The Maronite Church bell tower is to the left of the red domed Mensa Christi Church in the lower left corner. Note the angle of the hill may have been steeper to the left of the four cypress trees where buildings abut the hill.
ISRAEL PHOTOS V -- Spring 2011 |
MARONITE CHURCH CLIFF
As stated in Israel Photos IV, there were not only cliffs outside of town on the so called "Mt. of the Leap," or "Mount of the Precipice," but there were cliffs within half a mile of the center of the Roman era town that was along the road between Mary's Well and the Church of the Annunciation (Latin). This cliff was the most commonly documented cliff inside of Old Nazareth in travel accounts published during the 19th century. A few poor black and white photos and a drawing were published.
From the book, Christ's Own Country, by F.E. Clark (1914, New York):
"On the west side of town, behind the Maronite Church, is a long, steep cliff, or series of cliffs, now covered with abundant rubbish which the centuries have accumulated, out of which have grown spiny cactus trees. But if in imagination we can clear these way we find walls of rock which might have once been fifty or sixty feet high. Dean Stanley thinks that this may have been the brow of the hill whereon the city was built, and that here, after the sermon in the synagogue, before alluded to, where He told them that no prophet was acceptable in His own country the people rose in their wrath to through Him down Headlong. Others, however, place the "Hill of Precipitation," at a considerably greater distance from the city." This cliff was more commonly described as 40-50 feet high. According to a sign on the gate to the Maronite Church it was founded in 1770. This church serves as a landmark in a city that has seen much change, where building names have changed, where buildings have been torn down and new ones built in their places."
The Maronite Church bell tower is to the left of the red domed
Mensa Christi Church in the lower left corner. Note the angle of the hill
may have been steeper to the left of the four cypress trees where buildings abut
the hill.
The top of the hill seen from a side street below the Rosary Sisters Guesthouse (April 2011)
For more information see: https://dqhall59.com/israelphotosIV/nazarethsynagogue.htm
BIRDS PERCHED ON MUSTARD BRANCHES
MARONITE CHURCH CLIFF
RECENT EXCAVATIONS AT THE POOL OF SILOAM
