The Archaeology of the Holy Land

In the eyes of the Romans, Palestine was a remote and relatively uncivilized province inhabited by a troublesome people with a peculiar ancestral religion and strange customs. For Christians, however, this is the Holy Land, the land of the Bible and the prophets. Here Jesus Christ was born, preached, died, and was resurrected. Therefore, Constantine's legalization of Christianity had an immediate and profound impact on Palestine. Almost overnight the country was transformed from an undeveloped backwater to one of the most important provinces in the Roman world. Thousands of pilgrims poured in to visit sites associated with Jesus and the Bible. The money they spent for food, lodging, transportation, guides, and souvenirs propelled the local economy. Beginning in the fourth century, hundreds of churches, monasteries, and hostels were built around the country, some funded by imperial patrons wishing to display their piety. The population increased to levels that remained unmatched until the twentieth century. Existing towns and cities, such as Jerusalem and Caesarea, expanded to their greatest size, and new settlements were established in marginal and previously uninhabited parts of the country, such as the Negev desert. Byzantine period remains are represented at nearly every excavated site in Palestine. In this chapter we survey just a few of the hundreds of Byzantine sites outside Jerusalem.

Bethlehem: The Church of the Nativity

According to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, Jesus was born in Bethlehem, which is three miles south of Jerusalem. Prior to the Byzantine period, Bethlehem was a small village, but under Christian rule it became a major pilgrimage center. In fact, the Church of the Nativity is one of only three churches built by Constantine in Palestine (the others are the Church of the Eleona and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem). The Church of the Nativity is similar to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in that it consists of a basilica (hall of worship) together with a building enshrining a central focal point. Whereas in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher the tomb of Christ was enshrined within the circular, domed Rotunda, Constantine's Church of the Nativity had an octagonal building surrounding a cave or grotto venerated as the spot where Jesus was born.