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Into Israel– Part Ten

Into Israel– Part Ten

Last updated on: November 14, 2022 at 1:44 am by Ben Witherington

Into Israel– Part Ten 2022-09-04T14:50:18-04:00 Ben Witherington

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We have done various posts on Capernaum, yet another site maintained by the Franciscans, so we will focus on some of the things seen under and outside the modern boat-shaped church. First, underneath we have preserved an ancient early church site where a home was converted into a meeting room. We know early Christians met and worshipped here from some of the graffiti, but what we don’t know is whether this goes all the way back to the time of Peter and his mother-in-law who lived in Capernaum and where Jesus made his base of operations in Galilee.

You can see the octagonal shaped little church in these pictures….

At the entrance way to the site as a whole, you see this remarkable bronze casting of a homeless person. Look carefully at the feet….

‘Foxes have holes, birds have nests but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head…’

Certainly one of the most important things to see on this site is the synagogue, the lowest level of which goes back to the time of Jesus.

You see a lot of basalt here and elsewhere in this region, volcanic rock. The whole synagogue at Chorazin seems to have been built out of basalt rock. Here’s an honorific column in the synagogue…. presumably contributors to the building of the synagogue, or leaders. In any case notice the inscription in the synagogue is in Greek.

When you see the restorations of ancient sites and you see the following with a line of demarcation you are supposed to realize that above the line is recreation and below the line is the original in situ wall.

We have some clear evidence that construction here involved some non-Jewish artisans. Why? Because we have a tabernacle depiction as if it were a Greek temple on wheels, and we have stars of David with both the right and the wrong number of points.

Most of the capitals have floral or even fruit designs of various sorts including the ever popular rosettes.

Notice the five pointed star, whereas the star of David has six points.

Further up the coast we have Peter’s Primacy and also Tabgha, where according to tradition Jesus multiplied the loaves and fishes.

Here’s the statue of Peter outside the Peter church…

And here are some remarkable mosaics in the floors at Tabgha…

That’s an image of a water tower to measure the height of the water. Trust me, you didn’t want it as high as the Iota…

Here’s an ancient mosaic floor that suffered both earthquake and water damage…

Notice again the water tower standing near the shore of the lake.

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November 13, 2022

Into Israel--- Part Nine

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