The house itself is about 250 years old although the entrance is about 2000 years old. Engraved in stone on the façade above the door way are five religious symbols of the time. These include the well known Star of David and the less noticeable Star of Balaam.

The house is quite small at less than thirty feet by thirty feet. As soon as you go in there is a small hall way. The door itself is wind and water tight but there is a small channel built in the step underneath the door. This is like a glorified cat flap without a flap for smaller animals to get in and out of the house.

This is what we read about in the Song of Songs when the man speaks to the woman he loves through the door but passes his hand through the opening at the bottom of the door! (Song of Songs 5: 4 -5)

Mattresses made of straw were slept in at night and rolled up neatly during the day. All members of the family lived there. From this setting one could understand the inconvenience caused to the man in the Gospel whose friend goes to knock on his door and begs him for food at night. He has to climb over his sleeping family, make his way through any animals sleeping in the hallway and look after his friend who called.

The room and indeed the whole house have no electric lighting. There is a shelf above the fire place. Several lamps of oil are there, like the ones used by the wise and foolish virgins in the parable. As you walk in the darkened house, it is easy to recall Jesus' instruction not to leave one's light hidden under the bushel.

Hanging on the wall there are a couple of old garments making obvious the foolishness of using old cloth on new garments and vice versa. There is also a big casket of wine, reminding the visitor of putting old wine into fresh skins and fresh wine into old skins.

There are also some agricultural implements. The fork was used for sifting wheat from harvest after the harvest. The plough is what Jesus told his disciples not to look back while using it.

Facing this multi-purpose living, sleeping, cooking and reception room, on the other side of the hall is the alcove where the bride used to stay on the day of her wedding as she waited for the groom.

The separating wall between and the multi purpose room and the other upper room was built of four or five bins made of clay and straw for lentils and wheat and various grains. The room was a store room which reminds the visitor of the parable of the man whose land gave a lot of produce and so he decided to fill up his stores and have an easy life until death came to him that same night. "And then", asked Jesus, "whose will all this wealth be?"

The whole of the upper room next to the multi purpose living room was a store room. The householder had access to the bins from this room as well as to the other storage space in the room itself.

One could see in its historical context, from this building, what Jesus' hearers would have understood when he refers to storing goods that last and well up to eternal life.