Editing Saint George (section)

===Veneration in the Levant===
George is renowned throughout the Middle East, as both saint and prophet. His veneration by Christians and Muslims lies in his composite personality combining several biblical, Quranic and other ancient mythical heroes.<ref name="Hovannisian" /> Saint George is the [[patron saint]] of [[Lebanese Christians]],<ref>{{cite book|title=By this Sign: A.D. 250 to 350 : from the Decian Persecution to the Constantine Era|first=Christian |last=History Project |year=2003| isbn=9780968987322| page =44|publisher=Christian History Project|quote= St. George is also the patron saint of Lebanese and Palestinian Christians.}}</ref> [[Palestinian Christians]]<ref>{{cite book|title=Religious Celebrations: An Encyclopedia of Holidays, Festivals, Solemn Observances, and Spiritual Commemorations|first=J. Gordon|last= Melton|year=2021| isbn=9781598842050| page =334|publisher=ABC-CLIO|quote=He is also the patron saint of the Palestinian Christian community.}}</ref> and [[Christianity in Syria|Syrian Christians]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Immigrant Narratives: Orientalism and Cultural Translation in Arab American and Arab British Literature|first=Wail |last=S. Hassan |year=2014| isbn=9780199354979| page =83|publisher=Oxford University Press|quote=There are several examples of this: "Besides being the patron saint of England and of the Christians of Syria.}}</ref>

[[File:StGeorgeDragged.jpg|thumb|upright|220px|Saint George dragged through the streets (detail), by [[Bernat Martorell]], 15th century]]

[[William Dalrymple]], who reviewed the literature in 1999, tells us that [[J. E. Hanauer]] in his 1907 book ''Folklore of the Holy Land: Muslim, Christian and Jewish'' "mentioned a shrine in the village of [[Beit Jala]], beside [[Bethlehem]], which at the time was frequented by [[Christians]] who regarded it as the birthplace of George and some [[Jews]] who regarded it as the burial place of the [[Prophet Elias]]. According to Hanauer, in his day the monastery was "a sort of madhouse. Deranged persons of all the three faiths are taken thither and chained in the court of the chapel, where they are kept for forty days on bread and water, the Eastern Orthodox priest at the head of the establishment now and then reading the Gospel over them, or administering a whipping as the case demands."<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.sacred-texts.com/asia/flhl/flhl12.htm|title= Folk-lore of the Holy Land, Moslem, Christian and Jewish | first = JE | last = Hanauer | year = 1907 |access-date=18 January 2007}}</ref> In the 1920s, according to [[Tawfiq Canaan]]'s ''Mohammedan Saints and Sanctuaries in Palestine'', nothing seemed to have changed, and all three communities were still visiting the shrine and praying together."<ref name="Dalrymple">{{cite book |title= From the Holy Mountain: a journey among the Christians of the Middle East |first= William |last= Dalrymple |publisher= [[Henry Holt and Company]] – Owl Books |year= 1999 |isbn=978-0-80-505873-4 |oclc=37928466 |url= https://archive.org/details/fromholymountain00will |via= [[Internet Archive]] }}</ref>

Dalrymple himself visited the place in 1995. "I asked around in the [[Christian Quarter]] in [[Jerusalem]], and discovered that the place was very much alive. With all the greatest shrines in the Christian world to choose from, it seemed that when the local Arab Christians had a problem – an illness, or something more complicated – they preferred to seek the intercession of George in his grubby little shrine at Beit Jala rather than praying at the [[Church of the Holy Sepulchre]] in Jerusalem or the [[Church of the Nativity]] in [[Bethlehem]]."<ref name="Dalrymple" /> He asked the priest at the shrine "Do you get many Muslims coming here?" The priest replied, "We get hundreds! Almost as many as the Christian pilgrims. Often, when I come in here, I find Muslims all over the floor, in the aisles, up and down."<ref name="Dalrymple" /><ref>{{cite journal|title="Georgic" Cults and Saints of the Levant |author=H. S. Haddad|journal=Numen|year=1969|volume=16|issue=1|pages=21–39|doi=10.1163/156852769X00029|jstor=3269569}}</ref>

The ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]'' quotes G. A. Smith in his ''Historic Geography of the Holy Land'', p.&nbsp;164, saying: "The Mahommedans who usually identify St. George with the prophet Elijah, at Lydda confound his legend with one about Christ himself. Their name for Antichrist is [[Dajjal]], and they have a tradition that Jesus will slay Antichrist by the gate of Lydda. The notion sprang from an ancient [[bas-relief]] of George and the Dragon on the Lydda church. But Dajjal may be derived, by a very common confusion between ''n'' and ''l'', from [[Dagon]], whose name [[Beit Dajan (disambiguation)|two neighbouring villages]] bear to this day, while one of the gates of Lydda used to be called the Gate of Dagon."<ref>{{Cite EB1911|page=737|wstitle=George, Saint|volume=11}}</ref>

Due to the [[Christianity and Druze|Christian influence on the Druze faith]], two [[Christian saints]] have become among the [[Druze]]'s most venerated figures: Saint George and Saint [[Elijah]].<ref name="Beaurepaire">{{cite book|title=Religious Interactions in Europe and the Mediterranean World: Coexistence and Dialogue from the 12th to the 20th Centuries|first=Pierre-Yves|last=Beaurepaire|year=2017|isbn=9781351722179|pages=310–314|publisher=Taylor & Francis}}</ref> Thus, in all the villages inhabited by Druze and Christians in central [[Mount Lebanon]] a Christian church or Druze [[maqam (shrine)|maqam]] is dedicated to either one of them.<ref name="Beaurepaire"/> According to scholar Ray Jabre Mouawad the Druzes appreciated the two saints for their bravery: [[Saint George and the Dragon|Saint George because he confronted the dragon]] and Saint Elijah because he competed with the pagan priests of [[Baal]] and won over them.<ref name="Beaurepaire"/> In both cases the explanations provided by Christians is that Druzes were attracted to [[Military saint|warrior saints]] that resemble their own militarised society.<ref name="Beaurepaire"/>