My family and I have recently returned from a terrific visit to Israel which included a fascinating day spent in Bethlehem. I had been fortunate to become acquainted with the Bannoura family, half of whom live in the US, and half live in Bethlehem. When Mike B. heard I was traveling to Israel (my husband had business in Tel Aviv) and that we wished to visit Bethlehem, he put us in touch with a knowledgeab.....
During 14th Century BC, Egyptians had discovered the city of Bethlehem but records show the oldest inhabitation dates back to Paleolithic era, the age of stone. This was the age when humans began to group together and created tools out of stones. “Bayt Lahm” is Arabic for House of Meat but perhaps it originates from Hebrew House of Bread or even House of God Lahmu. Lahmu is a deity from Akkadian mythology.
Bethlehem is a village situated just south of Jerusalem and stands at an elevation of about 775 meters above sea level where the western highlands are fertile farmlands and the eastern part is desert.
The Nativity of Jesus, or simply The Nativity, refers to the ancient story of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. It relates that Jesus of Nazareth was the child of Mary and a reminder of this holy celebration of the birth of Jesus. Bethlehem Handicrafts creates the nativity with its olive wood depicting the birth of Jesus Christ that is carefully three dimensional hand carved with intricate details from the best olive wood of the holy land. A typical olive wood nativity set depicts Virgin Mary
