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Bethlehem
31°42′16″N 35°12′23″E / 31.70444°N 35.20639°E
Bethlehem is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, located about ten kilometres (six miles) south of Jerusalem, and the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate. It had a population of 28,591 people, as of 2017. The city's economy is strongly linked to tourism, especially during the Christmas period, when Christians embark on a pilgrimage to the Church of the Nativity, which is revered as the location of the birth of Jesus.
A possible first mention of Bethlehem is in the Amarna correspondence of ancient Egypt, dated to 1350–1330 BCE, although that reading is uncertain. In the Hebrew Bible, the period of the Israelites is described; it identifies Bethlehem as the birthplace of David. In the New Testament, the city is identified as the birthplace of Jesus of Nazareth. Under the Roman Empire, the city of Bethlehem was destroyed by Hadrian, but later rebuilt by Constantine the Great, who commissioned the Church of the Nativity in 327 CE. In 529, the Church of the Nativity was heavily damaged by Samaritans involved in the Samaritan revolts; following the victory of the Byzantine Empire, it was rebuilt by Justinian I.
Later, during the rule of several Caliphates, Bethlehem became part of Jund Filastin in 637. Muslims continued to rule the city until 1099, when it was conquered by the Crusaders, who replaced the local Christian Greek Orthodox clergy with Catholic ones. In the mid-13th century, Bethlehem's walls were demolished by the Mamluk Sultanate. However, they were rebuilt by the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century when it came to control the region. After the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire at the end of World War I, Bethlehem was part of Mandatory Palestine until 1948, and later of the West Bank that was annexed by Jordan following the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. During the 1967 Six-Day War, Bethlehem was occupied by Israel along with the rest of the West Bank. Since the Oslo Accords between Israel and the Palestinian National Authority, Bethlehem has been designated as part of Area A of the West Bank, nominally rendering it as being under Palestinian control, but it remains under Israeli occupation. Movement around the city is limited due to the Israeli West Bank barrier.
Historically, it was a city of Arab Christians, who made up about 86% of the population in 1950, but this community has dwindled significantly to 10% as of 2022, and now has a majority of Arab Muslims.
The current name for Bethlehem in local languages is ⓘ /Bēt laḥm/ in Arabic (Arabic: بيت لحم), literally meaning "house of meat", and Bet Leḥem in Hebrew (Hebrew: בֵּית לֶחֶם), literally "house of bread" or "house of food." The city was called in Ancient Greek: Βηθλεέμ Ancient Greek pronunciation: [bɛːtʰle.ém] and in Latin: Bethleem. In Aramaic, the name of Bethlehem was simply the Hebrew name בית לחם, and was pronounced as Beit Lekhem. Evidence for this spelling can be inferred based on the fact that the spelling ܒܝܬܠܚܡ can be found in the Syriac Aramaic version of the bible in Matthew 2 as well as other parts of the book. The letters ܒܝܬܠܚܡ transliterate to ביתלחם. Amarna letter EA290 makes reference to a town bīt-ninurta which has been read as Bit-Lachmi by scholar W. F. Albright, following a proposal by Otto Schroeder in 1815 and making it a potential first historical reference to Bethlehem. This reading is, however, uncertain and has met with objections.
Canaanite and Israelite toponyms starting with beth are interpreted to mean "house of", with 'house' understood as 'temple' and the second part of the name indicating the deity the local temple was dedicated to. Accordingly, one longstanding suggestion in scholarship is that the name Bethlehem derives from the Mesopotamian or Canaanite fertility god Laḫmu and his consort sister Lahamu, lahmo being the Chaldean word for "fertility". Biblical scholar William F. Albright believed that this hypothesis, first put forth by Otto Schröder, was "certainly accurate". Albright noted that the pronunciation of the name had remained essentially the same for 3,500 years, even if the perceived meaning had shifted over time: "'Temple of the God Lakhmu' in Canaanite, 'House of Bread' in Hebrew and Aramaic, 'House of Meat' in Arabic." While Schröder's theory is not widely accepted, it continues to find favour in academic literature over the later literal translations.
Another suggestion is an association with the root l-h-m "to fight", leading to the meaning of "house of war" or "house of fighting", but this is thought unlikely.[why?]
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Bethlehem AI simulator
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Bethlehem
31°42′16″N 35°12′23″E / 31.70444°N 35.20639°E
Bethlehem is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, located about ten kilometres (six miles) south of Jerusalem, and the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate. It had a population of 28,591 people, as of 2017. The city's economy is strongly linked to tourism, especially during the Christmas period, when Christians embark on a pilgrimage to the Church of the Nativity, which is revered as the location of the birth of Jesus.
A possible first mention of Bethlehem is in the Amarna correspondence of ancient Egypt, dated to 1350–1330 BCE, although that reading is uncertain. In the Hebrew Bible, the period of the Israelites is described; it identifies Bethlehem as the birthplace of David. In the New Testament, the city is identified as the birthplace of Jesus of Nazareth. Under the Roman Empire, the city of Bethlehem was destroyed by Hadrian, but later rebuilt by Constantine the Great, who commissioned the Church of the Nativity in 327 CE. In 529, the Church of the Nativity was heavily damaged by Samaritans involved in the Samaritan revolts; following the victory of the Byzantine Empire, it was rebuilt by Justinian I.
Later, during the rule of several Caliphates, Bethlehem became part of Jund Filastin in 637. Muslims continued to rule the city until 1099, when it was conquered by the Crusaders, who replaced the local Christian Greek Orthodox clergy with Catholic ones. In the mid-13th century, Bethlehem's walls were demolished by the Mamluk Sultanate. However, they were rebuilt by the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century when it came to control the region. After the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire at the end of World War I, Bethlehem was part of Mandatory Palestine until 1948, and later of the West Bank that was annexed by Jordan following the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. During the 1967 Six-Day War, Bethlehem was occupied by Israel along with the rest of the West Bank. Since the Oslo Accords between Israel and the Palestinian National Authority, Bethlehem has been designated as part of Area A of the West Bank, nominally rendering it as being under Palestinian control, but it remains under Israeli occupation. Movement around the city is limited due to the Israeli West Bank barrier.
Historically, it was a city of Arab Christians, who made up about 86% of the population in 1950, but this community has dwindled significantly to 10% as of 2022, and now has a majority of Arab Muslims.
The current name for Bethlehem in local languages is ⓘ /Bēt laḥm/ in Arabic (Arabic: بيت لحم), literally meaning "house of meat", and Bet Leḥem in Hebrew (Hebrew: בֵּית לֶחֶם), literally "house of bread" or "house of food." The city was called in Ancient Greek: Βηθλεέμ Ancient Greek pronunciation: [bɛːtʰle.ém] and in Latin: Bethleem. In Aramaic, the name of Bethlehem was simply the Hebrew name בית לחם, and was pronounced as Beit Lekhem. Evidence for this spelling can be inferred based on the fact that the spelling ܒܝܬܠܚܡ can be found in the Syriac Aramaic version of the bible in Matthew 2 as well as other parts of the book. The letters ܒܝܬܠܚܡ transliterate to ביתלחם. Amarna letter EA290 makes reference to a town bīt-ninurta which has been read as Bit-Lachmi by scholar W. F. Albright, following a proposal by Otto Schroeder in 1815 and making it a potential first historical reference to Bethlehem. This reading is, however, uncertain and has met with objections.
Canaanite and Israelite toponyms starting with beth are interpreted to mean "house of", with 'house' understood as 'temple' and the second part of the name indicating the deity the local temple was dedicated to. Accordingly, one longstanding suggestion in scholarship is that the name Bethlehem derives from the Mesopotamian or Canaanite fertility god Laḫmu and his consort sister Lahamu, lahmo being the Chaldean word for "fertility". Biblical scholar William F. Albright believed that this hypothesis, first put forth by Otto Schröder, was "certainly accurate". Albright noted that the pronunciation of the name had remained essentially the same for 3,500 years, even if the perceived meaning had shifted over time: "'Temple of the God Lakhmu' in Canaanite, 'House of Bread' in Hebrew and Aramaic, 'House of Meat' in Arabic." While Schröder's theory is not widely accepted, it continues to find favour in academic literature over the later literal translations.
Another suggestion is an association with the root l-h-m "to fight", leading to the meaning of "house of war" or "house of fighting", but this is thought unlikely.[why?]
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