The remains of a vineyard, watchtowers, terraces, spring-fed irrigation system and stone quarries tell the story of a working farm area just outside the original centre of ancient Nazareth. Pottery from as far back as the Early Bronze Age — more than 2, years before Christ — was also discovered on site.
Creating the groove through which the door-pegs pass to sit in place in the ground creating the axis on which the door will swing. The above archaeological work saw the team conduct field surveys of 20 past and current excavations and spend two years combing ancient texts. The result is a growing body of evidence regarding the farming and building techniques of Jewish agricultural villages in the Early Roman Period.
Based on this work, the terraces were restored to their original condition and a Village was constructed that portrays first-century Nazareth as accurately as possible, using identical materials and building methods. Not much remains of the Crusader church, but the walls that did survive are impressive due to their great thickness.
Thanks to the tons of concrete at the base of the modern church, the central nave does not rest on a row of supporting columns and, thus, the space remains open. The massive bases of the Crusader-era piers stand out. Not far from them are stone pillars from Byzantine times that were reused in a later period. The archaeological site is at the heart of the lower structure.
Its main focus is the Grotto of the Annunciation. Visitors can also discern the remains of a Byzantine chapel, mosaics and a baptismal font.
Other visible remnants may have been part of a house of prayer that stood at the site in the first few centuries AD. Not far from the archaeological remains, still in the lower church, three impressive modern apses were built facing east, in accordance with the original plan of the Crusader church that stood here.
The church on the upper floor is a huge structure, covering over 1, square meters. The ceiling of its central nave rises to a significant height and is topped by a large dome in the form of an inverted Madonna lily, the symbol of Mary.
The dome indicates the location of the grotto. Works of art from around the globe hang on the walls surrounding the courtyard of the church. All of them are dedicated to Mary. The various communities that sent portraits of the Mother of Christ depict her with different ethnic identities, demonstrating her significance to Christians worldwide. The New Testament does not provide many details regarding the event.
Various apocryphal writings tried to fill in the missing information. One such text is The Infancy Gospel of James, also known as the Protoevangelium of James, which was composed in the second half of the second century. The author, who tradition identifies as the Apostle James, relates that Mary went out to draw water from a well and heard a voice blessing her. Mary returned home, where an angel approached and conveyed the message that she would conceive from the word of God.
Indeed, the Greek Orthodox believe that their church in Nazareth was built where Mary went to draw water on the day that Archangel Gabriel revealed himself to her for the first time. As early as the start of the twelfth century, pilgrims were writing about a well above which was a chapel dedicated to the Annunciation.
Orthodox Christians apparently maintained the building. Some pilgrims also reported seeing a public fountain from which, it was said, Jesus would draw water as a youth. However, control was transferred to the Greek Orthodox in , at the orders of Muslim ruler Dahir al-Umar. C learly, "Jesus the Nazarene" in the original tale became "Jesus, a resident of Nazareth" in the updated story of Matthew and Luke. Indeed, there are indications that an early layer in the development of Mark favoured Capernaum as the hometown of Jesus home of the six most prominent disciples, venue for several key miracles, etc.
We can trace the subsequent elevation of Nazareth in the Gospel of Luke. Luke is the writer who emphasizes JC's ties to 'Nazareth.
Scholars have concluded Luke was not a Jew himself because of his 'glaring errors in things Jewish'. He also makes mistakes in his geography. He knows little about the place and in his mini-drama describes an impossible incident:. Nazareth, in fact, is located in a depression, set within gentle hills. The whole region is characterized by plains and mild rises with no sharp peaks or steep cliffs. The terrain is correctly understood as a high basin , for in one direction is the much lower Plain of Esdraelon.
But there is no disguising Nazareth is built in a valley and not on a mountain. Beginning only in , the Jewish suburb called 'Nazerat Illit' 'Upper Nazareth' was built to the top of the hills to the east of the city. And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. But passing through their midst, he went away.
Perhaps the Multitude might really have threatened to roll JC down the slope? It would take quite some time to get from the downtown 'synagogue' and scramble to the top of the 'cliff'! Even in Origen's day, as the Church became more institutionalised, intense rivalry was developing between the patriarchs of Caesarea and Jerusalem.
This rivalry was only resolved in Jerusalem's favour at Chalcedon in Part of the rivalry centred on control of 'Holy places'. Hence, 'finding' the lost city of Nazareth was a matter of major importance,. Perambulating to the rescue, in the early 4th century, came the year-old dowager Empress Helena.
Preparing the way for an imminent meeting with her maker with a program of ' Works' , she made a conscience-salving pilgrimage to Palestine. No doubt encouraged by canny locals, Helena promptly labelled the hole in the ground 'Mary's Well' and had a small basilica built over the spot.
Conveniently, the gospels had failed to make clear exactly where Mary had been when the archangel Gabriel had come calling. Thus the Well site acquired local support for the divine visitation and Nazareth acquired its first chur ch. Helena created the pilgrimage business which has never ceased. Yet b efore the passage of the imperial grandee, not a single ancient source had established a precise location for the 'Nazara' of the gospels.
Note collection box for coins, lower right. Itinerarium Burdigalense — the Itinerary of the Anonymous Pilgrim of Bordeaux — is the earliest description left by a pious tourist.
It is dated to AD. The itinerary is a Roman-style list of towns and distances with the occasional comment. At Aser Teyasir he mentions Job. He moves on to Jerusalem.
Our pilgrim — preoccupied with Old rather than New Testament stories — makes no single reference to 'Nazareth. A generation after the dowager empress had gone touring, another geriatric grandee, the Lady Egeria , spent years in the 'Land becoming more Holy by the day'.
This time, canny monks showed her a ' big and very splendid cave' and gave the assurance that this was where Mary had lived.
The Custodians of the Cave, not to be outbid by the Keepers of the Well, insisted that the cave, not the well, had been the site of the divine visitation. Today, above and about the Venerable Grotto, stands the biggest Christian theme park in the Middle East. The Levantine coast from the so-called Peutinger map or "table" Tabula Peutingeriana , with west to the top.
The complete map is twenty-two feet wide and is so-named for Conrad Peutinger, a 16th century German antiquarian and is currently held in Vienna. The map is actually a medieval copy 12th or 13th century of a 4th century Roman original it shows Constantinople, founded in the year The whole world known to the Romans is represented, from Spain in the west to India in the east.
In the section shown here, below the city of Aelia Capitolina centre left , the map shows one site which had by this stage entered the Christian dreamscape — the Mount of Olives red. The cartographer of this unique record named more than places. And guess what? Grotto beneath Basilica of the Annunciation.
Mary's 'maiden home' or even home of the holy family, if you prefer. He should know: he had fled scandal in Italy to set up an ecclesiastical retreat in the area for well-heeled Romans. The village owed its very existence to the imperial itinerary half a century before.
We know of a Piacenza visiting in , of an Arculf visiting in , a Wilhebald in , an Al Mas'udi in Sewulf in , like the earlier visitors, reported that only the annunciation church was to be seen.
In Arab armies overran Byzantine possessions in Palestine, including Nazareth. A Christian presence continued in the area, though it was subject to restrictions and heavy taxes. Nearly five centuries later, Crusaders occupied the valley and built a fort.
On the foundations of the earlier Byzantine 'grotto' church they built something a little grander, more befitting their resident bishop. In the center of town, the huge Catholic Church of the Annunciation largest church in the Middle East built over numerous caves.
Up the hill, Church of St. Joseph built over other caves 'carpenter's house and workshop'. Across the street, Sisters of Nazareth Hospice , built over ancient tombs, one with a huge rolling stone door! Up the road, the Greek Catholic Church, next to an early synagogue. Today more than a million visitors fifty per cent of tourists visiting Israel call at Nazareth.
Who would want to spoil the party? So perhaps keep it quiet It is an imaginary city for an imaginary god-man. You could find out more about the city of Nazareth and it's historical significance by downloading this android app play store link. Some fifty articles are now available as a book. For your copy order:.
Home Section Complete list of articles Search. Jesus Never Existed — Imaginary Friend. A Surfeit of Jesuses! Would they lie? Mary, Mary.. Immaculate Deception. Do you really think it all began with a sanctimonious Jewish wonder-worker, strolling about 1st century Palestine? Prepare to be enlightened. Still holding to the idea that some sort of holy man lies behind the legend? Better check out Godman — Gestation of a Superhero.
A closer look at the glib assertion that the Jesus story "got off the ground quickly and spread rapidly. Many currents fed the Jesus myth, like streams and tributaries joining to form a major river. Sourcing the legend — The Syncretic Heritage of Christianity. Much of the mythology of Christianity is a rehash of an older and even more transparent fabrication — Judaism. Jew Story — The Way of the Rabb i. Human ingenuity and cunning is matched by mankind's equally monumental credulity and wishful thinking.
Christianity's Fabrication Factory. Church organisation, authority and membership preceded rather than followed the justifying doctrine. Dogma — The Word in all its Savage Glory. From religious policeman to grandee of the church, from beast fighter in Ephesus to beheading in Rome, Paul's story has more holes than a swiss cheese. Orchestrated by ambitious Christian clerics, a cancer of superstition, fear and brutality was imposed across Europe.
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