NAZARETH, a town of Lower Galilee, on the northern border of the plain of Esdraelon, 1,600 ft. above sea-level. The population in 1931 was 8,756 (3,226 Muslims, 5,445 Christians). There are numerous places of worship and charitable institutions in the town. The industries are lace-knitting, and the manufacture of mementoes for sale to tourists.
Nazareth is not mentioned in the Old Testament. It first be came known as the place where Jesus spent his youth. The village was the home of Joseph and Mary, and to it they returned after the flight to Egypt. In its synagogue Jesus preached the sermon that led to his rejection by his fellow-townsmen. A mass of legends and precarious identifications has grown up with the ages. A sample of the soil in which they took root and flourished may be here given. Antoninus Martyr, who visited Palestine in A.D. 570, tells us : "In the synagogue there is still the book from which our Lord was set to learn A.B.C. In the synagogue, too, is the
bench upon which our Lord sat with the other children. This bench can be moved and lifted up by Christians; but Jews cannot at all stir it, nor does it permit itself to be carried out of doors." Today visitors are shown the church of the Annunciation, the workshop of Joseph, St. Mary's well, Christ's table, the place of precipitation, etc. Only for the well can authenticity be assured.
The Crusaders captured Nazareth in iioo and transferred there the bishopric of Scythopolis (Beisan). It was taken by Saladin (1187) and re-taken by Frederick II. (1229). On its capture by Beibars (1263), the Christian inhabitants were massacred. In 1517 it came into the possession of the Turks. In the World War Nazareth was the headquarters of the Turco-German army. It was captured by British cavalry Sept. 20, 1918. (E. Ro.)