Nazareth

Nazareth ( Nazareth ecumenical notation; Hebrew נצרת [ na'tsɛrɛt ] - see also the letters spelling of biblical names; Arab الناصرة, DMG to - Nasira ) is a city in the North District of Israel in the historic land of Galilee. By the 7th century AD, there were Jews. The Crusaders built a large Franciscan basilica built by Constantine in place of the Byzantine church. Since the Middle Ages the city was mainly inhabited by Arab Christians.

Together with its sister city Nazrat - illite ( נצרת עילית Natzrat illite [ nats'rat i'lit ], " Upper Nazareth " ) are the two cities to approximately 120,000 inhabitants ( 2005); on Nazrat - illite accounts which 55,000 inhabitants, and 65,000 to Nazareth. Nazareth is a very old city and is now inhabited by Muslims and Christians. Nazrat - illite is a very young city, inhabited by Jews.

Importance

The place is not mentioned either in the Old Testament in the Talmud. Its particular importance lies until today is that it applies to Christians as the home and native city of Jesus. According to the Gospels, there were his parents Mary and Joseph. In Nazareth the angel Gabriel came to Mary and announced to her the mother of Jesus at ( Annunciation ). At this time, the Census of the Roman Empire ( ... on that everyone could appreciate, each in his city ... ) took place, had, according to the Gospel of Luke, all heads of families travel to their place of birth, which is why Joseph to the very pregnant Maria Bethlehem went where Jesus ( Yeshua ) was born. According to the Gospels but he grew up in Nazareth, where his family returned (Mt 2,23 EU, Lk 2,39 EU) In the Gospels and Christian tradition, Jesus himself is therefore also called " [ Nazarene ( Religion ) | [ Nazarenes. ] ] " (eg, the Mk 1.24 ELB ), thus its origin " of Nazareth "(cf. Lk 4.16 to 24 ELB ) is meant.

The earliest non-Christian reference to Nazareth is an inscription from Caesarea Maritima from the late 3rd or early 4th century. Today Nazareth is one of the most important pilgrimage sites of the Holy Land. At the point where, according to tradition, was the house of Mary and the Annunciation angel came to her, in 1969, consecrated Roman Catholic Basilica of the Annunciation stands. It bears the inscription Hic Verbum caro factum est - "Here the Word was made flesh ."

Topography

The old city of Nazareth lies in a depression in the. The well is located about 100 m lower than the range of hills which skirts the city horseshoe. The slopes rise moderately steeply. They are almost completely built over today.

Nazareth and in the time of Jesus

Due to the lack of any mention of the town of Nazareth in the Old Testament, the Talmud or in extra-biblical sources from the first and second centuries (such as Flavius ​​Josephus ) its existence at the time of the birth of Jesus was itself called into question since the 19th century. However Archaeological excavations have demonstrated the colonization of the areas around the present town since the 2nd millennium BC: At this time a grave field goes back that has been found in the mountainside, and to the 13th century BC a Iron Age village. The remains of a small village founded in the late Hellenistic period were exposed. The archaeological evidence suggests that the area around present-day Nazareth in the first century was very sparsely populated. At the top of one of the slopes were agricultural buildings be discovered from that period, in which it is the remains of terrace walls and the foundations of three towers. In addition, they came across a grave. Another twenty Jewish graves from the Roman period have been around this settlement, whose population has been estimated at between 200 and 500, excavated. Remains of a synagogue, of which the New Testament tells us ( Lk 4,16 EU), were not found.

Modern city

Nazareth is now the city with the largest community of Israeli Arabs in Israel. The city is in the Old Town area primarily made ​​up of small streets with an Arab market. In the immediate vicinity of the Annunciation of the construction of a large mosque was planned so that it repeatedly, resulting in partly violent clashes in recent years.

Nazrat - illite is a young city in contrast to Nazareth; she was like many other developing cities as a modern city after the Israeli state was founded in 1948 and was founded in 1957. More than half of its residents are immigrants, mainly from the former Soviet Union. Your Mayor Menachem Ariav is an honorary citizen of Leverkusen.

Nazareth Illit and Nazrat are two separate towns and have separate administrations.

Sons and daughters of the town

The list contains an alphabetical overview of major, born in present-day Nazareth personalities. Whether the people had their future spheres in Nazareth or not is irrelevant. Many have moved away by their families and elsewhere became known. The list is not exhaustive.

• Jesus of Nazareth
• Hiam Abbass, Palestinian actress
• Hany Abu -Assad, the Dutch- Palestinian film director
• Dudu Aouate, Israeli football player
• Azmi Bishara, Israeli- Arab politician
• Ignatius Ghattas, Bishop of Newton ( USA)

Twinning and friendship cities

Twinning with Nazareth

Neubrandenburg, Germany

Twinning with Nazrat - illite

Klagenfurt, Austria   Leverkusen, Germany ( since 1980)   Alba Iulia, Romania   Chernivtsi, Ukraine   Raab, Hungary   Kikinda, Serbia   Kolobrzeg, Poland   Saint -Etienne, France   Tucumán, Argentina

City friendship with Nazareth

Czestochowa, Poland   Loreto, Italy   Florence, Italy   The Hague, Netherlands   Saint- Denis, France