. I reach over the side of the boat and
let my hand trail in the water. It is cool. I dip up some in my palm and
taste it. It is quite brackish.
Now the fishermen have laid their oars across the sides of the boat. They
are depending on the wind to carry us onward. Some are asleep, among them
one at the prow who lies with bare legs outspread, his bronzed face in
the full glare of the sun. He is snoring. At the right is a man mending
a net, while on the other side of the boat two are chatting. The scene
might have been one on this same lake nineteen centuries ago, when Christ
called men like these from their boats to be “fishers of men.”
By and by the subject of fishing comes up. Thinking of the great draught
which Simon Peter and the other apostles drew up when they cast their
nets at the command of our Lord at the time He appeared to them here
after His crucifixion, I ask if there are still many fish in the lake.
They tell me that the sea is alive with good fish and that quantities are
carried to Nazareth and other Galilean towns every week. Some are sent to
Damascus by railroad and some are salted and shipped off to Jerusalem.
About a year ago a party took five tons of fish in one day. The catch was
so great that fish sold in Tiberias for one cent apiece, and six pounds
or more could be bought for a penny. All along the lake there are fishing
villages where the fishermen are still to be seen dragging their nets or
mending them as they float near the shore. I am told that there are three
ways of fishing. One is by hook and the others are by nets. One kind of
net is cast. It is used from the shores by the fishermen wading breast
deep into the water. The net is a great ring or disk of thread weighted
with lead. As it sinks, it takes the shape of a dome, falling upon the
fish it incloses. The fisherman dives down and draws the leads together
and carries net and catch to the banks. Much fishing of this kind is done
near Magdala. Another net is a dragnet, with floats at the top and leads
at the bottom. This is usually worked from a boat dragging the net so
that it forms a loop and scoops in the fish. Among the fish caught are
excellent bass, some of which we have had at the hotel. An especially
curious fish is that known as the _chromis simonis_, the male of which
carries the eggs and the young about in its mouth.
The storms come up quickly on Galilee. I have seen several since I
arrived in Tiberias and have experienced one or two on the sea. It was
during one of these storms, when they were crossing the sea, that the
apostles came to our Lord, who was sleeping, and begged him to save them.
He arose and rebuked the waters, and lo, it was calm.
At the time of another storm He was not with them, having gone up into
a mountain apart to pray. The ship was in the midst of the sea, tossed
by the waves, when the disciples saw Him walking on the water. They were
troubled, and, thinking Him a spirit, cried out for fear. Then Jesus
said: “Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.”
And you remember how when Peter tried to go to Him, and when he saw
the wind boisterous, his heart failed him and he began to sink, Jesus
stretched forth His hand and caught him, saying: “O thou of little
faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?” And when they were come into the ship
the wind ceased.
But our wind also has dropped. The boatmen are lowering the sails and we
are gliding to the shores of Capernaum. They are now covered with rich
meadows, with here and there ploughed fields and crops of fast-growing
grain. From the boat we can see no signs that a city once stood on the
spot. The only evidence of life is a low, gray, one-story monastery
belonging to the Franciscans, who are excavating the ruins and digging
temples and synagogues out of the soil. They own several hundred acres
running along the beach and extending for perhaps a mile up the hills.
Some of their lands are under cultivation, and there are orchards of
lemons, oranges, and almonds to the east of their buildings.
Landing at the wharf we enter a door in the walls which surround the
excavations. I introduce myself to Father Wenderlin, an austere-looking
priest who speaks German. He takes me around and shows me the results of
the work. He says they are digging up what is believed to be the actual
synagogue where Jesus Christ taught when He came here from Nazareth. As
you must remember, Capernaum was His home. It was from here that He found
most of His disciples and here He cured Simon’s wife’s mother who lay
sick of a fever. Here, disgusted with the wickedness of the city, He said:
And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto Heaven shall be
brought down to hell; for if the mighty works which have been
done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained
unto this day.
The prophecy then uttered has long since come to pass. The city of
Capernaum is not.
[Illustration: The prayer niches of the Grand Mosque of Damascus are
marvels in mosaics. Marble and wood are inlaid with gold, silver,
precious stones, and glass. They were presented to the mosque by pious
and wealthy Mohammedans as thankofferings for Divine favour]
[Illustration: In this Mohammedan cemetery in Damascus lies Fatima,
daughter of the Prophet, and also two of the Prophet’s wives. On
Thursdays the women of the city come to mourn at the graves]
The ruins of the synagogue show the splendour of the ancient city. I
walked around its boundaries. It was fifty-four feet long and seventy-two
feet wide. Its front, which faced the sea, had a great many marble
columns, and it was built in two stories, the upper of which was for
the women. The pillars are three feet thick, smoothly finished and
exquisitely carved. The marble work is that common in Rome shortly before
the time of Christ, and much of it is uninjured.
So far only a small portion of the site of Capernaum has been explored.
There are a thousand acres or so left that in all probability contain
ruins which, when exposed, may cast new light upon the days and time of
the Saviour. The Franciscan monks will not permit relics to be taken
away, and they forbid the use of cameras. Father Wendelin carries a long
black snake whip with him, and I am told that he uses it if he is not
obeyed. The other day a woman tourist brought in a camera under her coat
and, notwithstanding his objections, took a snapshot, whereupon he is
said to have laid hold of her and thrown her out of the place.
I am stopping at Tiberias in a little German hotel where I have a
comfortable room looking out on the water. Tiberias is the largest
settlement on the sea. It lies on the western shore at the southern
end, within a mile or so of the Horns of Hattin where it is said Christ
delivered the Sermon on the Mount. It is only a short sail from where the
Jordan flows out to the Dead Sea, and from Semakh, where the railroad now
goes north on its way from Haifa to Damascus.
The city was the capital of Galilee, and it was at the height of its
prosperity when Christ was living at Capernaum. It was founded by Herod
Antipas, the son of Herod, the baby killer, and was named after the Roman
Emperor Tiberias. It was constructed while Christ was living in Nazareth,
and was a new and thriving city during His residence at Capernaum. It
is doubtful that He even visited it, for the Bible does not mention His
doing so.
The city had a palace and a race course in those days, and after the
destruction of Jerusalem it became the chief seat of the Jewish nation.
It is still one of the three holy cities of the Jews and it has many
Israelites among its citizens. They go about in long coats and caps
bound with fur, and are noted for their piety and for their knowledge of
the Talmud. Many of them are Spanish Jews who have come here to live on
account of the holiness of the city.
The Tiberias of to-day is not attractive. It is a mass of gray stone
and brick buildings, with flat roofs painted white. The streets are
narrow and filthy and smell to heaven. The Arabs have a saying that the
king of the fleas lives here. The human population is something like
eight thousand, of whom about two thirds are Jews and the remainder
Mohammedans and Christians. The Jews have ten synagogues and there is
also a Mohammedan mosque. The northern limits of the place are marked by
the ruins of the Roman town, and the remains of its walls and a gate are
still standing.
The hot springs on the shores of the lake a half mile from the city,
which were famous in the days of the Romans, are still used. They are
in many respects similar to those of Carlsbad, the waters containing
sulphur, chloride of magnesia, and iron. They are good for skin
diseases, and if they were under American management might be made to pay
well. One of the most interesting and valuable institutions in this city
is the hospital belonging to the Scottish missionaries. It has thousands
of patients a year and is doing great good.
I came here from Nazareth riding over the mountains of Galilee. The
road is fairly good, although it is up and down hill all the way. About
six miles from Nazareth I stopped at the village of Cana where our Lord
was a guest at the wedding feast and turned the water into wine. I even
saw the stone jars or tubs which the people who own one of the churches
there say were the jars used for that miracle. They are kept inside the
church, and it took several fees to get to them. They are great limestone
receptacles, looking much like mortars, and it is likely that wheat was
ground in them by means of a pestle.
I also visited the spring at Cana. As there is only one, it must have
been from there that the water which was turned into wine was obtained.
Four camels, six sheep, and two cows were drinking at it as I stopped,
and a half-dozen girls with water-bags were waiting for their family
supply. It is probable that Cana was much larger and more prosperous in
the days of our Saviour than now.