Nazareth (place)

Aptly explained in the above writeup by ephealy, Nazareth was the childhood home of Jesus and where he labored as a carpenter. Recently though, archaeological investigations within the city have yielded new insight into the city's cultural diversity and may even explain why it was held in contempt in the days of Christ. In the summer of 2003, forensic archaeologists and biblical scholars descended on a small souvenir shop owned by the family of a Christian Arab by the name of Elias Shama. It seems that in the previous years, Shama had been doing a little exploring in the basement of his shop. Shama discovered some 4 foot high passageways seperated by small brick columns all leading to a walled-off room. Inside here, underneath a white marble floor, were ash residues indicating the presence of a once functioning furnace. When Shama finally shared the news of these findings, many here-to-before uninterested parties became quite interested.

It seems these passageways, or tunnels, were the foundations of a very large Roman style bathhouse dating from the time of Christ. An expert on Holy Land digs, Professor Richard Freund, believes the significance of such findings "cannot be overstated."

I am sure that what we have here is a bathhouse from the time of Jesus and the consequences of that for archaeology, and for our knowledge of the life of Jesus, are enormous.

Further excavations even showed an older bathhouse under the one discovered by Shama. Radiocarbon dates have yet to be released but the presence of the underfloor system of heating channels and the "cold room" leave no doubt as to its usage and the stratigraphy leaves little doubt as to its proximity to the time of Christ.

These findings also change a historians view of the place and significance of Nazareth in the Roman Empire. Until now, Nazareth was perceived as a small and poor Jewish settlement where families lived in hillside caves. A village where Jesus would have had little or no contact with Romans or their culture until he parted as an adult. But the size of this giant bath, large enough to serve a large Roman garrison, leads scholars to believe that Nazareth may have been the "local hub of military control from Rome" instead of the previously perceived village of Sephori. This would indicate that Joseph, Mary, and Jesus actually lived in the "very heart of Roman military power" and would give Jesus the opportunity to be fully indoctrinated in Roman customs and to be understanding and tolerant of Roman culture.

Much lies in the balance here. Further excavation has been halted by both financial and political roadblocks, but some day Shama hopes to continue and possibly uncover trinkets and artifacts from where Jesus lived. His shop is close to collapsing due to the excavations on the bathhouse project but he remains optimistic in spite. Shama hopes one day, "to make the bathhouse of Jesus live again, just like it was 2000 years ago."