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German literature

German literature (Deutschsprachige Literatur) comprises those literary texts written in the German language. This includes literature written in Germany, Austria, the German parts of Switzerland and Belgium, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, South Tyrol in Italy and to a lesser extent works of the German diaspora. German literature of the modern period is mostly in Standard German, but there are some currents of literature influenced to a greater or lesser degree by dialects (e.g. Alemannic).

Medieval German literature is literature written in Germany, stretching from the Carolingian dynasty; various dates have been given for the end of the German literary Middle Ages, the Reformation (1517) being the last possible cut-off point. The Old High German period is reckoned to run until about the mid-11th century; the most famous works are the Hildebrandslied and a heroic epic known as the Heliand. Middle High German starts in the 12th century; the key works include The Ring (c. 1410) and the poems of Oswald von Wolkenstein and Johannes von Tepl. The Baroque period (1600 to 1720) was one of the most fertile times in German literature. Modern literature in German begins with the authors of the Enlightenment (such as Herder). The Sensibility movement of the 1750s–1770s ended with Goethe's best-selling The Sorrows of Young Werther (1774). The Sturm und Drang and Weimar Classicism movements were led by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Schiller. German Romanticism was the dominant movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

Biedermeier refers to the literature, music, the visual arts and interior design in the period between the years 1815 (Vienna Congress), the end of the Napoleonic Wars, and 1848, the year of the European revolutions. Under the Nazi regime, some authors went into exile (Exilliteratur) and others submitted to censorship ("internal emigration", Innere Emigration). The Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded to German language authors fourteen times (as of 2023), or the third most often, behind only French language authors (with 16 laureates) and English language authors (with 32 laureates) with winners including Thomas Mann, Hermann Hesse, Günter Grass, and Peter Handke.

Periodization
Periodization is not an exact science but the following list contains movements or time periods typically used in discussing German literature. It seems worth noting that the periods of medieval German literature span two or three centuries, those of early modern German literature span one century, and those of modern German literature each span one or two decades. The closer one nears the present, the more debated the periodizations become.

 * Medieval German literature
 * Old High German literature (750–1050)
 * Middle High German literature (1050–1350)
 * Late medieval / Renaissance (1350–1500)
 * Early Modern German literature (see Early Modern literature)
 * Humanism and Protestant Reformation (1500–1650)
 * Baroque (1600–1720)
 * Enlightenment (1680–1789)
 * Modern German literature
 * 18th- and 19th-century German literature
 * Empfindsamkeit / Sensibility (1750s–1770s)
 * Sturm und Drang / Storm and Stress (1760s–1780s)
 * German Classicism (1729–1832)
 * Weimar Classicism (1788–1805) or (1788–1832), depending on Schiller's (1805) or Goethe's (1832) death
 * German Romanticism (1790s–1880s)
 * Biedermeier (1815–1848)
 * Young Germany (1830–1850)
 * Poetic Realism (1848–1890)
 * Naturalism (1880–1900)
 * 20th-century German literature
 * 1900–1933
 * Fin de siècle (c. 1900)
 * Symbolism
 * Expressionism (1910–1920)
 * Dada (1914–1924)
 * New Objectivity (Neue Sachlichkeit)
 * Well Known Writers of the 20th Century
 * 1933–1945
 * National Socialist literature
 * Exile literature
 * 1945–1989
 * By country
 * Federal Republic of Germany
 * German Democratic Republic
 * Austria
 * Switzerland
 * Other
 * By thematic or group
 * Post-war literature (1945–1967)
 * Group 47
 * Holocaust literature
 * Contemporary German literature (1989–)

Middle Ages
Medieval German literature refers to literature written in Germany, stretching from the Carolingian dynasty; various dates have been given for the end of the German literary Middle Ages, the Reformation (1517) being the last possible cut-off point.

Old High German
The Old High German period is reckoned to run until about the mid-11th century, though the boundary to Early Middle High German (second half of the 11th century) is not clear-cut.

The most famous work in OHG is the Hildebrandslied, a short piece of Germanic alliterative heroic verse which besides the Muspilli is the sole survivor of what must have been a vast oral tradition. Another important work, in the northern dialect of Old Saxon, is a life of Christ in the style of a heroic epic known as the Heliand.

Middle High German
Middle High German proper runs from the beginning of the 12th century, and in the second half of the 12th century, there was a sudden intensification of activity, leading to a 60-year "golden age" of medieval German literature referred to as the mittelhochdeutsche Blütezeit (1170–1230). This was the period of the blossoming of MHG lyric poetry, particularly Minnesang (the German variety of the originally French tradition of courtly love). One of the most important of these poets was Walther von der Vogelweide. The same sixty years saw the composition of the most important courtly romances. These are written in rhyming couplets, and again draw on French models such as Chrétien de Troyes, many of them relating Arthurian material, for example, Parzival by Wolfram von Eschenbach. The third literary movement of these years was a new revamping of the heroic tradition, in which the ancient Germanic oral tradition can still be discerned, but tamed and Christianized and adapted for the court. These high medieval heroic epics are written in rhymed strophes, not the alliterative verse of Germanic prehistory (for example, the Nibelungenlied).

The Middle High German period is conventionally taken to end in 1350, while the Early New High German is taken to begin with the German Renaissance, after the invention of movable type in the mid-15th century. Therefore, the literature of the late 14th and the early 15th century falls, as it were, in the cracks between Middle and New High German, and can be classified as either. Works of this transitional period include The Ring (c. 1410), the poems of Oswald von Wolkenstein and Johannes von Tepl, the German versions of Pontus and Sidonia, and arguably the works of Hans Folz and Sebastian Brant (Ship of Fools, 1494), among others. The Volksbuch (chapbook) tradition which would flourish in the 16th century also finds its origin in the second half of the 15th century.

German Renaissance and Reformation

 * Sebastian Brant (1457–1521)
 * Thomas Murner (1475–1537)
 * Martin Luther (1483–1546)
 * Philipp Melanchthon (1497–1560)
 * Sebastian Franck (1500–1543)
 * Johann Fischart (1545-1591)

Baroque period
The Baroque period (1600 to 1720) was one of the most fertile times in German literature. Many writers reflected the horrible experiences of the Thirty Years' War, in poetry and prose. Grimmelshausen's adventures of the young and naïve Simplicissimus, in the eponymous book Simplicius Simplicissimus, became the most famous novel of the Baroque period. Martin Opitz established rules for the "purity" of language, style, verse and rhyme. Andreas Gryphius and Daniel Caspar von Lohenstein wrote German language tragedies, or Trauerspiele, often on Classical themes and frequently quite violent. Erotic, religious and occasional poetry appeared in both German and Latin. Sibylle Ursula von Braunschweig-Lüneburg wrote part of a novel, Die Durchlauchtige Syrerin Aramena (Aramena, the noble Syrian lady), which when complete would be the most famous courtly novel in German Baroque literature; it was finished by her brother Anton Ulrich and edited by Sigmund von Birken.

Sensibility
Empfindsamkeit / Sensibility (1750s–1770s) Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock (1724–1803), Christian Fürchtegott Gellert (1715–1769), Sophie de La Roche (1730–1807). The period culminates and ends in Goethe's best-selling Die Leiden des jungen Werthers (1774).

Sturm und Drang
Sturm und Drang (the conventional translation is "Storm and Stress"; a more literal translation, however, might be storm and urge, storm and longing, or storm and impulse) is the name of a movement in German literature and music taking place from the late 1760s through the early 1780s in which individual subjectivity and, in particular, extremes of emotion were given free expression in response to the confines of rationalism imposed by the Enlightenment and associated aesthetic movements. The philosopher Johann Georg Hamann is considered to be the ideologue of Sturm und Drang, and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a notable proponent of the movement, though he and Friedrich Schiller ended their period of association with it, initiating what would become Weimar Classicism.

German Classicism
Weimar Classicism (German “Weimarer Klassik” and “Weimarer Klassizismus”) is a cultural and literary movement of Europe, and its central ideas were originally propounded by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller during the period 1786 to 1805.

Romanticism
German Romanticism was the dominant movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. German Romanticism developed relatively late compared to its English counterpart, coinciding in its early years with the movement known as German Classicism or Weimar Classicism, which it opposed. In contrast to the seriousness of English Romanticism, the German variety is notable for valuing humor and wit as well as beauty. The early German romantics tried to create a new synthesis of art, philosophy, and science, looking to the Middle Ages as a simpler, more integrated period. As time went on, however, they became increasingly aware of the tenuousness of the unity they were seeking. Later German Romanticism emphasized the tension between the everyday world and the seemingly irrational and supernatural projections of creative genius. Heinrich Heine in particular criticized the tendency of the early romantics to look to the medieval past for a model of unity in art and society.
 * G.W.F. Hegel
 * Jean Paul
 * E.T.A. Hoffmann
 * Friedrich Hölderlin
 * Heinrich von Kleist
 * Novalis (Friedrich von Hardenberg)
 * Friedrich Schlegel
 * August Wilhelm Schlegel
 * Friedrich Schleiermacher
 * Ludwig Tieck
 * Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué
 * Ludwig Uhland
 * Arthur Schopenhauer
 * Joseph von Eichendorff

Biedermeier and Vormärz
Biedermeier refers to work in the fields of literature, music, the visual arts and interior design in the period between the years 1815 (Vienna Congress), the end of the Napoleonic Wars, and 1848, the year of the European revolutions and contrasts with the Romantic era which preceded it. Typical Biedermeier poets are Annette von Droste-Hülshoff, Adelbert von Chamisso, Eduard Mörike, and Wilhelm Müller, the last three named having well-known musical settings by Robert Schumann, Hugo Wolf and Franz Schubert respectively.

Young Germany (Junges Deutschland) was a loose group of Vormärz writers which existed from about 1830 to 1850. It was essentially a youth movement (similar to those that had swept France and Ireland and originated in Italy). Its main proponents were Karl Gutzkow, Heinrich Laube, Theodor Mundt and Ludolf Wienbarg; Heinrich Heine, Ludwig Börne and Georg Büchner were also considered part of the movement. The wider circle included Willibald Alexis, Adolf Glassbrenner and Gustav Kühne.

Realism and Naturalism
Poetic Realism (1848–1890): Theodor Fontane, Gustav Freitag, Gottfried Keller, Wilhelm Raabe, Adalbert Stifter, Theodor Storm

Naturalism (1880–1900): Gerhart Hauptmann

1900 to 1933

 * Fin de siècle (c. 1900)
 * Weimar literature (1919–1933)
 * Symbolism
 * Expressionism (1910–1920)
 * Dada (1914–1924)
 * New Objectivity (Neue Sachlichkeit)

Well known writers of the 20th century
A well-known writer of German literature was Franz Kafka. A Kafka novel, The Trial, was ranked #3 on Le Monde's 100 Books of the Century. Kafka's iconic writing style that captures themes of bureaucracy and existentialism resulted in the coining of the term “Kafkaesque.” Kafka's writing allowed a peek into his melancholic life, one where he felt isolated from all human beings, one of his inspirations for writing.

Nazi Germany

 * National Socialist literature: see Gelöbnis treuester Gefolgschaft, Blut und Boden, Nazi propaganda

Under the Nazi regime, some authors went into exile (Exilliteratur) and others submitted to censorship ("inner emigration", Innere Emigration)

 * Inner Emigration: Gottfried Benn, Werner Bergengruen, Hans Blüher, Hans Heinrich Ehrler, Hans Fallada, Werner Finck, Gertrud Fussenegger, Ricarda Huch, Ernst Jünger, Erich Kästner, Volker Lachmann, Oskar Loerke, Erika Mitterer, Walter von Molo, Friedrich Reck-Malleczewen, Richard Riemerschmid, Reinhold Schneider, Frank Thiess, Carl von Ossietzky, Ernst Wiechert
 * in exile: Ernst Bloch, Bertolt Brecht, Hermann Broch, Alfred Döblin, Lion Feuchtwanger, Bruno Frank, A. M. Frey, Anna Gmeyner, Oskar Maria Graf, Hermann Hesse, Heinrich Eduard Jacob, Hermann Kesten, Annette Kolb, Siegfried Kracauer, Emil Ludwig, Heinrich Mann, Klaus Mann, Thomas Mann, Balder Olden, Rudolf Olden, Robert Neumann, Erich Maria Remarque, Ludwig Renn, Alice Rühle-Gerstel, Otto Rühle, Alice Schwarz-Gardos, Anna Seghers, B. Traven, Bodo Uhse, Franz Werfel, Arnold Zweig, Stefan Zweig, Joseph Roth.

1945 to 1989

 * Post-war literature of West Germany (1945–1967): Heinrich Böll, Günter Grass, Group 47; Holocaust literature (Paul Celan, Edgar Hilsenrath)
 * GDR Literature in East Germany: Johannes R. Becher, Jurek Becker, Wolf Biermann, Bertolt Brecht, Uwe Johnson, Sarah Kirsch, Günter Kunert, Reiner Kunze, Heiner Müller, Ulrich Plenzdorf, Anna Seghers, Christa Wolf
 * Postwar literature of Switzerland and Austria: Ingeborg Bachmann, Thomas Bernhard, Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Max Frisch, Elfriede Jelinek, Peter Handke
 * Postmodern literature: Christian Kracht, Hans Wollschläger, Christoph Ransmayr, Marlene Streeruwitz, Rainald Goetz, Clemens J. Setz, Oswald Wiener
 * W.G. Sebald
 * Arno Schmidt

21st century
Much of contemporary poetry in the German language is published in literary magazines. DAS GEDICHT, for instance, has featured German poetry from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Luxemburg for the last twenty years.

 * Science-Fiction, Fantasy: Andreas Eschbach, Frank Schätzing, Wolfgang Hohlbein, Bernhard Hennen, Walter Moers
 * Pop Literature: Benjamin von Stuckrad-Barre
 * Migrant literature: Wladimir Kaminer, Feridun Zaimoglu, Rafik Schami
 * Poetry: Jürgen Becker, Kerstin Becker, Marcel Beyer, Theo Breuer, Rolf Dieter Brinkmann, Marc Engelhard, Hans Magnus Enzensberger, Aldona Gustas, Ernst Jandl, Thomas Kling, Uwe Kolbe, Friederike Mayröcker, Durs Grünbein, Kurt Marti, Karl Krolow, Elke Erb, Ulrike Draesner, Ann Cotten, Monika Rinck, Judith Zander
 * Aphorists: Hans Kruppa
 * Thriller: Ingrid Noll, Zoë Beck
 * Novel: Wilhelm Genazino, Günter Grass, Herta Müller, Siegfried Lenz, Charlotte Link, Rainald Goetz, Anna Kaleri, Norbert Scheuer, Dietmar Dath, Christian Kracht, Kathrin Schmidt, Burkhard Spinnen, Robert Menasse, Martin Walser, Andreas Mand, Zsuzsa Bánk, Marc Degens, Jenny Erpenbeck, Klaus Modick, Peter Handke, Elfriede Jelinek, Daniel Kehlmann, Franzobel, Clemens J. Setz, Julya Rabinowich, Olga Flor
 * Literaturport (in German): audio clips of contemporary literature, many read out by the authors themselves
 * German-American literature: Paul-Henri Campbell, Walter Abish

Nobel Prize laureates
The Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded to German-language authors fourteen times (as of 2020), tying with French-language authors, or the second most often after English-language authors (with 32).

The following writers are from Germany unless stated otherwise:
 * 1902 Theodor Mommsen
 * 1908 Rudolf Christoph Eucken
 * 1910 Paul Heyse
 * 1912 Gerhart Hauptmann
 * 1919 Carl Spitteler (Swiss)
 * 1929 Thomas Mann
 * 1946 Hermann Hesse
 * 1966 Nelly Sachs
 * 1972 Heinrich Böll
 * 1981 Elias Canetti (Bulgarian, later British)
 * 1999 Günter Grass
 * 2004 Elfriede Jelinek (Austrian)
 * 2009 Herta Müller (Romanian by birth, later naturalized in West Germany)
 * 2019 Peter Handke (Austrian)

English

 * Cambridge History of German Literature. Watanabe-O’Kelly, Helen, ed. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 1997.
 * Konzett, Matthias Piccolruaz. Encyclopedia of German Literature. Routledge, 2000.
 * The Oxford Companion to German Literature, ed. by Mary Garland and Henry Garland, 3rd edition, Oxford University Press, 1997
 * Grange, William, ed. Historical dictionary of German literature to 1945 (2011) online
 * Pasley, Malcolm, ed. Germany: A Companion to German Studies. Methuen & Co., 1972 (2nd ed. 1982)
 * Ed.: Alexandra Merley Hill, Hester Baer. German Women's Writing in the Twenty-first Century. United Kingdom, Camden House, 2015.
 * Ed.: Alexandra Merley Hill, Hester Baer. German Women's Writing in the Twenty-first Century. United Kingdom, Camden House, 2015.
 * Ed.: Alexandra Merley Hill, Hester Baer. German Women's Writing in the Twenty-first Century. United Kingdom, Camden House, 2015.

German

 * Bernd Lutz, Benedikt Jeßing (eds.): Metzler Lexikon Autoren: Deutschsprachige Dichter und Schriftsteller vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart, Stuttgart und Weimar: 4., aktualisierte und erweiterte Auflage 2010
 * Theo Breuer, Aus dem Hinterland. Lyrik nach 2000, Sistig/Eifel : Edition YE, 2005, ISBN 3-87512-186-4
 * Theo Breuer, Kiesel & Kastanie (ed.): Von neuen Gedichten und Geschichten, Sistig/Eifel : Edition YE, 2008, ISBN 3-87512-347-6
 * Jürgen Brocan, Jan Kuhlbrodt (eds.), Umkreisungen. 25 Auskünfte zum Gedicht, Leipzig: Poetenladen Literaturverlag, 2010
 * Manfred Enzensperger (ed.), Die Hölderlin-Ameisen: Vom Finden und Erfinden der Poesie, Cologne: Dumont, 2005
 * Peter von Matt, Die verdächtige Pracht. Über Dichter und Gedichte, Munich [etc.] : Hanser, 1998
 * Joachim Sartorius (ed.), Mimima Poetica. Für eine Poetik des zeitgenössischen Gedichts, Cologne : Kiepenheuer & Witsch, 1999

Anthologies

 * German poetry from 1750 to 1900, ed. by Robert M. Browning. Foreword by Michael Hamburger, New York : Continuum, 1984, 281 pp. (German Library), ISBN 0-8264-0283-6
 * Twentieth-Century German Poetry: An Anthology, edited by Michael Hofmann, New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2008 (Paperback Edition), 544 pp., ISBN 0-374-53093-9
 * Heinz Ludwig Arnold (ed.), TEXT+KRITIK: Lyrik des 20. Jahrhunderts (1999).
 * Verena Auffermann, Hubert Winkels (ed.), Beste Deutsche Erzähler (2000–)
 * Hans Bender (ed.), In diesem Lande leben wir. Deutsche Gedichte der Gegenwart (1978)
 * Hans Bender, Was sind das für Zeiten. Deutschsprachige Gedichte der achtziger Jahre (1988)
 * Christoph Buchwald, Uljana Wolf (ed.), Jahrbuch der Lyrik 2009 (2009)
 * Karl Otto Conrady (ed.), Der Große Conrady. Das Buch deutscher Gedichte. Von den Anfängen bis zur Gegenwart (2008).
 * Hugo von Hofmannsthal (ed.), Deutsche Erzähler I (1912, 1979)
 * Marie Luise Kaschnitz (ed.), Deutsche Erzähler II (1971, 1979)
 * Boris Kerenski & Sergiu Stefanescu, Kaltland Beat. Neue deutsche Szene (1999)
 * Axel Kutsch (ed.), Versnetze. Deutschsprachige Lyrik der Gegenwart (2009)
 * Andreas Neumeister, Marcel Hartges (ed.), Poetry! Slam! Texte der Pop-Fraktion (1996)

title: German literature


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Talk:God

Should the image used for the Christian God be changed?
After a quick back and forth edit between VenusFeuerFalle  and I relating to the image used for God, we agreed to take this issue/topic to the talk page. I think the image representing the Christian God should be replaced from the current one, which depicts God in a humanoid form with facial-hair, to a more suitable one which depicts the Tetragrammaton YHWH יהוה, the name of God. I agree that the bearded depiction of God is a more typical artistic depiction of God in Western culture, but it is very biblically inaccurate. Many Christians consider him to be invisible, and it is generally believed he has no form. It is best to use an accurate image like the other Abrahamic religions use on this page. RileyXeon (talk) 13:59, 16 January 2024 (UTC)

 * Thanks for the quick introduction. I agree partly with the proposition. The "bearded man" may not be the best representation for the Christian God. Many theologicans, including Origen, Thomas Aquinas, Anselm of Canterbury, Augustine of Hippo, and deistic philosophers from Christian culture, do conceptualized God as an abstract entity. An example is the concept of God as the first mover in the Five Ways by Aquinas. However, I do not think that a personal name does much better than the depiction of God as a person. The image needs to be representative for the Christian concept of God, such as a symbol. Next, I would argue that the Tetragrammaton, even if used as a symbol or representation rather than a proper name, it poorly reflects Christian tradition, given that the Tetragrammaton is rarely used in Christian writings. The idea that the Tetragrammaton should be used by Christians might be a rather modern phenomenon and might be motivated by Christian Zionism:
 * The book is divided into three chronological sections: “The Eclipse of the Name” (roughly 300 bce–500 ce), “Times of Ignorance” (500 ce–1400 ce) and “The Rediscovery of the Name” (1400 ce–1700 ce). The first section derives its title from the fact that whereas the Tetragrammaton routinely appears in Jewish biblical texts, in both Hebrew and Greek, it virtually never appears in biblical texts of Christian origin, being represented instead by the surrogate kyrios, or, more precisely, by the distinctively Christian abbreviation ΚΣ. The implications of “eclipse” notwithstanding, however, the author makes the important point that this shift in scribal convention does not signal a lack of Christian interest in the Tetragrammaton.(
 * R. Kendall Soulen 2015) Although the author states that the lack of 'Yahweh' should not be used as evidence for its lack of importance, we see that the term is hardly representative for the concept of God in Christian tradition. The author also calls the time of absence of the Tetragrammaton a "time of ignorance". Althought he author interpretes the importance of 'YHWH' into the Christian tradition, the term is factually (almost) non-existent in traditional Christianity. Where might be a better suggestion for an image, which does accurately reflect Christian tradition. If no better one is aviable, I think the portray of God as a man will do it as well, due to its prominence in Western culture. VenusFeuerFalle (talk) 19:52, 16 January 2024 (UTC)

 * Humans cannot agree on what God looks like. Having no image at all is the only sensible approach. HiLo48 (talk) 21:19, 16 January 2024 (UTC)
 * The image shows very well that humans do not agree, therefore it is even better to include anthropomorphic depictions as well. VenusFeuerFalle (talk) 22:43, 28 February 2024 (UTC)
 * Depicting God as an old bearded man is very inaccurate and doesn't support biblical writings. Using the Hebrew name for God again would be far more suitable to use instead of a depiction which isn't supported. If it's more suitable maybe we could use an image of Jesus to replace instead? Jesus being God and having divinity is a key and common Christian belief, and an image of Jesus is already used on the Deity page. RileyXeon (talk) 02:56, 17 January 2024 (UTC)
 * I would second that, except, this page is not confined only to Christian interpretation. (Unlike God_in_Christianity) 102.211.127.104 (talk) 20:47, 28 February 2024 (UTC)

 * Keep the current Michelangelo depiction. This isn't an article about biblical or Christian interpretations of God's appearance, it's about God as a single monotheistic entity and how he is or has been depicted across societies. Debating the Bible isn't relevant here. The depiction shown from Michelangelo is of one of the most famous depictions of the subject of this article ("God") in human history, probably the most widely recognizable, regardless of whether some Christian sects or sources may object that it represents what is "biblically accurate". It absolutely should remain.—  Crumpled Fire  • contribs • 21:35, 28 February 2024 (UTC)

Move God to God (monotheism)
It's a biased title. God is not exclusively or even most commonly used in this context. Alexander Shipfield (talk) 22:50, 17 February 2024 (UTC)

 * If you want to officially request a title move, you need to do so through the proper channels, see relevant instructions at WP:REQMOVE. —  Crumpled Fire  • contribs • 23:34, 17 February 2024 (UTC)
 * This article seems to be focused on God as athe abstract concept. Monotheism is hardly the correct term since Monotheism is a well-defined relation between God and creation.
 * The article also speaks about non-theistic views as well. This is more first thought about the move. If you are convinced it is reasonable to move, you can suggest it as per WP:REQMOVE mentioned above. VenusFeuerFalle (talk) 22:42, 28 February 2024 (UTC)
 * From my understanding when referring to a god who belongs to a polytheistic/pagan religion, the language used to refer to them and their divinity is "a god" rather than simply "God." RileyAntonis (talk) 07:12, 3 March 2024 (UTC)
 * What do you mean by "pagan" and "Polytheistic" (the terms are not equal in meaning by the way) gods? We are talking about the concept of "God", which is more prominent in Monotheism, Deism, Pantheism. VenusFeuerFalle (talk) 16:40, 3 March 2024 (UTC)
 * That is my point exactly? I assumed that Alexander wanted to move the page to "God (monotheism)" because they thought the term could also be interpreted into polytheism. RileyAntonis (talk) 02:46, 4 March 2024 (UTC)
 * I see, I misunderstood, thanks for clarification. I apologize if I inconvenienced you. VenusFeuerFalle (talk) 04:02, 4 March 2024 (UTC)
 * All good, don't stress, I thought it was a misunderstanding. RileyAntonis (talk) 05:29, 4 March 2024 (UTC)
 * And don't forget Pandeism. You know, a monotheistic God can become polytheistic if it wishes it. Premise of Hinduism, really. Hyperbolick (talk) 20:11, 6 March 2024 (UTC)
 * That is why many Hindus consider Hinduism to be monotheistic, as well as many thinking it's polytheistic. RileyAntonis (talk) 21:13, 6 March 2024 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 21 March 2024
section Specific Characteristics, under Title, first paragraph: the paragraph starts by invoking "Judeo-Christian tradition", and two sentences later, says: "Throughout the Hebrew and Christian Bibles there are titles for God, who revealed his personal name as YHWH (often vocalized as Yahweh or Jehovah)."

as God's name is not vocalized in Judaism, I think this should be changed. a very easy change would be something like: "(often vocalized by Christians/in Christian tradition as Yahweh or Jehovah)." but I think a better change would be to not refer to "Judeo-Christian tradition"* and instead separate Jewish tradition and Christian tradition as Islamic tradition is separated in that section

I'd be happy to write the two separate sections, but I don't have access to the referenced sources.

 * just click/tap "Judeo-Christian" in that paragraph for reasons why referring to "Judeo-Christian tradition" ought to be avoided 1faefox (talk) 19:33, 21 March 2024 (UTC)
 * Red information icon with gradient background.svg Not done: please provide reliable sources that support the change you want to be made. Jonathan Deamer (talk) 21:57, 24 March 2024 (UTC)

A 'Definitions' section for this article
I was wondering if this article would benefit from a short section regarding the various definitions of God provided by religious traditions. I can provide one from the Westminster Shorter Catechism (a famous definition given which Anne of Green Gables quotes at some point) representing Presbyterianism, and another the Belgic Confession, a confessional standard of Continental Reformed Protestantism, both representing authoritative expressions of Reformed Protestantism which is a major form of Protestantism along with Anglicanism, Lutheranism and Baptist theology. These definitions also have Biblical citations for each point.

Westminster: 'God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.'

Belgic Confession: 'We all believe with the heart, and confess with the mouth, that there is one only simple and spiritual Being, which we call God; and that He is eternal, incomprehensible, invisible, immutable, infinite, almighty, perfectly wise, just, good and the overflowing fountain of all good.'

I believe a short and authoritative definition from each religious tradition would give readers a good idea of how God is conceived and also a useful point of comparison. Perhaps it could also be pointed out what doctrines or concept are taught in each definition, e.g. divine simplicity in the Belgic Confession ('one only simple and spiritual Being'). For this example, I would also mention that the Confession cites parts of Scripture such as Ephesians 4:6 and 1 Corinthians 8:6 as sources of this doctrine. Violoncello10104 (talk) 12:55, 17 July 2024 (UTC)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Talk:God


text:
Galilee

Galilee (הַגָּלִיל; Galilaea; الجليل) is a region located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon. Galilee traditionally refers to the mountainous part, divided into Upper Galilee (הגליל העליון, ; الجليل الأعلى, ) and Lower Galilee (גליל תחתון, ; الجليل الأسفل, ).

Galilee refers to all of the area north of the Mount Carmel-Mount Gilboa ridge and south of the east–west section of the Litani River. It extends from the Israeli coastal plain and the shores of the Mediterranean Sea with Acre in the west, to the Jordan Rift Valley to the east; and from the Litani in the north plus a piece bordering on the Golan Heights all the way to Dan at the base of Mount Hermon in the northeast, to Mount Carmel and Mount Gilboa in the south. This definition includes the plains of the Jezreel Valley north of Jenin and the Beth Shean Valley, the valley containing the Sea of Galilee, and the Hula Valley, although it usually does not include Haifa's immediate northern suburbs. By this definition it overlaps with much of the administrative Northern District of Israel and with Southern Lebanon.

Etymology
The region's Hebrew name is גָּלִיל, meaning 'district' or 'circle'. The Hebrew form used in Book of Isaiah (or 8:23 in different Biblical versions) is in the construct state, leading to גְּלִיל הַגּוֹיִם "Galilee of the nations", which refers to gentiles who settled there at the time that the book was written, either by their own volition or as a result of the resettlement policy of the Neo-Assyrian Empire.

Borders and geography
The borders of Galilee, split into Upper Galilee and Lower Galilee, were described by Josephus in his The Jewish War: Now Phoenicia and Syria encompass about the Galilees, which are two, and called the Upper Galilee and the Lower. They are bounded toward the sun-setting, with the borders of the territory belonging to Ptolemais, and by Carmel; which mountain had formerly belonged to the Galileans, but now belonged to the Tyrians; to which mountain adjoins Gaba, which is called the City of Horsemen, because those horsemen that were dismissed by Herod the king dwelt therein; they are bounded on the south with Samaria and Scythopolis, as far as the river Jordan; on the east with Hippeae and Gadaris, and also with Ganlonitis, and the borders of the kingdom of Agrippa; its northern parts are bounded by Tyre, and the country of the Tyrians. As for that Galilee which is called the Lower, it extends in length from Tiberias to Zabulon, and of the maritime places Ptolemais is its neighbor; its breadth is from the village called Xaloth, which lies in the great plain, as far as Bersabe, from which beginning also is taken the breadth of the Upper Galilee, as far as the village Baca, which divides the land of the Tyrians from it; its length is also from Meloth to Thella, a village near to Jordan. Most of Galilee consists of rocky terrain, at heights of between 500 and 700 m. Several high mountains are in the region, including Mount Tabor and Mount Meron, which have relatively low temperatures and high rainfall. As a result of this climate, flora and fauna thrive in the region, while many birds annually migrate from colder climates to Africa and back through the Hula–Jordan corridor. The streams and waterfalls, the latter mainly in Upper Galilee, along with vast fields of greenery and colourful wildflowers, as well as numerous towns of biblical importance, make the region a popular tourist destination.

Due to its high rainfall 900 –, mild temperatures and high mountains (Mount Meron's elevation is 1,000–1,208 m), the upper Galilee region contains some distinctive flora and fauna: prickly juniper (Juniperus oxycedrus), Lebanese cedar (Cedrus libani), which grows in a small grove on Mount Meron, cyclamens, paeonias, and Rhododendron ponticum which sometimes appears on Meron.

Western Galilee (גליל מערבי) is a modern term referring to the western part of the Upper Galilee and its shore, and usually also the northwestern part of the Lower Galilee, mostly overlapping with Acre sub-district. Galilee Panhandle is a common term referring to the "panhandle" in the east that extends to the north, where Lebanon is to the west, and includes Hula Valley and Ramot Naftali mountains of the Upper Galilee.

Iron Age and Hebrew Bible

According to the Bible, Galilee was named by the Israelites and was the tribal region of Naphthali and Dan, at times overlapping the Tribe of Asher's land. Normally, Galilee is just referred to as Naphthali.

Chapter 9 of 1 Kings states that Solomon rewarded his Phoenician ally, King Hiram I of Sidon, with twenty cities in the land of Galilee, which would then have been either settled by foreigners during and after the reign of Hiram, or by those who had been forcibly deported there by later conquerors such as the Assyrians. Hiram, to reciprocate previous gifts given to David, accepted the upland plain among the Naftali Mountains and renamed it "the land of Cabul" for a time.

In the Iron Age II, Galilee was part of the Kingdom of Israel, which later fell to the Assyrians. Archaeological survey conducted by Zvi Gal in Lower Galilee indicates that the area became deserted following the Assyrian conquest in the 8th century and remained so for several centuries; the local Israelite population was carried off to Assyria. Yardenna Alexandre discovered minor short-lived Israelite settlements in the Naḥal Ẓippori basin, which were built by survivors of the Assyrian conquest. Elsewhere, Galilee was depopulated. But there is evidence of Assyrian presence, based on artefacts in Cana, and Konrad Schmid and Jens Schroter believe it was likely that Assyrians settled in the region.

Hellenistic period
Up until the end of the Hellenistic period and before the Hasmonean conquest, the Galilee was sparsely populated, with the majority of its inhabitants concentrated in large fortified centers on the edges of the western and central valleys. Based on archeological evidence from Tel Anafa, Kedesh, and ash-Shuhara, the Upper Galilee was then home to a pagan population with close ties to the Phoenician coast.

Hasmonean period
During the expansion of the Hasmonean kingdom of Judea, much of the Galilee region was conquered and annexed by the first Hasmonean king Aristobulus I (104–103 BCE). Following the Hasmonean conquest, there was a significant Jewish influx into the area. Sites including Yodfat, Meiron, Sepphoris, Shikhin, Qana, Bersabe, Zalmon, Mimlah, Migdal, Arbel, Kefar Hittaya, and Beth Ma'on have archeological-chronological evidence for this settlement wave. Josephus, who based his account on Timagenes of Alexandria, claimed that Aristobulus I had forcibly converted the Itureans to Judaism while annexing a portion of their territory. Schürer believed this information to be accurate and came to the conclusion that the "Jewish" Galilee of Jesus' day was actually inhabited by the offspring of those same Iturean converts. Other scholars have suggested that the Itureans underwent a voluntary conversion to Judaism in the Upper Galilee, or at the very least in the Eastern Upper Galilee. However, archeological information does not support either proposal, as Iturean material culture has been identified clearly in the northern Golan Heights and Mount Hermon, and not in the Galilee, and it is clear that this area remained outside Hasmonean borders.

Roman period
In the early Roman period, Galilee was predominantly Jewish. Archaeological evidence from multiple sites reveals Jewish customs, including the use of limestone vessels, ritual baths for purity, and secondary burial practices. A significant wave of Jewish settlement arrived in the region following the Roman conquest of 63 BCE. Large towns such as Kefar Hananya, Parod, Ravid, Mashkaneh, Sabban, and Tiberias were established by the end of the first century BCE or the start of the first century CE. By the end of the first century CE, the Galilee was dotted with small towns and villages. While Josephus writes there were 204 small towns, modern scholars consider this an exaggeration.

Galilee's economy under Roman rule thrived on a combination of agriculture, fishing, and specialized crafts. Excavations in villages like Nazareth have revealed extensive agricultural infrastructure, including numerous olive presses and granaries. Olive was extensively grown in parts of Upper Galilee. Many towns and villages, particularly those around the Sea of Galilee benefited from both fertile land and a thriving fishing industry. In Tarichaea (Magdala), salted, dried, and pickled fish were significant export goods. Galilee also boasted specialized production centers. Shihin, near Sepphoris, produced most of the region's storage jars, while Kefar Hananya in Upper Galilee manufactured various tableware forms, supplying markets across Galilee, the Golan Heights, the Decapolis, coastal areas, and the Beth Shean Valley.

Josephus describes the Jewish population of Galilee as being nationalist and hostile to Jewish city-dwellers, making them the first target for the Romans during the Jewish-Roman wars. Bargil Pixner believes they descended from a Davidic Jewish clan from Babylon. But according to archaeological and literary evidence, upper and lower Galilee were 'very much in constant touch with the gentile, Greek-speaking cities that surrounded them.' Many Galileans were bilingual and made daily contacts with Jerusalem and gentiles around the Roman territory. Markus Cromhout states that whilst Galileans, Judeans and diasporic Judeans were all Jewish, the Galileans had their unique social, political and economic matrix. In terms of ethnicity, Galileans were ethnic Judeans, which generally saw themselves also as Israelites, but could be also identified with localized characteristics, such as Sepphorean. But others argue that Galileans and Judeans were distinct people groups. Outsiders generally conflated them due to Hellenistic-Roman culture, which grouped all diverse groups in Palestine and their related diasporas as "Judean". In 4 BCE, a rebel named Judah plundered Galilee's largest city, Sepphoris. According to Josephus, the Syrian governor Publius Quinctilius Varus responded by sacking Sepphoris and selling the population into slavery, but the region's archaeology lacks evidence of such destruction. After the death of Herod the Great that same year, his son Herod Antipas was appointed as tetrarch of Galilee by the Roman emperor Augustus. Galilee remained a Roman client state and Antipas paid tribute to the Roman Empire in exchange for Roman protection. The Romans did not station troops in Galilee, but threatened to retaliate against anyone who attacked it. As long as he continued to pay tribute, Antipas was permitted to govern however he wished and was permitted to mint his own coinage. Antipas was relatively observant of Jewish laws and customs. Although his palace was decorated with animal carvings, which many Jews regarded as a transgression against the law prohibiting idols, his coins bore only agricultural designs, which his subjects deemed acceptable.

In general, Antipas was a capable ruler; Josephus does not record any instance of his use of force to put down an uprising and he had a long, prosperous reign. However, many Jews probably resented him as not sufficiently devout. Antipas rebuilt the city of Sepphoris, and in either 18 CE or 19 CE, he founded the new city of Tiberias. These two cities became Galilee's largest cultural centers. They were the main centers of Greco-Roman influence, but were still predominantly Jewish. A massive gap existed between the rich and poor, but lack of uprisings suggest that taxes were not exorbitantly high and that most Galileans did not feel their livelihoods were being threatened.

Late in his reign, Antipas married his half-niece Herodias, who was already married to one of her other uncles. His wife, whom he divorced, fled to her father Aretas, an Arab king, who invaded Galilee and defeated Antipas's troops before withdrawing. Both Josephus and the Gospel of Mark record that the itinerant preacher John the Baptist criticized Antipas over his marriage and Antipas consequently had him imprisoned and then beheaded. In around 39 CE, at the urging of Herodias, Antipas went to Rome to request that he be elevated from the status of tetrarch to the status of king. The Romans found him guilty of storing arms, so he was removed from power and exiled, ending his forty-three-year reign. During the Great Revolt (66–73 CE), a Jewish mob destroyed Herod Antipas's palace.

Overall, Galilee under Antipas's rule was marked by significant demographic instability. Diseases like malaria were rampant, internal migration between urban and rural areas were frequent and women generally gave birth at young ages whilst married to older men. Birth control, including infanticide, was not practiced. Many young men, especially marginal villagers, migrated to urban areas to find wives or alternatively, employment. Finding wives was presumed to be competitive since widows often refused to marry past the age of 30 compared to widowers. According to Jonathan L. Reed, this can provide insight on the tropes of New Testament literature, such as miraculous healings and the itinerant lifestyle of Jesus and his disciples.

In 66 CE, during the Great Jewish Revolt, Josephus was appointed by the Jerusalem provisional government to command Galilee. The region experienced internal conflicts among cities such as Sepphoris and Tiberias, with factions opposing Josephus's authority and warring for control. Sepphoris and other strong cities attempted to remain neutral by maintaining alliances with Rome. Despite opposition, Josephus managed to secure internal peace and fortified nineteen cities in preparation for the Roman invasion; nearly half of them were uncovered by archaeologists. In 67 CE, the Roman army, led by general Vespasian, arrived in Acre. Josephus's account, The Jewish War, details the Roman campaign in Galilee, starting with the siege and capture of Gabara, followed by Jotapata (where Josephus was captured), and continuing with Tiberias, Taricheae, Gamala, Tabor, and ending in Gischala. While not all of Galilee was devastated, the conquered cities were razed, and many inhabitants were sold into slavery.

Late Roman period
Judaism reached its political and cultural zenith in the Galilee during the late second and early third century CE. According to rabbinic sources, Judah ha-Nasi's political leadership was at its strongest in relation to the Jewish community in Syria Palaestina, the Diaspora, and the Roman Authorities during this time. Judah's redaction of the Mishnah at this time period represented the peak of intense cultural activity. Archaeological surveys in the Galilee have revealed that the region experienced its height of thriving settlement during this time.

According to medieval Hebrew legend, Shimon bar Yochai, one of the most famed of all the tannaim, wrote the Zohar while living in Galilee.

Byzantine period
After the completion of the Mishnah, which marked the conclusion of the tannaitic era, came the period of the amoraim. The Jerusalem Talmud, the principal work of the amoraim in Palestine, is primarily discussions and interpretations of the Mishnah, and according to academic research, most of it was edited in Tiberias. The vast majority of the amoraim named there, as well as the majority of the settlements or place names referenced, were Galileans. By the middle of the fourth century, the Jerusalem Talmud's compilation and editing processes abruptly came to a halt, as Talmudic scholar Yaacov Sussmann put it: "The development of the Jerusalem Talmud seems to have abruptly ceased, as if severed by a sharp and sudden blade".

Demographically, during the fourth century the entire region witnessed a significant population decrease, resulting in the abandonment of several notable settlements. In approximately 320 CE, Christian bishop Epiphanius reported that all the major cities and villages in Galilee were entirely Jewish. During the Byzantine period, however, Galilee's Jewish population experienced a decline, while Christian settlement grew. Archaeological data indicates that in the third and fourth centuries, several Jewish sites were abandoned, and some Christian villages were established on or near these deserted locations. Certain settlements, such as Rama, Magdala, Kafr Kanna, Daburiyya, and Iksal, which were materially Jewish during the Roman period, were now predominantly inhabited by Christians or had a significant Christian population. Safrai and Liebner argue that the decline of the Jewish population and the expansion of the Christian population in the region were separate events that happened at different times. Throughout this period, religious segregation between Christian and Jewish villages endured, with few exceptions like Capernaum and perhaps Nazareth, due to their sanctity in Christian tradition.

Leibner has proposed tying the end of the Palestinian Amoraic period, the impact of historical occurrences like the Christianization of the Roman Empire and of Palestine, the apparent cessation of activities of at least some of the batei midrash and the transformation of the Galilee from a densely populated Jewish area to a collection of communities surrounded by non-Jewish areas to this demographic crisis. He assumed that Christian population in Galilee was not composed of Jews who converted to Christianity. This is supported by the fact that trustworthy historical records, which mention Jewish conversion to Christianity in Byzantine Palestine, refer to individual cases rather than entire villages, unlike the records from the western part of the empire.

Eastern Galilee retained a Jewish majority until at least the seventh century. Over time, this area experienced a decline in population due to raids by nomadic groups and insufficient protection from the central government.

Early Muslim and Crusader periods
After the Muslim conquest of the Levant in the 630s, the Galilee formed part of Jund al-Urdunn (the military district of Jordan), itself part of Bilad al-Sham (Islamic Syria). Its major towns were Tiberias the capital of the district, Qadas, Beisan, Acre, Saffuriya, and Kabul. During the early Islamic period, Galilee underwent a process of Arabization and Islamization, similar to other areas in the region. Under Umayyad rule, Islamic rule was gradually consolidated in newly conquered territories, and some Muslims settled in the villages, establishing residency there. Later, under Abassid rule, geographer al-Ya'qubi (d. 891), who referred to the region as  'Jabal al-Jalil', noted that its inhabitants were Arabs from the Amila tribe.

The Islamization process in which began with the settlement of nomadic tribes. Michael Ehrlich suggests that during the Early Islamic period, the majority of people in the Western Galilee and Lower Galilee likely converted to Islam, while in the Eastern Galilee, the Islamization process continued for a more extended period, lasting until the Mamluk period. According to Moshe Gil, Jews in rural Galilean areas frequently succeeded in upholding community life during and for decades after the Umayyad period. He comes to the conclusion that several Galilean Jewish communities "retained their ancient character".

The Shia Fatimids conquered the region in the 10th century; a breakaway sect, venerating the Fatimid caliph al-Hakim, formed the Druze religion, centered in Mount Lebanon and partially in the Galilee. During the Crusades, Galilee was organized into the Principality of Galilee, one of the most important Crusader seigneuries. According to Moshe Gil, during the periods of Fatimid and Crusader rule, the rural Jewish population of Galilee experienced a gradual decline and flight. He supports his argument by referring to 11th-century Cairo Geniza documents related to transactions in Ramla and other areas in central Palestine, where Jews claimed to have ancestral ties to places like Gush Halav, Dalton, or 'Amuqa, suggesting that Jewish flight from Galilee occurred during that time.

Ayyubid and Mamluk periods
Sunni Muslims began to immigrate to Safed and its surroundings starting in the Ayyubid period, and in particular during the Mamluk period. These immigrants included Sufi preachers who were crucial in converting the locals to Islam in Safed's rural area. Jewish immigrants did, however, come to the area in waves, during the period of the destruction of Tyre and Acre in 1291 and particularly after the Jewish expulsion from Spain in 1492. These immigrants, who included scholars and other urban elites, turned the Jewish community from a rural community into an urban hub which exerted its influence well beyond the regional boundaries of Upper Galilee.

Ottoman era
During Early Ottoman era, the Galilee was governed as the Safad Sanjak, initially part of the larger administrative unit of Damascus Eyalet (1549–1660) and later as part of Sidon Eyalet (1660–1864). During the 18th century, the administrative division of Galilee was renamed to Acre Sanjak, and the Eyalet itself became centered in Acre, factually becoming the Acre Eyalet between 1775 and 1841.

The Jewish population of Galilee increased significantly following their expulsion from Spain and welcome from the Ottoman Empire. The community for a time made Safed an international center of cloth weaving and manufacturing, as well as a key site for Jewish learning. Today it remains one of Judaism's four holy cities and a center for kabbalah.

In the mid-17th century Galilee and Mount Lebanon became the scene of the Druze power struggle, which came in parallel with much destruction in the region and decline of major cities.

In the mid-18th century, Galilee was caught up in a struggle between the Arab leader Zahir al-Umar and the Ottoman authorities who were centred in Damascus. Zahir ruled Galilee for 25 years until Ottoman loyalist Jezzar Pasha conquered the region in 1775.

In 1831, the Galilee, a part of Ottoman Syria, switched hands from Ottomans to Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt until 1840. During this period, aggressive social and politic policies were introduced, which led to a violent 1834 Arab revolt. In the process of this revolt the Jewish community of Safed was greatly reduced, in the event of Safed Plunder by the rebels. The Arab rebels were subsequently defeated by the Egyptian troops, though in 1838, the Druze of Galilee led another uprising. In 1834 and 1837, major earthquakes leveled most of the towns, resulting in great loss of life.

Following the 1864 Tanszimat reforms in the Ottoman Empire, the Galilee remained within Acre Sanjak, but was transferred from Sidon Eyalet to the newly formed Syria Vilayet and shortly, from 1888, became administered from Beirut Vilayet.

In 1866, Galilee's first hospital, the Nazareth Hospital, was founded under the leadership of American-Armenian missionary Dr. Kaloost Vartan, assisted by German missionary John Zeller.

In the early 20th century, Galilee remained part of Acre Sanjak of Ottoman Syria. It was administered as the southernmost territory of the Beirut Vilayet.

British administration
Following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in World War I, and the Armistice of Mudros, it came under British rule, as part of the Occupied Enemy Territory Administration. Shortly after, in 1920, the region was included in the British Mandate territory, officially a part of Mandatory Palestine from 1923.

Modern Israeli period
After the 1948 Arab–Israeli war, nearly the whole of Galilee came under Israel's control. A large portion of the population fled or was forced to leave, leaving dozens of entire villages empty; however, a large Israeli Arab community remained based in and near the cities of Nazareth, Acre, Tamra, Sakhnin, and Shefa-'Amr, due to some extent to a successful rapprochement with the Druze. The kibbutzim around the Sea of Galilee were sometimes shelled by the Syrian army's artillery until Israel seized Western Golan Heights in the 1967 Six-Day War.

During the 1970s and the early 1980s, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) launched multiple attacks on towns and villages of the Upper and Western Galilee from Lebanon. This came in parallel to the general destabilization of Southern Lebanon, which became a scene of fierce sectarian fighting which deteriorated into the Lebanese Civil War. On the course of the war, Israel initiated Operation Litani (1979) and Operation Peace For Galilee (1982) with the stated objectives of destroying the PLO infrastructure in Lebanon, protecting the citizens of the Galilee and supporting allied Christian Lebanese militias. Israel took over much of southern Lebanon in support of Christian Lebanese militias until 1985, when it withdrew to a narrow security buffer zone.

From 1985 to 2000, Hezbollah, and earlier Amal, engaged the South Lebanon Army supported by the Israel Defense Forces, sometimes shelling Upper Galilee communities with Katyusha rockets. In May 2000, Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak unilaterally withdrew IDF troops from southern Lebanon, maintaining a security force on the Israeli side of the international border recognized by the United Nations. The move brought a collapse to the South Lebanon Army and takeover of Southern Lebanon by Hezbollah. However, despite Israeli withdrawal, clashes between Hezbollah and Israel continued along the border, and UN observers condemned both for their attacks.

The 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict was characterized by round-the-clock Katyusha rocket attacks (with a greatly extended range) by Hezbollah on the whole of Galilee, with long-range, ground-launched missiles hitting as far south as the Sharon Plain, Jezreel Valley, and Jordan Valley below the Sea of Galilee.

Demography

, there were 1.2 million residents in Galilee, of whom 47% were Jewish. The Jewish Agency has attempted to increase the Jewish population in this area, but the non-Jewish population also has a high growth rate.

The largest cities in the region are Acre, Nahariya, Nazareth, Safed, Karmiel, Shaghur, Shefa-'Amr, Afula, and Tiberias. The port city of Haifa serves as a commercial center for the whole region.

Because of its hilly terrain, most of the people in the Galilee live in small villages connected by relatively few roads. A railroad runs south from Nahariya along the Mediterranean coast, and a fork to the east was opened in 2016. The main sources of livelihood throughout the area are agriculture and tourism. Industrial parks are being developed, bringing further employment opportunities to the local population which includes many recent immigrants. The Israeli government is contributing funding to the private initiative, the Galilee Finance Facility, organised by the Milken Institute and Koret Economic Development Fund.

The Galilee is home to a large Arab population, comprising a Muslim majority and two smaller populations, of Druze and Arab Christians, of comparable sizes. Both Israeli Druze and Christians have their majorities in the Galilee. Other notable minorities are the Bedouin, the Maronites and the Circassians.

The north-central portion of the Galilee is also known as Central Galilee, stretching from the border with Lebanon to the northern edge of the Jezreel Valley, including the cities of Nazareth and Sakhnin, has an Arab majority of 75% with most of the Jewish population living in hilltop cities like Upper Nazareth. The northern half of the central Lower Galilee, surrounding Karmiel and Sakhnin is known as the "Heart of the Galilee". The eastern Galilee is nearly 100% Jewish. This part includes the Finger of the Galilee, the Jordan River Valley, and the shores the Sea of Galilee, and contains two of Judaism's Four Holy Cities. The southern part of the Galilee, including Jezreel Valley, and the Gilboa region are also nearly 100% Jewish, with a few small Arab villages near the West Bank border. About 80% of the population of the Western Galilee is Jewish, all the way up to the Lebanese border. Jews also form a small majority in the mountainous Upper Galilee with a significant minority Arab population (mainly Druze and Christians).

As of 2011, the Galilee is attracting significant internal migration of Haredi Jews, who are increasingly moving to the Galilee and Negev as an answer to rising housing prices in central Israel.

Tourism
Galilee is a popular destination for domestic and foreign tourists who enjoy its scenic, recreational, and gastronomic offerings. The Galilee attracts many Christian pilgrims, as many of the miracles of Jesus occurred, according to the New Testament, on the shores of the Sea of Galilee—including his walking on water, calming the storm, and feeding five thousand people in Tabgha. In addition, numerous sites of biblical importance are located in the Galilee, such as Megiddo, Jezreel Valley, Mount Tabor, Hazor, Horns of Hattin, and more.

A popular hiking trail known as the yam leyam, or sea-to-sea, starts hikers at the Mediterranean. They then hike through the Galilee mountains, Tabor, Neria, and Meron, until their final destination, the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee).

In April 2011, Israel unveiled the "Jesus Trail", a 40-mile (60-km) hiking trail in the Galilee for Christian pilgrims. The trail includes a network of footpaths, roads, and bicycle paths linking sites central to the lives of Jesus and his disciples, including Tabgha, the traditional site of Jesus's miracle of the loaves and fishes, and the Mount of Beatitudes, where he delivered his Sermon on the Mount. It ends at Capernaum on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, where Jesus espoused his teachings.

Many kibbutzim and moshav families operate Zimmerim (from the Yiddish word for 'room', צימער, from 'Zimmer' in German, with the Hebrew ending for plural, -im; the local term for a Bed and breakfast). Numerous festivals are held throughout the year, especially in the autumn and spring holiday seasons. These include the Acre (Acco) Festival of Alternative Theater, the olive harvest festival, music festivals featuring Anglo-American folk, klezmer, Renaissance, and chamber music, and Karmiel Dance Festival.

Cuisine
The cuisine of the Galilee is very diverse. The meals are lighter than in the central and southern regions. Dairy products are heavily consumed (especially the Safed cheese that originated in the mountains of the Upper Galilee). Herbs like thyme, mint, parsley, basil, and rosemary are very common with everything including dips, meat, fish, stews and cheese. In the eastern part of the Galilee, there is freshwater fish as much as meat (especially the Tilapia that lives in the Sea of Galilee, Jordan river, and other streams in the region), including fish filled with thyme and grilled with rosemary to flavor, or stuffed with oregano leaves, then topped with parsley and served with lemon to squash. This technique exists in other parts of the country including the coasts of the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. A specialty of the region is a baked Tilapia flavored with celery, mint and a lot of lemon juice. Baked fish with tahini is also common in Tiberias while the coastal Galileans prefer to replace the tahini with yogurt and add sumac on top.

The Galilee is famous for its olives, pomegranates, wine and especially its Labneh w'Za'atar which is served with pita bread, meat stews with wine, pomegranates and herbs such as akub, parsley, khalmit, mint, fennel, etc. are common. Galilean kubba is usually flavored with cumin, cinnamon, cardamom, concentrated pomegranate juice, onion, parsley and pine nuts and served as meze with tahini dip. Kebabs are also made almost in the same way with sumac replacing cardamom and with carob sometimes replacing the pomegranate juice. Because of its climate, beef has become more popular than lamb, although both are still eaten there. Dates are popular in the tropical climate of the Eastern Galilee.

Subregions
The definition of Galilee varies depending on the period, author, and point of view (geological, geographical, administrative). Ancient Galilee consisted in broad terms of the Upper and Lower Galilee. Today the northwestern part of the Upper Galilee is in Southern Lebanon, with the rest being in Israel. The Israeli Galilee is often divided into these subregions, which often overlap:
 * Upper Galilee extends from the Beit HaKerem Valley northwards into southern Lebanon. Its eastern border is the Hula Valley and the Sea of Galilee separating it from the Golan Heights. To the west it reaches to the Coastal Plain which separates it from the Mediterranean.
 * Lower Galilee covers the area north of the Valleys (Jezreel, Harod and Beth Shean Valley) and south of the Beit HaKerem Valley. Its borders to the east on the Jordan Rift Valley. It contains the Arab city of Nazareth and the village of Cana.
 * The "Galilee Panhandle" (אצבע הגליל, Etzba HaGalil, lit. "Finger of Galilee") is a panhandle along the Hulah Valley, squeezed between the Lebanese border and the Golan Heights; it contains the towns of Metulla and Qiryat Shemona, the Dan and part of the Banias rivers.

The following subregions are sometimes regarded, from different points of view, as distinct from the Galilee, for instance the entire Jordan Valley including the Sea of Galilee and its continuation to the south as one geological and geographical unit, and the Jezreel, Harod, and Beit She'an valleys as "the northern valleys".
 * The Hula Valley
 * The Korazim Plateau
 * The Sea of Galilee and its valley
 * The Jordan Valley from the southern tip of the Sea of Galilee down to Beit She'an
 * The Jezreel Valley, including in its eastern part, the Harod Valley, which stretches between Afula and the Beit She'an Valley
 * The Beit She'an Valley at the junction of the Jordan Valley and the extended Jezreel Valley
 * Mount Gilboa
 * The Western Galilee is a modern Israeli term, which in its minimal definition refers to the coastal plain just west of the Upper Galilee, also known as Plain of Asher or Plain of the Galilee, which stretches from north of Acre to Rosh HaNikra on the Israel-Lebanon border, and in the common broad definition adds the western part of Upper Galilee, and usually the northwestern part of Lower Galilee as well, corresponding more or less to Acre sub-district or the Northern District.

title: Galilee