Some critics of the historicity of the person of Jesus go so far as to deny the existence of Nazareth at the time of Jesus. The following, from scholarly sources (the Lexham Bible Dictionary and the Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary (both excellent scholarly resources one should have in their library) are rather useful on this issue and related topics:
Nazareth (Ναζαρέτ, Nazaret; Ναζαρά, Nazara, Ναζαρέθ, Nazareth). A village in Lower Galilee that was Jesus’ childhood home; situated on a ridge 500 meters above sea level.
History of Settlement
Archaeology evidence shows that Nazareth was settled as early as the Middle Bronze Age and continued to be settled through the Iron Age. However, the city is not mentioned in literature prior to the New Testament; likewise, Josephus doesn’t mention it, even though it was located near Japha/Yaphia, a city he fortified during the First Revolt (Josephus, Vita, 230). The site appears to have been uninhabited in the centuries following the Assyrian conquest. Extensive remains have been uncovered from the second century bc, suggesting a significant population increase (possibly resettlement) under the Hasmonean rule. It is unlikely that there was any genealogical continuity between the inhabitants of the Hasmonean period and those of the Iron Age (Reed, Archaeology, 28–31).
The village had a predominantly Jewish population until at least the fourth century ad, and probably until the early seventh century. There is no evidence of any permanent Roman military presence. Inscriptional evidence from Caesarea attests that priests were present in Nazareth following the First Revolt, suggesting that the site was regarded as ritually pure.
It is unclear whether Nazareth held a Christian population in the first three centuries ad. The Jewish movement may have been pushed outside of Palestine in the wake of the First Revolt. Fourth-century sources, Eusebius, Jerome, and Epiphanius depict Nazareth as thoroughly Jewish until the Count Joseph of Tiberius, under the auspices of Constantine, constructed its first church (Epiphanius, Panarion 30.11.10). Recent scholars, however, acknowledging the fluidity of the terms “Jewish” and “Christian” as they pertain to the early centuries following Jesus, have critiqued this account.
In the 1960s, Bagatti combined archaeological discoveries with a critical reading of the ancient sources and argued that a Jewish-Christian community was present immediately following the Christ event. Bagatti claimed that Epiphanius’ report carries the bias common to late ancient (predominantly) Gentile Christianity, that “Nazarenes,” “Ebionites,” or any other Christ-believing group which maintained loyalty to Judaism were not properly “Christians.” Bagatti highlighted Eusebius’ quotations of Julius Africanus (Ecclesiastical History 1.7.14) and Hegesippus (Ecclesiastical History 4.22.4) as evidence that Jesus’ relatives (Bagatti, Excavations, 17–18):
• became Christ-believers while retaining their identity as Jews;
• maintained a family base in Nazareth;
• enjoyed esteemed positions in the Jewish-Christian community in Nazareth.
Bagatti’s Jewish-Christian theory remains influential, though not without criticism (compare Taylor, Christians, 224–65). Marian devotion may have been a characteristic practice of the village’s early Christian population.
From at least the late fourth century ad onward, Nazareth became a site for Christian pilgrimage (see Bagatti, Excavations, 20–25; Taylor, Christians, 226–30). Jewish-Christian relations seem to have been amicable until the seventh century, possibly due to the economic benefits of the pilgrim/tourist trade. However, according to Eutychius (Annales 22), Nazareth’s Jewish population during the Persian conquest of Palestine in ad 614 participated in a persecution of the Christians, for which they were punished with expulsion in ad 629 by the emperor Heraclius.
Islam became the dominant power throughout Palestine in ad 638, but Christian presence was permitted in Nazareth, as is attested by the late-seventh century French Pilgrim, Arculf, who reports about two churches (Adomnan, De Locis Sanctis 2.26). During the period of the Crusades, Nazareth experienced several shifts in control between Christian and Muslim forces. Subsequently, Islamic presence has dominated, though the continued veneration of the Christian holy sites has been tolerated. Today, Nazareth is the largest Arab city in Israel. Islam is the primary religion, but the city has a significant Christian population (approximately 1/3) representing several traditions.
Nazareth in the First Century ad
In the first century ad, Nazareth occupied only the ridge and did not extend into the Jezreel Valley 350 meters below (Reed, Archaeology, 115–16). The village’s 40,000 square meters could have accommodated a population as high as 2,000 (Meyers and Strange, Archaeology, 56), but current estimates allow a population of only 200–500 at the time of Jesus. All evidence supports the view that Nazareth’s primary industry was agriculture, including the production of wine and olive oil. The slopes supported the growing of wheat and barley. The soil to the south permitted the cultivating of vegetables. The village, like many throughout the ancient Mediterranean, was likely self-sufficient, though poor. The lack of remains from the period suggests that houses were constructed of local uncut stones and mud with thatch roofing. The town receives no mention in non-Christian sources from the Roman Period. It likely was known only at the local level, and perhaps enjoyed little esteem even there (John 1:46).
Throughout much of the 20th century, it was believed that Galilee was to a great extent isolated until the time of Hadrian. Improved archaeology of the region, however, has revealed an extensive network of pre-Hadrian trade routes, of which Sepphoris was a hub (Strange, “First Century Galilee,” 40). Nazareth lay only 5 kilometers south of Sepphoris, and though the ascent of the Nazareth ridge was significant, it was not insurmountable (Reed, Archaeology, 115). Nazareth would not have been far from major trade routes (Meyers and Strange, Archaeology, 27, 43). Since the 1920s, Nazareth’s proximity to Sepphoris has inspired much discussion, especially concerning the possibility that Jesus spent much time in that city (see Reed, Archaeology, 103–14). Archaeology demonstrates that Sepphoris was built into an impressive city under Antipas early in Jesus’ life (Reed, Archaeology, 117).
Archaeological Finds
Franciscan archaeologists began excavations of the Church of St. Joseph and the Church of the Annunciation around the turn of the 20th century. In the 1950s and 60s, Bagatti’s team discovered pottery dating back to the Middle Bronze Age, and grottos, cisterns, silos and tombs dating back as far as the Iron Age in the vicinity of the Church of the Annunciation. The Church of the Annunciation itself venerates an underground grotto presumed to be site of Mary’s visitation by the archangel Gabriel. In the 12th century, crusaders removed the existing church, along with a convent on the south side, and constructed a basilica, preserving the grotto in the northern end. Remains of the Byzantine church were also discovered, revealing a rectangular structure oriented east to west with three naves. Also found were the remains of some 11 mosaic pavements, including one ascribed to Conon, perhaps to be identified with the third-century Nazorean martyr, a relative of Jesus. Under the mosaic pavements, Bagatti found remains of a walled structure with columns 55 cm in diameter, fitting the description of an ancient Galilean synagogue. The presence of Christian graffiti in Syriac and Greek led Bagatti to suggest that the synagogue belonged to Jewish-Christians. A basin directly below the Byzantine church’s central nave is believed to have been a mikveh transformed into a baptismal vessel. Under the remains of a convent on the south end of the church, Bagatti found more Christian graffiti in Greek, Aramaic, and possibly Armenian, including an image of John the Baptist holding something aloft, possibly a cross or his own head.
The Church of St. Joseph is supposed to have venerated the home of Joseph, the father of Jesus. The remains of the Byzantine structure include a pillar, and seven steps leading down to a baptismal basin. Bagatti proposed that the remains of four calcite columns were that of the non-Christian synagogue known to have existed until the seventh century. The area also produced extensive remains of ancient kokhim-style (i.e. Jewish “oven-shaped”) tombs, the ornaments of which locate some in the Herodian period. A white marble inscription from the Cabinet des Medailles in Paris preserves an imperial decree prohibiting grave violation, likely from the reign of Claudius or Tiberius. Measuring 60 cm x 37.5 cm, containing 22 lines of Greek, the inscription is purported to have been recovered during an excursion to Nazareth in 1878. (Ian W.K. Koiter, “Nazareth,” ed. John D. Barry et al., The Lexham Bible Dictionary [Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016])
NAZARETH (PLACE). The town of Jesus’ youth in Lower Galilee, just N of the valley of Jezreel (M.R. 178234). The Sea of Galilee lies 15 miles to the E while the Mediterranean lies 20 miles to the W Nazareth is identified by Matthew (2:23) and Luke (1:26; 2:4, 39) as the village of Mary and Joseph, the place where Jesus grew up (Luke 2:39, 51) and the village he left to visit the towns and villages of Galilee to begin his ministry (Mark 1:9). Luke mentions a synagogue in Nazareth (4:16) where Jesus spoke as an adult and where his message was not well received (4:28–30). Evidently later in his ministry, it was well known that Jesus was from Nazareth (Matt 21:11), which did not always evoke an amiable response (cf. John 1:45–46).
The etymology of the Hebrew name of the town is difficult. The formula quotation in Matt 2:23, “He went and dwelt in a city called Nazareth [Gk Nazaret], that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, ‘He shall be called a Nazarene [Gk Nazōraios]’ ” calls for an explanation. The usual solution is to appeal to Isa 11:1, “… a branch [Heb nēṣer] shall grow out of his [Jesse’s] roots.” In this case Nazareth would mean “branch” or “shoot,” indicating the fecundity of the area. But the plays-on-words are more enigmatic than that, and Matthew’s formula is used in a form that appears nowhere else in Matthew, suggesting that he is not quoting the OT.
As inferred from the Herodian tombs in Nazareth, the maximum extent of the Herodian and pre-Herodian village measured about 900 × 200 m, for a total area just under 60 acres. Since most of this was empty space in antiquity, the population would have been a maximum of about 480 at the beginning of the 1st century a.d. Nazareth lay beside Yafa or Yafia, a city that Josephus fortified in the first revolt against Rome and in which he lived (JW 2.20.556–573; Life 52–270). This village was known to be Jewish as late as the 4th century a.d. After the failure of the First Jewish Revolt against Rome, the twenty-four “courses” or divisions of priests from the Temple in Jerusalem fled northward. One priestly family by the name of Hapizez (or Hapises) settled in Nazareth (Mishmaroth 18). That Nazareth was the home of a priestly course is repeated in a fragment of a Byzantine period Hebrew inscription, a list of the priestly courses, found at Caesarea in 1962. In the 3d century, Nazareth still had a strong priestly character according to Midr. Qoh. 2.8. In the 3d century the Christian martyr Conon from Nazareth of the family of Jesus was killed in Asia Minor (Bagatti 1969: 16).
The next reference to Nazareth is in the 4th century, when Eusebius mentions that Nazareth is fifteen miles E of Legio, near Mount Tabor. Jerome adds that it was merely a tiny village, a “viculus” (rather than “oppidum”), but neither Eusebius nor Jerome mentions a church (Onomast. 138.25; 141.1). Epiphanius (Adv. Haeres. 30.1–347) tells the story in his memoirs (377 a.d.) of Count Joseph of Tiberias, who appealed to the Emperor Constantine for permission to build a church at Nazareth, among other places. Constantine agreed, and presumably the church was built. When Egeria visited Nazareth about ten years later, however, she was shown “a big and splendid cave in which [Mary] lived.” There was also an altar in the cave and a spring to draw water (Peter the Deacon T). Since this text confuses the remains from the Church of Gabriel and the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth, Peter has presumably confused Egeria’s notes. It is possible that the Helenopolis mentioned in a.d. 444 by Sozomen (Hist. Eccl. 2.2) refers to Nazareth and Mt. Tabor, cities of special interest to Helena, the mother of the emperor Constantine. She understood the Transfiguration of Jesus to have taken place on Mt. Tabor. The Piacenza Pilgrim in a.d. 570 says that the house of Mary “is now a basilica.” This same pilgrim says he visited the synagogue of Jesus. He admired the beautiful Jewish women of Nazareth and hinted that Jewish-Christian relations were at least on a cooperative level (v161.4). Adomnan (Arculf), who lived about a.d. 679–704, visited Nazareth after the Arab conquest. He saw two churches that correspond to the Church of Gabriel and the Church of the Annunciation or perhaps the Church of St. Joseph and the Church of the Annunciation. According to Willibald (Hugeburc 95.20–25), by 808, Christian-Muslim relations had deteriorated so that Christians paid a “ransom” for the Church of the Annunciation to the Muslims.
Nazareth was excavated from 1890 to 1910 within the precincts of the Church of St. Joseph and the Church of the Annunciation. Vlaminek excavated in 1895 and Viaud from 1907–1909. A Neanderthal skull was found near Nazareth in 1934 about 1.5 miles to the SE Excavations began again in 1954 by Bagatti. Beneath the Church of the Annunciation are some very suggestive archaeological remains. Among them are two small caves with painted plaster, a cross, and inscribed prayers to Jesus in Greek. These could derive from the end of the 3d century, but are most cautiously dated to the early 4th century. These caves are incorporated into a building with mosaic floors that faces S toward Jerusalem. This building, which is oriented N–S, would be interpreted as a synagogue except for a large, equal-armed cross built into its mosaic floor. The excavator interprets this building as a Jewish-Christian synagogue, which may be correct. Between the mosaic floor and the caves, at a level 1.2 m below the main floor of the Jewish-Christian synagogue, is a second 4th-century mosaic with a Greek inscription: “Offering of Conon, Deacon of Jerusalem.” This Conon is evidently a namesake of the Conon mentioned above. When the main mosaic in the floor of the synagogue was lifted the excavators discovered a Jewish ritual bath that measures about two m on each side. Seven steps lead down to the water. Since the ritual bath is not oriented either with the synagogue or with its caves, it seems to be earlier than the structure. In the debris that filled the ritual bath was found painted plaster with inscriptions and graffiti scratched onto it in Greek and Syriac. The plaster had belonged to a 4th-century synagogue which was destroyed to give way to the building of a 5th-century church with its attached monastery. In the debris beneath the floor of one of the rooms of the monastery were about seventy architectural fragments that appear to have belonged to the 4th-century synagogue.
In chronological order, the occupational sequence in this area appears to have included: (1) detached caves of indeterminate (perhaps domestic) use, dating before the 3d century; (2) the cutting and use of a ritual bath, perhaps as early as the 2d century but not after the 3d century, perhaps for Jewish-Christians; (3) the building of a synagogue above the ritual bath which incorporated the caves (this was likely the church seen by Egeria and reported by Peter the Deacon); and finally (4) the building of a 5th-century church and monastery which incorporated the caves and floor of the 4th-century synagogue. This may be the church and monastery seen by the Piacenza Pilgrim in a.d. 570. The long continuity of use and incorporation of earlier units in later buildings suggests a continuity of veneration and worship extending back to the Roman period.
Beneath the convent of the Dames de Nazareth about 100 m W of the Church of the Annunciation are remains of houses, a tomb of the Herodian period, and other underground working spaces typical of those found beneath the other churches. It appears that the inhabitants of Nazareth took advantage of the soft limestone to build cisterns, basements, storage bins, and other underground installations, primarily for agricultural use.
The general archaeological picture is of a small village, devoted wholly to agriculture, that came into being in the course of the 3d century b.c. Although there are traces of earlier Bronze Age or Iron Age occupation, none of these suggests a continuity of more than a generation at a time. It is the late Hellenistic period that gives life to Nazareth, as it does with many other sites which have been surveyed or excavated in the Galilee. People have continued to live in Nazareth from the 3d century b.c. to the present day.
Bibliography
Baggati, B. 1969. Excavations in Nazareth. Vol. 1. Jerusalem.
Meyers, E. M., and Strange, J. F. 1981. Archaeology, the Rabbis, and Early Christianity. Nashville.
(James F. Strange, “Nazareth (Place),” ed. David Noel Freedman, The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary [New York: Doubleday, 1992], 1050–1051)