The city of Tiberias.
Taken in the early evening from the balcony of our hotel room.

The modern city of Tiberias.
Sorry - This is not my picture - I got it from Nelson's New Illustrated Bible Dictionary.
Not that good of a picture in there either.

TIBERIAS, tie BEER ee us (pop. 23,300). A city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. Tiberias stands on a rocky cliff about 12 miles south of where the Jordan River flows into the Sea of Galilee. Still, Tiberias is 682 feet below the level of the Mediterranean Sea, and it has a semi-tropical climate that is mild in winter but humid in summer.

The city was founded by Herod Antipas (about A.D. 20) and named after the emperor, Tiberius Caesar. It was said to have occupied the site of Rakkath, an old town of Naphtali (Josh. 19:35), and to have been built over a graveyard. Because of this, it was declared unclean by the Jews, who would not enter the city. Although Tiberias was an important city in the days of Christ, there is no record that He ever visited it. In fact, it is only mentioned once in the New Testament (John 6:23).

The city enjoyed a commanding view of the lake. Because of the numerous hot springs just south of the city, it was a popular resort for the Romans. Pliny the Elder mentions the healthful nature of the springs. Today the city contains a number of health spas.

Although the Jews would not enter the ancient Roman town, after the fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 135, Tiberias ironically became the center of rabbinic learning. Here the MISHNA was completed about A.D. 200 and the Jerusalem (or Palestinian) TALMUD was finished about A.D. 400. The pointing system later used by the Masoretes to add vowels to the Hebrew text was first developed in Tiberias.