Jerusalem, Yerushalayim in Hebrew and Al Quds in Arabic, is the capital and largest
city of Israel. The city is considered a holy city by adherents of Judaism, Christianity,
and Islam; it contains sites sacred to all three religions. The city has been
a focal point for conflict between Arabs and Israelis since the establishment
of Israel in 1948. From 1949 until 1967, East Jerusalem was ruled by Jordan, and
West Jerusalem was controlled by Israel. Israel annexed East Jerusalem following
the 1967 Six-Day War.
The city is located between the Mediterranean Sea and
the Dead Sea, about 93 km (about 58 mi) east of Tel Aviv-Yafo. The city straddles
the Judean Hills, which run north-south in Israel. The city is built on a cluster
of hilltops and valleys. Summers in Jerusalem are hot and dry. There is rain and
cooler temperatures in the winter, and every few years there is a rare snowfall.
The Old City of Jerusalem contains many religious and historical sites. A
wall was constructed around the Old City in AD 1538 during the reign of the Ottoman
ruler Suleiman I. The area inside the wall is divided into 4 areas, named for
their dominant ethnic communities: the Muslim, Jewish, Christian, and Armenian
quarters. An Arab market which runs through the Old City gives it a crowded and
bustling feel.
Outside of the walled Old City lies modern Jerusalem. The older neighborhoods
are located to the east and south, and the newer neighborhoods are located to
the west and north of the Old City. The Israeli parliament,called the Knesset
(completed in 1966, photo above), and the Supreme Court Building (completed in
1992, photo below) are both located in modern Jerusalem.
Jerusalem's skyline is distinct and the city has a somewhat uniform look due to
strict building regulations. The height of most structures is limited. Most construction
is channeled to hilltops, and the valleys are preserved as open space. The British,
who ruled Jerusalem from 1917 to 1948, mandated the use of local limestone, known
as Jerusalem Stone, for all facades. Jerusalem Stone is a pinkish-white color,
and its hue changes throughout the day as the light changes. Jerusalem is sometimes
called the City of Gold because the Jerusalem Stone appears to be golden certain
times of the day when the sun shines on it.
Jerusalem is Israel's largest
city; the combined population of East and West Jerusalem in 1993 was 567,100.
Jerusalem is also the leading tourist attraction in Israel because the city contains
so many unique historical and aesthetic sites.
The Temple Mount, called Haram esh-Sharif by Muslims, is located in the Old City.
Tradition holds that Abraham nearly sacrificed his son Isaac on this site. Later
it was here that King David established the First Temple of Israel in about 1000
BC. The holiest site in Judaism, the Western Wall, also called the Wailing Wall,
is the remaining portion of the temple later built at this location by Herod the
Great. Jews traditionally visit the wall to lament the destruction of the First
and Second Temples and to offer prayers. Kvitlich are prayers written on pieces
of paper and placed in chinks in the wall. With the advent of Islam, the area
became holy to Muslims as well, because Muhammad was reported to have come to
the Temple Mount and ascended to heaven from the point of Isaac's near sacrifice.
The Dome of the Rock and the Al Aqsa Mosque, both located on the Temple Mount,
are considered Islam's third holiest site, after Mecca and Medina.
The Church
of the Holy Sepulchre stands on what is traditionally held to be the hill of Golgotha,
or Calvary, where the crucifixion and burial of Jesus Christ occurred. The church
is the site of significant Christian pilgrimage. The Via Dolorosa, the route traditionally
believed to be taken by Jesus Christ on the way to his crucifixion, leads to this
church. The Garden of Gethsemane, where the betrayal of Jesus by Judas Iscariot
is believed to have taken place, is another popular tourist stop. Gethsemane is
situated at the foot of the Mount of Olives, from which Jesus ascended to heaven
after his resurrection, according to Christian tradition.
Modern attractions
include the Israel Museum (completed in 1965), which houses the Shrine of the
Book, where the Dead Sea Scrolls are exhibited; the Rockefeller Museum (opened
in 1938), which contains archaeological finds; the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum;
the Museum of Biblical Archaeology; and the Museum of Islamic Art (opened in 1974).
The history of Jerusalem is rich. The city is full of artifacts which are
tied to various periods of history: Canaanite, Israelite, Greek, Roman, Arab,
Crusader, and Ottoman.
The site of Jerusalem was occupied during the Stone
Age, but the Stone Age inhabitants were driven out in the period from 5000 BC
to 4000 BC by a people called Canaanites who had advanced into the Bronze Age.
Egyptian tablets (about 1400 BC) that name the city Urusalim are among the first
records referring to Jerusalem. In about 1250 BC Hebrews from Egypt began their
conquest of Canaan, the region to the west of the Jordan River later known as
Palestine. The city was very well fortified, and it took about 200 years before
the Hebrews conquered it.
In 1000 BC, David, King of Israel, finally captured
the city. According to the Old Testament, King David brought the sacred Ark of
the Covenant to Jerusalem and installed it in a new tabernacle, built a royal
palace and other buildings, and strengthened the city's fortifications. David
expanded the Kingdom of Israel and made Jerusalem its capital. However, it was
his son and successor, King Solomon, who really built a magnificent temple and
enlarged the city.
In 586 BC, Babylonians destroyed Solomon's Temple and exiled
the Jews. In 539 BC, Persians conquered Babylonia and let the Jews return to Jerusalem.
With their return to Jerusalem, a Second Temple was built on the ruins of the
First Temple.
Jerusalem was captured by Alexander the Great in 333 BC. After
his death, the city came under the rule first of Egyptians and later of Syrians.
The Syrian ruler Antiochus IV tried to wipe out the Jewish religion. Judas Maccabeus,
a member of a priestly ruling family called the Hasmonaeans, led a revolt. He
liberated Jerusalem from the Syrians in 165 BC and later extended Hasmonaean rule
over a large part of Judea. Jerusalem became the destination of annual Jewish
pilgrimage from rest of Judea since certain religious obligations could only be
fulfilled in the temple.
The Romans conquered Jerusalem in 63 BC, and made
Herod the King of Judea in 37 BC. During his administration, which lasted until
4 BC, Herod rebuilt the temple, constructed a fortress, and enhanced other elements
of the city. The retaining wall built by Herod for the Temple Mount stands today
as the Western Wall. After Herod's reign, a series of Roman governors were installed.
Pontius Pilate was the Roman governor who sentenced Jesus to be crucified for
treason. In 66 AD, the Jews began to revolt against increasingly oppressive Roman
rule. In 70 AD, Titus, son of the Roman emperor Vespasian, conquered Jerusalem
and destroyed the Temple. The city suffered almost complete destruction during
the rebellion against the Romans (132-135) led by Simon Bar Kokhba. Following
the Bar Kokhva Rebellion, Jews were banished from the city.
Under the Roman
emperor Hadrian, the city was rebuilt as a pagan city, and its name was changed
to Aelia Capitolina. Under Roman rule, the city became a destination for Christian
pilgrimage, and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was built during the reign of
Emperor Constantine (303-337). Roman support for churches and religious figures
gave the city an increasingly Christian aspect.
In 637, Caliph Umar I conquered
Jerusalem and the city came under Muslim control. The Dome of the Rock and the
Al Aqsa Mosque were built on the Temple Mount, with the Dome of the Rock standing
on the site of the First and Second Temples. The Seljuks, a Turkish dynasty, ruled
Jerusalem harshly in the 11th century and continued to expand toward Europe.
In response to this expansion and Turkish control of places sacred to Christianity,
Pope Urban II called on Christians to travel to the Middle East and fight to reclaim
the Holy Land, especially Jerusalem. Jerusalem fell to the Crusaders in 1099.
The Crusaders slaughtered many of the Muslim and Jewish residents and ruled with
great cruelty until Saladin captured the city again for the Muslims in 1187. In
1517, Jerusalem was taken by the Ottomans, who ruled it until the 20th century.
During the period of Muslim control, the city was always part of a broader
territory and ruled from distant capitals. The city was often poor and neglected.
Population growth was slow; it is estimated that less than 10,000 lived in Jerusalem
at the beginning of the 19th century. Much of the growth came from Jewish pilgrims
who settled in the city. Consequently, Jews became again the majority in Jerusalem
by the middle of the 19th century. Population growth led to a housing shortage.
Jews began to build neighborhoods outside the Old City. Mishkanot Shaananim (photo
below) is the first Jewish neighborhood which was built outside of the Old City's
walls.
During World War I (1914-1918), the British took over control of Jerusalem. The
city was poor and underdeveloped at this time. Under the British, the Jewish-Arab
struggle for control of Palestine grew in intensity, and the friction among residents
of Jerusalem increased as well. Jews and Arabs both sought to gain control in
Jerusalem based on feelings of historical, political, and religious rights.
In 1947 the UN recommended that the British mandate of Palestine be divided into
a Jewish state and a Palestinian state, and that Jerusalem be made an international
city. The UN plan was rejected, and the first Arab-Israeli war broke out in 1947.
During this war, called the War of Independence by Israel, Jordanian forces joined
in the fight against Israel and succeeded in occupying the eastern side of Jerusalem,
including all of the Old City. At the conclusion of the fighting, Jerusalem was
divided; the new state of Israel had control of West Jerusalem and Jordan controlled
East Jerusalem.
During this period, the Jewish side of the city grew as Israel
developed. In 1950 Israel proclaimed Jerusalem its capital. In contrast, East
Jerusalem languished under Jordanian control as Jordan directed its resources
to the growth of its capital, Amman. Jewish and Christian property in the Jordanian
controlled Old City was heavily damaged by a combination of looting, neglect,
and destruction.
The city remained divided in this manner until 1967 when
Israel gained control of East Jerusalem in the Six-Day War. The boundaries of
the city were redrawn to expand its size by more than 200 percent, and in 1980
the Knesset passed a law declaring reunited Jerusalem to be Israel's eternal capital.
Israel offered Palestinian residents of the city Israeli citizenship, but most
declined this offer. Many Palestinians living in Jerusalem retained Jordanian
citizenship. Thus, while Palestinians and Israelis voted in the same Jerusalem
municipal elections, they voted in different national elections (Jordanian and
Israeli, respectively). In addition to this unique political situation, deep social
divisions existed among Jerusalem residents.
After the Six-Day War, new neighborhoods
for Israeli Jews were constructed in the area that prior to 1967 had been dominated
by Arabs. By 1990 West Jerusalem was exclusively Jewish, and East Jerusalem had
nearly equal populations of Arabs and Jews.
Today Jerusalem is a major issue
in the Arab-Israeli conflict. While Israel claims sovereignty over all of Jerusalem,
Palestinians claim at least the eastern half, including the Old City. Due to the
sensitivity and centrality of the Jerusalem issue, discussions about the future
of the city have been separated from the main body of the Arab-Israeli peace negotiations
of 1994 and 1995. While the issue of Jerusalem's status is still to be negotiated,
the city continues to grow and modernize.
Information from the Israeli Ministry
of Tourism and Microsoft's Encarta '95.
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~ Lisa
Katz
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