Nazareth

==History==
===Stone Age===
Archaeological researchers{{who|date=June 2019}} have revealed that a funerary and cult center at [[Kfar HaHoresh]], about two miles ({{convert|2|mi|abbr=out|disp=output only}}) from current Nazareth, dates back roughly 9,000 years to the [[Pre-Pottery Neolithic B]] era.<ref>Goring-Morris, A.N. "The quick and the dead: the social context of Aceramic Neolithic mortuary practices as seen from Kfar HaHoresh." In: I. Kuijt (ed.), ''Social Configurations of the Near Eastern Neolithic: Community Identity, Hierarchical Organization, and Ritual'' (1997).</ref> The remains of some 65 individuals were found, buried under huge horizontal headstone structures, some of which consisted of up to 3 tons of locally produced white plaster. Decorated human skulls uncovered there have led archaeologists to identify Kfar HaHoresh as a major cult centre in that era.<ref>{{cite web |title= Pre-Christian Rituals at Nazareth |date= November–December 2003 |publisher= Archaeology: A Publication of the Archaeological Institute of America |url= http://www.archaeology.org/0311/newsbriefs/nazareth.html |access-date= 2 July 2006 |archive-date= 28 May 2006 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060528171322/http://www.archaeology.org/0311/newsbriefs/nazareth.html |url-status= live }}</ref>

===Bronze and Iron Age===
The Franciscan priest [[Bellarmino Bagatti]], "Director of Christian Archaeology", carried out extensive excavation of this "Venerated Area" from 1955 to 1965. Fr. Bagatti uncovered pottery dating from the [[Middle Bronze Age]] (2200 to 1500 BC) and ceramics, silos and grinding mills from the [[Iron Age]] (1500 to 586 BC) which indicated substantial settlement in the Nazareth basin at that time.

===Roman period===
[[File:Nazarene Fountain Reputed to be Mary & Jesus'.jpg|thumb|200px|Historic photo of [[Mary's Well]]]]
Archaeological evidence shows the Nazareth was occupied during the late Hellenistic period, through the Roman period and into the Byzantine period.<ref name="Atiqot98">{{cite journal | author = Yardenna Alexandre | title = The Settlement History of Nazareth in the Iron Age and Early Roman Period | journal = 'Atiqot | volume = 98 | year = 2020 | url = http://www.atiqot.org.il/download.ashx?id=1797 | access-date = 26 May 2020 | archive-date = 26 May 2020 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200526102938/http://www.atiqot.org.il/download.ashx?id=1797 | url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Archaeology of Jesus' Nazareth |last=Dark |first=Ken |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2023 |isbn=978-0-19-268899-6 |pages=50 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bpynEAAAQBAJ}}</ref>

According to the [[Gospel of Luke]], Nazareth was the home village of Mary as well as the site of the [[Annunciation]] (when the angel [[Gabriel]] informed Mary that she would give birth to Jesus). According to the [[Gospel of Matthew]], Joseph and Mary resettled in Nazareth after returning from the [[flight to Egypt|flight from Bethlehem to Egypt]]. According to the Bible, Jesus grew up in Nazareth from some point in his childhood. However, some modern scholars also regard Nazareth as the birthplace of the historical Jesus.<ref>[[John P. Meier]], ''A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus: The Roots of the Problem and the Person,''Vol. 1, Doubleday 1991, p.216; [[Bart D. Ehrman]], ''Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium'', Oxford University Press, 1999, p.97; [[E. P. Sanders]], ''The Historical Figure of Jesus'', Penguin 1993, p.85.</ref>

A [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] inscription found in [[Caesarea Maritima|Caesarea]] dating to the late 3rd or early 4th century mentions Nazareth as the home of the [[kohen|priestly]] Hapizzez/Hafizaz family after the [[Bar Kokhba revolt]] (AD 132–135).<ref name="Emmett 1995, p. 17">Emmett 1995, p. 17.</ref><ref>The family is thought to have moved to Nazareth after the [[First Jewish Revolt]] (70 AD), although some speculate that the relocation may have been "well into the second (or even the third) century [AD]." ''History and Society in Galilee'', 1996, p. 110. In 131 AD, the Roman Emperor [[Hadrian]] forbade Jews to reside in Jerusalem, forcing Jewish residents to move elsewhere.</ref> From the three fragments that have been found, the inscription seems to be a list of the twenty-four priestly courses,<ref>cf. [[Books of Chronicles]] - {{bibleverse|1 Chronicles|24:7–19}} and Book of [[Nehemiah]] - {{bibleverse|Nehemiah 11;12|multi=yes}}</ref> with each course (or family) assigned its proper order and the name of each town or village in [[Galilee]] where it settled. Nazareth is not spelled with the "z" sound but with the Hebrew [[tsade]] (thus "Nasareth" or "Natsareth").<ref>{{cite journal |last= Avi-Yonah |first= M. |year= 1962 |title= A List of Priestly Courses from Caesarea |journal= Israel Exploration Journal |volume= 12 |page= 138 }}</ref> [[Eleazar Kalir]] (a Hebrew Galilean poet variously dated from the 6th to 10th century) mentions a locality clearly in the Nazareth region bearing the name Nazareth נצרת (in this case vocalized "Nitzrat"), which was home to the descendants of the 18th [[Kohen]] family Happitzetz (הפצץ), for at least several centuries after the [[Simon bar Kokhba|Bar Kochva]] revolt.{{citation needed|date=August 2018}}

Although it is mentioned in the New Testament gospels, there are no extant non-biblical references to Nazareth until around AD 200, when [[Sextus Julius Africanus]], cited by Eusebius (''Church History'' 1.7.14), speaks of Nazara as a village in Judea and locates it near Cochaba (modern-day [[Kaukab Abu al-Hija|Kaukab]]).<ref>"A few of the careful, however, having obtained private records of their own, either by remembering the names or by getting them in some other way from the registers, pride themselves on preserving the memory of their noble extraction. Among these are those already mentioned, called Desposyni, on account of their connection with the family of the Saviour. Coming from Nazara and Cochaba, villages of Judea, into other parts of the world, they drew the aforesaid genealogy from memory and from the book of daily records as faithfully as possible." (Eusebius, [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.iii.vi.vii.html ''Church History'', Book I, Chapter VII] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190509055028/http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.iii.vi.vii.html |date=9 May 2019 }},§ 14)</ref> In the same passage Africanus writes of ''[[desposyni|desposunoi]]'' – relatives of Jesus – who he claims ''kept the records of their descent with great care''. [[Ken Dark]] describes the view that Nazareth did not exist in Jesus's time as "archaeologically unsupportable".<ref>Ken Dark, "Book review of ''The Myth of Nazareth: The Invented Town of Jesus''", ''STRATA: Bulletin of the Anglo-Israel Archaeological Society'', vol. 26 (2008), pp. 140–146; cf. Stephen J. Pfann & Yehudah Rapuano, "On the Nazareth Village Farm Report: A Reply to Salm", ''STRATA: Bulletin of the Anglo-Israel Archaeological Society'', vol. 26 (2008), pp. 105–112.</ref>

[[File:Nazareth the magical city 111.jpg|thumb|200px|The [[Basilica of the Annunciation]]]]
James F. Strange, Professor of Religious Studies at the University of South Florida,<ref>{{cite web |title=Excavating a Lasting Legacy |website=University of South Florida |url=https://giving.usf.edu/impact/excavating-lasting-legacy }}</ref> notes: "Nazareth is not mentioned in ancient Jewish sources earlier than the third century AD. This likely reflects its lack of prominence both in Galilee and in Judaea."<ref>Article "Nazareth" in the ''Anchor Bible Dictionary.'' New York: Doubleday, 1992.</ref> Strange originally calculated the population of Nazareth at the time of Christ as "roughly 1,600 to 2,000 people" but, in a subsequent publication that followed more than a decade of additional research, revised this figure down to "a maximum of about 480."<ref>E. Meyers & J. Strange, ''Archaeology, the Rabbis, & Early Christianity'' Nashville: Abingdon, 1981; Article "Nazareth" in the ''Anchor Bible Dictionary.'' New York: Doubleday, 1992.</ref> In 2009, Israeli archaeologist Yardenna Alexandre excavated archaeological remains in Nazareth that date to the time of Jesus in the early Roman period. Alexandre told reporters, "The discovery is of the utmost importance since it reveals for the very first time a house from the Jewish village of Nazareth."<ref>[http://israel21c.org/news/house-from-jesus-time-excavated/ House from Jesus' time excavated] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130706141709/http://israel21c.org/news/house-from-jesus-time-excavated/ |date=6 July 2013 }} (23 December 2009) in [http://www.israel21c.org/ ''Israel 21c Innovation News Service''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120229170256/http://www.israel21c.org/briefs/israels-gelfand-wins-chess-world-cup |date=29 February 2012 }} Retrieved 5 January 2010</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.antiquities.org.il/article_eng.aspx?sec_id=25&subj_id=240&id=1638|title=For the Very First Time: A Residential Building from the Time of Jesus was Exposed in the Heart of Nazareth (12/21/09)|website=Israel Antiquities Authority|access-date=7 January 2017|archive-date=21 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161221022914/http://www.antiquities.org.il/article_eng.aspx?sec_id=25&subj_id=240&id=1638|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Atiqot98"/>

Other sources state that during Jesus' time, Nazareth had a population of 400 and one public bath, which was important for civic and religious purposes, as a ''[[mikva]]''.<ref>Korb, Scott. ''Life in Year One.'' New York: Riverhead books, 2010. print, 109. {{ISBN|978-1-59448-899-3}}.</ref>

[[File:Nazareth Church Crusaders1.jpg|thumb|200px|Crusader-era carving in Nazareth]]
A tablet at the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, dating to AD 50, was sent from Nazareth to Paris in 1878. It contains an inscription known as the "Ordinance of Caesar" that outlines the penalty of death for those who violate tombs or graves. However, it is suspected that this inscription came to Nazareth from somewhere else (possibly [[Sepphoris]]). Bagatti writes: "we are not certain that it was found in Nazareth, even though it came from Nazareth to Paris. At Nazareth there lived various vendors of antiquities who got ancient material from several places."<ref>Bagatti, B. ''Excavations in Nazareth,'' vol. 1 (1969), p. 249.</ref> C. Kopp is more definite: "It must be accepted with certainty that [the Ordinance of Caesar]… was brought to the Nazareth market by outside merchants."<ref>C. Kopp, "Beiträge zur Geschichte Nazareths." ''Journal of the Palestine Oriental Society'', vol. 18 (1938), p. 206, n.1.</ref> [[Princeton University]] archaeologist Jack Finnegan describes additional archaeological evidence related to settlement in the Nazareth basin during the [[Bronze Age|Bronze]] and [[Iron Age]]s, and states that "Nazareth was a strongly [[Jew]]ish settlement in the [[Roman Empire|Roman]] period."<ref>Jack Finnegan, ''The Archaeology of the New Testament'', [[Princeton University]] Press: Princeton, 1992, pp. 44–46.</ref>

In 2020, Yardenna Alexandre confirmed that Jews from Judea migrated to Galilee and settled in new villages and settlements, including Nazareth, since the late Hellenistic-Hasmonean period ({{Circa|late 2nd century }}). Under the leadership of priestly families, the Jewish inhabitants observed ritual purity laws. Previously, most of Galiee, except for minor short-lived Israelite settlements in the Naḥal Ẓippori basin, had an occupational gap for about 5 centuries because of the [[Assyrian captivity|Assyrian conquest in 732 BCE]].<ref name="Atiqot98" /> However, there is strong evidence for Assyrian presence in Galilee, based on artefacts in [[Cana]], which was north of Nazareth.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Skinner |first=Andrew C. |date=1996–1997 |title=A Historical Sketch of Galilee |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43044121 |journal=Brigham Young University Studies |volume=36 |issue=3 |pages=113–125 |jstor=43044121 |via=JSTOR}}</ref> Konrad Schmid and Jens Schroter note that Assyrians were typically relocated to conquered territories, which most likely included Israel.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Schmid |first=Konrad |title=The Making of the Bible: From the First Fragments to Sacred Scripture |last2=Schroter |first2=Jens |publisher=Belknap Press |year=2021 |isbn=978-0674248380}}</ref> 

Some scholars believed [[Jesus]], a native of Nazareth, was influenced by [[Cynicism (philosophy)|Cynicism]],<ref>Quoted in R. Ostling, [https://web.archive.org/web/20080401050600/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,968139,00.html "Who was Jesus?", ''Time'', August 15, 1988, pp. 37–42].</ref><ref>John Dominic Crossan, (1991), ''The Historical Jesus: The Life of a Mediterranean Jewish Peasant'', {{ISBN|0-06-061629-6}}</ref> which was popular in Hellenized Galilean cities such as [[Gadara]].<ref>In particular, [[Menippus]] (3rd century BC), [[Meleager of Gadara|Meleager]] (1st century BC), and [[Oenomaus of Gadara|Oenomaus]] (2nd century CE), all came from Gadara.</ref>

===Byzantine period===
[[Epiphanius of Salamis|Epiphanius]] in his ''[[Panarion]]'' ({{Circa|AD 375}}) numbers Nazareth among the cities devoid of a non-Jewish population.<ref>[[Epiphanius of Salamis|Epiphanius]], [[Panarion|Panárion]] 30.11.10, cited Andrew S. Jacobs,''Remains of the Jews: The Holy Land and Christian Empire in Late Antiquity,'' Stanford University Press, p.50 n.124, p.127.</ref> Epiphanius, writing of [[Joseph of Tiberias]], a wealthy Roman Jew who converted to Christianity in the time of [[Constantine I (emperor)|Constantine]], says he claimed to have received an imperial rescript to build Christian churches in Jewish towns and villages where no gentiles or Samaritans dwell, naming [[Tiberias]], [[Diocaesarea]], [[Sepphoris]], Nazareth and [[Capernaum]].<ref>Frank Williams,''The Panarion of Epiphanius of Salamis,'' Book I (Sects 1–46)'' E. J. Brill (1897), rev.ed. 2009, p.140.</ref> From this scarce notice, it has been concluded that a small church which encompassed a cave complex might have been located in Nazareth in the early 4th century",<ref>Taylor, J. ''Christians and the Holy Places''. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993, p. 265.</ref> although the town was Jewish until the 7th century.<ref>Taylor 229, 266; Kopp 1938:215.</ref>

The Christian monk and Bible translator [[Jerome]], writing at the beginning of the 5th century, says Nazareth was a ''viculus'' or mere village.<ref name="Kopp">C. Kopp, "Beiträge zur Geschichte Nazareths." Journal of the Palestine Oriental Society, vol. 18 (1938), p. 215. Kopp is citing the Byzantine writer Eutychius (''Eutychii Annales'' in Migne's ''Patrologia Graeca'' vol. 111 p. 1083).</ref>

In the 6th century, religious narrations from local Christians about the [[Blessed Virgin Mary|Virgin Mary]] began to spark interest in the site among pilgrims, who founded the first church at the location of the current [[Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation]] at the site of a freshwater spring, today known as [[Mary's Well]]. Around 570, the [[Antoninus of Piacenza (pilgrim)|Anonymous of Piacenza]] reports travelling from [[Sepphoris]] to Nazareth. There he records seeing in the Jewish synagogue the books from which Jesus learnt his letters, and a bench where he sat. According to him, Christians could lift it, but Jews could not, since it disallowed them from dragging it outside.<ref>Andrew S. Jacobs, ''Remains of the Jews,'' p.127.</ref> Writing of the beauty of the Hebrew women there, he records them saying St. Mary was a relative of theirs, and notes that, "The house of St. Mary is a basilica."<ref>P. Geyer, ''Itinera Hierosolymitana saeculi'', Lipsiae: G. Freytag, 1898: page 161.</ref> Constantine the Great ordered that churches be built in Jewish cities, and Nazareth was one of the places designated for this purpose, although construction of churches apparently only started decades after Constantine's death, i.e. after 352.<ref name="Emmett 1995, p. 18">Emmett 1995, p. 18.</ref>

Archaeologists have unearthed evidence that previous to the erection of the Byzantine-period church at the site of Mary's house in the mid-5th century, Judeo-Christians had built there a synagogue-church, leaving behind Judeo-Christian symbols.<ref name="Emmett 1995, p. 17"/> Until being expelled in c. 630, Jews probably kept on using their older synagogue, while the Judeo-Christian needed to build their own, probably at the site of Mary's house.<ref name="Emmett 1995, p. 17"/>

The Jewish town profited from the Christian pilgrim trade which began in the 4th century AD, but latent anti-Christian hostility broke out in AD 614 when the [[Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628|Persians invaded Palestine]].<ref name="Kopp"/> The Christian Byzantine author Eutychius claimed that Jewish people of Nazareth helped the Persians carry out their slaughter of the Christians.<ref name="Kopp"/> When the [[Eastern Roman Empire|Byzantine or Eastern Roman]] emperor [[Heraclius]] ejected the Persians in AD 629-630, he expelled the Jews from the village, turning it all-Christian.<ref name="Emmett 1995, p. 18"/>

===Early Muslim period===
The [[Muslim conquest of the Levant|Arab Muslim invasion of AD 638]] had no immediate impact on the Christians of Nazareth and their churches, since Bishop [[Arculf]] remembered seeing there around 670 two churches, one at the house of Joseph where Jesus had lived as a child, and one at the house of Mary where she received the Annunciation - but no synagogue, which had possibly been transformed into a mosque.<ref name="Emmett 1995, p. 18"/> The 721 [[Yazid II#Iconoclastic edict|iconoclastic edict]] of [[Caliph]] [[Yazid II]] apparently led to the destruction of the former church, so that Willibald found during his pilgrimage in 724-26 only one church there, the one dedicated to St. Mary, which Christians had to save through repeated payments from destruction by the "pagan Saracens" (Muslim Arabs).<ref>Emmett 1995, pp. 18-19.</ref> The ruins of St. Joseph's remained untouched for a very long time, while the Church St. Mary is repeatedly mentioned throughout the following centuries, including by an [[Al-Masudi|Arab geographer]] in 943.<ref>Emmett 1995, p. 19.</ref>

===Crusader period===
[[File:Sainn7992.JPG|thumb|200px|[[Makam al-Nabi Sain Mosque]] of Nazareth]]
In 1099, the Crusader [[Tancred, Prince of Galilee|Tancred]] captured Galilee and established his capital in Nazareth. He was the ruler of the [[Principality of Galilee]], which was established, at least in name, in 1099, as a [[Vassals of the Kingdom of Jerusalem|vassal of the Kingdom of Jerusalem]]. Later, in 1115, Nazareth was created as a [[seigneuries|seigneury]] within the principality. A Martin of Nazareth, who probably acted as viscount of Nazareth, is documented in 1115 and in 1130/1131.<ref>Murray, Alan, ''The Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem: A Dynastic History 1099-1125'' (Unit for Prosopographical Research, Linacre College, Oxford, 2000) p. 217.</ref> Nazareth was the original site of the Latin Patriarch, also established by Tancred. The ancient diocese of [[Beit She'an|Scythopolis]] was relocated under the [[Archbishop of Nazareth]], as one of the four archdioceses in the Kingdom of Jerusalem. When the town returned to Muslim control in 1187 following the victory of [[Saladin]] in the [[Battle of Hattin]], the remaining Crusaders and European clergy were forced to leave town.<ref name=Dumperp273>Dumper, p. 273.</ref> [[Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick II]] managed to negotiate safe passage for pilgrims from Acre in 1229, and in 1251, [[Louis IX]], the king of France, attended mass in the grotto, accompanied by his wife.<ref name=Dumperp273/>

===Mamluk period===
In 1263, [[Baybars]], the [[Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)|Mamluk Sultan]], destroyed the Christian buildings in Nazareth and declared the site off-limits to Latin clergy, as part of his bid to drive out the remaining Crusaders from Palestine.<ref name=Dumperp273/> While Arab Christian families continued to live in Nazareth, its status was reduced to that of a poor village. Pilgrims who visited the site in 1294 reported only a small church protecting the [[grotto]].<ref name=Dumperp273/> In the 14th century, Franciscan friars were permitted to return and live within the ruins of the basilica.<ref name=Dumperp273/>

===Ottoman period===
[[File:Titus Tobler's 1868 map of Nazareth.jpg|260px|thumb|[[Titus Tobler]]'s 1868 map of Nazareth]]
[[File:Nazareth, by Jansson.png|260px|thumb|Nazareth, in 1657, by [[Jan Janssonius]]]]
[[File:Nazareth the holy land 1842.jpg|260px|thumb|Nazareth, in 1839, published in ''[[The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt, and Nubia]]'']]
[[File:Well of St. Mary, Nazareth, by Felix Bonfils.jpg|260px|thumb|[[Well of St. Mary]], Nazareth, by [[Felix Bonfils]], ca 1880]]
In 1584 the Franciscan friars were evicted again from the site of the ruined basilica.<ref name=Dumperp273/> In 1620, [[Fakhr-al-Din II]], a [[Druze]] [[emir]] who controlled this part of [[Ottoman Syria]], permitted them to build a small church at the [[Grotto of the Annunciation]]. Pilgrimage tours to surrounding sacred sites were organised by the Franciscans, but the monks suffered harassment from surrounding [[Bedouin]] tribes who often kidnapped them for ransom.<ref name=Dumperp273/>

Stability returned with the rule of [[Zahir al-Umar]], a powerful Arab [[sheikh]] who ruled the [[Galilee]], and later much of the [[Levant]]ine coast and Palestine. He transformed Nazareth from a minor village into a large town by encouraging immigration to it. Nazareth played a strategic role in Zahir's [[sheikhdom]] because it allowed him to wield control over the agricultural areas of central Galilee.<ref>{{cite book |last=Yazbak |first=Mahmoud |author-link=Mahmoud Yazbak |title=Haifa in the Late Ottoman Period, A Muslim Town in Transition, 1864–1914 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DPseCvbPsKsC |publisher=Brill Academic Pub |year=1998 |isbn=90-04-11051-8 |page=15 |access-date=27 February 2016 |archive-date=25 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225102059/https://books.google.com/books?id=DPseCvbPsKsC |url-status=live }}</ref> He ensured Nazareth's security for other reasons as well, among them strengthening ties with [[France]] by protecting the Christian community and protecting one of his wives who resided in Nazareth.<ref name="Emmett22">Emmett 1995, p. 22.</ref>

Zahir authorized the Franciscans to build a church in 1730. That structure stood until 1955, when it was demolished to make way for a larger building completed in 1967.<ref name=Dumperp273/> He also permitted the Franciscans to purchase the [[Synagogue Church]] in 1741 and authorized the Greek Orthodox community to build [[Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation|St. Gabriel's Church]] in 1767.<ref name="Emmett22"/> Zahir commissioned the construction of a government house known as the [[Seraya]], which served as the city's municipal headquarters until 1991. His descendants—known as the "Dhawahri"—along with the Zu'bi, Fahum, and 'Onassah families later constituted Nazareth's traditional Muslim elite.<ref>{{cite book|last=Srouji|first=Elias S.|title=Cyclamens from Galilee: Memoirs of a Physician from Nazareth|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fp1y2bMtvNUC&q=Dhaher&pg=PA187|year=2003|publisher=iUniverse, Inc.|isbn=9780595303045|page=187|access-date=1 November 2020|archive-date=28 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210528163546/https://books.google.com/books?id=fp1y2bMtvNUC&q=Dhaher&pg=PA187|url-status=live}}</ref>

Nazareth's Christian community did not fare well under Zahir's Ottoman successor, [[Jazzar Pasha]] (r. 1776–1804), and friction increased between its Christians and Muslim peasants from the surrounding villages.<ref>Emmett 1995, p. 23.</ref> Nazareth was temporarily captured by the troops of [[Napoleon Bonaparte]] in 1799, during his [[Napoleonic Campaign in Egypt|Syrian campaign]]. Napoleon visited the holy sites and considered appointing his general [[Jean-Andoche Junot]] as the duke of Nazareth.<ref name=Dumperp273/> During the rule of Governor [[Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt]] (1830–1840) over much of [[Ottoman Syria]], Nazareth was opened to European missionaries and traders. After the Ottomans regained control, European money continued to flow into Nazareth and new institutions were established. The Christians of Nazareth were protected during the [[1860 Mount Lebanon civil war#Spread of conflict|massacres of 1860]] by [[Aqil Agha]], the Bedouin leader who exercised control over the Galilee between 1845 and 1870.<ref name=Dumperp273/>

[[Kaloost Vartan]], an [[Armenians|Armenian]] from [[Istanbul]], arrived in 1864 and established the first medical mission in Nazareth, the Scottish "hospital on the hill", or [[the Nazareth Hospital]] as it is known today, with sponsorship from the [[List of Protestant missionary societies|Edinburgh Medical Missionary Society]]. The Ottoman Sultan, who favored the French, allowed them to establish an orphanage, the Society of Saint Francis de Sale. By the late 19th century, Nazareth was a town with a strong Arab Christian presence and a growing European community, where a number of communal projects were undertaken and new religious buildings were erected.<ref name=Dumperp273/> In 1871 Christ Church, the city's only Anglican church, was completed under the leadership of the Rev [[John Zeller]] and consecrated by Bishop [[Samuel Gobat]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Miller|first=Duane Alexander|title=Christ Church (Anglican) in Nazareth: a brief history with photographs|journal=St Francis Magazine|date=October 2012|volume=8|issue=5|pages=696–703|url=http://www.stfrancismagazine.info/ja/images/stories/DuaneMiller-oct2012.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130908180608/http://www.stfrancismagazine.info/ja/images/stories/DuaneMiller-oct2012.pdf|archive-date=8 September 2013}}</ref>

In the late 19th century and the first years of the 20th century, Nazareth prospered as it served the role of a market center for the dozens of rural Arab villages located within its vicinity. Local peasants would purchase supplies from Nazareth's many ''souks'' (open-air markets), which included separate ''souks'' for agricultural produce, metalwork, jewelry and leathers.<ref name="Emmett37">Emmett 1995, p. 37.</ref> In 1914, Nazareth consisted of eight quarters: 'Araq, Farah, Jami', Khanuq, Maidan, Mazazwa, Sharqiya and Shufani. There were nine churches, two monasteries, four convents, two mosques, four hospitals, four private schools, a public school, a police station, three orphanages, a hotel, three inns, a flour mill and eight ''souks''.<ref>Emmett 1995, p. 33.</ref> The Ottomans lost control of Palestine, including Nazareth, to the [[Allies of World War I|Allied Powers]] during [[World War I]]. By then, Nazareth's importance declined significantly as most of the Arab villages in the [[Jezreel Valley]] had been replaced by newly established [[Yishuv|Jewish]] communities.<ref name="Emmett37"/>

===British Mandate period===
[[File:Abbud08C.jpg|thumb|260px|Nazareth, postcard by [[Karimeh Abbud]], ca 1925]]
[[File:Nazareth, by Fadil Saba 1.jpg|thumb|260px|Nazareth, postcard by [[:de:Fadil Saba]], ca 1925]]
[[File:AN AERIAL PHOTO OF NAZARETH. צילום אויר של העיר נצרת.D332-053.jpg|thumb|260px|Nazareth, 1937]]
The [[United Kingdom]] gained control of Palestine in 1917, the same year of the [[Balfour Declaration]], which promised British support for the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine. In the years preceding and following the declaration, Jewish immigration to Palestine had been increasing. Representatives of Nazareth opposed the [[Zionist movement]], sending a delegation to the 1919 [[Palestine Arab Congress#First congress: Jerusalem, 1919|First Palestine Arab Congress]] and issuing a letter of protest in 1920 that condemned the movement while also proclaiming solidarity with the [[Yishuv|Jews of Palestine]]. Politically, Nazareth was becoming further involved in the growing [[Palestinian nationalism|Palestinian nationalist movement]]. In 1922, a Muslim-Christian Association was established in the town, largely sponsored by the Muslim al-Zu'bi family. A consistent and effective united Palestinian Arab religious front proved difficult to establish and alternative organizations such as the [[Supreme Muslim Council]]'s Organization of Muslim Youth and the National Muslim Association were established in Nazareth later in the 1920s.<ref name="Emmett39">Emmett 1995, p. 39.</ref> in 1922 there had been a small population of 58 Jews and Jewish families living in Nazareth.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/stream/PalestineCensus1922/Palestine+Census+(1922)#page/n8/mode/1up|title=Palestine Census ( 1922)|website=archive.org}}</ref>

Nazareth was relatively slow to modernize. While other towns already had wired electricity, Nazareth delayed its electrification until the 1930s and invested instead in improving its water supply system.<ref>Shamir, Ronen (2013) ''Current Flow: The Electrification of Palestine''. Stanford: Stanford University Press</ref> This included adding two reservoirs at the northwestern hills and several new [[cistern]]s.<ref name="Emmett39"/> By 1930, a church for the Baptist denomination, a municipal garden at Mary's Well and a police station based in Zahir al-Umar's [[Seraya]] had been established and the Muslim Sharqiya Quarter had expanded.<ref name="Emmett37"/>

In the [[1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine|1936–1939 Arab Revolt]], Nazareth played a minor role, contributing two rebel commanders out of 281 rebel commanders active in the country. The two were Nazareth native and Christian Fu'ad Nassar and Nazareth resident and [[Indur]] native Tawfiq al-Ibrahim. The nearby villages of [[Saffuriya]] and [[al-Mujaydil]] played a more active military role, contributing nine commanders between them. The leaders of the revolt sought to use Nazareth as a staging ground to protest the [[Peel Commission|British proposal]] to include the [[Galilee]] into a future Jewish state. On 26 September 1937, the British district commissioner of the Galilee, [[Lewis Yelland Andrews]], was assassinated in Nazareth by local rebels.<ref name="Emmett40">Emmett 1995, p. 40.</ref>

By 1946, the municipal boundary of Nazareth had been enlarged and new neighborhoods, namely Maidan, Maslakh, Khanuq and Nimsawi, were established. New homes were established in existing quarters and the town still had an abundance of orchards and agricultural fields. Two cigarette factories, a tobacco store, two cinemas and a tile factory had been established, significantly boosting Nazareth's economy.<ref name="Emmett37"/> A new police station was built on Nazareth's southernmost hill,<ref name="Emmett37"/> while the police station in the Seray had been converted into Nazareth's municipal headquarters. Watchtowers were also erected on some of the hilltops around the town. Other new or expanded government offices included a headquarters for the district commissioner at the former Ottoman military barracks, and offices for the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Survey and Settlement.<ref name="Emmett39"/>

Nazareth was in the territory allotted to the Arab state under the [[1947 UN Partition Plan]]. In the months leading up to the [[1948 Arab–Israeli War]], the town became a refuge for Arab-Palestinians fleeing the urban centers of [[Tiberias]], [[Haifa]] and [[Baysan]] before and during the [[Haganah]]'s [[1947–48 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine|capture]] of those cities on 18 April 22 April and 12 May 1948, respectively.<ref>Emmett 1995, pp. 40–41.</ref>

===Israeli period===

====1948 War====
[[File:Moshe Sharett - Amin Gargurah.jpg|thumb|[[Amin-Salim Jarjora]]
 (left), Mayor of Nazareth, with Israeli prime minister [[Moshe Sharett]], 1955]]
Nazareth itself was not a field of battle during the 1948 War, which began on 15 May, before the first truce on 11 June, although some of the villagers had joined the loosely organized peasant military and paramilitary forces, and troops from the [[Arab Liberation Army]] (ALA) had entered Nazareth on 9 July. The local defense of the town consisted of 200–300 militiamen distributed along the hills surrounding the town. The defense in the southern and western hills collapsed after Israeli shelling, while resistance in the northern hills had to contend with an incoming Israeli armored unit. Not long after the Israelis began shelling the local militiamen, Nazareth's police chief raised a white flag over the town's police station.<ref name="Emmett44">Emmett 1995, p. 44.</ref>

Most of the fighting around Nazareth occurred in its satellite villages, particularly in [[Saffuriya]], whose residents put up resistance until largely dispersing following Israeli air raids on 15 July.<ref name="Emmett43">Emmett 1995, p. 43</ref> During the ten days of fighting which occurred between the first and second truce, Nazareth capitulated to Israeli troops during [[Operation Dekel]] on 16 July, after little more than token resistance. By then, morale among local militiamen was low and most refused to fight alongside the ALA because of their perceived weakness in the face of Israel's perceived military superiority and the alleged maltreatment of Christian residents and clergy by ALA volunteers. The Muslim mayor of Nazareth, Yusef Fahum requested a halt to all resistance put up by Nazarenes to prevent the town's destruction.<ref name="Emmett44"/>

The surrender of Nazareth was formalized in a written agreement, whereby the town's leaders agreed to cease hostilities in return for promises from the Israeli officers, including brigade commander [[Ben Dunkelman]] (the leader of the operation), that no harm would come to the civilians of the town. Soon after the signing of the agreement, Dunkelman received an order from the Israeli General [[Chaim Laskov]] to forcibly evacuate the city's Arabs. He refused, remarking that he was 'shocked and horrified' that he would be commanded to renege on the agreement he, and also Chaim Laskov, had just signed. Twelve hours after defying his superior, he was relieved of his post, but not before obtaining assurances that the security of Nazareth's population would be guaranteed. [[David Ben-Gurion]] backed his judgement up, fearing that expelling Christian Arabs might provoke an outcry throughout the Christian world.<ref>Derek J. Penslar, [https://books.google.com/books?id=qWsPAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA235  ''Jews and the Military: A History,''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200103083953/https://books.google.com/books?id=qWsPAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA235 |date=3 January 2020 }} Princeton University Press 2013 p.235.</ref> By the end of the war, Nazareth's population saw a large influx of refugees from major urban centers and rural villages in the Galilee.<ref name="Emmett40"/>

==== 1950s–1960s ====
[[File:Habsora from selezian.jpg|thumb|View of modern Nazareth]]
In the first few years of its incorporation into Israel, Nazareth's affairs were dominated by the issues of land expropriation, [[internally displaced Palestinians|internally displaced refugees]] and the hardships of martial law, which included curfews and travel restrictions. Efforts to resolve these issues were largely unsuccessful and led to frustration among the inhabitants, which in turn contributed to political agitation in the city.<ref>Emmett 1995, p. 49.</ref> As the largest Arab town in Israel, Nazareth became a center of [[Arab nationalism|Arab]] and [[Palestinian nationalism]], and because the [[Communist Party of Israel|Communist Party]] was the sole legal political group that took up many of the local Arab causes, it gained popularity in Nazareth.<ref name="Emmett49-50">Emmett 1995, pp. 49–50.</ref> Arab political organization within Nazareth and Israel was largely stymied by the state until recent decades.<ref>Emmett 1995, pp. 50–51.</ref> Arab and Palestinian nationalist sentiment continue to influence Nazareth's political life.<ref>Emmett 1995, p. 48.</ref>

In 1954, 1,200 [[dunam]]s of Nazareth's land, which had been slated for future urban expansion by the municipality, was expropriated by state authorities for the construction of government offices and, in 1957, for the construction of the Jewish town of [[Nazareth Illit]]. The latter was built as a way for the state to counterbalance the Arab majority in the region.<ref name="Emmett52">Emmett 1995, p. 52.</ref> [[Knesset]] member [[Seif el-Din el-Zoubi]], who represented Nazareth, actively opposed the [[Israeli land and property laws#The 'Absentees Property Law'|Absentees' Property Law]], which allowed state expropriation of land from Arab citizens who were not permitted to return to their original villages. Zoubi argued that the internally displaced refugees were not absentees as they were still living in the country as citizens and wanted to return to their homes.<ref>Emmett 1995, p. 51.</ref> Israel offered compensation to these internal refugees, but most refused for fear of permanently relinquishing their [[Palestinian right of return|right of return]]. Tensions between Nazareth's inhabitants and the state came to a head during a 1958 [[May Day]] rally where marchers demanded that refugees be allowed to return to their villages, an end to land expropriation, and self-determination for Palestinians. Several young protesters were arrested for throwing stones at security forces.<ref name="Emmett49-50"/> Martial law ended in 1966.

On 5 January 1964, [[Pope Paul VI]] included Nazareth in the [[List of pastoral visits of Pope Paul VI outside Italy|first ever papal visit]] to the Holy Land.<ref name="HL">{{cite web|url=http://www.officialcatholicdirectory.com/special-feature-article/papal-visits-to-the-holy-land.html |title=Papal Visits to the Holy Land |first=Judith |last=Sudilovsky |year=2009 |publisher=Official Catholic Directory |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131213055756/http://www.officialcatholicdirectory.com/special-feature-article/papal-visits-to-the-holy-land.html |archive-date=13 December 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref>

====1980s–2010s====
As of the early 1990s, no city plans drafted by Nazareth Municipality have been approved by the government (both the British Mandate and later Israel) since 1942.<ref name="Emmett54">Emmett 1995, p. 54.</ref> This has left many people in Nazareth who vote in the city's municipal elections and receive services from its municipality effectively outside of the city's jurisdiction. Such areas include the Sharqiya and Jabal el-Daula quarters which are in Nazareth Illit's jurisdiction and whose residents had to acquire building permits from the latter city. Similarly, the Bilal neighborhood of the Safafra Quarter is located within [[Reineh]]'s jurisdiction. In 1993, the residents of Bilal became official residents of Reineh.<ref name="Emmett54"/> Nazareth's municipal plans for expansion prior to the establishment of Nazareth Illit, were to the north and east, areas that the latter city now occupy. Arab satellite towns are closely located to the north, west and southwest. Thus, the remaining area within the city's municipal boundaries available for expansion were to the northwest and the south, where the topography restricted urban development. After lobbying the Knesset and the [[Ministry of Interior (Israel)|Interior Ministry]], el-Zoubi was able to have areas to the northwest of the city annexed to the municipality.<ref name="Emmett53">Emmett 1995, p. 53.</ref>

In the 1980s, the government began attempts to merge the nearby village of [[Ilut]] with Nazareth, although this move was opposed by residents from both localities and the Nazareth Municipality.<ref name="Emmett53"/> Ilut's residents were included as part of Nazareth's electorate in the 1983 and 1989 municipal elections, which Ilut's residents largely boycotted, and in the 1988 national elections. Ilut was designated by the Interior Ministry as a separate [[local council (Israel)|local council]] in 1991.<ref name="Emmett54"/> The Israeli government has designated a Nazareth [[metropolitan area]] that includes the [[Local council (Israel)|local councils]] of [[Yafa an-Naseriyye]] to the south, Reineh, [[Mashhad (Israel)|Mashhad]] and [[Kafr Kanna]] to the north, [[Iksal]] and Nazareth Illit to the east and [[Migdal HaEmek]] to the west.

[[File:Andartnazareth.jpg|thumb|Monument to Arab Israeli casualties in the [[October 2000 events]], Nazareth]]
As the political center of Israel's Arab citizens, Nazareth is the scene of annual rallies held by the community including [[Land Day]] since March 1975 and May Day.<ref name="Emmett55">Emmett 1995, p. 55.</ref> There are also frequent demonstrations in support of the Palestinian cause.<ref name="Emmett56">Emmett 1995, p. 56.</ref> During the [[First Intifada]] (1987–1993), May Day marchers vocally supported the Palestinian uprising. On 22 December 1987, riots broke out during a strike held in solidarity with the Intifada. On 24 January 1988, a mass demonstration attracted between 20,000–50,000 participants from Nazareth and other Arab towns.<ref>Emmett 1995, p. 59.</ref> On 13 May, during a [[association football|football]] match in [[Nahariya]], a riot broke out between Arab and Jewish fans, resulting in a Jewish man being stabbed and 54 people, mostly Arabs, being arrested. A rally in Nazareth on 19 May followed, in which thousands of Arabs protested against "racist attacks" against the Arab fans and discriminatory policies against Arabs in general.<ref name="Emmett55"/>

Preparations for the [[Pope]]'s visit to Nazareth in 2000 triggered highly publicized tensions related to the [[Basilica of the Annunciation]]. In 1997, permission was granted to construct a paved plaza to handle the thousands of Christian pilgrims expected to arrive. A small group of Muslims protested and occupied the site, where a nephew of Saladin, named [[Al-Mu'azzam Isa|Shihab al-Din]], is believed{{who|date=October 2014}} to be buried. A school, al-Harbyeh, had been built on the site by the Ottomans, and the Shihab-Eddin shrine, along with several shops owned by the [[waqf]], were located there. Government approval of plans for a large mosque on the property triggered protests from Christian leaders. In 2002, a special government commission permanently halted construction of the mosque.<ref>{{cite web |title=Final Bar on Controversial Nazareth Mosque |date=4 March 2002 |publisher=Catholic World News |url=http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=17590 |access-date=1 August 2006 |archive-date=6 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181106233134/http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=17590 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In March 2006, public protests followed the disruption of a prayer service by an Israeli Jew and his Christian wife and daughter, who detonated firecrackers inside the church. The family said it wanted to draw attention to their problems with the welfare authorities.<ref>{{cite news |title=Thousands of Israeli Arabs protest attack |date=4 March 2006 |newspaper=USA Today |url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-03-04-israeli-arabs_x.htm?csp=34 |access-date=5 September 2017 |archive-date=28 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120628120544/http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-03-04-israeli-arabs_x.htm?csp=34 |url-status=live }}</ref> In July 2006 a rocket fired by [[Hezbollah]] as part of the [[2006 Lebanon War|2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict]] killed two children in Nazareth.<ref>{{cite news |title=Rocket attacks kill two Israeli Arab children |date=19 July 2006 |agency=Reuters |url=http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L196187346.htm |access-date=7 August 2006 |archive-date=28 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210528163548/https://news.trust.org//humanitarian/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In March 2010, the Israeli government approved a $3 million plan to develop Nazareth's tourism industry. New businesses receive start-up grants of up to 30 percent of their initial investment from the [[Israeli Ministry of Tourism|Ministry of Tourism]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/25/travel/nazareth-as-a-culinary-destination.html|title=Nazareth as a Culinary Destination|first=Rachel B.|last=Doyle|date=22 December 2011|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=27 February 2017|archive-date=16 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171216092238/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/25/travel/nazareth-as-a-culinary-destination.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

==== 2020s ====
Riots broke out in Nazareth during the [[2021 Israel–Palestine crisis]].<ref>{{Cite news|date=9 May 2021|title=Clashes and arrests as Jerusalem protests spread to Haifa, Nazareth|url=https://www.ynetnews.com/article/r1X4LaHOO|access-date=12 May 2021|website=ynetnews|language=en|archive-date=12 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210512150326/https://www.ynetnews.com/article/r1X4LaHOO|url-status=live}}</ref>