Books in Brief

The Excavations of an Ancient Boat in the Sea of Galilee

Shelley Wachsmann et al. (Jerusalem: Israel Antiquities Authority, 1990; ‘Atiqot 19, English Series) 138 pp.; illustrations, 3 folding plans, $20.00, paperback

In 1986, drought so lowered the level of the Sea of Galilee (Lake Kinneret) that along the western shore near Migdal there was laid bare the remains of a boat. Examination quickly revealed it to be ancient. Later, carbon-14 tests and the dating of the associated finds, which, though not from the boat, provide a context, all pointed to a date between the mid-first century B.C.E.^a and the mid-first century C.E.

Shelley Wachsmann, who directed the boat’s excavation, has told in BAR (“The Galilee Boat,” BAR 14:05) the dramatic story of how, in a race against the rising waters, an impromptu team, working frantically for 11 days and nights, managed to lift the boat out of the mud and get it to safety in a nearby museum, where it is now undergoing conservation. In this book, with the aid of numerous experts, he provides a meticulous and comprehensive report on the results of the studies of the boat.