ARCHAEOLOGY OF JESUS’ NAZARETH A RCH A EOL OGY OF J E SUS’ NA Z A R ET H KEN DARK Great Clarendon Street, Oxford, ox2 6dp, United Kingdom Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide. Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries © Ken Dark 2023 The moral rights of the author have been asserted First Edition published in 2023 Impression: 1 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, by licence or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organization. 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Preface: Purpose, Sources, and References Nazareth— today a small city in the Galilee region of northern Israel— is most famous, of course, for being where the Gospels say that Jesus Christ grew up and lived in the early first century ad. It might be imagined that this would have attracted many archaeologists to work in Nazareth. But, in fact, Nazareth was largely neglected by archaeologists between the early 1970s and the start of my own work on its archaeology in 2004. This book is written to explain what, after eighteen years of research, I think we know, or can reasonably figure out, about early first- century Nazareth and its immediate vicinity. Almost all of the information we have about this subject, outside of the Gospels, is from archaeology, hence the book’s title. It is more specifically designed to answer the most frequent questions about my work on Nazareth that I have been asked by people who aren’t archaeologists. It is also intended to clear up some misunderstandings about it, deriving mostly from media reports. As such, although it contains new interpretations which may be of inter- est to professional archaeologists, historians, and experts in biblical studies, the primary purpose of this book is to explain, to readers other than archae- ologists, research that has so far been published mainly in an academic man- ner. Hopefully, this will lead to a new understanding of what archaeology really shows us about early first- century Nazareth (‘Jesus’ Nazareth’). For that reason, the present book brings together information from three of my earlier academic publications. Chapter 2 is based on my 2020 book Roman- period and Byzantine Nazareth and its Hinterland, and the remainder is based on my book The Sisters of Nazareth Convent, published the following year, and my 2016 Henry Myers Lecture to the Royal Anthropological Institute, ‘Returning to the Caves of Mystery’. This was also published in 2020 in the academic archaeology journal Strata. My two earlier books cover a much wider time span than the present work. Here only evidence concerning the first century ad— or, although vi Preface: Purpose, Sources, and References later, evidence that is of significance to understanding first- century Nazareth— is discussed. Anyone interested in Byzantine— that is, fifth- to seventh- century ad— or later Nazareth and its immediately surrounding landscape may consult those two books. It is an indication of how little archaeological attention has been paid to Nazareth since the fieldwork on which my two earlier books were based that there are only five more recent publications, and five brief online reports of Israel Antiquities Authority fieldwork— given in the References section— relevant to this book. Three of the publications establish that limestone vessels—l ike pottery cups and other containers, but made out of stone—w ere manufactured for longer in the Roman period than previously thought. These don’t affect the arguments and interpretation in my earlier books or those given here. The very interesting recent paper on the ‘Nazareth Inscription’ shows that I and others were almost certainly right in supposing that it has nothing to do with Nazareth. It is discussed at the appropriate point in Chapter 2. David Fiensy’s book, written from the perspective of a biblical scholar, is less directly relevant to Nazareth but includes a few examples drawn from Nazareth’s archaeology (for example, the photo—F igure 4.7— on page 96). It offers an interesting context into which to put the interpretations dis- cussed in Chapter 6 here, and is worth reading for anyone seeking informa- tion about the first- century Holy Land. The References section includes full references to my three earlier publi- cations and these more recent works. It also contains books which help to put my own work in the context of other studies of Nazareth’s archaeology and that of the region of Galilee (also called ‘the Galilee’) in which Nazareth is situated. Preface: Purpose, Sources, and References vii Sea of Galilee Sepphoris Nazareth Beth Shean n a e n a r er dit e M Jerusalem 0 50 km Figure 0.1. Map of the Holy Land, with the principal places mentioned in this book indicated. From The Sisters of Nazareth convent. A Roman-period, Byzantine and Crusader site in central Nazareth, 1st ed., by Ken Dark, copyright 2021 by Imprint; reproduced by permission of Taylor & Francis Group. viii Preface: Purpose, Sources, and References D E A B Casa NCova 0 50m 100m Figure 0.2. The city centre of Nazareth, showing: A = Sisters of Nazareth convent; B = Church of the Annunciation complex; C = Casa Nova hostel; D = Synagogue Church; E = Anglican church. Drawn by Ifan Edwards for the Nazareth Archaeological Project, based on the city of Nazareth map of the Israel National Survey. From The Sisters of Nazareth convent. A Roman-p eriod, Byzantine and Crusader site in central Nazareth, 1st ed., by Ken Dark, copyright 2021 by Imprint. Reproduced by permission of Taylor & Francis Group. Preface: Purpose, Sources, and References ix N Line of Arch A C B Crypto 0 10m Figure 0.3. Convent plan and location of its ‘Cellar’. A = convent chapel; B = convent museum; C = modern stairway to Cellar. Drawn by Ifan Edwards for the Nazareth Archaeological Project. From The Sisters of Nazareth convent. A Roman- period, Byzantine and Crusader site in central Nazareth, 1st ed., by Ken Dark, copyright 2021 by Imprint; reproduced by permission of Taylor & Francis Group.