This is a fragment of a 12th century mosaic surviving in the transept of a much earlier, 6th century Byzantine church of the Nativity in Bethlehem (modern Palestine). It is the only pre-Islamic church preserved in the whole of the Holy Land. Having miraculously survived the Persian and Islamic invasions of the 7th century as well as the period of destruction caused by the mad Caliph Al-Hakim, it was the only church left intact in the region when it was conquered by the armies of the first crusade in the last decade of the 11th century. With Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem partially ruined, in 1100 the large church in Bethlehem was chosen as the place of coronation of the first Latin King of Jerusalem Baldwin I. Thus, the place of Jesuss birth held a special importance in the Kingdom of Jerusalem and the crusaders installed a Latin bishop there. Bethlehem was therefore elevated to the status of a powerful bishopric and Byzantine artists were hired by crusaders to decorate the damaged interior of the church of the Nativity with golden mosaics. One of those artists even left his name, Basilivs Pictor among the inscriptions. Today, the surviving parts of Bethlehem medieval mosaics serve as rare testimony to the crusader patronage of arts and to the strong Byzantine cultural influence remaining in the region. The site is by all means unique and despite political controversies around the status of Palestine it was recently finally inscribed on the UNESCO world heritage list.
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