Bethlehem. 25th December 1898: A man and a woman recreate the approach of Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem. At the time the city was ruled by the Ottoman Empire.
Tag Archives: Middle East
Christmas in Bethlehem
Pilgrims enter Bethlehem, the alleged birthplace of Jesus Christ, at Christmastime in the late 1800s.
100 Years Ago
Following the surrender of the Ottoman Empire two days earlier, Britain’s General Sir Edmund Allenby entered Jerusalem on the 11th of December, 1917.
Described as a Christmas present to the British people, this event saw the city come under Christian rule for the first time in centuries.
Allenby entered the city on foot as a sign of respect to the holy place.
The Turkish surrender came during the Battle of Jerusalem that began in mid-November.
100 Years Ago: Bethlehem at Wartime
9th December 1917: Britain’s 4th Sussex Regiment photographed marching through Bethlehem days before Christmas.
The city was under Ottoman control until the end of the First World War the following year.
100 Years Ago
The Ottoman Empire surrendered Jerusalem to British rule on the 9th of December, 1917.
The surrender came during the Battle of Jerusalem, which was fought from the 17th of November. The battle saw the combined forces of Britain, Australia, India and New Zealand defeat the Ottoman (Turkish) and German Empires.
The image shows the Ottoman mayor of Jerusalem and Ottoman prisoners of war meeting British representatives under the white flag of surrender.
On this day: Australian troops in Damascus, Syria.
The caption for this photograph (as written by the Australian War Memorial, Canberra) is as below:
The Turkish Hospital in Damascus on 1 October 1918, shortly after the entry of the Australian 4th Light Horse Regiment.
To read more about this complicated point in Syrian and Middle Eastern history, you can begin HERE.
On this day…
US Marines help at the site of the terrorist bombing of the American embassy in Beirut, Lebanon. The bombing took place on the 18th of April, 1983; this image is from the 29th.
On this day: the 1983 US embassy attack
On the 18th of April, 1983 a car bomb was detonated by a suicide attacker outside the United States embassy in Beirut, Lebanon. Sixty-three people were killed and over a hundred injured.
The bombing came after America and other Western countries intervened in the Lebanese Civil War. The victims included over thirty Lebanese employees, seventeen Americans, and various passersby.
The attack was claimed by the Islamic Jihad Organisation, a pro-Iranian group.
Ronald and Nancy Reagan view the caskets of the Americans killed. X
Following the bombing, the US embassy was moved to an allegedly safer location.
However, the new embassy was bombed by Islamic militant group Hezbollah the following year, killing another twenty-four people.
The Lebanese Civil War continued until 1990.
On this day: the theft of the Peacock Throne
On the 22nd of March, 1739 Nader Shah of Persia (Iran) sacked the Indian city of Delhi and stole the jewels of the famous Peacock Throne. The seat of the Mughal emperors who ruled the north of India, the throne was never seen again.
Nader Shah
A replacement throne was made, and existed until a rebellion in 1857.
In Times Gone By... 
