Jerusalem

V

Education and Culture

Jerusalem is one of Israel’s centers of learning. The Hebrew University on Mount Scopus was founded in 1925. Mount Scopus, also the site of Hadassah Hospital, remained a Jewish enclave after Jerusalem was divided in 1949. Since Jews were allowed only limited access to the area, they relocated the facilities at Givāt Ram in West Jerusalem. After the eastern sector of the city was captured in 1967, the Mount Scopus campus was rededicated and became the site of newly designed extensions of the existing hospital and university. Another notable institute of learning is the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design (founded in 1906).

Jerusalem contains an enormous number of points of historical and aesthetic interest. Most of these places reflect the connection between religion and political control that has shaped Jerusalem’s history. Located in the Old City, the centerpiece of this history is the Temple Mount, which Muslims call Haram esh-Sharif, or the Venerable Sanctuary. It was here that King Solomon established the site of the First Temple of Israel in the 10th century bc. The temple was built on a platform surrounding the hilltop where tradition holds that Abraham nearly sacrificed his son Isaac, as recounted in the Bible. The holiest existing Jewish monument, the Western Wall, also called the Wailing Wall, is the retaining wall built by Herod the Great to support the Temple Mount. Jews traditionally visit the wall to lament the destruction of the First and Second Temples and to offer prayers, written on pieces of paper placed in chinks in the wall. The name “Wailing Wall” refers to the prayers offered at the site in lamentation for the destruction of the temples and the persecution of Jews. 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 a rock on the site. The Dome of the Rock and the Al Aqsa Mosque, both located on the Temple Mount, constitute Islam’s third holiest site, after Mecca and Medina.

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is also located in the Old City. It stands on the site where many Christians believe Jesus Christ was buried (some Protestants hold that the burial site was in the Garden Tomb, located outside the walls of the city). Christians have traditionally held the site to be the hill of Golgotha, or Calvary, where the crucifixion of Jesus Christ occurred; however, most scholars believe that Golgotha lies outside the city. Representatives of many Christian denominations hold services in the church, and it is the site of significant Christian pilgrimage. From the east, this church is approached by the Via Dolorosa, the route traditionally believed to be the one taken by Jesus Christ on the way to his crucifixion. Outside the Old City, beyond the eastern wall, is the Garden of Gethsemane, where the betrayal of Jesus by Judas Iscariot is believed to have taken place. Gethsemane is situated at the foot of the Mount of Olives, from which Jesus ascended to heaven after his resurrection, according to Christian tradition.

There are many other artifacts in the city, tied to various periods of history; those of Canaanite, Israelite, Greek, Roman, Arab, Crusader, and Ottoman origin are among the more prominent. 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; the Museum of Islamic Art (opened in 1974); and the Biblical Zoo, which contains animals referred to in the Bible.

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VI

History

The site of Jerusalem was occupied during the Stone Age, but the aboriginal inhabitants were driven out in the period from 5000 bc to 4000 bc by a people who had advanced into the Bronze Age. The invaders, called Canaanites in the Bible, were a mixed people among whom Jebusites were dominant. The Canaanites came under Egyptian rule in the 15th century bc, during the conquests of King Thutmose III. Among the early records referring to Jerusalem are Egyptian tablets dating from about 1400 bc that name the city Urusalim. 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. So powerfully fortified was Jerusalem, however, that it did not fall until more than 200 years later. In 1000 bc, some years after being anointed King of Israel, David finally captured the city.

A

Holy City of the Jews

According to the Bible, David brought the sacred Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem from Qiryat Ye’arim (a holy place of the time, west of Jerusalem) and installed it in a new tabernacle, built a royal palace and other buildings, and strengthened the city’s fortifications. Although David greatly expanded the Kingdom of Israel and made Jerusalem its capital, the city and the temple he built were quite modest. Solomon, his son and successor, improved the temple and enlarged the city. He built a city wall and many buildings on a scale of magnificence previously unknown in Israel.

Solomon’s Temple was destroyed and the Jews exiled by the Babylonians in the year 586 bc. In 539 bc, Babylonia was conquered by the Persians (see Persia), who allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem the following year. The construction of a new temple, or Second Temple, was then undertaken on the ruins of the old. Jerusalem was captured by Alexander the Great in 333 bc, and after his death it came under the rule first of Egyptians and later of Syrians. The Syrian ruler Antiochus IV attempted to wipe out the Jewish religion by destroying a large part of Jerusalem in 168 bc. This caused a Jewish revolt under the leadership of Judas Maccabeus, a member of a priestly ruling family, the Hasmonaeans (see Maccabees). 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 the outlying area, since certain religious obligations could only be fulfilled in the temple. All Jewish sacred and secular law and power came to be concentrated in the city.

B

Roman Period

This power was eclipsed with the conquest of Jerusalem in 63 bc by the Roman general Pompey the Great. Herod the Great became 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. From ad 26 to 36 the governor was Pontius Pilate, who sentenced Jesus to be crucified for treason. The Jews revolted against increasingly oppressive Roman rule in ad 66, and they managed to hold on to Jerusalem in the face of siege until ad 70. In that year, the city was captured by Titus, son of the Roman emperor Vespasian, who destroyed the temple. The city suffered almost complete destruction during the rebellion (132-135) led by Simon Bar Kokhba, following which the 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. Although the city effectively retained Jerusalem as its name, it did not serve again as a capital until 1099, when it was captured by Crusaders.

In the intervening years, Jerusalem gained stature in religious terms; in administrative and political terms, however, it remained relatively inconsequential. Under Roman rule, the city became a destination for Christian pilgrimage, and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was built during the reign of Constantine the Great (303-337). Roman support for churches and religious figures gave the city an increasingly Christian aspect.

C

Muslim Rule and the Crusaders

In 638, the city came under Muslim control following conquest by Caliph Umar I. The Dome of the Rock and the Al Aqsa Mosque were soon constructed 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, especially toward Europe. In response to this expansion and Turkish control of places sacred to Christianity, Pope Urban II called the first of the Crusades, asking Christians to travel to the Middle East and fight to reclaim the Holy Land, especially Jerusalem. The Crusaders, led by Godfrey of Bouillon, captured Jerusalem in 1099, and the city became the capital of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem. 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 (see Ottoman Empire).

During the period of Muslim control, the city was always part of a broader territory, ruled from distant imperial capitals. Its economic fortunes fluctuated, but, in keeping with its marginal political status, the city was often poor and neglected. Its population grew slowly; estimates for the beginning of the 19th century are of fewer than 10,000 people. Much of the growth came from Jewish pilgrims who settled in the city, and by the mid-19th century Jews were once again the majority. As the population grew, there was increased pressure on the housing capacity of the Old City. Jews began to build neighborhoods outside the Old City’s walls, and nearby Arab villages expanded.

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