Tarichaea (, Tarichaia) is the Greek place name for a historic site of disputed location. It was situated along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, and mentioned in the writings of Josephus (Ant. 14.120; 20.159; The Jewish War 1.180; 2.252; Vita 32, et al.). Tarichaea was one of the first villages in Galilee to have sustained an attack by Rome, during the First Jewish-Roman War. The village (κώμη)Josephus, in Wars 4:455, gives to the town the designation of "village" (κώμη), which perhaps should not be taken literally, based on the number of its inhabitants. attracted to it the seditious from the outlying regions east of Galilee,Josephus informs his readers that these came from Trachonitis, Gaulonitis, Hippos and the Gadarene district (Josephus, The Jewish War, IV, 7, New York 1980, p. 223). who mixed with the local townsfolk and who relied upon some 230Josephus, De Bello Judaico (The Jewish War), 2.21.8. (2.632) boats on the Sea of Galilee for protection in the event of an assault upon the village.Josephus (Wars 3.10.1) When the village was eventually overrun by the Roman army, the population surrendered.Josephus (1980), IV, 7 (p. 223)
Etymology In the first few centuries of the Common era, many places along the Egyptian coast had borne this name, , Tarichéai, this being a Greek loan-word derived from the people's employment in the preservation of fish, or what some called in , meaning, "pickled fish".Schürer, E. (1891), pp. 42–43 (note 177) The name was applied to a site along the coast of the Sea of Galilee, where the townsmen are thought to have occupied themselves in the same trade. Albright thought the name to mean "Fish-curing plants", or in modern parlance, "Fish canneries."Albright, W.F. (1923a), pp. 29–46 Suetonius (Til. 4.3) mentions Tarichaea and Gamala as being "potent Judean cities" (Latin: urbes Iudaeae validissimae).Kokkinos, Nikos (2010), p. 9
History Roman invasion (52 BCE) to 54 CE In ca. 52 BCE, Judea was invaded by the Roman governor of Syria, Gaius Cassius Longinus, who fell upon the town of Tarichæa and carried away thirty thousand Jews into slavery.Josephus, De Bello Judaico (The Jewish War), book i, chapter viii, § 9
Roughly one-hundred years later, in the first year of Emperor Nero's reign (54 CE), a stupendous gift was added to Agrippa II's realm, when Nero entrusted him with the government of a certain part of Galilee, Tiberias and Tarichæa.Josephus (1981), Antiquities, book xx, chapter viii, § 4; De Bello Judaico (The Jewish War), book ii, chapter xiii, § 2
First Jewish-Roman War (66–73 CE) In the 12th-year of Nero's reign (66 CE), when war broke out between Rome and the Jews of Judea, Josephus was appointed governor of the Galilee by the Jewish leadership in Jerusalem, and took care to build the wall of Tarichæa, as well as the defensive walls of other towns in Galilee, in anticipation of a Roman assault against these cities.Josephus, De Bello Judaico (The Jewish War), book ii, chapter xx, § 6
At that time, Josephus chose Tarichæa for his place of residence. When certain young men of the village Dabarittha had robbed the king's steward of six-hundred pieces of gold, no small number of silver vessels and of many costly garments, at a time when he passed through their region of the country, Josephus retrieved the money and items when they came to him at Tarichæa, secretly hoping to return such items to the king, and withal blamed them for the violence they had offered the king. However, thinking that Josephus was not of like mind with them and that he secretly entertained notions of betraying them to the king who was allied with the Romans, they raised a commotion in all the neighboring cities, saying that Josephus had designs of betraying the people to the Romans. At this accusation, some one-hundred thousand armed men came to him at Tarichæa, which multitude was crowded together in the town's hippodrome (a place that should rather be considered as a race course devoid of monumental construction), and they raised a clamor against Josephus.Josephus, De Bello Judaico (The Jewish War), book ii, chapter xxi, § 3 Josephus' repartee and skill at oration was able to save himself from imminent danger, by suggesting that he had retrieved the money, not to return to the king, but to finish building the wall of Tarichæa. The indigenous people of Tarichæa, numbering then forty thousand, rose up to his defense and prevented his bloodshed.Josephus, De Bello Judaico (The Jewish War), book ii, chapter xxi, § 4 When the people of Tiberias eventually revolted against Josephus, Josephus devised methods to detain many of the city's governors and principal persons (among whom was Justus of Tiberias), having them transported by boats to Tarichæa where they were incarcerated.Josephus, De Bello Judaico (The Jewish War), book ii, chapter xxi, § 9
With the exception of Jesus ben Shafat and his party who escaped from Tiberias and joined the seditious in Tarichæa, the people of Tiberias received the Roman army into their city and made peace with the Romans.Josephus, De Bello Judaico (The Jewish War), book iii, chapter xxi, § 9
Outcome of war Josephus, in his extensive accounts of the military history of Tarichaea, relates that Vespasian, the acting Roman general in ca. 64 CE, and his son, Titus, having received intelligence that "Tiberias was fond of innovations, and that Taricheae had revolted",Josephus, De Bello Judaico (The Jewish War), book iii, chapter xi, § 445 were resolved to punish them. From Josephus' account, it follows that the Roman army moved from Scythopolis in the south to Tiberias in a northerly direction. Vespasian and his son, Titus, encamped with three legions at a place called Sennabris (Σενναβρís),There is a consensus that Sennabris was the actual Khirbet Kerak, the ancient Beit Yerah. The site is described by Kitchener, H.H. (1878), p. 165: "During the survey of the shores [of the Sea of Galilee] we made one considerable discovery: the site of Sennabris, mentioned by Josephus as the place where Vespasian pitched his camp when marching on the insurgents of Tiberias. The name Sinn en Nabra still exists, and is well known to the natives; it applies to a ruin situated on a spur from the hills that close the southern end of the Sea of Galilee; it formed, therefore, the defence against an invader from the Jordan plain, and blocked the great main road in the valley. Close beside it there is a large artificially-formed plateau, defended by a water-ditch on the south, communicating with Jordan, and by the Sea of Galilee on the north. This is called Khirbet el Kerak, and is, I have not the slightest doubt, the remains of Vespasian's camp described by Josephus." south of Tiberias and "easily seen by the innovators,"Josephus (1981), The Jewish War (book iii, chapter ix, § 7) in preparation for the war with the insurgents. Sennabris was situated some 30 stadia (ca. ) from Tiberias.Albright, W.F. (1921–1922), pp. 35–36, and note 22 there; known in the late 19th-century as Sinn en-Nabrah according to the Palestine Exploration Fund.For a description of this site, see Josephus, Flavius; Mason, S. (2003), p. 193. Vespasian's army first subdued Tiberias, before engaging the rebel forces in Tarichaea.
After entering Tiberias, Vespasian sent against Tarichaea four-hundred horsemen and two thousand archers, under Antonius and Silo, to repel those that were upon the wall. Josephus informs his readers that "after the battle, Vespasian held a court-martial in Tarichaea. Making a distinction between the residents and the newcomers whom he considered responsible for the war, he put the question to his staff whether these too should be spared. The verdict was that it would be against the public interest to set them free."Josephus (1980), IV, 7 (p. 222) By way of a contrivance, Vespasian permitted the residents to take leave only by the road that led to Tiberias, and when they had gone a certain distance, without suspecting anything, the Roman soldiers conducted them into the Stadium that was built in Tiberias. Of these, the aged and useless, numbering some 1,200, were slain by the soldiers at Vespasian's orders. Of the young men, he picked out 6,000 of the strongest and sent them to Nero at the Isthmus, to help in digging the Corinth Canal. The rest of the people, to the number of 30,400, he sold at auction, excepting only those whom he presented to Agrippa and who had come from his own kingdom.Josephus, De Bello Judaico (The Jewish War), book iii, chapter x, § 10
Before the fall of the city, Josephus escaped and continued the prosecution of the war in Jotapata (), until he was captured there.Josephus (1981), Vita § 74 (p. 20)
Geographical location The location of Tarichæa has been the subject of intensive debate; scholars not readily agreeing with each other on the site's location.
Josephus' description Josephus frequently refers to a wealthy Galilean town, destroyed by the Romans in the Jewish War (66-73 CE)Flavius, Josephus (1989), book ii, chapter xxi, § 3 that has the Greek name Tarichaia from its prosperous fisheries. Josephus does not give a Hebrew name.
Josephus places Tarichæa along the shores of Lake of Gennesaret, 30 stadia from Tiberias, and places Gamala "over against Tarichæa, but on the other side of the lake."Josephus (1980), IV, 7 (p. 223); Josephus, De Bello Judaico (The Jewish War), book iv, chapter i, § 1 Josephus adds that while Gamala belonged to the Lower Gaulonitis, Tarichæa belonged to Lower Galilee.Josephus (1981), Vita § 37 (p. 10) Another geographical feature of Tarichæa, according to Josephus, was that it was situated at the bottom of a mountain, and where there was also a plain before the city.Josephus (1981), The Jewish War (3.10.1): "Vespasian, hearing that a great multitude of them were gotten together in the plain that was before the city, he thereupon sent his son, with six hundred chosen horsemen to disperse them."
When Vespasian "was informed that Tiberias was fond of innovations, and that Taricheae had revolted,"Josephus (1981), The Jewish War (book iii, chapter ix) he and his son, Titus, came from Scythopolis and encamped with three legions at Sennabris (Σενναβρís - סנבראי), south of Tiberias,The place is described by H.H. Kitchener (1878), p. 165: "During the survey of the shores [of the Sea of Galilee] we made one considerable discovery: the site of Sennabris, mentioned by Josephus as the place where Vespasian pitched his camp when marching on the insurgents of Tiberias. The name Sinn en Nabra still exists, and is well known to the natives; it applies to a ruin situated on a spur from the hills that close the southern end of the Sea of Galilee; it formed, therefore, the defence against an invader from the Jordan plain, and blocked the great main road in the valley. Close beside it there is a large artificially-formed plateau, defended by a water-ditch on the south, communicating with Jordan, and by the Sea of Galilee on the north. This is called Kh. el Kerak, and is, I have not the slightest doubt, the remains of Vespasian's camp described by Josephus." at a place "easily seen by the innovators."
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