After lunch, James drove us to the Korazim National Park, the site of an excavated ancient Jewish town, including a huge synagogue. Although the town dates back to the 1st century, almost all the remains are from the 4th century approximately.
The 25-acre park preserves the remains of a Roman and then later Byzantine settlement built from the region’s black basalt stone. How and if Jews were able to build such a huge synagogue in the Byzantine period is a historical question which is not yet resolved. James had a very interesting theory.
What is somewhat ironic is that this town and several of the others that we will see in the next couple of days are most famous because of their being mentioned in the New Testament. Nevertheless they are entirely Jewish sites which were inhabited by Jews.
Korazim, together with Bethsaida, and Capernaum are referred to in the New Testament as devoutly Jewish towns that Jesus cursed after they rejected his teachings (Matthew 11:20).
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