Nazareth dwelling discovery may shed light on boyhood of Jesus
Finds suggest Nazareth was an out-of-the-way hamlet of around 50 houses, populated by Jews of modest means
The dwelling and older discoveries of nearby tombs in burial caves suggest that Nazareth was an out-of-the-way hamlet of around 50 houses on a patch of about four acres. It was evidently populated by Jews of modest means, said archaeologist Yardena Alexandre, excavations director at the Israel Antiquities Authority.
Israeli workers clear debris in an excavation of the Jewish village of Nazareth. Photograph: David Silverman/Getty Images
Nazareth holds a cherished place in Christianity. It is the town where Christian tradition says Jesus grew up and where an angel told Mary she would bear the child of God. "This may well have been a place that Jesus and his contemporaries were familiar with," Alexandre said. There was a logical possibility that a young Jesus could have played around the house with his cousins and friends, she added.
The discovery so close to Christmas has pleased local Christians.
"They say if the people do not speak, the stones will speak," said Rev Jack Karam of the nearby Basilica of the Annunciation, the site where Christian tradition says Mary received the angel's word. The discovery was made when builders dug up the courtyard of a former convent to make room for a new Christian centre, yards away from the Basilica.
It is not clear how big the dwelling is – the team have uncovered about 900 sq ft of the house, but it may have been for an extended family and could be much larger. Alexandre said her team also found a camouflaged entry way into a grotto, which she believes was used by Jews at the time to hide from Roman soldiers who were battling Jewish rebels for control of the area.
The grotto would have hid around six people for a few hours, she said. Alexandre said similar camouflaged grottos were found in other ancient Jewish communities of the lower Galilee such as the nearby Biblical village of Cana, which did witness battle between Jews and Romans.
At the site, Alexandre told reporters that archaeologists also found clay and chalk vessels which were likely to have been used by Galilean Jews of the time.
The scientists concluded that a Jewish family lived there because of the chalk, which was used by Jews at the time to ensure the purity of the food and water kept inside the vessels.
The shards also date back to the time of Jesus, which includes the late Hellenic, early Roman period that ranges from around 100 BC to AD100, Alexandre said.
The absence of any remains of glass vessels or imported products suggested the family who lived in the dwelling were "simple", but Alexandre said the remains did not indicate whether they were traders or farmers.
The only other artefacts that archeologists have found in the Nazareth area from the time of Jesus are ancient burial caves outside the hamlet, providing a rough idea of the village's population at the time, Alexandre said.
Work is now taking place to clear newer ruins built above the dwelling, which will be preserved. The dwelling will become a part of a new international Christian center being constructed close to the site and funded by a French Roman Catholic group, said Marc Hodara of the Chemin Neuf Community overseeing construction.
Alexandre said limited space and population density in Nazareth means it is unlikely that archeologists can carry out any further excavations in the area, leaving this dwelling to tell the story of what Jesus's boyhood home may have looked like.
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