The Sea of Galilee Boat: A 2000-Year-Old Discovery from the Sea of Legends [Paperback]

Shelley Wachsmann (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2000

This remarkable true story recounts one of the great discoveries of the century: finding a 2000-year-old boat from the Sea of Galilee. Shelley Wachsmann, a respected nautical archaeologist, shares the joy and drama he felt in discovering and excavating the first ancient boat from this biblical location. Through his perceptive eyes, we experience the adventure of a lifetime as he offers his personal account of first setting eyes on and then preserving this unique treasure. Wachsmann is a master storyteller, interweaving his own unforgettable story of this challenging excavation with the writings of the past. Jews and Christians alike will be captivated by his search for the boat's identity. Wachsmann - like a detective - hunts down clues that will reveal the boat's actual history. Since the boat turns out to be a 2000 year old craft, he carefully examines the Gospels for passages that will shed light on this wondrous vessel. This ever-curious author also traces Jewish historical texts to discover that the Sea of Galilee, during the boat's vibrant past, was the setting for one of the most tragic massacres of Jews - the Battle of Migdal. During this sea battle, we learn, Roman soldiers mercilessly slaughtered Jews as they attempted to escape in boats like this one, turning the Sea of Galilee into a sea of crimson. The saga of tenderly extracting this extraordinary boat from the earth, protecting its timbers, and restoring it to health is a compelling tale on its own. Wachsmann impresses us with the dedication and creativity of his makeshift team in improvising answers to the seemingly impossible logistic problems that dog them every step of the way. Still, generosity abounds and actual rainbows appear as scores of volunteers pull together to save this singular monument of the past. Wachsmann punctuates the absorbing details of preserving this artifact with the rich history that surrounds the Sea of Galilee, making this a uniquely enduring and personal work.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A first-class adventure story...impossible to put down." -- Science News

"The most successful presentation of an archaeological discovery to the general public that I have read in a long time. A pleasure to read, good science and just plain fun." -- Biblical Archaeology

Product Details

• Paperback: 440 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books (June 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0738203297
• ISBN-13: 978-0738203294
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,152,989 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A real miracle of a find!, January 8, 2003

By 

Claudia Medvik (Warren, MI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Sea of Galilee Boat: A 2000-Year-Old Discovery from the Sea of Legends (Paperback)

Excellent, delightful, and one great tale of adventure and archealogy! The most enjoyable 'science' book I have ever read. This most humble of ships, worn out and left to rot at the bottom of the Sea of Galilee in its day. It was perserved by that mud for 2000 years to survive and be cherished today as a symbol of a Jewish resistance to the Romans in a sea battle, and the physical reality of the actual kind of boat St. Peter fished from. And only a continuing series of miracles, big and small, brought this treasure from mud to museum safely.