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Artifact Analysis
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- First-century Houses in Nazareth
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When a Christian group sought to build a new international Marian Center in Nazareth adjacent to the Church of the Annunciation, they requested an initial excavation by the Israel Antiquities Authority—a typical step when any building is built in Israel. What the IAA found, however, was atypical—actual remains from the first century CE. The early Roman-period ruins of Nazareth lie buried several layers beneath the current city, and it is usually too disruptive to excavate. So this find is of great interest for gaining a better understanding of a hidden period of the village's history.-
 Around the same time, University of Reading archaeologist Ken Dark was engaged in the Nazareth Archaeological Project, excavating Crusader-era remains under the Sisters of Nazareth Convent in the center of the city. He too discovered Roman-era ruins—a dwelling and two Jewish kokhim tombs. Between the two discoveries, we now have several domestic structures to examine that will help us build a better picture of how people lived in Jesus' home village around his time.-
- Add to this the evidence of the a Roman-era farm excavated by Stephen Pfann, Ross Voss and Yehudah Rapuano (see the dig site sources for Nazareth and Bethlehem), and we have now a collection of evidence from the period of Jesus. What do these two domestic structures tell us about life in the village?
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- Bibliography
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- Dark, Ken. Archaeological Recording at the Sisters of Nazareth Convent in Nazareth, 2006. London: Late Antiquity Research Group, 2007.
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- --------. "The Byzantine Church of the Nutrition in Nazareth Rediscovered." Palestine Exploration Quarterly 144:3 (2012) 164-84 (esp. 171-2).
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- --------. "Early Roman-Period Nazareth and the Sisters of Nazareth Convent." The Antiquaries Journal 92 (2012) 37-64.
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- --------. "Has Jesus' Nazareth House Been Found?" Biblical Archaeology Review 41:2 (2015) 54-63, 72 (author profile p. 78).
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- --------. "Report: Nazareth Archaeological Project 2009, Nazareth, Israel." Palestine Exploration Quarterly 142:2 (2010) 144-5.
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- --------. "Roman-period and Byzantine Landscapes between Sepphoris and Nazareth." Palestine Exploration Quarterly 140:2 (2008) 87-102.
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- Israel Antiquities Authority. "For the Very First Time: A Residential Building from the Time of Jesus was Exposed in the Heart of Nazareth." Israel Antiquities Authority (21 December 2009). Online, http://www.antiquities.org.il/article_eng.aspx?sec_id=25&subj_id=240&id=1638.
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- Schumacher, Gotlieb. "Recent Discoveries in Galilee." Palestine Exploration Fund Quarterly Statement 21 (1889) 68-78 (relevant pages 68-74).
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