Israel went through a severe drought in 1985. The water level at the Sea of Galilee dropped to a level that was not recorded before. During the winter season the water level did not rise and the water level at the Sea of Galilee remained low. In Mid January 1986 two brothers of the kibbutz Ginosar were walking along the shore south of the kibbutz Ginosar on the western side of the lake. They noticed the outline of a boat buried in the mud. Experts were called in to examine the discovery. The experts concluded that it was the remains of an ancient boat. The discovery of this ancient boat at the Sea of Galilee received worldwide attention.

It was decided to excavate the boat immediately before the water level would rise. It was still the rain season and many people still hoped for rain and for the water level to rise. This could jeopardize the excavation. Many questions arise and experts had to put their heads together in an attempt to remove the ancient boat from the mud. People did not know what would happen to the boat if it gets exposed to dry air and when people handle it. It was decided to do it with much care are it was very brittle and spongy. A two-day excavation was undertaken to determine the dimensions of the boat. A dike was build around the site to prevent water from inundating it and pumps were used to pump the water out. The exposed wood had to be kept wet during this process.

Tunnels were dug beneath the boat and all the mud had to be removed from the inside. Then the boat was strengthened with fiberglass and filled with polyurethane. When the fragile remains of the ancient boat were safely packed water was pumped into the pit, which had been created during the excavation, and the boat floated again. It was then moved to the shore where the casing was removed and the boat was submerged again in water in a temporary building that was erected for it. This whole excavation took 11 days and nights to expose the boat. Archeologists did it from the Israel Antiquities Authority and some volunteers.

The boat is 26.5 feet long, 7.5 feet wide and 4.5 feet deep. It can carry 15 persons. For those of you are only familiar with metric measurements - 8.2 meters long, 2.3 meters wide and 1.2 meters deep. The conservation treatment of the boat consisted of impregnating the wood with special wax. This was to give it special structural strength for display outside of a pool. In 1995 the pool was drained and the boat revealed. The conservation process took 9.5 years to complete.

The boat was build by a master craftsman or boat builder. Much of the wood was used before on other boats and became therefore secondary. It is believed that it came from other boats, which became obsolete. Additional wood fragments were uncovered nearby. 12 different kinds of wood have been identified in this boat. The most common was oak. According to carbon date testing this boat was constructed between 100BC and 70AD. The boat had a lifespan of about 15 years.

It was well constructed using mortise and tenon joints locked in place with tapered wood pegs. Frames provided support made from naturally curved tree branches. The planks were nailed to the frames with straight iron nails. Some nails had square, round or octagonal shafts. Planks were mostly used on the outside walls. The frames or ribs inside were nailed to the outside walls. This ancient boat provides a major contribution to the study of water transport and the history here at the Sea of Galilee. The boat was repaired many times. It is possible that it had a mast.

It was the first and to date the only ancient boat that was recovered from the Sea of Galilee. With the recent drought in Israel in 2002 the water level went below the previous low marks but nothing was uncovered this time. Some Christian believes that Jesus used this boat. Some even named it the Jesus Boat but there is no proof that Jesus or even his disciples ever used this. It just helps us to visualize the events that took place, which is described in the Gospels. The boat was properly used by fisherman as fish were an important source of food in the time of its existence.

Today the ancient boat found its resting-place in the new wing of the Yigal Allon Center in Ginosar on the western shores of the Sea of Galilee. In order to comply with conservation guidelines a special steel cradle were designed to support the ancient boat.

Today many questions remain unanswered. To whom did this boat belong? Did Jesus use it? Did it belong to the disciples? If it dates back to this time it must have some significance. Like the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls which also dates back to more or less the same time it is remarkable that it remained intact for so many years and did not disintegrate through the decades.