Josephus described Galilee as a region “encircled by foreign nations.” Many scholars have regarded this encirclement as a defining factor in Galilee's cultural milieu. Not only was Galilee itself full of gentiles, it has often been argued, but gentiles from the adjacent regions often made their way into Galilee. In addition, traders and travelers from more distant lands passed through on the major highways of the day. Galileans frequently took advantage of these same highways to venture frequently into the adjacent regions.

Are such claims accurate? In this chapter, I will summarize the evidence for Galilean interaction with “foreigners.” Understanding this issue requires, first, knowledge of the surrounding territories – their histories, cultural atmospheres, and inhabitants (see Map 2). (As will be seen, determining the cultural identity of a given site's occupants – e.g., Roman, Greek, Syrian, Nabatean, Phoenician, Iturean, or other – is sometimes less complicated outside of Galilee than within Galilee.) It requires, secondly, a summary of the archaeological and literary evidence for contact between Galileans and non-Galileans, with particular attention to trade and the road networks. While some interaction between Galileans and non-Galileans indisputably occurred, its extent, like so many of the stereotypical characteristics of Galilee, has been overstated in much recent scholarship.

The “foreign nations”

The Golan Heights

To the east and northeast of Galilee are the Golan Heights. Altars, statues, inscriptions, and synagogues allow considerable discussion of the presence of gentiles and Jews at specific sites in the Late Roman and Byzantine periods.