The Sea of Timpanogos: Galilee's Pelagic Doppelganger in The New World

Naming a body of water can be a big deal. Names can stick in history a long time, or the name of a landmark can also date a period as names change over the generations of time. Names are just not as enduring as they should be. It is thought that the Sea of Galilee was named from a Hebrew word meaning harp, the Hebrew word kinnor (כִּנּוֹר), meaning "harp or lyre". It was believed that the shape of the lake resembled a harp in those days.

 But, even 2000 years ago the name was not so solid as you would think. We can look at another name of the lake as the Sea of Gennesaret (Luke 5:1). Gennesaret being an important fruitful land on the west side of the lake. Today the body of water we know as the Sea of Galilee is where parts of Jesus mortal and post mortal ministry took place. It now carries the name Lake Tiberius which name also existed 2000 years ago but seemed to endure the test of time.

The ancient cities surrounding the Sea of Galilee were Tiberius, Hammat, Gader, Korazin, Capernaum and Tabgha. Ancient civilizations seem to gather around life sustaining water sources. The mortal ministry of the Savior of all mankind happened in the tiniest, seemingly insignificant little place in the world. In fact, the Sea of Galilee, although it is Israel's largest freshwater lake is only 13 miles long and 8 miles wide. Half the size of its ecological doppelganger in the New World, Utah Lake. 

If you haven't already guessed, you have been looking at pictures of Utah Lake. 

 Along with early Spanish explorers Dominguez and Escalante, I like to call it The sea of Timpanogos. These explorers had a variation of that name. They called the lake "Lagunas de los Timpanogos". They must have had some knowledge given to them from local natives who named the lake's greatest source of water the Timpanogos River, which today we call the Provo River. If you think that is confusing, early pioneers took the name of the river and gave that name to a mountain. In the Ute language a loose translation of the word timpanogos means "rocky river". The names should be changed to protect the historical and linguistic significance. 

On the West side of Utah Lake are the fruitful cornfields of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Created for the purpose of feeding those in need. I imagine it is much like Gennesaret(west of Galelee).  It is a fun drive seeing healthy antelope prancing through the corn fields. Many wild geese enjoy the grain as well before it all goes to Church livestock. I have been the benefactor of some of those waterfowl. Here is a picture of my niece breasting out her first corn fed duck:

Interestingly, the only outlet of the Sea of Galilee and the Sea of Timpanogos (Utah Lake) is the Jordan River, but not the same river. You might recognize the Jordan River as the place where Jesus was baptized and also the place where Naman was cleansed from leprosy from your bible reading.

Interestingly the picture taken here was done in the Jordan River Utah depicting the event that occurred in the Jordan River Israel.  Both of these rivers empty into a very salty body of water. The Jordan River in Israel empties into the Dead Sea. It is so salty that even ocean fish cannot live in it, hence the name Dead Sea. The Jordan River in Utah empties into the Great Salt Lake, another overly salty body of water that cannot support fish. Both of these salty bodies of water are larger than their mother source. Interestingly, when early explorers stumbled across the Great Salt Lake they thought they found an inlet to the Pacific Ocean.

They did not find an inlet to the ocean, but you can see why they thought so when you see the Great Salt Lake in this video:

There is an interesting Prophecy regarding the Dead Sea in Israel. The Prophet Ezekiel talks about our day and the rebuilding of the Temple in Israel. He prophecies about a river flowing from the temple and bringing life back to the Dead Sea (Ezekiel 47). 

Antelope Island is home to a multitude of terrestrial mammals, including one of the oldest herds of bison in America. The island resides on The Great Salt Lake. They cannot drink the water from the Lake, however, the island has springs that come out of the ground and support the life on the island. Other springs feed the lake as well and a portion of the lake has been diked off to create what locals call Willard Bay. Willard bay is a great fishery full of life. An angler can go there and fish from a very controlled ecosystem of hybrids like "Wipers" and "Tiger Musky". Life truly has been brought to The Great Salt Lake. Even though that is not the prophecy that Ezekiel was giving it shows how that can happen in a similar ecosystem. 

The Sea of Galilee was a great source of food for ancient Israel. Likewise Utah Lake has an abundance of fish much like the Sea of Galilee. Fish from Utah Lake have been the savior from starvation for many families throughout time. Ancient people of Utah gathered at the lake to partake of its abundance. Early pioneers reported so many fish you could walk across them to another bank. Utah Lake has been the bail out of two major depressions. It's fish being delivered even by train to needful families in modern day times. The Sea of Galilee has several carp species that occupy its waters much like Utah Lake that has a 90 percent carp biomass.

 But, what kind of fish did Jesus eat from the Sea of Galilee?

The thought of this brings me back to my grade school days. Hot school lunch Fridays was always fish sticks. I never knew why, I just accepted it as a great thing, I loved fish sticks. Little did this trusting boy know that it had to do with a Lentin tradition.  Now that of course is the watered-down version of the several millennia old tradition that was passed down from biblical times. That cod was delicious but was not quite the traditional fish that Jesus ate. Rather, it was more likely he ate Tilapia, and that mild tasting fish was rumored to be the fish that was caught by St. Peter in the Sea of Galilee and fed the masses in Tabgha. That is why Tilapia is known as "St. Peter's fish".

There are no Tilapia in Utah Lake. in fact commercial production is illegal in Utah. However, there is a similar mild tasting fish that is very plentiful in Utah Lake.

The White Bass

I love the story of the resurrected Christ telling his disciples, “And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes.”

John 21:6

 

If you have ever fished the white bass spawn in Utah Lake you can catch the same kind of numbers that Peter and his crew brought in, even without a net. Based on the current Roman(local state authority) laws you will have to do it with a fishing rod one fish at a time. It is still very possible.  But if you insist on the experience of the apostles, you can legally use a net to catch the European Carp in the Sea of Timpanogos. You may get the same struggle. One time I watched a young man from Russia use a small handheld fishing net to catch and European Carp from the waterfall behind the fire station in Provo. It was quite the battle. In the end his smile was ear to ear and the prize was huge. The gestalt of the experience was way better than anything on Netflix. 

Utah Lake Carp Experience (click)

Birds enjoy a plentiful habitat at both the Sea of Timpanogos and the Sea of Galilee. There is a lot of wilderness area near Utah Lake. One time I did catch a surprise sighting of a wild emu. It must have escaped from someone's farm. Interestingly there was a species of ostrich long extinct that once existed in Israel in the days when Jesus walked the shores of Galilee. There are some 240 species of birds that reside near Utah Lake. I think it is the pelicans and the sea gulls that make both lakes seem like a sea. Life is indeed abundant in these cities surrounded bodies of water.