Christian Arab city 7 km south of Jerusalem, on the site of biblical Bethlehem (Ephrath, Bethlehem-in-Judah), where Jesus was born and thus holy to Christians the world over. It is the burial place of the matriarch Rachel (Gen. 35:19); much later it was settled by the tribe of Judah. It became historically important when the prophet Samuel was sent to anoint David as King of Israel. For a short while it was in Philistine hands. After David made Hebron his capital, and then Jerusalem, Bethlehem sank into obscurity until the birth of Jesus there. It was, and is, a market town for Bedouins.
In the Byzantine period Jews were forbidden to live in Bethlehem. The city appears on the 6th century Madaba map. In 1100 it was captured by the Crusaders. Bethlehem was destroyed in the wars between Crusaders and Muslims, and then rebuilt. At the end of the 15th century Bethlehem was badly damaged in fighting between its Christian population and the Muslims of Hebron.
City developed as a pilgrimage center for Christians during the British Mandate and later Jordanian rule. It was captured by Israel in the Six Day War and at the end of 1995 it was transferred to Palestinian rule. Bethlehem has many Christian holy sites, including churches, monasteries and other religious establishments. The most important of these is the Church of the Nativity, built upon the cave where Jesus is believed to have been born.
Church was first built in the days of Constantine in 330, destroyed in the 6th century and rebuilt in the days of Justinian. The Crusader Baldwin was anointed king here in 1100. A fortress-like structure, it is divided into sections: the central part is held by the Greek Orthodox, the southern part by the Armenians, and the northern section is divided between Catholics and Protestants. Today's basilica dates from the 6th century with extensive repairs from the Crusader period. Disappearance of the Silver Star from the Grotto of the Nativity was pretext for outbreak of the Crimean War.
