Every year, on Good Friday, thousands of worshippers gather at the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem, to retrace what is said to be the final steps of Jesus Christ, before he was crucified at Golgotha. A wooden cross is lugged by followers as reminder of the deadweight that Jesus was forced to drag past a jeering crowd, nearly 2,000 years ago. It’s, however, during the last leg of the mournful journey, from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to the Chapel of Saint Helena, where the mood becomes most sombre. This part of the procession is led by a group of Arab Christian women—their uphill climb through the stone steps of the ancient city seems evidently dreary, as they lift the cross one last time, reciting prayers in Arabic. “The hand that rocks the cradle, carries the cross,” Kusumita Das, a freelance writer currently based in Israel, wrote on Instagram earlier this month, sharing pictures from this journey.  

Having read the just-launched brave novel by Jeet Thayil, Names of the Women (Jonathan Cape, Penguin Random House), a look at Das’ images made us ask: Why are there women here, but not in the Bible?