Chorazim; Chorazin; Korazim Complete

Description

Archaeological investigations carried out between 1964 and 1984 brought to light primarily domestic structures together with a synagogue. The site occupies a hill in the Lower Galilee, approximately 4 km north of Capernaum. Occupation appears to have begun in the late 1st or early 2nd century CE. Chorazim reached its peak in the 3rd–4th centuries CE, a phase during which the urban core and the synagogue were constructed. From the Early Arab period onward the settlement underwent decline, eventually becoming deserted. Chorazim is cited in the New Testament alongside Bethsaida and Capernaum as a Jewish town whose inhabitants did not accept Jesus’s message and were reproached for it (Matthew 11:21–24; Luke 10:13–16). It is also mentioned in the Babylonian Talmud (Menahot 85a) in connection with regulations concerning the Omer offering. Further reading: Yevin, Z. 1993. “Chorazim.” The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land, 301–304.