Town of Bethlehem Under the Star

About this drawing

The town of Bethlehem is a real place. It lies in the West Bank, in the Palestinian territories, about six miles south of Jerusalem. In Hebrew the name is usually translated as "house of bread," and in Arabic as "house of meat." People have lived in these Judean hills for thousands of years.

Its story starts long before the New Testament. The Hebrew Bible connects it with the tale of Ruth and with the birth of King David, which gave it a special place in Jewish memory. The Gospels of Matthew and Luke name it as the birthplace of Jesus, and Christian pilgrims have been traveling there ever since.

Its best-known landmark is the Church of the Nativity, built over a cave in the fourth century under Emperor Constantine, with his mother Helena behind the project. It was rebuilt in the sixth century and is among the oldest churches still in regular use. UNESCO made it a World Heritage Site in 2012. Greek Orthodox, Catholic, and Armenian Christian communities share it today. Most residents are now Muslim, alongside a long-established Christian minority, and local craftspeople are known for olive wood carvings sold to visitors. Americans know the place mainly from the carol about its still streets, written after a nineteenth-century pastor's visit.

• bethlehem
• holy land
• star
• landscape