 View from Mount Arbel |
 Pilgrims’ boat |
 Gennesaret |
Sea of Galilee (Lake Kinneret)
(Joshua 12:3)
Sweet water lake in the northern Jordan Valley known as the Sea of Galilee or Lake Kinneret and associated with the miracles of Jesus.
It is bounded on the east by the Golan Heights, the west by the mountains of Lower Galilee, on the north by the Hula Valley and the south by the Jordan Valley.
It’s major water sources are the Jordan River, streams from the hills and rainfall.
It has been called by many names throughout the ages: Sea of Galilee, Sea of Tiberias, Sea of Ginnesar and others. Its surface height is approximately 210 meters below sea level. Length -21 km., average width -12 km., area – 170 sq. km. and capacity – 4 billion cubic meters. Along its generally narrow shores are 3 fertile valleys: the Ginnesar Valley, Bet Zayda (Buteiha) Valley and the Jordan Valley.
History: During the Israelite conquest it was included in the Naphtali tribal allotment and during the Second Temple Period its shores were lined with many Jewish villages: Tiberias, Migdal, Susita, Bet Yerah and Kefar Nahum.
The lake and many adjacent sites are holy to Christians. Many of Jesus’ miracles and incidents in his life took place on the shores of the Sea of Galilee.
With renewed Jewish settlement in the 19th century, new villages and towns sprang up on the shores of the lake.
