History of Jerusalem, Israel

by a2zcamerablog · Published November 2, 2021 · Updated November 8, 2021

According to allcitycodes, the name Jerusalem is first attested in the Egyptian texts of condemnation of the 12th dynasty, in the Amarna letters it is “Urusalim”. The Hebrew form “Yerūšālēm «was vocalized» Yerūšālayim «, followed by the Greek transcription Ierusalem or Ierosolyma. The name Zion initially seems to have referred to the hill in the southeast of the city, was later transferred to the Temple Mount and then to all of Jerusalem. After the uprising under Bar Kochba (2nd century AD), Jerusalem was renamed Colonia Aelia Capitolina ; after the Arab conquest the city was called El-Kuds, but the old name was used more and more.

The Canaanite city of the 2nd millennium BC Was on the southeast hill; the course of its wall above the Kidron valley was exposed over long stretches. The water supply was secured by the Gihon spring, which had been accessible via a shaft in the center of the city since the second half of the second millennium at the latest. King David conquered the city in 997 BC. And made it the capital of his kingdom (2 Samuel 5: 6–12). Solomon expanded the city in the north to include a palace and temple and built the valley between the two parts (“Millo”). Towards the end of the 8th century BC The city wall was renewed and the new town (“Mischneh”) to the west of the previous town was surrounded by a wall, parts of which have been exposed. Hezekiah improved the water supply by channeling the water from the Gihon spring into the city (2 Kings 20:20).

After the city was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar II in 587/586 BC. The city and temple were only established under Nehemiah around the middle of the 5th century BC. Rebuilt. In the book of Nehemia (Nehemia 2, 8), a castle north of the temple is mentioned for the first time. It was last rebuilt under Herod the Great and named “Antonia” in honor of Mark Antony. In the Hellenistic-Roman period, the city was expanded several times to the north, so that the Jewish historian Josephus Flavius can distinguish three city walls, the course of which has largely been clarified. Herod the Great redesigned the temple and expanded the area significantly. Most of the new enclosing walls are still visible, including the Western Wall (over 40 m high at the highest point), which was built under Herod the Great as a retaining wall for the partially leveled Temple Mount. When Titus conquered it in 70 AD, the city was completely destroyed. When the Colonia Aelia Capitolina was built after 135 AD, the southeast hill was used as a quarry. The image of the city in Byzantine times (6th century) is reproduced on the mosaic map of Madeba. The Christian buildings were mostly in places that tradition has given as places of the Passion of Christ designated, as well as erected at martyrs’ places and in the places of old pagan temples. Excavations have uncovered the remains of the city walls and buildings from all eras, including from 1967 under the old Jewish quarter of the old town the “Herodian Quartier”, a residential area from the time of the birth of Christ , burned down in 70 AD, today an underground museum (remains of multi-storey houses with mosaics and frescoes as well as the furnishings), which shows the living culture documented at the time. There are numerous necropolises in the vicinity of the city. The tombs of the Judean kings have not yet been discovered. However, a tomb attributed to King Herod was discovered in Herodium in 2007 twelve km south of Jerusalem.

Jerusalem’s Christian community (early community) had fled to Pella east of the Jordan around AD 68. Under Constantine the Great , Jerusalem became a Christian city and remained so for three centuries, apart from the Persian occupation 614–628, until it was founded by Caliph Omar I in 637 under the Arabic name El-Kuds (“the sanctuary”, also Beit el -Makdis called “place of the sanctuary”) was incorporated into the flourishing Arab world empire.

In 1099 Frankish knights under Gottfried von Bouillon conquered Jerusalem, which in the middle of the 12th century under Baldwin I , Gottfried’s brother and successor, experienced a brief heyday as the Kingdom of Jerusalem. In 1187 the Egyptian sultan Saladin wrested Jerusalem from the Christians, for whom it was emperor Friedrich II. temporarily recovered. Since 1244 Jerusalem has been under the rule of Islam without interruption, initially as part of the Mamluken Empire, and from 1517 of the Ottoman Empire. The Kingdom of Jerusalem was henceforth just a titulary of various European ruling houses. Only in the 19th century did Jerusalem regain importance. Ottoman provincial capital until 1917, then conquered by British colonial troops, Jerusalem belonged to the British Mandate of Palestine from 1920 and was the seat of the British Mandate Government for Palestine until 1948. When the border was drawn after the 1st Israeli-Arab War in 1948, the old town came to Jordan, the suburbs in the north and west and the south-west hill to Israel. The Israeli parliament declared Jerusalem the capital of Israel on January 23, 1950. The old city and the Arab suburbs of Jerusalem were conquered by Israel during the Six Day War (June 1967) and after the formation of a city government (1967) for the whole of Jerusalem, especially against Arab resistance on July 30, 1980, the city area and thus the Israeli area by law Annexed to national territory and declared all of Jerusalem to be its capital. Internationally, the “Jerusalem Law” triggered a controversial discussion and diplomatic reactions (the embassies were moved to Tel Aviv); it is controversial to this day. The Israeli conception of Jerusalem as the undivided capital of Israel continues to be opposed to the claim to the eastern part of the city as the capital of a future Palestinian state. Middle East conflict). The status issue took on a new explosive force when the American President Donald Trump moved the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem on May 14, 2018, thereby recognizing Jerusalem’s status as the capital of Israel. Just 2 days later, Guatemala also moved its capital to Jerusalem.

(“Teddy”) Kollek (1965–93 Mayor of Jerusalem) found worldwide recognition as a promoter of the peaceful coexistence of all citizens in an undivided city. In 1995, his successor, E. Olmert, proclaimed the “three thousand year celebration” of Jerusalem for the period from September 4th to the end of 1996. In 2003 Uri Lupolianski (* 1951) became mayor, followed by entrepreneur Nir Barkat (* 1959) in 2008.

The decision of the Israeli government under B. Netanyahu to build the new “Har Homa” settlement in East Jerusalem (March 1997) led to a serious blockade of the peace process in the Middle East, which was initiated in 1993/94. The visit of the then opposition leader A. Sharon on September 28, 2000 to the Temple Mount triggered the “second intifada”.

Jerusalem emerged as the bishopric as early as the 2nd century; but it was not elevated to patriarchy until the Council of Chalcedon in 451. The Latin Patriarchate, established in 1099, sank to a mere title in the 13th century; it was restituted in 1847. Tensions between the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, which represents the Orthodox majority denomination in Jerusalem, and the Latin Patriarchate have been gradually reduced in recent years. With reference to the historical and theological significance (heavenly Jerusalem) of the city, both Christian churches emphasize that Jerusalem, as the “capital of humanity,” which it is to become, cannot belong exclusively to one people or one religion.