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101-683: The town is located on the southeastern slope of the Mount of Olives , less than 2 miles (3.2 km) from Jerusalem . With a population of 22,928 inhabitants according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics , it is the second largest city in the Quds Governorate of the State of Palestine , after only East Jerusalem , which has been annexed by and is completely under the control of Israel, although this annexation

202-464: A Greek Orthodox church was built just west of the tomb. The entrance to the tomb today is via a flight of uneven rock-cut steps from the street. As it was described in 1896, there were twenty-four steps from the then-modern street level, leading to a square chamber serving as a place of prayer, from which more steps led to a lower chamber believed to be the tomb of Lazarus. The same description applies today. The oldest house in present-day al-Eizariya,

303-460: A filling station and were used in latrines at a Jordanian Army barracks. The United Nations did not condemn the Jordanian government for these actions. Following the 1967 Six-Day War restoration work was done and the cemetery was reopened for burials. Israel's 1980 unilateral annexation of East Jerusalem was condemned as a violation of international law and ruled null and void by

404-596: A slippery slope scenario in his style guide that, "if we do end by casting aside the AD/BC convention, almost certainly some will argue that we ought to cast aside as well the conventional numbering system [that is, the method of numbering years] itself, given its Christian basis." Some Christians are offended by the removal of the reference to Jesus, including the Southern Baptist Convention . The abbreviation BCE, just as with BC, always follows

505-541: A year zero . In 1422, Portugal became the last Western European country to switch to the system begun by Dionysius. The term "Common Era" is traced back in English to its appearance as " Vulgar Era" to distinguish years of the Anno Domini era, which was in popular use, from dates of the regnal year (the year of the reign of a sovereign) typically used in national law. (The word 'vulgar' originally meant 'of

606-775: A 2,000-year-old dwelling reputed to have been (or which at least serves as a reminder of) the House of Martha and Mary, is also a popular pilgrimage site. The house of Simon the Leper , which is known by locals as the Tower of Lazarus, is maintained by the Greek Orthodox Church . In 2014, a new mosque , the second largest in the wider-Jerusalem area, was opened, having been funded by the charitable foundation of named Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan , President of

707-416: A Greek Convent. In the 1945 statistics , the population was 1,060; 1,040 Muslims and 20 Christians, while the total land area was 11,179 dunams , according to an official land and population survey. Of this, 43 were allocated for plantations and irrigable land, 3,359 for cereals, while 102 dunams were classified as built-up (urban) areas. During the 1948 Arab–Israeli War , and through the years 1948–1967,

808-402: A Sheik Ahmed, was located to the south of the village. Around 1890, Khalil Aburish, whose ancestors had officially been designated "guardians of the holy resting place of Lazarus", began promoting al-Eizariya as a tourist or pilgrimage destination. In 1896 the population of El-'azarije was estimated to be about 315 persons. In the early 20th century, visitors counted 40 family dwellings in

909-446: A lack of town planning. Much of the agricultural land that produced figs, almonds, olives and carob has been confiscated or cut down by Israeli authorities, or has been absorbed into the expanding built-up area of Al-Eizariya. After the 1995 accords , 87.3% of Al-Eizariya land was classified as Area C and the remaining 12.7% as Area B . Israel has confiscated land from Al-Eizariya in order to build two Israeli settlements : Many of

1010-626: A matter of convenience. There is so much interaction between people of different faiths and cultures – different civilizations, if you like – that some shared way of reckoning time is a necessity. And so the Christian Era has become the Common Era. Adena K. Berkowitz, in her application to argue before the United States Supreme Court , opted to use BCE and CE because, "Given the multicultural society that we live in,

1111-715: A period of 138 years in which the traditional BC/AD dating notation was used. BCE/CE is used by the College Board in its history tests, and by the Norton Anthology of English Literature . Others have taken a different approach. The US-based History Channel uses BCE/CE notation in articles on non-Christian religious topics such as Jerusalem and Judaism . The 2006 style guide for the Episcopal Diocese Maryland Church News says that BCE and CE should be used. In June 2006, in

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1212-459: A poor village of some 20 families. It was also noted as a Muslim village, located in the el-Wadiyeh region, east of Jerusalem. In 1870, the French explorer Victor Guérin visited the village. Socin found that al-Eizariya had a population of 113, with a total of 36 houses, from an official Ottoman village list from about the same year. The population count included men only. Hartmann found that

1313-499: A special connection between Bethany and care for the poor. It has also been suggested, based on the names found carved on thousands of ossuaries at the site, that Bethany in the time of Jesus was settled by people from Galilee who had come to live by Jerusalem. This would explain why Jesus and the disciples, as Galileans, would find it convenient to stay here when visiting Jerusalem. As Capper writes, Galilean pilgrims avoided potential conflict with Samaritans by travelling south on

1414-467: A visitor in 1347 mentioned Greek Orthodox monks attending the tomb chapel. Yaqut al-Hamawi (d. 1229) described it as "A village near Jerusalem. There is here the tomb of Al Azar (Lazarus), whom Isa (Jesus) brought to life from being dead." In the 1480s, during the Mamluk period, Felix Fabri visited and described different places in the village, including a "house and storehouse" of Maria Magdalen ,

1515-564: A wordplay may have served the choice of the village as the location for an almshouse. The site is believed to have been continuously inhabited from the 6th century BCE. In 1923–1924, American archaeologist William F. Albright identified the village with Ananiah (or 'Ananyab); however, Edward Robinson and others have identified Ananiah with present-day Beit Hanina . According to the Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913, there have been scholars who questioned whether al-Eizariya

1616-661: Is Azal. This evidence accords with the LXX reading of Zechariah 14:5, which states that the valley will be blocked up as far as Azal. The valley he identified (which is now known as Wady Yasul in Arabic, and Nahal Etzel in Hebrew) lies south of both Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives. Many Jews have wanted to be buried on the Mount of Olives since antiquity, based on the Jewish tradition (from

1717-480: Is a direct reference to Jesus as Lord . Proponents of the Common Era notation assert that the use of BCE/CE shows sensitivity to those who use the same year numbering system as the one that originated with and is currently used by Christians , but who are not themselves Christian. Former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has argued: [T]he Christian calendar no longer belongs exclusively to Christians. People of all faiths have taken to using it simply as

1818-566: Is a mountain ridge in East Jerusalem , east of and adjacent to Jerusalem's Old City . It is named for the olive groves that once covered its slopes. The southern part of the mount was the Silwan necropolis , attributed to the elite of the ancient Kingdom of Judah . The western slopes of the mount, those facing Jerusalem, have been used as a Jewish cemetery for over 3,000 years and holds approximately 150,000 graves, making it central in

1919-458: Is a shortened version of Ananiah , a village of Bethel mentioned in the Book of Nehemiah (Nehemiah 11:32). Since Greek can neither reproduce an /h/ sound nor the harsh /ħ/ sound ( Hebrew Ḥet ) in the middle of a word, a derivation from the personal name Chananya ("Yah has been gracious") is also possible. Another suggestion, arising from the presence of nearby Bethphage ("house of unripe figs"),

2020-525: Is defined as domus adflictionis or "house of affliction". Brian J. Capper writes that this is a Latin derivation from the Hebrew beth 'ani , or more likely the Aramaic beth 'anya , both of which mean "house of the poor" or "house of affliction/poverty", also semantically speaking "poor-house". Capper concludes, from historical sources as well as this linguistic evidence, that Bethany may have been

2121-479: Is easily quarried , it is not a suitable strength for construction and features many man-made burial caves . From Biblical times until the present, Jews have been buried on the Mount of Olives. The necropolis on the southern ridge , the location of the modern village of Silwan , was the burial place of Jerusalem's most important citizens in the period of the Biblical kings . The religious ceremony marking

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2222-606: Is in a cave in the village. The identification of this [particular] cave as the tomb of Lazarus is merely possible; it has no strong intrinsic or extrinsic authority." The tomb has been identified as the tomb of the gospel account since at least the 4th century AD. Both the historian Eusebius of Caesarea ( c.  330 ) and the Itinerarium Burdigalense ( c.  333 ) mention the Tomb of Lazarus in this location. Several Christian churches have existed at

2323-485: Is in particularly common use in Nepal in order to disambiguate dates from the local calendar, Bikram or Vikram Sambat. Disambiguation is needed because the era of the local calendar is quite close to the Common Era. In 2002, an advisory panel for the religious education syllabus for England and Wales recommended introducing BCE/CE dates to schools, and by 2018 some local education authorities were using them. In 2018,

2424-468: Is not named (nor whether Jesus is even in the vicinity of Jerusalem). The Crusaders called al-Eizariya by its Biblical name Bethany. In 1138, Fulk, King of Jerusalem and Melisende, Queen of Jerusalem , purchased the village from the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem in exchange for land near Hebron . The queen founded a large Benedictine abbey dedicated to Mary of Bethany and Martha near

2525-527: Is recorded in the New Testament as a small village in Judaea , the home of the siblings Mary of Bethany , Martha , and Lazarus , as well as that of Simon the Leper . Jesus is reported to have lodged there after his entry into Jerusalem . The village is referenced in relation to six incidents: In Luke 10:38-42, a visit of Jesus to the home of Mary and Martha is described, but the village of Bethany

2626-418: Is that its name comes from Beit Hini , ( Imperial Aramaic : בית היני / ביתייני / ביתוני / בית וני / בית ואני / בית אוני / ביתיוני / בית הינו ), possibly meaning "house of figs", which location Talmudic texts place near Jerusalem. Some translations suggest it is Bethany. Deutsch's thesis, however, seems to also be attested to by Jerome . In his version of Eusebius ' Onomasticon , the meaning of Bethany

2727-479: Is the purported site of the miracle recorded in the Gospel of John in which Jesus raises Lazarus of Bethany from the dead. The site, sacred to both Christians and Muslims , has been identified as the tomb of the gospel account since at least the 3rd century CE. As the Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913 states, however, "It is quite certain that the present village formed about the traditional tomb of Lazarus, which

2828-461: Is unrecognized internationally. The name Al-Eizariya ( Arabic : العيزرية ) means place of Lazarus . In 1840, in his Biblical Researches in Palestine , Edward Robinson wrote: "The Arab name of the village is el-'Aziriyeh, from el-'Azir, the Arabic form of Lazarus. The name "Bethany" is unknown among the native inhabitants. Yet, there is no reason to question the identity of the place" with

2929-547: The British Museum , who suggests a non-Hebrew root, a word transcribed in Syriac script whose meaning he gives as "House of Misery" or "Poor-house". This theory as to Bethany's etymology, which was eventually also adopted by Gustaf Dalman in 1905, is not without challengers. For example, E. Nestle's Philologica Sacra (1896) suggests that Bethany is derived from the personal name Anaiah , while others have suggested it

3030-655: The Gregorian calendar without the AD prefix. As early as 1825, the abbreviation VE (for Vulgar Era) was in use among Jews to denote years in the Western calendar. As of 2005 , Common Era notation has also been in use for Hebrew lessons for more than a century. Jews have also used the term Current Era . Some academics in the fields of theology , education , archaeology and history have adopted CE and BCE notation despite some disagreement. A study conducted in 2014 found that

3131-575: The Incarnation of Jesus. Dionysius labeled the column of the table in which he introduced the new era as " Anni Domini Nostri Jesu Christi " (Of the year of our Lord Jesus Christ]. This way of numbering years became more widespread in Europe with its use by Bede in England in 731. Bede also introduced the practice of dating years before what he supposed was the year of birth of Jesus, without

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3232-467: The King's Gardens was blocked up by landslide rubble during Uzziah's earthquake. Israeli geologists Wachs and Levitte identified the remnant of a large landslide on the Mount of Olives directly adjacent to this area. Based on geographic and linguistic evidence, Charles Simon Clermont-Ganneau , a 19th-century linguist and archeologist in Palestine, theorized that the valley directly adjacent to this landslide

3333-572: The Masoretic Text , people will flee through this newly formed valley to a place called Azal (Zechariah 14:5). The Septuagint (LXX) has a different reading of Zechariah 14:5 stating that a valley will be blocked up as it was blocked up during the earthquake during King Uzziah 's reign. Jewish historian Flavius Josephus mentions in Antiquities of the Jews that the valley in the area of

3434-723: The National Trust said it would continue to use BC/AD as its house style. English Heritage explains its era policy thus: "It might seem strange to use a Christian calendar system when referring to British prehistory, but the BC/AD labels are widely used and understood." Some parts of the BBC use BCE/CE, but some presenters have said they will not. As of October 2019, the BBC News style guide has entries for AD and BC, but not for CE or BCE. The style guide for The Guardian says, under

3535-586: The Olivet Discourse , returning after each day to rest ( Luke 21:37, and John 8:1 in the additional section of John's Gospel known as the Pericope Adulterae ), and also coming there on the night of his betrayal. At the foot of the Mount of Olives lies the Garden of Gethsemane . The New Testament tells how Jesus and his disciples sang together – "When they had sung the hymn, they went out to

3636-557: The Ottomans built the larger al-Uzair Mosque to serve the town's (now Muslim) inhabitants and named it in honor of the town's patron saint, Lazarus of Bethany. Since the 16th century, the site of the tomb has been occupied by the al-Uzair Mosque. The adjacent Roman Catholic Church of Saint Lazarus, built between 1952 and 1955 under the auspices of the Franciscan Order , stands upon the site of several much older ones. In 1965,

3737-486: The Temple Scroll from Qumran , three places for the care of the sick, including one for lepers, are to be east of Jerusalem. The passage also defines a (minimum) radius of three thousand cubits (circa 1,800 yards) around the city within which nothing unclean shall be seen (XLVI:13–18). Since Bethany was, according to John, fifteen stadia (about 1.72 miles) from the holy city, care for the sick there corresponded with

3838-536: The United Arab Emirates . Capper and others have concluded that ancient Bethany was the site of an almshouse for the poor and a place of care for the sick. There is a hint of association between Bethany and care for the unwell in the Gospels: Mark tells of Simon the Leper 's house there (Mark 14:3–10); Jesus receives urgent word of Lazarus' illness from Bethany (John 11:1–12:11). According to

3939-614: The date of birth of Jesus . Since the year numbers are the same, BCE and CE dates should be equally offensive to other religions as BC and AD. Roman Catholic priest and writer on interfaith issues Raimon Panikkar argued that the BCE/CE usage is the less inclusive option since they are still using the Christian calendar numbers and forcing it on other nations. In 1993, the English-language expert Kenneth G. Wilson speculated

4040-583: The start of a new month was held on the Mount of Olives during the Second Temple period . During the time of the Roman procurator Antonius Felix (52–60 CE), a Jewish prophetic figure known as " the Egyptian " gathered his followers atop the Mount of Olives in preparation for an invasion of the city or in the belief that he would cause the walls of Jerusalem to fall, allowing them to enter (depending on

4141-459: The Ananiah (as a personal name) and "house of the poor" derivations, since the shortening of Ananiah ("Yah has intervened") to Anya is conceivable though unattested (cf. the common shortening of Yochanan [and perhaps also Chananyah?] to Choni), whence a typical Semitic wordplay might arise between Anya as a shortening of the personal name within the name of the village and as Aramaic for "poor". Such

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4242-1050: The Ascension and its massive 50-metre (160 ft) bell tower , the Russian Orthodox Church of the Ascension with its tall and slender bell tower, the Mosque or Chapel of the Ascension , the Church of the Pater Noster , and the Seven Arches Hotel . On the western slope are the historic Jewish cemetery , the Tomb of the Prophets , the Catholic Church of Dominus Flevit , and the Russian Orthodox Church of Mary Magdalene . At

4343-596: The BCE/CE notation is not growing at the expense of BC and AD notation in the scholarly literature, and that both notations are used in a relatively stable fashion. In 2011, media reports suggested that the BC/AD notation in Australian school textbooks would be replaced by BCE/CE notation. The change drew opposition from some politicians and church leaders. Weeks after the story broke, the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority denied

4444-483: The Biblical Bethany. The root meaning and origin of the name Bethany has been the subject of much scholarship and debate. William Hepworth Dixon devotes a multi-page footnote to it in his The Holy Land (1866), largely devoted to debunking the meaning "house of dates", which is attributed to Joseph Barber Lightfoot by way of a series of careless interpretative mistakes. Dixon quotes Emanuel Deutsch of

4545-471: The Biblical verse Zechariah 14:4) that when the Messiah comes, the resurrection of the dead will begin there. There are an estimated 150,000 graves on the Mount. Notable rabbis buried on the mount include Chaim ibn Attar and others from the 15th century to the present day. Tradition wrongly identifies Roman-period tombs at the foot of the mount as those of Zechariah and Absalom , and a burial complex of

4646-579: The Christian Era, it was sometimes qualified, e.g., "common era of the Incarnation", "common era of the Nativity", or "common era of the birth of Christ". An adapted translation of Common Era into Latin as Era Vulgaris was adopted in the 20th century by some followers of Aleister Crowley , and thus the abbreviation "e.v." or "EV" may sometimes be seen as a replacement for AD. Although Jews have their own Hebrew calendar , they often use

4747-677: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) near the Tzurim Valley which separates the Mount of Olives from Mount Scopus, initially sparked controversy because of concerns that the Mormons would engage in missionary activities. After the Mormons pledged not to proselytize in Israel, work on the building was allowed to proceed. Common Era Common Era ( CE ) and Before

4848-461: The Common Era ( BCE ) are year notations for the Gregorian calendar (and its predecessor, the Julian calendar ), the world's most widely used calendar era . Common Era and Before the Common Era are alternatives to the original Anno Domini (AD) and Before Christ (BC) notations used for the same calendar era. The two notation systems are numerically equivalent: "2024 CE" and "AD 2024" each describe

4949-523: The Great (36–4 BC), whose favour towards the Essenes was noted by Josephus ( Antiquities 15.10.5 [373–78]). Reta Halteman Finger approves Capper's judgment that only in the context of an almshouse at Bethany, where the poor were received and assisted, could Jesus remark that "The poor you will always have with you" (Mark 14:7; Matthew 26:11) without sounding callous. Ling follows Capper's thesis concerning

5050-495: The Gregorian Calendar as BCE and CE without compromising their own beliefs about the divinity of Jesus of Nazareth." In History Today , Michael Ostling wrote: "BC/AD Dating: In the year of whose Lord? The continuing use of AD and BC is not only factually wrong but also offensive to many who are not Christians." Critics note the fact that there is no difference in the epoch of the two systems—chosen to be close to

5151-571: The Lord went up from the midst of the city, and stood upon the mountain which is on the east side of the city." The biblical designation Mount of Corruption, or in Hebrew Har HaMashchit ( I Kings 11:7–8), derives from the idol worship there, begun by King Solomon building altars to the gods of his Moabite and Ammonite wives on the southern peak, "on the mountain which is before (east of) Jerusalem" ( 1 Kings 11:7 ), just outside

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5252-502: The Mount of Olives because it was 80 meters higher than the Temple Mount and offered a panoramic view of the Temple site. It became a traditional place for lamenting the Temple's destruction, especially on Tisha B'Av . In 1481, an Italian Jewish pilgrim, Meshullam of Volterra , wrote: "And all the community of Jews, every year, goes up to Mount Zion on the day of Tisha B'Av to fast and mourn, and from there they move down along Yoshafat Valley and up to Mount of Olives. From there they see

5353-405: The Mount of Olives near the graves of Etzel members Meir Feinstein and Moshe Barazani , rather than Mount Herzl national cemetery. The armistice agreement signed by Israel and Jordan following the 1948 Arab–Israeli War called for the establishment of a Special Committee to negotiate developments including "free access to the holy sites and cultural institutions and use of the cemetery on

5454-402: The Mount of Olives" Gospel of Matthew 26:30. Jesus ascended to heaven from the Mount of Olives according to Acts 1:9–12. Again, the story of Jesus with his disciples on the Mount of Olives can be found in the Gnostic text Pistis Sophia , dated around the 3rd to 4th century CE. Landmarks at the top of the Mount of Olives include the Augusta Victoria Hospital with the Lutheran Church of

5555-403: The Mount of Olives". However, during the 19 years the Jordanian annexation of the West Bank lasted, the committee was not formed. Non-Israeli Christian pilgrims were allowed to visit the mount, but Jews of all countries and most non-Jewish Israeli citizens were barred from entering Jordan and therefore were unable to travel to the area. By the end of 1949, and throughout the Jordanian rule of

5656-427: The New Testament. Given this, and Jerome's familiarity with Semitic philology and the immediate region, Capper concludes that the "house of affliction"/"poor-house" meaning as documented by Jerome and in the Syriac New Testament usage is correct, and that this meaning relates to the use of the village as a centre for caring for the sick and aiding the destitute and pilgrims to Jerusalem. It may be possible to combine

5757-440: The Palestinian Arab village of al-Eizariya , identified with the ancient village of Bethany mentioned in the New Testament ; a short distance from the village centre, towards the top of the mount, is the traditional site of Bethphage , marked by a Franciscan church. The construction of the Brigham Young University Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies , better known locally as the Mormon University, owned and operated by

5858-402: The Temple. From this it is possible to deduce that the mention of Simon the Leper at Bethany in Mark's Gospel suggests that the Essenes , or pious patrons from Jerusalem who held to a closely similar view of ideal arrangements, settled lepers at Bethany. Such influence on the planning of Jerusalem and its environs (and even its Temple) may have been possible especially during the reign of Herod

5959-436: The Tomb of Lazarus. Melisende's sister Ioveta , thenceforward "of Bethany," was one of the first abbesses . Melisende died there in 1163; her stepdaughter, Sibylla of Anjou , also died there in 1165. Melisende's granddaughter Sibylla , also later Queen of Jerusalem, was raised in the abbey. After the fall of Jerusalem in 1187, the nuns of the convent went into exile. The village seems to have been abandoned thereafter, though

6060-498: The UN Security Council in UNSC Resolution 478 . Tombs in the Mount of Olives Jewish Cemetery have been prone to vandalism, among them the tombs of the Gerrer Rebbe and Menachem Begin . On 6 November 2010, an international watch-committee was set up by Diaspora Jews with the aim of reversing the desecration of the Jewish cemetery. According to one of the founders, the initiative was triggered by witnessing tombstones that were wrecked with "the kind of maliciousness that defies

6161-428: The United States, the Kentucky State School Board reversed its decision to use BCE and CE in the state's new Program of Studies, leaving education of students about these concepts a matter of local discretion. The use of CE in Jewish scholarship was historically motivated by the desire to avoid the implicit "Our Lord" in the abbreviation AD . Although other aspects of dating systems are based in Christian origins, AD

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6262-468: The connection between then place-name Bethany and the location there of an almshouse. Capper and Ling note that it is only in Bethany we find mention of the poor on the lips of the disciples, who object that the expensive perfumed oil poured over Jesus there might have been sold and the proceeds given to the poor (Mark 14:5; Matthew 26:8–9; John 12:4–6 [where the objection is made by Judas]); this objection may have been made in embarrassment and may also suggest

6363-437: The current year; "400 BCE" and "400 BC" are the same year. The expression can be traced back to 1615, when it first appears in a book by Johannes Kepler as the Latin : annus aerae nostrae vulgaris ( year of our common era ), and to 1635 in English as " Vulgar Era". The term "Common Era" can be found in English as early as 1708, and became more widely used in the mid-19th century by Jewish religious scholars. Since

6464-409: The early 20th century. The phrase "common era", in lower case , also appeared in the 19th century in a "generic" sense, not necessarily to refer to the Christian Era, but to any system of dates in common use throughout a civilization. Thus, "the common era of the Jews", "the common era of the Mahometans", "common era of the world", "the common era of the foundation of Rome". When it did refer to

6565-401: The east of Lazarus's tomb, the earliest dated to the 4th or 5th century. Rock-cut tombs and the remains of houses, wine-presses, cisterns and silos were also unearthed. Pottery finds were dated to the Persian and Hellenistic periods. There are ongoing excavations at a site just beyond the House of Martha and Mary. The Tomb of Lazarus in Bethany is a traditional pilgrimage destination. The tomb

6666-431: The eastern side of the Jordan . Bethany was the last station on their route to Jerusalem after crossing the river and taking the road through Jericho up into the highlands. A respectful distance from the city and Temple, and on the pilgrim route, Bethany was a most suitable location for a charitable institution. It is not surprising that an Essene hospice had been established at Bethany to intercept and care for pilgrims at

6767-595: The end of the long and potentially arduous journey from Galilee. The house combined this work with care for the sick and destitute of the Jerusalem area. Thus Bethany received its name because it was the Essene poorhouse par excellence, the poorhouse which alleviated poverty closest to the holy city. Mount of Olives The Mount of Olives or Mount Olivet ( Hebrew : הַר הַזֵּיתִים , romanized :  Har ha-Zeitim ; Arabic : جبل الزيتون , romanized :  Jabal az-Zaytūn ; both lit. 'Mount of Olives'; in Arabic also الطور , Aṭ-Ṭūr , 'the Mountain')

6868-428: The entry for CE/BCE: "some people prefer CE (common era, current era, or Christian era) and BCE (before common era, etc.) to AD and BC, which, however, remain our style". In the United States, the use of the BCE/CE notation in textbooks was reported in 2005 to be growing. Some publications have transitioned to using it exclusively. For example, the 2007 World Almanac was the first edition to switch to BCE/CE, ending

6969-405: The existing structure and lands were purchased by King Fulk and Queen Melisende of Jerusalem and a large Benedictine convent dedicated to Mary and Martha was built near the tomb of Lazarus. After the fall of Jerusalem in 1187, the convent was deserted and fell into ruin with only the tomb and barrel vaulting surviving. By 1384, a simple mosque had been built on the site. In the 16th century,

7070-453: The first of which was but eight days", and also refers to the common era as a synonym for vulgar era with "the fact that our Lord was born on the 4th year before the vulgar era, called Anno Domini, thus making (for example) the 42d year from his birth to correspond with the 38th of the common era". The Catholic Encyclopedia (1909) in at least one article reports all three terms (Christian, Vulgar, Common Era) being commonly understood by

7171-408: The foot of the mount, where it meets the Kidron Valley , there is the Garden of Gethsemane with the Church of All Nations . Within the Kidron Valley itself are the Tomb of the Virgin Mary , the Grotto of Gethsemane, and the nearby tomb of the medieval historian Mujir ed-Din , and further south are the tombs of Absalom (Hebrew name: Yad Avshalom), the Hezir priestly family and of Zechariah . At

7272-586: The house of Martha , the church of the sepulchre of Lazarus, and the house of Simon the Leper . He described the village as being "well-peopled", with the inhabitants being saracen . In 1517, the village was included in the Ottoman Empire with the rest of Palestine , and in the 1596 tax-records it appeared as ' Ayzariyya , located in the Nahiya of Jabal Quds of the Liwa of Al-Quds . The population

7373-449: The imagination." The Mount of Olives is first mentioned in connection with David 's flight from Absalom ( II Samuel 15:30): "And David went up by the ascent of the Mount of Olives, and wept as he went up." The ascent was probably east of the City of David , near the village of Silwan . The sacred character of the mount is alluded to in the Book of Ezekiel (11:23): "And the glory of

7474-428: The late 20th century, BCE and CE have become popular in academic and scientific publications on the grounds that BCE and CE are religiously neutral terms. They have been promoted as more sensitive to non-Christians by not referring to Jesus , the central figure of Christianity , especially via the religious terms " Christ " and Dominus ("Lord") used by the other abbreviations. Nevertheless, its epoch remains

7575-542: The limits of the holy city. This site was known for idol worship throughout the First Temple period, until king of Judah, Josiah , finally destroyed "the high places that were before Jerusalem, to the right of Har HaMashchit..."( II Kings 23:13) An apocalyptic prophecy in the Book of Zechariah states that YHWH will stand on the Mount of Olives and the mountain will split in two, with one half shifting north and one half shifting south ( Zechariah 14:4 ). According to

7676-688: The mount has been a site of Christian worship since ancient times and is today a major site of pilgrimage for Catholics , the Eastern Orthodox , and Protestants . The Mount of Olives is one of three peaks of a mountain ridge which runs for 3.5 kilometres (2.2 miles) just east of the Old City across the Kidron Valley , in this area called the Valley of Josaphat . The peak to its north is Mount Scopus , at 826 metres (2,710 feet), while

7777-754: The northern margin of Mount Olivet stand the Mormon University with the Orson Hyde Memorial Garden and the Jewish settlement of Beit Orot , bordering on the Tzurim Valley and the Mitzpe Hamasu'ot ('Beacons Lookout') site, where the Temple Mount Sifting Project facilities are located. What lays north of here belongs to Mount Scopus. On the south-eastern slope of the Mount of Olives lies

7878-544: The ordinary people', with no derogatory associations. ) The first use of the Latin term anno aerae nostrae vulgaris may be that in a 1615 book by Johannes Kepler . Kepler uses it again, as ab Anno vulgaris aerae , in a 1616 table of ephemerides , and again, as ab anno vulgaris aerae , in 1617. A 1635 English edition of that book has the title page in English that may be the earliest-found use of Vulgar Era in English. A 1701 book edited by John Le Clerc includes

7979-781: The original inhabitants now live in Jordan , the United States , and the Arab states of the Persian Gulf . Real estate speculation and the opening of many bank branches briefly accompanied expectations that the Palestinian Authority would set up its seat of government in East Jerusalem . In 2000, about a quarter of the population, then 16,000, held Israeli ID cards. In 2004, the Israeli West Bank barrier

8080-528: The peak to its south is the Mount of Corruption, at 747 m (2,451 ft). The highest point on the Mount of Olives is At-Tur, at 818 m (2,684 ft). The ridge acts as a watershed , and its eastern side is the beginning of the Judean Desert . The ridge is formed of oceanic sedimentary rock from the Late Cretaceous and contains a soft chalk and a hard flint . While the chalk

8181-496: The phrase "Before Christ according to the Vulgar Æra,   6". The Merriam Webster Dictionary gives 1716 as the date of first use of the term "vulgar era" (which it defines as Christian era). The first published use of "Christian Era" may be the Latin phrase annus aerae christianae on the title page of a 1584 theology book, De Eucharistica controuersia . In 1649, the Latin phrase annus æræ Christianæ appeared in

8282-553: The phrase "before the common era" may be that in a 1770 work that also uses common era and vulgar era as synonyms, in a translation of a book originally written in German. The 1797 edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica uses the terms vulgar era and common era synonymously. In 1835, in his book Living Oracles , Alexander Campbell , wrote: "The vulgar Era, or Anno Domini; the fourth year of Jesus Christ,

8383-523: The requirements of the Temple Scroll (the stadion being ideally 600 feet (180 m) or 400 cubits). Whereas Bethphage is probably to be identified with At-Tur , on the peak of the Mount of Olives with a magnificent view of Jerusalem, Bethany lay below to the southeast, out of view of the Temple Mount , which may have made its location suitable as a place for care of the sick, "out of view" of

8484-595: The rumours and stated that the BC/AD notation would remain, with CE and BCE as an optional suggested learning activity. In 2013, the Canadian Museum of Civilization (now the Canadian Museum of History) in Gatineau (opposite Ottawa ), which had previously switched to BCE/CE, decided to change back to BC/AD in material intended for the public while retaining BCE/CE in academic content. The notation

8585-475: The same as that used for the Anno Domini era. The idea of numbering years beginning from the date that he believed to be the date of birth of Jesus , was conceived around the year 525 by the Christian monk Dionysius Exiguus . He did this to replace the then dominant Era of Martyrs system, because he did not wish to continue the memory of a tyrant who persecuted Christians. He numbered years from an initial reference date (" epoch "), an event he referred to as

8686-565: The same period on the upper slope as the Tomb of the Prophets Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi . The Mount of Olives is frequently mentioned in the New Testament as part of the route from Jerusalem to Bethany and the place where Jesus stood when he wept over Jerusalem (an event known as Flevit super illam in Latin ). Jesus is said to have spent time on the mount, teaching and prophesying to his disciples (Matthew 24–25), including

8787-664: The site of an almshouse. According to Capper and Deutsch before him, there are also linguistic difficulties that arise when the Anaiah/Ananiah, "house of figs" or "house of dates" theses are compared against the bethania form used in Greek versions of the New Testament. Additionally, the Aramaic beit 'anya ( ܒܝܬ ܥܢܝܐ ) is the form used for Bethany in Christian Palestinian and Syriac versions of

8888-515: The site over the centuries. The first mention of a church is in the late 4th century, although Eusebius of Caesarea and the Bordeaux pilgrim mention the tomb. In 390, Jerome writes of a church dedicated to Saint Lazarus called the Lazarium . This is repeated by the pilgrim Egeria around 384. The present-day gardens contain the remnants of a mosaic floor from the 4th-century church. In 1143,

8989-491: The site was controlled by Jordan . In 1961, the population of the area was 3,308. Since the Six-Day War in 1967, Bethany has been occupied by Israel , and lands to the east of the village were declared a closed military zone, cutting farmers off from the lentils and wheat crops they cultivated on the hilltops where Maaleh Adumim was later established. Today, the town is overcrowded due to rapid population growth and

9090-475: The site, some Arab residents uprooted tombstones and plowed the land in the cemeteries, and an estimated 38,000 tombstones were damaged in total. During this period, a road was paved through the cemetery, in the process destroying graves including those of famous persons. In 1964, the Intercontinental Hotel was built at the summit of the mount. Graves were also demolished for parking lots and

9191-417: The southeastern slope of the Mount of Olives, not far from the accepted site of Bethphage, and near that of the Ascension. It is quite certain that the present village formed about the traditional tomb of Lazarus, which is in a cave in the village... The site of the ancient village may not precisely coincide with the present one, but there is every reason to believe that it was in this general location." Bethany

9292-417: The title of an English almanac. A 1652 ephemeris may be the first instance found so far of the English use of "Christian Era". The English phrase "Common Era" appears at least as early as 1708, and in a 1715 book on astronomy it is used interchangeably with "Christian Era" and "Vulgar Era". A 1759 history book uses common æra in a generic sense, to refer to "the common era of the Jews". The first use of

9393-642: The tradition of Jewish cemeteries . Atop the hill lies the Palestinian neighbourhood of At-Tur , a former village that is now part of East Jerusalem . Several key events in the life of Jesus , as related in the Gospels , took place on the Mount of Olives, and in the Acts of the Apostles it is described as the place from which Jesus ascended to heaven . Because of its association with both Jesus and Mary ,

9494-497: The traditional Jewish designations – B.C.E. and C.E. – cast a wider net of inclusion." In the World History Encyclopedia , Joshua J. Mark wrote "Non-Christian scholars, especially, embraced [CE and BCE] because they could now communicate more easily with the Christian community. Jewish, Islamic, Hindu and Buddhist scholars could retain their [own] calendar but refer to events using

9595-524: The version). This group was crushed by the Romans. While "the Egyptian" managed to flee, many of his followers were killed or taken captive, and the remainder escaped. Roman soldiers from the 10th Legion camped on the mount during the Siege of Jerusalem in the year 70 AD. After the destruction of the Second Temple , Jews celebrated the festival of Sukkot on the Mount of Olives. They made pilgrimages to

9696-476: The village had 35 houses. In 1883, the PEF 's Survey of Western Palestine described the village (named El Aziriyeh ), as being on the side of a hill, with a ravine running down on the east side of it. The houses were built of stone. The village was dominated by the remains of a Crusader building. A mosque with a white dome was built over what was traditionally the tomb of Lazaruz. A second small mosque, dedicated to

9797-530: The village. In 1917, it had about 400 residents. In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities , the village had a population of 506 Muslims and 9 Christians, where 2 of the Christians were Orthodox, and 7 Roman Catholics. In the 1931 census of Palestine this had increased to 726 persons, 715 Muslims and 11 Christians, in 152 houses. The number included members of

9898-522: The whole Temple (the Temple Mount) and there they weep and lament the destruction of this House." In 1189, in the wake of the 1187 Battle of Hattin and reconquest of the land by Saladin , the sultan gave the Mount to two of his commanders. In the mid-1850s, the villagers of Silwan were paid £100 annually by the Jews in an effort to prevent the desecration of graves on the mount. Prime Minister of Israel Menachem Begin asked to be buried on

9999-550: Was 67 households, all Muslim. They paid taxes on wheat, barley, vineyards and fruit trees, occasional revenues, goats and beehives; a total of 14,000 Akçe . The Ottomans built the al-Uzair Mosque and named it in honor of Lazarus, who is revered by both Christians and Muslims . For 100 years after it was constructed, Christians were invited to worship in it, but the practice was frowned upon by European church authorities who preferred that adherents of both faiths remain separate. In 1838, Edward Robinson visited, and described it as

10100-519: Was built across Bethany's main road, curtailing the commerce in the strip of shops along the road, which drew both Arab and Jewish customers. Archaeological excavations between 1949 and 1953, directed by Father Sylvester J. Saller for the Franciscans of the Holy Land , revealed details of the previous Christian places of worship erected near the tomb. Four superimposed churches were discovered to

10201-430: Was the actual site of the ancient village of Bethany: Some believe that the present village of Bethany does not occupy the site of the ancient village; but that it grew up around the traditional cave which they suppose to have been at some distance from the house of Martha and Mary in the village; [Domenico] Zanecchia (La Palestine d'aujourd'hui, 1899, I, 445f.) places the site of the ancient village of Bethany higher up on

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