The New Student's Reference Work/Galilee, Sea of

Galilee, Sea of, called also Lake of Gennesaret, Sea of Tiberias and Sea of Chin-nereth. It is a lake in the northern part of Palestine, lying 626 feet below the sea, and is thirteen miles long by six broad and 820 feet deep. It occupies the bottom of a great basin, and is of volcanic origin. Its waters are cool, clear and sweet, although the red and turbid Jordan and many warm springs find their way into it. Its shores on the east and north are bare and rocky; on the west they slope gradually and are covered with vegetation. It has many sacred associations. On its banks are Bethsaida, Capernaum, Magdala and Tiberias. In the time of Christ the surrounding region was the most densely populated in Galilee; now even its fisheries are almost entirely neglected.