Bethlehem

he earliest reference to Bethlehem appears in the Amarna correspondence (c. 1400 BCE). In one of his six letters to Pharaoh, Abdi-Heba, Egypt’s governor for Jerusalem, appeals for aid in retaking “Bit-Lahmi” in the wake of disturbances by Apiru mercenaries. employed by his rivals: “Let it be known what Milkilu and Shuwardata did to the land of the king, my lord! They sent troops of Gezer, troops of Gath,” Abdi-Heba wrote, “now even a town near Jerusalem, Bit-Lahmi by name, a village which once belonged to the king, has fallen to the enemy . . . Let the king hear the words of your servant Abdi-Heba, and send archers to restore the imperial lands of the king!”

It is thought that the similarity of this name to its modern forms indicates that this was a settlement of Canaanites who shared a Semitic cultural and linguistic heritage with the later arrivals. Lachmo was the Chaldean god of fertility, Worshipped by the Canaanites as Lachama. Some time in the 3rd millennium BCE, they erected a temple to worship the god on the hill now known as the Hill of the Nativity. The town was known as Beit Lachama, meaning “House of Lachama.” ThePhilistines later established a garrison there. William F. Albright notes that the pronunciation of the name remained essentially the same for 3,500 years, but has meant different things: “‘Temple of the God Lakhmu’ in Canaanite, ‘House of Bread’ in Hebrew and Aramaic, ‘House of Meat’ in Arabic.