Page 40 - Holyland Magazine - 2016 Edition

The Untold story of
Tiberias The city on the Sea of Galilee
By Omer Eshel
Tiberias, on the Sea of Galilee, was one
of the most important cities during
the time of Jesus. The city was built
by Herod Agrippa in 19 AD, and while
the work was supervised by Roman
engineers, the “tectones” or stone masons
were people from all over the Galilee.
The main industry of the region was the
fishing industry. We know that the fishing took
place only in some of the seasons, so it is safe
to assume that during the off-season periods,
some of the builders of Tiberias where the
future disciples of Jesus.
Barko Park and the coins found in the excavations
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In the 1st Century AD, the Sea of Galilee was
divided by faith: the west side was Jewish,
and the east side was non-Jewish (Greek and
Roman). As a result, Herod Agrippa decided
to increase the Roman influence on the west
side of the Sea of Galilee by building a huge
Roman city - Tiberias.
This act influenced the religious world of
the Sea of Galilee. The Bible tells us about
how the Pharisees viewed Jesus, “Then the
Pharisees went and plotted together how
they might trap Him” (Matthew 22:15). It is
safe to say that in time of need, Jesus would
have found refuge in Tiberias. Let us add that
His disciples, the same disciples who built the to the gate of his city” (Deuteronomy 21:19).
city, knew it very well and could bring Him in
and out – undetected…
In fact, we know that Jesus was very familiar
with Tiberias, “After these things Jesus
went over the Sea of Galilee, which is the
A stunning view of the Sea of Galilee
Sea of Tiberias” (John 6:1). According to
John, Tiberias was such an important city in
the time of Jesus that the lake – the Sea of
Galilee, was also called the Sea of Tibeiras.
The ancient city of Tiberias was and still
is under archeological research, and it is
situated less than a mile south of today’s
modern Tiberias.
One of the most amazing discoveries is the
city gates. We know from the Bible that the
city gates were the main gathering points
for teachers, prophets, judges leaders and
elders: “bring him out to the elders of his city,
The Bible clearly indicates that the city gate
was the most important gathering point of
every walled city.
Jesus thought, “Enter by the narrow gate; for
wide is the gate and broad is the way that
leads to destruction, and there are many who
go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and
difficult is the way which leads to life, and
there are few who find it” (Matthew 7:13).
Who knows, maybe He was inspired by the
massive ancient gate of this amazing city –
Tiberias, the city by the lake.