The Mosaic That Saved the Church of the Nativity in 614
The Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem was built in the 320s by Emperor Constantine and his mother Helena over the cave where Jesus was born. Stables in Bethlehem were often caves because the town sits on limestone hills, which is why Orthodox icons show Christ born in a cave rather than a wooden stable. The church survived two invasions. In 614 the Persian Empire burned church after church in the region, but when soldiers reached the Church of the Nativity they saw a mosaic of the three wise men dressed in Persian clothes.
Christian tradition holds that the wise men were priests from Persia, so the soldiers recognized their own people and left the church standing. Just over twenty years later the armies of the new Islamic Empire took the Holy Land, and Caliph Omar promised that the church would remain in Christian hands, so it was left alone again.
The speaker's great-grandparents were Christians from Bethlehem, part of a community whose presence there has lasted for centuries. In 1922 almost nine out of ten people in Bethlehem were Christian Palestinians; today the share is fewer than one in six. Orthodox Christians still gather in the church to worship, bowing through the door of humility to reach the basilica.
Key moments
- Constantine and his mother Helena built the church in the 320s over the cave where Jesus was born.
- Stables in Bethlehem were often caves because the town sits on limestone hills, so Orthodox icons show Christ born in a cave instead of a wooden stable.
- In 614 the Persian Empire invaded and burned church after church, but when soldiers reached the Church of the Nativity they saw a mosaic of the three wise men dressed in Persian clothes, since Christian tradition holds the wise men were priests from Persia, and they left the church standing.
- Just over 20 years later the armies of the new Islamic Empire took the Holy Land, but Caliph Omar promised the church would stay in Christian hands, so it was left alone again.
- In 1922 almost nine out of ten people in Bethlehem were Christian Palestinians, and today it is fewer than one in six, but they still bow through the door of humility to pray in the same church.
- The story is a tribute to the speaker's great-grandparents, who were Christian Palestinians from Bethlehem.