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Nazareth

Coordinates: 32°42′07″N 35°18′12″E / 32.70194°N 35.30333°E / 32.70194; 35.30333
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Template:Infobox Israel municipality

Nazareth (/ˈnæzərəθ/; Template:Lang-he-n, Natzrat or Natzeret, Template:Lang-ar an-Nāṣira or an-Naseriyye) is the capital and largest city in the North District of Israel. It is the most important city for Israel's Arab citizens who make up the majority of Nazareth's population.[1] 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 associations.

Etymology

See also: Gennesaret (Ya-Nezareth)

The etymology of Nazareth from as early as Eusebius up until the 20th century has been said to derive from the Hebrew word נצר netser, meaning a "shoot" or "sprout", while the apocryphal Gospel of Phillip derives the name from Nazara meaning "truth".[2] There is speculation and biblical indication that Nazarene meaning "of the village of Nazareth", was confused with "Nazir," meaning a "separated" Jew who had taken an ascetic vow of holiness.[citation needed]

Geography and population

Map showing the North District of Israel
A Nazareth neighborhood at sunset

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).[3] It is located between hills that form the most southerly points of the Lebanon mountain range.[4] 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.[5]

History

Earliest history & archaeological evidence

Archaeological research has revealed a funerary and cult center at Kfar HaHoresh, about two miles (3 km) from Nazareth, dating back roughly 9000 years (to what is known as the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B era).[6] 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.[7]

Chad Emmet authored a sociological study on modern Nazareth entitled "Beyond the Basilica: Christians and Muslims in Nazareth." This book attempts to "better understand how Christians and Muslims have managed to live together for centuries in relative peace in a region known for its ethnic and religious conflicts, and to determine to what degree they have remained segregated in religious-based quarters."[8] Emmett claims that archaeological excavations in the vicinity of the present-day Basilica of the Annunciation and St. Joseph have revealed 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).[8] However, excavations conducted prior to 1931 in the Franciscan venerated area revealed "no trace of a Greek or Roman settlement" there,[9] and according to studies written between 1955 and 1990, no demonstrable archaeological evidence from Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian, Hellenistic or Early Roman times have been found.[10][11] Bagatti, the principal archaeologist at the venerated sites in Nazareth, unearthed quantities of later Roman and Byzantine artifacts,[12] attesting to unambiguous human presence there from the 2nd century AD onward.

Emmett also claims that "homes and tombs built of stone masonry with back rooms of natural or rock-hewn caves were also found that date to the Roman era (63 BC to 324 AD)."[13] However, this familiar claim that the Nazarenes were troglodytes (cave dwellers) seems improbable, for according to certain modern Jewish scholars "the caves of Galilee are wet or damp from December to May, and can only be used during the summer and autumn."[14]

The Church of the Annunciation

Finally, Emmett writes that "In light of the archaeological data, there is speculation that Nazareth's first inhabitants could have been Canaanites, then Israelites and Galilean Jews."[13] Indeed, the Bronze-Iron Age inhabitants must have been Canaanites (pre-Israelite inhabitants of the land), but lack of archaeological evidence from Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian, Hellenistic or Early Roman times (see above), at least in the major excavations between 1955 and 1990, shows that Israelite presence in the basin is unsubstantiated.

Many writers suppose that ancient Nazareth was built on the hillside, as required by scripture: [And they led Jesus] "to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw him down headlong" (Gospel of Luke 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.[15] Bagatti has shown that this area was, however, clearly used for tombs and agricultural work in the Bronze and Iron Ages, as well as in Middle and Late Roman times.[16]

The inside of St Joseph's Church

In the mid-1990s, shopkeeper Elias Shama discovered tunnels under his shop near Mary's Well in Nazareth. The tunnels were eventually recognized as a hypocaust (a space below the floor into which warm air was pumped) for a bathhouse. The surrounding site was excavated in 1997-98 by Y. Alexandre, and the archaeological remains exposed were ascertained to date from the Roman, Crusader, Mamluk and Ottoman periods.[17][18][19][20]

A tablet currently 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.”[21] 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."[22] 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."[23] The critical question now under scholarly and polemical (atheist and Christian) debate is when exactly and at what stage in the Roman period Nazareth came into existence, that is, whether settlement there began before or after 70 AD (the First Jewish War).[24] Noteworthy is that all the post-Iron Age tombs in the Nazareth basin (approximately two dozen) are of the kokh or later types. The kokh (pl. kokhim) tomb consisted of burial shafts radiating from a central chamber. This type probably first appeared in Galilee in the middle of the first century AD.[25] Kokh tombs in the Nazareth area have been excavated by B. Bagatti, N. Feig, Z. Yavor, and noted by Z. Gal.[26]

New Testament times and associations

St. Mary's Well - This shrine, commemorating the Virgin Mary, is a symbol of Nazareth located at an ancient spring dating from New Testament times.

According to Luke, 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 where Jesus allegedly grew up from some point in his childhood. In the Gospel of Matthew, Joseph and Mary settle in Nazareth after returning to Israel from Egypt.[27] However, some modern scholars argue that Nazareth may be, in fact, where Jesus was born.[28][29][30]

In John 1:46, Nathaniel asks, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" 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, for it did not believe in Jesus and “he could do no mighty work there” (Gospel of Mark 6:5). In all four gospels we read the famous saying, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house” (Gospel of Matthew 13:57; Mk 6:4; Lk 4:24; Gospel of John 4:44). In one passage the Nazarenes even attempt to kill Jesus by throwing him off a cliff (Lk 4:29). Many scholars since W. Wrede (in 1901)[31] have noted the so-called "Messianic secret", whereby Jesus' true nature and mission were unseen by many, including by his inner circle of disciples (Mk 8:27-33; cf. only those to whom the Father reveals Jesus will be saved, Jn.6:65; 17:6, 9, etc.). 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 fact that "even his brothers did not believe in him" (Jn 7:5).

Besides the absence of textual references to Nazareth in the Hebrew Bible and also in the later Talmud, as well as the works of Flavius Josephus, non-biblical textual references to Nazareth do not occur 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.”[32] This curious description does not fit the traditional location of Nazareth in Lower Galilee.[33] In the same passage Africanus writes of desposunoi, or relatives of Jesus, who he claims “kept the records of their descent with great care.” Later texts referring to Nazareth include one from the tenth century that writes of a certain martyr named Conon who died in Pamphylia under Decius (249-251), and 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."[34] This Conon has been claimed by Joan Taylor to be "legendary".[35]

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 (kohanim) family of Hapizzez was residing after Bar Kokhba's revolt (132-135 AD).[36] 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 11;12), with each course (or family) assigned its proper order and the name of each town or village in Galilee where it settled. An interesting aspect of this inscription is that the name for Nazareth is not spelled with the "z" sound (as one would expect from the Greek gospels) but with the Hebrew tsade (thus "Nasareth" or "Natsareth").[37] Eleazar Kalir (a Hebrew Galilean poet variously dated from the sixth to tenth century A.D.) also 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 clan or 'priestly course', Happitzetz הפצץ, for at least several centuries following the Bar Kochva revolt.

Nazareth in 1842

Epiphanius writes in the Panarion (c. 375 AD)[38] of a certain elderly Count Joseph of Tiberias, a wealthy imperial Roman Jew who converted to Christianity in the time of Constantine. Count Joseph claimed that as a young man he built churches in Sepphoris and other towns that were inhabited only by Jews.[39] Nazareth is mentioned, though the exact meaning is not clear.[40] In any case, Joan Taylor writes: "It is now possible to conclude that there existed in Nazareth, from the first part of the fourth century, a small and unconventional church which encompassed a cave complex."[41] The town was Jewish until the seventh century AD.[42]

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 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 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."[43]

Nazareth as depicted in a postcard by Fadil Saba

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 fourth century, but latent anti-Christian hostility broke out in 614 AD when the Persians invaded Palestine. At that time, the Jewish residents of Nazareth helped the Persians slaughter the Christians in the land.[44] When the Byzantine or Eastern Roman emperor Heraclius ejected the Persians from Palestine in 630 AD, he singled out Nazareth for special punishment and imposed forced exile upon the Jewish families. At this time the town ceased to be Jewish.

Contrary views regarding Jesus at Nazareth

Some historians have called into question the traditional association of Nazareth with the life of the historical Jesus. Instead, they suggest that what was known of Jesus in his own time as a title, that is, (‘Nazarene’, or even, perhaps, 'Nazarite'), was, in later times, corrupted into a cognomen of place; thereby, in effect --and apparently by design, see below-- assigning Nazareth to him as his hometown. Alfred Loisy, for example, in The Birth of the Christian Religion, argues that Iesous Nazarene meant not Jesus "from Nazareth", but rather that his title was "Nazarene."[45]

The meaning of the term "Nazarene" is much debated. Matthew 2:23 says of Iesous (Jesus), "And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazoraios (Nazarene)." However, in the Hebrew scriptures there is no equivalent to Nazoraios/Nazarene; nor is there any reference to a city of 'Nazareth'. Also, linking the word "Nazarene" to the name "Nazareth" is linguistically problematic. [46] Prof. Michael L. Brown, author of "Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus" (Vol. 4, Baker Books, 2006) says that Matthew arrived at the word "Nazarene" through a play on words. Professor Brown elaborates that the text used by Matthew was the one in Isaiah 11:1 which says, "A shoot will come from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit." The word for "Branch" in Hebrew is "netser" thus explaining the inclusion of this text in the Gospel of Matthew. In any case, early Jesus-followers were certainly known as "Nazarenes" or by some closely related term (cf. Acts 24:5). Though some scholars attempt to link "Nazarene" to "Nazirite" (a person who had taken a vow of holiness and thus was 'separated out' from the masses), the Gospel portrait of Jesus is hardly that of the ascetic Jewish Nazirite who abstains from alcohol and avoids corpses.

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.”[47] Strange - supposing the existence of a settlement - originally guessed Nazareth’s population 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.”[48] Some have argued that the absence of textual references to Nazareth in the Old Testament and the Talmud, as well as the works of Josephus, suggest that a town called 'Nazareth' did not exist in Jesus' day.[49]

Frank Zindler, editor of American Atheist Magazine, has asserted that Nazareth did not exist in the first century.[50] His arguments include the following:

  • No "ancient historians or geographers mention [Nazareth] before the beginning of the fourth century [AD]."[51]
  • 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 Zebulun (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.

Zindler's view is historically possible if Nazareth came into existence at about the same time --or at least not long before-- the New Testament gospels were being written and redacted. For those gospel writers who do mention Nazareth, most scholars place their work between the two Jewish-Roman wars (70 AD-132 AD), which is also the earliest possible dating for the Roman (kokh-type) tombs in the Nazareth basin (see "Earliest history & archaeological evidence" above).

Islamic rule

Nazareth women as depicted in an old postcard.

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 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 AD following the victory of Saladin in the Battle of Hattin. Five Romanesque capitals carved by French artisans were probably buried at this time. They had never been in use and were unearthed in 1909 in excellent condition and placed in a small museum in the Church of the Annunciation.[citation needed]

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.[citation needed]

Modern era

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 resistance 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.

Preparations for the Pope's visit to Nazareth in 2000 triggered highly publicized tensions related to the Basilica of the Annunciation. The 1997 permission for construction of a paved plaza to handle the expected thousands of Christian pilgrims caused Muslim protests and occupation of the proposed site, which is considered the grave of a nephew of Saladin. This site used to be the home of a school built during the Ottoman rule. The school was named al-Harbyeh (in Arabic means military), and many elderly people in Nazareth still remember it as the school site, nevertheless, the same site still contains,the Shihab-Eddin shrine, along with several shops owned by the waqf (Muslim community ownership). The school building continued to serve as a government school until it was demolished to allow for the plaza to be built.

Israeli Arab children play on the streets of Nazareth

The initial argument between the different political factions in town (represented in the local council), was on where the borders of the shrine and shops starts and where it ends. The initial government approval of subsequent plans for a large mosque to be constructed at the site led to protests from Christian leaders worldwide, which continued after the papal visit. Finally, in 2002, a special government commission permanently halted construction of the mosque.[52][53] In March 2006, public protests that followed the disruption of a Lenten prayer service by an Israeli Jew and his Christian wife and daughter, who detonated incendiary devices inside the church,[54] succeeded in dismantling a temporary wall that had been erected around the public square that had been constructed but had yet to be unveiled, putting an end to the entire controversy.

On 19 July 2006 a rocket fired by Hezbollah as part of the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict killed two children in Nazareth. No holy sites were damaged.[55]

In 2007, a group of Christian businessmen declared plans to build the largest cross in the world (60 m high) in Nazareth as the childhood town of Jesus.[56]

Demographics

According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, Nazareth had a population of approximately 65,000 in 2005. The vast majority of its residents are Arab citizens of Israel, 31.3% of whom are Christians and 68.7% of whom are Muslims.[57] Nazareth forms a metropolitan area with the Arab local councils of Yafa an-Naseriyye to the south, Reineh, Mashhad and Kafr Kanna to the north, Iksal and the adjacent city of Nazareth Illit to the east which has a population of 40,000 Jews and Ilut to the west. Together, the Nazareth metropolis area has a population of approximately 185,000 of which over 125,000 are Israeli Arabs.[58]

Politics

Being a majority-Arab town, local politics in Nazareth has historically been dominated by Arab parties, especially leftist ones. Long-term Mayor Tawfiq Ziad was a founding member of the current incarnation of Maki, the Communist Party of Israel, and current Mayor Ramiz Jaraisy is a protege of Ziad's. Coincidentally, within the Palestinian territories, Bethlehem is a stronghold of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, making both towns left-wing strongholds.

Religious shrines

The minaret of the White Mosque and the clock tower next to the Basilica of the Annunciation as seen from Nazareth's Old Market

Nazareth is home to many centuries old churches, most of which are located in the city's Old Market, (Template:Lang-ar, Al-sūq al-qadīmī).

There are also a number of mosques in Nazareth, the oldest of which is the White Mosque.

Sport

The city's main football club, Ahi Nazareth, currently plays in Liga Leumit. 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:

See also

References

  1. ^ Laurie King-Irani (Spring, 1996). "Review of "Beyond the Basilica: Christians and Muslims in Nazareth"". Journal of Palestine Studies. pp. 103–105. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |journal= (help)
  2. ^ GosPh 56.12; 62.8, 15; 66.14. See J. Robinson (ed.), The Nag Hammadi Library in English, Harper & Row 1977, pp. 131-151.
  3. ^ Map Survey of Palestine, 1946. 1:5,000 OCLC: 17193107. Also, Chad Fife Emmett (1995). Beyond the Basilica:Christians and Muslims in Nazareth. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0226207110.Fig. 11, 31.
  4. ^ Mariam Shahin (2005). Palestine: A Guide. Interlink Books. p. 171.
  5. ^ In order from south to north, these ranges (ridges) are the Nazareth, Tir'an, Yodfat, Shezor, and Mount Haluz. The valleys between them are the Tir'an, Bet Netofa, Saknin, and Bet Ha-Kerem. See E. Orni and E. Efrat, Geography of Israel (Jerusalem, 1964).
  6. ^ 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).
  7. ^ "Pre-Christian Rituals at Nazareth". Archaeology: A Publication of the Archaeological Institute of America. November/December 2003. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ^ a b Chad Fife Emmett (1995). Beyond the Basilica:Christians and Muslims in Nazareth. University of Chicago Press. xvi. ISBN 0226207110. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |nopp= ignored (|no-pp= suggested) (help) Cite error: The named reference "Emmett15" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  9. ^ R. Tonneau, Revue Biblique XL (1931), p. 556. Reaffirmed by C. Kopp (op. cit.,1938, p. 188).
  10. ^ C. Kopp, "Beiträge zur Geschichte Nazareths". Journal of the Palestine Oriental Society, vol. 18 (1938), p. 188. F. Fernandez, Ceramica Comun Romana de la Galilea. Madrid: Ed. Biblia y Fe, 1983, p. 63. N. Feig, "Burial Caves in Nazareth", ‘Atiqot 10 (1990), pp. 67-79 (Hebrew).
  11. ^ B. Bagatti, "Ritrovamenti nella Nazaret evangelica". Liber Annuus 1955, pp. 5-6, 23. B. Bagatti, "Nazareth", Dictionnaire de la Bible, Supplement VI. Paris: Letouzey et Ané, 1960, col. 318. Bagatti, B. Excavations in Nazareth Jerusalem: Franciscan Printing Press, vol. 1 (1969), pp. 254, 319. “Nazareth” in Encyclopedia Judaica, New York: Macmillan, 1972, col. 900.
  12. ^ B. Bagatti, Excavations in Nazareth, vol. 1 (1969), pp. 272-310.
  13. ^ a b Chad Fife Emmett (1995). Beyond the Basilica:Christians and Muslims in Nazareth. University of Chicago Press. p. 16. ISBN 0226207110.
  14. ^ M. Aviam, Jews, Christians and Pagans in the Galilee. Rochester: University Press, 2004, p. 90.
  15. ^ B. Bagatti, Excavations in Nazareth, Plate XI, top right.
  16. ^ B. Bagatti, Excavations in Nazareth, pp. 237-310.
  17. ^ Alexandre, Y. “Archaeological Excavations at Mary’s Well, Nazareth,” Israel Antiquities Authority bulletin, May 1, 2006.
  18. ^ Cook, Jonathon (22 October 2003). "Is This Where Jesus Bathed?". The Guardian.
  19. ^ Cook, Jonathan. (17 December 2002.). "Under Nazareth, Secrets in Stone". International Herald Tribune. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help); Check date values in: |date= (help)
  20. ^ Shama-Sostar, Martina (12 August 2008). "The Ancient Bath House in Nazareth".
  21. ^ Bagatti, B. Excavations in Nazareth, vol. 1 (1969), p. 249.
  22. ^ C. Kopp, “Beiträge zur Geschichte Nazareths.” Journal of the Palestine Oriental Society, vol. 18 (1938), p. 206, n.1.
  23. ^ The Archaeology of the New Testament, Princeton University Press: Princeton, 1992: pages 44-46.
  24. ^ Zindler, F. "Where Jesus Never Walked," American Atheist, Winter 1996-97, p. 35. [1]
  25. ^ H.P. Kuhnen, "Palaestina in Griechisch-Roemischer Zeit," (Muenchen, C. Beck, 1990, pp. 254-55).
  26. ^ Gal, Z. Lower Galilee During the Iron Age (American Schools of Oriental Research, Eisenbrauns, 1992) p. 15; Yavor, Z. 1998 "Nazareth", ESI 18. Pp. 32 (English), 48; Feig, N. 1990 "Burial Caves at Nazareth", 'Atiqot 10 (Hebrew series). Pp. 67-79.
  27. ^ Matthew 1:18–2:23
  28. ^ John P. Meier, A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus: The Roots of the Problem and the Person, Vol. 1, Doubleday 1991, page 216.
  29. ^ Bart D. Ehrman, Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium, Oxford University Press, 1999, page 97.
  30. ^ E. P. Sanders, The Historical Figure of Jesus, Penguin 1993, page 85.
  31. ^ W. Wrede, Das Messiasgeheimnis in der Evangelien(1901), English translation, The Messianic Secret, Cambridge: J. Clarke, 1971
  32. ^ "A few of the careful, however, having obtained private records of their own, either by remembering the names or by getting them in some other way from the registers, pride themselves on preserving the memory of their noble extraction. Among these are those already mentioned, called Desposyni, on account of their connection with the family of the Saviour. Coming from Nazara and Cochaba, villages of Judea, into other parts of the world, they drew the aforesaid genealogy from memory and from the book of daily records as faithfully as possible." (Eusebius Pamphili, Church History, Book I, Chapter VII,§ 14)
  33. ^ Several possible Cochabas have been identified: one fifteen kilometers north of Nazareth (on the other side of Sepphoris); one in the region of Bashan (to the East of the Jordan River); and two near Damascus. See J. Taylor, Christians and the Holy Places. Oxford: 1993, pp. 36-38 (with map).
  34. ^ Clemens Kopp, Die heiligen Stätten der Evangelien [The Holy Places of the Gospels]. Regensburg: Friedrich Pustet, 1959, p. 90.
  35. ^ Joan Taylor, Christians and the Holy Places. Oxford: 1993, p. 243.
  36. ^ It is often supposed that the Hapizzes went to Nazareth after the First Jewish Revolt (70 AD), but R. Horsley has pointed out that "the date of resettlement may well be well into the second (or even the third) century [AD]." History and Society in Galilee, 1996, p. 110. It was in 131 AD that the Roman Emperor Hadrian forbade Jews to reside in Jerusalem (then Aelia Capitolina, held by pagan Romans), thus forcing them elsewhere.
  37. ^ M. Avi-Yonah. "A List of Priestly Courses from Caesarea." Israel Exploration Journal 12 (1962):138.
  38. ^ Pan. I.136. Panarion in Greek. The text was translated into Latin with the title Adversus Haereses.
  39. ^ Pan. 30.4.3; 30.7.1.
  40. ^ Compare Pan.30.11.10 and 30.12.9. (Migne Patrologia Graeco-Latina vol. 41:426-427; Williams, F. The Panarion of Epiphanius of Salamis, Book I. E. J. Brill 1987, pp. 128-29).
  41. ^ Taylor, J. Christians and the Holy Places. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993, p. 265.
  42. ^ Taylor 229, 266; Kopp 1938:215.
  43. ^ P. Geyer, Itinera Hierosolymitana saeculi, Lipsiae: G. Freytag, 1898: page 161.
  44. ^ C. Kopp, “Beiträge zur Geschichte Nazareths.” Journal of the Palestine Oriental Society, vol. 18 (1938), p. 215. Kopp is citing the Byzantine writer Eutychius (Eutychii Annales in Migne's Patrologia Graeca vol. 111 p. 1083).
  45. ^ Loisy, Alfred. The Birth of the Christian Religion. London: George Allen & Unwin. p. 413. OCLC 2037483. Retrieved 2007-12-24. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  46. ^ See "Nazarenos, Nazoraios" in G. Kittel, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, pp. 875 ff.
  47. ^ Article "Nazareth" in the Anchor Bible Dictionary. New York: Doubleday, 1992.
  48. ^ E. Meyers & J. Strange, Archaeology, the Rabbis, & Early Christianity Nashville: Abingdon, 1981; Article “Nazareth” in the Anchor Bible Dictionary. New York: Doubleday, 1992.
  49. ^ T. Cheyne, “Nazareth.” Encyclopedia Biblica. London: Adam and Charles Black, 1899, Col. 3360. R. Eisenman, James the Brother of Jesus. New York: Penguin Books, 1997, p. 952. F. Zindler, The Jesus the Jews Never Knew New Jersey: American Atheist Press, 2003, pp. 1-2.
  50. ^ Zindler, F. "Where Jesus Never Walked", American Atheist, Winter 1996-97, pp. 33-42.[2]
  51. ^ Zindler, F. "Where Jesus Never Walked," American Atheist, Winter 1996-97, p. 34.[3]
  52. ^ "Final Bar on Controversial Nazareth Mosque". Catholic World News. March 4, 2002.
  53. ^ "Nazareth mosque will not be built next to the Basilica of the Annunciation". Israel Insider. March 4, 2002.
  54. ^ "Thousands of Israeli Arabs protest attack". USA Today. March 4, 2006.
  55. ^ "Rocket attacks kill two Israeli Arab children". Reuters. July 19, 2006.
  56. ^ Christian Today Magazine
  57. ^ http://www.cbs.gov.il/publications/local_authorities2005/pdf/207_7300.pdf
  58. ^ [4]Israeli localities with populations 1000+

32°42′07″N 35°18′12″E / 32.70194°N 35.30333°E / 32.70194; 35.30333