Travel Biography - Week 8.

The Sea of Galilee/Lake of Kinneret.

It was the twelfth day into my visit to the Holy Land out of the 21 days I spent there in 1976. Now, I find myself standing alone at the coastal town of Tiberias on the west side of the Sea of Galilee, a harp-shaped freshwater lake 13 miles, 21 km in length from north to south, 8.1 miles, 13 km wide from east to west, and 209 metres below sea level. Far to my left, that is towards the north, I could see the distant ruins of Capernaum, a fishing village which was the hometown of the Apostle Peter and one of the venues of Jesus' ministry. Directly opposite, on the far side, Ein Gev Kibbutz nestles on the shore, an Israeli area within Syria that, back then, still bordered the eastern shoreline of the lake.

Tiberias. Stock photo.

Swimming was one of my favourite activities. Lido resorts lined the coastline north of Tiberias and the one I visited, Lido Beach, looked to be a popular resort. A little distance from the beach, a wall was built to partially enclose the shallow area of the lake to make it safe for families with small children and non-swimmers. Beyond the wall was the main body of the lake itself, populated by strong swimmers. And just as well, as from the safety wall itself, the water was already deeper than my height, with its deepest point in the whole lake some 43 metres below the surface, hence the need for constant body movement. Although classed as a lido, in 1976, there was no rope boundary enclosing the bathing area, as there was in 1994. Instead, I could have swum right out if I had wanted to.

Swimming in the Sea of Galilee was a totally different experience from that of the Dead Sea. Wherein the latter I merely floated as if lying on a soft mattress, here, the water was fresh, hence likened to a pool swim.

Also, some distance off the coast of Tiberias, several fishing boats were moored, each a little larger than a family rowing boat that ply the Thames at Henley and Windsor. These boats were a reminder of the vibrant fishing industry that existed at the time of Jesus Christ, and from such an industry the Lord called at least four of his disciples. These boats, however, were moored some distance out from the beach, and each was supplied with oars and also an outboard motor, the only clue that I was living in the late 20th Century rather than during Christ's day. Also, at some nearby sheds, fishing nets were seen as if drying out. More authenticity to the Biblical narrative. Therefore, it was easy to imagine Jesus sitting in one of the boats as he delivered his parables to the crowd standing onshore, or the hustle and bustle as Peter, Andrew, James, and John rowed into the harbour with their night's catch and then laying out their nets in the rising sunshine to dry out.

Evenings spent at the shore of the lake were relaxing experiences. As the Galilean sun set behind me, its rays turned the mountainous banks of Syria into a pinkish hue and would have been an ideal setting for romantic couples. For me, such a scenic view allowed my imagination to go back two millennia to a far less peaceful hustle-and-bustle of fishermen haggling with the tax collector, hated by all and regarded as "unclean" by the Jews at the time, as the tax collector sided with their Roman oppressors.

A Visit to Capernaum.

Along with the fishing boats, a modern cruiser also plied the lake daily. It called at three points - Tiberias, on which the cruiser is based, Capernaum and Ein Gev, thus forming a triangular route across the lake. On one particular day, I bought a full-cruise ticket to visit Capernaum. Once on board, it was a pleasant, uneventful sailing to the area, an archaeological site with two distinct features: The synagogue where Jesus taught and the site of Peter's house.

The present ruin of the synagogue that now stands in Capernaum was built sometime later after the one where Jesus preached, but it's on the same site. So as I sat on one of its ledges, I soaked in the experience and wondered what it must have been like watching the Lord healing a man's withered hand and the uproar from the crowd packed within, for healing on the Sabbath. What different atmospheres between Jesus' time and mine! As I sat, there were no angry crowds muttering about how to execute such an individual. Instead, the shell of the ancient synagogue was deserted, other than just me sitting there, soaking in the experience and worshipping God. A few other people were also elsewhere at the site, but the quietness of the ruins seems to belie the active life in its heyday.

Nearby was the traditional site of St Peter's house. Again in 1976, the ruin had nothing modern built above it. Like all other ruins, this too was open to the sky. It took the form of a series of concentric hexagons which stood out from the other ruins. This suggests an ancient church built on the site, as Peter himself was an ordinary fisherman and therefore unlikely to have lived in a house that was more prominent than others around it. Nowadays, a modern octagonal edifice is built over it, a Catholic church with a glass floor through which visitors can look down directly at the ruin beneath it.

St Peter's House as it was in 1976. Stock photo.

As I stood at the site, I thought how ironic that here was where Peter lived, perhaps his equivalent of a British council house in any suburban estate. Nothing special, or at least not what some of his neighbours had thought, as they even had the temerity to pick a hole through the roof, large enough to let down a disabled man to Jesus to be healed. Peter might have protested loudly at the apparent destruction of his home, but Jesus had more compassion for the crippled beggar and healed him - and also exalted Peter to lead a team of apostles after his Lord's passing. And so, the contrast between his house here in Capernaum and that of a basilica named after him in Rome (Week 4) couldn't have been more different! Especially since various theologians had questioned whether Peter had ever visited Rome in the first place, as being the apostle to the Jews, according to his own letter, his life ended at Babylon, far in the opposite direction from Rome, after ministering to the Jewish Diaspora.

St Peter's House now, with a church built over it.

My day ended with another pleasant sailing from Capernaum to Ein Gev, then back to Tiberias where I made my way back to my room in Hotel Aviv.

Daily Bits and Bobs.

One morning, I was strolling along a lake promenade when I came across a group of young men swimming in the lake and apparently supervised by an older gentleman sitting nearby. Shortly after, the older man summoned the whole group, with each individual climbing out of the water and dressed without barely drying themselves, as they seemed to rely on the warm sunshine to do that. Then they were led to a building site, where an unfinished hotel was standing, the first of the modern skyscraper hotels that will draw in the future tourist. This will be the Leonardo Plaza Hotel Tiberias, one of many such buildings springing up in Israel, including those at Tel Aviv, the Dead Sea and Eilat. 

In another incident, at the same spot as the group of young men swimming earlier, a couple of Israeli soldiers made a failed attempt to snatch the silver wristwatch from my arm. With a sharp, accurate skill, one of them flicked at the stainless steel fastener with his intention to release the strap while they ran away with the watch. But the mechanism was designed to merely loosen the chain strap to enable it to pass over my clenched hand. Thus, after feeling a hard tug on the upper arm, the two men fled empty-handed, leaving the watch loose around my wrist. At first, I was shocked at the quick, sudden incident. Then, seeing the watch safe with me, my shock turned to amusement as I refastened it.

Nazareth.

During my stay in Galilee, I made my way to the Egged bus station to board a bus to spend a day in Nazareth. On this route, some buses terminated at Nazareth. Others then proceeded to Haifa, Israel's major port on the Mediterranean coast. I alighted at Nazareth, an inland town that had much to do with the early life of Jesus Christ, beginning with the Church of the Annunciation, a large edifice topped with a cupola, shaped to resemble a cone. I believe this might have been purposely built to symbolise the rays of light shining upon Mary from heaven as she was told by an angel that she was pregnant and will give birth to the long-awaited Messiah.

It whole church looked new when I entered it and has two levels. From the upper level, I had a superb view of the main apse, and I wondered whether I was visiting a museum instead of a church. And indeed, it did look remarkably new, lacking that fragrance of centuries of incense burning and the classic tired look of age, as with the Church of the Holy Sepulchre or the Church of the Nativity and its Orthodox decor. And of little wonder, as this basilica was completed in 1969, thus making it 17 years younger than me. It was built over a grotto marking the traditional site where Mary was visited by the angel. Even then, coming to think of it, the two important events associated with Jesus' infancy seems to occur in a cave. So the Annunciation occurred in a cave at Nazareth, and the birth of Jesus took place in a cave in Bethlehem. This site selection was the work of Helena, the mother of Emperor Constantine in the 4th Century AD, and was upheld by the popes ever since. She also identified the exact site of the Crucifixion and Burial, both within the existing Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Although at the time I was fully convinced of its authenticity when I visited the site of the Crucifixion for the first time in 1976, it was after that I had to take everything in with a little more caution.

Yet in Nazareth, if only I had a guidebook. There were more interesting places I could have visited in Nazareth. Instead, I visited the Basilica of the Annunciation without, for example, visiting the church of Joseph's carpentry workshop which is - again built over a cave. Instead, I spent the remainder of the day walking through the streets of the town before boarding the bus back to Tiberias.

The Church of the Annunciation, Nazareth.

The week I spent in Tiberias, sitting whilst meditating as I gazed across the Sea of Galilee was indeed an enlightening experience and also had a greater sense of independence. However, living in a private home in Silwan proved an advantage. If it wasn't for Abed, I would have run into financial trouble midway through the holiday. Furthermore, I may not have visited Hebron, the Dead Sea and Jericho without the companionship of my host who saw me as a friend in need rather than a touring customer. Indeed, Throughout the whole trip, I was still very inexperienced and naive. I had a lot to learn - and learn I did as I vacated my room a week after arrival to board the bus back to Jerusalem.

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NEXT WEEK: As I fly home from the Middle East and prepare for North America, I hope to include some photos I took during the 1976 trip to Israel.