Women of Bible Lands

The text Women of Bible Lands tries to reclaim some of the history of women.

This is dedicated to the pilgrims, students, and friends who have journeyed and prayed with me. Their curiosity, compassion, and wisdom are blessings.

Because of pirate raids in the ninth century Christians of the island of Aegina fled the coast and established the Paliachora area inland.

Ur of the Chaldees from which Abram and Sarai came is in southern Iraq at the base of the fertile crescent of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.

When St. Paul went to Tyre in 58, a substantial Christianity community lived there.

Legend says that Joachim went to a steep cliff on the Wadi Quilt in the Judean wilderness and wept and prayed because he and his wife Anne did not have a child.

When Jews were serving in the Persian palace, the pages at the court were arguing about what was the strongest force.

The legend of St. Catherine of Alexandria says that she was a brilliant woman whose arguments prevailed over those of the male pagan philosophers were jealous.

Christ breaking bread with two disciples is depicted in the Lectionary in the Gothic church at Abu Gosh, one of the places that people believe to be the village of Emmaus.

In the distance is the Dead Sea which is the lowest body of water on earth.

In the nineteenth century, the Czar Alexander III built St. Mary Magdalene Russian Orthodox Church in honor of his mother named Magdalene.

Like the woman described in the book of Proverbs they are resourceful using what they have to provide for their families.

A Timeline of Some Significant Events for Bible Lands and Women Cited in Women of Bible Lands, A Pilgrimage to Compassion and Wisdom

An excerpt from "Women of Bible Lands"

The Roman Emperor Constantine and his mother Helena are depicted with the cross of Jesus.

"The true Christian pilgrim begins to recognize Christ dying and rising in each face even to the ends of the earth."

Jesus compared himself to a mother hen who wants to gather her little ones. This mosaic is in the Dominus Flevit (meaning “The Lord Wept”) Church on the Mount of Olives near where Jesus looked down on Jerusalem and cried.

Sarah and Abraham offer hospitality to three strangers and they are blessed with new life. Women’s hospitality crosses from one culture to another.