The Galilee boat
The kind of boat the Gospels put Jesus and the disciples in has been found, dated, and can be walked around.
Confirmed by the groundObject1st century BC – 1st century AD
A fishing boat eight metres long, built of twelve kinds of wood and much repaired, found in the mud when the lake dropped. Radiocarbon and construction date it to the first century. It carried a crew of five and could hold about fifteen people.
And when he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him.
- Found
- Lake bed of the Sea of Galilee, near Kibbutz Ginosar, Israel, 1986 — Exposed by drought; excavated by Shelley Wachsmann and colleagues
- Now held at
- Yigal Allon Museum, Ginosar, Israel
- How it reached us
- Dug up, or still standing where it was built.
What it shows
It is a boat of the right lake and the right century. There is no connection to any individual, and none is claimed.
How historians use it
A significant find in ancient shipbuilding, studied for its hull construction and repairs.
In Scripture
Connects to
Sources
- Wachsmann, The Sea of Galilee Boat (1995)
These summaries are written in English for now. Translations follow.