Tonight I am sharing the third of the four Anker Nativity Scenes that I have built from the Ankerstein plan books.

I will start with the second drawing in the plan book.

This drawing shows the back of the structure that is titled Manger in the index. If you compare this one with the drawing from the last Anker Nativity post you will see that the building is much  more complex. We also see some of the same elements from the previous drawing with the shepherd, well and the woman going for water.

Here is the back of the building after it was completed. You can definitely see some of the new pieces in this view.

Here is the front of the manger. Here again we have the traditional nativity scene shown. The inclusion of the elephant is interesting, but since I collect elephants it makes for a nice addition to the picture. Of course, this picture also brings up some interesting questions. Did the wise men visit Jesus when he was just born? Was the stable a detached building? For the second question, Tod Bolen of BiblePlaces.com has a great blog entry on No Room in the Inn.

Here is my construction of the Manger. The structure was built with six boxes of stones – 6, 6A, 8A, 10A, 12A and 14A. These six boxes of stones make up set number NF16. If you contrast this structures from the ones (I, II) that I posted earlier this month, you will see that this one is not only bigger, but has more detail with the increased variety in stone shapes and sizes.

Here is a view of the inside and you can see that even a manger is included in the building plans.

You can visit my first post about Ankerstein to find out more about how the set system works.

I have one more Nativity scene to share, but am not sure what day I will post it. Perhaps on Christmas Eve, but maybe before.

Steven