Overview

Bibliography

Capernaum is located on the northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee. The identification of the ruins with ancient Capernaum (Hebrew Kefar Naḥum) is virtually certain due to its geographic relationship to Heptapegon (3 km toward the southwest) and Khorazin (5 kn toward the northwest), numerous textual attestations to its location and the simple fact there are no viable competing sites.

Ancient Capernaum is divided into two different archaeological sites. The western side of Capernaum consists of the Roman and Byzantine settlement on land purchased in 1894 by the Franciscan Custodians of the Holy Land. On the eastern side, Late Byzantine and Islamic occupation is found on land controlled by the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem. The western side has seen the most extensive excavation. It was first systematically excavated in 1905 by H. Kohl and Carl Watzinger, who focused on the synagogue. Wendelin von Menden continue their work from 1906 to 1915, and in 1921, Gaudenzio Orfali began excavating the Byzantine church. Finally, Virgilio Corbo and Stanislao Loffreda excavated the site for nineteen seasons between 1968 and 1986, fully uncovering the synagogue, the octagonal church, and the Roman and Byzantine village that surrounds them.

The village is organized into small neighborhoods separated by orthogonal streets. The houses are constructed from local basalt and are typically arranged around an open courtyard. The synagogue and the church, which are built from an imported limestone, are located on the same street, approximately 30 meters from each other. The church is built on an earlier domus ecclesia, which was built above the traditional house of Peter. Whether or not the traditional house of Peter corresponds to the actual house of Peter cannot be determined. A large, elevated modern church with a glass floor was recently built over the ruins of the stratigraphic sequence of Peter’s house and the Byzantine churches, but the ruins are still visible beneath the modern church.

The archaeological strata uncovered at the site, as illustrated in the site plan, date to the following periods:

	Byzantine Period
	Roman Period