Cana

Cana was a town in Galilee where Jesus performed his first miracle. At a wedding feast, he changed water into wine (John 2:1, 11). Jesus later returned to Cana. While there, he told a royal official that his seriously ill son in Capernaum would live (John 4:46). Cana was also the home of Nathanael, one of the disciples of Jesus (John 21:2).

During the first Jewish rebellion, the Romans destroyed Jerusalem in AD 70. Cana became the center of defense for Galilee against the Romans. After the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, the town became home to the priestly family of Eliashib. John's Gospel calls it "Cana of Galilee." This distinguishes it from the Kanah near the Phoenician city of Tyre (Joshua 19:28).

The traditional location of Cana is Kefar Kana, about 6.4 kilometers (four miles) east of Nazareth on the main road to Tiberias. Christians have honored this site since the Byzantine and medieval periods.

However, most modern scholars identify Cana with Khirbet Kana. This ruined site lies about 12.9 kilometers (eight miles) north of Nazareth, on the northern edge of the Battuf Plain. Local Arabs still call it Cana of Galilee. Archaeologists have found pottery there from the period of the Hebrew monarchy, about 900–600 BC. They have also found pottery from the Hellenistic, Roman, Arab, and Crusader periods.