Sea of Galilee
satellite view
Coordinates	32°50′N 35°35′E
Lake type	Monomictic
Primary inflows	Upper Jordan River and local runoff [1]
Primary outflows	Lower Jordan River, evaporation
Catchment area	2,730 km² [2]
Basin countries	Israel
Max. A lake (from Latin lacus) is a Terrain feature (or Physical feature) a body of Liquid on the surface of a world that is localized to the Monomictic lakes are Holomictic lakes that mix from top to bottom during one mixing period each year In Hydrology, the inflow of a Body of water is the source of the Water in the body of water This article is about the Jordan River and its valley in western Asia In Hydrology, the discharge or outflow of a River is the volume of Water transported by it in a certain amount of time This article is about the Jordan River and its valley in western Asia A drainage basin is an extent of Land where Water from Rain or Snow melt drains downhill into a body of water such as a River, A drainage basin is an extent of Land where Water from Rain or Snow melt drains downhill into a body of water such as a River, length	21 km
Max. width	13 km
Surface area	166 km²
Average depth	25. To help compare different Orders of magnitude and geographical regions we list here areas between 100 km² and 1000 km² 6 m
Max. depth	43 m
Water volume	4 km³
Residence time (of lake water)	5 years
Shore length1	53 km
Surface elevation	-209 m
References	[1][2]
1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure. Lake retention time (also called the Residence time of lake water or the water age or flushing time) is a calculated quantity expressing the

The Sea of Galilee or Lake Kinneret or Lake Tiberius (Hebrew ים כנרת), is Israel's largest freshwater lake, being approximately 53 km (33 miles) in circumference, about 21 km (13 miles) long, and 13 km (8 miles) wide. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Israel topics. Freshwater is a word that refers to bodies of water such as Ponds lakes rivers and streams containing low concentrations of dissolved Salts and other Total dissolved A lake (from Latin lacus) is a Terrain feature (or Physical feature) a body of Liquid on the surface of a world that is localized to the The kilometre ( American spelling: kilometer) symbol km is a unit of Length in the Metric system, equal to one thousand A mile is a unit of Length, usually used to measure Distance, in a number of different systems including Imperial units United States The lake has a total area of 166 km², and a maximum depth of approximately 43 m. The metre or meter is a unit of Length. It is the basic unit of Length in the Metric system and in the International ^[3] At 209 meters below sea level, it is the lowest freshwater lake on Earth and the second-lowest lake in the world after the Dead Sea, a saltwater lake. The Dead Sea (יָם הַ‏‏מֶ‏ּ‏לַ‏ח, "Sea of Salt"البَحْر المَيّت, "Dead Sea" is a salt lake between ^[4]

The Kinneret is situated deep in the Jordan Great Rift Valley, the valley caused by the separation of the African and Arabian Plates and is fed partly by underground springs although its main source is the Jordan River which flows through it from north to south. The Great Rift Valley is a name given in the late 19th century by English explorer John Walter Gregory to the continuous geographic trough approximately in length that runs The African Plate is a Tectonic plate which includes the Continent of Africa, as well as oceanic crust which lies between the continent and various surrounding The Arabian Plate is one of three Tectonic plates (the African Arabian and Indian crustal plates) which have been moving northward over millions of This article is about the Jordan River and its valley in western Asia Consequently the area is subject to earthquakes and, in the past, volcanic activity. An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth 's crust that creates Seismic waves Earthquakes are recorded with a Seismometer Plate tectonics and hotspots Divergent plate boundaries At the This is evidenced by the abundant basalt and other igneous rocks that define the geology of the Galilee region. Basalt (bəˈsɔːlt ˈbeisɔːlt ˈbæsɔːlt is a common Extrusive Volcanic rock. Igneous rocks (etymology from Latin ignis, fire are rocks formed by solidification of cooled Magma (molten rock

Due to its low-lying position in the rift valley, surrounded by hills, the sea is prone to sudden violent storms; hence the New Testament account of Jesus calming the storm. Jesus of Nazareth (7–2 BC / BCE —26–36 AD / CE) Indeed, the main feature of the lake seems to be its ever-changing character. It is still noted, as in New Testament times, for its rich fish stocks.

Contents 1 Etymology 2 Antiquity 3 Medieval times 4 Modern times 5 Fauna and Flora 6 See also 7 References 8 External links

Etymology

The lake often appears on maps as Lake Galilee or Lake Tiberias while in the Bible, it is called the "Sea of Kinneret" (Numbers 34:11; Joshua 13:27).

The name may originate from the Hebrew word kinnor ("harp" or "lyre") in view of the shape of the lake. Kinnor is the Hebrew name for an ancient Lyre, the first mentioned in the Bible (Gen Christian religious texts call it Lake of Gennesaret (Luke 5:1) or Sea of Gennesaret^[5], after a small fertile plain that lies on its western side. Gennesaret ("a garden of riches" was a town alloted to the tribe of Naphtali, called "Kinnereth" ( Joshua 1935 sometimes in the plural form The Gospel of Luke (Gk Κατά Λουκάν Ευαγγέλιον) is a synoptic Gospel, and is the third and longest of the four canonical Gospels of the The Arabic name for the lake is Buhairet Tabariyya (help·info) (بحيرة طبريا) meaning Lake Tiberias. Arabic (ar الْعَرَبيّة (informally ar عَرَبيْ) in terms of the number of speakers is the largest living member of the Semitic language Other names for the Sea of Galilee are Ginnosar, Lake of Gennesar, Sea of Chinneroth and Sea of Tiberias (Roman).

Antiquity

The Sea of Galilee lies on the ancient Via Maris which linked Egypt with the northern empires. Via Maris is the modern name for an ancient Trade route, dating from the early Bronze Age, linking Egypt with the northern empires of Syria, This article is about the country of Egypt For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Egypt topics. The Greeks, Hasmoneans, and Romans founded flourishing towns and settlements on the lake including Gadara, Hippos and Tiberias. The Greeks ( Greek: Έλληνες) are a Nation and Ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighbouring regions The Hasmoneans (/hæzməˡniən/ חשמונאים Hashmonaiym, Audio were the ruling dynasty of the Hasmonean Kingdom ( 140 &ndash 37 BCE The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial Umm Qais ( أم قيس) is a town in Jordan located on the site of the ruined Hellenistic - Roman city of Gadara ( גדרה Hippos is an archaeological site located in Israel on a hill overlooking the Sea of Galilee. Tiberias ( British English: /taɪˈbɪəriæs -əs/ American English: /taɪˈbɪriəs/ טְבֶרְיָה Tverya; طبرية Ṭabariyyah The first-century historian Flavius Josephus was so impressed by the area that he wrote, "One may call this place the ambition of Nature. Josephus (AD 37 – c 100 also known as Yosef Ben Matityahu (Joseph son of Matthias and after he became a Roman citizen, as Titus Flavius Josephus " Josephus also reported a thriving fishing industry at this time, with 230 boats regularly working in the lake.

Much of the ministry of Jesus occurred on the shores of Lake Galilee. In those days, there was a continuous ribbon development of settlements and villages around the lake and plenty of trade and ferrying by boat. The Synoptic gospels of Mark (1:14-20), Matthew (4:18-22), and Luke (5:1-11) describe how Jesus recruited four of his apostles from the shores of Lake Galilee: the fishermen Simon and his brother Andrew and the brothers John and James. Content Authorship The gospel itself is anonymous but as early as Papias in the early 2nd century a text was attributed to Mark, a cousin The Gospel of Matthew (Gk Κατά Ματθαίον Ευαγγέλιον is one of the four Canonical gospels in the New Testament and is a Synoptic gospel The Gospel of Luke (Gk Κατά Λουκάν Ευαγγέλιον) is a synoptic Gospel, and is the third and longest of the four canonical Gospels of the The Twelve Apostles (Greek apostolos, "someone sent out" e Saint John the Apostle ( Greek Ιωάννης, see Names of John) was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. For people and places called Saint James, see the Saint James disambiguation page One of Jesus' famous teaching episodes, the Sermon on the Mount, was given on a hill overlooking the lake while many of his miracles were also recorded to occur here including his walking on water, calming a storm, and his feeding five thousand people (in Tabgha). In the Gospel of St Matthew, the Sermon on the Mount is a compilation of Jesus' sayings epitomizing his moral teaching. Feeding the multitude (also known as The miracle of the loaves and fish) is the name of two Miracles attributed to Jesus, the first of which is reported Tabgha ( Hebrew עין שבע Ein Sheva‘) an area situated on the north-western shore of the Sea of Galilee in Israel, is the traditional site

In 135CE, the second Jewish revolt against the Romans, called Bar Kokhba's revolt, was put down. Background After the failed Great Jewish Revolt in the year 70 the Roman authorities took measures to suppress the rebellious province The Romans responded by banning all Jews from Jerusalem. Jerusalem (יְרוּשָׁלַיִם, he-Latn Yerushaláyim; Arabic: ar القُدس, ar-Latn al-Quds) is the The center of Jewish culture and learning shifted to the region of the Kinneret, particularly the city of Tiberias. Tiberias ( British English: /taɪˈbɪəriæs -əs/ American English: /taɪˈbɪriəs/ טְבֶרְיָה Tverya; طبرية Ṭabariyyah It was in this region that the so-called "Jerusalem Talmud" is thought to have been compiled. The Jerusalem Talmud or Talmud Yerushalmi (תַּלְמוּד יְרוּשָׁלְמִי often the Yerushalmi for short is a collection

In the time of the Byzantine Empire, the lake's significance in Jesus' life made it a major destination for Christian pilgrims. A pilgrim is one who undertakes a Pilgrimage, literally 'far afield' This led to the growth of a full-fledged tourist industry, complete with package tours and plenty of comfortable inns. Tourism is Travel for Recreational or Leisure purposes The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people who "travel

Medieval times

The lake's importance declined when the Byzantines lost control and area came under the control of the Umayyad Caliphate and subsequent Islamic empires. Apart from Tiberias, the major towns and cities in the area were gradually abandoned. In 1187, Saladin defeated the armies of the Crusades at the Battle of Hattin, largely because he was able to cut the Crusaders off from the valuable fresh water of the Sea of Galilee. Salahadin Ayyubi ( Arabic:صلاح الدين يوسف بن أيوب Kurdish: سه‌لاحه‌دین ئه‌یوبی Selah'edînê Eyubî; c The Crusades were a series of military campaigns of a religious character waged by much of Christian Europe against external and internal opponents The Battle of Hattin (also known as " The Horns of Hattin " because of a nearby extinct Volcano of the same name took place on Saturday July

Modern times

In 1909 Jewish pioneers built their first cooperative farming village (kibbutz), Kvutzat Kinneret which trained Jewish immigrants in farming and agriculture. Year 1909 ( MCMIX) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting A kibbutz ( Hebrew: קיבוץ קִבּוּץ lit "gathering clustering" plural kibbutzim) is a collective community in Later, Kinneret pioneers established Kibbutz Degania. Degania Alef (דגניה א' was the first Kibbutz established by Jews in the areas of the Land of Israel then under Ottoman rule It was fitting, therefore, that the Kinneret was the cradle of the Kibbutz culture of early Zionism and the birthplace of Naomi Shemer and the burial site of Rachel - two of the most prominent Israeli poets. History of Zionism|Timeline of Zionism|World Zionist Organization|Zionist political violence Zionism is an international political movement that originally supported the Naomi Shemer (נעמי שמר born 13 July 1930, died 26 June 2004) was one of Israel 's most important and prolific Song Rachel Bluwstein Sela ( September 20, 1890 - April 16, 1931) was a Hebrew lyric poet who immigrated to Palestine in 1909

In 1923 an agreement between the United Kingdom and France established the border between the British Mandate of Palestine and the French Mandate of Syria. Year 1923 ( MCMXXIII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. The Palestine Mandate, was a set of protocols or articles that formed a multilateral legal and administrative agreement The French Mandate of Syria was a League of Nations Mandate created after the First World War and the Partitioning of the Ottoman Empire. The British handed over the southern Golan Heights to the French in return for the northern Jordan Valley. Borders of Israel The Golan Heights ( الجولان al-Jawlān, הגולן ha-Golan) is a strategic Plateau and mountainous The border was re-drawn so that both sides of the Jordan River and the whole of the Sea of Galilee, including a 10-metre wide strip along the northeastern shore, were made a part of Palestine. This article is about the Jordan River and its valley in western Asia ^[6] The 1947 UN Partition Plan put this territory area inside the Jewish state. The United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine or United Nations General Assembly Resolution 181 was a plan approved by the General Assembly on November 29

Israel's National Water Carrier, built in 1964, transports water from the lake to the population centers of Israel, and is the source of most of the country's drinking water. Origins The National Water Carrier of Israel (המוביל הארצי HaMovil HaArtzi) is the largest Water project in Israel. Year 1964 ( MCMLXIV) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the 1964 Gregorian calendar. Israel also supplies water from the lake to the West Bank and to Jordan (under the terms of the Israel-Jordan Treaty of Peace). The West Bank (الضفة الغربية, הגדה המערבית Hagadah Hamaaravit) also referred to in Israel as " Judea and Samaria Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (الأردنّ al-Urdunn) is an Arab country in Southwest Asia spanning the southern Increasing water demand and some dry winters have resulted in stress on the lake and a decreasing water line, at times to dangerously low levels.

Today, tourism is again the Kinneret's most important economic activity with the entire region being a popular holiday destination. The many historical and spiritual sites around the lake, especially its main town Tiberias, are visited by millions of local and foreign tourists annually. Other economic activities include fishing in the lake and agriculture, particularly bananas, in the fertile belt of land surrounding it. For the fruit see Banana. For other meanings see Banana (disambiguation.

A key attraction is the site where the Kinneret's water flows into the Jordan River to which thousands of pilgrims from all over the world come to be (re-)baptized every year.

Fauna and Flora

The warm waters of the Sea of Galilee allow a variety of flora and fauna to thrive, which have supported a significant commercial fishery for over two millennia. Local flora includes a variety of reeds along most of the shoreline as well as Phytoplankton. Phytoplankton are the Autotrophic component of the Plankton community Fauna includes Zooplankton and Benthos, as well as a fish population which notably includes Tilapia (locally known as St. Zooplankton are the Heterotrophic (sometimes detritivorous) type of Plankton. Benthos are the organisms which live on in or near the Seabed, also known as the Benthic zone. Tilapia (təˌlɑpiə is the common name for nearly a hundred Species of Cichlid Fishes from the Tilapiine cichlid tribe Peter’s Fish). ^[7]

See also

• The Sea of Galilee Boat
• Jesus Trail

References

External links

• World Lakes Database entry for Sea of Galilee
• Bibleplaces.com: Sea of Galilee
• Sea of Galilee photos
• Peace Mural of the Sea of Galilee in the Chapel of the Good Shephard - Ramallah

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