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derive from Josephus' description of events at Tarichea of which there were two separate incidents1. The first of these was during Josephus' struggle to assume command in Galilee. He was at Tarichea when Tiberias revolted against his command. So he collected 230 boats with not more that 4 sailors in each and set off to bluff Tiberias that he had a large force with which to subdue its people. He had the fleet stand off well out into the lake so that the number of men in each could not be ascertained. Then he approached the city in on a single boat. Ten top citizens came down to bargain with him. He took them out to the main fleet, left them, came back and 50 more leading citizens unwisely came to him for consultation. He did the same with them, followed by the whole town council of 600. All these were sent off to Tarichea. It seems he then went ashore and ordered the arrest of 2000 private citizens who were also conveyed in the boats to Tarichea. That makes 2660 citizens to go on his 230 boats, plus the four already manning each boat--14 to 15 men per boat. Thus, the boats were not tiny rowing boats and would require a fair sized harbor to accommodate them all.
Given a good sized harbor with a narrow entrance and with Tarichea on a peninsular washed on two sides by the sea, Josephus' account of the subsequent inability of the boats and their occupants to escape during the night of the battle for Tarichea becomes explicable--as does Titus' second attack on the city when he jumped on his horse and "dashed through the water." That action could have taken him behind the city wall at the commencement of the peninsular and account for his victory being so rapid and so easy.
Regardless of its exact location, the information about Tarichea is interesting. Pliny says that in his day (52 B.C.), it gave its name to the whole of the lake and had a large population. Cassius (the lean and hungry one?) wrote about it to Cicero when he visited in 43 B.C., and it gets a mention from Strabo who says it supplied excellent pickling places. The pickled fish of Galilee was known throughout the Roman world, being sent round the Mediterranean area in barrels as well as supplying large quantities to Jerusalem during the feasts such as Passover.4,3
References
1. Josephus. The Jewish Wars. (Penguin Classics)
2. Hastings, J. Dictionary of Christ and the Gospels (T and T. Clark, Edinburgh)
3. Morton, H.V. In The Steps of the Master (Methuen, London)
4. Smith, George Adam. The Historical geography of the Holy Land. (Fontana, London)
5. Schurer, Emil. The History of the Jewish People in the Age of Jesus Christ. (T & T Clark, Edinburgh)
Notes to the 1973 edition state: "There is no good ground for supposing that he (Vespasian) continued his march towards the north (from Tiberias). Rather, after occupying Tiberias, he pitched his camp at Ammathus, 'between Tiberias and Tarichea,' as appears from a comparison of B.J. iv 1,3 (11) with iii 10, 1 (462). But since the warm springs of Ammathus are clearly south of Tiberias, Vespasian, after the occupation of Tiberias, must have turned towards the south. Those who place Tarichea to the north of Tiberias must do the same to Ammathus." The notes assert that the identification of Ammathus with the modern Hammam (south of Tiberias) cannot be reasonably questioned.
"YE ARE THE SALT OF THE EARTH."
Perhaps the above account of a large fish pickling industry at the Sea of Galilee offers an explanation for the puzzling comment by Jesus, recorded in Mathew 5, 13: "Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men." (KJ version). Common salt is composed of the two elements, sodium and chlorine, occurring together as their salt, sodium chloride. As such its savor is indestructible by any means that are likely to occur in normal household circumstances. So how could it lose its savor?
Apparently the salt for the pickling industry came up from the Dead Sea area. There was a hill of salt in the south of the Dead Sea area which may have been the source, but it could also have come from salt works that used evaporated Dead Sea water. The hill of salt may have been fairly pure but the Dead Sea salt would certainly carry a swag of other elements. The Jordan originates in limestone country, so the Dead Sea waters must contain a load of calcium as well as other metals. Because of this, salt derived from evaporation of water from this source may be such that it becomes wetted very easily if exposed to humid air (calcium chloride is highly hygroscopic). Perhaps then, it was wet salt that the fish picklers of Galilee considered to be of no further use and fit only to be trodden underfoot. [note: alternative translations of Matthew 5, 13 are if salt should lose its strength or if salt loses its saltiness.]
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