Tiberias
Archimandrite Nikifor’s Biblical Encyclopedia
(John 6:23)—a city founded by Herod Antipas on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee and named for the emperor Tiberius. It became Antipas’s capital, with a palace and nearby warm springs at Hammath. Because part of the site had been built over tombs, observant Jews initially regarded residence there as defiling; the city nevertheless became an important center of Jewish learning after the destruction of Jerusalem. It later passed through Roman, Byzantine, Islamic, Crusader, and other rule and was severely damaged by the earthquake of 1837. The Gospel of John mentions boats arriving from Tiberias and uses the city’s name for the lake.