[roamer_1]

It was the rough equivalent of today’s motel.

More like truck stop/fairgrounds/flea market... It would be a flat field of some size, where the caravan operators would take the burdens off their animals, set up their tents, sell goods to shop owners, etc. But it would also be where the overflow of people would go during town festivals, necessarily close to town with a good water source...

So it would be KIND of a stable.

What you seek is an artifact of nearly every nativity scene you have ever seen - a roughly made temporary building with three sides and a straw roof - What you see before you is a sukkah - the structure every Hebrew family is to build and live in during Sukkot - The Feast of Tabernacles...

[Elsie]

It would be a flat field of some size, where the caravan operators would take the burdens off their animals, set up their tents, sell goods to shop owners, etc. But it would also be where the overflow of people would go during town festivals, necessarily close to town with a good water source...

And what is the landscape around Bethlehem like?

http://www.palden.co.uk/pop/bethlehem-photos.html

[HiTech RedNeck]

Kind of funny how the classic nativity would end up looking like the Jewish sukkah. Who came up with that meme? It wouldn’t be an ideal animal quarters area because of being open to all the elements.