Christian communities across the Middle East, home to some of the world's oldest continuous Christian populations, are preparing to celebrate Christmas through traditions that stretch back two millennia to the religion's origins in what is today Palestine, Israel, and Syria.
These communities, many of which still speak dialects of the Aramaic languages that Jesus would have spoken, represent a living link to Christianity's earliest days. Yet their celebrations unfold against a backdrop of displacement, war, and dwindling numbers that threaten the survival of traditions older than most Christian denominations in the West.
A Tapestry of Traditions Across the Region
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, which split from other Christian denominations in 451 CE and celebrates Christmas on 7 January following a 43-day vegan fast known as the holy Nativity fast. The fast is broken with "fattah," a dish of layered bread and rice soaked in lamb stock and topped with lamb pieces and a pickly, garlic-vinegar sauce.
In Lebanon, where just over two million Christians make up around a third of the population, Christmas is celebrated as "Eid Milad Majid," or Glorious Birth Feast, with lavish decorations lighting up streets and homes. Most are Maronite Catholics, belonging to a church formed in 1736 after the merger of the Maronite Church, based on the teachings of a 4th-century Syrian hermit named St Maron, and the Catholic Church. A distinctive Lebanese tradition involves growing green shoots from chickpeas, lentils, and beans on damp cotton wool two weeks before Christmas, symbolizing birth and life, used to decorate nativity scenes that in many Middle Eastern traditions depict not a manger but a cave.
Traditions Forged in Conflict
In Syria, where Christians made up 10 percent of the population of 25 million before the start of the Syrian War in 2011, families now celebrate in a more subdued way with close family and friends. Syrian Christianity can be traced back to the start of the religion, and the country was the scene of Paul the Apostle's dramatic epiphany on the road to Damascus. A local tradition involves Christmas camels, which according to legend carried the three wise men to Bethlehem and were blessed by the infant Jesus with eternal life. Children fill shoes with hay and put out bowls of water on Christmas Eve to welcome the camel who delivers presents to well-behaved children.
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. The community is thought to have once numbered in the millions but is now believed to be below a million due in large part to the US invasion of Iraq and the rise of the Islamic State group. An Iraqi Christmas tradition involves a bonfire of dried thorned branches lit after children complete a recitation of the nativity story read by candlelight from the Book of Psalms. Tradition says that if the thorns burn completely and turn to ash, the year ahead will be filled with good fortune. Date-filled biscuits called "klecha" are also enjoyed and exchanged over the festive period.
Bethlehem: The Heart of Palestinian Christmas
Bethlehem, known as Bait Lahm in Arabic and located six miles south of Jerusalem, is famous for being the birthplace of Jesus. Celebrations begin with a joyous parade that marches through the city's main streets on Christmas Eve, with local scout groups 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. Later, a service is held just before midnight by the Roman Catholic bishop of Jerusalem at the Church of the Nativity, built at the site where it is believed Jesus was born.
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."
In Jordan, around eight percent of the population is Christian, or around 800,000 people, with most belonging to the Eastern Orthodox Church. One Jordanian Christmas tradition is the preparation of a rich and sticky Christmas cake loaded with dried fruits and nuts and infused with alcohol, with preparations beginning weeks before Christmas on the last Sunday before Advent, the 40-day countdown to Christmas.
Why This Matters:
These ancient Christmas traditions represent more than religious observance — they are the living heritage of communities that have maintained continuous presence in the region since Christianity's founding. Yet the dramatic decline of Christian populations in Iraq and Syria, driven by war and extremism, and the shrinking Christian community in the Occupied Territories highlight how conflict threatens not just individual lives but millennia of cultural and religious continuity. The survival of these traditions depends on the survival of the communities that practice them, communities now facing displacement, emigration, and in some cases existential threat. Their celebrations this year unfold against the reality that each generation may be smaller than the last, making the preservation of these customs an act of resilience as much as faith. The international community's attention to Middle Eastern Christians often focuses on persecution, but the deeper story is one of endurance — communities maintaining traditions older than most nation-states in a region where peace remains elusive and the future uncertain.