Our third day we decided to visit the northern city of Akko, with a stop in Magdala on the way. We first watched another beautiful sunrise over Lake Tiberias, before having some breakfast. I didn't have much of an apetite however, after witnessing a large beetle sucking the blood out of the face of a dead sparrow. After checking out, we set off to Magdala, home of one of the Bible's famous figures.
Magdala
Magdala was a small city located on the north western coast of the Sea of Galilee at the foot of Mount Arbel. It dates from approximately 300 - 200BC and was destroyed by the Roman's during the Great revolt in the 3rd century AD. The ruins were eventually covered over by a large landslide.
When we arrived at the entrance office, we were offered a guide to show us around free of charge (a rare thing in Israel!). Our guide, Adam, was a young volunteer from the United States as part of the Magdala Project team. The Magdala Project are responsible for excavations and restoration of the site.
Magdala was a very important city for trade, but gradually lost its status as Tiberias grew. The original name of the village was Magdala Nunayya and it is often referred to as other names such as Magadan (Greek). In Christian theology, Magdala was the town of Mary Magdalene, Magdalene not as her surname, but to describe where she was from. No evidence has been found to confirm Mary was born in Magdala, but she was a resident during the time of Jesus. Mary is mentioned in all four Gospels as a follower of Jesus.
To date the most important discovery has been the Synagogue, being the oldest in the Galilee area and one of the only of its era in the entire country of Israel. Most towns had a synagogue, a public building which was used not only for religious purposes such as prayer or reading of the Tanakh, but also for education, business meetings and even dispute resolutions.
The unearthed synagogue is now under cover to protect the exposed mosaic floors and painted walls from disintegrating further. Even after so long, the paint still shows its vibrant colours. To think what the complete building what the complete building would have looked like is mind blowing.
Amongst the major areas so far excavated at the site, is the marketplace. Magdala's market consisted of a high number of stone buildings tightly packed into a 1,200sqm space. On the southern edge of the market is a water channel and street separating it from the residential areas. Being a fishing village, Magdala market has a series of deep stone pools which were used to store live fish caught from the Sea of Galilee. Fish was heavily traded, not only to the local residents, but also to the wider area. The water for the holding pools was supplied from the channel which was constantly fed by springs and run off from Mount Arbel close by. The water from this stream was one of many feeders for the Sea of Galilee.
Four public mikvehs have been unearthed in Magdala to date. The mikveh was a Jewish ritual cleansing bath and various styles existed. In the smaller type, such as these, there is a set of steps leading down into the water. The person would walk into the pool with constantly flowing water defiled, wash and walk out cleansed, a ritual to wash away their sins. Some of the more lavish styles would have separate sets of stairs or a separate entrance/exit so people could avoid contact with each other.
There are a couple of residential sectors so far unearthed at Magdala with another on the way. Very little exists after so long, however digs are still very active and more buildings and streets are hoped to be excavated in the near future.
Other wealthy residences have also been uncovered, evidenced by larger rooms with mosaic flooring and one even has its own private mikveh. Like the synagogue, the mosaic flooring areas have now been covered by a semi-permanent roof to preserve them from the elements.
Duc In Altum Church
The Duc In Altum church was recently completed and is a large complex which welcomes people of all faiths to worship, pray and celebrate Mass. The church contains a large atrium called the Woman's atrium, dedicated to the theme of Magdala - women. The church itself if very modern with minimalistic styling, but features some magnificent paintings and mosaics.
The largest chapel is called the Boat Chapel. Here, the congregation has a nice view of the Sea of Galilee and the altar is shaped as a fishing boat, a very cleverly designed church in a very special location.
There are four auxilliary chapels, called the mosaic chapels which are used for smaller services and ceremonies. Each of them has a beautiful wall mounted mosaic depicting a famous story from the bible. They include 'Fisher's of men', 'Mary Magdalene', 'Walking on Water' and 'Jairus' - the young girl Jesus brought back to life. There is another larger chapel called the Encounter Chapel below the main church, which features rough cut stone pavers and a very large painting behind the altar showing the moment a sick woman was healed the instant she touched Jesus' cloak.
Those who travel here should also consider visiting a museum only three kilometres away at Kibbutz Ginosar, where a 2,000 year old fishing boat was found. This was discovered in 1986 by local fishermen. The hull of the boat has been carbon dated and pottery samples, nails and repair methods have dated the boat anywhere from 50BC - 50 AD. Prior to its discovery, the only information we had of these boats was limited to Roman writers, mosaics and the Bible. Sadly we felt we didn't have enough time to include this and would try to make the visit later on in our trip when we visited the sites on the northern coast of the Sea of Galilee. To make up for the disappointment, here's a photo of Vinci playing a game of hand stacks with Jesus and Mary.
"Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God.The Twelve were with him, and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; Joanna the wife of Chuza, the manager of Herod’s household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means." - Mark 8 :1-3
Continue to Part 7 - click here