Archaeology of Jesus' Nazareth is the first book on the archaeology of first-century Nazareth: Jesus' hometown in Galilee. Requiring no previous knowledge of biblical history or archaeology, it outlines the latest archaeological evidence, placing the Gospels' account of Jesus' youth in the Bible, and origins of Christian pilgrimage, in a new context.
The book concentrates on the fascinating Sisters of Nazareth site in the centre of the present city. There, twenty-first century archaeological research identified a Byzantine pilgrimage church, which is likely to be the Church of the Nutrition - dedicated to the upbringing of Christ - the most important previously 'lost' early Christian church in the Holy Land. A seventh-century pilgrim said that a vaulted area under the Church of the Nutrition contained the actual house where Jesus was brought up by Mary and Joseph. Intriguingly, below the Byzantine church at the Sisters of Nazareth site a vaulted area preserved what are probably the ruins of a first-century house. Even before the Byzantine church was built, a - probably fourth-century - cave-church was constructed next to the first-century ruins, suggesting that they were assigned Christian religious importance. The similarities with the pilgrim's description raise the question of whether the Sisters of Nazareth house really could
have been the childhood home of Jesus. The book draws to its conclusion by means of a discussion of this historical existence for Jesus and the implications of the archaeology of Nazareth for understanding the Gospels.
Author(s): Ken Dark
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Year: 2023
Language: English
Pages: 190
City: Oxford
Cover
ARCHAEOLOGY OF JESUS’ NAZARETH
Copyright
Preface: Purpose, Sources, and References
Acknowledgements
Contents
List of Figures
Terminology and Timescales
Structure of the Book
1: An accidental biblical archaeologist?
2: Pilgrims, monks, and digs
Written sources for ancient Nazareth
Natural Nazareth
Roman-periodrural settlement around Nazareth
Archaeological knowledge of Roman Nazareth
The Church of the Annunciation
Subsequent archaeological work in Nazareth
Evidence for first-centuryNazareth
3: Amazing discoveries
Mère Marie Giraud, convent superior and pioneering archaeologist
Exploring the Large Cave
Excavating on the surface
4: Exploring the Venerated House
Henri Senès and his lifetime quest
Drawing the ruins
Senès in the museum
A curious case of coins
Senès digs
The Senès interpretation
The response to Senès’ interpretation
5: Setting the record straight
Towards a new understanding
Rock-solidevidence
Possible pits
Possibly first-centurywalls
Interpreting the Early Roman-periodevidence
Byzantine and Crusader evidence
Written descriptions of the Sisters of Nazareth site?
6: Archaeology and first-century Nazareth
Introduction
What sort of place was first-centuryNazareth?
What was the economy of first-centuryNazareth?
Living in first-centuryNazareth
Was the Sisters of Nazareth site really where Jesus grew up?
Written sources for the existence of Jesus
Written sources and memory
Identifying pilgrimage sites
What if the Sisters of Nazareth house really was Jesus’ childhood home?
Conclusion
References
Publications on Which this Book is Largely Based
Especially Relevant Works Published Since 2020
Reports of Especially Relevant Israel Antiquities Authority Fieldwork After 2020
Further Reading
Index
