GroundReport | = Israel | The story of place: Discovery Roman Bathhouse Changes = Understandings of Nazareth's History

April 29, 2008

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News: Lifestyle

The story of place: Discovery Roman Bathhouse Changes Understandings = of=20 Nazareth's History

by Heba = Zoabi=20 April 12, 2007

The ancient bathouse in Nazareth is an impressive = archeological=20 site that includes inside it treasures from more than one era, leading = to=20 disagreements about its origins. It was discovered by accident by a = couple under=20 their commercial shop in the city centre, and is beside one of the most = sacred=20 and historical places in Christianity, Mary=E2=80=99s Well, known for = its pure and=20 sacred water because the Virgin Mary drank from it.

The story of the bathhouse began in 1993 when = Elias and=20 Martina Shama bought a small shop and started renovating it and cleaning = its=20 black walls. In the past the place had been used for selling building = materials.=20 Elias and his wife could not have expected that the old shop would = change their=20 lives, and our understanding of history, the way it has done. Under = their=20 souvenir store they found an archeological puzzle whose origins have = been=20 intriguing scientists ever since.

The debate spurred by the discovery has drawn experts and = scientists into a=20 major controversy. A few still believe it dates back only to the recent = Turkish=20 period, while others claim it is pre-Roman, based on the opinion of the = Israeli=20 Antiquities Authority. Another authority, Professor Tzvika Shaham, who = works as=20 director of a museum in the city of Tel Aviv-Jaffa, says the bathhouse = probably=20 dates back to the Crusader era. Yet others concluded, according to = available=20 evidence, that its origins go back even further, all the way to the = Roman era,=20 to the times when Jesus himself lived in Nazareth.

Professor Carsten Peter Thiede, a scholar in archeology and = religion who=20 spent 20 years excavating the area of Qumran and the Dead Sea with the=20 Antiquities Authority, describes the place in his most recent book "The=20 Cosmopolitan World of Jesus" (2005), in which he analyses the historical = implications of the discovery. Prof Thiede says in his book:

=E2=80=9CReturning to the discovery of the Roman = baths in=20 Nazareth, we realize that such an installation, should it really turn = out to be=20 Roman and to have been available to non-Roman inhabitants like Mary, = Joseph and=20 Jesus, would merely underline what we could have gathered from the = sources=20 anyway. The only real surprise to many may be the conclusion that = Nazareth was=20 anything but a nondescript village with a handful of poor = Jews.=E2=80=9D

For Martina and Elias, who were enthralled by the beauty and magic = of the=20 bathhouse, the issue was never in any doubt. They are now daily = operating the=20 site which is a major archeological and historical project of the first = degree=20 and expect to see it come to new life and be crowded with visitors from = all over=20 the world. The success of the bathhouse has become their top priority = and first=20 concern, and they have invested all their resources and money in = excavating the=20 site. The more the excavation advances, the more they discover new and=20 interesting facts that help clarify the identity and origins of the = bathhouse.=20 According to all the known facts and technologies, the site is = Roman.

Dating the bathhouse from its archeological features=20

Visitors who come to their shop stand in the first room of the = bathhouse,=20 the Caldarium (the hot room), in an area where they currently sell = traditional=20 embroidery and souvenirs to tourists. Steam emerged from vents fed by = two=20 terracotta pipes that are still visible and connected to a large furnace = that=20 produced the bath=E2=80=99s heating. The upper pipe provided steam to = the Tepidarium=20 (the tepid room) while the lower pipe channelled back the excess steam. = (it=20 should be noted that the lukewarm room is not located in the section of = the bath=20 owned by Elias and Martina.)

This old and interesting method, using all the thermal energy for=20 distributing the heat is the same used in other Roman Baths in what were = once=20 various parts of the Roman Empire.

The bathhouse is distinguished by the presence of an additional = heating=20 method under the floor of the shop. Elias and Martina take visitors to = see the=20 Hypocaust, underground channels that were located beneath the hot and = lukewarm=20 rooms. The channels were made of terracotta tiles and have arches that = were=20 built with absolute architectural precision. They are in such good = condition=20 that it appears as if time has not touched them, only added to their=20 beauty.

An ancient historical site amid Nazareth=E2=80=99s busy = urban=20 life

The bathhouse carries you swiftly along to ancient times. The = building=20 contains symbols from more than one era, such as the sculptured palm = trees on=20 one of the walls, a symbol expressing victory and consensus among the = people who=20 built the place. A lower room (where once the furnace=E2=80=99s ashes = were gathered) is=20 decorated with big circular, meticulously built arches. Close by the = hall is the=20 big furnace where you can there let your imagination roam free as you = picture=20 the workers feeding the insatiable fire with wood to keep happy a bath = full of=20 tired bathers. The furnace, one of the largest from the Roman period = ever=20 discovered, would have worked around the clock.

This astonishing find has led more than one scientist to argue that = the=20 city of Nazareth must have been an important Roman city, which would = explain the=20 presence of such an impressive Roman bath. No one really knows if that=20 assumption is correct. But it proves that we must rethink the history of = the=20 region and especially of Nazareth.

Oustanding matters still waiting for further excavation=20

Elias and Martina, the owners of the archeological bathhouse, tell = of an=20 incident that happened in 1993. One day the ashes room filled with water = reaching as high as half a meter, and then just as suddenly it drained = off and=20 air bubbles came up from the ground. Wondering what lay behind what they = had=20 just seen saw, Elias contacted antiquity experts. A group of scientists = came=20 from Harvard University in the US headed by Professor Richard Freud, who = works=20 on excavations in Israel every summer. An ultrasound image was taken to = a depth=20 of eight meters. The results suggested more than one explanation, = including the=20 possibility that there are yet deeper channels beneath the bathhouse; = another=20 hypothesis talks about the building of the bathhouse above a water=20 reservoir.

However, the end of excavations in the bathhouse has so far = prevented=20 further discoveries from being made about the remaining parts of the = site that=20 are not owned by Elias and Martina. The total area of the bathhouse is = about=20 1,300 meters square, while the couple own only around 150 meters square. = The=20 cold room and the tepid room are not inside the area of their shop and = this of=20 course obstructs them from achieving their big dream of recreating the = bathhouse=20 and making it operate once again.

The need for economic investment in an archeological=20 site

Commenting on how he was able to preserve the bathhouse even though = it is=20 an archeological site, Elias said: =E2=80=9CWe have kept the place since = 1993. If it=20 hadn=E2=80=99t been for our personal attachment to the place, it would = have been=20 demolished. The initial findings of the Antiquities Authorities = suggested that=20 the building was of Turkish origins and therefore that it could be = demolished=20 and we could use the land for any purpose. We thank God that this did = not happen=20 because of our hunch. The law allows us to invest in it and because of = that fact=20 we have kept it and preserved it, and saved it for = mankind.=E2=80=9D

The importance of this place is in defining the historical identity = of=20 Nazareth. Because of it we now know that the city was home to several = ancient=20 civilizations which left their imprints in terms of valuable = archeological sites=20 that could become major tourist attractions if they were = excavated.

These facts oblige me to appeal to international organisations and = all=20 those who have visited the bathhouse and expressed their admiration in = the=20 visitors=E2=80=99 book to transform their admiration into concrete = support for the=20 individual efforts of Elias and Martina. This couple preserved an = archeological=20 treasure and made their findings public to the world to the point that = several=20 international newspapers have written about it in their different = languages=20 because they appreciated how important it is to an understanding of our = heritage=20 and our civilization.

Tags: Bat= hhouse=20 , Elias ,=20 Roman=20

This = work is licensed = under a Creative Commons=20 Attribution 3.0 License.

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