Galilee

Galilee
/gal"euh lee'/, n.
1. an ancient Roman province in what is now N Israel.
2. Sea of. Also called Lake Tiberias. a lake in NE Israel through which the Jordan River flows. 14 mi. (23 km) long; 682 ft. (208 m) below sea level.

* * *

Hebrew Ha-galil

Northernmost region of biblical and modern Israel.

It contains two of the four holy cities of Judaism, Tiberias and Zefat. It was the boyhood home of Jesus Christ and the setting for much of his ministry. It became the centre of Jewish scholarship after the destruction of Jerusalem (AD 70). In the modern era, the first wave of Jewish immigrants settled there (1882). The first kibbutz, Deganya, was established in 1909 on the shore of Lake Tiberias, through which flows the Jordan River.

* * *

Hebrew  Ha-galil 

      northernmost region of ancient Palestine, corresponding to modern northern Israel. Its biblical boundaries are indistinct; conflicting readings leave clear only that it was part of the territory of the northern tribe of Naphtali.

      The frontiers of this hilly area were set down by the Roman-Jewish historian Josephus (1st century AD). They were: ʿAkko (Acre) and Mount Carmel on the west; Samaria and Bet Sheʾan (Scythopolis) on the south; Transjordan on the east; and a line running through ancient Baca (probably modern Bezet) on the north, that line generally corresponding to the modern Israeli-Lebanese boundary. Some geographers extend Galilee's border northward to the Nahr al-Līṭānī (Leontes River).

      Galilee is divided into two parts: Upper and Lower. Upper Galilee (chief city: Ẕefat) has higher peaks separated by narrow gorges and defiles. Lower Galilee (chief city: Nazareth) is a region of lower hills.

      When the Israelites took possession of Palestine, the Canaanites were strongly entrenched in Galilee. The Book of Judges (1:30–33) suggests that even after Joshua's conquest, Jews and Canaanites lived together there. During the reigns of David and Solomon (10th century BC), Galilee was part of their expanded kingdom; subsequently, it came under the northern kingdom of Israel.

      In 734 BC much of Galilee's Jewish population was exiled after the victory of the Assyrian king Tiglath-pileser III over the Israelite kingdom. Later, the region became known as Jesus' boyhood home and, thereafter, the site of most of his public ministry. Most of the miracles recounted in the New Testament were performed in Galilee. After the destruction of the Second Temple (AD 70) by the Romans, the centre of Jewish scholarship in Palestine moved to Galilee.

      Galilee became impoverished after the Arab conquest (636). In the Middle Ages Ẕefat was the principal centre of Kabbala, an esoteric Jewish mysticism.

      The region's revival in modern times is a result of Zionist colonizations. Beginning with the village of Rosh Pinna (Hebrew: “cornerstone”) in 1882, a string of settlements was set up; these proved to be key bargaining points in the inclusion of all Galilee in the British mandate (1920).

      The United Nations partition plan (November 1947) envisioned the division of Galilee between Israel and the never-created Arab state in Palestine, but it all went to Israel after the 1948–49 Arab–Israeli war.

      A major change in Palestine's physical geography was effected in Galilee in the 1950s when swampy Lake Ḥula, north of the Sea of Galilee, was drained; the Ḥula Valley was converted into fertile farmland and the upper course of the Jordan River straightened.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • GALILEE — (Heb. הַגָּלִיל, Ha Galil), the northernmost region of Ereẓ Israel. Name The name Galilee is derived from the Hebrew galil which comes from the root גלל ( to roll ), and thus means a circle. It appears in the Bible in the combination Gelil ha… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • GALILÉE — Région du nord d’Israël, la Galilée est située entre la frontière du Liban et la plaine de Yizréel, et s’étend du Jourdain, à l’est, à la plaine côtière méditerranéenne, à l’ouest. Région de collines plus élevées au nord (haute Galilée) qu’au sud …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Galilee — • The native land of Jesus Christ, where He began His ministry and performed many of His works, and whence He drew His Apostles Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin Knight. 2006. Galilee     Galilee …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Galilee — Galilée Cette page d’homonymie répertorie les différents sujets et articles partageant un même nom. Galilée est le nom francisé du savant italien Galileo Galilei. La Galilée est une région du Moyen Orient. Sciences Les termes suivants doivent… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Galilee — ist der Name verschiedener Ortschaften in den Vereinigten Staaten: Galilee (Arkansas), eine Ortschaft im Crittenden County, im US Bundesstaat Arkansas Galilee (New Jersey), eine Ortschaft im Monmouth County, im US Bundesstaat New Jersey Galilee… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • galilee — [gal′ə lē΄] n. [ME galilie < ML galilaea < L Galilaea, Galilee: ? because, being at the less sacred western end, it was compared with the scriptural “Galilee of the Gentiles”] a porch or chapel at the western entrance of certain medieval… …   English World dictionary

  • Galilee — Gal i*lee, n. [Supposed to have been so termed in allusion to the scriptural Galilee of the Gentiles. cf. OF. galil[ e]e.] (Arch.) A porch or waiting room, usually at the west end of an abbey church, where the monks collected on returning from… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Galilee — northernmost province of Palestine, late 12c., from L. Galilaea, Gk. Galilaia, from Heb. Haggalil, lit. The District, a compressed form of Gelil haggoyim the District of Nations (Cf. Isa. viii:23). The adj. Galilean is used both of Christ (1630s) …   Etymology dictionary

  • Galilee — [gal′ə lē΄] [L Galilaea < Gr Galilaia < Heb hagalil < gelil ( hagoyim), lit., district (of the Gentiles)] 1. region of N Israel 2. Sea of lake in NE Israel, on the Syrian border: c. 13 mi (21 km) long …   English World dictionary

  • Galilee — For other uses, see Galilee (disambiguation). An orchard in Upper Galilee …   Wikipedia

  • galilee — /gal euh lee /, n. a porch or vestibule, often on the ground floor of a tower, at the entrance of some English churches. [1585 95; < ML galilaea porch of a church, lit., GALILEE; perh. alluding to Galilee as a country of Gentiles (as opposed to… …   Universalium

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”