The History of the Holy Land

How and when did the Holy Land become the Holy Land? History suggests it was inspired by the first Christians who came from the Galilee and Jerusalem, who knew Jesus, and were present at the events in Jesus’ life and ministry, who first declared the Holy Land as the Holy Land. It makes sense, does it not – that the gospels and Jesus’ followers would commemorate the many places and locations where Jesus taught, preached, and performed his many miracles. Did they mark these places, and in doing so, did they sanctify these locations? Was it this group of Christians who determined the first borders of the Holy Land?

The answer, is no. It turns out that the Christian Holy Land was determined by people who did not live in Palestine. In fact, the concept of the Holy Land was developed only 320 years after the crucifixion of Jesus, by people who lived outside of the land, and not those who lived within its borders.

It was only when Constantine the Great became emperor of the entire Roman Empire in 324, that he founded the Christian Church, then establishing the basic principles of Christian theology, and declared the Holy Land as the Holy Land.

Constantine’s mother, Queen Helena, a devout Christian, traveled to Palestine in 325, to seek out and identify the sites of events in Jesus’ life and ministry. Queen Helena deemed the following sites to be ‘holy’ in the Holy Land. In the Galilee, she cited Nazareth, Jesus’ childhood home, Cana, where Jesus turned water into wine, and Capernaum, the headquarters of Jesus’ ministry. In Bethlehem, she identified the stable where Jesus was born, and in Jerusalem, she identified the sites of the events of Jesus’ last week of life, including the location of his trial, crucifixion, and burial. In the Byzantine era, between the 4th and 7th century, churches were built on these sites, including the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, and the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem.

A majority of the priests and monks who served these holy sites were not local, rather, they came from countries around the Mediterranean Sea. The main purpose of these churches and monasteries was to serve the vast numbers of pilgrims who journeyed to the region from all over Europe and the Mediterranean, by boat or on foot, for weeks or even months. This is how the Christian Holy Land was created, by the arrival of numerous foreigners. First, Queen Helena determined the borders of the Holy Land and the locations of the holy sites, followed by the foreigners, who maintained and guarded these sites for the benefit of the many pilgrims who traveled to the Holy Land.

In the 7th century, 638, the church lost control of Palestine to the Muslims. The importance of the geographically-located Holy Land as a pilgrimage destination, was lost, and Palestine became a backwater. In the 11th century, 1099, the Crusaders who originated from Europe, gained control of the Holy Land and once again, reestablished the Christian Churches, began restoring Christian life in the region, and declared the Holy Land as the Holy Land.

In the 13th century, 1290, the Crusaders lost control of Palestine to the Muslims, and once again, the geographical significance of the Holy Land as a pilgrimage destination, was lost. Palestine, yet again, become no more than a wasteland.

Hundreds of years passed, and it was only in the 19th century when Christians once again turned their attention to the Holy Land. In 1830, the United States established an embassy with the Ottoman Empire, providing access for Americans interested in traveling to the sites of the Bible. Despite the hardships of the desert heat, camping outside for weeks on end, under unsanitary and unsafe conditions, an increasing number of Americans, English, and other Europeans, ventured to the Holy Land. They began to rebuild the demolished churches and monasteries, and with their Bibles in hand, traveled to sites where they believed biblical events had taken place. Before the end of the decade, Christian pilgrims from all over the world returned to the well-known sites as described in the Bible, many of which were commemorated by churches or chapels build centuries ago.

The 19th century Christian rediscovery of the Holy Land followed the pattern established by Queen Helena, more than a millennium earlier. Christians from around the world returned to Palestine/Israel to reclaim the holy sites, so that even more religious travelers from outside the land could visit. It was the Christian pilgrims from all over the world who made the Holy Land become the greatest, most spiritual Christian tourist destination in the world.