![]() Although such incidents are embarrassing, they are definitely preferable to war. It seems that someone had encroached on another church's space. They proceeded to beat each other up with brooms before Palestinian police broke up the fight. ![]() According to NPR, tempers flared between rival groups of priests and monks in 2011 before Christmas. Fortunately such disputes result in tamer incidents today, of which one stands out. France and Russia favored the Catholic and Orthodox churches' claims for primacy and guardianship of the church, forcing the Ottoman Empire to pick sides. The fight over the church even helped ignite the Crimean War in 1853, a mere year after the Status Quo was enacted, according to History Today. Following the imposition of the Status Quo in 1852, the peace held, apart from "the odd murder and riot," of course. Cohen notes that sometimes, the empire favored its Greek citizens, while other times, it gave Catholics primacy, usually under French pressure. Often, Muslim rulers, such as the Ottomans, would even transfer parts of the building to other churches depending on political whims. The Status Quo generally works, but that doesn't mean that flare-ups have not occurred occasionally. They are all expected to chip in for repairs too, allowing a restoration project to fix damage to the church's interior and roof to finally begin in 2016. This applies to everything from chapels to candles. According to the Catholic Register, this balance, which is still in force today, means that the different denominations adhere to a strict schedule, ensure that each others' services begin on time, and avoid touching each other's stuff unless they are willing to care for it later. To ensure peace between the three churches and put an end to the squabbles, the Ottoman Empire in 1852 instituted the Status Quo. The Roman Catholic and Armenian Apostolic Churches own the rest, including the grotto. The Greek Orthodox Church holds approximately 80% of the property and is the majority shareholder. Archaeology, on the other hand, has revealed more promising evidence.Īccording to the Guardian three controlling churches have divided the complex among themselves. Thus, the textual record does not seem to contain any references to Bethlehem. ![]() In fact, Albright, Waterhouse, and scholars in general reject this equation, identifying this Bit-Ninurta with a place called Beth Horon instead. Unfortunately, there is little evidence that Bethlehem is mentioned in the letter. Were it true, it would be a confirmation for the town's existence and importance even before biblical times. Archaeologist William Albright notes that some have identified this town as Bethlehem, although it is an admittedly unclear interpretation. He requested aid from the pharaoh for this endeavor. According to Douglas Waterhouse, this place and several other towns abandoned the ruler of Jerusalem, who needed help retaking them. Amarna Letter 290, sent from the ruler of Jerusalem, mentions a place called "Bit-Ninurta" (written e2-Ninurta). The Amarna Letters are a cache of texts found in Egypt that detail the correspondence of Egypt's pharaoh with numerous foreign rulers.
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