A unique museum now awaits the visitor to
Israel–Beit Ha-Oganim (House of the Anchors). Located at
Kibbutz Ein Gev on the Sea of Galilee’s eastern shore, the new
museum’s exhibits are a delight to the eye and a learning experience
par excellence.
Kibbutz Ein Gev member Mendel Nun has devoted most of
his adult life to studying ancient fishing on the Sea of Galilee, and is
the foremost authority on this subject. With the museum’s opening, Nun
has realized his dream of establishing a museum that not only would
house
his collection of antiquities, but also instill in others his love for the
Sea of Galilee and its history.
Nun arrived at Ein Gev before the State of Israel was
founded, and has been collecting stone anchors, net weights and other
ancient artifacts for decades along the shores of the Lake. His knowledge
of local topography and ancient sites is profound, and he has located
several ancient ports around the Lake that operated in the time of
Jesus.
Nun has written extensively about the Sea of Galilee,
its ancient harbors, water levels and fishing techniques. His 1964 book,
Ancient Jewish Fisheries (in Hebrew), won the prestigious Ben-Zvi
Prize. Nun’s understanding of ancient fishing techniques is not solely
academic. He himself worked a number of years as a fisherman at Ein
Gev
before the introduction of modern, commercial fishing techniques on the
Lake. The fishing methods that Nun learned as a young man had not
changed
much from those that Peter, James and John once used.
| To view the remainder of this article, please log in at the top of this page. |
OR
If you are not yet a Premium Content subscriber, please consider this amazing tool for Bible study. Premium Content membership gives you access to hundreds of articles, written by many of the best New Testament scholars in Israel and abroad, which illuminated Jesus' sayings. (Read our free sample articles!)
New articles are continually being added to this database of knowledge. Articles are searchable by keyword, category or scripture reference.