During the Canaanites period 2000 BC. a shrine was they built called the sanctuary of Beitlli Lahama (House of Fertility). Bethlehem has several names; a) Ephrata, b) House of Bread (in Hebrew), and c) House of Meat (in Arabic).

During the Philistines David was at the outskirts of Bethlehem where three of his men broke through the camps of Philistine to bring water to David.

During the Byzantine & Roman Rule, Bethlehem was in the district of Jerusalem when Jesus Christ was born. King Herod who built the Fortress of Heroduim (Foureidis) and was informed by the three Maji that they had come from Persia to adore the newly king born King of Israel in Bethlehem.

Helena Emperor Costantine’s mother began to construct the church above the cave. When the Persians invaded the land they spared the Nativity Church from destruction because of the three Magi pictured on the Western Facade.

Calipha Omar Bin-ELkhatab prayed in the Nativity Church and later the Mosque of Omar was built opposite the Church of the Nativity.

During the Crusaders period King Baldwin “I” was crowned King of Jerusalem in the Nativity Church in 1099. Later Bethlehem surrendered to Sultan Saladin in 1187.

During the Egyptian Mamluks in 1247 the walls of Bethlehem were demolished.

In 1517 Palestine fell under the Ottoman Rule.

In 1831-40 Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt ruled Palestine and destroyed the Fawaghra quarter when they revolted against him.

In 1852 the Star of the Nativity was stolen and this was one of the factors which led to the Crimean war (1853-1857).

After World War “I” Palestine fell under the British mandate, followed in 1949 by the Jordanian Rule and in 1967 by the Israeli Occupation. In 1995 Bethlehem was liberated by the Palestinian Authority.