Tiberias (ancient world)
Tiberias, an ancient city located on the western shore of Lake Gennesaret (Sea of Galilee) in Galilee, Israel, was founded around AD 18 by Herod Antipas and named in honor of Emperor Tiberius. The city was established on the site of a former cemetery, which rendered it deemed unclean by strict Jewish standards. Despite this, Tiberias flourished and became a significant urban center, eventually serving as the capital and mint for Antipas. The city changed hands multiple times, notably becoming associated with Jewish princes like Agrippa I and II.
During the First Jewish Revolt, Tiberias surrendered to Roman forces and was spared destruction. However, following the Second Revolt, Emperor Hadrian transformed the city into a pagan center, erecting the Hadrianeum temple. Despite these changes, Tiberias emerged as a pivotal location for Jewish scholarship, housing the patriarchate and numerous synagogues. It was where the Mishnah and the Jerusalem Talmud were edited, solidifying its role in Jewish religious life. Archeological findings, including a Roman basilica and intricate mosaics, highlight the city’s cultural and historical significance well into the Byzantine period.
Subject Terms
Tiberias (ancient world)
(Tevarya, Tebarya)
A city of Galilee in Judaea (Israel), on the western shore of the lake named after it, which was also known as Lake Gennesaret and the Sea of Galilee. The town was founded cAD 18—taking its name from the reigning emperor Tiberius—by Herod Antipas, ruler of Galilee and Peraea, on the site of an earlier settlement's cemetery, so that, although the new foundation was settled by Jews, strict Jewish opinion deemed it unclean. Nevertheless, Tiberias was equipped with civic status and institutions, and became Antipas' capital and mint, subsequently passing into the hands of other Jewish princes, Agrippa I (41–44) and II (c 53–93), and assuming the name of Claudio-Tiberias. During the First Jewish Revolt (66–73), although the city's populace as a whole did not share the pro-Roman views of its ruling class, it surrendered to Vespasian and was spared; an account of what happened, hostile to the historian Josephus, was provided by Justus, a native of the place. After the Second Revolt (132–35), Tiberias was paganized by Hadrian, whose temple the Hadrianeum, containing a figure of Jupiter, is depicted on its coinage.
Nevertheless, the place subsequently became the headquarters of the Jewish patriarchate established by the Romans to control his co-religionists' affairs. The patriarch Judah II Nessiah (c 230–86) moved his residence there from Sepphoris-Diocaesarea (Saffuriyeh), and Tiberias became the capital of world Jewry; it contained thirteen synagogues—including one each for people from Babylon, Antioch and Tarsus—and possessed a preeminent theological college, under the direction of Rabbi Johanan bar Nappaha (d. 279). It was at Tiberias that the Mishnah and Jerusalem or Palestine Talmud (Gemara) were edited.
The city remained well-known in the fourth century, according to Eusebius, and was frequently mentioned by Byzantine writers. Excavations have revealed a Roman basilica and bath, and a synagogue of the early third century AD, replaced soon after 300 by a four-aisled building that was adorned with floor-mosaics of outstanding quality, including a representation of a Torah shrine flanked by Menorahs.