The House that Joseph Built?

Nazareth, the town the bible tells us, where the archangel Gabriel came to the Virgin Mary and informed her she was with child, the son of God to be exact. Archaeologists, after finding a tomb that dates to the time of Jesus Christ, have discovered an ancient dwelling which they say also dates back to the time of Jesus. They found remains of a wall, a hideout, a courtyard and a water system that appeared to collect water from the roof and supply it to the home. The discovery was made when builders dug up the courtyard of a former convent to make room for a new Christian center, just yards (meters) away from the Basilica.

According to the Associated Press "This may well have been a place that Jesus and his contemporaries were familiar with," archaeologist Yardena Alexandre said. A young Jesus may have played around the house with his cousins and friends, she said. "It's a logical suggestion." Alexandre also told the Associated Press that her team also found a camouflaged entry way into a grotto, which she believes was used by Jews at the time to hide from Roman soldiers who were battling Jewish rebels at the time for control of the area.

“The grotto would have hid around six people for a few hours,” she said.
However, Roman soldiers did not end up battling Nazareth's Jews because the hamlet had little strategic value at the time.

“The Roman army was more interested in larger towns and strategic hilltop communities, “she said.

Alexandre also told the AP that similar camouflaged grottos have been found in other ancient Jewish communities of the lower Galilee such as the nearby biblical village of Cana, which did witness battle between Jews and Romans.

Nazareth in Jesus’ time was probably home to no more than 50 people but the modern day city is home to more than 65,000 people. With such a densely populated area, it is very unlikely that there will be any more excavations. The discoveries of the Jesus era house and tombs are the only clues of what daily life was like in Nazareth during the boyhood of Jesus Christ

The ancient tomb found still had the remains of a man inside. In Israel if a tomb is discovered, the body must be re-buried in 48 hours. Archaeologists did this but not before taking a few hundred samples from the body. Forensic specialists have discovered that the man found had leprosy, which as history tells us was very common during this time period. The discovery that the man had leprosy also backs up a story from the bible in which Jesus Christ encounters a man with leprosy.

As I see it, this discovery only answers a few questions, leaving many unanswered. Hopefully as time goes on we will learn more about the man known as Jesus Christ and the time period he lived in.

(cited from-Hadid, Diaa. "First house from Jesus' time found in Nazareth." The Associated Press. Nazareth, Israel , 21 December 2009.)