The Laughlins

On our first day near the Sea of Galilee, we drove to the Gal Allon Center (very close to Migdal - just north of where we stayed). Here you can see the ancient Galilee boat that they managed to salvage and preserve from the mud of the lake. They call it the "Jesus Boat," which Mark and I found rather amusing, but the reason is because it has been dated to about 2000 years ago. The whole archaeological process which they had to go through to excavate and preserve it was the most amazing part (and that it was actually successful). I'm not going to re-tell it all here, but you should visit the museum's website and click through the tabs for yourself (especially "conservation").

Gal Allon (Museum) Center





We continued driving north along the shoreline and visited Capharnaum (Capernaum). Peter, Andrew, James, John, and Matthew all lived in this village about 2000 years ago.




The following is Todd Bolen's explanation of this site from BiblePlaces.com. The pictures are mine though :)

The Synagogue

The dating of this synagogue is debated, but it is clearly later than the first century. Excavations have revealed a synagogue from the time of Jesus with walls made of worked stone and 4 feet thick.

These earlier walls were preserved up to 3 feet high and the entire western wall still exists and was used as the foundation for the later synagogue.









[Events at] the Synagogue

Jesus was confronted by a demoniac while teaching here (Mark 1:21-27).

In Capernaum, Jesus healed the servant of the centurion. This Roman official was credited with building the synagogue (Luke 7:3).

In this synagogue, Jesus gave sermon on the bread of life (John 6:35-59).


The House of Peter

Excavations revealed one residence that stood out from the others. This house was the object of early Christian attention with 2nd century graffiti and a 4th century house church built above it. In the 5th century a large octagonal Byzantine church was erected above this, complete with a baptistery. Pilgrims referred to this as the house of the apostle Peter.

Here are the pretty millstones and flowers on the way out.




Next stop - Donkey in the fieldnext to a pink-roofed Greek church...and then the Church of the Primacy of St. Peter...the names they come up with for some of these places! I was going to create my own "The Church of the Ultimate Primacy of Sir Master Saint Peter 'The Rock' of Capernaum." I think Peter would have wanted a great name placard on his desk with this title :)