Customer Reviews

The Sea Of Galilee Boat

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People have wondered what the fishing boat of Jesus looked like there have been many interesting drawings of what the apostle's boat looked like. The Kinneret boat (the official name for this ancient vessel) was in use around the time of Jesus and might well have represent a typical craft used by Jewish fishermen in the time of New Testament.This book has complete plans for the Galilee boat as well as a photograph ofa model of this vessel depicting what the fishing boat looked liked when afloat and in action on Galilee.

This is a perfect book for anyone interested in the methods of underwater excavation and subsequent conservation by a competent and well-respected nautical archaeologist as well as for those fascinated by the life and times of Roman Palestine and the fishing economy and navigation of sea transportation around Galilee. The core of the book is about the remarkable find and excavation in 1985-86 of a 2000 year old preserved fishing boat. Carefully documented and analytical without being in the least didactic, especially riveting in the boat's scientific dating and period of use by associated artifacts, it's very hard to out down as Wachsmann is a superb raconteur. Perhaps the often overt wish by others (although the cautious author is rightfully skeptical) to in any way link this important find to the famous stories of Jesus and his disciples is somewhat deserved, as this book certainly illuminates the time and place of the Sea of Galilee in Roman antiquity.

Dr Wachsmann's book is a detailed and entertaining saga about the discovery, recovery, movement, restoration and display of a unique archaeological artifact. The author draws you into the first hand account of every step, every challenge, every trial, every setback and every victory involved in the process of removing and restoring the one and only ancient Sea of Galilee boat ever found. The attention to the detail of the process and the description of the major characters involved makes this account read more like a novel than like the first hand archaeological report that it is. In everyday language and with patient detailed explanation, every step is made clear. The illustrations, though basic and in black and white, proove very helpful in visualizing things that are described. The historic references also add depth and detail to the mystery of answering the questions about the date, ownership and use of this boat. Also, having read the several references in the Gospels that refer to Jesus being in boats on Galilee, being able to picture such a typical fishing boat that was from the first century has added additional color and richness to those Gospel accounts.

A very good descriptive book. I was fortunate enough to be in the area just after the boat was discovered.

I ordered this book for research. The beginning was interesting but in the middle it got all bogged down in details. 420 pages on a single archeological excavation is just a lot. The premise is interesting, but unless you know a reasonable amount about boats and/or archeology so that the terms would mean something, I don't recommend it. I guess neither boats nor archeology fascinate me. I wish I'd skipped to the epilogue, which contained a lengthy summary of the whole book (as I recall, I read it awhile back and am not sure of the length). A shorter version that left out some technical details would have been fantastic. And the beginning really held my attention.