Tiberias, Lake: see Galilee, Sea of.

Tiberias, town (1994 pop. 36,400), NE Israel, on the Sea of Galilee, 682 ft (208 m) below sea level. It is one of the four holy cities of Judaism and a trade center for agricultural settlements. A resort town, Tiberias has hotels, a hot springs spa, and a lake port. There are machine shops, fisheries, and textile factories.

Named for Emperor Tiberius, the town was built (c.A.D. 20) by Herod Antipas; there are ruins of the baths he built. After the destruction of Jerusalem, Tiberias became (2d cent.) a center of Jewish learning; the Sanhedrin convened in the town, and parts of the Mishna and Jerusalem Talmud were edited there.

Tiberias was captured by the Arabs in 637, taken by the Crusaders in the 11th cent., recaptured by Saladin in 1187, and occupied by Egypt in 1247. It became part of the Ottoman Empire in the 16th cent. Rebuilt and fortified in the 18th cent. by Dahir al-Umar, the local Ottoman ruler, Tiberias resumed its position as a center of Jewish scholarship. In 1922 it became part of Palestine. Maimonides, the Jewish philosopher and physician, is buried in Tiberias. Arabic forms of the name are Tabariya and Tubariya.

or Sea of Galilee

Freshwater lake, northern Israel. It is 13 mi (21 km) long and 7 mi (11 km) wide; it lies about 700 ft (212 m) below sea level and receives most of its inflow from the Jordan River. The region has been inhabited for millennia: archaeological finds dating to some 500,000 years ago are among the oldest in the Middle East. In the 1st century AD, the region was rich and populated; Christians know it as the scene of many episodes in the life of Jesus. Today the lake's waters irrigate the surrounding agricultural region. Modern health resorts have grown up, and the baths at Tiberias are among Israel's winter resort attractions.

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Hebrew Teverya

Town (pop., 2004 est.: 40,100) and resort, northeastern Israel. Located on Lake Tiberias (Sea of Galilee), at 689 ft (210 m) below sea level, it is one of the lowest-lying towns in the world. It was founded circa AD 20 by Herod Antipas and named for the Roman emperor Tiberius. After the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in AD 70, it became a centre of Jewish learning and later the seat of the Sanhedrin and rabbinical schools. The Talmud was edited there in the 3rd–6th centuries. Saladin took the town from the Crusaders in 1187. The modern town was refounded under the British mandate in 1922 and became part of independent Israel in 1948. Historic sites include the tomb of the great Jewish scholar Moses Maimonides. Along with Hebron, Jerusalem, and Zsubdotefat, it is one of the four holy cities of Judaism.

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