Setting the record straight

Abstract This chapter explains and describes twenty-first-century archaeological research on the Sisters of Nazareth convent by the author’s Nazareth Archaeological Project. Outlining discoveries relating to the first-century occupation of the site, the chapter continues to consider the interpretation of these, showing that the earliest activity on the site was first-century domestic occupation. Later in the Roman period a Christian cave-church was constructed next to the first-century structure, and both the first-century structure and cave-church were eventually encompassed within the crypt (cellar) of a large and impressive Byzantine church—probably Nazareth’s Byzantine cathedral. This church was disused before the Crusader period, but rebuilt and restored to use by the Crusaders, before being destroyed by fire. Three written descriptions—from the late fourth, late seventh, and early twelfth centuries—are shown to be about the site, identifying it firmly with the Church of the Nutrition, the most important hitherto ‘lost’ pilgrimage church in the Byzantine Holy Land. The Church of the Nutrition was dedicated to the upbringing of Jesus Christ, and believed to include the house where this occurred in its crypt.