It was probably in the Plain of Gennesaret that the multitude stood on the land while Jesus put off in a boat to be free from the pressure of the crowd while he addressed them (Mark iv. 1). In this neighbourhood, also, no doubt, was spoken the parable of the net cast into the sea.
Of all the nine cities then about the lake we should like to recover especially the sites of Capernaum and Bethsaida. Before the Exploration we had to be content with the vague statement that Capernaum was somewhere north of Tiberias. We are now able to point to two sites, and say that Capernaum was one or other of these, while these two places are but 2½ miles apart. One of these places is _Tell Hum_, at the head of the lake, about 2 miles west of the point where the Jordan enters the lake. Here we have ruins indicating the former existence of a town hardly smaller than Tiberias; we find a regular cemetery, and within an enclosure we have the remains of a synagogue. Besides the synagogue ruins the argument in favour of this site is found in its name: _Tell_ means a heap, such as the place has become, and _Hum_ is the abraded form of the name Nahum. Tradition said that the prophet Nahum lived and died here, and indeed his grave was pointed out as late as the fourteenth century. The village of Nahum would be _Kefr Nahum_ in Hebrew; Khafarnaum, as Josephus has it; Capernaum as we are familiar with it. Sir Charles Wilson is in favour of this site. On the other hand, Major Conder is in favour of _Khan Minyeh_, 2½ miles from _Tell Hum_, along the shore southward, and right in the corner of the Plain of Gennesaret. Here, again, we have evidences of the former existence of a town, although we have no synagogue ruins. The name of the place, in this case also, supplies a strong argument. It appears that the Jews, who looked upon Capernaum as the home of Christ and the headquarters of his followers, called the disciples “Sons of Capernaum;” they also nicknamed them Diviners or Sorcerers--in their language, _Minai_, a name often appearing in the Talmud. Khan Minyeh, then, would seem to be the town of the Minai or Sorcerers, the early Jewish converts to Christianity; and their mother town was Capernaum. An objection might seem to lie against Khan Minyeh because of its situation in the plain, while it is said of Capernaum, “And thou, Capernaum, shalt thou be exalted unto heaven? thou shalt go down unto Hades” (Matt. xi. 23). Such an expression might be interpreted morally; but if it is to be understood literally, then there is the suggestion that the town was not entirely in the plain, but spread over the rocky promontory to the north-east. Rev. Henry Brass explored this promontory in the spring of 1890, and on the highest part, about 242 feet above the lake, found “the remains of a fortification--possibly the station of the Roman Centurion (Matt. viii. 5)--and here and there traces of buildings, but everywhere broken pottery, showing that there was formerly a large population. The ruins of the Khan at the junction of the roads from Cæsarea, Jerusalem, and Perea with the great Roman road leading north to Damascus, probably mark the very spot where Matthew sat at the receipt of custom; and the outlying rocks at the foot of the cliff, to this day the favourite resort of fish, indicate the spot where Peter would naturally go to cast his hook (Matt. xvii. 27).”[40]