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 In
1969, archaeologists located the original Bethlehem on a roughly circular mound,
770 meters above sea level and about 400 meters in diameter (including its
slopes). The present Church of the Nativity stands on the western end of this
tell, which extends to the area of the Milk Grotto and the cemeteries. The mound
drops steeply on all sides we can see; on the west, however, the massive
structures of the church make the slope hard to gauge. We can see the formidable
height of the hill from Shepherds' Fields.
No spring has been found. Hence, Bethlehem had to be "little"
(Micah 5:2). It took the birth of David to put it on the map.
The inhabitants must have relied on cisterns. Throughout the
ages, as the town developed, they kept hewing them from the waterproof chalk:
there are thousands in the larger town of today, including some that are
ancient. David, we recall, sent his heroes to bring him water from the well at
the gate (2 Sam. 23: 15 - 17). If this was a well, not a cistern (the
Hebrew can mean either), it has since disappeared without trace. The so-called
"David's well" (three cisterns, in fact) lies too far north of his Bethlehem.
 The
want of a spring precluded farming by irrigation, and the area was extremely
vulnerable to drought. We find biblical evidence for this in the Book of Ruth
(see Shepherds' Fields). But the question arises: Given this vulnerability, why
was there a town here at all? (See a possible
explanation.)
The mound is at the eastern edge of a ridge. This bends like a
boomerang for one kilometer, first to the west, then northward. Along this ridge
the town developed. Ideally, our bus would enter from the Hebron road (the main
north-south road over the central range) and drop us on Paul VI Street. Walking
SE on it, we reach the Lutheran Christmas Church. From here to the east we
follow the bending ridge through the older part of the present town, passing
through a neighborhood known as Harat en-Najajra. Its residents, according to
local tradition, descend from the Ghassanites, the first Christian tribes of the
region. They came from Najran (today in northern Yemen) joining a group of
families known as Rathabreh, who had come from Greece in the Byzantine period.
If time permits, we can visit the local market and stop at the Olive Press
Museum, ending our walk at the place of Jesus' birth.
Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE(r),
(c) Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The
Lockman Foundation. (www.Lockman.org)
© 2003 Near East Tourist
Agency (NET)
Text © 2003 Stephen Langfur
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