Bethlehem (as used in architecture)

An architectural term used in the Ethiopic Church for the oven or bakehouse for baking the Korban or Eucharistic bread. It is a usual attachment to Coptic churches and is generally situated somewhere within the enclosure of the church. It is shown in the plan of Mari Mina and the adjoining church of Mari Banai. The four walls of Dair Abu Makar enclose one principal and one or two smaller court-yards around which stand the cells of the monks, domestic buildings, such as the milkroom, the oven (Bethlehem), the refectory and the like.

BUTLER, The Ardent Coped Churches of Egypt, I, 48.

THOMAS H. POOLE