Ancient Israel House : 1st Century Nazareth House

 

a house from the 1st century AD was discovered in Nazareth, 2009

example of a stone house with courtyard

Features of a house in 1st century Nazareth

Houses in Nazareth had a flat roof with exterior stairs at the side and an awning of woven goats’ hair to protect against the sun. This was used by the women as a work-space, an extra room.

The roof was also a cool place to sleep in hot weather.

The inside of the house , there were raised platforms at one end of the room, with cushions and mats – woven by the women and, like their clothing, embroidered.

The walls were covered with plaster, rubbed flat with a stone and painted with geometric patterns.

There was hardly any furniture. Niches were cut into the wall, and these provided storage for bedrolls and clothes.

Large amounts of food – jars of oil and olives, etc., were kept in separate storage areas, secure against mice. Archaeological excavations in the Nazareth area show there was a honeycomb of underground rooms under the houses, hollowed out of the soft rock. They were used for a variety of purposes – living quarters in the fierce heat of summer, cisterns for water, grain silos, and storage.

The inside rooms of the house were small and dark, so the courtyard and roof were important work areas, with better light for tasks like spinning and weaving.

Down in the courtyard was the cooking area, with an open fire, an oven and an array of cooking utensils. There was a mortar and pestle for grinding small amounts of grain and a covered area where people sat while they worked or talked.

Courtyard served as a daily workplace – the weather was dry for most of the year. Here Spinning and weaving were done, food was prepared, people met, and animals were kept.

The courtyard often contained a mikveh for ceremonial purification, and the family latrine as well, which was emptied every day into a communal manure pit.