BETHANY (mod. El-'Azariyeli, a corruption of Lazarion), a small village pleasantly set amongst fruit trees and cornfields on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives : pop. Soo, almost entirely Mohammedan. It was the residence of Lazarus and his sisters and much favoured by Jesus. An ancient tower marks the site of a convent of Benedictine nuns founded by Queen Millicent in A.D. 1147 and abandoned when Saladin took Jerusalem in 1187. A church was shown at this spot in the 4th century. Underneath is a vault opening on to a tomb-chamber claimed to be that of Lazarus. The original entrance was through the church, but when the church was converted into a mosque in the 16th century a separate entrance was excavated. The so-called house of Martha and Mary is some 3oyd. east of the tower. A Bethany (or Betha bara) beyond Jordan, which cannot, however, be identified, is mentioned in John i. 28.