Capernaum 

Capernaum was a fishing village with a population of approximately 1,500 during the time of Jesus. The village was inhabited continuously from the second century BCE to the 11th century CE. It had a caravan station, a Roman military post, a customs toll house, synagogue schools, a beautiful synagogue built by the Roman commanding officer, and boat-building shops at the shore of the Sea of Galilee. (Bethsaida, located approximately 2 miles west of Capernaum along the shoreline, was the fishing village headquarters for Capernaum.)

Josephus referred to Capernaum as a fertile spring. Multiple trade routes from the shores of the Mediterranean Sea to Damascus passed through Capernaum. In those times, Capernaum was a small fishing village. Archaeological evidence demonstrates that the site had no defensive wall and extended along the northwestern shore of the lake. The cemetery zone, located 200 meters north of the synagogue, is located beyond the inhabited area of the town. The historic site of Capernaum is 2.5 kilometers from Tabgha, an area that appears to have been used for agricultural purposes based on the many oil and grain mills that were discovered in the excavation.

The most notable site in Capernaum is the ancient harbor which allowed Capernaum to grow into a notable fishing town. In the middle of the 19th century, the ruins of a synagogue were found here that date back to the 3rd-4th centuries CE. However, the foundation of the synagogue belongs to an earlier structure. Perhaps it was a synagogue in which Jesus himself taught. The territory adjacent to the remains of the synagogue belongs to the Catholic monastic order of Francis of Assisi.

The cemetery zone is found 200 meters north of the synagogue, which places it beyond the inhabited area of the town. This historic site of Capernaum is 2.5 kilometers from Tabgha, an area that appears to have been used for agricultural purposes. Fishing was also a source of income; the remains of another harbor were found to the west of that built by the Franciscans.

In 24 CE, Jesus’ mother Mary and his sister Ruth moved to Capernaum. Their new home was purchased through funds that Jesus provided when he left for a Mediterranean tour that lasted over a year and a half. Jesus also took a year to travel and work as a manager of a camel caravan before beginning his public ministry.

On Sunday, January 13, 26 CE, when John the Baptist was near Pella, Jesus laid down his tools in Zebedee’s workshop south of Capernaum and announced to his brothers James and Jude that "My hour has come – let us go to John" and they went forth to be baptized. For some time, Jesus returned to his work in Capernaum at the boatshop for a period of waiting upon the Father's will to begin the public ministry. On Tuesday, June 18, 26 CE, after John the Baptist's arrest, Jesus laid his tools down in Zebedee’s workshop south of Capernaum for the last time and said to Peter: "The Father’s hour has come. Let us make ready to proclaim the gospel of the Kingdom."

The ordination known as the Sermon on the Mount of the Twelve Apostles occurred on January 12, 27 CE, at the highlands north of Capernaum. Much of the training of the apostles by Jesus also took place in the Capernaum area.

During his time working at the boat shop along the shoreline south of Capernaum, and later while establishing his public ministry, Jesus lived at the home of Zebedee. Zebedee was a leading citizen of Capernaum and owned a fish-drying business, as well as boat shops along the shore. Jesus was less accepted and received in Nazareth in later years, so he began to think of Capernaum as his home. He was registered for tax purposes as a "skilled craftsman of Capernaum." Zebedee's family consisted of his wife, Salome, along with three sons and three daughters. Two of the sons ended up being apostles of Jesus, and all of the family grew to be very fond of Jesus. The family even gave up their main house for his use when he began planning and training his apostles for their public ministry. This house served as their headquarters for the rest of Jesus' life.

Capernaum was one of the last sites Jesus visited before his ascension to the Father. He asked the apostles to journey to Capernaum so that they could have a visit among the surroundings where they shared so many good memories, and where the apostles were ordained to spread the gospel of the kingdom of heaven. Jesus wanted to remind them of their vows, to give them further instruction, to promise a comforting spirit would come to indwell them, and to strengthen them with the promise of eternal life before he left them.

The New Testament describes the events of how Jesus Christ came to the city of Capernaum. The Son of God arrived at the city of Israel after the marriage at Cana, not alone, but with his mother and brothers. Jesus then carried out his main enlightening religious activities there. After the crucifixion of Jesus, a Jewish community of Christians was formed in Capernaum.

Modern Capernaum is also known as Douai Capharnaum, or Kefar Naḥum. Currently, Capernaum is a national park in the system of historically significant objects of the State of Israel. On the territory of the national park is a church that was built in the first quarter of the 20th century. The Monastery of Twelve Apostles is located in Capernaum and was built in the traditional Greek style in the form of cubes and hemispherical domes of pink brick.

In the territory adjacent to the temple, there is a patriarchal estate containing a beautiful orchard and vineyard. The whole monastic territory is kept in order by the only monk of the Temple in Capernaum, brother Irinarch.

From the northern shore of Lake Galilee, which is located 200 meters below sea level, offers stunning views of the Golan. Facing the lake in Capernaum, the Golan Heights is to the east.

During Jesus' time in Capernaum, he worked with Zebedee only a little more than one year, but during that time he created a new style of boat and established entirely new methods of boat-making. By superior technique and greatly improved methods of steaming the boards, Jesus and Zebedee began to build boats of a very superior type, craft which were far more safe for sailing the lake than were the older types.

For several years, Zebedee had more work turning out these new-style boats than his small establishment could handle. In less than five years, practically all the craft on the lake had been built in the shop of Zebedee at Capernaum. Jesus became well known to the Galilean fisherfolk as the designer of the new boats.

The discovery in 1986 of this ancient vessel, mired in the mud near Magdala on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee, caused a stir throughout the world, especially after it was carbon-dated to the first century CE. The boat, made primarily of cedar and oak, is now on exhibit at Kibbutz Ginosar, a featured attraction at the Yigal Allon Center. It may have functioned as a ferry boat or as a boat used by ancient fishermen employing a seine, or dragnet, as described in the book of Matthew.