(R. L.*)
GALERIUS[Galerius Valerius Maximianus], Roman emperor fromA.D.305 to 311, was born near Sardica in Thrace. He originally followed his father’s occupation, that of a herdsman, whence his surname ofArmentarius(Lat.armentum, herd). He served with distinction as a soldier under Aurelian and Probus, and in 293 was designated Caesar along with Constantius Chlorus, receiving in marriage Diocletian’s daughter Valeria, and at the same time being entrusted with the care of the Illyrian provinces. In 296, at the beginning of the Persian War, he was removed from the Danube to the Euphrates; his first campaign ended in a crushing defeat, near Callinicum, but in 297, advancing through the mountains of Armenia, he gained a decisive victory over Narses (q.v.) and compelled him to make peace. In 305, on the abdication of Diocletian and Maximianus, he at once assumed the title of Augustus, with Constantius his former colleague, and having procured the promotion to the rank of Caesar of Flavius Valerius Severus, a faithful servant, and Daia (Maximinus), his nephew, he hoped on the death of Constantius to become sole master of the Roman world. This scheme, however, was defeated by the sudden elevation of Constantine at Eboracum (York) on the death of his father, and by the action of Maximianus and Maxentius in Italy. After an unsuccessful invasion of Italy in 307 he elevated his friend Licinius to the rank of Augustus, and, moderating his ambition, devoted the few remaining years of his life “to the enjoyment of pleasure and to the execution of some works of public utility.” It was at the instance of Galerius that the first of the celebrated edicts of persecution against the Christians was published, on the 24th of February 303, and this policy of repression was maintained by him until the appearance of the general edict of toleration (311), issued in his own name and in those of Licinius and Constantine. He died in May 311A.D.
See Zosimus ii. 8-11; Zonaras xii. 31-34; Eutropius ix. 24, x. 1.
See Zosimus ii. 8-11; Zonaras xii. 31-34; Eutropius ix. 24, x. 1.
GALESBURG,a city and the county-seat of Knox county, Illinois, U.S.A., in the N.W. part of the state, 163 m. S.W. of Chicago. Pop. (1890) 15,264; (1900) 18,607; of whom 3602 were foreign-born; (census, 1910) 22,089. It is served by the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fé, and the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy railways. Knox College (non-sectarian and coeducational), which was chartered here in 1837 as the “Knox Manual Labor College” (the present name was adopted in 1857), was opened in 1841, and had in 1907-1908, 31 instructors and 628 students, of whom more than half were in the Conservatory of Music, a department of the college, and 79 were in the Academy. Lombard College (coeducational; Universalist), which was chartered as the “Illinois Liberal Institute” in 1851, was known as Lombard University (in honour of Benjamin Lombard, a benefactor) from 1855 to 1899; it includes a College of Liberal Arts, the Ryder Divinity School (1881), and departments of music and domestic science, and in 1907-1908 had 18 instructors and 117 students. Here also are Corpus Christi College (Roman Catholic), St Joseph’s Academy (Roman Catholic) and Brown’s Business College (1874). There is a public library, founded in 1874. The industries consist mainly of the construction and repairing of steam railway cars (in the shops of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy railway) and the manufacture of foundry and machine-shop products, vitrified brick, agricultural implementsand machinery. The total value of the factory product in 1905 was $2,217,772, being 52.9% more than in 1900. Galesburg was named in honour of the Rev. George Washington Gale (1789-1862), a prominent Presbyterian preacher, who in 1827-1834 had founded the Oneida Manual Labor Institute at Whitestown, Oneida county, New York. Desiring to establish a college in the Mississippi Valley to supply “an evangelical and able ministry” to “spread the Gospel throughout the world,” and also wishing to counteract the influence of pro-slavery men in Illinois, he interested a number of people in the project, formed a society for colonization, and in 1836 led the first settlers to Galesburg, the “Mesopotamia in the West.” Knox College was founded to fulfil his educational purpose. Galesburg was an important “station” of the Underground Railroad, one of the conditions of membership in the “Presbyterian Church of Galesburg” (the name of Mr Gale’s society) being opposition to slavery; and in 1855 this caused the church to withdraw from the Presbytery. Galesburg was chartered as a city in 1857. On the 7th of October 1858 one of the famous Lincoln-Douglas debates was held in the grounds of Knox College.
GALGĀCUS,or perhaps ratherCalgācus, a Caledonian chief who led the tribes of North Britain against the invading Roman army under Cn. Julius Agricola aboutA.D.85 and was defeated at the battle of Mons Graupius (Tac.Agric.29). The name recurs much later, in Adamnan’sLife of Columba, in the name of a wood near Londonderry, Daire-Calgaich or Roboretum Calgachi, “the wood of Calgacus”: it may be Celtic and denote “the man with the sword.”
GALIANI, FERDINANDO(1728-1787), Italian economist, was born at Chieti on the 2nd of December 1728. He was carefully educated by his uncle Monsignor C. Galiani at Naples and Rome with a view to entering the Church. Galiani gave early promise of distinction as an economist, and even more as a wit. At the age of twenty-two, after he had taken orders, he had produced two works by which his name became widely known far beyond the bounds of his own Naples. The one, hisTrattato della moneta, in which he shows himself a strong supporter of the mercantile school, deals with many aspects of the question of exchange, but always with a special reference to the state of confusion then presented by the whole monetary system of the Neapolitan government. The other,Raccolta in Morte del Boia, established his fame as a humorist, and was highly popular in Italian literary circles at the end of the 18th century. In this volume Galiani parodied with exquisite felicity, in a series of discourses on the death of the public hangman, the styles of the most pompous and pedantic Neapolitan writers of the day. Galiani’s political knowledge and social qualities now pointed him out to the discriminating eye of King Charles, afterwards Charles III. of Spain, and his liberal minister Tanucci, and he was appointed in 1759 secretary to the Neapolitan embassy at Paris. This post he held for ten years, when he returned to Naples and was made a councillor of the tribunal of commerce, and in 1777, minister of the royal domains. His economic reputation was made by a book written in French and published in Paris, namely, hisDialogues sur le commerce des blés. This work, by its light and pleasing style, and the vivacious wit with which it abounded, delighted Voltaire, who spoke of it as a book in the production of which Plato and Molière might have been combined! The author, says Pecchio, treated his arid subject as Fontenelle did the vortices of Descartes, or Algarotti the Newtonian system of the world. The question at issue was that of the freedom of the corn trade, then much agitated, and, in particular, the policy of the royal edict of 1764, which permitted the exportation of grain so long as the price had not arrived at a certain height. The general principle he maintains is that the best system in regard to this trade is to have no system—countries differently circumstanced requiring, according to him, different modes of treatment. He fell, however, into some of the most serious errors of the mercantilists—holding, as indeed did also Voltaire and even Verri, that one country cannot gain without another losing, and in his earlier treatise going so far as to defend the action of governments in debasing the currency. Until his death at Naples on the 30th of October 1787, Galiani kept up with his old Parisian friends a correspondence, which was published in 1818.
SeeL’Abate Galiani, by Alberto Marghieri (1878), and his correspondence with Tanucci in Viesseux’sL’Archivio storico(Florence, 1878).
SeeL’Abate Galiani, by Alberto Marghieri (1878), and his correspondence with Tanucci in Viesseux’sL’Archivio storico(Florence, 1878).
GALICIA(Ger.Galizien; Pol.Halicz), a crownland of Austria, bounded E. and N. by Russia, S. by Bukovina and Hungary, and W. by Austrian and Prussian Silesia. It has an area of 30,299 sq. m., and is the largest Austrian province. It comprises the old kingdoms of Galicia and Lodomeria, the duchies of Auschwitz and Zator, and the grand duchy of Cracow.
Galicia lies on the northern slopes of the Carpathians, which with their offshoots cover about a third of the whole area of the country. The surface gradually sinks down by undulating terraces to the valleys of the Vistula and Dniester. To the N. and E. of these rivers Galicia forms a continuation of the great plains of Russia, intersected only by a few hills, which descend from the plateaus of Poland and Podolia, and which attain in some places an altitude of 1300 to 1500 ft. The Carpathians, which, extending in the form of an arc, form the boundary between Galicia and Hungary, are divided into the West and the East Beskides, which are separated by the northern ramifications of the massif of the Tatra. The highest peaks are the Babia Góra (5650 ft.), the Wolowiec (6773 ft.) and the Cserna Góra (6505 ft.). The principal passes are those of Zdjar over the Tatra, and of Dukla, Vereczke Körösmezö or Delatyn in the East Beskides. The river Vistula, which becomes navigable at Cracow, and forms afterwards the north-western frontier of Galicia, receives the Sola, the Skawa, the Raba, the Dunajec with its affluents the Poprad and the Biala, the Wisloka, the San and the Bug. The Dniester, which rises in the Carpathians, within the territory of Galicia, becomes navigable at Sambor, and receives on the right the Stryj, the Swica, the Lomnica and the Bystrzyca, and on the left the Lipa, the Strypa, the Sereth and the Zbrucz, the boundary river towards Russia. The Pruth, which also rises in the Carpathians, within the territory of Galicia, traverses its south-eastern corner and receives the Czeremosz, the boundary river towards Bukovina. There are few lakes in the country except mountain tarns; but considerable morasses exist about the Upper Dneister, the Vistula and the San, while the ponds or dams in the Podolian valleys are estimated to cover an area of over 200 sq. m. The most frequented mineral springs are the alkaline springs at Szczawnica and Krynica, the sulphur springs at Krzesowice, Szklo and Lubian, and the iodine springs at Iwonicz.
Exposed to the cold northern and north-eastern winds, and shut out by the Carpathians from the warm southerly winds, Galicia has the severest climate in Austria. It has long winters, with an abundant snowfall, short and wet springs, hot summers and long and steady autumns. The mean annual temperature at Lemberg is 46.2° F., and at Tarnopol only 43° F.
Of the total area 48.45% is occupied by arable land, 11.16% by meadows, 9.19% by pastures, 1.39% by gardens and 25.76% by forests. The soil is generally fertile, but agriculture is still backward. The principal products are barley, oats, rye, wheat, maize and leguminous plants. Galicia has the largest area under potatoes and legumes in the whole of Austria, and hemp, flax, tobacco and hops are of considerable importance. The principal mineral products are salt, coal and petroleum. Salt is extracted at Wieliczka, Bochnia, Bolechow, Dolina, Kalusz and Kosow. Coals are found in the Cracow district at Jaworzno, at Siersza near Trzebinia and at Dabrowa. Some of the richest petroleum fields in Europe are spread in the region of the Carpathians, and are worked at Boryslaw and Schodnica near Drohobycz, Bobrka and Potok near Krosno, Sloboda-Rungurska near Kolomea, &c. Great quantities of ozocerite are also extracted in the petroliferous region of the Carpathians. Other mineral products are zinc, extracted at Trzebionka and Wodna in the Cracow region, amounting to 40% of the total zinc production in Austria, iron ore, marble and various stones for construction. The sulphur mines of Swoszowice near Cracow, which had been worked since 1598, were abandoned in 1884.
The manufacturing industries of Galicia are not highly developed. The first place is occupied by the distilleries, whose output amounts to nearly 40% of the total production of spirits in Austria. Then follow the petroleum refineries and kindred industries, saw-mills and the fabrication of various wood articles, paper and milling. The sugar factory at Tlumacz and the tobacco factory at Winniki are amongst the largest establishments of their kind in Austria. Cloth manufacture is concentrated at Biala, while the weaving of linen and of woollens is pursued as a household industry, the former in the Carpathian region, the latter in eastern Galicia. The commerce, which is mainly in the hands of the Jews, is very active, and the transit trade to Russia and to the East is also of considerable importance.
Galicia had in 1900 a population of 7,295,538, which is equivalent to 241 inhabitants per sq. m. The two principal nationalities are the Poles (45%) and the Ruthenians (42%), the former predominating in the west and in the big towns, and the latter in the east. The Poles who inhabit the Carpathians are distinguished as Goralians (fromgóry, mountain), and those of the lower regions as Mazures and Cracoviaks. The Ruthenian highlanders bear the name of Huzulians. The Poles are mostly Roman Catholics, the Ruthenians are Greek Catholics, and there are over 770,000 Jews, and about 2500 Armenians, who are Catholics and stand under the jurisdiction of an Armenian archbishop at Lemberg.
The Roman Catholic Church has an archbishop, at Lemberg, and three bishops, at Cracow, at Przemysl and at Tarnow, and the Greek Catholic Church is represented by an archbishop, at Lemberg, and two bishops, at Przemysl and at Stanislau. At the head of the educational institutions stand the two universities of Lemberg and Cracow, and the Polish academy of science at Cracow.
The local Diet is composed of 151 members, including the 3 archbishops, the 5 bishops, and the 2 rectors of the universities, and Galicia sends 78 deputies to the Reichsrat at Vienna. For administrative purposes, the province is divided into 78 districts and 2 autonomous municipalities—Lemberg (pop. 159,618), the capital, and Cracow (91,310). Other principal towns are: Przemysl (46,439), Kolomea (34,188), Tarnów (31,548), Tarnopol (30,368), Stanislau (29,628), Stryj (23,673), Jaroslau (22,614), Drohobycz (19,146), Podgórze (18,142), Brody (17,360), Sambor (17,027), Neusandec (15,724), Rzeszów (14,714), Zloczow (12,209), Grodek (11,845), Horodenka (11,615), Buczacz (11,504), Sniatyn (11,498), Brzezany (11,244), Kuty (11,127), Boryslaw (10,671), Chrzanów (10,170), Jaworów (10,090), Bochnia (10,049) and Biala (8265).
Galicia (or Halicz) took its rise, along with the neighbouring principality of Lodomeria (or Vladimir), in the course of the 12th century—the seat of the ruling dynasty being Halicz or Halitch. Disputes between the Galician and Lodomerian houses led to the interference of the king of Hungary, Bela III., who in 1190 assumed the title of king, and appointed his son Andreas lieutenant of the kingdom. Polish assistance, however, enabled Vladimir, the former possessor, to expel Andreas, and in 1198 Roman, prince of Lodomeria, made himself master of Galicia also. On his death in 1205 the struggle between Poland and Hungary for supremacy in the country was resumed; but in 1215 it was arranged that Daniel (1205-1264), son of Roman, should be invested with Lodomeria, and Coloman, son of the Hungarian king, with Galicia. Coloman, however, was expelled by Mstislav of Novgorod; and in his turn Andreas, Mstislav’s nominee, was expelled by Daniel of Lodomeria, a powerful prince, who by a flexible policy succeeded in maintaining his position. Though in 1235 he had recognized the overlordship of Hungary, yet, when he found himself hard pressed by the Mongolian general Batu, he called in the assistance of Innocent IV., and accepted the crown of Galicia from the hands of a papal legate; and again, when Innocent disappointed his expectation, he returned to his former connexion with the Greek Church. On the extinction of his line in 1340 Casimir III. of Poland incorporated Galicia and Lemberg; on Casimir’s death in 1370 Louis the Great of Hungary, in accordance with previous treaties, became king of Poland, Galicia and Lodomeria; and in 1382, by the marriage of Louis’s daughter with Ladislaus II., Galicia, which he had regarded as part of his Hungarian rather than of his Polish possessions, became definitively assigned to Poland. On the first partition of Poland, in 1772, the kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria came to Austria, and to this was added the district of New or West Galicia in 1795; but at the peace of Vienna in 1809 West Galicia and Cracow were surrendered to the grand-duchy of Warsaw, and in 1810 part of East Galicia, including Tarnopol, was made over to Russia. This latter portion was recovered by Austria at the peace of Paris (1814), and the former came back on the suppression of the independent republic of Cracow in 1846. After the introduction of the constitution of February 1861, Galicia gained a larger degree of autonomy than any other province in the Austrian empire.
SeeDie österreichisch-ungarische Monarchie in Wort und Bild, vol. 19 (Wien, 1885-1902, 24 vols.);Die Länder Österreich-Ungarns in Wort und Bild, vol. 10 (Wien, 1881-1886, 15 vols.). Remarkable sketches of Galician life are to be found in the works of the German novelist Sacher-Masoch (1835-1895).
SeeDie österreichisch-ungarische Monarchie in Wort und Bild, vol. 19 (Wien, 1885-1902, 24 vols.);Die Länder Österreich-Ungarns in Wort und Bild, vol. 10 (Wien, 1881-1886, 15 vols.). Remarkable sketches of Galician life are to be found in the works of the German novelist Sacher-Masoch (1835-1895).
GALICIA(the ancientGallaeciaorCallaecia,ΚαλλαικίαorΚαλαικία), a captaincy-general, and formerly a kingdom, countship and province, in the north-western angle of Spain; bounded on the N. by the Bay of Biscay, E. by Leon and Asturias, S. by Portugal, and W. by the Atlantic Ocean. Pop. (1900) 1,980,515; area, 11,254 sq. m. In 1833 Galicia was divided for administrative purposes into the provinces of Corunna, Lugo, Orense and Pontevedra.
Galicia is traversed by mountain ranges, sometimes regarded as a continuation of the Cantabrian chain; and its surface is further broken in the east by the westernmost ridges of that system, which, running in a south-westerly direction, rise above the basin of the Miño. The high land north of the headwaters of the Miño forms the sole connecting link between the Cantabrians properly so-called and the mountains of central and western Galicia. The average elevation of the province is considerable, and the maximum height (6593 ft.) is reached in the Peña Trevinca on the eastern border of Orense.
The principal river is the Miño (PortugueseMinho; Lat.Minius; so named, it is said, from theminiumor vermilion found in its bed). Rising near Mondoñedo, within 25 m. of the northern coast, the Miño enters the Atlantic near the port of Guardia, after a course of 170 m. S. and S.W. Its lower reaches are navigable by small vessels. Of its numerous affluents the most important is the Sil, which rises among the lofty mountains between Leon and Asturias. Among other rivers having a westerly direction may be mentioned the Tambre, the Ulla and the Lerez or Ler, which falls into the Atlantic by estuaries orriascalled respectively Ria de Muros y Noya, Ria de Arosa and Ria de Pontevedra. The rivers of the northern versant, such as the Nera, are, like those of Asturias, for the most part short, rapid and subject to violent floods.
The coast-line of Galicia, extending to about 240 m., is everywhere bold and deeply indented, presenting a large number of secure harbours, and in this respect forming a marked contrast to the neighbouring province. The Eo, which bounds Galicia on the east, has a deep estuary, the Rivadeo or Ribadeo, which offers a safe and commodious anchorage. Vivero Bay and the Ria del Barquero y Váres are of a similar character; while the harbour of Ferrol ranks among the best in Europe, and is the chief naval station on the northern coast of Spain. On the opposite side of Betanzos Bay (theμέγας λιμήνorPortus Magnusof the ancients) is the great port of Corunna or Coruña. The principal port on the western coast is that formed by the deep and sheltered bay of Vigo, but there are also good roadsteads at Corcubion under Cape Finisterre, at Marin and at Carril.
The climate of the Galician coast is mild and equable, but the interior, owing to the great elevation (the town of Lugo is 1500 ft. above sea-level), has a wide range of temperature. The rainfall is exceptionally large, and snow lies on some of the loftier elevations for a considerable portion of the year. The soil is on the whole fertile, and the produce very varied. A considerable quantity oftimber is grown on the high lands, and the rich valley pastures support large herds of cattle, while the abundance of oaks and chestnuts favours the rearing of swine. In the lowland districts good crops of maize, wheat, barley, oats and rye, as well as of turnips and potatoes, are obtained. The fruit also is of excellent quality and in great variety, although the culture of the vine is limited to some of the warmer valleys in the southern districts. Thedehesasor moorlands abound in game, and fish are plentiful in all the streams. The mineral resources of the province, which are considerable, were known to some extent to the ancients. Strabo (c.63B.C.-A.D.21) speaks of its gold and tin, and Pliny (A.D.23-79) mentions thegemma Gallaica, a precious stone. Galicia is also remarkable for the number of its sulphur and other warm springs, the most important of which are those at Lugo, and those from which Orense is said to take its name (Aquae urentes).
Ethnologically the Galicians (Gallegos) are allied to the Portuguese, whom they resemble in dialect, in appearance and in habits more than the other inhabitants of the peninsula. The men are well known all over Spain and Portugal as hardy, honest and industrious, but for the most part somewhat unskilled, labourers; indeed the wordGallegohas come to be almost a synonym in Madrid for a “hewer of wood and drawer of water.” It is also used as a term of abuse, meaning “boor.” Agriculture engages the greater part of the resident population, both male and female; other industries, except the fisheries, are little developed. The largest town in Galicia is Corunna (pop. 1900, 43,971); Santiago de Compostela is the ancient capital and an archiepiscopal see; Lugo, Tuy, Mondoñedo and Orense are bishoprics.
Gallaecia, the country of the Galacci,CallaiciorGallaici, seems to have been very imperfectly known to the earlier geographers. According to Eratosthenes (276-196B.C.) the entire population of the peninsula were at one time calledGalatae. The region properly called by their name, bounded on the south by the Douro and on the east by the Navia, was first entered by the Roman legions under Decius Junius Brutus in 137-136B.C.(Livy lv., lvi.,Epit.); but the final subjugation cannot be placed earlier than the time of Augustus (31B.C.-A.D.14). On the partition of Spain, which followed the successful invasions of the Suevi, Alans and Vandals, Gallaecia fell to the lot of the first named (A.D.411). After an independent subsistence of nearly 200 years, the Suevian kingdom was annexed to the Visigothic dominions under Leovigild in 585. In 734 it was occupied by the Moors, who in turn were driven out by Alphonso I. of Asturias, in 739. During the 9th and 10th centuries it was the subject of dispute between more than one count of Galicia and the suzerain, and its coasts were repeatedly ravaged by the Normans. When Ferdinand I. divided his kingdom among his sons in 1063, Galicia was the portion allotted to Garcia, the youngest of the three. In 1072 it was forcibly reannexed by Garcia’s brother Alphonso VI. of Castile and thenceforward it remained an integral part of the kingdom of Castile or of Leon. The honorary title of count of Galicia has frequently been borne by younger sons of the Spanish sovereign.
See Annette B. Meakin,Galicia, the Switzerland of Spain(London, 1909).
See Annette B. Meakin,Galicia, the Switzerland of Spain(London, 1909).
GALIGNANI, GIOVANNI ANTONIO(1752-1821), newspaper publisher, was born at Brescia, Italy, in 1752. After living some time in London, he went to Paris, where he started in 1800 an English library, and in 1808 a monthly publication, theRepertory of English Literature. In 1814 he began to publish, in Paris,Galignani’s Messenger, a daily paper printed in English. At his death in 1821 the paper was carried on by his two sons, Jean-Antoine (1796-1873) and Guillaume (1798-1882). Under their management it enjoyed a high reputation. Its policy was to promote good feeling between England and France. The brothers established and endowed hospitals at Corbeil and at Neuilly-sur-Seine. In recognition of their generosity the city of Corbeil erected a monument in their honour. In 1884 the Galignani family disposed of their interest inGalignani’s Messenger, and from that date until 1904, when it was discontinued, the paper appeared under the title of theDaily Messenger.
GALILEE(Heb.גליל, “border” or “ring,” Gr.Γαλιλαία), a Roman province of Palestine north of Samaria, bounded S. by Samaria and the Carmel range, E. by the Jordan, N. by the Leontes (Litāni), and W. by the Mediterranean and part of Phoenicia. Its maximum extent was about 60 m. north to south and 30 east to west. The name in the Hebrew Scriptures hardly had a definite territorial significance. It literally means a ring or circuit, and, like analogous words in English, could be applied to various districts. Thus Joshua (xiii. 2) and Joel (iii. 4) refer to theGeliloth(“borders, coast”) of the Philistines or of Palestine; Joshua again (xxii. 10, 11) and Ezekiel (xlvii. 8) mention the Jordan valley plain as the “Geliloth of Jordan” in “the Eastern Gelilah.” In its more restricted connotation, denoting the district to which it is usually applied or a part thereof, it is found in Joshua xx. 7, xxi. 32, 1 Chr. vi. 76, as the place where was situated the town of Kadesh; and in 1 Kings ix. 11, the district of “worthless” cities given by Solomon to Hiram. In Isa. ix. 1 we find the full name of the district, Galil ha-Goyim, literally “the ring, circuit or border of the foreigners”—referring to the Phoenicians, Syrians and Aramaeans, by whose country the province was on three sides surrounded. In 1 Kings xv. 29 it is specified as one of the districts whose population was deported by Tiglath-Pileser. Throughout the Old Testament history, however, Galilee as a whole cannot be said to have a history; the unit of territorial subdivision was tribal rather than provincial, and though such important events as those associated with the names of Barak, Gideon, Gilboa, Armageddon, took place within its borders, yet these belong rather to the histories of Issachar, Zebulon, Asher or Naphtali, whose territories together almost correspond with Galilee, than to the province itself.
After the Jewish return from exile the population confined itself to Judaea, and Galilee was left in the possession of the mixed multitude of successors established there by the Assyrians. When it once more came into Israelite hands is uncertain; it is generally supposed that its reconquest was due to John Hyrcanus. Before very long it developed a nationalism and patriotism as intense as that of Judaea itself, notwithstanding the contempt with which the metropolitans of Jerusalem looked down upon the Galilean provincials. Stock proverbial sayings such as “Out of Galilee cometh no prophet” (though Deborah, Jonah, Elisha, and probably Hosea, were Galileans) were apparently common. Provincialism of speech (Matt. xxvi. 73) distinguished the Galileans; it appears that they confused the gutturals in pronunciation.
Under the Roman domination Galilee was made a tetrarchate governed by members of the Herod family. Herod the Great was tetrarch of Galilee in 47B.C.; in 4B.C.he was succeeded by his son Antipas. Galilee was the land of Christ’s boyhood and the chief centre of His active work, and in His various ministries here some of His chief discourses were uttered (as the Sermon on the Mount, Matt. v.) and some of His chief miracles performed.
After the destruction of Jerusalem the Judaean Rabbinic schools took refuge in the Galilee they had heretofore despised. No ancient remains of Jewish synagogues exist except those that have been identified in some of the ancient Galilean towns, such as Tell Ḥum (Talḥūm), Kerāzeh, Kefr Bir’īm, and elsewhere. One of the chief centres of Rabbinism was Ṣafed, still a sacred city of the Jews and largely inhabited by members of that faith. Near here is Meirūn, a place much revered by the Jews as containing the tombs of Hillel, Shammai and Simon ben Yohai; a yearly festival in honour of these rabbis is here celebrated. At Tiberias also are the tombs of distinguished Jewish teachers, including Maimonides.
The province was subdivided into two parts, Upper and Lower Galilee, the two being divided by a ridge running west to east, which prolonged would cut the Jordan about midway between Ḥūleh and the Sea of Galilee. Lower Galilee includes the plains of Buttauf and Esdraelon.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 districtLower Galilee.the highest hills are only about 1800 ft. above the sea. The ridge of Nazareth rises north of the great plain of Esdraelon, andnorth of this again is the fertile basin of the Buttauf, separated from the sea-coast plains by low hills. East of the Buttauf extends the basaltic plateau called Sahel el Aḥmā (“the inaccessible plain”), rising 1700 ft. 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 perhaps 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 m. long from Jenīn to the Nazareth hills, and its southern border is about 20 m. long. It rises 200 ft. above the sea, the hills on both sides being some 1500 ft. 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 farther south the conical hill called Nebi Duḥi 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 Wādi 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 above identified with 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-Aḥmā 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 Seffuria), a large village standing above the Buttauf on the spurs of the southern hills, and Jenīn (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), Endūr (Endor), Nein (Nain); on the west side of the plain is the ruin of Lejjūn (the Legio of the 4th century, which was then a place of importance). In the hills north of the Buttauf is Jefāt, situated on a steep hill-top, 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, is one of the sites identified with Cana of Galilee, and the ruin Kāna, on the north side of the same plain, represents the site pointed out to the pilgrims of the 12th and 13th centuries.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 Jarmūk rises to nearly 4000 ft. above the sea; on the east a narrow ridge 2800 ft. high formsUpper Galilee.the watershed, with steep eastern slopes falling towards Jordan. Immediately west of the watershed are two small plateaus covered with basaltic débris, near el-Jish and Kades. On the west are rugged mountains with deep intricate valleys. The main drains of the country are—first, Wādi el ‘Ayūn, rising north of Jebel Jarmūk, and running north-west as an open valley; and secondly, Wādi el Ahjār, 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 Bir’īm. The principal town is Ṣafed, perched on a white mountain 2700 ft. above the sea. It has a population of about 9000, including Jews, Christians and Moslems.
The province was subdivided into two parts, Upper and Lower Galilee, the two being divided by a ridge running west to east, which prolonged would cut the Jordan about midway between Ḥūleh and the Sea of Galilee. Lower Galilee includes the plains of Buttauf and Esdraelon.
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 districtLower Galilee.the highest hills are only about 1800 ft. above the sea. The ridge of Nazareth rises north of the great plain of Esdraelon, andnorth of this again is the fertile basin of the Buttauf, separated from the sea-coast plains by low hills. East of the Buttauf extends the basaltic plateau called Sahel el Aḥmā (“the inaccessible plain”), rising 1700 ft. 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 perhaps 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 m. long from Jenīn to the Nazareth hills, and its southern border is about 20 m. long. It rises 200 ft. above the sea, the hills on both sides being some 1500 ft. 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 farther south the conical hill called Nebi Duḥi 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 Wādi 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 above identified with 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-Aḥmā 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 Seffuria), a large village standing above the Buttauf on the spurs of the southern hills, and Jenīn (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), Endūr (Endor), Nein (Nain); on the west side of the plain is the ruin of Lejjūn (the Legio of the 4th century, which was then a place of importance). In the hills north of the Buttauf is Jefāt, situated on a steep hill-top, 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, is one of the sites identified with Cana of Galilee, and the ruin Kāna, on the north side of the same plain, represents the site pointed out to the pilgrims of the 12th and 13th centuries.
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 Jarmūk rises to nearly 4000 ft. above the sea; on the east a narrow ridge 2800 ft. high formsUpper Galilee.the watershed, with steep eastern slopes falling towards Jordan. Immediately west of the watershed are two small plateaus covered with basaltic débris, near el-Jish and Kades. On the west are rugged mountains with deep intricate valleys. The main drains of the country are—first, Wādi el ‘Ayūn, rising north of Jebel Jarmūk, and running north-west as an open valley; and secondly, Wādi el Ahjār, 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 Bir’īm. The principal town is Ṣafed, perched on a white mountain 2700 ft. above the sea. It has a population of about 9000, including Jews, Christians and Moslems.
Josephus gives a good description of the Galilee of his time inWars, iii. 3. 2: “The Galileans are inured to war from their infancy, and have been always very numerous; nor hath the country been ever destitute of men of courage or wanted a numerous set of them; for their soil is universally rich and fruitful, and full of plantations of trees of all sorts, insomuch that it invites the most slothful to take pains in its cultivation.... Moreover, the cities lie here very thick, and the very many villages there are here are everywhere full of people.” Though the population is diminished and the cities ruinous, the country is still remarkable for fertility, thanks to the copiousness of its water-supply draining from the Lebanon mountains.
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 dolmens 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, of which some eleven examples are now known. They are rectangular, with the door to the south, and two rows of columns forming aisles east and west. The architecture is a peculiar and debased imitation of classic style, attributed by architects to the 2nd centuryA.D.In Kefr Bir’īm there were remains of two synagogues, but early in the 20th century one of them was completely destroyed by a local stone-mason. At Irbid, above Tiberias, is another synagogue of rather different character. 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 cornices and capitals is rich though debased.
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 (mod.Tibnīn) was built in 1104, the first fortress erected by the crusaders, and standing on the summit of the mountains of Upper Galilee. Beauvoir (Kaukab el-Hawa, built in 1182) stood on a precipice above Jordan south-west of the Sea of Galilee, and guarded the advance by the valley of Jezreel; and about the same time Château Neuf (Hunīn) was erected above the Hüleh 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 Banias, 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 Ṣafed. These possessions were lost in 1291, on the fall of Acre.
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 engaged in trade, and the Christians, Druses and Moslems in agriculture; and the Arabs are an entirely pastoral people.
(C. R. C.; R. A. S. M.)
GALILEE,an architectural term sometimes given to a porch or chapel which formed the entrance to a church. This is the case at Durham and Ely cathedrals, and in Lincoln cathedral the name is sometimes given to the south-west porch. The name is said to be derived from the scriptural expression “Galilee of the Gentiles” (Matt. iv. 15). Galilees are supposed to have been used sometimes as courts of law, but they probably served chiefly for penitents not yet admitted to the body of the church. The Galilee would also appear to have been the vestibule of an abbey church where women were allowed to see the monks to whom they were related, or from which they could hear divine service. The foundation of what is considered to have been a Galilee exists at the west end of Fountains Abbey. Sometimes also corpses were placed there before interment.
GALILEE, SEA OF,a lake in Palestine consisting of an expansion of the Jordan, on the latitude of Mt. Carmel. It is 13 m. long, 8 m. broad, 64 sq. m. in area, 680 ft. below the level of the Mediterranean, and, according to Merrill and Barrois (who have corrected the excessive depth said to have been found by Lortet at the northern end), 150 ft. in maximum depth. It is pear-shaped, the narrow end pointing southward. In the Hebrew Scriptures it is called the Sea of Chinnereth or Chinneroth (probably derived from a town of the same name mentioned in Joshua xi. 2 and elsewhere; the etymology that connects it withכנור, “a harp,” is very doubtful.) In Josephus and the book ofMaccabees it is named Gennesar; while in the Gospels it is usually called Sea of Galilee, though once it is called Lake of Gennesaret (Luke v. i) and twice Sea of Tiberias (John vi. 1, xxi. 1). The modern Arabic name isBaḥr Tubarīya, which is often rendered “Lake of Tiberias.” Pliny refers to it as the Lake of Taricheae.
Like the Dead Sea it is a “rift” lake, being part of the great fault that formed the Jordan-Araba depression. Deposits show that originally it formed part of the great inland sea that filled this depression in Pleistocene times. The district on each side of the lake has a number of hot springs, at least one of which is beneath the sea itself, and has always shown indications of volcanic and other subterranean disturbances. It is especially liable to earthquakes. The water of the sea, though slightly brackish and not very clear, is generally used for drinking. The shores are for the greater part formed of fine gravel; some yards from the shore the bed is uniformly covered with fine greyish mud. The temperature in summer is tropical, but after noon falls about 10º F. owing to strong north-west winds. This range of temperature affects the water to a depth of about 49 ft.; below that depth the water is uniformly about 59° F. The sea is set deep in hills which rise on the east side to a height of about 2000 ft. Sudden and violent storms (such as are described in Matt. viii. 23, xiv. 22, and the parallel passages) are often produced by the changes of temperature in the air resulting from these great differences of level.
The Sea of Galilee is best seen from the top of the western precipices. It 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 known as Sahel el-Ahma terminates in precipices 1700 ft. above the lake, and over these the black rocky tops called “the Horns of Hattīn” 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 of the Jaulān (Gaulonitis). The Jordan enters the lake through a narrow gorge between lower hills. A marshy plain, 2½ m. long and 1½ broad, called el-Batīhah, 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 3¼ m. along the shore, and is 1 m. wide. This plain, naturally fertile, but now almost uncultivated, is supposed to be the plain of Gennesareth, described by Josephus (B. J. iii. 10, 8). On the east the hills approach in one place within 40 ft. of the water, but there is generally a width of about ¾ 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 yds. A few scattered palms dot the western shores, and a palm grove is to be found near Kefr Hārib on the south-east. The hot baths south of Tiberias include seven springs, the largest of which has a temperature of 137° F. In these springs a distinct rise in temperature was observed in 1837, when Tiberias and Ṣafed were destroyed by an earthquake. 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-Tabighah, the largest of which was enclosed about a century ago in an octagonal reservoir by ‘Ali, son of Dhahr el-Amīr, and the water led off by an aqueduct 52 ft. above the lake. The Tabighah springs, though abundant, are warm and brackish. At the north end of the plain is ’Ain et-Tīneh (“spring of the fig-tree”), also a brackish spring with a good stream; south of the plain is ‘Ain el-Bardeh (“the cold spring”), which is sweet, but scarcely lower in temperature than the others. One of the most important springs is ‘Ain el-Madawwera (“the round spring”), situated 1 m. from the south end of the plain and half a mile from the shore. The water rises in a circular well 32 ft. in diameter, and is clear and sweet, with a temperature of 73° F. The bottom is of loose sand, and the fish calledcoracinusby Josephus (B.J. iii. 10, 8) is here found (see below). Dr Tristram was the first explorer to identify this fish, and on account of its presence suggested the identification of the “round spring” with the fountain ofCapharnaum, which, according to Josephus, watered the plain of Gennesareth. There is, however, a difficulty in this identification; there are no ruins at ‘Ain el-Madawwera.Fauna and Flora.—For half the year the hillsides are bare and steppe-like, but in spring are clothed with a subtropical vegetation. Oleanders flourish round the lake, and the large papyrus grows at ’Ain et-Tin as well as at the mouth of the Jordan. The lake swarms with fish, which are caught with nets by a gild of fishermen, whose boats are the only representatives of the many ships and boats which plied on the lake as late as the 10th century. Fishing was a lucrative industry at an early date, and the Jews ascribed the laws regulating it to Joshua. The fish, which were classed as clean and unclean, the good and bad of the parable (Matt. xiii. 47, 48), belong to the generaChromis,Barbus,Capoeta,Discognathus,Nemachilus,BlenniusandClarias; and there is a great affinity between them and the fish of the East African lakes and streams. There are eight species ofChromis, most of which hatch their eggs and raise their young in the buccal cavities of the males. TheChromis simonisis popularly supposed to be the fish from which Peter took the piece of money (Matt. xvii. 27).Clarias macracanthus(Arab.Burbur) is thecoracinusof Josephus. It was found by Lortet in the springs of ‘Ain el-Madawwera, ‘Ain et-Tīneh and ‘Ain et-Tabighah, on the lake shore where muddy, and in Lake Hüleh. It is a scaleless, snake-like fish, often nearly 5 ft. long, which resembles theC. anguillarisof Egypt. From the absence of scales it was held by the Jews to be unclean, and some commentators suppose it to be the serpent of Matt. vii. 10 and Luke xi. 11. Large numbers of grebes—great crested, eared, and little,—gulls and pelicans frequent the lake. On its shores are tortoises, mud-turtles, crayfish and innumerable sand-hoppers; and at varying depths in the lake several species ofMelania,Melanopsis,Neritina,CorbiculaandUniohave been found.
The Sea of Galilee is best seen from the top of the western precipices. It 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 known as Sahel el-Ahma terminates in precipices 1700 ft. above the lake, and over these the black rocky tops called “the Horns of Hattīn” 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 of the Jaulān (Gaulonitis). The Jordan enters the lake through a narrow gorge between lower hills. A marshy plain, 2½ m. long and 1½ broad, called el-Batīhah, 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 3¼ m. along the shore, and is 1 m. wide. This plain, naturally fertile, but now almost uncultivated, is supposed to be the plain of Gennesareth, described by Josephus (B. J. iii. 10, 8). On the east the hills approach in one place within 40 ft. of the water, but there is generally a width of about ¾ 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 yds. A few scattered palms dot the western shores, and a palm grove is to be found near Kefr Hārib on the south-east. The hot baths south of Tiberias include seven springs, the largest of which has a temperature of 137° F. In these springs a distinct rise in temperature was observed in 1837, when Tiberias and Ṣafed were destroyed by an earthquake. 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-Tabighah, the largest of which was enclosed about a century ago in an octagonal reservoir by ‘Ali, son of Dhahr el-Amīr, and the water led off by an aqueduct 52 ft. above the lake. The Tabighah springs, though abundant, are warm and brackish. At the north end of the plain is ’Ain et-Tīneh (“spring of the fig-tree”), also a brackish spring with a good stream; south of the plain is ‘Ain el-Bardeh (“the cold spring”), which is sweet, but scarcely lower in temperature than the others. One of the most important springs is ‘Ain el-Madawwera (“the round spring”), situated 1 m. from the south end of the plain and half a mile from the shore. The water rises in a circular well 32 ft. in diameter, and is clear and sweet, with a temperature of 73° F. The bottom is of loose sand, and the fish calledcoracinusby Josephus (B.J. iii. 10, 8) is here found (see below). Dr Tristram was the first explorer to identify this fish, and on account of its presence suggested the identification of the “round spring” with the fountain ofCapharnaum, which, according to Josephus, watered the plain of Gennesareth. There is, however, a difficulty in this identification; there are no ruins at ‘Ain el-Madawwera.
Fauna and Flora.—For half the year the hillsides are bare and steppe-like, but in spring are clothed with a subtropical vegetation. Oleanders flourish round the lake, and the large papyrus grows at ’Ain et-Tin as well as at the mouth of the Jordan. The lake swarms with fish, which are caught with nets by a gild of fishermen, whose boats are the only representatives of the many ships and boats which plied on the lake as late as the 10th century. Fishing was a lucrative industry at an early date, and the Jews ascribed the laws regulating it to Joshua. The fish, which were classed as clean and unclean, the good and bad of the parable (Matt. xiii. 47, 48), belong to the generaChromis,Barbus,Capoeta,Discognathus,Nemachilus,BlenniusandClarias; and there is a great affinity between them and the fish of the East African lakes and streams. There are eight species ofChromis, most of which hatch their eggs and raise their young in the buccal cavities of the males. TheChromis simonisis popularly supposed to be the fish from which Peter took the piece of money (Matt. xvii. 27).Clarias macracanthus(Arab.Burbur) is thecoracinusof Josephus. It was found by Lortet in the springs of ‘Ain el-Madawwera, ‘Ain et-Tīneh and ‘Ain et-Tabighah, on the lake shore where muddy, and in Lake Hüleh. It is a scaleless, snake-like fish, often nearly 5 ft. long, which resembles theC. anguillarisof Egypt. From the absence of scales it was held by the Jews to be unclean, and some commentators suppose it to be the serpent of Matt. vii. 10 and Luke xi. 11. Large numbers of grebes—great crested, eared, and little,—gulls and pelicans frequent the lake. On its shores are tortoises, mud-turtles, crayfish and innumerable sand-hoppers; and at varying depths in the lake several species ofMelania,Melanopsis,Neritina,CorbiculaandUniohave been found.
Antiquities.—The principal sites of interest round the lake may be enumerated from north to west and from south to east. Kerazeh, the undoubted site of Chorazin, stands on a rocky spur 900 ft. above the lake, 2 m. 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 scattered remains of a synagogue of richly ornamental style built of black basalt. A small spring occurs on the north. Tell Ḥum (as the name is generally spelt, thoughTalḥūmwould probably be preferable for several reasons) is an important ruin on the shore, south of the last-mentioned site. The remains consist of foundations and piles of stones (in spring concealed by gigantic thistles) extending about half a mile along the shore. The foundations of a fine synagogue, measuring 75 ft. 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 Ḥum synagogue. Since the 4th century Tell Ḥum has been pointed out by all the Christian writers of importance as the site of Capernaum. Some modern geographers question this identification, but without sufficient reason (seeCapernaum). Minyeh is a ruined site at the north end of the plain of Gennesareth, 2½ m. from the last, and close to the shore. There are extensive ruins on flat ground, consisting of mounds and foundations. Masonry of well-dressed stones has also been here discovered in course of excavation. Near the ruins are remains of an old khān, which appears to have been built in the middle ages. This is another suggested identification for Capernaum; but all the remains belong to the Arab period. Between Tell Ḥum and Minyeh isTell ‘Oreimeh, the site of a forgotten Amorite city.
South of the supposed plain of Gennesareth is Mejdel, commonly supposed to represent 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 tombhouse (kubbeh). Passing beneath rugged cliffs a recess in the hills is next reached, where stands Tubarīya, the ancient Tiberias or Rakkath, containing 3000 inhabitants, more than half of whom are Jews. The walls, flanked with round towers, but partly destroyed by the earthquake of 1837, were built by Dhahr el-Amīr, as was the court-house. The two mosques, now partly ruinous, were erected by his sons. There are remains of a Crusaders’ church, and the tomb of the celebrated Maimonides is shown in the town, while Rabbi Aqība 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 m. 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 ft. 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 aplain (the Ghor). Pliny further informs us that Taricheae was at the south end of the Sea of Galilee.Sinn en-Nabreh, a ruin on a spur of the hills close to the last-mentioned site, represents the ancient Sennabris, where Vespasian (Josephus,B.J.iii. 9, 7) fixed his camp, advancing from Scythopolis (Beisen) on Taricheae and Tiberias. Sennabris 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 site of Hippos, one of the cities of Decapolis, is fixed by Clermont-Ganneau at Khurbet Susieh. Kalat el-Hosn (“castle 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 is not identified; the suggestion that it is Gamala is doubtful, and not borne out by Josephus (War, iv. 1, 1), who says Gamala was over against Taricheae. Kersa, 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).