Where in the world is Bethlehem, anyway?

Municipal Seal

The other day a vigilant reader gently corrected my Christmas cookies posting by writing a comment to point out that the city of Bethlehem is not truly a part of Israel--as I had stated--but is within the boundaries of the Palestinian West Bank and under Israeli control.


True enough at the current time, but my writing was not within the current geopolitical context, but rather within the geopolitical context of two millenniums past.

(In deference to East Coast readers, let me also publicly recognize that Bethlehem is immediately to the east of Allentown, PA.  Take exit 67 off of I-78 and find nearby local Bethlehem attractions such as a Holiday Inn Express Hotel and Suites, a Slovak Cemetery, the Outlets at Sands Bethlehem, a Sands Casino, and the Bethlehem Visitor Center.)

Nonetheless, it was a little sloppy on my part to describe Bethlehem as "in Israel."  More correctly, Bethlehem at that time was in the land of Judah (or Judaea, or Judea), a Jewish kingdom which had become a part of the Roman Empire through conquest.

For Christians, Bethlehem in Judah of two thousand years ago is notable as the birthplace of Jesus.  For Jews of that time--and since--it is often described as the City of David.  If that--plus everything that has happened in the last two thousand years--were all there was to the history of this small city with a 21st Century population of about 25,000, that would be sufficient to be called a fascinating heritage.

However, the origins of Bethlehem are in fact far more ancient, with at least one historical reference dating to about 1400BC indicating that it was a Canaanite city.  The reference is contained in the Amarna Letters--a collection of diplomatic correspondence during the Egyptian New Kingdom--in which it is related that the King of Jerusalem was requesting assistance from Pharaoh, his overlord, in conquering the neighboring city of Bethlehem.  If Bethlehem were worth conquering at that time--and apparently seemed inclined to present a significant enough resistance that conquest could be accomplished only with help from the superpower of the day--then it's reasonable to assume that it had already been in existence for enough years to accumulate significant wealth and stability.

Bethlehem of today is in the lands of the West Bank of the Jordan River.  Bethlehem of two thousand years ago was in Judah, a part of the Roman Empire.  Its beginnings as a Canaanite settlement seem to predate the Imperial period by at least 1400 years.  This is a very small city with a very long and complex history that includes much more than this scant summary.

All of this started with some thoughts on Christmas, didn't it?  It's interesting to see where conversations like this can take us.