Christmas in Bethlehem

The tower of the Church of the Nativity, one of the oldest Christian churches in the world.

Manger Square in Bethlehem on Christmas Eve, 2008:

The Church of the Nativity on Christmas Eve was also the most heavily-guarded church in the world:

Here are about 50 of the approximately 500 automatic-riffle bearing Palestinian Authority policemen in Bethlehem for Christmas.

To enter the church that marks the spot where Jesus was born, you have to duck through a very low doorway, that's about 3 1/2 feet tall:


Once you pass through that, you're in a small room with a metal detector that you walk through, and then you pass through this old wooden doorway into the church itself.


Inside the church:

Constantine's floor: the original floor of the Church of the Nativity built in 333 under the Emperor Constantine I.

Here is the entrance to the underground cave which is the traditional place of Jesus' birth.


This 14-pointed star marks the spot where many believe Christ was born in the manger. This spot is below the altar of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.


Here is the artwork above the star:


And there's wonderful, ancient artwork throughout the church:


Here's a view of the televised Midnight Mass in St. Mary Magdalene's Church as seen from the Church of the Nativity, which is attached to this church.

View of the entrance to St. Mary Magdalene's Church on Christmas, 2008.


On Christmas Day, I also went to the Shepherd's Field, which is where Catholics believe, according to Luke's Gospel, that a multitude of Angels appeared to the shepherds telling them of Jesus' birth.
Because it was raining on Christmas in Bethlehem, there was a rainbow in the sky above the entrance to Shepherd's Field:


The Catholic church at Shepherd's Field:

Paintings on the inside of the church at Shepherd's Field:

I thought it interesting how the Franciscans chose to represent Jesus as Caucasian-looking.

On Christmas Day, I also went to Herodion, just a little ways outside Bethlehem, an Israeli-controlled landmark and National Park in Israel.

It looked like a volcano from afar. But when I reached the top, I found that it was King Herod's 2,000-year-old fortified summer palace.

The top of the mountain was reshaped around King Herod's ancient fortress, palace, and burial ground.

There's also an intricate network of cisterns and passageways underneath Upper Herodion, carved into the mountain, where King Herod is buried. During the Great Jewish Revolt from 66 to 73 CE, Jewish Zealots took control of the mountain, and waged campaigns from it. I walked through some of the passageways, and it's quite amazing how they carved these deep pathways into the stone mountain using only handtools.

One of the underground cisterns below Herodion.

View from the top of Herodion of Israeli settlement/West Bank olive tree groves with a rainbow in the background.

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