Most visitors to Nazareth will visit the beautiful Church of the Annunciation with its wonderful murals of the Virgin and Child. Nearby, is the Sisters of Nazareth Convent that is frequently visited by Catholic Pilgrim Group. In the “lower level” of the Sisters of Nazareth are the remains of archaeological excavations including an area that Ken Dark argues was the house of the family of Jesus in Nazareth!
View of the remains of a first century house that is preserved in the lower level of the Convent. Ken Dark believes that this might be the house in which Jesus grew up. Click on Image to Enlarge and/or Download.
“. . . the rock–cut doorway of the first–century house . . . . The combination of rock–built construction and quarried–rock construction can be seen clearly. The door opens to the ‘Chambre Obscure,’ another part of the original house structure partly cut out of the natural rock. The rock overhang in the corner is naturally occurring and was likely left in its current form to support the roof. In front of the doorway, a fragment of the original floor survives.” (Dark, p. 56)
Another view of the remains of a first century house that is preserved in the lower level of the Convent. Ken Dark believes that this might be the house in which Jesus grew up. Click on Image to Enlarge and/or Download.
The east side [on right side of image] of the structure originally had rock built walls, as this part of the house was built away from the naturally occurring rock cave. The visible wall was rebuilt in the Crusader period but may incorporate remains of the first–century A.D. wall. (Dark, p. 56)
View of the entrance to the Sisters of Nazareth Convent where first century, Byzantine, and Crusader remains have been found and preserved in the lower level of the Convent.
Dark, Ken. “Has Jesus’ Nazareth House Been Found?” Biblical Archaeological Review 41, no. 2 (March/April 2015): 54–63, 72.
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