Bethlehem. — History. In the name of this town (Arab. Bêt Lahm), which has existed for thousands of years, is perpetuated a very ancient popular tradition. In Hebrew the word means the 'place of bread', or, more generally, the 'place of food', and is probably derived from the fact that the region about Bethlehem has from very remote antiquity presented a marked contrast to the surrounding 'wilderness'. .... Bethlehem is the scene of the beautiful idyl of the book of Ruth, but it was specially famous as the home of the family of David. Not only that monarch but also other celebrated members of the family, Joab, Asahel, and Abishai, once resided here (2 Sam. ii. 12, 18, 32). It was not, however, until the Christian period, when it began to attract pilgrims, that Bethlehem became a place of any size. Constantine erected a magnificent basilica here in 330, and Justinian caused the walls to be rebuilt. So many monasteries and churches were soon erected, that it is spoken of as a flourishing place about the year 600, its church being at that period especially famous. On the approach of the Crusaders the Arabs destroyed Bethlehem, but the Franks soon rebuilt the little town and founded a castle near the monastery. In 1244 the place was devastated by the Kharezmians; in 1439 the fortifications and the monastery were destroyed. For a time the place lost much of its importance, but within the last three centuries it has gradually recovered. Quarrels between the Christians and the Muslims frequently caused blood shed, and the inhabitants were even occasionally molested by the Beduins. The Muslims, who occupied a separate quarter at Bethlehem, were expelled by the Christians in 1831, and after an insurrection in 1834 their quarter was destroyed by order of Ibrahim Pasha. Since that period the town has been almost exclusively occupied by Christians. Comp. Palmer, Das jetzige Bethlehem: ZDPV, xviii. 89

Bethlehem is situated 2550 ft. above the level of the sea , on two hills running from E. to W., and connected with each other by a short saddle. To the S. of the town is situated the Wâdi er-Râhib, and to the N. the Wâdi el-Hrobbeh. The slope of the hills towards the W. and E. is gentler than towards the N. and S. The situation of Bethlehem and its surrounding valleys is not unlike that of Jerusalem. — The wine of Bethlehem is preferred to that of Jerusalem. Cafe in the square in front of the church. — Turkish Telegraph Office. The town is divided into eight quarters and numbers about 8000 inhabitants, about 260 of whom are Muslims and 50 Protestants. The Latins possess a large Franciscan monastery here with a hospice, boys' school, and a handsome new church (these buildings lie on the slope of the hill, at the back of the large church) ; they have also a school for girls and a convent belonging to the sisters of St. Joseph. In the S.W. quarter is the convent of the French Carmelite sisters, a building in the style of the Castle of S. Angelo at Rome, with a church and a seminary ; on the hill of the N. suburb is the large boys' home and industrial school conducted by Father Belloni, with a church; to the N. W., near the Hebron road, is a hospital of the sisters of Charity; and on the highest point to the N. is a school of the 'freres de la mission algerieune'. The Greeks have a monastery of the Nativity, two churches (St. Helen and St. George), a school for boys, and another for girls. Adjacent is the Armenian monastery. The three monasteries together occupy a large building resembling a fortress, which forms a prominent ob ject at the S.E. end of the town. There is also a school for girls and a seminary for female teachers of the British mission, and a German Protestant institution containing a school for boys and one for girls, with a handsome church.

The inhabitants, who have often given proofs of their intrepidity in their battles with their neighbours, live chiefly by agriculture and breeding cattle, besides which they have for several centuries been occupied in the manufacture of rosaries, crosses, and other fancy articles in wood, mother-of-pearl, coral, and stinkstone (lime mixed with bitumen) from the Dead Sea. The vases made of the last-named material, however, are very fragile. A visit to one of the workshops, when buying, will prove interesting. Bethlehem is also the market-town of the peasants and Beduins in the neighbourhood, many of the latter coming from the region of the Dead Sea.