Bethlehem has changed but little since
Mary and Joseph came that way
(•Editor s Note: If you visit ■
Bethlehem today, you see many
of the staime 'things that greeted
Mary and Joseph when they
came to te town nearly 2,000
years ago and could find no
room in the inn. But the fame
that came after Christ’s 'birth
have made some notable chan
ges. If now is a tourist eerier).
by Wilton Wynn
Bethlehem, Jordan (/P) On
the Pllaiin of Boaz to the east,
little Bedouin girls follow the
wheat harvesters to glean bdtss
of grain.
Men in flowing headdress
trudge along rodky trails from
the south beside sturdy donkeys
carrying women, children and
baggage.
. The whine of reed flutes from
distant slopes heralds the pass
ing of lonely sheperds Watching
their flocks.
Identical scenes might have
welcomed the Holy Family on
the oui.sikrts of the little town
of Bethlehem the day Christ
was born.
At the time of Christ’s fbirth,
Bethlehem Was a market town
for rural people, especially for
Bedouins ,to the east and south.
In this respect, the town has
not changed.
As long 'ago as David’s time,
000 years before Christ, Davids
Uon Chaaniaan, built a caravan
tserai here which served as shel
ter for Bedouins and their flocks
as they moved in and out of
town.
That same caravanserai was
probably the inn Where Joseph
and Mary were unable to find
lodgings. The caravanserai 'has
disappeared but the same kind
of Bedouins still come to Beth
lehem.
SITKA
Men's
Store
BILL,
PEGGY
BRAD
Marked by Lthe typical Arab
headdress falling down over
the necks and shoulders, the
wide-shouldered cloaks, and
their lapinlggait, (these Bedouins
throng Bethlelhems streets al
most any day.
They come in to buy and sell
on a meager scale and spend
long (hours in crude sidewalk
cafes sipping' himlble-sized cups
of bitter Arab coffee.
The market place for these
people is an open square, pav
ed with flagstones. The grain,
rice, vegetables and old clothes
for sale are displayed on flat
trays on the ground or stacked
in crude temporary wooden
stalls.
The settled inhabitants of
Bethlehem’s population, numb
ering normally around 10,000,
live in a city which still bears
the mark of the Crusaders. The
overwhelming majority of the
population is Christian; only
one Moslem minaret competes
with innumerable church spires
and domes in Bethlehem’s sky
line.
These people live in stone
houses, many of them with low
domes as protection against
summer heat and winter rain.
Some of their houses date back
to Crusader times.
Many open infoo cobblestone
streets barely wide enough to
(continued on page six)
Pioneer Cocktail Bar
and
Liquor Store
*1
Each year we greet the Christmas Season with
great gladness because it is the opportune lime
to extend our thanks to those whom it has been «
our privilege to serve.
Sitka Bazaar Bazaar Motor Service