Now we do have several Biblical names that have kept popping up during these many years of research. And many of these we find within the borders of the landlocked country of Lesotho, inside South Africa. Are they likely to be the places in question? Well it gets difficult to fit some Tribes, and also one has to take into account the distance to Capernaum and Jerusalem, so we will some of them are difficult to place on the map. Still, we will include them for edification. So this time we will look at a couple of them starting with Cana. Located more specifically in a country inside of a country. So not far from the village of Teyateyaneng you will find the even smaller village of Cana. Historical Cana is of course the place where uMsindisi turned water into wine, and one of the public first miracles. Has Cana been in Lesotho all along? Lets Dive!
Now, this area we believe would not be far from the lands where Christ was said to have grown up, that being the coastal areas of Zebulon (Zebulwane) and the inland areas of Natali (Naphtali). And parts of these areas we believe is today called the province of KwaZulu Natal. And Lesotho, the borders of KZN is somewhat impenetrable by mountains on every side. And these are mountains you cannot easily cross. Such a monumental feature made by SoNiNis hand. For those who have traveled to Lesotho, you know what we are talking about. Truly a Kingdom in the Sky. And with a lot of other interesting locations around the country, it really makes one think about the location of Jerusalem, which was said to be close to Bethlehem, not far from here at all.
Now if, (and remember this is a big if with strings attached) this truly is the ancient old location that Christ went to, we will have several important locations not far from there. Such as Nazareth and the birthplace of Immanuel, Bethlehem, and some other famous wells and mountain s not far from there. And indeed not far from these locations again, we will find Cana of Galilee. And that was its name from the Bible. This means that the region would have been called Galilee also? This Cana was said to be a part of the Upper Galilee region. So then, where is Lake Galilee? Was it at the Coast or was there an inland lake? Good questions. Well, we think not far from Cana, there would have to be both. But that is another topic. We will come back to that. Lets focus on this location for now.
Now, the event was called Wedding at Cana, and it is the place where Christ turned water into wine, as it was told in the Gospel of John (John 2,1-11):
"2 On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Immanuel’s mother was there, 2 and Immanuel and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine was gone, Immanuel’s mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”
4 “Woman, why do you involve me?” Immanuel replied. “My hour has not yet come.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” 6 Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Hebrews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.
7 Immanuel said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim. 8 Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.” They did so, 9 and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside 10 and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”
11 What Immanuel did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him. 12 After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and brothers and his disciples. There they stayed for a few days."
This is seemingly one of uMsindisi's first public miracles. Now also in the Gospel according to John (John 4,46), Christ was visiting Cana when asked to heal the son of a royal official at Capernaum, and again Cana is mentioned in John 21,2, where it says Nathaniel, one of the 12 Disciples, came from Cana of Galilee as it was Nathaniel's hometown. There is only one mention of Cana in Old Testament and its Book of Joshua as a city and part of the allotment to Asher (Joshua 19,32-39):
24 The fifth lot came out for the tribe of Asher according to its clans. 25 Their territory included:
Helkath, Hali, Beten, Akshaph, 26 Allammelek, Amad and Mishal. On the west the boundary touched Carmel and Shihor Libnath. 27 It then turned east toward Beth Dagon, touched Zebulun and the Valley of Iphtah El, and went north to Beth Emek and Neiel, passing Kabul on the left. 28 It went to Abdon, Rehob, Hammon and Kanah, as far as Greater Sidon. 29 The boundary then turned back toward Ramah and went to the fortified city of Tyre, turned toward Hosah and came out at the Mediterranean Sea in the region of Akzib, 30 Ummah, Aphek and Rehob. There were twenty-two towns and their villages.
31 These towns and their villages were the inheritance of the tribe of Asher, according to its clans.
We see here that Kanah is mentioned as being in Asher's territory, not far from Tyre (quick note, Pedis and Sothos can sometimes greet each other with Ashe mama or Ashe Baba, as a slang. But remember Cana of Christ was said to be within Judea. So it gets contradictory. Now Interesting, are Sothos a candidate for being part of Tribe of Asher? Ashe mama! Further, Kanah is mentioned as a mere brook or a desert place in Joshua 16,8 and Joshua 17,9. Most likely talking about another place. Meaning there may be more then two Canas in the Promised Land. Josephus mentioned in His Book Life of Flavius Josephus more than one place was called Cana, one place on the Road from a city called Iulias, and another place where he himself stayed, about a day's walk from Tiberias. This one is interesting. We also see here that Capernaum is mentioned as being rather close to this place, the distance is not mentioned, so it could be a trip to the Western Cape. Another big city that is mentioned is Tiberias, and it was said to be 1 days walk from Cana. This puts places like Durban or East London as likely candidates to be ancient Tiberias. But this needs more research. There are more coastal cities closer to Cana.
Now if you read the Bible and other sources, the place of Cana was said to be close to Lebanon (we believe the old forests of KZN), again not far from the Upper and Lower Galilee (which must have been a LARGE region). We think this was not talking about North to South as we would today, as in upper and Lower, but rater from East To West. With the east being the upper parts of the Mountains, and the west being the lower parts of Galilee and down towards the Cape areas, were the bigger cities were. Now there are even mentions of this place in old historical writings, such as Eusebius Onomasticon and books of Josephus. We believe they give accurate descriptions of many Biblical locations, this one we are looking for is called Kijrbit Cana in the vernacular Hebrew.
So keeping this in mind, Christ went up from Capernaum (which would be down from the mountain and Lesotho is all mountains). We still hold that Capernaum is somewhere in the Western Cape. So he went down to Capernaum, and then up to Cana again to heal the Centurion's son (John 4,46-51). Now these are the only descriptions we have from the Bible about the place, in the highlands and supposedly west of the lake. Josephus located Cana where he stayed (Vita 16) in the plains of Asochis (Vita 41). Could the plains of Asochis be the very same plains we find in so much abundance in the Free State?
Now if we look into Qanah which is the old Hebrew, it means Place of Reeds. The Greek kana means pretty much the same, reeds. So we should expect water and reeds in close vicinity. Which is something there is not to much of these days. Now Lets read John again (John 4,43-47):
"43 After the two days he left for Galilee. 44 (Now Immanuel himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor in his own country.) 45 When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him. They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, for they also had been there.
46 Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. 47 When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death."