Excavating the Evidence for Jesus

Nazareth and Childhood

Artifacts, tombs, pottery, and structures dating to the 1st century have been excavated in Nazareth, demonstrating that the town was occupied in the time of Jesus (Matthew 2:21-23). Further, two houses from the 1st century have been uncovered, and finds such as stone vessels for ritual washing indicate residents were Jews who observed the Mosaic Law. One house had a church built around it in the 5th century AD (Church of the Nutrition), revered as the childhood home of Jesus (Luke 2:39-40). This house was abandoned after the 1st century AD.