Nazareth

Nazareth
Hebrew transcription(s)
• Hebrew	נָצְרַת (Natz'rat or Na'tzeret; Naṣ'rath in Biblical Hebrew)
• ISO 259	Naçrat, Naççert
Arabic transcription(s)
• Arabic	النَّاصِرَة (an-Nāṣɪra)
Nazareth coat of arms
Nazareth
Coordinates: 32°42′07″N 35°18′12″E / 32.70194°N 35.30333°E / 32.70194; 35.30333Coordinates: 32°42′07″N 35°18′12″E / 32.70194°N 35.30333°E / 32.70194; 35.30333
District	North
Government
• Type	City
• Mayor	Ramiz Jaraisy
Area
• Total	14,123 dunams (14.123 km2 or 5.453 sq mi)
Population (2011)
• Total	81,410[1]
Website	www.nazareth.muni.il

Nazareth ( /ˈnæzərəθ/; Hebrew: נָצְרַת‎‎, Natzrat or Natzeret; Arabic: اَلنَّاصِرَة‎ an-Nāṣira or an-Naseriyye) is the largest city in the North District of Israel. Nazareth is known as "the Arab capital of Israel"; the population is made up predominantly of Arab citizens of Israel, the majority of whom are Muslim.^[2][3][4][5] In the New Testament, the city is described as the childhood home of Jesus, and as such is a center of Christian pilgrimage, with many shrines commemorating biblical events.

Etymology

Nazareth is not mentioned in pre-Christian texts and appears in many different Greek forms in the New Testament. There is no consensus regarding the origin of the name.^[6] One theory holds that "Nazareth" is derived from the Hebrew noun ne·ṣer, נֵ֫צֶר, meaning branch.^[7] Ne·ṣer is not the common Hebrew word for "branch," but one understood as a messianic title based on a passage in the Book of Isaiah.^[8] Alternatively, the name may derive from the verb na·ṣar, נָצַר, "watch, guard, keep."^[9] The negative references to Nazareth in the Gospel of John suggest that ancient Jews did not connect the town's name to prophecy.^[10]

Another theory holds that the Greek form Nazara, used in Matthew and Luke, may derive from an earlier Aramaic form of the name, or from another Semitic language form.^[11] If there were a tsade (צ) in the original Semitic form, as in the later Hebrew forms, it would normally have been transcribed in Greek with a sigma instead of a zeta.^[6] This has led some scholars to question whether "Nazareth" and its cognates in the New Testament actually refer to the settlement we know traditionally as Nazareth in Lower Galilee.^[12] Such linguistic discrepancies may be explained, however, "by a peculiarity of the 'Palestinian' Aramaic dialect wherein a sade (ṣ) between two voiced (sonant) consonants tended to be partially assimilated by taking on a zayin (z) sound."^[6]

Arabic name, an-Nāṣira

The Arabic name for Nazareth is an-Nāṣira, and Jesus (Arabic: يَسُوع‎, Yasū` or Arabic: عِيسَى‎, `Īsā) is also called an-Nāṣirī, reflecting the Arab tradition of according people a nisba, a name denoting from whence a person comes in either geographical or tribal terms. In the Qur'an, Christians are referred to as naṣārā, meaning "followers of an-Nāṣirī," or "those who follow Jesus."^[13] Similarly, in Maltese a Christian male is called Nisrani, whilst someone from Nazareth is called Nazzarenu. Whereas Nisrani is of direct Semitic origin, it is very likely that Nazzarenu was adopted via the Italian Nazzareno (from Latin, Nazarenus, meaning Nazarene.)

New Testament references

In English translations of the New Testament, the phrase "Jesus of Nazareth" appears seventeen times where the Greek has the form "Jesus the Nazarene" or "Jesus the Nazoraean."^[14] Though a standard English concordance of the King James Version (e.g., Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible) lists "Nazareth" twenty-nine times, the place is actually named only twelve times in surviving Greek versions of the New Testament,^[6] where it appears in several forms: Nazara, Nazaret, Nazareth, Nazarat, Nazarath. The other English references come from the Greek adjective nazarenos, "of Nazareth" applied to Jesus.

Nazara (Ναζαρα) is generally considered the earliest form of the name in Greek, and is found in Matthew 4:13 and Luke 4:16, as well as the putative Q document, which many scholars maintain preceded 70 AD and the formation of the canonical Christian gospels.^[6][15] The form Nazareth appears once in the Gospel of Matthew 21:11, four times in the birth chapters of the Gospel of Luke at 1:26; 2:4, 2:39, 2:51, and once in the Acts of the Apostles at 10:38. In the Gospel of Mark, the name appears only once in 1:9 in the form Nazaret.

Many scholars have questioned a link between "Nazareth" and the terms "Nazarene" and "Nazoraean" on linguistic grounds,^[16] while some affirm the possibility of etymological relation "given the idiosyncrasies of Galilean Aramaic."^[17]

Extrabiblical references

Ancient mosaic of Nazareth

The form Nazara is also found in the earliest non-scriptural reference to the town, a citation by Sextus Julius Africanus dated about 200 AD (see "Middle Roman to Byzantine Periods" below). The Church Father Origen (c. 185 to 254 AD) knows the forms Nazara and Nazaret.^[18] Later, Eusebius in his Onomasticon (translated by St. Jerome) also refers to the settlement as Nazara.^[19] In their scriptures, the Mandeans mention nasirutha as a place they go.^[6][20]

The first non-Christian reference to Nazareth is an inscription on a marble fragment from a synagogue found in Caesarea Maritima in 1962.^[21] This fragment gives the town's name in Hebrew as "נצרת" (n-ṣ-r-t). The inscription dates to c. 300 AD and chronicles the assignment of priests that took place at some time after the Bar Kokhba revolt, 132-35 AD.^[22] (See "Middle Roman to Byzantine Periods" below.) An 8th century AD Hebrew inscription, which was the earliest known Hebrew reference to Nazareth prior to the discovery of the inscription above, uses the same form.^[6]

Nazarenes, Notzrim, Christians

Around 331 Eusebius records that from the name Nazareth Christ was called a Nazoraean, and that in earlier centuries Christians, were once called Nazarenes.^[23] Tertullian (Against Marcion 4:8) records that "for this reason the Jews call us 'Nazarenes'. In the New Testament Christians are called "Christians" three times by Romans, and "Nazarenes" once by Tertullus, a Jewish lawyer. The Rabbinic and modern Hebrew name for Christians, notzrim, is also thought to derive from Nazareth, and be connected with Tertullus' charge against Paul of being a member of the sect of the Nazarenes, Nazoraioi, "men of Nazareth" in Acts. Against this some medieval Jewish polemical texts connect notzrim with the netsarim "watchmen" of Ephraim in Jeremiah 31:6. In Syrian Aramaic Nasrat (ܢܨܪܬ) is used for Nazareth, while "Nazarenes" (Acts 24:5) and "of Nazareth" are both nasraya (ܕܢܨܪܝܐ) an adjectival form.^[24][25][26]

History

Ancient times

Archaeological research revealed a funerary and cult center at Kfar HaHoresh, about two miles (3 km) from current Nazareth, dating back roughly 9000 years (to what is known as the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B era).^[27] The remains of some 65 individuals were found, buried under huge horizontal headstone structures, some of which consisted of up to 3 tons of locally-produced white plaster. Decorated human skulls uncovered there have led archaeologists to believe that Kfar HaHoresh was a major cult centre in that remote era.^[28]

In 1620 the Catholic Church purchased an area in the Nazareth basin measuring approx. 100 × 150 m (328.08 ft × 492.13 ft) on the side of the hill known as the Nebi Sa'in. This "Venerated Area" underwent extensive excavation in 1955-65 by the Franciscan priest Belarmino Bagatti, "Director of Christian Archaeology." Fr. Bagatti uncovered pottery dating from the Middle Bronze Age (2200 to 1500 BC) and ceramics, silos and grinding mills from the Iron Age (1500 to 586 BC), pointing to substantial settlement in the Nazareth basin at that time. However, lack of archaeological evidence from Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian, Hellenistic or Early Roman times, at least in the major excavations between 1955 and 1990, shows that the settlement apparently came to an abrupt end about 720 BC, when many towns in the area were destroyed by the Assyrians.

Early Christian era

Historic photo of Mary's Well

According to the Gospel of Luke, Nazareth was the home village of Mary and also the site of the Annunciation (when Mary was told by the Angel Gabriel that she would have Jesus as her son). In the Gospel of Matthew, Joseph and Mary resettled in Nazareth after fleeing to Egypt from their home in Bethlehem. The hometown of Joseph was Bethlehem.^{[Mt. 1:18-2:23]} The differences and possible contradictions between these two accounts of the nativity of Jesus are part of the Synoptic Problem. Nazareth was also where Jesus grew up from some point in his childhood. However, some modern scholars argue that Nazareth was also the birth place of Jesus.^[29]

The Basilica Of Annunciation

James Strange, an American archaeologist, notes: “Nazareth is not mentioned in ancient Jewish sources earlier than the third century AD. This likely reflects its lack of prominence both in Galilee and in Judaea.”^[30] Strange originally speculated that the population of Nazareth at the time of Christ to be "roughly 1,600 to 2,000 people", but later, in a subsequent publication, at “a maximum of about 480.”^[31] In 2009 Israeli archaeologist Yardenna Alexandre excavated archaeological remains in Nazareth that might date to the time of Jesus in the early Roman period. Alexandre told reporters, "The discovery is of the utmost importance since it reveals for the very first time a house from the Jewish village of Nazareth."^[32]

Ancient Nazareth may have built on the hillside, as indicated in the Gospel of Luke: [And they led Jesus] to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw him down headlong.^[Lk. 4:29] However, the hill in question (the Nebi Sa'in) is far too steep for ancient dwellings and averages a 14% grade in the venerated area.^[33] Historic Nazareth was essentially constructed in the valley; the windy hilltops in the vicinity have only been occupied since the construction of Nazareth Illit in 1957.

Matthew 2:19-23 reads:

After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child's life are dead." So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets: "He will be called a Nazarene."

In the Gospel of John, Nathaniel asks, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?"^[1:46] The meaning of this cryptic question is debated. Some commentators and scholars suggest that it means Nazareth was very small and unimportant, but the question does not speak of Nazareth’s size but of its goodness. In fact, Nazareth was described negatively by the evangelists; the Gospel of Mark argues that Nazareth did not believe in Jesus and therefore he could "do no mighty work there";^[Mk 6:5] in the Gospel of Luke, the Nazarenes are portrayed as attempting to kill Jesus by throwing him off a cliff;^[Lk 4:29] in the Gospel of Thomas, and in all four canonical gospels, we read the famous saying that "a prophet is not without honor except in his own country."^[34]

Many scholars since W. Wrede (in 1901)^[35] have noted the so-called Messianic secret in the Gospel of Mark, whereby Jesus' true nature and/or mission is portrayed as unseen by many, including by his inner circle of disciples^{[Mk 8:27-33]} (compare the Gospel of John's references to those to whom only the Father reveals Jesus will be saved).^[36] Nazareth, being the home of those near and dear to Jesus, apparently suffered negatively in relation to this doctrine. Thus, Nathanael’s question, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” is consistent with a negative view of Nazareth in the canonical gospels, and with the Johannine proclamation that even his brothers did not believe in him.^[Jn 7:5]

Crusader-era carving in Nazareth

A tablet at the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, dating to 50 AD, was sent from Nazareth to Paris in 1878. It contains an inscription known as the "Ordinance of Caesar" that outlines the penalty of death for those who violate tombs or graves. However, it is suspected that this inscription came to Nazareth from somewhere else (possibly Sepphoris). Bagatti writes: “we are not certain that it was found in Nazareth, even though it came from Nazareth to Paris. At Nazareth there lived various vendors of antiquities who got ancient material from several places.”^[37] C. Kopp is more definite: "It must be accepted with certainty that [the Ordinance of Caesar]… was brought to the Nazareth market by outside merchants."^[38] Princeton University archaeologist Jack Finegan describes additional archaeological evidence related to settlement in the Nazareth basin during the Bronze and Iron Ages, and states that "Nazareth was a strongly Jewish settlement in the Roman period.".^[39]

Nazareth, 1842

Epiphanius writes in the Panarion (c. 375 AD)^[40] of Joseph of Tiberias, a wealthy Roman Jew who converted to Christianity in the time of Constantine. He claimed that he had built churches in Sepphoris and other towns that were inhabited only by Jews.^[41] Nazareth is mentioned, though the exact meaning is not clear.^[42] It was thus concluded that a small church which encompassed a cave complex was located in Nazareth in the early 4th century,"^[43] although the town was Jewish until the 7th century AD.^[44]

Although mentioned in the New Testament gospels, there are no extant non-biblical references to Nazareth until around 200 AD, when Sextus Julius Africanus, cited by Eusebius (Church History 1.7.14), speaks of “Nazara” as a village in "Judea" and locates it near an as-yet unidentified “Cochaba.”^[45] In the same passage Africanus writes of desposunoi - relatives of Jesus - who he claims kept the records of their descent with great care. A few authors have argued that the absence of 1st and 2nd century AD textual references to Nazareth suggest the town may not have been inhabited in Jesus' day.^[46] Proponents of this hypothesis have buttressed their case with linguistic, literary and archaeological interpretations,^[47] though such views have been called "archaeologically unsupportable".^[48]

Middle Roman to Byzantine periods

Basilica of the Annunciation

A Hebrew inscription found in Caesarea dating to the late 3rd or early 4th century mentions Nazareth as the home of the priestly Hapizzez family after the Bar Kokhba revolt (132-135 AD).^[49] From the three fragments that have been found, the inscription seems to be a list of the twenty-four priestly courses (cf. 1 Chronicles 24:7-19; Nehemiah 11;12), with each course (or family) assigned its proper order and the name of each town or village in Galilee where it settled. Nazareth is not spelled with the "z" sound but with the Hebrew tsade (thus "Nasareth" or "Natsareth").^[50] Eleazar Kalir (a Hebrew Galilean poet variously dated from the 6th to 10th century) mentions a locality clearly in the Nazareth region bearing the name Nazareth נצרת (in this case vocalized "Nitzrat"), which was home to the descendants of the 18th Kohen family Happitzetz (הפצץ), for at least several centuries after the Bar Kochva revolt.

In the 6th century, religious narrations from local Christians about the Virgin Mary began to spark interest in the site among pilgrims, who founded the Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation at the site of a freshwater spring, today known as Mary's Well. In 570, the Anonymous of Piacenza reports travelling from Sepphoris to Nazareth; writing of the beauty of the Hebrew women there who say that St. Mary was a relative of theirs, he notes that, "The house of St. Mary is a basilica."^[51]

The Christian writer Jerome, writing in the 5th century, says Nazareth was a viculus or mere village. The Jewish town profited from the Christian pilgrim trade which began in the 4th century, but latent anti-Christian hostility broke out in 614 AD when the Persians invaded Palestine. The Christian Byzantine author Eutychius claimed that the Jews of Nazareth helped the Persians carry out their slaughter of the Christians.^[52] When the Byzantine or Eastern Roman emperor Heraclius ejected the Persians in 630 AD, he expelled the city's Jews.

Islamic rule

Makam al-Nabi Sain Mosque of Nazareth

In 1099, the Crusader Tancred captured Galilee and established his capital in Nazareth. The ancient diocese of Scythopolis was also relocated under the Archbishop of Nazareth, one of the four archdioceses in the Kingdom of Jerusalem. The town returned to Muslim control in 1187 following the victory of Saladin in the Battle of Hattin. The remaining Crusaders and European clergy were forced to leave town.^[53] Frederick II managed to negotiate safe passage for pilgrims from Acre in 1229, and in 1251, Louis IX, the king of France, attended mass in the grotto, accompanied by his wife.^[53]

In 1263, Baybars, the Mamluk Sultan, destroyed the Christian buildings in Nazareth and declared the site off-limits to Latin clergy, as part of his bid to drive out the remaining Crusaders from Palestine.^[53] While Arab Christian families continued to live in Nazareth, its status was reduced to that of a poor village. Pilgrims who visited the site in 1294 reported only a small church protecting the grotto.^[53]

In the 14th century, Franciscan monks were permitted to return and live within the ruins of the Basilica, but they were evicted again in 1584.^[53] In 1620, Fakhr-al-Din II, a Druze emir who controlled this part of Ottoman Syria rule, permitted them to build a small church at the Grotto of the Annunciation. Pilgrimage tours to surrounding sacred sites were organized by the Franciscans, but the monks suffered harassment from surrounding Bedouin tribes who often kidnapped them for ransom.^[53] Stability returned with the rule of Daher el-Omar, a powerful Bedouin sheikh who ruled over much of the Galilee and who authorized the Franciscans to build a church in 1730. That structure stood until 1955, when it was demolished to make way for a larger building completed in 1967.^[53]

Nazareth, postcard by Fadil Saba

Nazareth was captured by the troops of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1799, during his Syrian campaign. Napoleon visited the holy sites and considered appointing his general Junot as the duke of Nazareth.^[53] During the rule of Ibrahim Pasha (1830–1840), the Egyptian general, over much of Ottoman Syria, Nazareth was open to European missionaries and traders. After the Ottomans regained control, European money continued to flow into Nazareth and new institutions were established. The Christians of Nazareth were protected during the pogroms of 1860s by Aghil Agha, the Bedouin leader who exercised control over the Galilee between 1845 and 1870.^[53]

Kaloost Varstan, an Armenian from Istanbul, arrived in 1864 and established the first medical missionary in Nazareth, the Scottish "hospital on the hill", with sponsorship from the Edinburgh Medical Missionary Society. The Ottoman Sultan, who favored the French, allowed them to establish an orphanage, the Society of Saint Francis de Sale. By the late 19th century, Nazareth was a town with a strong Arab Christian presence and a growing European community, where a number of communal projects were undertaken and new religious buildings were erected.^[53]

British Mandate

Fountain of the Virgin, 1891

In 1918, Nazareth had a population of 8,000, two-thirds Christian. Over the next thirty years, the population rose to 18,000.^[54]

State of Israel

Amin Gargurah (left), Mayor of Nazareth, with Israeli prime minister Moshe Sharett, 1955

Nazareth was in the territory allotted to the Arab state under the 1947 UN Partition Plan. The town was not a field of battle during 1948 Arab-Israeli War before the first truce on 11 June, although some of the villagers had joined the loosely organized peasant military and paramilitary forces, and troops from the Arab Liberation Army had entered Nazareth. During the ten days of fighting which occurred between the first and second truce, Nazareth capitulated to Israeli troops during Operation Dekel on 16 June, after little more than token resistance. The surrender was formalized in a written agreement, where the town leaders agreed to cease hostilities in return for promises from the Israeli officers, including brigade commander Ben Dunkelman (the leader of the operation), that no harm would come to the civilians of the town.

The Israeli government has designated a Nazareth metropolitan area that includes the local councils of Yafa an-Naseriyye to the south, Reineh, Mashhad and Kafr Kanna to the north, Iksal and Nazareth Illit to the east and Migdal HaEmek to the west.

Preparations for the Pope's visit to Nazareth in 2000 triggered highly publicized tensions related to the Basilica of the Annunciation. In 1997, permission was granted to construct a paved plaza to handle the thousands of Christian pilgrims expected to arrive. The Muslims protested and occupied the site, where a nephew of Saladin is believed to be buried. A school, al-Harbyeh, had been built on the site by the Ottomans, and the Shihab-Eddin shrine, along with several shops owned by the waqf, were located there. Government approval of plans for a large mosque on the property triggered protests from Christian leaders around the world. In 2002, a special government commission permanently halted construction of the mosque.^[55]

In March 2006, public protests followed the disruption of a prayer service by an Israeli Jew and his Christian wife and daughter, who detonated firecrackers inside the church. The family said it wanted to draw attention to their problems with the welfare authorities.^[56]

In July 2006 a rocket fired by Hezbollah as part of the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict killed two children in Nazareth.^[57]

In March 2010, the Israeli government approved a $3 million dollar plan to develop Nazareth's tourism industry. New businesses receive start-up grants of up to 30 percent of their initial investment from the Ministry of Tourism.^[58]

Geography

Nazareth sayara

Two locations for Nazareth are cited in ancient texts: the Galilean (northern) location in the Christian gospels and a southern (Judean) location mentioned in several early noncanonical texts.^[59]

Modern-day Nazareth is nestled in a natural bowl which reaches from 1,050 feet (320 m) above sea level to the crest of the hills about 1,600 feet (490 m).^[60] Nazareth is about 25 kilometres (16 mi) from the Sea of Galilee (17 km as the crow flies) and about 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) west from Mount Tabor. The Nazareth Range, in which the town lies, is the southernmost of several parallel east-west hill ranges that characterize the elevated tableau of Lower Galilee.

Nazareth Cityscape

View Of the City of Nazareth

Demography

Old postcard of Nazareth women based on photo by Félix Bonfils

Nazareth is the largest Arab city in Israel.^[61] Until the beginning of the British Mandate in Palestine (1922–1948), the population was predominantly Arab Christian (majority Orthodox Christians), with an Arab Muslim minority. Nazareth today still has a significant Christian population, made up of Maronites, Orthodox Christians, Roman Catholic, Melkite Eastern Catholics, Anglicans, Baptists, Evangelicals and Copts, among others. The Muslim population has grown, for a number of historical factors, that include the city having served as administrative center under British rule, and the influx of internally displaced Palestinians absorbed into the city from neighbouring towns during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.^[4]

In 2009, the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics reported that Nazareth's population was 69% Muslim and 30.9% Christian.^[62] The current mayor is a Christian.^[4]The greater Nazareth metropolis area had a population of 210,000, including 125,000 (59%) Israeli Arabs and 85,000 Jews (41%). It is the only urban area with over 50,000 residents in Israel where the majority of the population is Arab.^[63]

Economy

In 2011, Nazareth had over 6125 Arab high-tech companies, mostly in the field of software development. According to Haaretz newspaper the city has been called the "Silicon Valley of the Arab community" in view of its potential in this sphere.^[64]

Religious shrines

Church in Nazareth on the site of Joseph's workshop, 1891

Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation

Christian

Nazareth is home to dozens of monasteries and churches, many of them in the Old City.^[65]

• The Church of the Annunciation is the largest Christian church in the Middle East. In Roman Catholic tradition, it marks the site where the Archangel Gabriel announced the future birth of Jesus to the Virgin Mary (Luke 1:26-31).

Christmas Eve In Nazareth

• The Church of St. Gabriel is an alternative Eastern Orthodox site for the Annunciation.
• The Synagogue Church is a Melkite Greek Catholic Church at the traditional site of the synagogue where Jesus preached (Luke 4)
• The St. Joseph's church marks the traditional location for the workshop of Saint Joseph
• The Mensa Christi Church, run by the Franciscan religious order, commemorates the traditional location where Jesus dined with the Apostles after his Resurrection
• The Basilica of Jesus the Adolescent, run by the Salesian religious order, occupies a hill overlooking the city.
• The Church of Christ is an Anglican church in Nazareth.
• The Church of Our Lady of the Fright marks the spot where Mary is said to have seen Jesus being taken to a cliff by the congregation of the synagogue
• The Jesus Trail pilgrimage route connects many of the religious sites in Nazareth on a 60 km walking trail which ends in Capernaum.

Muslim

Muslim holy sites in Nazareth include the White Mosque (al-Abiad), the Peace Mosque (al-Salam), the Shrine of al-Sheikh Amer, the Shrine of Nabi Sa’in, and the Shrine of Shihab e-Din. The oldest is the White Mosque, located in Harat Alghama ("Mosque Quarter") in the center of Nazareth's Old Market.^[66][67]

Archaeology

According to the Israel Antiquities Authority, "The artifacts recovered from inside the building were few and mostly included fragments of pottery vessels from the Early Roman period (the first and second centuries AD)... Another hewn pit, whose entrance was apparently camouflaged, was excavated and a few pottery sherds from the Early Roman period were found inside it." Alexandre adds that "based on other excavations that I conducted in other villages in the region, this pit was probably hewn as part of the preparations by the Jews to protect themselves during the Great Revolt against the Romans in 67 AD".^[68] Noteworthy is that all the post-Iron Age tombs in the Nazareth basin (approximately two dozen) are of the kokh (plural:kokhim) or later types; this type probably first appeared in Galilee in the middle of the 1st century AD.^[69] Kokh tombs in the Nazareth area have been excavated by B. Bagatti, N. Feig, Z. Yavor, and noted by Z. Gal.^[70]

Excavations conducted prior to 1931 in the Franciscan venerated area revealed no trace of a Greek or Roman settlement there,^[71] Fr. Bagatti, who acted as the principal archaeologist for the venerated sites in Nazareth, unearthed quantities of later Roman and Byzantine artifacts,^[72] attesting to unambiguous human presence there from the 2nd century AD onward. John Dominic Crossan, a noted New Testament scholar, remarked that Bagatti's archaeological drawings indicate just how small the village actually was, suggesting that it was little more than an insignificant hamlet.^[73]

In the mid-1990s, a shopkeeper discovered tunnels under his shop near Mary's Well in Nazareth. The tunnels were identified as the hypocaust of a bathhouse. Excavations in 1997-98 revealed remains dating from the Roman, Crusader, Mamluk and Ottoman periods.^{[74][75][76][77]}

Sports

The city's main football club, Ahi Nazareth, currently plays in Liga Leumit, the second tier of Israeli football. The club spent a single season in the top division in 2003-04. They are based at the Ilut Stadium in nearby Ilut. Other local clubs Beitar al-Amal Nazareth, Hapoel Bnei Nazareth and Hapoel Nazareth all play in Liga Gimel.

Twin towns — sister cities

Nazareth is twinned with:

• Florence, Italy
• Loreto, Italy
• Nablus, Palestinian Authority
• Saint-Denis, France
• The Hague, Netherlands
• Częstochowa, Poland

See also

• List of Arab localities in Israel
• Nazareth Village

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Nazareth

• Nazareth Official City Website
• Nazareth entry in historical sourcebook by Mahlon H. Smith
• Nazareth Jewish Encyclopedia
• Nazareth Easton's Bible Dictionary
• Nazareth Village, recreation of Nazareth 2000 years ago. The Nazareth Jesus Knew
• Nazareth Travel Guide

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