BIBLICAL-ERA TOWN DISCOVERED IN ISRAEL

Biblical-era town: Archaeologists have discovered a town on the northwest coast of the sea of Galilee dating back more than 2000 years 

Dalmanutha:-

It is an ancient town and also called Dalmanoutha.

• The town Dalmanutha was found in Israel's Ginosar valley.

• It is described in the Gospel of Mark.

• It is the place JESUS sailed after feeding miraculously 4000 people a few fish and loaves of bread.

• It was said by Ken Dark, University of Reading in the U.K. who found the town during the field survey with his team.

• The Archaeologists also determined that a famous boat, dating to around 2,000 years ago and uncovered in 1986.

• It was found on the shoreline of the newly discovered town.

• The boat was reported on two decades ago but the discovery of the town provides new information on what lay close to it.

• The evidence the team found suggests the town was prosperous in ancient times.

• "Vessel glass and amphora hint at wealth", Dark wrote in an article published in the most recent edition of the journal Palestine Exploration quarterly , while weights and stone anchors, along with the access to beaches suitable for landing boats - and, of course, the first-century boat ...all imply an involvement with fishing.

• The architectural remains and pottery suggest that Jews and those following a polytheistic religion lived side by side in the community.

• In addition, the researchers found that the southern side of the newly discovered town lies only about 500 feet (150 meters) away from another ancient town known as Magdala.

Architecture and Pottery:-

Fields between the modern-day town of Migdal and the sea coast contained hundreds of pottery pieces dating from as early as the second or first century B.C to up to some point after the fifth century A.D, the time of the Byzantine Empire , the Archaeologists found.

• The artifacts suggests the town survived for many centuries.

• Also among their finds were cubes known as tesserae and limestone vessel fragments , which were "associated with Jewish purity practices in the early roman period", indicating the presence of a Jewish community in the town.

• Some of the most impressive finds, however , were not made in the fields but rather in modern -day Migdal itself.

• The archaeologists found dozens of examples of ancient architectural remains, some of which the modern-day townspeople had turned into seats or garden ornaments or simply left lying on the ground.

• In one instance the researchers found more than 40 basalt ashlar blocks in a single garden.

• After talking to the local people , and trying to identify the source and date of findings , the researchers determined that many of the architectural remains came from the local area and likely were part of this newly discovered town.

• These remains included a number of ancient column fragments, including examples of capitals carved in a corinthian style.

• Dark wrote in his paper "This settlement may have contained masonry buildings ,some with mosaic floors and architectural stonework".

• The finds also included a pagan altar , made of  light gray limestone and used in religious rituals by those of a polytheistic faith.

Is it Dalmanutha :-

Dalmanutha is briefly explained in the New Testament in the Gospel of Mark.

• The Gospel says that after feeding 4000 people by miraculously multiplying a few fish and some loaves of bread.

• "Jesus got into the boat with his disciples and went to the region Dalmanutha. The Pharisees came and began to question Jesus.To test him, they asked him for a sign from heaven.He sighed deeply and said 'why does the generation ask for a sign ? Truly I tell you , no sign will be given to it.' Then he left them ,got back into the boat and crossed to the other side."  (Mark 8:10-13)

• Dark isn't certain the newly discovered town is Dalmanutha, but there is evidence to support the idea.

• From the remains found , researchers can tell the newly discovered town would have been a sizable , thriving location in the first century A.D .. and the name Dalmanutha has not been firmly linked to a known archaeological site.

• Dark said it's likely that the newly found town's name is among the few place names already identified by other researchers relating to the Ginosar valley shore, and one of those places is Dalmanutha.
  

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