CHINNERETH, CHINNEROTH

CHINNERETH, CHINNEROTH (Heb. כִּנֶּרֶת, כִּנְרוֹת), one of the fortified cities of the tribe of *Naphtali on the shore of the Sea of Galilee (Josh. 19:35). It first appears in the list of cities conquered by Thutmose iii (c. 1469 b.c.e) together with Laish, Hazor, and Peḥel. A papyrus from about the same time contains a list of rations of grain and beer supplied to the noble class of charioteers (maryannu) from the major Canaanite cities, including Chinnereth. A district bordering on the Sea of Galilee was named for the city (Josh. 11:2). Chinnereth is last mentioned among the Galilean cities taken by *Ben-Hadad, king of Aram-Damascus, in about 885 b.c.e. (i Kings 15:20). The city has been identified with Khirbet el-Oreimeh (today Tell Kinrot), a high mound situated above the rich spring area of Tabgha, 5½ mi. (9 km.) north of Tiberias. It dominates the fertile valley (later called the Plain of Ginnosar) extending along the northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee. Through this valley passed an important branch of the Via Maris ("maritime route") leading to *Hazor. Limited archaeological excavations carried out at the site in 1913 and 1939 by a German expedition uncovered remains of the Late Canaanite, Israelite, and Roman periods. In 1928 a fragment of an Egyptian stele was found on the surface of the tell. It dates to either the reign of Thutmose III or of his son Amenhotep II and refers to a victory over the Mitannian enemy.

bibliography:

Abel, Geog, 2 (1938), 299; em, s.v.; Aharoni, Land, index.

[Yohanan Aharoni]