Excavation and Researchat the Nazareth Village

Farm

For the past decade, the Center for the Study ofEarly Christianity has labored to lay the academicfoundation for the construction of a first-centuryGalilean village or town based upon archaeologyand early Christian and Jewish sources.

Such a ‘model village’ would provide a sort oftime capsule into which the contemporary visitormight step to encounter more effectively themessage of Jesus in its original setting. AtNazareth Village, this educational vision is beingrealized.

The Nazareth Farm ExcavationOn a visit to Nazareth Hospital in November1996, CSEC’s director Stephen Pfann identifiedan ancient winepress associated with agriculturalterraces on the hospital grounds and the adjacentland. Potsherds found on the surface of theterraces dated from various periods beginningwith the early-to-late Roman Period.

A survey of the area was conducted in February1997 by CSEC’s archaeological staff. Fourseasons of excavation, licensed by the IsraelAntiquities Authority and under the joint

direction of Ross Voss and S. Pfann, have beencarried out by CSEC, with the help of studentsand local volunteers. These excavations haveconfirmed the land to be a complete RomanPeriod terrace farm with a winepress,watchtowers, olive crushing stones, irrigationsystems, and an ancient quarry, and haveilluminated previously unknown aspects ofterrace farming in the Galilee.

The character of the site indicates that the valleyand its slopes likely comprised the property of asingle family’s farm, which produced a variety ofcrops. Most of the extent of the original farm hasbeen preserved. This farm remains the mostimportant, and perhaps the only, witness to thelife and livelihood of the ancient Nazarenes.

The NazarethVillage

Dr. Nakhle Bishara,Medical Director ofNazareth Hospital, hadlong hoped to build avisitors’ center inNazareth focusing on

the life of Jesus. In light of the arch-aeologicalprofile of the site, Dr. Bishara invited CSEC toincorporate its vision for an authentic first-century ‘model village’ with the proposedvisitors’ center. CSEC was thus contracted to bethe academic consultants for the project and toprovide the foundational research necessary forrecreating a picture of Galilean town life in thefirst century C.E. Hence the Nazareth Villagefarm and visitors’ center, developed under thedirection of Michael Hostetler, was born.

The Nazareth Village is the only enterprise of itskind dedicated to illuminating the life of Jesusthrough an authentically constructed, first-centurytown and restored ancient farm. It is in this venuethat the story of Jesus’ childhood, ministry, andteaching are retold with elements of everyday lifere-enacted.

To-date, four major avenues of daily life havebeen explored: the nature of first-centuryNazareth, the house as a living space, householdfurnishings, and the synagogue. Themethodological basis of this research is built uponprimary literary and archaeological sources, aswell as secondary ethnographic and anthro-pological studies. A four-stepped, A, B, C, Drating system is applied to all elements as to theircertainty of being historically accurate.

RESEARCH REPORTS*First Century Nazareth: A Preliminary Model

for On-goingResearch

*The House:Its Structure as aLiving Space

*HouseholdFurnishings andPottery: APreliminary Report

*The Synagogue in the First Century CE:Recommendations for the Reconstruction of anAcademically Defensible Synagogue inNazareth

RESEARCH TEAMStephen J. Pfann, DirectorVered Hillel, Senior ResearcherYehudah Rapuano, Senior ResearcherCurtis Hutt, Claire Ruth Pfann, Edwin Rattai

RESEARCH ADVISORY BOARDR. Frankel J. StrangeE. Meyers V. Tzaferis

SYNAGOGUE ADVISORY BOARDL. Levine E. NetzerE. Meyers J. Strange

We invite you to become aFriend of the University of the Holy Land

and join us in this unique educational adventure.Tax deductible contributions should be made to

UHL-ICARE and sent to:101 Shell Drive, S-115

Watsonville, CA 95076 USAEIN No. 94-3181890 Inter-corporate No. 877-459-4506

The University of the Holy Land (UHL) is an inter-faith, inter-denominational institute of higher learningcoordinated by Christian scholars living in Jerusalem.UHL was founded as a research center in 1986 andincorporated in California as The Center for the Studyof Early Christianity (CSEC). UHL expandedgradually into a master’s degree-granting institutionwhile CSEC continues as the research arm of theschool.

UHL/CSEC remains on the cutting-edge of research,projects, and curriculum related to the life of Jesus,with an emphasis on the archaeology and historicalgeography of Southern Galilee and the village ofNazareth and its environs in the first century.

From Nazareth to Jerusalem: A Disciple’s DiaryUHL/CSEC faculty and staff acted as the content andtechnical advisors for the interactive CD-ROM, FromNazareth to Jerusalem: A Disciple’s Diary. Thiscomprehensive database on the life of Jesus, whichincludes articles, photographic images, church art,video footage of the Holy Land and an interactivegame, is marketed both in Israel and the U.S.

Academic Programs Offered byUHL/CSEC

Master of Arts Degree

At present, UHL offers the Master of Artsdegree in five areas of specialization:

Master of Arts in Archaeology with majorfocus on the GalileeMaster of Arts in New Testament and EarlyChristianityMaster of Arts in Cultural Anthropologywith major focus in Pilgrimage StudiesMaster of Arts in Inter-Testamental HistoryMaster of Arts in Old Testament and

Culture of Ancient Israel

Master of Theological Studies for the studentwho desires a cross-cultural ministryexperience as well as theological training.

Short-Term Study ProgramsThe University of the Holy Land providesshort-term study programs of 10-21 days inlength for scholars, students, and laypersons.Three of our enriching study programs are:

The Life of JesusJourneys of PaulLife in Bible Times

UHL can also tailor-make itineraries to meetthe needs of specialized short-term studypursuits.

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The Center for the Study

of EarlyChristianity

The University of the Holy LandP.O. Box 24084 Mt. Scopus Jerusalem 91240 IsraelTel: + 972-2-672-6948 Fax: + 972-2-673-1730E-mail: csec@netvision.net.il Website: www.csec.ac.uk