The Boat and the Sea of Galilee

In 1986, when drought brought the level of the Sea of Galilee unusually low, the two brothers Moshe and Yuval Lufan unearthed the timber frame of an ancient fishing boat.

Archaeologist Kurt Raveh was to call the two-thousand-year-old boat – of the very type Jesus used to sail the Galilee – the most important discovery of the twentieth century. Recovery and preservation of the waterlogged “Jesus boat” was a unique challenge, as no other wooden object had ever survived two millennia in sweet water. Here is the emotional, suspenseful, and inspiring story of the boat and those who dedicated fourteen years of their lives to making it available for all the world to see.