THE REAL MARY OF NAZARETH

The girl in the photograph wears a garment that is not only handwoven, but homespun as well - as is the fabric for the tent behind her. Women in the biblical period wove the fabric for all clothing, and for the tents they lived in. See Clothing and Housing for extra information.

The image above is quite different to traditional paintings of Mary (left), which show quite another woman: benign, aloof, gorgeously dressed, with a single child in her arms.

The Christian world transformed Mary into something very like a goddess.

The real Mary, with her dirty feet and callused hands was forgotten.

Women in rural communities like Nazareth did not read, since it was unnecessary.

Instead, Mary of Nazareth was part of an oral society that gloried in story-telling. The great enemy in ancient societies was boredom, and clever talk kept boredom at bay.

People in the ancient world told stories and acted them out for pure enjoyment. There is, after all, more sex and violence in Scripture than in anything that has come out of Hollywood. Read Judges 19 (a heartless husband and a gang rape) or Genesis 38 (seduction and deceit), then imagine the stories acted out with gusto. That was entertainment.

Mary almost certainly knew the five books of Torah by heart. It was a woman's responsibility to teach her children about Yahweh and Judaism until the age of seven.

Boys were then handed over to a male teacher at the synagogue, and taught to read. A former queen of Israel, Alexandra, had mandated that all Jewish boys should be able to read the Scriptures. 

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