Mount of Precipitation

Mount of Precipitation, also known as Mount Precipice or Mount Kedumim, is located just outside the southern edge of Nazareth, 2 km southwest of the modern city centre.

It is believed by some to be the Mount of Precipitation of the Rejection of Jesus described in the Gospel of Luke (Luke 4:29-30). According to the story, the people of Nazareth, not accepting Jesus as Messiah, tried to push him from the mountain, but “he passed through the midst of them and went away”.

Archaeological excavations in the Qafzeh Cave in the mountain found human remains estimated to be 100,000 years old.

The human skeletons were associated with red ochre, which was found only alongside the bones, suggesting that the burials were symbolic in nature. Prior to this discovery, scientists believed that human symbolic reasoning evolved much later, about 50,000 years ago.

During the 20th century, the mountain was used as a quarry, which is now abandoned. Highway 60 goes through a tunnel dug into the mountain at the site of the old quarry, and connects Afula and Jezreel Valley (Arabic – Marj Ibn Amer) directly to Nazareth.

On 14 May 2009 during his visit to the Holy Land, Pope Benedict XVI celebrated a Mass on this mountain in which 40,000 people participated.