The Deacon's Bench
Dalmanutha, a Biblical town described in the Gospel of Mark as the place where Jesus sailed after miraculously multiplying a few loaves and fish to feed 4,000 people, may have just been discovered by archaeologists, reports LiveScience.
So they did eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets.And they that had eaten were about four thousand: and he sent them away.
And straightway he entered into a ship with his disciples, and came into the parts of Dalmanutha.
-Mark 8:8-8:10, King James Version
Dalmanutha is only mentioned in Mark’s Gospel, but the corresponding passage inMatthew 15:39 says, “And he sent away the multitude, and took ship, and came into the coasts of Magdala,” which has been identified with some certainty as the modern-day town of Migdal, located slightly inland near Israel’s Ginosar Valley. Magdala is perhaps most well-known for its association with Mary Magdalene, or Mary of Magdala, who may have been born in the town.
ields between today’s Migdal and the coast are rich with archaeological discoveries, reports Ken Dark of the U.K.’s University of Reading, whose team discovered the town they are proposing is Dalmanutha while conducting a field survey. They have linked it with the 1986 discovery of a 2,000-year-old boat which was found on the shoreline, and to date is the most famous artifact associated with the specific area.
“Vessel glass and amphora hint at wealth,” wrote Dark in the most recent edition ofPalestine Exploration Quarterly, and “eights and stone anchors, along with the access to beaches suitable for landing boats — and, of course, the first-century boat … all imply an involvement with fishing.”
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