St. Mary's Well - This shrine, commemorating the Virgin Mary, is a symbol of Nazareth located at an ancient spring which is the only site definitely identified as dating from New Testament times.
Nazareth (Arabic الناصرة an-Nāṣirah; Hebrew נָצְרַת, Standard Hebrew Náẓərat, Tiberian Hebrew Nāṣəraṯ) is an ancient town in the North District in Israel. In the New Testament, it is described as the childhood home of Jesus, and is a center of Christian pilgrimage, with many shrines commemorating biblical associations.
Etymology
The etymology of Nazareth from as early as Eusebius up until the 20th century has been said to derive from netser, a "shoot" or "sprout", while the apocryphal Gospel of Phillip derives the name from Nazara meaning "truth". "Nazarene," meaning "of the village of Nazareth," should not be confused with "Nazirite," meaning a "separated" Jew.
Ancient history
St. Mary's Well - This shrine, commemorating the Virgin Mary, is a symbol of Nazareth located at an ancient spring which is the only site definitely identified as dating from New Testament times.
According to the New Testament, Nazareth was the home of Joseph and Mary and the site of the Annunciation, when Mary was told by the Angel Gabriel that she would have Jesus as her son. Nazareth is also assumed to be where Jesus grew up from his infancy to manhood.
In John 1:46, Nathaniel asks, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" suggesting that this provincial town of Galilee may not have been viewed favorably in Judea.
Luke 4:16 states that Jesus went to the synagogue of Nazareth as part of his ministry in Galilee. Non-biblical textual references to Jewish or Judaean settlement in the area do not occur until around 200 AD.
Julius Africanus (around 200), cited by Eusebius (Church History 1.7.14), speaks of Nazareth as a village "of Judea", and in the same passage tells of desposunoi, or relatives of Jesus, who came from Nazareth and nearby Cochaba and kept the records of their descent with great care. Also, an alleged martyr named Conon, who died in Pamphylia under Decius (249-251), declared at his trial: "I belong to the city of Nazareth in Galilee, and am a relative of Christ whom I serve, as my forefathers have done" (Clemens Kopp, Die heiligen Stätten der Evangelien [The Holy Places of the Gospels], Friedrich Pustet, Regensburg, 1959: page 90).
In 1962, a Hebrew inscription found in Caesarea, dating to the late 3rd or early 4th century, mentions Nazareth as one of the places in which the priestly divisions were residing after the Great Jewish Revolt. From the three fragments that have been found, it is possible to show that the inscription was a complete list of the twenty-four priestly courses (cf. 1 Chronicles 24:7-19; Nehemiah 24:1-21), with each course (or family) assigned its proper order and the name of each town or village in Galilee where it settled.
Epiphanius, who died in 402, says (Panarion i. 136), based on a conversation with a Joseph who built churches in Sepphoris and other towns, that until the time of Constantine (4th century), Nazareth was inhabited only by Jews. This may imply that in Epiphanius's own day some non-Jewish Christians lived there (and does not exclude Jewish believers in Christ living there previously); whether Joseph built any church at Nazareth or Capernaum is uncertain. In the 6th century, legends about Mary began to spark interest in the site among pilgrims, who founded the Church of the Annunciation at the site of a freshwater spring, today known as St. Mary's Well. In 570, the Anonymous of Piacenza reports travelling from Sepphoris to Nazareth and refers to the beauty of the Hebrew women there, who say that St. Mary was a relative of theirs, and records: "The house of St. Mary is a basilica" (P. Geyer, Itinera Hierosolymitana saeculi, Lipsiae: G. Freytag, 1898: page 161).
Jerome, writing in the 5th century, says it was a viculus or mere village.
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Medieval History
The Muslim conquest of Palestine in 637 AD during the early medieval period eventually led to the First Crusade, which began an extended period of conflict. Control over Galilee and Nazareth shifted frequently during this time, with corresponding impact on the religious makeup of the population.
In 1099 AD, the Anglo-Norman Crusader Tancred captured Galilee and established his capital in Nazareth. The ancient diocese of Scythopolis was also relocated under the Archbishop of Nazareth. The town returned to Muslim control in 1187 AD following the victory of Saladin in the Battle of Hattin.
Christian control of the area resumed in 1229 AD as part of the events of the Sixth Crusade, but ended in 1263 AD with the destruction of all Christian buildings by the Sultan Baibars and the expulsion of the Christian population until Fakhr-al-Din II permitted their return in 1620 AD.
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1947-1948
The 1947 UN Partition Plan placed Nazareth near the southern border within the northernmost portion of the proposed Arab State. At the start of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, the attacking armies crossed the international borders into territory of the proposed Jewish State from Lebanon in the north and Syria in the east. Nazareth was not directly involved in any fighting before the first truce on June 11, although troops from the Arab Liberation Army entered the area. During the ten days of fighting which occurred between the first and second truce, Nazareth capitulated July 16 to Israeli troops during Operation Dekel, 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. A few hours later Chaim Laskov gave order to Dunkelman to evacuate the civilian population of Nazareth. Dunkelman refused to obey these orders. In sharp contrast to the surrounding towns, the Arab inhabitants in Nazareth were therefore never forced to evacuate.[7] However, the influx of Muslim Arab refugees from the surrounding villages and towns changed the population of Nazareth from having a Christian majority to having a Muslim majority.
Religious Shrines
Nazareth is home to many churches which are its chief tourist attractions. The most important commemorate biblical events.
The Church of the Annunciation is the largest Christian church building 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).
The Greek Orthodox Church constructed St. Gabriel's Church at an alternative site for the Annunciation.
The Melkite Greek Catholic Church owns the Synagogue Church, which is located at the traditional site of the synagogue where Jesus preached (Luke 4)
The Church of St. Joseph's Carpentry occupies 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.
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A contrary view
Some historians have called the city's traditional association with the life of Jesus into question, suggesting instead that what was originally a title was corrupted (Nazarene) into the name of his hometown (alternately, Nazara or Nazaret or Nazareth). Alfred Loisy, for example, in The Birth of Christianity argues that Iesous Nazarene meant not "from Nazareth", but rather that his title was "Nazarene."
Frank Zindler, managing editor of the American Atheist Press, has asserted that Nazareth did not exist in the first century.[12] His arguments include the following:
Nazareth is not mentioned in any historical records or biblical texts of the time and receives no mention by any contemporary historian.
Nazareth is not mentioned in the Old Testament, the Talmud, nor in the Apocrypha and it does not appear in any early rabbinic literature.
Nazareth was not included in the list of settlements of the tribes of Zebulon (Joshua 19:10-16) which mentions twelve towns and six villages
Nazareth is not included among the 45 cities of Galilee that were mentioned by Josephus (37AD-100AD).
Nazareth is also missing from the 63 towns of Galilee mentioned in the Talmud.
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References
^ Mariam Shahin (2005). Palestine: A Guide.. Interlink Books..
^ Goring-Morris, A.N. “The quick and the dead: the social context of Aceramic Neolithic mortuary practices as seen from Kfar HaHoresh.” In: I. Kuijt (ed.), Social Configurations of the Near Eastern Neolithic: Community Identity, Hierarchical Organization, and Ritual(1997).
^ Pre-Christian Rituals at Nazareth. Archaeology: A Publication of the Archaeological Institute of America (November/December 2003).
^ Alexandre, Y. “Archaeological Excavations at Mary’s Well, Nazareth,” Israel Antiquities Authority bulletin, May 1, 2006.
^ Cook, Jonathon (22 October 2003). Is This Where Jesus Bathed?. The Guardian.
^ Cook, Jonathan. (17 December 2002.). Under Nazareth, Secrets in Stone.. International Herald Tribune..
^ Peretz Kidron (1988). Blaming the Victims. Verso Books.
^ Final Bar on Controversial Nazareth Mosque. Catholic World News (March 4, 2002).
^ Nazareth mosque will not be built next to the Basilica of the Annunciation. Israel Insider (March 4, 2002).
^ Thousands of Israeli Arabs protest attack. USA Today (March 4, 2006).
^ Rocket attacks kill two Israeli Arab children. Reuters (July 19, 2006).
^ Zindler, F. "Where Jesus Never Walked," American Atheist, Winter 1996-97, pp. 33-42.
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External links
Nazareth Official City Website
The History of the Ancient Near East
Jewish Encyclopedia
"Nazareth: the town that theology built": A highly critical view of archaeology at Nazareth.
Easton's Bible Dictionary 1897
W.R.F. Browning, Oxford Dictionary of the Bible
Nazareth Village: A Recreation of First Century Life in Nazareth
Excavation and Research at the Nazareth Village Farm
The New Official site of Nazareth City