The Holy Land - A Sacred Tour

Bethlehem - History

September 6th, 2006

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Bethlehem (House of Bread - House of Lahmu) is located about 10 Kilometers (6 miles) southwest of Jerusalem by the hill country of Judea on the way to Hebron. It is first mentioned in the Armana letters fourteen centuries BCE.

Bethlehem is sacred to all three religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

Bethlehem plays a significant part in the Old Testament, in the history of the Israelites, both before they entered Egypt and slavery, and after the Exodus. It appears in the Old Testament as Ephrat, where Rachel the beloved matriarch of the Jewish People, the favorite wife of Jacob, died during childbirth. The Tomb of Rachel, is a pilgrimage place for Jews and Muslims alike. Among other Biblical mentions and Holy Sites in Bethlehem: Rachel’s tomb, Naomi and Ruth, Samuel anoints King David and the well from which David’s warriors brought him waters. In the bible it is called “Bethlehem of Judah” (belonging to the tribe of Judah), to distinguish it from the other Bethlehem, which was in the North in the territory of the Zebulon.

Christian tradition, perhaps as early as the second century CE, identified a cave as the site of Jesus’ birth. About 338 CE Constantine, the Roman emperor and his mother, Helena, built a church over the grotto and In 527 Justinian the Emperor of the Byzantine Empire resettled in Bethlehem, his reign was one of great prosperity and expansion of churches. The site of the Nativity is a central pilgrimage destination for Christians from all over the world.

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Entry Filed under: Bethlehem, History