Nice small map titled Nazareth et le mont Tabor, from wood engraving with fine  detail and clear impression, nice hand coloring. Overall size approx. 16 x 13.5  cm, image size approx. 10.5 x 6.5 cm. From La Nouvelle Géographie universelle, la terre et les hommes, 19 vol. (1875-94), great work of Elisee Reclus. Cartographer is Charles Perron.

Nazareth

Arabic an-Nāṣira , Hebrew Naẕerat

historic city of Lower Galilee, in northern Israel; it is the largest Arab city  of the country. In the New Testament Nazareth is associated with Jesus as his  boyhood home, and in its synagogue he preached the sermon that led to his  rejection by his fellow townsmen. The city is now a centre of Christian  pilgrimage.

The etymology of the city's name is uncertain; it is not mentioned in the Old  Testament or rabbinic literature; the first reference is in the New Testament  (John 1). The contempt in which this then insignificant village was held is  expressed in the same chapter (“Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”). From  there, Jesus went to perform his first miracle, that of the changing of water to  wine at Cana (John 2). Nazareth had a Jewish population in Jesus' time; its  Christian holy places are first mentioned after Christianity became the state  religion of the Roman Empire (313 CE). The only site in Nazareth that can be  definitely identified as dating back to New Testament times is the town well,  now called St. Mary's Well; others are in dispute between the various churches.

During the Crusades, Nazareth was fought over bitterly; when the Norman-Sicilian  crusader Tancred captured Galilee (1099), he set himself up as prince of  Galilee, with his capital at Nazareth. After the crusaders' final expulsion from  Palestine (1291), Christian influence waned, and when the Ottoman Turks took  Palestine (early 16th century), they expelled all Christians from the city. Only  under Fakhr ad-Dīn II, emir of Lebanon (reigned 1590–1635), were Christians  permitted to return to Nazareth; Christian Arabs now form about a third of the  population.

Nazareth's chief attractions are its many churches. Of these, the Roman Catholic  Church of the Annunciation (completed 1966, on the site of a previous church of  1730 and a crusader foundation) is perhaps the best known. In it is the Grotto  of the Annunciation, where, according to the New Testament, the archangel  Gabriel appeared to the Virgin Mary and announced that she was to be the mother  of Jesus (Luke 1:26–31). The grotto has part of a mosaic floor dating back to  the 5th–6th century. The Church of the Annunciation is the largest Christian  house of worship in the Middle East. Other important churches include Gabriel's  Church, held by Greek Catholics to be the site of the Annunciation; the  Synagogue-Church, on the traditional site of the synagogue where Jesus preached  (Luke 4); the Church of Joseph, on the reputed site of Joseph's carpentry shop;  the Mensa Christi (“Table of Christ”) Church, where tradition holds that Jesus  dined with the Apostles after his Resurrection; and the Basilica of Jesus the  Adolescent, on a hill overlooking the city. Several of the churches have  attached museums with holy relics.

Modern Nazareth is a regional market and trade centre for the Arabs of Galilee;  tourism and light manufacturing are also important. Many workers commute to  industrial jobs in the Haifa Bay area and to agricultural and construction work  in the Jewish settlements of the Plain of Esdraelon.

Beginning in 1957, the Jewish suburb called Naẕerat ʿIllit (“Upper Naẕareth”)  was built on the hills to the east of the city. It has auto-assembly,  food-processing, and textile plants; some of Nazareth's Arabs work there. It  also is the administrative seat of Israel's Northern district. Pop. (2010 est.)  73,000.

Mount Tabor

Hebrew Har Tavor, Arabic Jabal Aṭ-ṭur,

historic elevation of northern Israel, in Lower Galilee near the edge of the  Plain of Esdraelon (ʿEmeq Yizreʿel). Though comparatively low (1,929 feet [588  m]), it dominates the level landscape around it, leading to the biblical  expression “like Tabor among the mountains” (Jeremiah 46:18). It is first  mentioned in the 13th century BC in Egyptian inscriptions of the pharaoh Ramses  II. Its chief Old Testament association is as the site of the triumph of the  Israelite general Barak over the Canaanite leader Sisera (c. 11th century BC),  under the inspiration of the judge and prophetess Deborah (Judges 4). Although  it is not named in the New Testament, Mount Tabor is the traditional site of the  Transfiguration of Jesus. The first churches on the mountain were built in the  4th century AD. At the summit of the mountain there are a Franciscan church and  hospice and a Greek Orthodox church. From atop the summit, there is a panoramic  view of Upper Galilee. Ruins of crusader fortifications are numerous. The  mountain has fine woodlands and attracts many hikers.