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Stories of Places and Persons Connected
with
Religious Folklore in the Bethlehem
District
Issa
Massou
Introduction
Very little has been
written on the subject of religious
folklore of the Bethlehem area. Hence,
the researcher in this virtually
unexplored field has to depend to a
great extent on local informants, field
work, personal interviews, and above all
on long residence in the area.
The passing away of the
doyens of local folklore urgently
necessitates the recovery and recording
of as much as possible of the local
folklore. Consequently the documentation
value of some of these stories can
hardly be overestimated.
(The attached map will
help the reader to follow the route
along which lie the relevant places
dealt with in this article).
The degree of circulation
of the following stories varies to a
very great extent. Some are quite
well-known, while others are known to an
extremely limited number of people. Most
of them are commonly characterized by
the miracle element which is so largely
responsible for the maintenance of their
circulation. It is to be noted that
their nature remains predominantly
Christian in essence and outlook in
spite of the fact that the Christian
population has become a minority in
comparison with the Muslim population in
the District. Many stories are
circulated among Christians and Muslims.
Religious Folklore
Surrounding the Nativity Church in
Bethlehem
It would seem strange
that comparatively little folklore
material can be found relating to the
collection of convents and churches that
have grown up round the cave of the
Nativity where Jesus Christ was born (1)
and which is held sacred by all
Christian denominations. The fact that
the beautiful story of the Nativity in
itself had a strong appeal to the
imagination may well explain why so few
other stories have been told about this
Church.
There is a well-known
story associated with the Church of the
Nativity which dates back probably to
1009 A.D. The deranged Egyptian Caliph
Al-Hakim-Bi’amr-Illah ordered the
demolition of Christian monuments and
churches throughout the Holy Land. A
contemporary writer related that while
Al-Hakim’s men “were trying to destroy
the Church of Bethlehem, at the place of
the Nativity of Christ, suddenly there
appeared to them a dazzling light and
all were thrown to the ground and
straight away expired. Thus the Church
of the Mother of God remained
untouched.”(2) It is quite possible that
the Church was saved because of the
goodwill of the local Muslims.(3)
Another story which bears
some resemblance to, and may be a
modified from of the previous one, is
still nowadays current among the local
inhabitants. The Sultan (sic) when
visiting Bethlehem was taken with the
splendour of the columns and marbles of
the Church of the Nativity. So he
commanded that they should be removed,
wishing to use them to build a palace
for himself. A huge serpent appeared and
pursued the labourers who had to run for
their lives, and so the Sultan had to
desist from his purpose.
Hamilton quotes a
strikingly similar legend recounted by
Burchardt of Mount Sion,(4) who twenty
years after Sultan Rukn-ud-Din Baybars
(1260-1277 A.D.) ordered the dismantling
of the walls and towers. In 1963,
Burchhardt wrote the following account,
“I have seen in that church a glorious
miracle. Seeing the previous ornament
and the marbles and the columns in that
Church the Sultan commanded them all to
be taken down and carried to Babylon(5),
wishing to build from them a palace for
himself. When the workmen approached
with their tools, the Sultan being
present and many others, lo and behold
there came forth from the wall, which
was sound and whole so that it seemed
not a needle could penetrate it, a
serpent of portentous size and bit the
first marble that it came to. And the
slab cracked across, h-i turn it came to
a second and a third and a fourth even
unto the thirtieth, and so it was with
all of them, And they were all
astonished, The Sultan himself forthwith
revoked his purpose, and the serpent
disappeared. So the Church remained, and
remains to this day, as it was before.
Yet the marks of the serpent’s body can
still be seen on each of the slabs it
passed across, like a scorching of
fire.” This story is no longer found in
circulation among the local population.
Stories of serpents guarding holy places
are told by many Muslim holy men. (6)
Sir Richard Guilforde, in
his book Pilgrimage to the Holy Land,
refers to this same legend. (7) It is
worth mentioning however that Sir
Richard’s pilgrimage took place in the
very early part of the 16th century,
when Baybar’s legend was less than two
and a half centuries old and so quite
fresh in the memory. Other versions of
the legend refer to the serpent having
“a tongue of fire”, and to “a horrifying
black flace instead of a serpent,”(8)
One of the most popular
legends associated with the Church of
the Nativity, which most probably goes
back to the 18th century, is centred
round one of the columns of the nave of
this Church. Starting with the southern
colonnade of the nave, and moving from
west to east, on the sixth column, one
sees five holes at a distance of five
feet from the floor. The distance
between the uppermost hole and the
lowest is six inches, and the
circumference of the entire column is
nearly 76 inches, Every hole is more
than one inch deep and less than one
inch in diameter. The holes form a
crosslike shape and are called “The
Cross”. This column itself bears the
painting of St. Vincentios, a deacon of
Saragossa who was martyred after fearful
tortures in 304 A.D, during the
persecutions under Diocletian, He wears
a dalmatic, stole and maniple.
According to a legend,
some armed groups tried to ruin the
Church of the Nativity and to massacre
the Bethlehem Christians who took
shelter in the church, But when they
entered it, thousands of fierce wasps
swarmed out from the column referred to,
and attacked the invaders who made off
in confusion in a westerly direction in
fear for their lives, closely followed
by the wasps. When they reached “Qaus
az-Zarrarah” (The Arch of Zarrarah),
about 400 yards away from the Church,
the invaders were cornered(9) and after
a desperate attempt at escaping
westwards, they expired (fatasu) hence
the popular theory of the origin of the
name of the quarter “Ras Iftes”, the
Head of the Death - Ground which adjoins
the “Qaus az-Zarrarah” Quarter.
This story, in its
general structure, is often confused
with a similar one which is equally
widespread. The invaders, according to
the second story, were coming from the
west towards the east, with the
intention of destroying the Church of
the Nativity. When they reached the Qaus
(termed “Az-Zarrarah”later), the Virgin
Mary appeared to them in a most dazzling
brilliance which took the shape of a
wall of light. They were thus blinded
and could not proceed any farther, but
when they turned eastwards to go on with
their attack they were again blinded. So
finally they decided to retreat whence
they had come. This story furnishes a
clue to the feminine form of
“Az-Zarrarah” (the female Cornerer), a
form which probably refers to the Virgin
Mary. This story links up with the
previous one in that the invaders died
at “Ras Iftes”.
Another story about these
holes, which is still in circulation, is
that “a long time ago” a great
earthquake shook Bethlehem, and subsided
when the Virgin Mary appeared in the
Church of the Nativity and placed her
fingers on the column. The holes mark
the traces of her fingers on the column.
Somewhere along the
subterranean passage which leads to the
Cave of the Nativity, and before it
turns to the north, one observes a round
hole on the right. Water is said to have
burst forth from this hole for the use
of the Holy Family, when Christ was born
in the course of the 15th century the
tradition was invented, namely that the
star which had guided the Magi fell into
this spring and that none but virgins
could see it.
One other story connected
with the Church of the Nativity has a
comparatively recent origin. The Rev.
Hanna Banayot of Bethlehem and of the
Greek Orthodox church (d.1922) enjoyed a
widespread reputation for piety and
remarkable deeds. It is thought that he
was able to open the Basilica-door (10)
of the Church of the Nativity, by
reading Psalm 23. In the course of my
research, I have come across several
people who claim to have been
eye-witnesses on seveal occasions when
this remarkable deed was supposed to
have taken place. Because of its recent
origin this story enjoys a most
widespread circulation.
The Milk Grotto: From the
Church of the Nativity and at a distance
of 300 years to the south east, the Milk
Grotto or Women’s Cavern is situated. It
is a large irregular cave now converted
into a chapel belonging to the
Franciscans. “The traditional story is
that before their flight into Egypt the
Holy Family stayed a short time in the
cavern. One day a drop of the Blessed
Virgin’s milk happened to fall on the
chalky rock, and immediately endowed it
with miraculous properties. Until the
sophistication of recent years the rock
was much prized by women of the
countryside as a healing agency and aid
to lactation.”(11)
Religious Folklore
Surrounding Holy Places in the Beit
Sahur Area
At a mile’s distance to
the east of Bethlehem lies Bait Sahur.
Sepp supposes the name to be derived
from Ashhur (1 chron.ii, 24, iv,5)(12).
The most popular story about Bait Sahur
proper excluding the stories connected
with the Shepherds Field one mile to the
east of Bait Sahur - is that one
connected with Bir Issidah (The Well of
the Lady). Baedeker briefly refers to it
as follows: “There are several grottoes
and cisterns here. The deepest of the
latter, situated in the middle of the
village, is famous as the scene of a
traditional miracle, The inhabitants
having refused to draw water for the
Virgin, the water rose in the well of
its own accord,”(13)
The present writer has
heard the story of this traditional
miracle(14) of Bir Issidah, in the
following way. Bir Issidah is a
religious endowment belonging to the
whole town. Jacob the son of Isaac, the
son of Abraham was the one who dug it,
The Virgin Mary while on her way to
Egypt passed by it; and being thirsty,
she asked some women to give her a drink
from a pail of water, as the well was
deep, but they refused. So the Virgin
Mary gave utterance to the imprecation
that their number should never exceed
forty at any time, and truly the number
of the family to which the people at the
well belonged, never exceeded forty
members for some time.
Continuing eastwards we
come to the famous Shepherds’ Field.
where, according to tradition, the
angels appeared to the Shepherds when
Jesus was born. This is the source of a
considerable amount of folkore. I have
heard the following story first from the
Rev,’Azar who had heard it from his
father, but I also heard it from various
other sources.
Forty horsemen belonging
to a certain Bait Sahur clan used to
make for the site of the Shepherds’
Field. They were so proud and arrogant
that they received the benediction,
called “Awwalah” in Arabic, distributed
at the end of the Greek Orthodox
service, on the ends of their spears.
Immediately afterwards the “plague” came
and all of them died as a result of it.
A wealth of anecdotes is
connected with the Shepherds’ Field, One
invariably hears stories about people
stealing from the olive groves in the
Shepherds’ Field and meeting either with
immediate retribution or with
extraordinary occurrences indicating
supernatural disapproval.
Very near the
Shepherds’Field, there is a small
well-cultivated plain called by
unconfirmed tradition the Field of Boaz.
A certain man from Bait Sahur who
watched over the fields thought little
of devotional services, and was off-hand
at places of worship. He related how at
“Issyar” he and his wife used to hear
services being conducted, and how once
the supernatural congregation went up to
him and gave him a sound beating.
A few miles to the south
east of this place, there lies Bait
Ta’mar, the centre of the Ta’amrah
tribe. There is a popular story which
centres round its mosque called Mosque
of ‘Umar. A certain young man from Bait
Sahur was once shooting in that
neighborhood, and seeing a bird on top
of the mosque, he fired at it and killed
it. His hand was immediately fractured
because he had violated the sanctity of
the mosque.
Mar Saba (St. Saba)
At about three hours
walking distance to the east of
Bethlehem there lies the monastery of
Mar Saba hewn out of the rocks on the
slope of a mountain in the middle of a
vast wilderness, overlooking a most
dismal and desolate valley 590 feet
below the monastery. This Laura, or
settlement of monks, seems to have
founded here in the 5th century by St.
Euthymius. Around the middle of the
century Saba (b,439 in Cappadocia)
visited Jerusalem and later settled in
this wilderness with St. Euthymius, He
gained a great reputation for sanctity,
and “in 484 he was ordained priest by
the Bishop of Jerusalem, and raised to
the rank of abbot of the order of
Sabaites named after him.”(15)
Baedeker refers to the
legend of Mar Saba living peacefully in
the same cave with a lion He also
mentions the fact that women are not
admitted. It is related that, fairly
recently, a woman disguiserd in man’s
attire, entered the monastery with a
group of tourists, but the monastery
immediately began to shake. The abbot
ordered a thorough investigation which
resulted in the discovery of the woman
who was ordered out, and soon afterwards
the shaking subsided.
From the chapel of St.
Saba a door communicates with the cave
where the holy founder passed more than
half a century in prayer and in the
practice of the greatest austerities. To
this same grotto belongs the graceful
legend of the lion which during many
long years kept the company of the holy
abbot. This is a modified version of the
legend that says that one day when the
Saint was entering his cavern, he found
it occupied by a lion, whereupon the
Saint began without fear to repeat his
prayers and then fell asleep. The legend
goes on to say that the lion then
dragged him out of the cave twice, but
the Saint objected to such proceedings,
and assigned him a corner of the cavern,
after which they lived peacefully
together.
Furdes Mountain and
Tekoa (Tqu’)
The Furdes Mountain is to
the south-east of Bethlehem. It is also
called the Frank Mountain from a story
that it was the last refuge of the
Crusaders. To the south-east, too, and
at a walking distance of about four
hours is the site of ancient Tekoa,
mentioned in the Book of Joshua. (16)
This place is celebrated as the birth
place of the Prophet Amos, (17).
According to tradition he was also
buried here. Another local tradition has
it that Herod’s Massacre of the
Innocents extended as far as Tekoa. (18)
The region surrounding Tekoa has been
from time immemorial a barren
desert,(19). In the middle of its ruins
the remains of a church and a baptism
basin are still traceable. Owing to
excessive taxation, one of the
inhabitants decided to stand it no
longer and to emigrate, secretly, for
fear of being intercepted.
Surreptitiously he sold his possessions
bit by bit, explaining that he needed
the money. Being anxious to teach his
townsmen a lesson, he bought two pigeons
and clipped off the wings from one of
them, and placed both pigeons under a
large wooden bowl, in the middle of the
front room, and then escaped to safety
with the members of his family. Next day
he was missed, and his friends and
relatives went to his house to enquire
about him. They forced open the door and
found the house clean and empty.
Instantly one pigeon flew out while the
other crawled about helplessly. They
soon. Realized the meaning of the lesson
he had meant to teach them, that is that
they should flee while they were able,
and before they were rendered too weak
by oppression to do so.
Al-Khadr (Mar Geries-St.
George)
Heading westwards from
Tekoa we pass the village of Artas and
the Pools of Solomon. From these Pools
the road rises and when we cross the
Jerusalem-Hebron Road, we find ourselves
facing on the right the village of Al-Khadr
with a Greek Orthodox monastery that
used to house a lunatic asylum. The
monastery is the source of a very rich
store of religious folklore. The present
monastery was founded on the spot where
Al-Khadr is believed to have lived a
part of his life.
The following story about
the first establishment of the monastery
is not very well-known. The trade route
used to pass from the outskirts of
Bethlehem to ‘Asqalan, the Mediterranean
port. Once a small group of merchants
were on the way to ‘Asqalan with camels
loaded with merchandise. When sunset
overtook them, they chose a place where
they could spend the night. As they were
resting, some of them decided, in order
to sell the goods first, to steal the
camel ropes of one of the party so as to
handicap him, and slip away; and so they
did. The unfortunate merchant, realizing
his situation next morning, eagerly
invoked AL-khadr’s assistance vowing to
found a monastery on the very spot where
Al-khadr helped him and pointed out to
him the boundaries within which the
monastery was to be built. True to his
vow the merchant constructed a monastery
there.
The following story
enjoys a greater circulation than the
previous one. “The Greek Orthodox priest
in charge of Al-Khadr Church, was
conducting the service and when on the
point of distributing the Holy Eucharist
to one of the worshippers, his hand
shook, and the Holy Wine which was in
the Cup was spilt upon his foot.
Immediately the foot of the priest was
pierced through with a deep wound. The
spilt wine reached the slab of stone
which was beneath his foot, and a stain
was imprinted, which could not be
earsed. A few days later the priest died
of his wound.
“Once a man suffering
from a nervous disease came to the
Church of Al-Khadr to pray and
incidentally knelt upon the stone which
was stained with the Holy Wine and
fervently begged Allah to heal him of
his sickness. Allah granted his prayer
and to the astonishment of the sick man
and all standing around him, he was
instantly healed of his grave disease.
So from that day on, the fame of the
Holy Stone in that Church extended far
and wide. And so sick people flocked to
the Holy Stone and were healed. For the
hand of Al-Khadr was with them to heal
them.”
“The fame of the stone
reached the ears of the Emperor of the
Muscovites, who quickly sent messengers
to the Holy Land headed by one of his
army officers. The Emperor wrote a
letter to the Priest of Al-Khadr’s
Church saying, ‘When the envoys come,
hasten to deliver into their hands the
stone which heals the sick of their
ills, for I decree this.”
“So when the Emperor’s
messenger reached the Church, the priest
hastened to obey the word of the Emperor
and delivered the stone into the hands
of the officers of the army, who took it
to Jaffa to carry it down to the sea to
the special ships brought to bear it.
How astonished were all to see that the
barque in which they put the stone to
carry it from the shore out to the ship
would not respond to the oarsemen and to
the sailors. With all their labour they
did not succeed in rowing it out from
the shore and it did not move from its
place, as if a hidden hand held it down
with all its might.
“Then the men understood
that the hand of Mar Geries, that is AI-Khadr
was in this, and that it was not the
will of Al-Khadr to allow the stone to
be born away. Then they hastened and
declared the thing to the Emperor. He
ordered that it should be returned
quickly to its place with great honor.
This is in the Church to this day, and
all who come to the Church to pray there
may see it with their own eyes, and in
all men’s mouths it is called ‘The Stone
of Life’.”(20)
The Russian influence
runs through another story which bears
some relation to the one previously
mentioned. The Russian pilgrims to the
Holy Land used to come on board sailing
ships. A certain lady who had set her
heart on visiting the Holy Land was
asked by a friend of hers-who was not
able to make the journey herself - to
take with her a bundle of money (i.e.
Roubles) to be presented at the Church
of Al-Khadr. The ship was caught in a
terrible storm in the middle of the
Mediterranean, and the passengers lost
all hope of being rescued. The lady, who
had been entrusted with the money, after
a short passionate prayer, threw the
bundle of money into the sea calling
upon Al-Khadr and saying: “O, Khadr,
here is your money, I am delivering it
to you, please accept it.” The bundle
was miraculously transported into
Al-Khadr’s Church.
The “Rayyis”- Abbot- of
the monastery once wanted to build an
annex to the main building, and the
foundations were dug. When the work on
the foundations was over, everyone was
surprised to see them filled with water.
This was repeated three times. It was
shortly after that, that the “Rayyis”
saw Al-Khadr in a dream, and was shown
how to lay the foundations. Next
morning, to the astonishment of the
workers, new foundations were found
marked on the ground, and when work on
the building followed those foundations
there was no further interference from
the water.
The most current story of
Al-Khadr, that which is generally
illustrated in pictures, is briefly the
following one.
“There was once a great
city that depended for its water supply
upon a fountain without walls. A great
dragon, possessed and moved by Satan
himself, took possession of the fountain
and refused to allow water to be taken
unless, whenever people came to the
spring, a youth or maiden was given him
to devour. The people tried again and
again to destroy the monster, but though
they cheerfully went forth against it,
its breath was so pestilential that they
used to drop down dead before they came
within bowshot.
“The terrified
inhabitants were thus obliged to
sacrifice their offspring, or die of
thirst, till at last all the youth of
the place had perished except the king’s
daughter. So great was the distress of
their subjects for want of water that
her heartbroken parents could no longer
withhold her, and amid the tears of the
populace she went out towards the
spring, where the dragon lay awaiting
her. But just as the noisome monster was
going to leap on her, Mar Geries
appeared, in golden panoply, upon a fine
white steed and with spear in hand.
Riding full tilt at the dragon, he
struck it fair between the eyes and laid
it dead. The king out of gratitude for
this unlooked-for succour, gave Mar
Geries his daughter and half his
kingdom.”(21)
Al-Khadr’s insistence on
the literal fulfillment of vows,
whatever they are, is illustrated in
many stories of which the following is a
typical example. A camel- driver, having
overloaded his camel, had forced the
poor animal to kneel down, causing its
owner to utter a cry calling upon Al-Khadr
to help, vowing that he would send him
an egg-shell filled with olive oil if
his animal succeeded in getting up
safely. Why the camel-driver made such a
strange vow is not quite clear. Surely
there was no room for joking under the
circumstances. Anyway, he seems to have
repented having made such a vow, and
took with him a large sheepskin leather
container full of olive oil to Al-Khadr’s
Church. But try as he might, the Church
door would not open. Finally he related
his story to the “Rayyis” who counseled
him to perform the precise vow which he
made; and when he did so the Church door
was opened without difficulty.
To conclude our stories
of Al-Khadr, here is one which is a
strange mixture of history and religious
folklore with a streak of local colour.
The feast of Al-Khadr
came and the young men stood together
making their vows. One said, ‘I will
give a goat,’ another ‘I will give a
sheep.’ Then Geries, the son of a widow,
desired to offer something. They had but
one cow, ‘Then’, he said, ‘I will
sacrifice a cow,’ and he went and killed
the cow.
“At evening time his
mother called to him and said, ‘Where is
the cow?’ he said, ‘I gave it to
Al-Khadr,’ his mother said, ‘You have
cut our lives (i.e. you slay us). Let me
not see your face again.’ That night the
young man had a vision. A white-haired
man appeared to him and said, ‘Fear not,
I am Al-Khadr; thou shalt go to
Constantinople and to the King’s Palace.
Only each day thou shalt call a blessing
upon me.’
“So the young man went
far away to Constantinople and he went
to the King’s Palace. But he was dressed
as a fellah and they sent him away from
the door of the Palace. Again the vision
appeared, saying as before, ‘Fear not; I
am with you. Only do not forget to ask a
blessing on me every day. And this he
continued to do. After many nights Al-Khadr
came and showed him where seven
storehouses of gold were hidden. Then
the young man went again to the Palace,
offering to reveal his knowledge, and
this time he was allowed to enter in and
was made welcome there and he gave all
the gold to Queen Helena. Then the
saying came true:
“He who gives gold May
marry the Sultan’s daughter. For Geries
was dressed as a Prince and married to
the King’s daughter.”
“That night, his wedding
night, he forgot to ask a blessing on
Al-Khadr. In the morning he woke to find
himself back in Jerusalem, standing at
the Bab al-Khalil, dressed as a fellah
and only the ring on his finger to
remind him of his bride, the King’s
daughter. Months passed and he lived
miserably, ever imploring forgiveness of
Al-Khadr.
“Now when the time was
accomplished Queen Helena- decided to
travel and to build churches. At every
place where she stopped on her journey,
she built a pillar and a sign was placed
on the pillar- some say a light, some
say a bell-so that news could be sent
back to Constantinople. At last the
Queen arrived in Jerusalem and with her
came the King’s daughter and her babe.
Now the babe vas not content, and there
was his father, a poor fallah out of
work, hanging round the Bab al-Khalil.
“One day those who stood
near the young man said to him, ‘Why do
you not go and work for the Queen, who
is trying to find the Cross? She needs
many workmen to dig for her.’ So he went
and was accepted, and worked with the
workmen, and that same night al-Khadr
appeared to him and showed him where the
True Cross lay. Next morning he first
revealed the secret to the Queen and
then showed the ring to the King’s
daughter, and as soon as ever he came
near her, the babe, his son, stopped
crying. “After the Cross was found,
Oueen Helena sent the news to
Constantinople by means of her pillars.”
“So by the wisdom of Al-Khadr
the True Cross was found and through the
gold of Al-Khadr all the churches of
Queen Helena were built”.( 22)
(Al-Khadr is undoubtedly
one of the most popular saints in the
area, In the absence of any proper
facilities for the mentally deranged in
Turkish times, the asylun, attached to
al-Khadr’s monastery, was the only
resort left to the deranged of all
faiths. Many casses have been reported
cured by Al-Khadr, which gained him a
tremendous reputation. This, together
with the innumerable miracles he is
believed to have performed, and the
countless number of cases of Al-Khadr’s
curing of people, and especially
children, either when critically ill, or
when facing very dire circumstances,
largely accounts for his popularity. He
is believed to extend his help to those
who seek it warmly and whole-heartedly.)
‘Ain Kibrian the
Spring of Kibrian (St. Cyprianus)
On the way between the
village of Al-Khadr and Bait Jala and
nearer to the latter, there lies Mn
(Spring) Kibrian (St.Cyprianus). This
saint is believed to have been
originally a pagan, who lived in the
latter part of the second century and
early part of the third century of the
Christian era, in the city
of
Nablus, and was a wizard by profession.
He was not as yet a convert to
Christianity. He carried on a prosperous
business with his withchcraft, until a
certain young man who had wanted to
marry a Christian girl resorted to him
seeking his professional assistance,
because the girl did not reciprocate his
passion. When the young man insisted,
the wizard prepared him charms to be
placed in front of the girl’s house, and
told the young man that the girl would
submit to him in a week’s time. But the
week passed and nothing happened. Again
the wizard tried, this time employing
the help of greater powers. But again
the effect of the charm was a failure.
So making a final effort, he inquired
about the matter from the most patent
chief of the spirits, who told him that
he had no power over her, since the girl
was wearing a cross on her breast. When
the wizard heard this he went to the
girl imploring her forgiveness. It was
then that he became a Christian and
later a Saint.
Religious Folklore
Surrounding the Bait Jala Area
Almost in the center of
Bait Jala there is a church sacred to
the Virgin Mary known as “Knisit is-Sideh”.
The Church is very famous for its stone
known as “Hajar is-Sideh” or “Srir is-Sideh”.
Sideh is the Arabic colloquial for
“Sayyidah” -lady- here referring
specifically to the Virgin Mary. The
story attributed to this stone, which is
very well known, is associated with the
Field of Peas, a place on the northern
outskirts of Bethlehem. The Virgin Mary,
so the story goes, as she was passing
the Field of Peas, asked the workers
there to give her some,” No, these are
not peas, they are stones,” came their
reply, “Then let it be so,” answered the
Virgin Mary. The peas were then
instantly transformed into stones. The
workers then pursued the Virgin Mary,
who hid in a rock which split itself to
conceal her after the Virgin’s uttering
of these words, “inshaqqi ya sakhra
wi-hmi-iI Adhra” (i.e. “Split, Oh, rock
and protect the Virgin). The rock used
to be kept at a house belonging to a
Bethlehem family called Saqa. Later it
was placed in the Church of the Virgin
in Bait Jala, because the land of the
Saqa family is inside Bait Jala
territory.
Mar Nicola (St.
Nicholas)
Mar Nicola, who hails
from Cappadocia in Asia Minor is reputed
to have inhabited a small cave in Bait
Jala for a period of three years. The
present Mar Nicola’s Church was founded
on the site of the old cave.
The stories connected
with this saint are innumerable,
resembling to some extent those of Mar
Geries. The story which seems to have
the most appeal and circulation is the
following one, which is of comparatively
recent origin, and in which the Saint
appears as the defender of the town
against certain unruly tribes who
surrounded it and launched an attack on
it. The defenders of the town withstood
the onslaught bravely. Every time the
invaders tried to take it by storm they
saw an old man (Mar Nicola) with a lance
obstructing them. The invaders felt that
even the olive branches of the trees
surrounding the town were taking part in
the battle against them.. The raiders
related how relatively unaffected they
were by bullets of the townspeople in
comparison with the harassing of the
(Old Man) who “impeded us,” and who
never allowed them to proceed to their
target.
The following story shows
him as the rescuer of helpless women. It
is characterized by its sheer innocence
and simplicity. An old woman from Bait
Jala with the nickname “Allushiyyah”
went to pray in Mar Nicola’s Church.
After some time she fell asleep. The
Church Warder came at dusk as usual and
locked the doors of the Church without
noticing the old woman. When she woke
up, she realized the helplessness of her
situation, but going up to the icon of
Mar Nicola hopefully begged him to
release her adding, “My dough is in the
bowl and my son is without supper”. She
then saw the Old Man(Mar Nicola) descend
from the icon and walking with her, open
the inner and then the outer door of the
Church adding these words, “Tell the
Warder to come and lock the doors,” She
went to him and said, “Oh Abu Yusuf,
(his title of honour) Mar Nicola asks
you to lock the Church doors.” But I did
0 woman,” After some insistence on the
part of the old lady, he went to see the
Church doors and to his surprise he
found them open. He then believed the
old woman’s story.
Bir ‘Onah (The Well of
‘Onah)
Going down the road from
Mar Nichola’s Church northwards, one
reaches the bottom of the valley where
Bir (Well) ‘Onah is situated, about
which a very well known story connected
with the Virgin Mary is told.
According to this story
the Virgin Mary once passed by the well
while some women were drawing water. She
asked for water to drink, but the women
inhospitably refused her request. The
Virgin then knelt on the well-mouth, and
asked God to offer her a drink of water.
The water was soon raised from the Well
and Virgin drank, then the water
receded. The Virgin’s kneeling left
traces on the well-mouth.
Mar Elias (St. Elias)
Half way between
Bethlehem and Jerusalem to the north
lies the monastery of Mar Elias. The
rock facing the entrance of the
monastery is supposed to be the one on
which Elias, fleeing from the vengeance
of Jezebel, rested when the angel of the
Lord brought him the bread and water
which strengthened him to continue his
journey to Mount Herob.(23)
(Mar Elias has captured
the imagination of the people, and has
occupied a distinctive place in their
hearts and the stories of the miracles
he performed are almost inexhaustible).
The Field of Habaqquq
(Habakkuk)
At a short distance to
the south of Mar Elias is the field of
Habaqquq, little known to the local
inhabitants. The story connected with
the field is that then the Prophet
Habaqquq went there to bring, food to
his labourers during the harvest, he
heard the words of God coming to him
saying, “Go and bring this meal to
Daniel my servant, who is in the hands
of the Chaldees in the den of the
lions,.”(24) Habaqquq said, “O my Lord,
who will lead me there in this time, for
the way is very far?” But suddenly an
angel came and seized the Prophet by the
tuft of hair on his head and carried him
with the food in his hand and brought
him to Daniel in the den of lions.
Daniel and Habaqquq ate and drank
together. After that the angel came and
took Habaqquq and brought him back to
his field before the harvesters finished
their meal.
David’s Well
On continuing along the
main route, one reaches the hill
opposite Bethlehem. To the left of the
hill a path leads to the so-called
David’s Well. Here there are the
cisterns hewn out of the native rock.
According to tradition these are three
cisterns which were “by the gate of
Bethlehem,” from where the “three mighty
men” brought water to David having
forced their way through the ranks of
the Philistine army.(25) In Baedeker’s
opinion the association of this
tradition with this location dates from
about the end of the 15th century.
Conclusion
We have come across a
wide range of stories, characterized by
the miracle element, stories of
retribution, of rescue, of protection,
and stories that have been obviously
fabricated to serve a special purpose.
But they are all characterized by their
straightforwardness and simplicity of
plot and structure, and are of obvious
moral significance, which is natural
enough, because they will suit the
simple nature of the narrators
themselves and their devoted audiences.
These stories and their morals in
particular still exert a great influence
for good.
And thus it is that we
conclude with the completion of the
circle which started with the Church of
Nativity in Bethlehem, then went east
till it reached Mar Saba arid from there
turned southwards to Artas and A1-Khadr
in a clockwise direction, and then
westwards to Bait Jala, then northwards
to Mar Elias until it reached David’s
Well which is a few hundred yards in
direct line from the Church of the
Nativity which, as the undoubted
birthplace of Christ, is considered one
of the most important churches in
Christendom. The tradition relates that
when Bethlehem's bells rang, the bells
of 366 churches in the immediate
neighborhood and the surrounding
districts instantly responded and rang
at the same time, well suits the
position it occupies in the hearts and
minds of so many people in the whole
world.
Notes
1. See
The Problem of the Authenticity of the
Site of the Nativity by R,W, Hamilton,
A Guide to Bethlehem, Government
of Palestine Department of Antiquities:
Jerusalem, 1939, pp.85-106
2. Ibid,
P.16
3. K.L
Qazaqia, Ta’rikh al-Kanisah
ar-Rasuliyah (Arabic), Al-Muqtataph
and Al-Muqattam Press: Cairo, 1924, p.
291, quotes the same story and refers to
the French historian Adhemar’s account
of the same story.
4.
R.W. Hamilton, op. cit.,
pp. 24, 25
5.
i.e. Cairo.
6.
See T. Can’an,
“Mohammadan Saints and Sanctuaries,”
Journal of Palestine Oriental Society,
Vol.
VII, no.1-2, pp. n.d, 7,
pp. 35, 36
7.
Cf. de
Breves, Voyages, n.p: n.p, 127
8.
The word “Zarrarah” is
derived from the root “zarra”,
colloquially meaning ‘to corner”.
9.
This door is no longer in
existence. In 1919 the wall separating
the nave from the rest of the Church was
removed.
10.
R.W. Hamilton, op.cit.,
p.82
11. Prof. Dr. Johann
Nepomuk Sepp, 1eve hockwichtige
Eutdechungen auf der Zeveiten
Palestinafahrt, n.p: Munchen, 1896
Vol.p.1 92
12. K. Baedeker,
Palestine and Syria, Ed., Baedeker:
Leipsic, 1894, p.251
13. Heard from the Rev.
‘Azar Qumsiye of the Greek Orthodox
Church of Bait Sahur.
14. K. Baedeker, op. cit,
p. 272
15.
15: 590
16.
1:1
17.
2 Chronicles,
20:20
18. B. Meistermann,
New Guide to the Holy Land, n.p:
London, 1907, P. 338
19. Slightly altered from
Joseph Meyonhas, Bible Tales in Arab
Folklore, Knopf: London, l928, pp.
200-20l
20. J.E. Hanauer,
Folklore of the Holy Land,
Duckworth, London, 1907, pp.56-58
21. The picture of Al-Khadr
killing the dragon is still inscribed on
the front doors of some Christian
houses.
22.
From Cedar to Pyssop,
The Sheldon Press: London, 1932, pp,
128, 129. This book was translated into
Arabic by the author, and published by
the Society of Arab Studies, Jerusalem,
1986
23. Meistermann, op. cit,
p. 297
24.
Daniel,
6: 22
25.
2
Samuel, 23: 14-17
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