The Sea of Galilee in northern Israel
The Sea of Galilee in northern Israel. Today’s Image of the Day from NASA Earth Observatory features the Sea of Galilee in northern Israel, which is most famous for its biblical associations.
Known as the Sea of Chinnereth in the Old Testament, the Sea of Galilee is the lowest-lying freshwater lake on Earth. Christians believe that Jesus performed some of his ministry and certain miracles on the shores of Galilee, Jewish settlers established the first kibbutz nearby, and the lake is mentioned in certain Islamic prophecies.
Some of the marshy floodplains around the lake have been converted into farmland, which appears bright green in the photograph.
The Sea of Galilee lies within the Jordan Rift Valley, a narrow depression that was created tens of millions of years ago as the Arabian plate tore away from Africa.
Over the past 20 years, the water levels dropped substantially in the lake, and nearly reached an all-time low in 2018. However, earlier this month, the water level reached its highest point since the initial decline two decades ago.
The image was captured on October 27, 2020 by the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8.
Image Credit: NASA Earth Observatory
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By Chrissy Sexton, Earth.com Staff Writer
