New Testament Sites in the Holy Land

The life of Jesus Christ, as narrated in the gospels, was played out in a relatively small geographical arena. He was born in Bethlehem; he grew up when Nazareth; his baptism took place at the Jordan River near Jericho; most of his public activity was carried out around the shores of the Sea of Galilee, where he preached, narrated parables and worked miracles; and his crucifixion, resurrection and ascension all occurred in Jerusalem. Unlike the sites of the Old Testament, those of the New Testament saw the rise of sanctuaries, churches and chapels built within two or three centuries of the death of Jesus. For this reason, a number of these sites have some claim to authenticity, although, as with so much in the Holy Land, nothing is beyond dispute.

        

1.   The Annunciation

At Nazareth Mary was visited by angel Gabriel and told of her forthcoming child (Luke 1:26-38)

2. The Birth of Jesus

In Bethlehem Jesus was born in a grotto an angel appeared to shepherds in nearby fields,  telling them of the birth (Luke 2:1-20). A Church was first built on the sight in the fourth century and a star marks the alleged site of Nativity.

3. The Wedding at Cana

Jesus performed his first miracle at this small village near Nazareth at a wedding where he turned water into wine (John 2:1-11).

 

4.   The Baptism of Christ

John the Baptist, a cousin of Jesus, baptized and preached the coming of the Messian on the shores of the Jordan River. John recognized Jesus as the “Lamb of God” (Matthew 3). The site Traditionally identified with the baptism is east of Jericho on the Jordanian river. It lies in a military zone and is only accessible to pilgrims for the Greek Orthodox Epiphany in January and on the third Thursday of October. 

5. The Temptations

Following his Baptism, Jesus went into the desert, where the devil tried to tempt him from his 40-day fast ( Matthew 4:1-11). The Greek Orthodox Monastery of the Temptation on Mount Quarntal , just north of Jericho, marks the site of the supposed encounter.

6.  The First Disciples

Christ’s  first disciples were fishermen he encountered on the banks of the sea of Galilee. He persuaded them to leave their nets to become ”fishers of men” (Matthew 5:18-22).  In the mid-1980s a fishing boat was discovered at the mud of the lake.  It dates back to the 1^st century AD, roughly the time of Christ, and is on display at Kibbutz Ginosar.

 

7.  The Multiplication of Loaves and Fishes

The gospels locate this famous miracle, more colourfully known as the “feeding of the 5,000” (Matthew 15:32-39). The episode is commemorated in a church at Tabkha on the lake shore which has a mosaic in front of the altar showing a basket of bread flanked by fish.

8. Sermon on the Mount

The longest and one of the key sermons of Jesus, The Sermon on the Mount, begins with the Beatitudes, “Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth…” (Matthew 5-7). Tradition has it delivered on  a small rise at Tabkha. It is celebrated by the nearby octagonal Church of Beatitudes.

Jesus in Jerusalem

The Last Supper (Matthew 26: 18-30), traditionally associated with a room on Mount Zion

In what was to be the last week of his life, Jesus made a triumphal entrance into Jerusalem shortly before the Jewish feast of Passover. He proceeded to the Temple where he drove out the money changers (Matthew 21: 12–13). He gathered his Disciples to eat a Passover meal; this was to be the Last Supper. After the meal they went to the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus was arrested (Matthew 26: 36–56). Condemned by the Jewish authorities, he was put on trial before Pontius Pilate, possibly in the Antonia Fortress or the Citadel (see p65). After being paraded through the city, he was crucified and buried at Golgotha, traditionally identified with the site of the Holy Sepulchre church. Following his Resurrection, Jesus departed earth with his Ascension from the Mount of Olives.

Old Testament Sites in the Holy Land

 

Many of the stories recounted in the Old Testament are located within Egypt, Sinai and the “Land of Canaan”, which corresponds roughly to present-day Israel. The Bible gives plenty of precise geographical references. Some places, such as Jerusalem and Jericho, still exist and have yielded archaeological evidence confirming some, but by no means all, of the references to them in the Old Testament. Other sites were only attached to their biblical episodes much later. Touring these sites, the visitor cannot but be aware of the contrast between the importance of the events and the often insignificant and all-too-human scale of the places in which they are said to have occurred.

 

1 The Destruction of Sodom

When Sodom was destroyed by God only Lot and his family were spared, but his wife looked back and was turned into a pillar of salt.

 

2 The Sacrifice of Isaac

 God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac. The Patriarch was about to obey, when an angel stayed his hand and instructed him to slaughter a ram instead. Tradition identifies the place of sacrifice as Mount Moriah, later a part of Jerusalem, and the site on which Solomon’s Temple is said to have been subsequently built.

 

3 The Tombs of the Patriarchs

 Acquired for the burial place of his wife Sarah, the Machpelah Cave was the first plot in the land of Canaan purchased by Abraham (Genesis 23). A mosque/synagogue now occupies the traditional site of the tomb, located in the present-day town of Hebron.

 

4 Moses Receives the Ten Commandments

 Since the 4^th century, Mount Sinai has been associated with the story of Moses and the Ten Commandments. (Exodus 20). The Bible places Sinai in a region called Horeb, but the location of  Horeb has never been identified.

 

5 The Death of Moses

Moses is said to have seen the Promised Land from the summit of Mt Nebo and died on the same place. As being just southwest of modern-day Amman. As the Bible states, the whereabouts of Moses’ tomb is unknown.

 

6 Joshua Conquers Jericho

The Old Testament story tells How the walls of Jericho. Fell to the blast of horn (Joshua 6).  The ancient Oasis was the first city conquered by the Israelites, led by Joshua,  after they emerged from their 40 years in the wilderness.

 

7 The Ark of the Covenant

At Shiloh the Jews built the first temple and placed in it the Ark of the Covenant, the sacred container of the tablets of the Ten Commandments. The Ark is shown here in a 13thcentury illumination being carried by two angels.

 

8 Samson and Delilah

 The climax of this story, in which Samson pulls down the Philistines’ temple, killing himself and his enemies, is described as taking place in Gaza (Judges 14 –16).

 

9 David Defeats Goliath

As the champion of the Israelites during the reign of King Saul, David defeated Goliath and routed the Philistines (1 Samuel 17). The site of the battle is given as the Ha-Ela Valley, northwest of Hebron.

 

10 Elijah and the Prophets of Baal

Elijah challenged the prophets of the Canaanite God Baal. An altar was set up and sacrifices prepared. Only Elijah’s offerings burst into flames, showing it has been acknowledged and proving who the true God was (1 Kings 18). The traditional site of this event is Mount Carmel at Haifa.