Jesus-era house unearthed in Nazareth

(December 22, 2009) Days before Christmas, archaeologists on Monday unveiled what they said were the remains of a house from the time of Jesus in Nazareth - the first discovery of its kind in the place where He grew up. Israel's Antiquities Authority did not draw any direct link between the Nazareth dwelling and Jesus. Christians believe that His mother Mary's childhood home was a cave over which Nazareth's imposing Church of the Annunciation now stands. The discovery was made during excavations linked to the construction of the International Marian Center of Nazareth, next to the Church of the Annunciation. Yardenna Alexandre, who directed a dig near the church, said it exposed the walls of a first-century house that consisted of two rooms and a courtyard. She said it reveals for the very first time a house from the Jewish village of Nazareth. "The building that we found,” she said, “is small and modest and it is most likely typical of the dwellings in Nazareth in that period." Nazareth, now Israel's largest Arab city with a population of some 65,000, holds a cherished place in Christianity. According to the Bible, it was in Nazareth that an angel told Mary she would be the Mother of God, Jesus, who was born in Bethlehem.