How many people lived in Nazareth at the time of Jesus?

Answer 1

Because of the importance of Nazareth to the Christian religion, archaeologists have spent considerable effort in attempting to establish the origin and size of this otherwise obscure little village. The village no doubt existed by the time the gospels were written, but what is historically unclear is whether it also existed during the reign of King Herod, and therefore the time of Jesus' birth. The late-first-century Jewish historian, Josephus, listed all the towns and villages known to him in Galilee, but omitted any mention of Nazareth.

Archaeologists have uncovered much of the early village. A recent archaeological dig has uncovered, in a house in the early ruins of Nazareth, coins and artefacts from the Roman era - too late to indicate whether Nazareth existed during the Herodian era.

What is known of early Nazareth is that it would have been no more than a village, almost certainly too small to have its own synagogue, but whether it goes all the way back to Herodian time and if so how many people lived there, are so far unknown.