Tiberias, Galilee's Capital

Joanna, Mary Magdalene, the 'other Mary,' Susannah, and the other wealthy women who were following Jesus likely had this type of view from their bedrooms, unless they weren't from Galilee, because the wealthy lived in Tiberias, and vacationed on their estates in the countryside.

The view from my hotel room at 4:51 a.m. You'll have to use your imagination a bit - I haven't put these photos through Photoshop yet.

As the wife of the minister of finance, the disciple Joanna traveled in the highest echelons of Galilean society. She surely would have lived in Tiberias, Herod's capital, and probably had one of the prettiest mansions, and prettiest views, available. (Hopefully she didn't see it at 4:51 a.m. very frequently.)

Because the Galilee is ringed with hills, the majority of the wealthy would have had beautiful views - and some of the poor.

Tiberias
Tiberias was the capital of the region of Galilee, which was split into Upper Galilee and Lower Galilee. The Sea of Galilee, on which Tiberias was located, was part of Lower Galilee. It was an economically split city inhabited by Galilee’s wealthy, their slaves and small shopowners or artisans such as woolmakers, basketmakers and candlemakers. The average Galilean would go nowhere near Tiberias, which King Herod Antipas had built on a graveyard, unclean ground by Jewish law, just 10-15 years before Jesus’ ministry. Outside of the city walls slept the very poor, often homeless or selling indecent wares.

Expanded Versions of This Article:
Mary Magdalene: An Aristocrat
Tiberias, Home of the Aristocrats

The Scripture
Luke 8:1-3: After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him, and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; Joanna the wife of Cuza, the manager of Herod’s household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means.

Mark 15:40: Some women were watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. In Galilee these women had followed him and cared for his needs. Many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem were also there.

Luke 19:16-17: “Well done, my good servant!” his master replied. “Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.”

Travelogue
I just woke up in paradise, with a shadow of a taste of what the wealthy women that followed Jesus, helping to support them out of their own means, probably had every day. A marble-topped nightstand on either side of me. A mahogany mirror in front of me. My own couch to my right. And, a gorgeous view of the Galilee outside my floor-to-ceiling windows.

How, dear Lord that loves to get me wonderful deals I can't afford, did I get this Caesar Tiberias Hotel for cheaper than the atrocity called The Holiday Inn? Stupid thing! Never again will I stay in that horrid place - you can't sleep! Either the baby next door is crying, or the teenager is blaring music, or people are chatting at ten decibels in the hallway, or the Sabbath elevator is beeping every hour, or someone's alarm is going off next door... it's really horrid. Never stay there!

Instead, get really desperate and e-mail for a place to stay that night. Poof! You'll get a phenomenal deal that will cost you even less than the Holiday Inn! All praise to God on high.!

Speaking of Sabbath elevators - Jewish hotels have a specific type of elevator, called a 'Sabbath elevator.' It is programmed so that, on the Sabbath, you don't have to push the button of the floor you are staying on. Just hop in, and it stops at every floor automatically.

And every time it stops, it beeps.

From six a.m. to two a.m.

And in the lovely Holiday Inn, even rooms down the hall a bit can hear at loud and clear.

At midnight.

At one a.m.

At two a.m.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrr!

If there is no one on that floor, and you are on floor eight, you stop at, depending on the hotel, either every floor or every other floor. The door opens, you wait, nobody's around, you get frustrated and punch the button to close the door, but nothing. Finally it shuts…next floor. Some hotels have it arranged so that it stops at every other floor going up, and the other floors on its way down. If you want to get from floor eight to floor five - well, get in at floor eight. Down to six, four, two, ground. Up to 1, 3, 5. Grrrrrrr!

The Wikipedia entry on Sabbath elevators has this to say about it: "The use of an elevator in a Sabbath mode, is an example of a legal workaround, where seemingly "forbidden" acts can be performed by modifying the relevant technology to such an extent that no law is actually violated. Usage of a Sabbath elevator by those who are otherwise capable is considered by some rabbinical authorities as a "violation" of the Sabbath, therefore many Orthodox Jews might prefer to walk up or down the stairs instead of taking an elevator."

Last Updated: October 4, 2008