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WITHOUT TAKING SHOWERS
we got dressed in a hurry and
went down to the sumptuous
breakfast. When it came to this
feast we had our priorities!
Our first stop of the day was to
visit an ancient boat, built in
the days of Jesus, that had been
discovered by kibbutz members in
1986 on the shore of the lake
just to the south of Ginosar. It
was now housed in a museum on
the grounds of the kibbutz. We
were fascinated because of the
Urantia Book’s account of Jesus
as a boat builder:
JESUS THE BOATBUILDER
[In January of A.D. 21 Jesus]
passed on successively through
Magdala and Bethsaida to
Capernaum, where he stopped to
pay a visit to his father's
friend Zebedee.
Zebedee's sons were fishermen;
he himself was a boatbuilder.
Jesus of Nazareth was an expert
in both designing and building;
he was a master at working with
wood; and Zebedee had long known
of the skill of the Nazareth
craftsman. For a long time
Zebedee had contemplated making
improved boats; he now laid his
plans before Jesus and invited
the visiting carpenter to join
him in the enterprise, and Jesus
readily consented.
Jesus 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 boatmaking. 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.
[1419]
JOY: I think the Jesus boat was
one of the highlights of our
trip, and that many people would
be interested in it. One of the
fascinating things is that in
“The Draught of Fishes" section
in the Jesus papers, it goes
into a couple sentences of
detail about the boat that Jesus
was standing on:
On Friday morning of this same
week, when Jesus was teaching by
the seaside, the people crowded
him so near the water's edge
that he signaled to some
fishermen occupying a near-by
boat to come to his rescue.
Entering the boat, he continued
to teach the assembled multitude
for more than two hours. This
boat was named "Simon"; it was
the former fishing vessel of
Simon Peter and had been built
by Jesus' own hands. [1628]
JOY:
Well, if you look up the
comparable story about the
"Draught of Fishes" in the
Bible, you'll find that it took
place in Genneseret (Ginosar),
which is the name of the kibbutz
and thus the location where the
Jesus boat was found. I think
the UB bothers to tell us a
little about this boat on which
Jesus stood because the
midwayers figured that we'd
uncover the boat sooner or
later.
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THE ANCIENT BOAT*
The kibbutzers had discovered
the ancient boat lying
on its side buried in
the mud after a two-year
drought that had lowered
the water to historic
levels. Experts called
to the scene agreed it
was indeed an ancient
boat and excavations
were begun immediately,
conducted by the Israel
Department of
Antiquities and Museums
assisted by
archaeologists and
volunteers.
Brittle and
spongy, the boat was
carefully cleared of the
mud that had protected
it from deterioration
over the centuries,
"packaged" in
polyurethane foam,
floated up the shore and
moved to a conservation
pool in the Yigal Allon
center, a museum on the
grounds of the kibbutz.
The excavation took
eleven days. Here,
supported by fiberglass
frames, the boat sat for
nine and a half years
undergoing treatment
consisting of
impregnation with a
special wax material. In
1995 the pool was
emptied and the boat
revealed. A slow drying
process followed but it
was viewable behind a
glass wall.
Experts agree
that it was built by a
master craftsman or boat
builder. The design—a
deep, rounded stern and
fine bow known as the
“shell-first” method—is
different than anything
previously unearthed,
though similar vessels
have been represented
artistically. The
builder followed a
common Mediterranean
practice with many
deviations. The nails,
some with square, round
or octagonal shafts,
seem more suited to
domestic carpentry, as
does the style of their
application.
Its planks were
assembled with mortise
and tenon joints locked
in place with tapered
wood pegs, and then
nailed to the frames
with straight iron
nails.
Frames provided
support made from
naturally curved tree
branches. The shape of
the frames and planks
are unlike anything thus
far recorded for
seafaring craft, and
indicate either a
shortage of good timber
or a type of
construction adapted
specifically to this
relatively calm,
freshwater lake.
Twelve different
kinds of wood have been
identified, the most
common being oak and
cedar, indicating that
the builder made use of
whatever materials were
available locally.
Measuring 26.5 long by
7.5 wide by 4.5 feet
deep, the boat could
carry 15 persons and may
have had a mast.
The boat was
repaired many times. The
differences between the
workmanship of the
repairs and that of the
original construction
suggest that the work
was done by different
workmen or even perhaps
by different generations
of workmen.
Slightly to the
northeast were found
fragments of wood which
appear to be waste from
shipbuilding activities,
as well as the remains
of two other smaller
boats from later
periods, indicating that
this site may have been
a place where boats were
built and stored.
Based on a study
of construction
techniques, Carbon-14
analysis and ceramic
chronology, the boat is
dated to the period
covering the first
century BC until the
first century AD, a
period when the lakeside
communities witnessed
the ministry of Jesus
and his disciples. The
vessel, evidently used
for fishing and
transport, provides a
major contribution to
the study of water
transport and the
history of the Galilee
area. Today the it
rests on a specially
designed steel cradle in
the new wing of the
museum.
 *To
learn more,
please visit
the official
Jesus Boat
Museum Site
www.JesusBoatMuseum.com
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* * *
TODAY
we also drove to
Nazareth, nestled in
the lower hills of
Galilee, about a
one-hour drive from
our kibbutz.
A section of the
Pilgrim's Map of the
Holy Land that we
used for reference
What we found as we entered was
a messy, disjointed jungle, but
judging by its location amidst
the surrounding hills, it must
have been a beautiful place in
Jesus’ day when there were fewer
people.
First we parked the car
somewhere along the main street
that ran the length
of the town, an
obstacle course of
noisy honking cars,
pedestrians, outdoor
markets and
eateries, digging
and construction, with the
ever-present sound of jack
hammers in the air. After
following faulty directions
given us by an English-speaking
girl, we ended up in the
opposite end of town from what
we had aimed for, walking a long
way for nothing but experiencing
the sights and sounds of the
city in the process. We stopped
in at a “tourist office” where
they spoke no English but
managed to convey that we were
heading in the wrong direction.
Backtracking, we found the
Church of the Annunciation, the
supposed site of Gabriel’s
appearance to Mary to announce
the coming birth of Jesus and
the dominant structure in the
town. From here we set out to
locate Jesus’ boyhood home,
based on our Urantia Book
“hints.”
The home of Jesus was not far
from the high hill in the
northerly part of Nazareth, some
distance from the village
spring, which was in the eastern
section of the town. Jesus'
family dwelt in the outskirts of
the city, and this made it all
the easier for him subsequently
to enjoy frequent strolls in the
country and to make trips up to
the top of this near-by
highland, the highest of all the
hills of southern Galilee save
the Mount Tabor range to the
east and the hill of Nain, …
[1349]
Their home was located a little
to the south and east of the
southern promontory of this hill
and about midway between the
base of this elevation and the
road leading out of Nazareth
toward Cana. Aside from climbing
the hill, Jesus' favorite stroll
was to follow a narrow trail
winding about the base of the
hill in a northeasterly
direction to a point where it
joined the road to Sepphoris.
[1350]
Tracing these hints, we climbed up a steep
hill that was now a solid maze
of concrete dwellings and
located what we calculated was
the approximate spot. At least
we could stand there and get a
general feel of how the lay of
the land must have looked to
Jesus.
After videotaping it from all
angles, we ventured on up to the
top of the hill. Here is where
Jesus and Joseph would stand
together and take in the view of
all the historical lands
surrounding them:
[It was] the custom
for Joseph to take
Jesus out for walks
on Sabbath
afternoons, one of
their favorite
jaunts being to
climb the high hill
near their home,
from which they
could obtain a
panoramic view of
all Galilee. To the
northwest, on clear
days, they could see
the long ridge of
Mount Carmel running
down to the sea; and
many times Jesus
heard his father
relate the story of
Elijah, one of the
first of that long
line of Hebrew
prophets, who
reproved Ahab and
exposed the priests
of Baal. To the
north Mount Hermon
raised its snowy
peak in majestic
splendor and
monopolized the
skyline, almost
3,000 feet of the
upper slopes
glistening white
with perpetual snow.
Far to the east they
could discern the
Jordan valley and
far beyond lay the
rocky hills of Moab.
Also to the south
and the east, when
the sun shone upon
their marble walls,
they could see the
Greco-Roman cities
of the Decapolis,
with their
amphitheaters and
pretentious temples.
And when they
lingered toward the
going down of the
sun, to the west
they could make out
the sailing vessels
on the distant
Mediterranean.
[1363]
From four directions Jesus could
observe the caravan trains as
they wended their way in and out
of Nazareth, and to the south he
could overlook the broad and
fertile plain country of
Esdraelon, stretching off toward
Mount Gilboa and Samaria. [1364]
The top of the hill was now
covered with a gated modern-day
church, preventing all access.
We managed to catch a glimpse of
what Jesus must have seen from a
lower point, but it was a busy
intersection and we had to dodge
traffic and other obstacles to
do it.
Hungry, we went back down the
hill, passing many outdoor
markets until we found a falafel
place where we ate up a storm
for $6 each. Places like this
don’t expect tourists so we got
a lot of bang for our shekels.
It was crammed with locals all
eating a chicken platter.
* * *
With me driving and Joy
navigating we next headed for
nearby Mt. Tabor. (The Bible
says this is the Mount of
Transfiguration but the Urantia
Book corrects that as being Mt.
Hermon.)
In the latter part of June,
Jesus, in company with his
father, first climbed to the
summit of Mount Tabor. It was a
clear day and the view was
superb. It seemed to this
nine-year-old lad that he had
really gazed upon the entire
world excepting India, Africa,
and Rome. [1367]
It was a scary ride to the top,
with Joy in a panic as we
rounded one hairpin curve after
another while at the same time
trying to avoid huge taxis and
tour buses speeding down at us.
(Had I been in the passenger
seat I would have felt the same,
but I was concentrating too
deeply on trying to stay on the
road, with my hands clutching
the wheel, to feel much except
my thumping heart.) Once at the
top, and finding nothing there
but yet another recent-day
church, set inside locked and
gated grounds, we immediately
descended as it was getting dark
and too hazy to see properly.
* * *
Back in Tiberias we stopped in
the supermarket for snacks to
take back to the room. While Joy
took a nap, I sat sipping a cool
drink outside our room when Eli
Green, the Dutch Israeli tour
guide, came by again. As before,
I tried to get him interested in
the Urantia Book and even had
him reading several pages. He
left me an address where I could
send him a copy.
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Straight iron carpentry nailsbr />
MMortise and tenon construction
Red tags identify parts of the
stern, white outlines the planks
An artistic rendering of the
ancient boat
1st century mosaic
Nazareth
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A BRIEF HISTORY
OF NAZARETH
While Nazareth was known
to early Christian
followers as the boyhood
home of Jesus, it was
not until 326 AD that
the newly converted
Roman Emperor
Constantine, at the
request of his mother
Queen Helena, built the
first church in Nazareth
over the traditional
site of Mary's home. The
invading Persians
destroyed the city in
614, and it lay in ruins
until restored by the
Crusaders in the twelfth
century. A hundred years
later the Saracens
massacred the Christian
population and
demolished the Crusader
churches. In the 17th
century, Franciscan
monks returned and
established churches,
monasteries and schools.
A mosque was added in
1814.
Today Nazareth
is inhabited by about
55,000 people, half of
them Christians and the
rest Moslems. Steeples
and domes of churches of
many denominations
punctuate the skyline,
as well as convents,
chapels, and schools.
Every year tens of
thousands of pilgrims
and visitors are drawn
to its shrines.
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Mt. Tabor
Mt. Tabor
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