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Bible Encyclopedias
Tiberias
Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature
or Tibe´rias is a small town situated about the middle of the western bank of the Lake of Gennesareth; according to Joliffe, about twenty English miles from Nazareth and ninety from Jerusalem. Tiberias was chiefly built by the tetrarch Herodes Antipas, and called by him after the Emperor Tiberius.
From the time of Herodes Antipas to the commencement of the reign of Herodes Agrippa II, Tiberias was the principal city of the province. It was one of the four cities which Nero added to the kingdom of Agrippa. Sepphoris and Tiberias were the largest cities of Galilee. In the last Jewish war the fortifications of Tiberias were an important military station.
According to Josephus, the inhabitants of Tiberias derived their maintenance chiefly from the navigation of the Lake of Gennesareth, and from its fisheries. After the destruction of Jerusalem Tiberias was celebrated during several centuries for its famous Rabbinical academy.
Not far from Tiberias, in the immediate neighborhood of the town of Emmaus, were warm mineral springs, whose celebrated baths are sometimes spoken of as belonging to Tiberias itself. These springs contain sulfur, salt, and iron; and were employed for medicinal purposes.
According to Joliffe (Travels, pp. 48-49, sq.), the modern Tabaria has about four thousand inhabitants, a considerable part of whom are Jews.
Public Domain.
Kitto, John, ed. Entry for 'Tiberias'. "Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature". https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/kbe/t/tiberias.html.
