Saturday, September 14. Today we were going to Bethlehem. Bethlehem, of course, is where Jesus was born. We had breakfast at 6:45 and our bus left at 8:15. Traffic was a little lighter because this was early on the Sabbath but, with going through a checkpoint, the six-mile trip still took nearly an hour. The checkpoint was necessary because Bethlehem is in the West Bank (Zone A, where the Palestinian Authority is in charge of internal security). Being so close to Jerusalem, Bethlehem normally would have been swallowed up by the larger city, or at least have become a contiguous suburb. But the tall Israeli wall begun in 2002 effectively cuts off direct access between them except through the Iraeli checkpoint.

Tourism to Bethlehem is very important for the Palestinians. It provides a decent income to a limited number of them, and they seem eager to prevent any sign of hostility or unrest that might deter tourists. But it is not all roses. Most tourists (like us) just visit the Church of the Nativity and the Shepherds' Field, use the toilets, maybe visit a crafts shop and have lunch. Then they leave. An overnight tourist would probably spend three times what a day-tripper does. Even so, with 1.5 million tourists a year, even if they stay for only a few hours, it does add up.

Lane in Bethlehem

 

 

Not surprisingly, we were required to have a Palestinian guide. We picked him up shortly after our arrival in Bethlehem. He gave us an orientation in a cave such as Jesus might have been born in. (There are many such caves in the area, and no one claimed that this particular on had any connection to Jesus.) Then he lead us to an area with benches overlooking a valley designated as Shepherds' Field, supposedly the spot where angels first announced Jesus' birth.

 

 

We had a group meditation session there before taking the bus to Manger Square near the center of the city. The Square is a large open area surrounded by important buildings. On the Palestinian side (west), this includes the Municipal Building, the Mosque of Omar (1860) and the Bethlehem Peace Center. The east side is filled with Christian sites, primarily the Church of the Nativity, but the complex also contains the Chapel of St. Catherine (local parish church) and three different monasteries,one Greek Orthodox, one Armenian Apostolic, and one Roman Catholic). 

The original Church of the Nativity was built in about 333 A.D. by Emperor Constantinet over the cave in which Jesus is believed to have been born. That church was burned, and the present church was built by Emperor Justinian in about 565 on the same site. There have been changes over the centuries, mostly additions, and a major restoration to counter deterioration was just completed in 2019.

Our group was not able to enter the Church when we arrived there at 10:30, so we spread out along the wall of the courtyard where there was a bit of shade. We were admitted after about 15 minutes. About 10% of the pre-1200 A.D.on the walls have been restored, as well as some of the original 4th century mosaic floor, now a few feet beneath the present floor. (There were openings through which to view those.)

Naturally, the Grotto of the Nativity was on the lower floor. The “exact spot” of the birth was marked by a large silver star under the Altar of theNativity. Also on the lower floor was the Cave of St. Jerome. This is where Jerome translated the Bible from Greek and Hebrew into Latin between 382-404 A.D. This was the Latin Vulgate version of the Bible. It was then used around the world for centuries.

Our group left the Church about 11:40 and walked to a nearby restaurant for lunch. From there we walked to an olive wood carving shop. It had many very large, intricate and expensive carvings, as well as the cheap stuff for tourists. We left Bethlehem at 1:35.