Tens of thousands of people are streaming into Bethlehem, on the West Bank just south of Jerusalem, to celebrate Christmas in the cradle of Christianity. Few know that they might be in the wrong Bethlehem.
Archaeologists have long believed that Mary may have given birth to Jesus in Bethlehem of the Galilee, a hillside village far away in northern Israel.
“I think the genuine site of the Nativity is here, rather than the well-known site near Jerusalem,” said Aviram Oshri, an Israeli archaeologist who has dug for ten years in Bethlehem of the Galilee.He said the digs yield strong evidence both that it is the birthplace of Jesus and that it was revered as such in early Christianity.
“Bethlehem in the Galilee was inhabited by