Bethlehem in the context of "Virgin Mary"

The Kartvelian languages (/kɑːrtˈvɛliən, -ˈviːl-/ kart-VEL-ee-ən, -⁠VEEL-; Georgian: ქართველური ენები, romanized: kartveluri enebi), also known as South Caucasian or Kartvelic languages, are a language family indigenous to the South Caucasus and spoken primarily in Georgia. There are approximately 5 million Georgian language speakers worldwide, with large groups in Russia, Iran, the United States, the European Union, Israel, and Turkey. The Kartvelian family has no known relation to any other language family, making it one of the world's primary language families.

The most widely spoken of these languages is Georgian. The earliest literary source in any Kartvelian language is the Old Georgian Bir el Qutt inscriptions, written in ancient Georgian Asomtavruli script at the once-existing Georgian monastery near Bethlehem, dated to c. 430 AD. Georgian scripts are used to write all Kartvelian languages.

The United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine was a proposal by the United Nations to partition Mandatory Palestine at the end of the British Mandate. Drafted by the UN Special Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP) on 3 September 1947, the Plan was adopted by the UN General Assembly on 29 November 1947 as Resolution 181 (II). The resolution recommended the creation of independent but economically linked Arab and Jewish States and an extraterritorial "Special International Regime" for the city of Jerusalem and its surroundings.

The Partition Plan, a four-part document attached to the resolution, provided for the termination of the Mandate; the gradual withdrawal of British armed forces by no later than 1 August 1948; and the delineation of boundaries between the two States and Jerusalem at least two months after the withdrawal, but no later than 1 October 1948. The Arab state was to have a territory of 11,592 square kilometres, or 42.88 percent of the Mandate's territory, and the Jewish state a territory of 15,264 square kilometres, or 56.47 percent; the remaining 0.65 percent or 176 square kilometres—comprising Jerusalem, Bethlehem and the adjoining area—would become an international zone. The Plan also called for an economic union between the proposed states and for the protection of religious and minority rights.

Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A liturgical feast central to Christianity, Christmas preparation begins on the First Sunday of Advent and it is followed by Christmastide, which historically in the West lasts twelve days and culminates on Twelfth Night. Christmas Day is a public holiday in many countries, is observed religiously by a majority of Christians, as well as celebrated culturally by many non-Christians, and forms an integral part of the annual holiday season.

The traditional Christmas narrative recounted in the New Testament, known as the Nativity of Jesus, says that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, in accordance with messianic prophecies. When Joseph and Mary arrived in the city, the inn had no room, and so they were offered a stable where the Christ Child was soon born, with angels proclaiming this news to shepherds, who then spread the word.

The Nativity or birth of Jesus Christ is found in the biblical gospels of Matthew and Luke. The two accounts agree that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, modern day Palestine, in Roman-controlled Judea, that his mother, Mary, was engaged to a man named Joseph, who was descended from King David and was not his biological father, and that his birth was caused by divine intervention. The majority of contemporary scholars do not see the two canonical gospel Nativity stories as historically factual since they present clashing accounts and irreconcilable genealogies. The secular history of the time does not synchronize with the narratives of the birth and early childhood of Jesus in the two gospels. Some view the question of historicity as secondary, given that gospels were primarily written as theological documents rather than chronological timelines.

The Nativity is the basis for the Christian holiday of Christmas and plays a major role in the Christian liturgical year. Many Christians traditionally display small manger scenes depicting the Nativity within or outside of their homes, or attend Nativity plays or Christmas pageants focusing on the Nativity cycle in the Bible. Elaborate Nativity displays featuring life-sized statues are a tradition in many continental European countries during the Christmas season.

Religious pluralism is an attitude or policy regarding the diversity of religious belief systems co-existing in society. It can indicate one or more of the following:

• Recognizing and tolerating the religious diversity of a society or country, promoting freedom of religion, and defining secularism as neutrality (of the state or non-sectarian institution) on issues of religion as opposed to opposition of religion in the public forum or public square that is open to public expression, and promoting friendly separation of religion and state as opposed to hostile separation or antitheism espoused by other forms of secularism.
• Any of several forms of religious inclusivism. One such worldview holds that one's own religion is not the sole and exclusive source of truth, and thus acknowledges that at least some truths and true values exist in other religions. Another concept is that two or more religions with mutually exclusive truth claims are equally valid; this may be considered a form of either toleration (a concept that arose as a result of the European wars of religion) or moral relativism.
• Perennialism (based on the concept of philosophia perennis) is the understanding that the exclusive claims of different religions turn out, upon closer examination, to be variations of universal truths that have been taught since time immemorial. While some perennialists are universalists who accept religious syncretism, those of the Traditionalist School reject it, and uphold the importance of the historical, "orthodox" faiths.
• Sometimes as a synonym for ecumenism, i.e., the promotion of some level of unity, co-operation, and improved understanding between different religions or different denominations within a single religion.
• As a term for the condition of harmonious co-existence between adherents of different religions or religious denominations.

The Bir el Qutt inscriptions (Georgian: ბირ ელ ქუტის წარწერები, romanized: bir el kut'is ts'arts'erebi) are four Old Georgian Byzantine mosaic inscriptions in the Asomtavruli script. They were excavated at a Saint Theodore Tiron Georgian Orthodox monastery in 1952 by Italian archaeologist Virgilio Canio Corbo near Bir el Qutt, in the Judaean Desert, 6 km (3.7 mi) south-east of Jerusalem and 2 km (1.2 mi) north of Bethlehem.

The complex was built of reddish limestone. The excavations has also revealed a monastery which produced wine and olive oil. Georgian inscriptions were found on a mosaic floor decorated with geometrical and floral patterns. The first two inscriptions are dated AD 430, while the last two AD 532. The excavations of Bir el Qutt conditioned discovery of inscriptions where only one has survived completely while others lack parts of the mosaic that suffered significant damage. The inscriptions in memoriam mention Peter the Iberian alongside his father, and also Bacurius the Iberian who is thought to be a possible maternal great-uncle or grandfather of Peter. Peter reputedly was the founder or the renovator of the monastery. Peter's aristocratic descent would allow him easy access to various persons of power and prestige in Constantinople, Jerusalem and other places, to actively develop Georgian monastic establishments. At the end of the eighth century the monastery was completely abandoned.

The sack of Rome on 24 August 410 AD was undertaken by the Visigoths led by their king, Alaric. At that time, Rome was no longer the administrative capital of the Western Roman Empire, having been replaced first by Mediolanum (now Milan) in 286 and then by Ravenna in 402. Nevertheless, the city of Rome retained a paramount position as "the eternal city" and a spiritual center of the Empire. This was the first time in almost 800 years that Rome had fallen to a foreign enemy, and the sack was a major shock to contemporaries, friends and foes of the Empire alike.

The sacking of 410 is seen as a major landmark in the fall of the Western Roman Empire. St. Jerome, living in Bethlehem, wrote: "the city which had taken the whole world was itself taken".