NATIVITY SEASON

Could the Christ child have been born during winter, as the Christmas cards depict, with snow on the ground? It is possible that there may have been snow on the ground, snow falls 3 to 4 days a year in Palestine. In January on 1950 there was 20 inches on the ground in Israel. Would there have been sheep in the fields, ie. "...while shepherds watched their flocks by night..."? It is even possible that there were sheep in the fields in winter. Sheep destined for sacrifice at the Temple in Jerusalem were kept year round near Bethlehem at Beit Sahur, the "Tower of the Flock".

Bill Petro, your friendly neighborhood historian