Capernaum: First-Century Fishing Village or Polis?
Twice in the biblical record Capernaum is referenced as a city or “polis” in Greek which implies that it was a bit larger in the first century when Jesus lived there than the small fishing village that one usually images. Capernaum was an expanding community with an expanding economy.
Capernaum--The Fishing Industry
Being the largest seaport on the Galilee, it was also probably the busiest with boats carrying both passengers and cargo across the Sea of Galilee. There would have been numerous fishing boats working in the area.
In fact, Mendel Nun gives an estimate of the number of fishing boats that support the fishing industry on the Sea of Galilee. (Nun: 12) He states that the fishing industry changed very little from ancient times until 1948 when the Arab fishermen left the area as they maintained the old traditions in fishing. When nylon netting was introduced to the fishing industry in the 1960 along with the introduction of two new species of fish in the Galilee, the fishing industry and production increased three-fold.
Presently, there are 65 small fishing boats on the Galilee, four large vessels for seine fishing, and about 150 fishermen working during peak season. We have no reason to believe that more fishing boats were present on the Galilee in the first century because production was much lower then than now. All of the fishermen on the Galilee would have known each other and each ship which was fishing on the Sea. News would have traveled quickly among the fishermen on the Galilee.
posted by ~serapha~ at 7:00 PM
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