|
TIBERIAS, Israel — As the birthplace of civilization, archaeologists have spent years in Israel uncovering stone and earthen remnants of biblically significant treasures.
Sometimes, the finds come from the most unlikely sources.
Considered one of the most remarkable archeological finds in the world, an ancient wooden boat was discovered in 1986 that has been dated back to the first century.
During a severe drought that had lowered the Sea of Galilee to record levels, two brothers, exploring its muddy shoreline for ancient artifacts, found a piece of wood jutting out of the now-exposed seabed. The vessel had been buried in, and protected by, the seabed’s sediments.
Assisted by experts from around the world, the Israel Antiquities Authority rescued the boat during an 11-day-and-night excavation. The weak and waterlogged hull required tedious care, as it was subject to crumbling after being exposed to light and air. Although the wood looked strong, it was soft and shattered upon touch.
Much of the excavation was done by volunteers working while lying face down in the cold mud to remove the wet sand and clay by hand in order to preserve the fragile wood.
After workers carefully packaged the vessel in a cocoon of fiberglass and polyurethane, they floated it to the nearby Yigal Allon Centre, where it underwent an extensive 11-year conservation process in a specially built pool.
To conserve it, the boat was submerged in a solution of heated polyethylene glycol. This synthetic wax replaced the water in the wood cells. Allowed to dry slowly, the hull was then cleaned of excess wax, allowing it to be exhibited in an atmosphere-controlled museum environment.
After 14 years, in the year 2000, the boat was moved to its current location in a newly designed wing of the Yigal Allon Centre, a museum dedicated to Galilean history.
The boat is preserved to a length of 26.9 feet, a width of 7.5 feet, and a height of 3.9 feet. It is built in the typical ancient Mediterranean shell-based construction, employing pegged mortise-and-tenon joints to edge-join the planking. Iron nails—some crooked, suggesting multiple use—hold the frame to the hull.
Numerous repairs, the reuse of timbers and a variety of wood types (12 in all), seem to indicate the vessel had a long work life and an owner of meager means.
Archeological evidence suggests the boat was used by local villagers for fishing and transport and is firmly dated to the first century. It is likely this is the type of boat referred to in the Gospels as used by the disciples of Jesus, thus referred to by many as “The Jesus Boat.”
Other items provided clues to the boat’s origins. A cooking pot was found outside the boat and dated to the first centuries B.C. and A.D. An oil lamp located inside the boat was dated to the first century B.C.
Coincidental or providential?
While not suggesting that the boat discovery has any religious significance, officials admit that if the boat had been unearthed more than a few years earlier, the technology would not have been available to rescue and preserve the fragile vessel.
But what does Yuval Lufan, one of the two brothers who discovered the boat, think?
“I say what I am feeling,” Lufan said in a June interview with a group of Christian journalists from the United States. “I feel Jesus touched this boat, and because He touched this boat, it stayed. It is not gone after 2,000 years. This is what I feel. It is a sign.”
Lufan admitted that, being raised in a kibbutz, he had not believed in God, but “after I (found) it, everything changed. (It) changed my life.”
|
