House is discovered in Nazareth, where Jesus Christ lived

The archaeologists are almost certain that the ruins uncovered in Nazareth formerly were the home, where the Saviour grew up.

One of the rooms of the “Home of Jesus” researched by Dark

“Has the Childhood Home of Jesus Been Found?” — This is how a British archaeologist Professor Ken Dark of the University of Reading titled his article in the most recent issue of the scientific magazine Biblical Archaeological Review. He and his colleagues were conducting an extensive research on the excavation site in Nazareth – the town, where, according to the tradition, Jesus Christ was born. And now they claim: the ruins discovered here are the remains of the home, where Jesus spent his childhood.

One of the tombs next to the house

The scientists dated the structure back to the 1st century A.D. – at that time in Nazareth there were no more than fifty homes. The house is hewn into the limestone hillside, and it has a series of adjacent rooms. One of the original doorways has survived in it. Next to the house – on both sides – two tombs are located. The archaeologists have also uncovered some household utensils made out of limestone – the stone, which was recognised by the Jews as being pure.

The house is situated not far from the Church of Annunciation

Dark believes that the chances are very high that this is the very house where Virgin Mary and carpenter Joseph lived. First of all, as the Bible tells us, it was close to the place – the grotto, where Archangel Gabriel announced to Mary the coming birth of the Son of God. Now there is the Basilica of the Annunciation there.

A Medieval document with the map of buildings in Nazareth. It marks the site of the “home of Jesus”. The dwelling is shown right where it was discovered

Ruins of the church built over the “home of Jesus”

Secondly, the house fully matches the description, written down by the Byzantines back in high antiquity – in 670 A.D. And, lastly, a church has been erected above the house and the tombs. There must be a reason for it, too. This site must have been revered very much. The ruins of a Byzantine church have been also discovered.

The first – preliminary – excavations started here as early as 1880. In 1936, they were resumed. But the real research started only in 2006. And now, in 2015, it seems that it yielded some sensational results.

Another house, which was discovered nor far from the one researched by Dark, makes its claims to the title of the “home of Jesus.” In 2009, it was excavated by a group of Israeli archaeologists under Yardenna Alexandre from the Israel Antiquities Authority. There were two rooms in the house, a courtyard with a rock-hewn rainwater cistern, and a spacious crypt. The building was dated to the 1st century A.D. And when they announced their discovery, some hints were made that the house in question could be the home of the Saviour.

Of course, there is no direct evidence concerning which of the two houses – the one discovered by Alexandre, or the one excavated by Dark – was the dwelling place of Jesus’ family. But indirect evidences testify more in favour of the second one.

 V. Lagovskiy, Komsomolskaya pravda, 03.03.2015.