Revelation Review
Arc. Benjamin Odion
Architect/
Project Management Consultant
odionben@gmail.com
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any of
us live in spaces enclosed and arranged in pattern consistent with our culture,
taste and most times our income. These spaces have overtime influence our lives
in diverse ways. With increasing crave for comfort both internally and
externally, buildings of various forms, sizes and textures have emerged. In
fact some of these buildings are equipped with gadgets to welcome you, converse
with you, transport you to your desired destination, cook for you and even bath
you!
As an Architect, I have
wondered about the influence of the environment and building on Jesus as a teenager. How did the house He lived in looked like?
Was it consistent with what was obtainable at that time? Was it neat and
luxurious? Who designed it? Who built it?
These and many more will be examined in this write up.
Of course no one knows
exactly what Mary and Joseph's house in Nazareth was like. The house disappeared many
centuries ago. But we do know exactly how an average village house in Nazareth
looked like at that time.
The basic floor plan had
a central courtyard with rooms opening off it. These rooms were small by our
standard, with a minimum of two windows. Lattice work and shutters were used to cover
window openings, the rooms were small, stairs or a wooden ladder led up onto
the roof, which was used as an outdoor room partly shaded by matting or a
tent-like superstructure.
Interior
space of typical house in Nazareth during the time of Jesus
The inside rooms tended
to be dark, so the courtyard and the roof were important parts of the house,
used for tasks that needed good light - Mary of Nazareth and the women of
her family would have spun yarn, woven fabric and prepared food there. In
hot weather family members slept there as well.
Reconstruction
of a type of house that was common in Nazareth in the 1st century Galilee: courtyard,
living quarters, storage area for animals and equipment
According to the Israeli Antiquities Authority, the
very building Jesus lived in with His parents was described as being ‘small and
modest’. It is located in the middle of Churches which were built in the Byzantine
period (early 8th Century). The building consisted of two
rooms and a courtyard in which a rock-hewn cistern collected
rainwater.
Researchers have also recovered few artifacts from
inside the building - mostly fragments of pottery vessels from the first and
second centuries. Also, found were several fragments of chalk vessels,
which were used by Jews in this period because such vessels were not
susceptible to becoming ritually unclean.
An association in Nazareth plans to conserve and
display the home's remains in the centre. It will be built next to the Church
of the Annunciation, which stands on the spot where Catholics believe Mary once
lived. The Church of the Annunciation is in the heart of Nazareth, above
an older Church and atop the ruins of a Church from the Byzantine period.
Modern-day
excavations in Nazareth: the houses ordinary people lived in
usually had rough stone foundations and mud-brick walls
usually had rough stone foundations and mud-brick walls
From the
foregoing, it would be concluded that Jesus lived a modest life even as a child.
This was replicated all through His life. His immediate family could be classified
as the “lower class” by today’s standard yet He is the greatest Man that ever
lived. As a child He was not influenced by His environment and the standard of the
building which was occasioned by His parent’s economic state, rather He
concentrated on His mission on Earth- to liberate Man from sin and death. To
Him be all the Glory, Honour and Adoration forever and ever, AMEN!
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