1910, Bethlehem, Palestine 🇵🇸 The Greek Orthodox monastery of Mar Saba overlooking the Kidron Valley ☦️

1910, Bethlehem, Palestine  The Greek Orthodox monastery of Mar Saba overlooking the Kidron Valley 

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@palsofnations

 

1910, Bethlehem, Palestine  The Greek Orthodox monastery of Mar Saba overlooking the Kidron Valley 

 

Founded in 483 by Sabas the Sanctified, the Monastery of Mar Saba is regarded as one of the oldest continuously inhabited monasteries in the world and today is home to approximately 20 monks.

 

It preserves the relics of Saint Sabbas, whose spiritual legacy shaped early Christian monasticism in the Holy Land. 

 

Mar Saba was also the residence of John of Damascus, a central theological figure during the Iconoclastic Controversy. 

 

The monastery holds particular significance in the historical development of Orthodox liturgy. 

 

The monastic Typicon (the order and structure of worship services) established by Saint Sabbas became the liturgical standard for the Eastern Orthodox Church, as well as for the Eastern Catholic Churches that follow the Byzantine Rite, profoundly influencing Christian worship traditions to this day.

 https://x.com/palsofnations/status/2027308076110372870

AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES (or quotes) IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine, or at least fair and just laws and policies] 

‘A violation of our history’: Palestinian uproar over Israel’s plan to seize historic West Bank site- Residents of Sebastia say heritage project is pretext for massive land grab and expansion of Jewish settlements

The expropriation of the site near Sebastia is the largest ever seizure of land for an archaeological project since Israel occupied the West Bank in 1967. Photograph: Jason Burke/The Guardian

Jason Burke and Sufian Taha in Sebastia

Mon 2 Feb 2026 06.52 EST

The Byzantine-era church lies half hidden in the shade. Roman columns rise from among the olive trees, even older ruins linked to Israelite kings are overgrown. To the west, the Mediterranean is just visible on the horizon. To the north and south are the hills of the occupied West Bank.

In the small town of Sebastia, a hundred metres or less east of the ruins, everyone is very worried.

In November, Mahmud Azem, the mayor of Sebastia, received a notice from Israeli authorities announcing the seizure of the whole of the sprawling hilltop archaeological site next to the town.

Though there have been reports of an Israeli government project to develop the site for several years, the notice came as a shock. Most of the 3,500 Palestinian residents depend on either tourism at the site or their olive trees for their livelihoods.

The current plans for development of the site involve a visitors’ centre, a car park, and a fence that will separate the ruins from the rest of the town, cutting residents off from the ruins and any olive orchards that survive.

“Unfortunately Sebastia has gone into a dark tunnel,” said Azem, 50. “It is an aggression against Palestinian landowners, against olive trees, against tourist sites and it is a violation of the history and the heritage of Palestine.”

The expropriation of 182 hectares (450 acres) at Sebastia is the largest ever seizure of land for an archaeological project since Israel occupied the West Bank after its victory against Syria, Egypt and their Arab allies in 1967... READ MORE https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/feb/02/palestinian-uproar-israel-plan-seize-historic-site-sebastia-west-bank?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

 AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES (or quotes) IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine, or at least fair and just laws and policies]

Palestinian Mona Lisa. A well-preserved portrait of a woman, part of a mosaic floor found in a Roman villa in the city of Sepphoris near Nazareth. Her realistic expression, faint smile, and expressive eyes reminded viewers of Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa.

Palestinian Mona Lisa. A well-preserved portrait of a woman, part of a mosaic floor found in a Roman villa in the city of Sepphoris near Nazareth. Her realistic expression, faint smile, and expressive eyes reminded viewers of Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa.

 

Arabs in Pictures | مدنيات عربية

@ArabsinPictures

2,700-year-old carved shell found in Italy - but made in Syria, Lebanon, or Palestine ... trade & trade routes- civilization #art #beauty

Carved Grooved Clam Shell (700-600 BC), Vulci, Italy.

 

A woman's face peeks out from this clam shell, and the waves on the shell's back are swirling like the woman's cloak blowing in the wind. 

 

The bark once held perfume or was used to mix makeup. 

 

The approximately 2,700-year-old shell was found in Italy. It wasn't made in Italy; the face and other decorations were carved in what is today Syria, Lebanon, Israel or Palestine. 

 

Decorated shells were sold to Italy in the west and Iraq in the east. But the scallops were actually brought from elsewhere, from the warm clear waters of the Red Sea or other parts of the Indian Ocean.

 

On the lower edge of the shell you can see faint patterns that were once black. There are water lilies in the middle and on both sides, an Egyptian-looking sphinx, and a lion with a human head and bird wings.

 

British Museum

 

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The Middle East and Egypt

In the Middle East of the early Bronze Age the two great civilizations of ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt are flourishing. They have sophisticated writing systems, bronze technologies and highly developed public administrations. The first literatures are flowering, and already some of the most spectacular structures in all world history, the Great Pyramids, have been built in the Nile valley.

 

What is happening in Syria in 2500 BCE

 Agriculture has probably been practiced for longer here than anywhere else in the world. By this time, important trade routes run through Syria and Canaan between Mesopotamia to the east and Egypt to the south, both by land and sea. These trade routes have brought the influences of Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilizations into the region, and small city-states now scatter the region. The city of Byblos, on the Syrian coast, is an important port, is home of a thriving shipping trade with Egypt and other Mediterranean regions.

The annual Palestinian olive harvest dates to antiquity and continues today much the way it has for centuries

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Global-News/2010/1119/Palestinian-olive-harvest-plows-on-despite-tension-with-settlersGlobal News Blog

Palestinian olive harvest plows on, despite tension with settlers

The annual Palestinian olive harvest dates to antiquity and continues today much the way it has for centuries – although in recent years, the presence of settlers has made the harvest more challenging.

Nada Salah harvests olives in the West Bank. Josh Mitnick

By Josh Mitnick, Correspondent / November 19, 2010

Farata, West Bank

• A local, slice-of-life story from a Monitor correspondent.

As fall progresses, a heavy patter can be heard amid the terraced hills of the West Bank. It is raining olives again in the Levant, as Palestinian villagers embark on the annual harvest that lasts through November.

Families spend entire days together on ladders, stroking and tapping olive branches to release their fruit. The bounty gathered up in plastic tarps underneath is loaded on wagons to local village olive presses, where oil is extracted.

The harvest dates to antiquity, and scattered across the region are stone presses from biblical periods. With their shriveled bark and twisted branches, the trees cut a distinctive silhouette on the hillsides. Some have survived for hundreds of years....READ MORE