In the footsteps of Mary and Joseph (Nazareth to Bethlehem)...

First, a reading from the oft-memorized birth narrative in Luke's Gospel:

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"In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child" (Luke 2:1-5).

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Luke gives no details about the route followed by Mary and Joseph and their traveling companions (people seldom went alone because of the danger from bandits) from their home in Nazareth in Galilee. However, contemporary Jewish historian Josephus Flavius wrote: "It is the custom of the Galileans at the time of festival to pass through the Samaritan territory on their way to the Holy City." He thus identified the most direct route which would have taken them southward across the Jezreel Valley, then up along the the ridge of rounded hills and weathered peaks (2,625-3,380 feet) that forms the backbone of the country. The Samaritans sculpted them with terraces where they nurtured olive trees, fig trees and grapevines. In the small valleys they grew barley and wheat. The modern-day equivalent of the "highway" they followed is designated Road 60, traversing the northern part of the Israeli-occupied "West Bank" (Shomron to Jews; Palestine to Arabic-speaking inhabitants).

Under normal conditions, driving this route today would take about four hours. But, for the 2.2 million Palestinian inhabitants of the West Bank and East Jerusalem travel through this area is hardly normal. Most are effectively barred from much of Road 60 along with many other roads carefully engineered for the use of the 376,000 Israelis who have settled in the West Bank over recent decades. Palestinians contemplating the 25-mile journey from Ramallah to Jericho, for example, must be prepared to spend an entire day, sometimes days, negotiating Israeli roadblocks and checkpoints.

The many peoples who have lived on this land in past ages have not always been at odds. Forty years ago a cache of letters was uncovered in a cave in the Judaean desert on the southern fringe of the West Bank chronicling the daily life of Babatha, a second-century Jewish woman. Babatha describes Jews and Arabs coexisting without friction. Just a hundred years ago Jews, Christians and Muslims living in Jerusalem routinely attended each other's religious festivals. That kind of harmony eroded and disappeared in the 20th century with the rise of Jewish and Arab nationalism in the region.

On its way south to Bethlehem, Road 60 passes through or near several important Old Testament sites:

From Nazareth, Road 60 heads south across the Jezreel Valley and passes through Afula. Soon it crosses the so-called Green Line, marking the West Bank's border with Israel, and enters the unexceptional Palestinian town of Janin. Mentioned in the Bible as En Gannim ("fountain of the garden"; see Joshua 15:34, 19:21, 21:39), Jenin enjoys a strategic position on the crossroads between the Jezreel Valley and the central Palestinian mountains. However, over several weeks in 2002, Jenin became the most infamous city in this region because of a much publicized battle that resulted in the destruction of much of Jenin Camp, a refugee camp on the outskirts of the city. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) moved their tanks into the city, claiming it had become a breading ground for terrorism and suicide bombers.

Some 6 miles further south, Mary and Joseph would have noticed the prominent mound of the ancient city of Dothan (right), in the northern Samaria Hills on the eastern side of the Dothan Valley. Here, as related in Genesis 37:12-28, Joseph found his brothers during their wanderings with their father Jacob's flocks. According to the narrative, Joseph was sent north by Jacob (Israel) from the Hebron area to find his brothers in the region of Shechem but learned that they were tending the flocks in the area of Dothan. Thereafter, the narrative describes the intrigue that led to Joseph's being sold by his jealous brothers to a caravan of Ishmaelites (or Midianites) who were traveling to Egypt via Dothan from Gilead.

Another 6 miles south, on the left, Mary and Joseph would have noticed an isolated summit where, some 20 years earlier (around 30 BC) King Herod constructed the magnificent Greek-Roman city of Sebaste (right), honoring his patron Augustus Caesar (Sebaste is Greek for the Latin name Augustus). From a distance the couple must have seen its column-lined streets and the ridge of the Temple of Augustus, dedicated to the ruler whose census-edict made this journey necessary. 

Above, column-lined main street of Herodian-era Sebaste

However, Sebaste was not the first city to occupy this well-protected mountaintop location. Herod's city lay partly over the ancient city of Samaria (Hebrew Shomron, "watch mountain"), the third (and last) capital of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, founded 887 BC by Omri, the sixth king of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. He and his infamous son Ahab built magnificent palaces and temples inside a circular protective wall. During his reign Ahab incurred the wrath of God by adding temples to Baal and Astarte, cult figures favored by his infamous wife, Jezebel, daughter of the king of Sidon in Phoenicia. In modern times the site is partially occupied by the Arab village of Sebastiyah (or Sebastia).

At this point Mary and Joseph were some 30 miles north of Jerusalem. Past Sebastiyah, Road 60 heads in a more easterly direction.

Some nine miles further on Mary and Joseph would have passed through the valley between the historic peaks, Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal, then came to Sychar, successor to the important Old Testament city of Shechem.

Right, Mount Gerizim (left) and Mount Ebal (right) with modern Nablus in the valley between.

After the Hebrew conquest, Joshua built an altar on Mount Ebal and there read the "words of the law" to the people (Joshua 8:34). In Genesis Shechem is mentioned as "the site of the great tree of Moreh" where Abram/Abraham was told by God, "to your offspring I will give this land" (Genesis 12:7). There he built an altar before heading south. Here too, Jacob purchased a plot of land and pitched his tents upon his return from Paddan Aram in Mesopotamia. Moreover, as related in Joshua 24:32: "and Joseph's bones, which the Israelites had brought up from Egypt, were buried at Shechem" on the same tract of land purchased there earlier by Jacob.

After the biblical era, in 70 AD, Shechem was demolished by the Romans and replaced by Neapolis (Greek new city) in 72 AD. After the Arab conquest its name became corrupted to Nablus (there is no "p" sound in Arabic) and today it is the largest city in the West Bank with an estimated population of over 100,000. Entering Nablus today, you hear a cacophony of sounds, including honking horns and the voice of a mu'ezzin blaring from minarets calling the Muslim faithful to prayer.

Further south, Mary and Joseph passed by the site of Shiloh, where the main divisions of the Promised Land were made among the 12 Israelite tribes. In the 11th century BC it served as the religious center for Israel, and for 369 years it was the home of the Tent of Meeting and the Ark of the Covenant. Here, too, Hannah prayed for a son and subsequently she gave birth to the prophet Samuel.

Right, possible site of the Tent of Meeting and the Ark of the Covenant for over 3 centuries.

Still further south was Bethel, prominent in Genesis 28:10ff as the place where Jacob dreamed of a ladder ascending to heaven. Nearby is the site of Ai, one of the earliest cities captured by Joshua and the Israelites during their military conquest of Canaan.

Soon afterward, in modern times, comes the city of Ramallah, which sees itself as the capital of the West Bank. Without the historical significance of either Jerusalem and Nablus, Ramallah is remarkable for its affluence. Its streets are lined with luxurious villas attesting to the town's wealth. While neighboring al-Birah is predominantly Muslim, Ramallah is mainly Christian. Ramallah is in effect part of Jerusalem as its southern suburbs lead into the Holy City's northern neighborhoods—Atarot (site of Jerusalem's airport), Beit Hanina and the Shuafat refugee camp.

Some scholars doubt that Mary and Joseph ever had to endure the 80-mile, nearly week-long journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem, with a pregnant Mary jostled around on a donkey. It is claimed that Rome never required its subjects to return to their original homes for such an enrollment and that Luke merely erred on his facts, invoking a later, 6 AD census by Quirinius, the governor of the Roman province of Syria, to justify the presence of the couple in Bethlehem. Let us examine the facts:

Papyri discovered in nearby Egypt indicate that in 104 AD, taxpayers were "summoned to return to their own hearths, in order that they may perform the customary business of registration."

The Romans collected plenty of taxes! There were income taxes, food taxes, land taxes based on harvests, transport taxes on goods, a purchase tax and customs duties. These were on top of the poll tax (tributum capiti) that went directly to Rome, for which the census was taken that led May and Joseph to Bethlehem. In the 1st century BC/AD this tax was set at one silver Denarius per head, an extra load deeply resented by the Jews.

Augustus' census edicts (in connection with the Nativity) are proven by an inscription at Ankara, Turkey, his famous Res Gestae Divi Augusti ("The achievements of the Divine Augustus"), in which the Roman emperor proudly claims to have taken a census three times. Augustus' Res Gestae tells us that a total of 4,063,000 Roman citizens were registered in his first census (28 BC), 4,233,000 citizens in a second (8 BC) and 4,957,000 in a third (14 AD).

Quirinius—full name Publius Sulpicius Quirinius—probably served as governor of Syria twice, first at the time of Jesus' birth and second, when Jesus was about 12 or 13 years old. Both times a census was held to determine taxation (his second census—a most unpopular one in 6 AD as part of the Roman takeover of Palestine—is mentioned in Acts 5:37). The emperor Augustus rated Quirinius highly as a soldier and administrator. A fragment of a Roman inscription discovered at Antioch in Syria (modern Antakya, Turkey) showed that Quirinius had been in Syria on a mission from Augustus, in the days of the proconsul Saturnius. He established his headquarters and seat of government in Syria between 10 and 7 BC—around the time of Jesus' birth—and his assignment was purely military: he led a campaign against the Homonadenses, a tribe from the Taurus mountains of Asia Minor (modern Turkey).

This is further proof that Luke did not make a mistake when he stated that "Quirinius was governor of Syria" when Jesus was born and that Augustus Caesar ordered that a census be taken to determine tax levies.

We now pick up the final leg of Mary and Joseph's journey at Jerusalem:

After breakfast at the Christmas Hotel (honest!) in East Jerusalem, the mostly Arab section huddled against the north and east walls of the Old City, our tour group of 25 boards a brand-new Volvo bus for the short, 10-minute drive to Bethlehem. Due to the relatively small size of our group (we noted several groups at Ben Gurion Airport numbering in the 80's), each of us has a window seat.

Following Nablus Road, we head three blocks south to the Damascus Gate. A right turn takes us along Ha-Tsankhanim road paralleling the Old City's north wall past the New Gate. Then its left onto Derech Yafo alongside the west wall of the Old City to the Jaffa Gate and the Citadel, built on the site of the three great towers—Phasael, Mariamne and Hippicus—that once guarded Herod the Great's palace. Only the solid stone base of Phasael, named for the brother of Herod the Great, remains.

Left, Phasael's Tower, now part of the Citadel/Tower of David Museum of the History of Jerusalem; one of the three defense towers built by Herod the Great to protect the northern side of his palace. Following the destruction of the city in 70 AD it was left standing, but emperor Hadrian demolished it in 135 AD. Partly rebuilt in the 14th century AD, the 16 rows of massive blocks at the base are part of the original Herodian structure, which is solid all the way through.

By the Jaffa Gate the road changes names, becoming Khativat Yerushaleyim, which soon joins Derech Hevron (Road 60) opposite the area now known as Mount Zion (Hebrew Har Tsiyon), the higher western hill, part of which projects out beyond the south wall of the Old City. At the time of Jesus this was the site of the Upper City, home to some of the most wealthy and influential citizens. Mount Zion is bordered on the west and south by the Hinnom Valley which, in the 1st century BC, marked the southern extent of the city. Today, however, there is nothing to distinguish the historic birthplace of David and Jesus from its much larger neighbor. The urban sprawl of modern Jerusalem extends all the way to Bethlehem, and the dominant building material is the same pale, yellow-gold "Jerusalem stone" found in the homes, churches and walls of the Holy City.

Right, the western wall of the Old City on our left while heading southward toward Bethlehem. The landmark buildings are: the Church of the Dormition (conical roof; left) and the Dormition Abbey (right), located on Mount Zion, just beyond the Zion Gate.

Road 60 descends southward across the Kidron Valley, below the east wall of Jerusalem's Old City, and crosses a bridge whose piers and arches once supported an aqueduct carrying water from Solomon's Pools (located south of Bethlehem). Gradually ascending, the road reaches the top of a ridge extending westward from the Hinnom Valley. It then descends gradually into the mile-long Valley of Rephraim ("to heal, make healthful"). This is the "the valley of the giants" where David twice defeated the Philistines soon after he took possession of Jerusalem from the Jebusites (2 Samuel 5:17-25; 23:13).

We continued south along the same route almost certainly followed two thousand years before by Joseph and Mary (and the Magi of Matthew 2:1-12, after a stop at Herod's palace some months later).

I began recalling all my acquired childhood associations with that first Christmas. First, there's that "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas" thing. On this mild November day, dressed in T-shirt and windbreaker, it's hard to think of snow, even though, as post cards sold by the boys outside our hotel show, a few inches of white periodically blankets the Jerusalem-Bethlehem area. Reindeer are nowhere to be seen, only small herds of sheep and goats grazing along the roadside. Then there's the "O little town of" and "how still we see thee lie" hymn lines running through my brain. While Bethlehem may have been a quaint village in Jesus' day, it certainly isn't today; nor is it "still," as evident by newspaper, radio and television reports in recent times. Those images come from a Christianity that has long since separated itself from the realities of the Holy Land and has instead embedded itself in American and European folklore. And with all the unrest during the final years of Herod's reign, I doubt it was any more "still" in the 1st century BC then it is today.

About 4 miles from the Old City, on our left, we pass the Greek Monastery of Mar Elias (left), a semi-fortified three-story building with a square bell tower. Established by Patriarch Anistanius in 460 AD, the white limestone building provides a panoramic view of Bethlehem. Destroyed by a huge earthquake in 1160 AD, the monastery was restored by Crusaders the same year. According to one tradition, the prophet Elijah (Elias) slept here while fleeing from queen Jezebel of the Northern Kingdom of Israel; another holds that it is the burial place of Elias, a Greek bishop of Bethlehem; yet another version states the site held the tomb of St. Elias, an Egyptian monk who became Patriarch of Jerusalem. Today, Mar Elias is a popular pilgrimage site; prayers said here are believed to bring healing to barren women and ailing children.

In past years, the open plaza of Manger Square had degenerated into a parking lot for tourist buses; in November 1999 it was being transformed into a public square with trees, water fountains, museum and tourist center. During the renovation, a Byzantine era (6th-century AD) mosaic, that may have been part of a public building belonging to the Church of the Nativity complex, was discovered under the square; excavators also found two water cisterns and two water tunnels.

Walking toward the Church of the Nativity (right) at the east end of Manger Square, several questions run through your mind: Does this building really mark Jesus' birthplace? Was Jesus born in a cave, and more specifically, was he born in the very cave now beneath the church altar, which we will soon be seeing?

The answers to these questions lie somewhere between "possibly" and "probably."

The Gospels make no mention of a cave. Luke states only that Mary gave birth to Jesus and "wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn" (Luke 2:7). Yet, we know that many houses in the area were built in front of caves. Furthermore, an archaeological survey has shown that the town of that time was in the area of the Church of the Nativity and that the caves beneath the church were then in use. Still, all we have to go on in establishing the authenticity of the site is that it has been regarded as the birthplace from the earliest of times. In the 2nd century AD, both the Protevangelium ("first gospel") of James, an account not accepted as one of the books of the Bible, and the early Christian writer Justin Martyr (c.100-c.165 AD) speak of a cave in which Jesus was born, statements reinforced by Origen, the great theologian from Alexandria, in 248 AD: "In Bethlehem you are shown the cave where he was born, and within the manger where he was wrapped in swaddling clothes. These things that they show you are recognized in the district, even by those who do not share our faith. They admit that Jesus whom Christians adore, was born in a cave."

How the Church of the Nativity came to be built on the site:

Following the suppression of the Bar Kochba revolt in 135 AD, the Roman emperor Hadrian expelled the Jews from the area, giving free rein to the development of pagan cults. Over the much venerated cave-site, he erected a shrine to the dying-and-rising god Adonis, the personification of vegetation that dies and springs to life again. It was a popular cult among agricultural communities in the east and Adonia, a yearly festival representing his death and rebirth, was celebrated in midsummer. By placing the shrine over the cave, Hadrian hoped to supplant Christian veneration of the site. Rather, it had the opposite effect of preserving its memory.

At the general church council at Nicaea (modern Iznik, Turkey) in 325 AD, Macarius, the Bishop of Jerusalem, acquainted the emperor Constantine (ruled 312-337 AD) with the neglected condition of the holy places in his diocese. Constantine ordered the construction of monumental churches to commemorate the principal events of Jesus' life. The story is told that Constantine's aged mother Helena came to the Holy Land in 326 AD on a pilgrimage to locate the sites of Jesus' birth, death and Ascension. At Bethlehem, she inquired about his birthplace and was shown Hadrian's Adonis temple at the end of the village among a grove of trees. Architects, working under Helena's supervision, ordered the trees removed and the superfluous rock quarried away. On the site, the original Church of the Nativity, with an octagonal apse (the preferred form for a memorial structure at the time), was built restoring its status in Christian tradition. This church was badly damaged during a Samaritan uprising in 529 AD in which Jerusalem also suffered greatly. While there is no written record of the destruction, ashes and debris discover in 1934 indicated the church had been destroyed by fire. Sabas, a monk from a nearby monastery, went to Constantinople and appealed to the emperor Justinian (527-565 AD) who, around 536 AD, erected a larger church on the site, extensively altering the original plan (now cruciform instead of octagonal). This building, with later modifications, has remained in use to the present day.

When the Persians invaded Palestine in 614 AD, all churches in the Holy Land were destroyed, except the Church of the Nativity. The story is told that the Persians saw a mosaic on the church facade depicting the visit of the Magi dressed in Persian attire and were misled into believing Christians venerated their prophet Zoroaster (or Zarathusthra). Muslims themselves prevented another destruction ordered by the mad caliph Hakim in 1009 AD because, since the time of Omar (639 AD), they had been permitted to pray in the south transept, where a prayer niche (mihrab) was installed. At the time of the Crusades, Baldwin I was crowned there as the first king of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, on Christmas Day of 1101 AD, and the Emperor Manuel had the church extensively restored (1161-69 AD), replacing the marble floor, lining the wooden roof with lead and adding mosaics above the nave (parts of which remain). The Crusaders remained in control of the town and church until 1291 AD, when the Mamelukes assumed power. Thereafter the church suffered centuries of neglect, although its importance to Christians never faded.

In 1347 AD the Franciscans were given custody of the basilica, but in the 17th and 18th centuries AD there was fighting between the Greek Orthodox and Catholics. In 1757 the Ottomans gave the basilica to the Greeks; the Armenians won the north transept by 1829. The question of ownership inflamed passions throughout Europe. Napoleon's arbitrary decision to declare it French property in 1852 angered the Russians and led indirectly to the Crimean War of 1853, pitting Russia and Ottoman Turkey against France and Britain. In 1852 shared custody of the church was granted to the Roman Catholic, Armenian and Greek Orthodox churches, with the Greeks caring for the Grotto of the Nativity. Today, a truce between the three denominations—backed by an elaborate schedule of services—prevents potential conflicts. This also means there are three successive Christmas celebrations: the Catholics and Western Christians on December 25, the Eastern Orthodox on January 6 and the Armenians on January 19.

Explore the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem