The Real Nazareth?

The Real Nazareth? Part 3

More Photographs

Above is a view of a section of the wall on Har Nitai, as seen from the west. The four bulges along
the wall are citadels.

Above is a view of the ruins of an ancient road that led to a gate in the wall on Har Nitai. This photograph was taken next to one of the northernmost citadels of the wall, looking to the southwest. The stacked rocks of the ruined citadel are visible to the left. The place where I was standing when I took this photograph was probably the location of a gate in the wall.

Above are rock piles, as seen from the west, on top of Har Nitai. The rockpiles are scattered across the hilltop, and appear to be the ruins of an ancient town. A wall, visible in the distance, appears to mark the eastern limit of the ruins. There is a field between the wall and the brow of the hill. I found no rockpiles in that field, which seems to indicate that the field, between the wall and the cliff, was outside city limits. This fits with Luke 4:29, which states, "and they got up and drove Him out of the city, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city had been built, in order to throw Him down the cliff."

Above is the 'brow of Har Nitai' as seen from the southeast. This may be the "brow of the hill" from which an attempt was made to throw Jesus over a cliff, described in Luke 4:29. Notice the boulders labeled #1, #2, and #3. They are the same boulders as those labeled below.

Above is a view from the 'brow of Har Nitai', looking down over the southeast cliff. This is a sheer drop. In this photograph, the boulders from the earlier photograph are shown from above the cliff.

Above is a view from the 'brow of Har Nitai' looking northeast across the Sea of Galilee, toward Capernaum. The above site may be the place where the crowd took Jesus in their attempt to throw Him over a cliff. After the people of Nazareth attempted to throw Jesus down the cliff, Luke 4:30-31 continues, "But passing through their midst, He went His way. And He came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and He was teaching them on the Sabbath..." On a clear day, one can see Capernaum in the distance, in the above view.

Above is Har Nitai as seen from the northeast.

Conclusion

Traditional Nazareth does not meet the Bible's description of Nazareth given in Luke 4:29, "...and they led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw Him down over the cliff." Therefore, traditional Nazareth is not the true Nazareth.

Har Nitai, a large hill near the western coastline of the Sea of Galilee, fits the Bible's description of Nazareth. Har Nitai is a hill that has a brow with a cliff. On top of Har Nitai are the unexcavated ruins of what appears to have been an ancient town. On the east side of the ruins is a wall. Beyond the wall is a field, and then the brow of the hill. Finally, Har Nitai sits near the region where Jesus' Galilean ministry was centered--the western coastline of the Sea of Galilee.

Whether Har Nitai is the location of ancient Nazareth is unknown. Until the ruins at the summit are excavated, we can only state that Har Nitai is a strong candidate. Dr. Rudolph Cohen, Israel's director of archaeology, gave me the names of Israel's university archaeological department-heads who are in charge of Israeli investigative archaeological research. If you are interested in finding out whether the true Nazareth sits on top of Har Nitai, please write these men and suggest they launch an excavation of the site. Regardless of whether the town on Har Nitai turns out to be Nazareth, Israel will probably not have to worry about money spent on such an excavation, as press coverage of the excavation will likely generate more than enough tourism to compensate Israel. Also, Israel will probably have little trouble finding volunteers in the Christian community to help excavate the site.

Here are the addresses of the men in Israel who are in the position to launch an excavation at Har Nitai:

Dr. Amin Niazar
Institute of Archaeology
Hebrew University
Jerusalem
Israel

Dr. Finkelstein
Institute of Archaeology
Tel Aviv University
Tel Aviv
Israel

Professor Avraham Ronim
Institute of Archaeology
Haifa University
Haifa
Israel

Your letter to any or all of these men may help move Israel to excavate Har Nitai.

Update, January 31, 2000

In November, 1999, I returned to Israel to further examine the ruins of Har Nitai, and to photograph every cliff I could find in the Galilee, using a 1:50,000 topographical map and a rental car. Here's what I learned:

I walked the ruins on top of Har Nitai, searching for any artifact I could find on the surface that might reveal the identity of the ancient ruins. I found nothing. The most intact ruins were the citadels of the wall on the east side of the ruins. Interestingly, beyond the wall on the east side of the ruins, between the wall and the cliff, I could find no ruins, rock piles, or anything that I could positively identify as the foundation of an ancient building. This appears to fit with Luke 4:29, which mentions that the people of Nazareth led Jesus out of the city, to the brow of the hill on which the city was built.

I searched the majority of the caves in Har Nitai's cliffs, and found nothing.

Using a 1:50,000 topographical map and a rental car, I drove to every cliff in Galilee that I could find on the map, and photographed each cliff. Only two cliffs in the entire Galilee region appear to fit the description of the cliffs of ancient Nazareth: the cliffs of Har Nitai, and the cliffs of Arbel. Har Nitai appears to be the better candidate, however, for three reasons. First, it has extensive, unexcavated ruins on top, near its cliff, while Arbel has few ruins--not enough to indicate the presence of an ancient city. Second, Har Nitai's ruins are bounded by a wall that separates them from the cliff; this fits with Luke 4:29, as mentioned in the second paragraph above this one. Finally, Har Nitai is 1.7 miles away from the Sea of Galilee, which fits Matthew 4:13. That passage mentions that Jesus left Nazareth, and then settled in Capernaum, which is "by the Sea". If Nazareth were atop Arbel, it would be odd for Matthew to mention that Capernaum is by the sea, since Arbel is also by the sea, immediately next to the Sea of Galilee. Har Nitai, although clearly visible from the Sea of Galilee, is not immediately by the sea, but is 1.7 miles west of it.

In order to determine whether Har Nitai is Nazareth, it appears that an archaeological excavation is needed.

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