Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Capernaum

​Capernaum (Καπερναούμ, that is, probably, the village of Nachum), an ancient city of Palestine, on the western shore of the Lake of Gennesareth, on the borders of the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali. It was, more than any other place, the residence of Jesus after He commenced His mission, and thus became the scene of many of His most important miracles; but the infidelity of the inhabitants brought down upon them the heavy denunciation:—"And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell." The site of the city is a matter of much dispute,—one party, headed by Dr Robinson, maintaining an identification with Khan Minyeh, and another, represented by Wilson, Ritter, and Thomson, supporting the claims of Tell Hum. Khan Minyeh is situated in a "fertile plain formed by the retreat of the mountains about the middle of the western shore." The ruins, according to J. L. Porter, extend over a space of several acres; and in the neighbourhood is a water-source, Ain et-Tin, "the fountain of the fig-tree," which may correspond with the fountain of Capernaum mentioned by Josephus. Tell Hum lies about three miles north of Khan Minyeh, and its ruins, covering an area of "half a mile long by a quarter wide," prove it to have been the site of no small town. The satisfactory decision of the question can only be arrived at by more elaborate researches.