Scientists are studying an underground complex that was a site of mass pilgrimage during early Christianity.
The transformation of water into wine during the wedding in Cana of Galilee is considered the first of the 11 miracles of Christ described in the New Testament. The Evangelist John tells us that Jesus and his mother were invited to a wedding feast. In the midst of the celebration, it turned out that the hosts had run out of wine. Since the newlyweds were good acquaintances of Mary, she asked her son to help them avoid embarrassment. Christ ordered to fill 6 empty stone vessels with water. When they began to fill the cups from them, it turned out that the water had turned into precious wine.
Last year, Israeli archaeologists excavated a workshop for the manufacture of those very stone water pots (Jews, for religious reasons, preferred to use stone dishes instead of earthenware). And recently, the head of the archaeological expedition to Khirbet Kan, Thomas McCollough, said that he had discovered the very place where Jesus performed his first miracle. Five candidates claim the right to be called the very Cana of Galilee from the story of the Apostle John. Most often, tourists are taken to Kafr Kana, where the Church of the Wedding is located, built in 1883, allegedly on the very place where Jesus turned water into wine.
“However, in reality, Kafr-Kana has nothing to do with biblical history,” says Thomas McCollough. - She began to be identified with Cana of Galilee only after 1700, when the Catholic Franciscans began to govern the pilgrimage of Christians. They were interested not so much in historical accuracy as in the convenience of logistics.
Where is the real Cana of Galilee located? The archaeologist believes that it is located on the site of the abandoned village of Khirbet Kane, 15 kilometers from Nazareth, the city where Christ's childhood and youth passed. This version is confirmed by the results of archaeological excavations that have been carried out in this area since 1998. Thomas McCollough is convinced that no locality claiming the role of Biblical Cana has such a complex of evidence as Khirbet Cana. It fully corresponds to the geographical description in the Gospel and rabbinical texts. The village is located near the Sea of Galilee in the Lower Galilee region. The fact that at the time of Christ it was inhabited by Jews is confirmed by the presence of a synagogue of the Roman period and other ritual structures, pieces of pottery with an inscription in Hebrew and the discovery of 6 coins of the Maccabean era,who led the uprising against the yoke of the Seleucids in the second century BC …
“When Jesus traveled with his disciples in Galilee, Khirbet Qana was a rather large ancient, inhabited by about 1200 inhabitants,” the archaeologist says. “Geographically, it is located right in the heart of the area where Jesus lived and preached. As the Gospel suggests, Cana was a safe haven, or, if you prefer, an operations center. This is where Christ and his disciples return when faced with hostility in Judea.
It was Khirbet Kanu that Christians of the Byzantine period considered the Biblical Kana. This is convincingly proven by the results of excavations. Professor McCollough and his colleagues have discovered an underground Christian complex consisting of four interconnected caves. They have been used as a place of mass pilgrimage for almost a thousand years. In any case, in one of the caves, remains of plaster were found, some layers of which belonged to the Byzantine period, and others to the era of the Crusaders. This means the cave was landscaped at least in the period from 415 to 1217. On the walls of the cave one can read both autographs of pilgrims (then it was in the order of things to write their names on the walls of temples - so that God would pay attention), and graffiti in the Greek "Lord Jesus". Another surprising find from the dungeon is a Maltese-style cross sarcophagus lid that appears to have been used as an altar. Since one side of the tombstone was polished, probably by the hands of pilgrims who touched it during prayer. Above this "altar" was found a shelf with the remains of two stone vessels. "And there was room for four more!" - emphasizes Thomas McCollough, hinting that their number coincides with the number of stone water pots at the wedding with Jesus. Did the miracle of turning water into wine actually happen? Scientists will never be able to find evidence for this supernatural event. But now we know that the ancient pilgrims were sure that it happened precisely in Khirbet Kan.the hands of pilgrims who touched her during prayer. Above this "altar" was found a shelf with the remains of two stone vessels. "And there was room for four more!" - emphasizes Thomas McCollough, hinting that their number coincides with the number of stone water pots at the wedding with Jesus. Did the miracle of turning water into wine actually happen? Scientists will never be able to find evidence for this supernatural event. But now we know that ancient pilgrims were sure that it happened in Khirbet Kan.with the hands of pilgrims who touched her during prayer. Above this "altar" was discovered a shelf with the remains of two stone vessels. "And there was room for four more!" - emphasizes Thomas McCollough, hinting that their number coincides with the number of stone water pots at the wedding with Jesus. Did the miracle of turning water into wine actually happen? Scientists will never be able to find evidence for this supernatural event. But now we know that ancient pilgrims were sure that it happened in Khirbet Kan. Did the miracle of turning water into wine actually happen? Scientists will never be able to find evidence for this supernatural event. But now we know that ancient pilgrims were sure that it happened in Khirbet Kan. Did the miracle of turning water into wine actually happen? Scientists will never be able to find evidence for this supernatural event. But now we know that the ancient pilgrims were sure that it happened precisely in Khirbet Kan.
YAROSLAV KOROBATOV
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