open air, it is as cold as that snow which the country people are
accustomed to make by night in summer. There are several kinds of
fish in it, different both to the taste and the sight from those
elsewhere. It is divided into two parts by the river Jordan. Now
Panium is thought to be the fountain of Jordan, but in reality it
is carried thither after an occult manner from the place called
Phiala: this place lies as you go up to Trachonitis, and is a
hundred and twenty furlongs from Cesarea, and is not far out of
the road on the right hand; and indeed it hath its name of Phiala
[vial or bowl] very justly, from the roundness of its
circumference, as being round like a wheel; its water continues
always up to its edges, without either sinking or running over.
And as this origin of Jordan was formerly not known, it was
discovered so to be when Philip was tetrarch of Trachonitis; for
he had chaff thrown into Phiala, and it was found at Paninto,
where the ancients thought the fountain-head of the river was,
whither it had been therefore carried [by the waters]. As for
Panium itself, its natural beauty had been improved by the royal
liberality of Agrippa, and adorned at his expenses. Now Jordan's
visible stream arises from this cavern, and divides the marshes
and fens of the lake Semechonitis; when it hath run another
hundred and twenty furlongs, it first passes by the city Julias,
and then passes through the middle of the lake Gennesareth; after
which it runs a long way over a desert, and then makes its exit
into the lake Asphaltitis.

8. The country also that lies over against this lake hath the
same name of Gennesareth; its nature is wonderful as well as its
beauty; its soil is so fruitful that all sorts of trees can grow
upon it, and the inhabitants accordingly plant all sorts of trees