Magdala
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses, see Magdala (disambiguation).
Magdala (Aramaic מגדלא Magdala or Hebrew מגדל Migdal, meaning "tower") was, according to the Bible, a small village in Galilee, which may have been the birthplace or the primary residence of Mary Magdalene, in the Christian New Testament.
The name given for Magdala in the Revised Version of Matthew 15:39 is Magadan. This is probably another name for the same place, or for a village so near it that the shore where Jesus landed may have belonged to either village.
[edit] Other places named Magdala
The Jewish Talmud mentions two places named Magdala.
- Magdala Gadar - One Magdala was in the east, on the Yarmuk near Gadara (in the Middle Ages "Jadar", now Mukes), thus acquiring the name Magdala Gadar.
- Magadala Nunayya - There was another, better-known Magdala near Tiberias, Magdala Nunayya, ("Magdala of the fishes"), which would locate it on the shore of the lake. Josephus mentions a wealthy Galilean town destroyed by the Romans in the Jewish War (III, x) with the Greek name Tarichaeae (Josephus does not give its Hebrew name), from its prosperous fisheries.
[edit] External link
- Catholic Encyclopedia — Magdala, the two possible locations mentioned in the Talmud
