Tension, Bethpage and the Negev region

Tension

Some might have read of the escalating tension between the State of Israel and the Hamas movement, governing the Gaza Strip, which is in the South West of Israel. Coming back from Be’er Sheva, yesterday, I did see a number of armed vehicles and tanks going south. I saw also a kind of a zeppelin which might have been monitoring the area. In Jerusalem, today being a Friday, the Muslim day of prayer when many Muslims go to the Al’Aqsa Mosque, there was also a greater presence of Israeli military. During our lecture we could hear the Imam speaking to worshippers. Probably they have put on some more speakers, perhaps because of the greater number of worshippers present. But apart from that, there are no special worrying signs here in Jerusalem. This evening the siren went on at around 4.45 pm. However, everything is quite calm here. One of the Franciscan Fathers told me that he survived six wars and two intifadas since he has been here! Having said all this, we need to pray a lot for peace among these two peoples. Many are suffering because of this tension, among both Palestinians and Israelis. Our Lady of Palestine, hear our earnest prayer.

Bethpage

One place in Jerusalem that I still had to visit was the Church of Bethpage which is located on the eastern part of the Mount of Olives. This is the site of the celebration of the beginning of Jesus’ messianic entrance into the Holy City while the disciples and the crowd enthusiastically sang “Hosanna”. We can read of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem departing from Bethpage in Luke 19,29-40.

Bethpage Church -- from where Jesus
began his triumphal entry to Jerusalem on Palm Sunday

In reality this place is only some meters away from Bethany but the Wall of Separation between Israel and the Palestinian Territories has separated these two sanctuaries which were so intimately linked through centuries of Christian tradition!

In 1870, a villager found a dressed stone bearing paintings from the time of the Crusaders. These paintings represent the two events linked to Bethpage and Bethany: the resurrection of Lazarus and the triumphal entry into Jerusalem. This large stone is within the small sanctuary which was built to commemorate this latter event and which was restored in 1954.

Stone found in the area with paintings from the time of the Crusaders
depicting the raising of Lazarus and the triumphal entry into Jerusalem

Every Palm Sunday, a solemn procession presided over by the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem departs from here. It passes by the Carmelite Monastery of the Pater Noster and the small building (now a Mosque) commemorating the Ascension of the Lord. It continues down the Mt of Olives to the Sanctuary of the Dominus Flevit and the Russian Church dedicated to St Mary Magdalene. Then it proceeds to Gethsemane, the Tomb of the Virgin Mary and the Grotto of the Arrest, and past the site of the martyrdom of St Stephen. Then the procession enters into the Old City through St Stephen’s Gate and slowly moves through the Via Dolorosa up to the Holy Sepulcher. I am told that many Christians participate in this big event.

This procession has been in existence since the earliest centuries of the Church. The Pilgrim Etheria (end of the 4^th Century) attests to its existence then. It ceased to exist by the end of the Crusader period but it was taken up again by the Franciscans in the 16^th or 17^th Century.

The Negev Region

On Thursday, as part of our excursions we went to visit the central part of the Negev Region. This is found south of Jerusalem. The capital city of this region is Be’er Sheva. This region comprises 62% of the land mass of Israel. During our visit there we saw three sites: Tel Arad, Mamshit and Tel Be’er Sheva.

The Negev Region (from Tel Arad)

Tel Arad consists of ruins of a Canaanite city from the Early Bronze Age (from 3200 – 2700 B.C.) and an Israelite Fortress used by the kings of Judea (1000 – 586 B.C.). The fortress was also used by the Persians and the Romans. However, remains of these were eliminated in order to bring to light the Israelite fortress. This is also true of a Byzantine Monastery and Church.

In this place, we can witness to the first attempts at urbanization. This city develops along the route from the east to the Mediterranean and from the North to the South. Since there are no springs of water, which normally would become a natural place where to build a city, it seems that the reason behind the rise (and perhaps also the fall) of this city was the industry of copper.

Arad is mentioned in the Bible as the place which prevented the Israelites from entering the “Promised Land” in Num 21,1-3 and 33,40. Then we are told that Joshua won over the city in Jos 12,14.  According to Prof. Peter Kaswalder, our lecturer, these references might have been more pedagogical than historical. The Israelites had to learn that the “promised land” was given to them by the Lord and not the fruit of their capabilities and force. That is why they had to go the long way – the way of the desert, the way of purification.

A very interesting feature here is the fact that within the fortress a sanctuary was found, which is very similar to the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem. The biblical temple has a threefold division: the courtyard, the Hekal (or cell) and the Debir (Holy of Holies). There is also another interesting feature here: there two gods worshiped here: Yahweh and Asherah. This should not astonish us. The process towards the understanding of one God, one Temple must have been very long. The instructions given in the commandments were the result of a long process of purification. From what is being discovered archaeologically, every town and village had its own sanctuary, where many times Yahweh was adored together with the local god. There were two stages of reform: the religious reform of Hezekiah (2 Kgs 18,4.22) where the altar of sacrifices placed in the courtyard was removed; and the Deuteronomistic reform (2 Kgs 23) where it was decreed that worship was only to be given to Yahweh. Here in Arad, the sanctuary was put out of use and not destroyed.

The Holy of Holies in the Israelite Sanctuary dedicated to YHWH at Tel Arad

On our excursion, we visited also Mamshit which is situated on one of the important branches of the Incense Route, linking Arava, the Dead Sea, Petra in Jordan and the Gulf of Eilat, with the coastal plain and the Hebron mountains. This city rises in the mid-first century AD, inhabited by the Nabateans, an evolved group of people. The city was annexed to Rome by Emperor Traian in 106 AD. The Nabateans converted to Christianity in the fifth century. We have two churches here. The Church of Nilo (the builder) has a very beautiful pavement in mosaic. There is also a baptistery in the form of a cross. Besides the Negev torrent passes.

Baptistery in the form of a cross in Mamshit

The Church of Nilo -- elaborate pavement in mosaic

The Negev Torrent

Finally, our excursion took us to Tel Be’er Sheva, which is considered to be the centre of the Negev Region. In the Bible there are a number of references to this city. Among these we find: Gen 21,22-32, Abraham makes an oath together with Abimelech in this place, which gives the name to it: the well of the oath. We find it again in Gen 26,23-33, where Isaac’s servants dug a well. Here, at the entrance of the site there is a four-horned altar displayed. Stones from this altar were found within the storage rooms. This means that, according to Prof. Kaswalder, even in Be’er Sheva there was a Israelite Sanctuary dedicated to Yahweh. This sanctuary could have been eliminated during the reform of Hezekiah in the 8^th Century BC (2 Kgs 18,4-22).

The Altar found in Tel Be'er Sheva -- evidence that even here
there was an Israelite Sanctuary dedicated to YHWH