'The Expedition for the survey of the rivers Euphrates and Tigris, carried on by order of the British government, in the years 1835, 1836, and 1837; preceded by geographical and historical notices of the regions situated between the rivers Nile and Indus. In four volumes. With fourteen maps and charts, and embellished with ninety-seven plates, besides numerous wood-cuts. Volume the first.' [‎477] (564/905)

CHAP. XIX.]
TIBERIAS.
477
the time of Josephus its soil was fruitful, 1 and it would be Southern parts
so now were it diligently cultivated. Although very moun- of ' Akka '
tainous, the ridges surrounding the plains are lower and more
rounded than those to the northward ; and the villages of
Galilee, instead of being constructed with difficulty on steep
acclivities, are for the most part placed either' on swelling
hills or on the rounded shoulders of low mountains, where
cultivation is carried on without the additional labour of con
structing terraces. The villages are small, some distance
apart; and the country being thinly peopled, it is only now
and then that the traveller perceives one : each of them
consists of a cluster of square dwellings, like as many huge
blocks of stone placed on the side of a hill, and each is sur
rounded by fields, some of which are enclosed with fences of
thorn, or the prickly pear.
At the eastern boundary of the district is the strong castle
of Esh Shukif; and southward of this are the plain and
lake of Gennesareth : the former containing the site of Ca- site of Ca^r-
pernaum, which is near Am-el-Tin, on the border of the "o^o^Taba-
latter. 2 A little way beyond this place, and still on the shore "y® 11 -
of the lake, is Tabariyeh, or Tiberias, the capital of a district
of the same name, with a castle on some high ground at the
north-western extremity. It contains a fine mosque, once a
Christian church, and two others; one of which is on the
spot where Peter is supposed to have thrown his net. About
1000 Jews occupy a separate quarter, close to the lake, in the
centre of the town; and there are about 3000 Turks, Arme
nians, and others. The ancient city was between the present
town and a spot remarkable for its warm springs; but the
remains are trifling. On the right bank of the Jordan, eight
miles southward of the lake, is Bei'san, a modern village of
about 80 houses, with the ruins of an Acropolis on Tell
Beisan; there are also those of a theatre, with some tombs,
and other remains of Bethshean, the ancient Scythopolis. 3
1 De Bello Jud., Lib. III., chap, iii., s. 2.
8 Dr. Robinson's Biblical Researches in Palestine, vol. III., p. 280-294.
8 Irby and Mangles' Travels, &c., p. 301; Burckhardt's Travels in Syria,
&c., p. 343.