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Published: July 16th 2010
Arab Bus Station
The rocky hill behind is known as 'Gordon's Calvary' where the 19th Century British Officer decided that the actual spot of Golgotha was located. Though the rock does - in the right light - somewhat resemble a skull, this spot has some historical problems as the actual location of the crucifixion. 16 July 2010
2319 (GMT +3)
Jerusalem, Israel
It seems as though I’ve been starting more and more of my updates with apologies for the delays, but school has kept me very well occupied over the last couple of weeks. I’ve hardly been off of Mount Scopus in nearly two weeks. I’m just about ready for a summer vacation.
Today I decided to go a bit farther afield than I have yet in Israel. In fact, I left the boundaries of Israel entirely today and went to the city of Bethlehem (in Arabic,
Bait Lahm, or ‘house of meat'), about six miles south of Jerusalem.
Anyone who has heard Christmas carolers is, no doubt, familiar with the significance of Bethlehem in the history of Christianity. But, as usual, the story goes a bit deeper. Bethlehem was the city that David came from. (Yes, that David.) According to the Old Testament, he was selected by God from among his seven brothers, and anointed by Samuel - the last of the old judges who governed Israel. (1 Sam, 16: 1-13) Thus, Bethlehem is also sometimes referred to as the
City of David, not to be confused with the
City of David site immediately south of the Old City walls.
Skip ahead about a thousand years to the book of Luke, and we see Bethlehem appear once again. Luke writes that Caesar Augustus called for an empire-wide census to be conducted, in which everyone was required to return to their own hometown to register. We know that Joseph and Mary were residents of the Galilee city of Nazareth, but that Joseph’s family - Joseph was a direct descendant of David, according to the lineage that Matthew lists in the first chapter of his gospel - was from Bethlehem. Thus we have Joseph and Mary traveling to Bethlehem where Jesus was born and ‘laid…in a manger, because there was no room for them at the inn’ (Luke 2:7), and the nearby shepherds who came to see what all the commotion was about. (Note: Luke is the only Gospel in which the shepherds appear. Then again, Matthew is the only book in which the Magi appear. Neither Mark nor John tell the nativity story, as they begin with Jesus as an adult.)
Modern day Bethlehem is located in the West Bank, and since 1995 - under the Oslo Accords - it
Manger Square
Looking east towards the Church of the Nativity. has been under the control of the Palestinian Authority. So, when you go to Bethlehem, you are in fact leaving Israel. Israeli citizens are prohibited from traveling to Palestinian lands, and so the Israeli taxi drivers who solicit you for rides to Bethlehem can only take you to the border. Be aware of this before getting into the taxi. Also, the normal Israeli buses do not cross the border.
There is, however, for someone who is not part of an organized tour group, an Arab bus line (21) that runs from the Old City - outside the Damascus gate near Gordon’s Calvary, a 19th Century estimate of where Golgotha may have been located and which looks eerily like a skull in the right light - to the center of Bethlehem. Be aware also that there are buses which only run to the border checkpoint, and you must cross on foot and secure transportation on the other side. As with all tourist hot spots, taxis are abundant and priced about two or three times above the normal rate. Just look for bus 21. It could be either a large bus or a smaller sort of shuttle bus. It’s not hard
to find, and you will likely not be the only tourist looking for this bus. The numbers are Western numbers, and the bus is marked Janub, or ‘south.’ Of course, if you don’t read Arabic, this won’t be much help to you.
Once aboard, the fare is 6.50 NIS ($1.68) and the trip can take up to forty-five minutes. Unfortunately I found nothing in the way of official information or timetables published for this bus company. Basically I just showed up at the bus station this morning and found 21. They didn’t seem to be a schedule, and just waited for the bus to fill up before departing. Mine was one of the smaller buses, and we departed at about 1025. From the reports that I read ahead of time, getting into the West Bank is not usually difficult, and our bus was stopped only briefly for a cursory IDF (Israeli Defense Force) inspection. The route takes you through Bait Jala, just north-west of Bethlehem, before arriving at the final stop in the city on John Paul II Street (that’s right).
For most travelers to Bethlehem, the big attraction is the Church of the Nativity, located on Manger
Mosque of Omar
On the opposite side of Manger Square from the Church of the Nativity. Looking west. Square. There are, of course, other sites such as the field where the angels appeared to the shepherds to proclaim the birth of Jesus, but the specific location varies depending on whether you’re Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox, or other.
From the bus stop it is a short and fairly direct walk to Manger Square, but the taxi drivers know where the bus drops off, and are there to offer you a ride to all the holy places for a bargain price. If you’ve made it this far, I recommend walking. John Paul II becomes John Paul VI, and you continue walking straight. In about twenty minutes it opens into a big plaza that you can’t miss. This is Manger Square. Directly opposite and across the square is the Church of the Nativity.
Actually, there are really two churches in one: the Church of the Nativity and St Catherine’s Church. (St Catherine was a 4th Century Christian martyr. In fact, St Catherine’s Monastery on the Sinai Peninsula is located at the foot of what is believed to be Mt Horeb where Moses received the Ten Commandments.) According to my guidebook, St Catherine’s Church was built by
Courtyard
Between the Church of the Nativity and St Catherine's Church. Seen here is the entrance to St Catherine. The statue in the center is of St Jerome who was a prominent 2nd Century Christian resident of Bethlehem. the Franciscans in the late 1800s on the site of a 5th Century monastery that had an association with St Jerome, who lived in Bethlehem.
As previously mentioned, the Church of the Nativity was built over the traditional site of the birthplace of Jesus. Now, all the nativity scenes that we see which depict the birth taking place in a stable are probably historically inaccurate. Apparently in 1st Century Jewish-Roman Palestine it was common to keep animals penned up in pre-existing grottoes. The church is built over one of these grottoes, one that has been revered as the place of Jesus’ birth since the mid 2nd Century.
St Catherine’s Church is fairly straightforward with the altar and the pews. To the right of the sanctuary are stairs leading down to the grottoes of the Holy Innocents - St Jerome and St Joseph - although this was closed while I was there (Logistical Note: Many of these Christian sites close between 1200 and 1400. The Church of All Nations in Jerusalem was the same.)
The Church of the Nativity, on the other hand, is a wide open area with an altar at the head and large pillars from
the time of the Crusades. The altar was built over the grotto itself, and the stairs leading down to the grotto are to the right, though the line can get kind of long. Such was the case for me this afternoon. By this time it was already close to 1300, and I wanted to get back to Jerusalem before everything started closing for Shabbat. So, I left the grotto for another day and started making my way back to where the bus dropped off and where, so I read, it would pick up.
Again, there is no official time table or list of stops, so all of my information was hearsay. I waited there for nearly forty minutes before I decided that there was no bus coming. I reviewed my options, decided that I didn’t feel like getting ripped off by a taxi driver today, took another reading from my map, and decided to set out on foot. The street that I was on intersected with Hebron Road which is a straight shot north, all the way back to the Old City. Either I would catch the bus somewhere along the way, or I would just walk back across
St Catherine
Inside the Church the border. Worst case would be walking the whole six miles back to the Old City, but after you’ve walked the entire coastline of Alexandria, six miles is nothing.
Now, I know that in the current political climate this might not always be the smartest thing to do, but Bethlehem is not far from the border, and security in this area is better than in others. With basic universal precautions that one might follow whether in the West Bank, Jerusalem, Cairo, Washington DC or Seattle, it should be fine. Stick to main roads, and know your route (or at least have a general direction). Turn wide around corners. Walk like you know where you’re going, even if you don’t. And if your route takes an unexpected turn, whatever you do don’t panic. This draws attention to yourself in an area where you already stand out. Keep your eyes open and a solution will present itself. Follow your gut. If you get a bad feeling about a particular street or area, turn around. Hydrate. This is extremely important given the climate here. It should seem obvious, but you’d be surprised how quickly dehydration can catch up with you. If you
David and Joseph
Inside St Catherine. Though they were several generations and a thousand years apart, this appears to portray an adult David with a younger Joseph (of the New Testament). Though it cannot be seen from this picture, the writing just over David's right shoulder reads 'Joseph fili David,' Latin for 'Joseph son of David,' no doubt noting the royal bloodline. find yourself getting a little loopy, and you find that you’re not sweating anymore, this is a bad thing. It’s time to find a shady spot to sit and have a bottle of water. Don’t chug it, sip it, but sip the whole bottle.
Though I wasn’t looking forward to the walk, as usual, it gave me the opportunity to see things that you don’t see from the bus. For example, I got to see a big part of the security barrier (known on the other side as the Apartheid Wall). There’s some interesting graffiti on the Palestinian side, though a lot of the stuff you might expect to see. One of the ones that stood out to me was ‘Yes We Can’ written in large letters and colored in with the colors of the Palestinian flag.
As it turned out, the border wasn’t quite as far as I’d expected, and getting through on foot was quite easy. Once on the other side, I decided to continue north on the same road until I reached the Old City. After a point it became a matter of pride. As you might expect, though, as soon as I crossed to
David Selected King
Inside St Catherine. This depicts the scene where Samuel reviews Jesse's sons before David is selected. David is on the right, tending to the sheep. Hovering above all is, of course, Jesus. the Israeli side of the border, I saw bus after bus after bus marked ‘21’ heading into the West Bank, but I didn’t see a single bus leaving. Apparently the Prophet Henley had it right: You can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave.
Though it definitely was a long walk, you see so much more on foot than by car. And though I wasn’t looking forward to it and I’ll be paying for it tomorrow, it was a good prep for an upcoming Masada hike. More to follow.
-MG
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Sarah
non-member comment
Thanks for the history!
I just recently became a fan of your blog. I am learning so much about the history I wish I would have learned in school :-) Thanks for being so diligent to include all the details and photos!