Bethlehem

We went to Bethlehem to see the Church of the Nativity which is believed to be built over the stable where Jesus was born. The best part of this is that three church groups, the Greek Orthodox, Armenians, and Catholics, have cooperated building on the site. The supposed birthplace is under the Greek Orthodox chancel. One descends a flight of stairs to get to the birth place. Unfortunately, at least in our view, the manger was decorated with tapestries that detract from the site. It does not have any appearance of being a stable. The birth place is marked with a star in the floor and is a few feet from the rock manger. We only have few pictures of the area because it was so crowded. But our group did go off to the side to sing a couple of songs.

Bethlehem is in a Palestinian part of Israel and Jews are not allowed in the area. Both our driver and guide were Jews so we had to board a different bus with an Arab driver and guide to enter the city.

Wikipedia and Bible Places provide further information about this site.

Each part of the Church of the Nativity has its own lighted cross. Earlier we saw some different crosses is Egypt. Which is the right cross? Possibly none of them. The Romans used three types of crosses when crucifying some one. One was like the traditional lower case "t" cross we normally think of. The second had an upper case "T" shape. The third type was just a tree. Some think that Jesus was crucified on the upper case "T" shaped cross. But in any case, prisoners on the way to crucifixion only carried the removable cross bar. But it still weighed a 100 pounds or more. That was a major load after the person had been whipped.

All the crosses were equipped with a sign with the victim's name. They were also equipped with a small seat deliberately placed to make the victims more miserable by extending their life without making them any more comfortable.
(For further discussion of crosses see: Christians answers and The moorings)