My Holy Land Trip

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"CAPHARNAUM"
Northern Shore of The Sea of Galilee, Israel

Thursday, ‎December ‎26, ‎2013

Sixth Day of my Holy Land Trip, Mount Zion, Jerusalem

My Holy Land Trip

"CAPHARNAUM"

Northern Shore of The Sea of Galilee, Israel

New church of St Peter, built over Remains of Peter's house, Capernaum:

The Church and House of St. Peter

The church of Capernaum was founded on the traditional site of St. Peter's home. Closer to the shore than the synagogue, the house was in a poor area where the drystone basalt walls would have supported only a light roof (which suits the lowering of the paralytic in Mk 2:1-12) and could have no windows.

The floors of these houses and courtyards were made of black basalt cobbles, in which it would have been easy to lose a coin (Lk 15:8).

In front of an Olive press, Capernaum:

By the mid-1st century AD, there is evidence that one room in this complex was singled out for public use: pottery and lamps replace utensils of normal family use, and there is ancient graffiti in the plastered walls, some of which mention Jesus as Lord and Christ.

The house was certainly a church by the time Egeria made her pilgrimage in 381, which she said included the original walls: "In Capernaum the house of the prince of the apostles has been made into a church, with its original walls still standing."

Inside the church of St Peter, built over Remains of Peter's house, Capernaum:

Archaeological excavations indicate it was indeed around this time that the room was given a more solid roof, which required the addition of a central arch, and two rooms were added on the two sides. This was probably the work of Count Joseph of Tiberius, a converted Jew, who obtained authority from Emperor Constantine to erect churches in Capernaum and other towns of Galilee.

In the 5th century, the site was razed to the ground and a grander church was built in its place, indicating increased Christian population and pilgrimage to Capernaum. The new church was octagonal in shape and had an ambulatory; this layout is identical to churches of the same type in Italy and Syria and similar to the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem (built later).

Inside the church of St Peter, built over Remains of Peter's house, Capernaum:

The central octagon enshrined the venerated room from Peter's house, which was given a floor mosaic featuring a peacock and a lotus-flower border. An apse with a baptistery was soon added on the east end. In 570, the Piacenza pilgrim reported that "the house of St. Peter is now a basilica."

Remains of ancient synagogue, Franciscan Monastery is in the background, Capernaum:

Franciscan monastery in Capernaum is said to be the home of Saint Peter. When Jesus left Nazareth, he settled in Capernaum where he chose his first four disciples, James, John, Peter and Andrew:

Archaeology

In 1838, American explorer Edward Robinson discovered the ruins of ancient Capernaum. In 1866, British Captain Charles William Wilson identified the remains of the synagogue, and in 1894, Franciscan Friar Giuseppe Baldi of Naples, the Custodian of the Holy Land, was able to recover a good part of the ruins from the Bedouins. The Franciscans raised a fence to protect the ruins from frequent vandalism, and planted palms and eucalyptus trees brought from Australia to create a small oasis for pilgrims. They also built a small harbor. These labors were directed by Franciscan Virgilio Corbo.

The Church of the Seven Apostles at the shore of the Sea of Galilee near Capernaum, view from the location of St peter’s church, Israel:

The most important excavations began in 1905 under the direction of Germans. The excavations resulted in the discovery of two public buildings, the synagogue (which was partially restored by Fr. Orfali), and an octagonal church. Later, in 1968, excavation of the western portion of the site—the portion owned by the Franciscans—was restarted with the financial assistance of the Italian government. During this phase, the major discovery was of a house which is claimed to be St. Peter's house, in a neighborhood of the town from the 1st century AD.

The excavations revealed that the site was established at the beginning of the Hasmonean Dynasty, roughly in the 2nd century BC, and abandoned in the 11th century.

The Church of the Seven Apostles at the shore of the Sea of Galilee near Capernaum, view from the location of St peter’s church, Israel:

The eastern half of the site, where the Church of the Seven Apostles stands and owned by an Orthodox monastery, was surveyed and partially excavated under the direction of Vasilios Tzaferis. This section has uncovered the village from the Byzantine and Arab periods. Features include a pool apparently used for the processing of fish, and a hoard of gold coins. (Tzaferis, 1989).

The layout of the town was quite regular. On both sides of an ample north-south Main Street arose small districts bordered by small cross-sectional streets and no-exit side-streets. The walls were constructed with coarse basalt blocks and reinforced with stone and mud, but the stones (except for the thresholds) were not dressed and mortar was not used.

The Sea of Galilee, the view from behind the statue of St peter, St peter’s church, Capernaum, Israel:

The most extensive part of the typical house was the courtyard, where there was a circular furnace made of refractory earth, as well as grain mills and a set of stone stairs that led to the roof. The floors of the houses were cobbled. Around the open courtyard, modest cells were arranged which received light through a series of openings or low windows (Loffreda, 1984).

The Sea of Galilee, the view from behind the statue of St peter, St peter’s church, Capernaum:

Given the coarse construction of the walls, there was no second story to a typical home, and the roof would have been constructed of light wooden beams and thatch mixed with mud. This, along with the discovery of the stairs to the roof, recalls the biblical story of the Healing of the Paralytic: "And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay." (Mark 2:4) With the type of construction seen in Capernaum, it would not have been difficult to raise the ceiling by the courtyard stairs and to remove a part to allow the bed to be brought down to where Jesus stood.

The Sea of Galilee, the view from behind the statue of St peter, St peter’s church, Capernaum:

A study of the district located between the synagogue and the octagonal church showed that several families lived together in the patriarchal style, communally using the same courtyards and doorless internal passages. The houses had no hygienic facilities or drainage; the rooms were narrow. Most objects found were made of clay: pots, plates, amphoras, and lamps. Fish hooks, weights for fish nets, striker pins, weaving bobbins, and basalt mills for milling grain and pressing olives were also found (Loffreda, 1974).

The Sea of Galilee, the view from the main gate, St peter’s church, Capernaum, Israel:

As of the 4th century, the houses were constructed with good quality mortar and fine ceramics. This was about the time that the synagogue now visible was built. Differences in social class were not noticeable. Buildings constructed at the founding of the town continued to be in use until the time of the abandonment of the town.

The Sea of Galilee, the view from the main gate, St peter’s church, Capernaum, Israel: