Kursi (Gergesa)
Byzantine monastery on the eastern shore marking the miracle of the swine
Found 1970 — Found during road construction; excavated by Vassilios Tzaferis and Dan Urman (1970–74); Haim Cohen and Michal Artzy (University of Haifa) since 2015, who found a marble slab with a Hebrew/Aramaic inscription in 2015
Where Kursi National Park, eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee, near the Golan (Israel (Golan side))
Dates from 1st century CE fishing village; church and monastery 5th–6th century CE · Early Roman (settlement); Byzantine (church) · Yeshua in the Decapolis / 'country of the Gerasenes'
Now at In place; Kursi National Park
How Kursi (Gergesa) was found
Bulldozers cutting the lakeshore road exposed the walls of the largest Byzantine monastery in Israel. A chapel on the hillside above enshrines a large boulder, and the 2015 inscription, in Hebrew letters on marble, mentions 'Marmaria' and a synagogue-like dedication, suggesting a Jewish or Judeo-Christian presence in the village.
What it is
A walled monastery compound about 145 by 120 meters with a three-aisled basilica, mosaic floors with birds and fruit (later defaced), a baptistery and an oil press; a small chapel higher on the slope built around a boulder, marking the place where pilgrims believed the swine ran down into the lake. Below, a small harbor and fishing village date to the Roman period.
Why it matters for the Bible
The Gospels name the place variously as the country of the Gadarenes, Gerasenes or Gergesenes, a famous textual puzzle. Origen preferred 'Gergesa' on the lake's east shore, and Kursi is the only eastern-shore site with the required steep slope to the water and an ancient pilgrim shrine. Its Byzantine church shows that early Christians located the miracle here.
The Hebrew word: cha-ZEER
חֲזִיר
חֲזִיר is pronounced cha-ZEER and means pig — unclean under Leviticus 11:7; a herd of them marks Gentile territory (Strong's H2386).
People this discovery connects to
- Yeshua (Jesus) — יֵשׁוּעַ (Ye-SHOO-ah) — YHVH saves
Places
- Gergesa / Kursi — גֵּרְגֵּשָׁה (Ger-ge-SHAH) — Greek Gergesa; perhaps from the Girgashites (Genesis 15:21)
Events
Healing of the demon-possessed man and the herd of pigs · Yeshua in the Decapolis
Kursi (Gergesa) in Scripture
Matthew 8:28 Matthew's 'Gadarenes' and the variant 'Gergesenes' reflect the ancient puzzle about the place-name. (First mention of Gergesa.)
Mark 5:1-2 Yeshua crosses to 'the country of the Gerasenes' — Kursi is the leading candidate.
Mark 5:13 The herd rushes 'down the steep bank into the sea' — the slope at Kursi fits.
Questions people ask
What is Kursi (Gergesa)?
A walled monastery compound about 145 by 120 meters with a three-aisled basilica, mosaic floors with birds and fruit (later defaced), a baptistery and an oil press; a small chapel higher on the slope built around a boulder, marking the place where pilgrims believed the swine ran down into the lake. Below, a small harbor and fishing village date to the Roman period.
When was Kursi (Gergesa) discovered?
It was found in 1970 by Found during road construction; excavated by Vassilios Tzaferis and Dan Urman (1970–74); Haim Cohen and Michal Artzy (University of Haifa) since 2015, who found a marble slab with a Hebrew/Aramaic inscription in 2015, at Kursi National Park, eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee, near the Golan.
Where is Kursi (Gergesa) today?
In place; Kursi National Park.
Which Bible verses does Kursi (Gergesa) relate to?
Matthew 8:28, Mark 5:1-2, Mark 5:13.
Is Kursi (Gergesa) authentic?
The Byzantine monastery is secure. Its identification with the Gospel miracle rests on Origen's Gergesa and the site's topography; Gadara and Gerasa were also cities of the Decapolis, so the name problem is textual as well as geographic.
Related discoveries
- נֵצֶרNazareth 1st-Century HouseSimple dwellings showing Nazareth was a small Jewish village in Yeshua's day
- כְּלִי אֶבֶןStone Vessels and the Reina Quarry CaveChalk jars and cups for ritual purity, and the Galilean workshop where they were made
- בֵּית לֶחֶםBethlehem: Church of the NativityConstantine's basilica over the cave of Yeshua's birth, its 4th-century mosaics and the 2013–2020 restoration
- גֻּלְגֹּלֶתChurch of the Holy Sepulchre: Golgotha and the TombA 1st-century quarry, garden and rock-cut tombs beneath the traditional site of the crucifixion and burial
- צָרַעַתTomb of the Shroud (Akeldama)The only 1st-century burial shroud from Jerusalem, with the remains of a man who had leprosy
- חֶסֶדPool of BethesdaTwin pools with five porticoes beside the Church of St Anne, exactly as John 5 describes
Sources
- Tzaferis, The Excavations of Kursi-Gergesa (Atiqot 16, 1983)
- Wikipedia: Kursi, Golan Heights