Christian communities across the Middle East are among the oldest in the world, but the article’s geography is also a map of states, borders, wars, and the slow grind of power over ordinary people. In Syria and Iraq, Christmas customs survive alongside the damage done by the Syrian War in 2011 and the US invasion of Iraq, which the article says helped drive the Christian population in Iraq down to below a million from a community that once numbered in the millions.
Old Communities, Hard Borders
The Christian communities of the Middle East trace their faith back two millennia to the foundation of the religion in what is today Palestine, Israel, and Syria. Some Christians in parts of Iraq and Syria still speak dialects of the Aramaic languages that Jesus would have spoken. The article says the largest Christian population in the region is in Egypt, where Christians make up between 10 and 20 percent of the population, or up to 20 million people. Most Egyptian Christians belong to the Coptic Orthodox church, while others belong to various Catholic denominations, as well as Greek Orthodox and Protestant churches, among others.
That mix means there is no single way of celebrating Christmas. Some churches, such as the Coptic Church, use their own calendar to mark the occasion on a different day to other Christians. The Coptic Church split from other Christian denominations in 451 CE, a division that remains doctrinally similar to the Eastern Orthodox Church. Christmas is celebrated on two dates: 25 December for mostly non-Orthodox churches and 7 January for Coptic Christians.
In Syria, Christmas camels are part of local tradition. According to the article, camels carried the three wise men to Bethlehem and, upon seeing the exhausted animals arrive, the infant Jesus blesses them with eternal life. In the millennia since, the camel has taken on St Nick’s role of ensuring well-behaved children get their presents. To welcome him, children fill shoes with hay and put out bowls of water on Christmas Eve.
War, Invasion, and Shrinking Communities
Syrian Christianity can be traced back right to the start of the religion, and the country was the scene of Paul the Apostle’s dramatic epiphany, in which he is said to have been visited by Jesus on the road to Damascus. Today’s Christians in Syria belong to the Eastern Orthodox churches, such as the Greek and Syriac Orthodox churches, although there are also Catholic and Chaldean communities. Christians made up 10 percent of Syria’s population of 25 million before the start of the Syrian War in 2011. Like in other Eastern Orthodox communities, many Christians fast for 40 to 43 days in preparation for Christmas day, giving up dairy products, meat, eggs, and fish before breaking the fast on Christmas Eve with a feast of Levantine dishes. Christmas is celebrated on 7 January and is also known by locals as “Laylatul Qadr,” the night of power.
In Iraq, Christians are one of the oldest Christian communities in the world, with a presence since at least the 2nd Century. The largest groups are the Chaldeans, who are Catholic, and the Assyrian churches. Exact numbers are difficult to come by, but the community is thought to have once numbered in the millions. However, there are now thought to be below a million Christians in the country due in large part to the US invasion of Iraq and the rise of the Islamic State group. A Christmas tradition in Iraq, and sometimes also Syria, involves a bonfire of dried thorned branches. The fire is lit after children complete a recitation of the nativity story, which is read by candlelight from the Book of Psalms. The candles are then used to light the thorns. Tradition says that if the thorns burn completely and turn to ash, the year ahead will be filled with good fortune. Once the flames have died, each person in the family jumps over the ashes three times and makes a wish. Date-filled biscuits called “klecha” are also enjoyed and exchanged over the festive period.
Bethlehem, Parade, and the Occupied Territories
In Jordan, around eight percent of the population is Christian, or around 800,000 people, with most belonging to the Eastern Orthodox Church. Other denominations in the country include Greek Catholics, Roman Catholics, and Protestants. One Jordanian Christmas tradition is the preparation of a rich and sticky Christmas cake loaded with dried fruits and nuts and infused with alcohol. Cake preparations begin weeks before Christmas, starting on the last Sunday before Advent, the 40-day countdown to Christmas. In a series of weekly steps, the cake mixture is stirred, infused with alcohol, and then baked to be eaten on Christmas Eve.
Christmas in Lebanon is a big deal with lavish decorations lighting up streets and homes at the start of the festive month. There are just over two million Christians in Lebanon, making up around a third of the population, though the actual number of Lebanese Christians in the diaspora is much higher. Most are Maronite Catholics, belonging to a church formed in 1736 after the merger of the Maronite Church, which is based on the teachings of a 4th-century Syrian hermit named St Maron, and the Catholic Church. Eastern Orthodox Christians are also prominent in the country. Although Christmas trees are decorated and lit at this time of year, it is the Levantine tradition of a nativity scene decorated with green shoots that is special to the region. Two weeks before Christmas, a range of pulses including chickpeas, lentils, and beans are soaked and grown on damp cotton wool. Shoots start sprouting a couple of weeks later, just in time for Christmas. The tufts of green symbolize birth and life, and are used to decorate nativity scenes, church altars, homes, and the Christmas lunch table.
Bethlehem, known as Bait Lahm in Arabic, is six miles south of Jerusalem and is famous for being the birthplace of Jesus. It is here that an annual church service is held at the Church of the Nativity, built at the site where it is believed Jesus was born. Celebrations begin with a joyous parade that marches through the city’s main streets on Christmas Eve. Then later, a service is held just before midnight by the Roman Catholic bishop of Jerusalem. Local scout groups typically take part in the parade, playing instruments, while passersby stop to admire the scene. Many people from around the world come to Bethlehem during the Christmas period to witness the parade.
Today there are an estimated 47,000 Christians living in the Occupied Territories, with a fraction in Gaza and the rest living in the West Bank. Most follow the Eastern Orthodox church, but there are also Catholics and Protestants. The Palestinian Christmas feast usually includes roast lamb or turkey and “qedreh,” a rice and lamb dish, with plenty of chickpeas and whole cloves of garlic. “Sahlab,” a hot, sweet drink of rose water and nuts, is also enjoyed as a winter warmer, served with crisp parcels of fried cheese sealed in a semolina pancake, known as “qatayef.” The article closes with the Coptic Nativity fast, where believers stick to a strictly vegan diet for 43 days before Christmas, a discipline that helps explain why many Christians choose to feast on “fattah,” a popular dish of layered bread and rice soaked in lamb stock and topped with lamb pieces and a pickly, garlic-vinegar sauce.