Nazareth has never been lost sight of since the days of our Lord, and its name remains unchanged to the present day. There can be no question, therefore, as to its site. Eusebius and Jerome de scribe it as fifteen miles eastward from Legio (now Lejjfin), and near Mount Tabor. Jerome calls it a little village' (vim/us ; Onomast. s. v.) It stands in an upland vale amid the hills of Galilee, two miles from the plain of Esdraelon, and six west of Tabor. The vale, or basin, is a mile long by about a quarter broad. On one side there are a few gardens enclosed with hedges of cactus ; here and there are clumps of olives scattered over it ; all the rest is covered with corn-fields and luxuriant pastures. A girdle of rounded hills en circles it, shutting out all view of the world beyond, and giving that air of quiet, peaceful seclusion, which constitutes its chief charm, and its peculiar adaptation to the early history of our Lord. The hills have a rugged aspect, the white limestone cropping up everywhere in jagged points, and bold bluffs, and bare crowns ; but the bushes and aro matic shrubs, and especially the brilliant wild flowers that spring up from the scanty soil, and from the clefts and crannies of the rocks, take away from the bleakness of the landscape, and give it, in early spring, a pleasing and picturesque appearance. The narrow rugged glens that branch off in all directions among the hills, seem as if made for meditation. The hill on the north-west of the vale overtops all the others, rising to a height of some 400 feet above the village ; and is crowned by a white-domed tomb. Its side is steep, furrowed by ravines, and broken by ledges of bare rock. On its lower declivities, partly in the ravines, partly on the shelving base, and partly on the sides and tops of the rugged ledges, stand the houses of Nazareth—plain, neat, sub stantial stone buildings. This is the hill on which the evangelist tells us the city was built' (Luke iv. 29) ; and there is more than one cliff along its side that might have served the purposes of the fanati cal populace when they led him unto a brow of the hill (Von 60pzios rou 8pous), that they might cast him down headlong.' The town was built on the
hill,' not on the brow ;'-and the cliff from which they attempted to cast Jesus Pare naratcpflp.vio-ac abrOp) was above, not below the town (Handbook, p. 359 ; Stanley, S. and P., p. 359 ; Robinson, B. R., ii. 335). Monkish traditions have assigned another locality, two miles distant, to this incident; but tradition does not agree with the gospel narra tive.
One of the most interesting spots about Naza reth is the fountain—there is but one—a short dis tance east of the village. Over the trough that receives the water is an arched recess, and around it are some venerable olives. A few yards above it is the Greek church of the Annunciation, within whose walls is the source or spring at which, according to the Protevangelion (ix. 7), the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary. Independent of the tradition, the fountain may justly claim the title of Holy Place.' It is now, and must have been in all ages, a favourite resort of the youth of Nazareth.
Nazareth has a population of about 4000 souls, the vast majority being Christians. The men have a look of sturdy independence. They are better dressed and better mannered than the peasants of Palestine usually are ; and the females are justly celebrated for their grace and beauty. The houses are all of stone, and look clean and comfortable ; but the streets are narrow and filthy. The principal building is the Latin convent, con taining the church, built, says tradition, over the spot from whence the Santa Casa of Loretto took flight 60o years ago for the more peaceful soil of Italy (Stanley, S. and P., p. 439). The scene of the Annunciation is pointed out in a grotto beneath the altar. Several other traditional holy places' are shown in and around Nazareth, including the alleged Mount of Precipitation, two miles distant, and overhanging the plain of Esdraelon. These have no historic basis, and a description of them would therefore be out of place in this article (see Handbook, 1.c ; Stanley, pp. 357, ; Bonar, Land of Promise, pp. 397-403 ; Quaresmius P. 834 ; Robinson, B. R., ii. 333-343).—J. L. P.