Lower Galilee.— The whole of Galilee presents country more or less disturbed by volcanic action. In the lower division the hills are all tilted up towards the east, and broad streams of lava have flowed over the plateau above the sea of Galilee. In this district the highest hills are only about 1800 feet above the sea. The ridge of Nazareth rises north of the great plain of Esdraelon, and north of this again is the fertile basin of the Buttauf, separated from the seacoast plains by low hills. East of the Buttauf extends the basaltic plateau called el Ahma (“the inaccessible ”), rising 1700 feet above the sea of Galilee. North of the Buttauf is a confused hill country, the spurs falling towards a broad valley which lies at the foot of the mountains of Upper Galilee. This broad valley, running westwards to the coast, is the old boundary of Zebulun—the valley of Jiphthah-el (Josh. xix. 14). The great plain of Esdraelon is of triangular form, bounded by Gilboa on the east and by the ridge which runs to Carmel on the west. It is 14 miles long from Jenin to the Nazareth hills, and has a mean measurement of 9 miles east and west. It rises 200 feet above the sea, the hills on both sides being some 1500 feet higher. The whole drainage is collected by the Kishon, which runs through a narrow gorge at the north-west corner of the plain, descending beside the ridge of Carmel to the sea. The broad valley of Jezreel on the east, descending towards the Jordan valley, forms the gate by which Palestine is entered from beyond Jordan. Mount Tabor stands isolated in the plain at the north-east corner, and rather further south the conical hill called Neby Duhy rises between Tabor and Gilboa. The whole of Lower Galilee is well watered. The Kishon is fed by springs from near Tabor and from a copious stream from the west side of the plain of Esdraelon. North-west of Nazareth is Wâdy el Melek, an open valley full of springs. The river Belus, just south of Acre, rising in the sea-coast marshes, drains the whole valley of Jiphthah-el. On the east the broad valley of Jezreel is full of magnificent springs, many of which are thermal. The plains of Esdraelon, and the Buttauf, and the plateau of el Ahma, are all remarkable for the rich basaltic soil which covers them, in which corn, cotton, maize, sesame, tobacco, millet, and various kinds of vegetable are grown, while indigo and sugar-cane were cultivated in former times. The Nazareth hills and Gilboa are bare and white, but west of Nazareth is a fine oak wood, and another thick wood spreads over the northern slopes of Tabor. The hills west of the great plain are partly of bare white chalk, partly covered with dense thickets. The mountains north of the Buttauf are rugged and covered with scrub, except near the villages, where fine olive groves exist. The principal places of importance in Lower Galilee are Nazareth (10,000 inhabitants), Sepphoris (now Seffûrieh), a large village standing above the Buttauf on the spurs of the southern hills, and Jenîn (En Gannim), a flourishing village, with a palm garden (3000 inhabitants). The ancient capital, Jezreel (Zerin), is now a miserable village on a precipitous spur of Gilboa; north of this are the small mud hamlets, Solam (Shunem), Endûr (Endor), Nein (Nain); on the west side of the plain is the ruin of Lejjûn (the Legio of the 4th century, which was then a place of importance). In the hills north of the Buttauf is Jefât, situated on a steep hilltop, and representing the Jotapata defended by Josephus. Kefr Kenna, now a flourishing Christian village at the foot of the Nazareth hills, south of the Buttauf, represents the probable site of Cana of Galilee, and the ruin Kâna, on the north side of the same plain, represents the site pointed out to the pilgrims of the 12th and 13th centuries.

Upper Galilee.— The mountains are tilted up towards the sea of Galilee, and the drainage of the district is towards the north-west. On the south the rocky range of Jebel Jermûk rises to 4000 feet above the sea; on the east a narrow ridge 2800 feet high forms the watershed, with steep eastern slopes falling towards Jordan. Immediately west of the watershed are two small plateaus, covered with basaltic debris, near el Jish and Kades. On the west are rugged mountains with deep intricate valleys. The main drains of the country are—first, Wâdy el ’Ayûn, rising north of Jebel Jermûk, and running north-west as an open valley, and secondly, Wâdy el Ahjâr, a rugged precipitous gorge running north to join the Leontes. The district is well provided with springs throughout, and the valleys are full of water in the spring time. Though rocky and difficult, Upper Galilee is not barren, the soil of the plateaus is rich, and the vine flourishes in the higher hills, especially in the neighbourhood of Kefr Birim. The principal town is Safed, perched on a white mountain 2700 feet above the sea. It has a population of about 9000, including Jews, Christians, and Moslems. It is one of the four sacred cities in Palestine revered by the Jews, to which nationality the majority of the inhabitants belong. Among the smaller towns we may notice Meirûn, near Safed, a place also much revered by the Jews as containing the tombs of Hillel, Shammai, and Simon bar Jochai. A yearly festival of most curious character is here celebrated in honour of these rabbis. The site of Hazor, one of the chief towns of Galilee in Bible times, has also been lately recovered. It was situated, according to Josephus, above the Lake Semechonitis (Bahr el Hûleh), and the name Hudîreh, identical with the Hebrew Hazor, has been found by the survey party in 1877 applying to a mountain and plain, near an ancient ruin, in the required position. The little village of Kades represents the once important town of Kadesh Naphtali (Josh. xix. 37). The ruins are here extensive and interesting, but belong apparently to the Greek period.

The population of Galilee is mixed. In Lower Galilee the peasants are principally Moslem, with a sprinkling of Greek Christians round Nazareth, which is a Christian town. In Upper Galilee, however, there is a mixture of Jews and Maronites, Druses and Moslems (natives or Algerine settlers), while the slopes above the Jordan are inhabited by wandering Arabs. The Jews are engagedin trade, and the Christians, Druses, and Moslems in agriculture; and the Arabs are an entirely pastoral people.

The principal products of the country are corn, wine, oil, and soap (from the olives), with every species of pulse and gourd.

The antiquities of Galilee include cromlechs and rude stone monuments, rock-cut tombs, and wine-presses, with numerous remains of Byzantine monasteries and fine churches of the time of the crusades. There are also remains of Greek architecture in various places, but the most interesting buildings are the ancient synagogues. These have not been found in other parts of Palestine, but in Galilee eleven examples are now known. They are rectangular, with the door to the south, and three rows of columns forming four aisles east and west. The architecture is a peculiar and debased imitation of classic style, attributed by architects to the 2d century of our era. The builder of the examples at Kefr Birim, el Jish, and Meirûn is known to have been the famous Simeon bar Jochai, who lived about 150 a.d., and built 24 synagogues in Galilee. The similarity of style renders it probable that the other examples at Tell Hûm, Kerâzeli, Nebartein, Umm el ’ Amed, and Sufsâf were also his work. Both at el Jish and at Kefr Birim there are two synagogues, large and small. A<, Irbid, above Tiberias, is another synagogue of rather different character, which is said to have been built by Rabbi Nitai. Traces of synagogues have also been found on Carmel, and at Tireh, west of Nazareth. It is curious to find the representation of various animals in relief on the lintels of these buildings. Hebrew inscriptions also occur, and the carved work of the cornice3 and capitals is very rich. These synagogues were erected at a time when the Galilean Jews were flourishing under the Roman empire, and when Tiberias was the central seat of Jewish learning and of the Sanhedrin.

In the 12th century Galilee was the outpost of the Christian kingdom of Jerusalem, and its borders were strongly protected by fortresses, the magnificent remains of which still crown the most important strategical points. Toron (now Tibnιn) was built in 1104, the first fortress erected by the crusaders, and standing on the summit of the mountains of Upper Galilee. Beauvoir (Kaukab, built in 1182) stood on a precipice above Jordan south-¼ 7 est of the Sea of Galilee, and guarded the advance by the valley of Jezreel; and about the same time Château Neuf (Hunîn) was erected above the Hûleh lake. Belfort (esh Shukif), on the north bank of the Leontes, the finest and most important, dates somewhat earlier; and Montfort (Kalat el Kurn) stood on a narrow spur north-east of Acre, completing the chain of frontier fortresses. The town of Bânias, with its castle, formed also a strong outpost against Damascus, and was the scene, in common with the other strongholds, of many desperate encounters between Moslems and Christians. Lower Galilee was the last remaining portion of the Holy Land held by the Christians. In 1250 the knights of the Teutonic order owned lands extending round Acre as far east as the Sea of Galilee, and including Safed. These possessions were lost in 1291, on the fall of Acre. (c. r. c.)

GALILEE, The Sea of, with its surrounding shores, deserves a more special description than that given of the rest of the district, as being the part of Palestine which most interests modern students and travellers. The lake was also called the Sea of Chinnereth or Chinneroth, and the Lake of Gennesaret or Tiberias; and by Pliny it is said to have been once called Lake of Taricheae. In form it is pearshaped, 12 j English miles in length, and 7∣ at its greatest width. The level is now known to be 682 ’ 5 feet below the Mediterranean. The water is fresh and clear, and large shoals of fish abound in it. The formation of the lake basin occurred later than the Chalk period, and was due to a subsidence of the strata, which appears to have been sudden and violent, and probably accompanied by extensive volcanic eruptions from three centres east, west, and north of the lake. The district has always been liable to volcanic disturbance and to earthquakes. In 1837 Safed and Tiberias were destroyed by earthquake, and the temperature of the hot springs round the lake was then observed to rise considerably for a time.

The Sea of Galilee is best seen from the top of the western precipices, and presents a desolate appearance. On the north the hills rise gradually from the shore, which is fringed with oleander bushes and indented with small bays. The ground is here covered with black basalt. On the west the plateau of el Ahma terminates in precipices 1700 feet above the lake, and over these the black rocky tops called “the Horns of Hattιn” are conspicuous objects. On the south is a broad valley through which the Jordan flows. On the east are furrowed and rugged slopes, rising to the great plateau ι of the Jaulân (Gaulonitis). The Jordan enters the lake through a narrow gorge between lower hills. A marshy plain, 2⅜ miles long and I£ broad, called el Batιhah, exists immediately east of the Jordan inlet There is also on the west side of the lake a small plain called el Ghuweir, formed by the junction of three large valleys. It measures 3∣ miles along the shore, and is 1 mile wide. This plain, naturally fertile, but now almost uncultivated, is recognized to be the plain of Gennesaretħ, described by Josephus (B. J., iii. 10, 8). The shores of the lake are of fine shingle. On the east the hills approach in one place within 40 feet of the water, but there is generally a width of about ∣ of a mile from the hills to the beach. On the west the flat ground at the foot of the hills has an average width of about 200 yards. A few scattered palms dot the western shores, and a palm grove is to be found near Kefr Hârib on the south-east. Thermal springs are found on each side of the lake, with an average temperature of about 80° Fahr. The hot baths south of Tiberias include seven springs, the largest of which has a temperature of 137° Fahr. The plain of Gennesareth, with its environs, is the best watered part of the lake-basin. North of this plain are the five springs of et Tâbghah, the largest of which was enclosed about a century ago by Aly, son of Dhahr el ’Amr, in an octagonal reservoir, and the water led off by an aqueduct 52 feet above the lake. The Tâbghah springs, though abundant, are warm and brackish. At the north end of the plain is ’Ain et Tîneh (“spring of the fig-tree ”), also a brackish spring with a good stream; south of the plain is ’Ain el Bârdeh (“the cold spring”), which is sweet, but scarcely lower in temperature than the others. The most important spring remains still to be noticed, namely, ’Ain el Madâwerah (“the round spring ”), situated 1 mile from the south end of the plain and half a mile from the shore. The water rises in a circular well 32 feet in diameter, and is clear and sweet, with a temperature of 73° Fahr. The bottom is of loose sand, and the fish called coracinus by Josephus (B. J, iii. 10, 8) is here found in abundance. Dr Tristram was the first explorer to identify this fish, and points out that it could not exist in the other springs. We are thus able to identify the “round spring” with the fountain of Capharnaum, which, according to Josephus, watered the plain of Gennesareth.

The principal sites of interest round the lake may be enumerated from north to west and from south to east. Kerâzeh, the undoubted site of Chorazin, stands on a rocky spur 900 feet above the lake, 2 miles north of the shore. Foundations and scattered stones cover the slopes and the flat valley below. On the west is a rugged gorge. In the middle of the ruins are the remains of a synagogue of richly ornamental style built of black basalt. A small spring occurs on the north. Tell Hûm is an important ruin on the shore south of the last mentioned site. The remains consist of foundations and scattered stones (which in spring are concealed by gigantic thistles) extending about half a mile along the shore. The foundations of a fine synagogue, measuring 75 feet by 57, and built in white limestone, have been excavated. A conspicuous building has been erected close to the water, from the fragments of the Tell Hûm synagogue. Since the 4th century Tell Hûm has been pointed out by all the Christian writers as the site of Capernaum, but the fatal objections to such an identification are—(1) the great distance from the fountain of Capharnaum, and (2) the fact that Jewish tradition preserves another site. The ruins at Tell Hûm are not of necessity as old as the time of Christ. The name Hûm means “black,” and is probably connected with the surrounding black basalt. The place seems to be mentioned in the Talmud under the titles Caphar Ahim and Caphar Tanhumin (see Neubauer’s Geog. Taι. i p. 220). Minyeh is a ruined site at the north end of the plain of Gennesareth, 2∣ miles from the last, and close to the shore. There are extensive ruins on flat ground, consisting of mounds and foundations, with traces of a wall once surrounding the site. Masonry of well-dressed stones has also been here discovered in course of excavation. Near the ruins are remains of an old khan, which appears to have been built in the Middle Ages; and above this a curious hillock, with an artificial rock-platform, called el Oreimeh, “the little knoll.” Immediately to the north-east a precipice projects to the lake, and the aqueduct from the Tâbghah spring is led to an ancient rock-cut channel, which seems to have been once intended for a road in the face of the cliff. In the 17th century Quaresmius speaks of this place, Minyeh, as the site of Capernaum. In the 14th Isaac Chelo was apparently shown the same site as containing the tomb of Nahum, and as being the “city of the Minai.” The “Minai,” or “sorcerers,” are mentioned in the Talmud, and by this title the Jews stigmatized the early Christians; and these “Minai” are called in one passage of the Talmud “sons of Capernaum.” There is thus a close connexion between this Minyeh—named from the Minai—and the town of Capernaum. The position of the site is also suitable for that of Capernaum, being in the plain of Gennesareth, two miles from the “round spring,” or fountain of Capharnaum. No other site of any importance exists in the plain of Gennesareth. See Capernaum.

South of the plain of Gennesareth is the undisputed site of the New Testament town of Magdala. A few lotus trees and some rock-cut tombs are here found beside a miserable mud hamlet on the hill slope, with a modern tomb-house or kubbeh. Passing beneath rugged cliffs a recess in the hills is next reached, where stands Tabariya, the ancient Tiberias or Rakkath, containing 3000 inhabitants, more than half of whom are Jews. The walls, flanked with round towers, and now partly destroyed by the earthquake of 1837, were built by Dhahr el ’Amr, as was the serai or court-house. The two mosques, now partly ruinous, were erected by his sons. There are remains of a crusading church, and the tomb of the celebrated Maimonides is shown in the town, while Rabbi Akiba and Rabbi Meir lie buried outside. The ruins of the ancient city, including granite columns and traces of a sea-wall with towers, stretch southwards a mile beyond the modern town. An aqueduct in the cliff once brought water a distance of 9 miles from the south.

Kerak, at the south end of the lake, is an important site on a peninsula surrounded by the water of the lake, by the Jordan, and by a broad water ditch, while on the north-west a narrow neck of land remains. The plateau thus enclosed is partly artificial, and banked up 50 or 60 feet above the water. A ruined citadel remains on the north-west, and on the east was a bridge over the Jordan; broken pottery and fragments of sculptured stone strew the site. The ruin of Kerak answers to the description given by Josephus of the city of Taricheae, which lay 30 stadia from Tiberias, the hot baths being between the two cities. Taricheae was situated, as is Kerak, on the shore below the cliffs, and partly surrounded by water, while before the city was a plain (the Ghor). Pliny further informs us that Taricheae was at the south end of the Sea of Galilee. Sinnabreh, a ruin on a spur of the hills close to the last-mentioned site, is undoubtedly the ancient Sinnabris, where Vespasian (Joseph., B. J., iii. 9, 7) fixed his camp, advancing from Scythopolis (Beisâ,n) on Taricheae and Tiberias. Sinnabris was 30 stadia from Tiberias, or about the distance of the ruin now existing.

The eastern shores of the Sea of Galilee have been less fully explored than the western, and the sites are not so perfectly recovered. The town of Hippo3, one of the cities of Decapolis, was situated 30 stadia from Tiberias, and 60 stadia from Gadara (Umm Keis). It 13 conjectured that the town Susitha, mentioned in the Talmud, is the same place, and the name Susyeh seems to have existed east of the Sea of Galilee at a late period. Susitha from “sus,” meaning “horse,” is, etymologically at least, suggestive of the Greek “hippos.” The site is at present unknown. Kalat el Hosn (“ca3tle of the stronghold ”) is a ruin on a rocky spur opposite Tiberias. Two large ruined buildings remain, with traces of an old street and fallen columns and capitals. A strong wall once surrounded the town; a narrow neck of land exists on the east where the rock has been scarped. Rugged valleys enclose the site on the north and south; broken sarcophagi and rock-cut tombs are found beneath the ruin. This site answers to the description Josephus gives of Gamala, an important fortress besieged by Vespasian {Bell. Jud., iv. 1, 1). Gersa, an insignificant ruin north of the last, is thought to represent the Gerasa or Gergesa of the 4th century, situated east of the lake; and the projecting spur of hill south of this ruin is conjectured to be the place where the swine “ran violently down a steep place” (Matt, viii. 32). The site of Bethsaida Julias, east of Jordan, is also unknown. It has been supposed (and the theory is supported by even so important an authority as Reland) that two separate places named Bethsaida are mentioned in the New Testament. The grounds for this conclusion are, however, very insufficient; and only one Bethsaida is mentioned by Josephus. It was near the Jordan inlet, on the east side of the river, and under its later Greek name of Julias, it is mentioned, with Hippos, by Pliny. The site usually pointed out is the ruin of et Tell, north of the Batihah plain; the remains are, however, modern and insignificant. Just south of the same plain is a ruined village called Mes’aidiyeh, the name of which approaches Bethsaida in sound but not in meaning. This is the site pointed out by Vandevelde, and it is possible that the course of Jordan has shifted westwards, and that the old mouth is marked by the two creeks running into the shore on the east, in which case the site of Mes’aidiyeh might be accepted as the Bethsaida of the gospels, which appears to have been east of Jordan.

Literature. — The most important works on the subject of Galilee and the Sea of Galilee are the following:—Robinson’s Biblical Researches·, Stanley’s Sinai and Palestine·, Tristram’s Land of Israel·, Warren and Wilson’s Recovery of Jerusalem·, Conder’s Tent Work in Palestine·, and the Memoirs of the Survey of Palestine (sheets 1-6, 8, 9).

_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.