Capernaum

The village of Capernaum by the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee was the center of Jesus' Galilean ministry. Matthew (9:1) calls Capernaum Jesus' “own town," for it was here that Jesus reportedly preached and performed many miracles, and where five of the twelve apostles — Peter, Andrew, James, John, and Matthew — were chosen. According to the Gospel accounts, Jesus stayed many times in the house of Peter and taught in the synagogue built by the Roman centurion. No remains of a synagogue from the time of Jesus have been found, but there is a monumental late antique synagogue building (see Chapter 14).

Capernaum was a modest village about 10 to 12 acres in size. The villagers supported themselves through fishing, agriculture, and some commerce and trade. During the reign of Herod Antipas, Capernaum was a border village with a customs house, and Jesus' disciple Matthew reportedly was a customs official here (see Matthew 9:9). The village had an orthogonal layout, with streets and alleys dividing residential areas into quarters. The houses were built sturdily of local basalt, a hard, black volcanic rock. Each house contained small

9.3 Mosaic floor in the Villa of Dionysos at Sepphoris. Courtesy of Zev Radovan/BibleLand Pictures. com.

9.4 House at Capernaum with a window wall.

9.5 Reconstruction of a house at Capernaum. By Leen Ritmeyer ©.

Dwelling rooms arranged around a courtyard. Sometimes the dwelling rooms were separated from the courtyard by a wall pierced by a continuous row of windows. This common device in ancient houses in northern Palestine, called a window wall, allowed air and light to enter the interiors of rooms. Family life centered on the courtyard, where there were ovens and stoves for cooking, a staircase providing access to the roof (or sometimes a second story), and an exit to the street. The flat roofs of the houses were used for sleeping (in warm weather), drying fruits, and other activities. Typical of the ancient Mediterranean and Near East, the village houses focused on the courtyard, with only one door opening to the street and few (if any) windows in the outer walls.