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M*W: The website you quote also has this to say:
"Nazareth has little history, neither before nor after the birth of Jesus. Always a small town, it was not on a major route, nor it did have a specific export. A town able to subsist alone for the most part, there was little opportunity to draw traders up from the caravan route lower done the hillside. The town is not mentioned in the Old Testament, and only in the New Testament in relation to the town where Jesus grew up."
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M*W: All books of the NT were written long after Jesus was gone. Mark, the earliest, was written c.70CE.
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M*W: Even if the town had gone by another name, which is possible, it was destroyed c.67CE, and was first mentioned after c.70CE. It could have been named and destroyed before c.67CE.
In the 2nd century CE, the priestly family of Haspises lived in Nazareth. An inscription discovered in Caesarea mentions Nazareth as one of the places in Galilee where priests of Judaea migrated after the war of Hadrian in 135 CE. This was assuredly because the town was all Jewish, and the other towns of Palestine were being Hellenized. It was also about this time that Konon, a Christian, was martyred here. Otherwise there is no record of Christians at Nazareth until Byzantine times and Emperor Constantine.
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M*W: It is highly unlikely that Nazareth existed until c.325CE, when Constantine's mother traveled to the area and claimed to have found [/I]authentic relics of Jesus' life and built chapels over those locations. It's also very likely that it was Constantine's mother who named the town. Most likely, though, she was just another stage mother who spent her life forcing her son into the limelight, and catching the Jesus-train enabled her to do so. The RCC believes these relics to be authentic even as we speak!
Your reference stated: "After Christianity was declared a valid religion of the Roman Empire by Constantine, Nazareth gained some attention as the town where Jesus grew up. In 356 CE Empress Helena built a small church in center of the Jewish community, over a pre-existing church or synagogue. This was called the Church of the Annunciation, and represents the location where the angel Gabriel is supposed to have told Mary of the coming birth of Jesus. Below the floors, and part of a pre-existing church, are mosaics with a cross worked into the design. Since the use of the cross in floor mosaic was forbidden by Emperor Theodosius (408-450 CE), it is thought that the later floor was meant to cover up the earlier, and therefore dates the first floor."
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M*W: Again, this reference offers no valid evidence for the existence of the town of Nazareth during the time you state.
Your reference states: "During the time of Constantine many Christian churches were built in all-Jewish towns on the order of the Emperor, specifically to spread Christianity among the Jews. The Arabs captured Galilee and Nazareth in 636 CE, and espoused a tolerance for Christianity. This tolerance did not last long and Christian churches were converted to mosques. The Greek emperor, John Zimisces, reconquered Galilee from the Arabs in 920, but he was later poisoned by his eunuchs, and his soldiers abandoned the country."
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M*W: Nazareth apparently rebuilt, and in c.636CE, it was captured by Arabs, but this still does not pre-date the city.
Your reference states: "c.1200 - Town on site at beginning of Israelite occupation of Canaan. In 67CE, City destroyed in Jewish War."
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M*W: Still, the dating of Nazareth is inconclusive as of c.1200BCE, since it only referred to as "Town." Again, in c.67CE, it is referred to as "City" but not "Nazareth."
Your reference cites "Home of the child Jesus of Nazareth." This is questionable, because the gospels were written beginning only in c.70CE. Therefore, it was 'assumed' that Jesus was a child there. This could have even been a forgery. There was simply no valid evidence of the town of 'Nazareth' until after Jesus was gone, and then it was referred to in the past tense. There is more evidence to suggest that Nazareth did exist from at least the earliest date of c.67CE, if not before, but not back as far as c.1CE. There is still no proof that the town was called 'Nazareth' in c.67CE. It seemed to gain popularity as a town in c.356CE, thanks to Constantine's over-zealous mother.
