The Sea of Galilee boat
Boats are mentioned fifty times in the gospels. They played an important part in the life of Jesus.
In 2010, CGI artist Ray Downing and his team at Studio Macbeth began work on a program titled Jesus: the Lost 40 Days, which aired the following year on the History Channel. The film depicts the appearances of Jesus to his followers after the resurrection.
One of those appearances took place on the shores of the Sea of Galilee while the apostles were night fishing from a boat.
“Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples by the Sea of Tiberias. It happened this way: Simon Peter, Thomas (called Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. “I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.
Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.
He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?”
”No,” they answered.
He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.”
When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.”
Fortunately for the CGI team, an actual fishing boat from the time of Jesus had been discovered and excavated in 1986 on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. The boat was first seen during a drought when the waters of the sea receded.
This boat measure 27 feet in length, 7.5 feet in width, and 4.5 feet in depth. After its discovery, it was submerged in a chemical bath for seven years before going on display at a museum.
Based on this archaeological discovery, Downing and his team constructed a 3D virtual model of the boat, complete with apostles, for the film.
Discovery, recovery, and reconstruction of the Sea of Galilee boat on display at the Yigal Alon Museum in Kibbutz Ginosar, Israel.
Computer screen renders of the Sea of Galilee boat at Studio Macbeth.
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