Spirituality

Has Jesus' house been found in Nazareth ?

By T.K. Randall
March 2, 2015

Image: Jesus Christ Figure in London
Credit: WbgArchives / CC BY-SA 3.0 (adapted) The house, which was discovered in 1880 by nuns at the Sisters of Nazareth convent, is cut in to a rocky hillside in Nazareth, the city in which Jesus was thought to have been raised by Mary and Joseph.

It wasn't until 2006 however that archaeologists were able to reveal that the building, which dates all the way back to the 1st century, was the one believed to have been Jesus' childhood home by the people who lived in the region for hundreds of years afterwards.

The Byzantines, who remained in control of Jerusalem up until the 7th century, took steps to improve and preserve the building by decorating it with mosaics and constructing a church above it.When the Crusaders arrived in the 12th century they also appeared to have recognized its significance and made efforts to fix the church which at the time had fallen in to disrepair.

Whether or not Jesus really did grow up in the house however remains something of a mystery.

"Was this the house where Jesus grew up ? It is impossible to say on archaeological grounds," said Professor Ken Dark at the University of Reading. "On the other hand, there is no good archaeological reason why such an identification should be discounted."

Source: Live Science

Tags: Jesus, House, Nazareth