The New Student's Reference Work/Galilee

Gal′ilee, one of the four Roman divisions of Palestine. In the time of Christ it included the whole northern portion of Palestine from the Mediterranean to the Jordan. The district was divided into Upper and Lower Galilee, the former being hilly and wooded and the latter level and fertile. At that time it was mainly inhabited by Syrians, Phoenicians, Arabs and Greeks, with a few Jews. It had, therefore, long been known as Galilee of the Gentiles, i. e., of the nations. The principal towns were Tiberias and Sepphons. Those that figure in the gospels are Cana, Capernaum, Nazareth and Nam. There are still in this region the ruins of many fine synagogues. Galilee now forms part of the division called the pashalic of Damascus, in the Turkish province of Syria. It still has a number of Jewish inhabitants. See Dr. S. Merrill’s Galilee in the Time of Christ.