GEOLOGICAL AND TRIBULATION FEATURES ON ISRAELI TOUR PATHS
PART 6B
Jerusalem and Bethlehem – Normal Sixth Day of Tours in two Parts
Part 2 of 2 Parts on Day 6
Bethlehem Portion
Bethlehem (Arabic: Bayt Lahm meaning “House of Meat” and Hebrew: Bet Lehem meaning “House of Bread”) is a Palestinian city in Israel’s West B ank
and a hub of Palestinian cultural and tourism industries. It is home to one of largest Palestinian Christian communities in the Middle East.
Bethlehem lies 6 miles (10 km) south of Jerusalem, standing at an elevation of about 765m above the sea, thus 30m higher than Jerusalem.
The Bethlehem agglomeration also covers the small towns of Beit Jala and Beit Sahour. The latter has biblical importance as the reputed site of the “Shepherds’ Field.”
The city has great significance to the Christian religion as it is believed to be the birthplace of Jesus of Nazareth. The traditional site of Rachel’s tomb, which is important in Judaism, lies at the city’s outskirts. The Church of the Nativity, built by Saint Helena, mother of Constantine the Great (330 A.D.), stands in the center of Bethlehem over a grotto or cave called the Holy Crypt, which according to Chr istian tradition,
is the place where Jesus was born. This is perhaps the oldest existing Christian church in the world. A monastic center for centuries, nearby is the grotto where Saint Jerome
the Latin father and Doctor of the Church, is said to have spent 30 years of his life translating the Scriptures into Latin.
Some researchers dispute the authenticity of this town as Jesus’ birthplace, supporting instead a town of the same name in Galilee.
However, for two thousand years Christian tradition has sanctified Bethlehem of Judea as the holy birthplace.
The city of Bethlehem, located in the “hill country” of Judah, was originally called Ephrath (Genesis 35:16, 19; 48:7; Ruth 4:11). It was also called Beth-lehem Ephratah (Micah 5:2), Beth-lehem-judah (1 Samuel 17:12), and “the city of David” (Luke 2:4).
It is first noticed in Scripture as the place where Rachel died and was buried “by the wayside,” directly to the north of the city (Genesis 48:7). The valley to the east was the scene of the story of Ruth the Moabitess. There are the fields in which she gleaned, and the path by which she and Naomi returned to the town.
Here was David’s birthplace, and here also, in after years, he was anointed as king by Samuel (1 Samuel 16:4-13); and it was from the well of Bethlehem that three of his heroes brought water for him at the risk of their lives when he was in the cave of Adullam (2 Samuel 23:13-17). The town was fortified by Rehoboam, David’s grandson and first king of Judah after the division of the state between Israel and Judah (II Chronicles 11).
Bethlehem, however, is distinguished above every other city as the birthplace of “Him whose goings forth have been of old” (Matthew 2:6; comp. Micah 5:2)—Jesus the Christ. Afterwards Herod, “when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men,” sent and slew “all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under” (Matthew 2:16, 18; Jeremiah 31:15).
The city was devestated during Bar Kokhba’s revolt, (the Second Jewish Revolt) of 132-135 C.E., with the Romans setting up a shrine to Adonis on the site of the Nativity. Only in 326 was the first Christian church constructed, when Helena, the mother of the first Christian emperor, Constantine, visited Bethlehem.
During the Samaritan revolt of 529, Bethlehem was sacked and its walls and the Church of the Nativity destroyed, but they were soon rebuilt on the orders of the Emperor Justinian. In 614, the Persians invaded Palestine and captured Bethlehem.
A story recounted in later sources holds that they refrained from destroying the Church of the Nativity on seeing the magi depicted in Persian clothing in one of the mosaics.
Arab rule and the Crusades
In 637, shortly after Jerusalem was captured by the Muslim armies, the Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab visited Bethlehem and promised that the Church of the Nativity would be preserved for Christian use.
In 1099, Bethlehem was captured by the Crusaders, who fortified it and built a new monastery and cloister on the north side of the Church of the Nativity. Until that time, the Official Christian presence in the Holy Land had been Greek Orthodox, who were removed from their Sees and replaced with Latin clerics. The town prospered under their rule.
On Christmas Day 1100 Baldwin I, first king of the Frankish Kingdom of Jerusalem, was crowned in Bethlehem, and that year a Latin episcopate was also established in the town.
In the 1160s the nave of the Church of the Nativity was redecorated with mosaics showing the councils of the church. An ally of King Amalric I of Jerusalem, emperor Manuel I Comnenus of Byzantium, was one of the patrons of the work. On the south wall, an inscription in Greek reads: “the present work was finished by Ephraim the monk, painter and mosaicist, in the reign of the great emperor Manuel Porphyrogenitos Comnenus and in the time of the great king of Jerusalem, Amalric.” Interestingly, the emperor’s name was placed first, in recognition of his role as overlord and protector of the Crusaders at the time.
In 1187, Saladin captured Bethlehem from the Crusaders, and the Latin clerics were forced to leave, while the Greek Orthodox clergy were allowed to return. Saladin agreed to the return of two Latin priests and two deacons in 1192. However, the town suffered from the loss of the pilgrim trade. Bethlehem was briefly returned to Crusader control by treaty between 1229 and 1244.
In 1250, with the coming to power of Rukn al-Din Baibars, tolerance of Christianity declined, clergy left the town, and in 1263 the walls of the town were demolished. The Latin clergy returned to the town over the following century, establishing themselves in the monastery adjoining the Basilica, whose control they shared with the Latins and the Armenians. In 1347 the Franciscans gained possession of
the Grotto of the Nativity as well as the right to administer and maintain the Basilica.
RACHEL’S TOMB
Rachel’s Tomb, (Dome of Rachel), is the traditional gravesite of the Biblical Matriarch Rachel and is widely considered the third holiest site in Judaism. It is located in the central West Bank on the outskirts of Bethlehem.
Location and dimensions
On the outskirts of Canaan, Rachel, wife of Jacob, went into a difficult labour with her second son, Benjamin. She died during childbirth on Cheshvan 11.[1] The Bible records the event:
“And Rachel died, and was buried on the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem. And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave: that is the pillar of Rachel’s grave unto this day.” — Genesis 35:19-20
Today, along the biblical Bethlehem-Ephrath road, adjacent to the Israeli neighbourhood of Gilo at the northern entrance to Bethlehem, stands an ancient tomb traditionally believed to be that
of Rachel. This location is mentioned by Jewish travelers since c1300.
The tomb located within the complex
The actual tomb consists of a rock with 11 stones upon it, one for each of the 11 sons of Jacob who were alive when Rachel died in childbirth. Over the centuries, the rock was covered by a dome supported by four arches. In 1841, Sir Moses Montefiore was granted permission by the Ottoman Turks to restore the tomb. He built the large, two-room building seen today. A month before he died at Tamuz in 1885, he pledged to have it renovated and the dome structure was eventually enclosed by Sir Moses Montefiore, who added a second room. The dome was fortified and enclosed inside a building with a hall from the entrance in the 1990s, due to the deteriorating security situation.
In 1864, the Sefardi Jews of Bombay donated the necessary money to dig a well. Although Rachel’s Tomb is only an hour and a half walk from the Old City of Jerusalem, many pilgrims found themselves very thirsty and unable to obtain fresh water.
Others contend that Rachel’s Tomb is located in northern Jerusalem at a site local Arabs call “the grave of the sons of Israel” which is near present day A-Ram, the site of Biblical Ramah. The place is mentioned in the “Prophets” section of the Hebrew Bible as the site of Rachel’s burial when King Saul visits the site, in I Samuel 10:2. Later Jewish sources take the site near Bethlehem as the real site.
History
During the Jordanian period (1948-1967), Jews were forbidden to visit the tomb despite assurances in the 1949 Armistice Agreements.
Recently, the site has been surrounded by a barrier to separate it from Bethlehem. Access is now restricted to pilgrims and tourists approaching from Israel.
WALKING THE WALLS OF JERUSALEM
There are many places from which you can get excellent views of the Old City of Jerusalem from above, but one of the best is by taking a stroll along the walls and ramparts of the city. The Old City of Jerusalem is surrounded by a few kilometers of walls that at some points reach as far as 15 meters above the streets below. While you cannot walk a complete circle around the city, the part behind Haram ash-Sharif is closed for understandable security reasons, you can still walk about three-quarters of the walls and that is plenty to give you some spectacular sights of all the major sights in the Old City.
The walls are divided into a northern section and a southern section. The northern section is the better half, giving you better views of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Dome of the Rock, but the southern section also provides good views of the Armenian Quarter and the Mount of Olives.
Also, because your ticket is good for both as well as good for up to three days, it is possible two split up the ramparts into two different days. The entrance for both the southern and northern parts is at Jaffa Gate, but you can also join the walk at Damascus Gate. Those are the only entrances, but you can descend whenever you wish.
Along the northern section you will get good views of the New City of Jerusalem as well of the Christian Quarter, including the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer.
Once you hit Damascus Gate, which has excellent views from the top, you will be in the heart of the Muslim quarter with the opportunity for some spectacular shots of the Dome of the Rock.
The southern road is a bit quieter, but along the way you will get some nice vantage points on top of the numerous buttresses scattered along the ramparts, such as the view of Armenian Cemetery.
The walk is not too strenuous, but does require a good bit of up and down, as well as some navigating of narrow steps,
but it is definitely worth it and is sure to provide you with some of your most memorable views of Jerusalem.
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