Little is known of the early history of Nazareth. It was situated in Galilee, on the slope of a hill, and had a synagogue in which Jesus taught.... According to Epiphanius the town had only Jewish inhabitants until the time of Constantine, and even then only a few Christians settled there. Nazareth was evidently only at a comparatively late period received into the number of holy places of pilgrimage. Hence the authenticity of the holy places now revered in Nazareth is doubtful. Under the dominion of the crusaders Nazareth was apparently a purely Christian place, the seat of a bishop, later of an archbishop.... It flourished for a time under the dominion of Fahr el-Din, prince of the Druses (1620-1634), but soon declined owing to discords among the inhabitants and attacks from outside.
Nazareth rests concealed in a hollow surrounded by hills as if in the cavity of a shell. The slopes are well cultivated toward the south and east, cornfields alternating with vineyards and fig-trees.
—From "The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge."
