Mar Elias Monastery

Origin of the name, other traditions

According to Christian tradition, Elijah rested here after fleeing the vengeance of Jezebel.^[1] The monastery was rebuilt in the 1160s by Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Komnenos after being destroyed by an earthquake.^[2] It is also said to be the burial place of the Greek Bishop Elias of Bethlehem who died in 1345, and St. Elias, an Egyptian monk who became Patriarch of Jerusalem in 494.^[3]

Another Christian tradition is that Mary rested under the large hackberry tree growing north of the monastery when she was fleeing Herod, who had ordered the execution of all the children of Bethlehem.^[4]

1956 shooting attack

From the hill east of the monastery, in 1956 one or rather several Jordanian soldiers opened fire on a group of Israeli archaeologists visiting the excavation sites across the valley at Ramat Rachel, killing Jacob Pinkerfield and another three, and injuring 16.^[5][6]

After 1967

During the 1967 Six-Day War, the Israel Defense Forces quickly overran Jordanian defences around the monastery on the way to Bethlehem and Hebron.^[7] After 1967, the height, known as Elijah Hill, was renamed in Hebrew as Givat ha'Arba'a (גבעת הארבעה), meaning "Hill of the Four," in honour of the four victims killed in the 1956 incident.^{[citation needed]}

Church

Hunt's bench; orchards

Facing the monastery is a stone bench erected by the wife of the painter William Holman Hunt (1827–1910), who painted some of his major works at this spot. The bench is inscribed with biblical verses in Hebrew, Greek, Arabic and English.^[8]

Since the 4th century, the monks of Mar Elias have cultivated olives and grapes.^[9]