"Capharnaum" is a fishing village in the ancient province of Galilee. In a figurative sense, the term is mostly used to describe a place of great disorder, with many objects piled up in a haphazard manner, representing a chaotic and cluttered environment. It refers to a place that is disorganized and, by metonymy, an accumulation of such objects. This sense, used exclusively in French and often referenced by Balzac, is based on the association of Capharnaum with the reading of the Gospel according to Saint Mark, describing the crowd gathered during the coming of Jesus.