Jesus' home found?

NAZARETH (Israel) - ISRAELI archaeologists have uncovered a home dating to the time of Jesus in the town of Nazareth where he is said to have spent the better part of his life, the antiquities authority said on Monday.

The remains were found near the Basilica of the Annunciation, built on the ruins of three earlier churches on the site where Christians believe Mary was told by the angel Gabriel that she would give birth to Jesus.

'The discovery is of the utmost importance since it reveals for the very first time a house from the Jewish village of Nazareth and thereby sheds light on the way of life at the time of Jesus,' Yardenna Alexandre, who is heading the excavation, said in a statement.

'The building that we found is small and modest, and it is most likely typical of the dwellings in Nazareth in that period.' The discovery comes days before more than one billion Western Christians celebrate Christmas in honour of the birth of Jesus in a manger in Bethlehem, just south of Jerusalem.

He is believed to have spent most of his life in and around the northern town of Nazareth, where Mary and her husband Joseph lived. -- AFP