Jesus and his Times

Also, for my bdy yesterday, Milady gave me...

___
Jesus and his Times - Reader's Digest, ed. Kaari Ward. Large size book, 300pp. Looks to be a good, illustrated encyclopedia of basic information about the Gospels and the times of Christ. I see a nice, simple chart paralleling the four gospels, a dictionary of Biblical place names, study aids like that. A spend time with off and on kind of book.

Read about a Caravansary, the motel6 of the times. Usually centered on a watering hole, a walled enclosure, large courtyard, shows two-story buildings with stables on the first floor, rooms upstairs for those wealthy enough. Otherwise, you might just sleep with your animals in the stables, or even in the courtyard. Point being, Joseph and Mary in the barn was not as harsh as it might seem to finicky moderns.

___
Speaking of, The Urantia Book (free at urantia.org) claims Jesus was born Aug 21, 7BC. Since that makes last Friday his birthday, I'm linking to my comic-strip take on the birth narrative, which draws ;~) heavily (if loosely) on the Urantia version.
http://bit.ly/1p0lYeT