Khirbet Qana: Real site of Jesus’ first miracle might have been found

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A team of archaeologists claims to have found the exact location where Jesus famously turned water into wine at the wedding at Qana.

Long believed that the wedding took place in Kafr Kanna, three miles northeast of Nazareth, new excavations have discovered evidence that the real Qana might have been about 7.45 miles northwest of Nazareth at Khirbet Qana.

It was here that Jesus famously, at Mary’s request, performed his first miracle. With vessels of water before him, they became wine at a wedding, a symbol of blessing and abundance, but also a demonstration of Jesus’ God-given powers.

“What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him,” mentions John 2:11 (New International Version). This moment marked the beginning of the prophet’s journey as the son of God, a man who could make the impossible happen.

An excavation at Khirbet Qana, which began over twenty years ago, might have uncovered the significant site.

Having found compelling evidence that Christians marked this Jewish village as the location of the miracle, the 200,000 to 800,000 tourists who visit Kafr Kanna a year might have to shift their plans if they want to see where Jesus really did it.

Jesus really did turn water into wine, first of all

In 1998, an excavation at Khirbet Qana showed that this Jewish village existed between 323 BCE and 324 CE. The current head historian on the project Tom McCollough found “an extensive network of Christian worship sites in an underground cave system beneath the village,” The Jerusalem Post reports.

It dates from the 3 ^rd century CE onwards, with rooms falling within the Byzantine era and the Crusades. Some were decorated with crosses, pilgrims names, and even the inscription Kyrios lesou or Lord Jesus.

In a cave, they even found an altar made from a sarcophagus lid placed below a shelf that held two stone jars. “There was room for four too,” Dr. McCollough told The Jerusalem Post .

The team believes that these vessels held the water that Jesus then turned into wine. It is believed that there were, in fact, six jars that he performed this feat of magic upon, signaling the prosperous beginning of his journey as “the one.”

At least, it proves to archaeologists that the early Christians visited Khirbet Qana and not Kafr Kanna to honor the first miracle of Jesus and worship underground.

Time to go to Khirbet Qana

After consulting pilgrim texts, archaeologists saw a match between these descriptions and the complex underground. “There is no village that has the ensemble of evidence that presents such a persuasive case for Khirbet Qana,” as per Archaeology News.

Furthermore, they found a Beit Midrash, a Jewish house of study from the Roman period and coins from the Maccabean revolt. So, the astounding underground network appeared to be a major religious center.

With the obvious presence of stone vessels, though archaeologists didn’t mention what was inside of them, led them call it the real site of the Miracle of Cana where wine flowed instead of water.

“Our excavations show that this was in fact a thriving Jewish village located in the heart of much of Jesus’ life and ministry,” and it was his “safe place or operational center,” McCollough told Fox News .

“These discoveries warrant at least a reconsideration of the historical value of John’s references to Cana and Jesus” in the Bible , McCollough concludes in Archaeology News.