Corbis Images
View Caption + #1:
Screenshot/Wikimedia Commons
View Caption + #2:
Getty Images
View Caption + #3:
Wikimedia Commons
View Caption + #4:
Getty Images
View Caption + #5:
Corbis Images
View Caption + #6:
Corbis Images
View Caption + #7:
Corbis Images
View Caption + #8:
Wikimedia Commons
View Caption + #9:
Corbis Images
View Caption +
What Did Jesus Look Like?
The tomb that cuts through the house was also venerated as being that of Joseph, the husband of the Virgin Mary. [ Proof of Jesus Christ? 7 Pieces of Evidence Debated]
"The tomb cutting through the house is today commonly called 'the Tomb of St. Joseph,' and it was certainly venerated in the Crusader period, so perhaps they thought it was the tomb of St. Joseph," Dark told Live Science. "However, it is unlikely to be the actual tomb of St. Joseph, given that it dates to after the disuse of the house and localized quarrying in the first century."
What was Nazareth like?
Archaeologists also discovered a number of sites nearby that hold clues as to what Nazareth was like in Jesus' time.
Rulers in Rome began to take control of Israel during the first century B.C. But Dark and his team found evidence that, despite Rome's increasing influence, the people living in and near Nazareth rejected Roman culture.
The archaeologists surveyed a valley near Nazareth called Nahal Zippori, finding that people who lived on the northern side of the valley, close to the Roman town of Sepphoris, were more willing to embrace Roman culture than those to the south, nearer to Nazareth, who appear to have rejected it.
"This suggests that the Nazareth area was unusual for the strength of its anti-Roman sentiment and/or the strength of its Jewish identity," Dark said.
Dark and his team have published journal articles on their work in the Palestine Exploration Quarterly and The Antiquaries Journal. More publications on the team's archaeological work at Nazareth are forthcoming. It may be some time before scholars not affiliated with the project fully analyze the findings, and weigh in on the team's conclusions.
Original article on Live Science .
Copyright 2015 LiveScience, a Purch company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.