1. Nazareth The Hometown of Jesus
This presentation begins with general views and continues with traditional locations now marked by church buildings.
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The Hometown of Jesus

2. Pictorial Library Vol. 1: Galilee and the North
This map is intended to help users locate the places which appear in the photographs in this presentation. The map therefore does not represent or label every geographic feature, and the sites are a mixture of modern and ancient place names.
Pictorial Library Vol. 1: Galilee and the North

3. Nazareth aerial from northeast
Nazareth: Introduction
Situated inside a depression atop the ridge north of the Jezreel Valley, Nazareth was a relatively isolated village in the time of Jesus. It is estimated that the village’s population was less than two hundred.
Though relatively isolated in the hill country, Nazareth was not far from the International Highway and the district capital of Galilee, Sepphoris.
Today Nazareth is home to more than 60,000 Israeli Arabs, and Nazareth Illit (“Upper Nazareth”) is home to thousands of Jewish residents.
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Nazareth aerial from northeast

4. Nazareth downtown aerial from north
Nazareth in the Sources
Historical sources provide little information regarding Nazareth.
Nazareth is not mentioned in the Old Testament.
Josephus mentions 45 towns in Galilee, but Nazareth is not among them.
The Talmud mentions 63 towns in Galilee, but Nazareth is not one of them either.
Outside of the New Testament, no literary sources mention Nazareth until the 4th century AD. After the 4th century, a number of priestly families were known to have lived in the village.
Archaeological excavations have confirmed that the city was only a small agricultural village during the Hellenistic and Roman periods.
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5. Nazareth Church of Annunciation aerial
Nazareth in Scripture
The town of Nazareth was the boyhood home of Jesus (Luke 2:51, 52).
Jesus’ sermon in Nazareth resulted in rejection. In anger, the city’s inhabitants drove him to the hill on which the town was built and tried to throw him over. In regard to this, Jesus noted that “no prophet is welcome in his hometown” (Luke 4:16-30).
Jesus visited Nazareth at least once more in His lifetime, but he did no works here because of the unbelief of the people (Matt 13:53-58; Mark 6:1-6).
Jesus moved from Nazareth to Capernaum at the beginning of his ministry. Some possible reasons for this move include:
His rejection by the people of Nazareth.
The larger population centers along the shores of the Sea of Galilee; Capernaum was itself located on a prominent route.
This was a fulfillment of Isaiah 9:1-2.
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6. Nazareth from south Archaeology
Archaeological evidence suggests that not more than 200 people resided in Nazareth during the first century AD.
The town itself was small, and tombs have been found along the outskirts of the city indicating the limits of the inhabited areas.
Extant remains at Nazareth from the 1st century AD consist mainly of cisterns, silos and tombs cut from rock. tb

7. Nazareth from south tb

8. Sheep grazing near Nazarethtb
Sheep grazing near Nazareth

9. Nazareth from northeasttb
Nazareth from northeast

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Nazareth from south

11. Nazareth Church of Annunciation from south
The Church of Annunciation
The Church of Annunciation is a Franciscan Catholic church built in the 1960s over the remains of older structures which date back to AD 356.
The previous Byzantine church was supposedly built on the site of Mary’s house, specifically where Gabriel announced the birth of Jesus to the virgin Mary; thus, this is called the Church of the “Annunciation” (announcement).
This is the largest church building in the Middle East. tb
Nazareth Church of Annunciation from south

12. Nazareth Church of the Annunciation facadetb

13. Nazareth Church of Annunciation facadetb
Nazareth Church of Annunciation facade

14. Nazareth Church of the Annunciationtb

15. Nazareth Church of Annunciationtb

16. Nazareth Church of the Annunciation doorstb
Nazareth Church of the Annunciation doors

17. Nazareth Church of the Annunciation upper leveltb

18. Nazareth Church of the Annunciation upper leveltb

19. Nazareth Church of the Annunciation upper level
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Nazareth Church of the Annunciation upper level

20. Nazareth Church of Annunciation interior
Pilgrim Accounts
In the year 384, a Christian pilgrim by the name of Egeria was shown “a big and very splendid cave” where Mary was said to have lived.
The pilgrim from Piacenza (AD 570) described his visit to Nazareth: “We traveled on to the city of Nazareth, where many miracles take place. In the synagogue there is kept the book in which the Lord wrote his ABC, and in this synagogue is the bench on which he sat with other children. Christians can lift the bench and move it about, but the Jews are completely unable to move it, and cannot drag it outside. The house of Saint Mary is now a basilica, and her clothes are the cause of frequent miracles. The Jewesses of that city are better looking than any other Jewesses in the whole country. They declare that this is Saint Mary’s gift to them, for they also say that she was a relation of theirs” (Murphy-O’Connor 1998: 375).
A certain man called Joseph of Tiberias, who was a Jew converted to Christianity, seems to be the builder of the first church in Nazareth at the site of the annunciation. He was granted this privilege by Emperor Constantine. There have been other reports, however, that suggest that even under this early Byzantine church, other religious structures were present. Based on their style and structure, these buildings appear to date from the 3rd century and could represent a Jewish-Christian synagogue. Some have suggested that this was the place of the synagogue of Luke 4:16. “And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read” (NASB). tb

21. Nazareth Church of Annunciation interiortb

22. Nazareth Church of the Annunciation grottotb

23. Nazareth Church of the Annunciation grottotb

24. Nazareth Church of the Annunciation grottotb

25. Nazareth Church of the Annunciation ancient village excavations
The remains seen here include a 5th century church. The church’s grounds included the 4th century synagogue that preceded it. When the church was built, a related monastery was also constructed. tb

26. Nazareth Church of the Annunciation Byzantine church-synagogue excavations
Archaeologists uncovered here remains of a 4th century synagogue, with a style similar to other synagogues from this period in Galilee. Like the other Galilean synagogues, this one was oriented south towards Jerusalem. tb

27. Mary statue at Nazareth Church of the Annunciationtb

28. Nazareth sarcophagus outside Annunciation Churchtb

29. Nazareth Church of the Annunciation Byzantine mosaicstb

30. Basalt door at Nazareth Church of the Annunciation
This basalt door is similar to those found in the Roman cemetery of Gadara, southeast of the Sea of Galilee. tb

31. Nazareth Church of St Joseph sanctuary
The Church of St. Joseph was constructed in 1914 on top of a church from the 12th century. This place, according to tradition, was named the “House of Joseph” and the “Carpentry Shop of Joseph.” tb

32. Nazareth Church of St Joseph crypt with basin
This was probably a Jewish ritual bath, or mikvah. It contains seven stairs and a basin with which to wash. The bath was likely built before the 4th century AD synagogue since it does not cohere with the orientation of the synagogue. tb

33. Nazareth Greek Orthodox Church of Annunciation
The Greek Orthodox Church of the Anunciation
The Greek Orthodox church was built over the town’s original water source. The spring, located in the church, fed Mary’s fountain. The church is also known as the Church of St. Gabriel.
The original church was built here in AD 356, and its location was based on a reference in the 2nd century AD work, the Protoevangelium of James.
The present church was built in 1750 and has elaborate Byzantine-style paintings and decorations. tb
Nazareth Greek Orthodox Church of Annunciation

34. Known historically as the Virgin’s Fountain, Mary’s Well was, according to one tradition, the place where she received the announcement of her pregnancy. The spring does not originate at this spot but its water flows to this place, where it has been used by residents for centuries.
Mark Twain visited this site on his tour of the Holy Land. He wrote, “This ‘Fountain of the Virgin’ is the one which tradition says Mary used to get water from twenty times a day, when she was a girl, and bear it away in a jar upon her head. The water streams through faucets in the face of a wall of ancient masonry which stands removed from the houses of the village. The young girls of Nazareth still collect about it by the dozen and keep up a riotous laughter and skylarking” (Twain 1869: 394). tb
Nazareth Mary's Well

35. Nazareth Mount of Precipitation from west panorama
This hill is identified in modern times as the place from which Jesus was nearly thrown by the angry Nazareth mob. Since the town was built against the northern slope and not upon this hill on the south side, it is unlikely that this hill was the location of that event.
Luke 4:28-30 (KJV) “And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong. But he passing through the midst of them went his way.” tb

36. Nazareth Mount of Precipitation from west
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Nazareth Mount of Precipitation from west

37. Nazareth Mount of Precipitation from west
Helpful Sources
Murphy-O’Connor, Jerome.
2008 The Holy Land, 5th ed. Oxford: Oxford University.
Twain, Mark.
1869 The Innocents Abroad. Hartford: American Publishing.
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Nazareth Mount of Precipitation from west