Ein Kerem (Arabic: عين كارم; Hebrew: עין כרם‎) (literally, "Spring of the Vineyard"; commonly known as Ein Karem) is a picturesque neighborhood nestled in the hills of southwest Jerusalem, Israel. According to Christian tradition, this is the site where John the Baptist was born, hence Ein Kerem's attraction to Christian pilgrims and the proliferation of churches and monasteries.

History

Early history

A spring that provides water to the village of Ein Kerem stimulated settlement there from an early time. Pottery has been found nearby dating to the Middle Bronze Age ^[1].

Traditional connection to John the Baptist

According to the Bible, Mary went "into the hill country, to a city of Judah" ^[2] when she visited the home of Zechariah and Elizabeth. Theodosius (530) says that the distance from Jerusalem to the place where Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, lived is five miles. The Jerusalem Calendar (dated before 638) mentions the village by name as the place of a festival in memory of Elizabeth celebrated on the twenty-eighth of August: "In the village of Enquarium, in the church of just Elizabet, her memory."

There were other traditions: among the Christian sanctuaries of the Arab period (7th-10th centuries), there are two churches of St. John the Baptist of Jerusalem, one on the summit of the Mount of Olives, the other at the foot of the Mount.

Modern history

Archaeological evidence exists of settlement at the site's spring as early as the second century BCE. It was mentioned during the Islamic conquest and again, under the name St. Jeehan de Bois, during the Crusades. Ottoman tax registers from 1596 showed a population of 160. The population in 1931 was 2,637 and in 1944/45 it was 3,180, in each case including the smaller localities of Ayn al-Rawwas and Ayn al-Khandaq.^[3]

The 1947 UN Partition Plan placed Ein Kerem in the Jerusalem enclave intended for international control.^[4] During 1948 Arab-Israeli War and immediately after the April 1948 massacre at the nearby village of Deir Yassin, most of the women and children in the village were evacuated. It was attacked by Israeli forces during the 10-day truce of July 1948. The remaining inhabitants fled on July 10-11, and Arab irregular forces which had camped in the village left on July 14-16.^[5]

US Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas provides a different account of the exodus from Ein Karem, based on his visit there at the time, and discussion with eye witnesses:

Ein Karem, an Arab village for hundreds of years, was the birthplace of John the Baptist. In the recent [war it was never attacked by the Israeli army. It was indeed not on the path to Jerusalem. It had no apparent military value. Yet it was evacuated by the Arabs. Every man, woman, and child left—all except eight old women. The refugees put a few personal belongings and what food they had in their cupboards on the backs of donkeys. They walked out of their ancestral homes in Ein Karem, shut the doors, and turned to the east. They did this, though no shot was fired, though their village was neither encircled nor threatened. Some went through Jerusalem to Jericho down the corkscrew road on the east that drops off Judea. Most went around the Eternal City, seeking a path down the precipitous Judea Mountains, fording the Jordan, and climbing the hot and blistering ridge of Moab.^[6]

Israel later incorporated the village into the municipal boundaries of Jerusalem.^[5]

Ein Kerem was one of the few depopulated Arab localities which survived the war with most of the buildings intact. Jewish refugees mainly from Yemen moved into the abandoned homes, though over the years the "country" atmosphere attracted a population of artisans and craftsmen.

In 1961, Hadassah founded its medical center on a nearby hilltop, including the Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem schools of medicine, dentistry, nursing, and pharmacology.

With the growth of the city of Jerusalem, Ein Kerem is now only minutes away from the city center, and offers tourists and Jerusalemites alike a picturesque rural haven, with multiple restaurants and accommodations.

Sites

Church of St. John the Baptist

There are actually two churches by this name in Ein-Kerem. The Catholic church is the best known. It was built in the second half of the 19th century on the remnants of earlier Byzantine and Crusader churches. It includes an ancient mosaic floor and a cave were John the Baptist was traditionally born.

In the Book of the Demonstration, attributed to Eutychius of Alexandria (940), it is written: "The church of Bayt Zakariya in the district of Aelia bears witness to the visit of Mary to her kinswoman Elizabeth" (312). Daniel (1106) writes of the place: "on entering it [the church] there is, to the left, beneath the low altar, a small cavern, in which John the Forerunner was born."

Jack Finegan describes the archaeology of the site: "The church has been in the hand of the Franciscans since 1674. In 1941-1942 they conducted excavations in the area immediately west of the church and the adjoining monastery. In the area were uncovered several rock-cut chambers and graves as well as wine presses with mosaic floors and small chapels with mosaic pavements. The southern rock-cut chamber contained pottery of a type which has been found elsewhere around Jerusalem in association with coins of the Herodian Dynasty and belongs therefore to the period from the first century BCE, and it is evidence for a community not only during Roman but also Byzantine and early Arab times. As for St. John's church itself, the present structure may be mainly from the eleventh century (Abel, Geographie II, pp. 295f.) but lower portions of the walls probably still remain from the Byzantine period (fourth-seventh centuries). At the front end of the left aisle is a grotto which must correspond with the small cavern mentioned by Daniel." (The Archaeology of the New Testament [Princeton University Press: Princeton, 1992], page 4).

The second church by this name is Eastern Orthodox, and was built in 1894, also on the remnants of an ancient church.

Sanctuary of the Visitation

Another ancient church at Ein Kerem is located across the village to the southwest from St. John's. The ancient sanctuary there was built against a rock declivity. It is venerated as the pietra del nascondimento, the "stone in which John was concealed," in reference to the Protevangelium of James. The site is also attributed to John the Baptist's parental summer house, where Mary visited them.

The modern church was built in 1955, also on top of ancient church remnants. It was designed by Antonio Barluzzi, an Italian architect, who designed many other churches in the Holy Land during the 20th century.

Marble Statue of Aphrodite from Ein Kerem

During the excavations at Ein Kerem, a marble statue of Aphrodite (or Venus) was found in two broken pieces. Presumably, it stood during the Roman period and was toppled during the Byzantine period.

Les Soeurs de Notre-Dame de Sion Monastery

This monastery was founded by the Jewish convert brothers Theodore and Alfonse Retisbon of France, as an orphanage. Alfonse himself lived in the monastery and is buried in its garden. 13 nuns from the order of Les Soeurs de Notre-Dame de Sion (Sisters of Our Lady of Zion) now occupy the site.

"Moscovia" Monastery

Built by the Russian Orthodox Church at the end of the 19th century, this church (originally "Gorny Monastery") was nicknamed "Moskovia" (Arabic for Moscow) by the local Arab villagers, because of its tented roof similarity to other Russian churches. The monastery has two churches enclosed within a compound wall.

St. Vincent

St. Vincent-Ein Kerem is a home for physically or mentally handicapped children. Founded in 1954, St. Vincent-Ein Kerem is a non-profit enterprise under leadership of the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul.

Mary's Spring

The village fresh-water spring is the traditional location where Mary and Elizabeth met. The spring waters are considered holy by the Christian pilgrims who visit the site and fill bottles with its waters.

Ein Kerem picture gallery

References

See also

• Map showing Ayn Karim in relation to Jerusalem during the 1870s
• List of villages depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war

External links

• Jerusalem Photo Archive - Ein Kerem

•  • [ e] Neighborhoods of Jerusalem

American Colony Armenian Quarter At Tur Atarot Batei Ungarin Bayit VeGan Beit HaKerem Beit Hanina Christian Quarter Ein Kerem French Hill German Colony Gilo Givat Mordechai Givat Shaul Gonen Har Homa Har Nof Jewish Quarter Kerem Avraham Kiryat Mattersdorf Kiryat Moshe Kiryat Yovel Komemiyut Lifta Mamilla Manahat Meah Shearim Mishkenot Sha'ananim Moroccan Quarter Motza Muristan Muslim Quarter Neve Yaakov Old City Ophel Pisgat Ze'ev Ramot Romema Russian Compound Mount Scopus Shuafat Talpiot Umm Tuba Wadi al-Joz Yemin Moshe