Archaeological ruins from King David’s time
(larger image)

This city has known many wars, and various periods of occupation. According to Genesis 14:18-20, the city (named as Salem) was ruled by king Melchizedek, a priest of God. According to one Jewish tradition reported by the midrash, it was founded by Abraham's forefathers Shem and Eber.

Later, according to the Biblical narrative of the Books of Samuel, it was controlled by the Jebusites, a group that scholars generally believe to have been Hittite.

It is probable that Melchizedek was himself a Jebusite; the -zedek part of the name occurring in other rulers such as Adonizedek, and in some biblical references to Jerusalem itself, such as neweh zedek (Jeremiah 31:23, where it is often translated as home of righteousness).

Kingdoms of Judah and Israel (1000 BC - 580 BC)

⁶ And the king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, who said to David, "You will not come in here, but the blind and the lame will ward you off"—thinking, "David cannot come in here." ⁷ Nevertheless, David took the stronghold of Zion, that is, the city of David. ⁸ And David said on that day, "Whoever would strike the Jebusites, let him get up the water shaft to attack 'the lame and the blind,' who are hated by David’s soul." Therefore it is said, "The blind and the lame shall not come into the house." ⁹ And David lived in the stronghold and called it the city of David. And David built the city all around from the Millo inward. ¹⁰ And David became greater and greater, for the LORD, the God of hosts, was with him. (2 Samuel 5:6-10 ESV)

Later, according to the biblical narrative, King Solomon built a more substantive temple - the Temple of Solomon, at a location which the Book of Chronicles equates with David's altar. The Temple became a major cultural centre in the region; eventually, particularly after religious reforms such as those of Hezekiah and of Josiah, the Jerusalem temple became the main place of worship, at the expense of other, formerly powerful, ritual centres, such as Shiloh and Bethel. Solomon is also described as having created several other important building works at Jerusalem, including the construction of his palace, and the construction of the Millo (the identity of which is somewhat controversial). However, archaeologists have found no major building works at Jerusalem dating from this era (except perhaps the Large Stone Structure, which is the subject of some controversy), and some have suggested that Solomon's building programme was somewhat mythical - being based on the building programme of the later Omrides.

When the kingdom of Judah split from the larger kingdom of Israel (which the Bible places near the end of the reign of Solomon, though David Finkelstein and others claim it occurred closer to the time of Hezekiah), Jerusalem became the capital of the kingdom of Judah, while the truncated kingdom of Israel located its capital at Samaria.

By the end of this First Temple Period, Jerusalem was the sole acting religious shrine in the kingdom and a centre of regular pilgrimage; a fact which archaeologists generally view as being corroborated by the evidence, though there remained a more personal cult involving Asherah figures, which are found spread throughout the land right up to the end of this era.

Jerusalem was the capital of the Kingdom of Judah for some 400 years. It had survived an Assyrian siege in 701 BCE by Sennacherib - unlike Samaria, the capital of the northern Kingdom of Israel, that had fallen some twenty years previously. According to the Bible this was a miraculous event in which an Angel killed 185,000 men in Sennacherib's army; according to Sennacherib's own account, recorded in an inscription contemporary with the event (known as the Taylor prism), the king of Judah - Hezekiah - was shut up in the city like a caged bird and eventually persuaded Sennacherib to leave by sending him 30 talents of gold and 800 talents of silver, and divers treasures, a rich and immense booty.

However, the city was overcome by the Babylonians in 597 BCE, who then took the young king Jehoiachin into Babylonian captivity, together with most of the aristocracy. Zedekiah, who had been placed on the throne by Nebuchadnezzar II (the Babylonian Emperor), rebelled, and Nebuchadnezzar, who at the time (587/586 BC) was ruler of the most powerful empire, recaptured the city, killed Zedekiah's descendants in front of him, and plucked out Zedekiah's eyes so that that would be the last thing he ever saw. The Babylonians then took Zedekiah into captivity, along with prominent members of Judah, The Babylonians then burnt the temple, destroyed the city's walls and appointed Gedaliah the son of Achikam as governor of Judah. After 52 days of rule, Yishmael son of Netaniah, a surviving descendant of Zedekiah encouraged by Baalis king of Ammon assassinated Gedaliah. The remaining population of Judah, fearing the vengeance of Nebuchadnezzar, fled to Egypt.

Restoration and autonomy in the Persian era ( - 312 BC)

Autonomy in the Greek era (312 BCE - 164 BCE)

Under the Seleucids many Jews began to become Hellenised and with their assistance tried to Hellinize Jerusalem eventually culminating in a rebellion by Matisyahu the High Priest and his five sons; Simon, Yochanan, Eleazar, Jonathan and Judah the Maccabee. As a result of the rebellion Jerusalem became the capital of the independent Hasmonean Kingdom.

The Hasmonean Kingdom and era (164 BC - 35 BC)

The Herodian Kingdom and era (35 BC - 96 AD)

Roman and Byzantine rule (6 AD - 638 AD)

After a brief period of Roman rule, the city was ruined when a civil war, accompanied by the Great Jewish Revolt against Rome in Judea, led to the city's sack yet again, at the hands of Titus in 70 CE. The Second Temple was burnt and all that remained was the great external (retaining) walls supporting the Esplanade on which the Temple had stood, a portion of which has become known as the Western Wall; also known as the Wailing Wall.

After the end of this first revolt, Jews continued to live in Jerusalem in significant numbers, and were allowed to practice their religion.

What is today known as "Old City" was laid out by the Roman Emperor Hadrian in the 2nd century, when he began to rebuild Jerusalem as a pagan city, Aelia Capitolina, in AD 135. He placed restrictions on some Jewish practices, which caused a revolt by the Judeans, led by Simon Bar Kokhba. Hadrian responded with overwhelming force, putting down the revolution, killing as many as a half million Jews, and resettling the city as a Roman colonia under the name Aelia Capitolina. Jews were forbidden to enter the city but for a single day of the year, Tisha B'Av, (the Ninth of Av, see Hebrew calendar), when they could mourn the destruction of their city at the Western Wall.

For the next 150 years, the city remained a relatively unimportant Roman town. The Byzantine Emperor Constantine, however, rebuilt Jerusalem as a Christian center of worship, building the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in 335. Jews were still banned from the city, except during a brief period of Persian rule from 614-629 AD.

Arab Caliphates and Christian Crusaders (638-1300s)

Middle Ages

Byzantine rule

The expansion of Islam started with the life of Muhammad (570-632), and Islamic culture spread rapidly from Saudi Arabia into neighboring territories such as Palestine. According to Byzantine Chronicles, starting in 618 the Jews allied with the Muslims in their conquest of the Middle East. Consequently, following the capture of Jerusalem and the slaughter of the Christian population and garrison in the citadel, the Jews were allowed back into the city by Muslim rulers such as Umar ibn al-Khattab.

In the four hundred years that followed, Jerusalem's prominence diminished as Arab powers in the region jockeyed for control.

Arab Caliphates (638-1300s)

Map of Jerusalem as it appeared in the years 958-1052, according to Arab geographers such as al-Muqaddasi
(larger image)

interractive map

Al-Malik built the octagonal and gold-sheeted Dome over the location from which Muhammad was believed to have ascended into heaven. The Al-Aqsa Mosque (named for the "farthest mosque") was also built nearby, again in honor of the story of the Night Journey.

Under the early centuries of Muslim rule, especially during the Umayyad (650-750) and Abbasid (750-969) dynasties, the city prospered; the 10th century geographers Ibn Hawqal and al-Istakhri describe it as "the most fertile province of Palestine", while its native son geographer al-Muqaddasi (born 946) devoted many pages to its praises in his most famous work, The Best Divisions in the Knowledge of the Climes. Jerusalem under Muslim rule did not achieve the political or cultural status enjoyed by the capitals Damascus, Baghdad, Cairo etc.

Although they were severely discriminated and regulated in worship, movement, ownership of property, reparing of buildings etc, the early Arab period tolerated the presence of Christian and Jewish communities in the city with the Jewish population given the most freedom and benefices. However, the communities, especially the Christians were in essence second class citizens, forbidden to proslytize, worship outside of specific locations, limited in areas where they could travel, forced to bow before Muslim Mosques and Imams, charged to wear specific clothing, ordered to make way on the streets to Muslims, and limited in the number of pilgrims allowed to visit Holy sites. The Emperor Charlamagne started the precedent of Western European influence in the region under various treaties with the Caliphs establishing Frankish protection for pilgrims.

With the decline of the Carolonian Empire in the early 10th century, another period of persecution by the Muslims began. However, the recovered Byzantines filled this void and as the Empire expanded under the Byzantine Crusades, Christians were again allowed to pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

According to Rabbi Elijah of Chelm, German Jews lived in Jerusalem during the 11th century. The story is told that a German-speaking Palestinian Jew saved the life of a young German man surnamed Dolberger. So when the knights of the First Crusade came to besiege Jerusalem, one of Dolberger’s family members who was among them rescued Jews in Palestine and carried them back to Worms to repay the favor. Further evidence of German communities in the holy city comes in the form of halakic questions sent from Germany to Jerusalem during the second half of the eleventh century.

As the Byzantine borders expanded into the Levant in the early 11th century, the limited tolerance of the Muslim rulers toward Christians in the Middle East, began to wane. The Egyptian Fatimid Caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah ordered the destruction of all churches throughout Al-Islam starting with the churches in Jerusalem. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, revered by most Christians as the site of Christ's crucifixion and burial, was among the places of worship destroyed.

Crusader control

It was during this period of early Frankish occupation that the Military Orders of the Knights Hospitaller and the Knights Templar have their beginnings. Both grew out of the need to protect and care for the great influx of pilgrims traveling to Jerusalem, especially since Bedouin enslavement raids and terror attacks upon the roads by the remaining Muslim population continued. King Baldwin II of Jerusalem allowed the forming order of the Templars to setup a headquarters in the captured Al-Aqsa Mosque. The Crusaders believed the Mosque to have been built on top of the ruins of the Temple of Solomon, and therefore referred to the Mosque as "Solomon's Temple". It was from this location that the Order took its name of "Temple Knights" or "Templars".

Under the Kingdom of Jerusalem the area experienced a great revival, including the re-establishment of the city and harbour of Ceasarea, the restoration and fortification of the city of Tiberias, the expansion of the city of Ashkelan, the walling and rebuilding of Jaffa, the reconstruction of Bethlehem, the repopulation of dozens of towns, the restoration of large agriculture, and the construction of hundreds of churches, cathedrals, and castles.

In 1173 Benjamin of Tudela visited Jerusalem. He described it as a small city full of Jacobites, Armenians, Greeks, and Georgians. Two hundred Jews dwelt in a corner of the city under the Tower of David.

In 1187, with the Muslim world more united under such effective leaders as Saladin, Jerusalem was re-conquered by the Muslims after the Siege of Jerusalem (1187). Following this the armies of Saladin conquered, expelled, enslaved, or killed the remaining Christian communities at Galillea, Judea, Samaria, as well as the towns of Ashkelon, Jaffa, Ceasaria, and Acre.

In 1219 the walls of the city were razed by order of al-Mu'azzam, the Ayyubid sultan of Damascus. This rendered Jerusalem defenseless and dealt a heavy blow to the city's status.

Following another Crusade by the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II in 1222, the city was surrendered by Saladin's descendant al-Kamil, in accordance with diplomatic treaty in 1228. It remained under Christian control, under the treaty's terms that no walls or fortifications could be built in the city or along the strip which united it with the coast. In 1239, after the ten-year truce expired, Frederick ordered the rebuilding of the walls. But without the formidable Crusader army he had originally employed ten years previous, his goals were effectively thwarted when the walls were again demolished by an-Nasir Da'ud, the emir of Kerak, in the same year.

In 1243 Jerusalem was firmly secured into the power of the Christian Kingdom, and the walls were repaired.

However, the period was extremely brief as a large army of Turkish and Persian Muslems was advancing from the north.

Khwarezmian control

center>Medieval Tower of David (Migdal David) in Jerusalem today
(larger image)

The Khwarezmians then ruthlessly decimated the population, leaving only 2,000 people, Christians and Muslims, still living in the city. This attack triggered the Europeans to respond with the Seventh Crusade, although the new forces of King Louis never even achieved success in Egypt, let alone advancing as far as Palestine.

Ayyubid control

Mamluk control and Mongol raids

There is little evidence to indicate whether or not the Mongol raids penetrated Jerusalem in either 1260 or 1300. Historical reports from the time period tend to conflict, depending on which nationality of historian was writing the report. There were also a large number of rumors and urban legends in Europe, claiming that the Mongols had captured Jerusalem and were going to return it to the Crusaders. However, these rumors turned out to be false. The general consensus of modern historians is that though Jerusalem may or may not have been subject to raids, that there was never any attempt by the Mongols to incorporate Jerusalem into their administrative system, which is what would be necessary to deem a territory "conquered" as opposed to "raided".

Mamluk rebuilding

Mamluk sultans made a point of visiting the city, endowing new buildings, encouraging Muslim settlement, and expanding mosques. During the reign of Sultan Baibars, the Mamluks renewed the Muslim alliance with the Jews and he established two new sanctuaries, one to Moses and one to Salih, to encourage numerous Muslim and Jewish pilgrims to be in the area at the same time as the Christians, who filled the city during Easter. In 1267 Nahmanides (also known as Ramban) made aliyah. In the Old City he established the Ramban Synagogue, the oldest active synagogue in Jerusalem. However, the city had no great political power, and was in fact considered by the Mamluks as a place of exile for out-of-favor officials. The city itself was ruled by a low-ranking emir.

Ottomans

Under the early centuries of Muslim rule, especially during the Umayyad (650-750) and Abbasid (750-969) dynasties, the city prospered; the geographers Ibn Hawqal and al-Istakhri (10th century) describe it as "the most fertile province of Palestine", while its native son the geographer al-Muqaddasi (born 946) devoted many pages to its praises in his most famous work, The Best Divisions in the Knowledge of the Climes. Jerusalem under Muslim rule did not achieve the political or cultural status enjoyed by the capitals Damascus, Baghdad, Cairo etc. Interestingly, al-Muqaddasi derives his name from the Arabic name for Jerusalem, Bayt al-Muqaddas, which is linguistically equivalent to the Hebrew Beit Ha-Mikdash, the Jewish temple.

The early Arab period was also one of religious tolerance. However, in the early 11th century, the Egyptian Fatimid Caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah ordered the destruction of all churches and synagogues in Jerusalem, a policy reversed by his successors. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, revered by most Christians as the site of Christ's crucifixion and burial, was among the places of worship destroyed. Reports of this and the killing of Christian pilgrims were one cause of the First Crusade, which marched off from Europe to the area, and, on July 15, 1099, Christian soldiers took Jerusalem after a difficult one month siege. The Jews were among the most vigorous defenders of Jerusalem against the Crusaders. When the city fell, the Crusaders burned down the synagogue where the Jews had sought shelter.

Jerusalem became the capital of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Godfrey of Bouillon, was elected Lord of Jerusalem on July 22, 1099, but did not assume the royal crown and died a year later. Barons offered the lordship of Jerusalem to Godfrey's brother Baldwin, Count of Edessa, who had himself crowned by the Patriarch Daimbert on Christmas day 1100 in the basilica of Bethlehem.

Christian settlers from the West set about rebuilding the principal shrines associated with the life of Christ. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was ambitiously rebuilt as a great Romanesque church, and Muslim shrines on the Temple Mount (the Dome of the Rock and the al-Aqsa Mosque) were converted for Christian purposes. It is during this period of Frankish occupation that the Military Orders of the Knights Hospitaller and the Knights Templar have their beginnings. Both grew out of the need to protect and care for the great influx of pilgrims travelling to Jerusalem in the twelfth century. The Kingdom of Jerusalem lasted until 1291; however, Jerusalem itself was recaptured by Saladin in 1187, who permitted worship of all religions

According to Rabbi Elijah of Chelm, German Jews lived in Jerusalem during the 11th century. The story is told that a German-speaking Palestinian Jew saved the life of a young German man surnamed Dolberger. So when the knights of the First Crusade came to siege Jerusalem, one of Dolberger’s family members who was among them rescued Jews in Palestine and carried them back to Worms to repay the favor. Further evidence of German communities in the holy city comes in the form of halakic questions sent from Germany to Jerusalem during the second half of the eleventh century.

In 1173 Benjamin of Tudela visited Jerusalem. He described it as a small city full of Jacobites, Armenians, Greeks, and Georgians. Two hundred Jews dwelt in a corner of the city under the Tower of David.

In 1219 the walls of the city were razed by order of al-Mu'azzam, the Ayyubid sultan of Damascus. This rendered Jerusalem defenseless and dealt a heavy blow to the city's status.

In 1229, by treaty with Egypt's ruler al-Kamil, Jerusalem came into the hands of Frederick II of Germany. In 1239, after a ten-year truce expired, he began to rebuild the walls; but they were again demolished by an-Nasir Da'ud, the emir of Kerak, in the same year.

In 1243 Jerusalem came again into the power of the Christians, and the walls were repaired. The Khwarezmian Tatars took the city in 1244; and they in turn were driven out by the Egyptians in 1247. In 1260 the Tatars under Hulagu Khan engaged in raids into Palestine. It is unclear if the Mongols were ever in Jerusalem, as it was not seen as a settlement of strategic importance at the time. However, there are reports that some of the Jews that were in Jerusalem temporarily fled to neighboring villages.

In 1267 Nahmanides (also known as Ramban) made aliyah. In the Old City he established the Ramban Synagogue, the oldest active synagogue in Jerusalem.

Mamluks and early Ottoman rule (1300s-1800s)

In 1482, the visiting Dominican priest Felix Fabri described Jerusalem as "a dwelling place of diverse nations of the world, and is, as it were, a collection of all manner of abominations". As "abominations" he listed Saracens, Greeks, Syrians, Jacobites, Abyssinians, Nestorians, Armenians, Gregorians, Maronites, Turcomans, Bedouins, Assassins, a possibly Druze sect, Mamluks, and "the most accursed of all", Jews. Only the Latin Christians "long with all their hearts for Christian princes to come and subject all the country to the authority of the Church of Rome". (A. Stewart, Palestine Pilgrims Text Society, Vol 9-10, p. 384-391)

In 1700, Judah he-Hasid led the largest organized group of Jewish immigrants to the Land of Israel in centuries. His disciples built the Hurba Synagogue, which served was the main synagogue in Jerusalem from the 16th century until 1948 (when it was destroyed by the Arab Legion).

Late Ottoman period (1800s-1917)

1883 map of Jerusalem
(larger image)

Several changes occurred in the mid-nineteenth century, which had long-lasting effects on the city: their implications can be felt today and lie at the root of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict over Jerusalem. The first of these was a trickle of Jewish immigrants from the Middle East and Eastern Europe. The first such immigrants were Orthodox Jews: some were elderly individuals, who came to die in Jerusalem and be buried on the Mount of Olives; others were students, who came with their families to await the coming of the Messiah, and adding new life to the local population. At the same time, European colonial powers also began seeking toeholds in the city, hoping to expand their influence pending the imminent collapse of the Ottoman Empire.

This was also an age of Christian religious revival, and many churches sent missionaries to proselytize among the Muslim and especially the Jewish populations, believing that this would speed the Second Coming of Christ. Finally, the combination of European colonialism and religious zeal was expressed in a new scientific interest in the biblical lands in general and Jerusalem in particular. Archeological and other expeditions made some spectacular finds, which increased interest in Jerusalem even more.

By the 1860s, the city, with an area of only 1 square kilometer, was already overcrowded. Thus began the construction of the New City, the part of Jerusalem outside of the Old City Walls. Seeking new areas to stake their claims, the Russian Orthodox Church began constructing a complex, now known as the Russian Compound, a few hundred meters from The Jaffa Gate. The first attempt at residential settlement outside the walls of Jerusalem was begun by Jews, who built a small complex on the hill overlooking Zion Gate, across the Valley of Hinnom. This settlement, known as Mishkenot Sha’ananim, eventually flourished and set the precedent for other new communities to spring up to the west and north of the Old City. In time, as the communities grew and connected geographically, this became known as the New City.

British Mandate (1917-1948)

By the time General Allenby took Jerusalem from the Ottomans in 1917, the new city was a patchwork of neighborhoods and communities, each with a distinct ethnic character. This continued under British rule, as the New City of Jerusalem grew outside the old city walls and the Old City of Jerusalem gradually emerged as little more than an impoverished older neighborhood. One of the British bequests to the city was a town planning order requiring new buildings in the city to be faced with sandstone and thus preserving some of the overall look of the city, even as it grew. During the 1930s, two important new institutions, the Hadassah Medical Center and Hebrew University were founded in Jerusalem's Mount Scopus.

British rule marked a period of growing unrest. Arab resentment at British rule and the influx of Jewish immigrants (by 1948 one in six Jews in Palestine lived in Jerusalem) boiled over in anti-Jewish riots in Jerusalem in 1920, 1929, and the 1930s that caused significant damage and several deaths. The Jewish community organized self-defense forces in response to the Jerusalem pogrom of April, 1920 and later disturbances; while other Jewish groups carried out bombings and attacks against the British, especially in response to suspected complicity with the Arabs and restrictions on immigration during World War II imposed by the White Paper of 1939. The level of violence continued to escalate throughout the 1930s and 1940s. In July of 1946 members of the underground zionist group Irgun blew up a part of the King David Hotel, where the British forces were temporarily located, an act which led to the death of many civilians.

On November 29, 1947, the United Nations General Assembly approved a plan which partitioned the British Mandate of Palestine into two states: one Jewish and one Arab. Each state would be composed of three major sections, linked by extraterritorial crossroads, plus an Arab enclave at Jaffa. The Greater Jerusalem area would fall under international control. After partition, the fight for Jerusalem escalated, with heavy casualties among both fighters and civilians on the British, Jewish, and Arab sides. By the end of March, 1948, just before the British withdrawal, and with the British increasingly reluctant to intervene, the roads to Jerusalem were cut off by Arab irregulars, placing the Jewish population of the city under siege. The siege was eventually broken, though massacres of civilians occurred on both sides, before the 1948 Arab-Israeli War began with the end of the British Mandate in May of 1948.

Division between Jordan and Israel (1948-1967)

Following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, Jerusalem was divided. The Western half of the New City became part of the newly formed state of Israel, while the eastern half, along with the Old City, was annexed by Jordan. According to David Guinn,

"Concerning Jewish holy sites, Jordan breached its commitment to appoint a committee to discuss, among other topics, free access of Jews to the holy sites under its jurisdiction, mainly in the Western Wall and the important Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives, as provided in the Article 8.2 of the Cease Fire Agreement between it and Israel dated April 3, 1949. Jordan permitted the paving of new roads in the cemetery, and tombstones were used for paving in Jordanian army camps. The Cave of Shimon the Just became a stable.

It should be added, as noted by David Guinn,

"Similar to Jordan's treatment of Jewish holy sites, numerous Muslim holy sites (mosques and cemeteries) under Israeli rule in West Jerusalem fell into disuse and suffered from neglect. Some were destroyed due to Israeli development projects. For example, the Muslim cemetery in Mamilla area was damaged due to the construction of Independence Park in the center of Jerusalem..[O]ne justification that was offered [for the increasing demolition of mosques] was to "[spare] Arab citizens sorrow..".

Israel (since 1967)

Israeli Defense Force (IDF) soldiers atthe Western Wall in Jerusalem after its capture

Many large state gatherings of the State of Israel take place there now, including the official swearing-in of different Israel army officers units, national ceremonies such as memorial services for fallen Israeli soldiers on Yom Hazikaron, huge celebrations on Yom Ha'atzmaut (Israel Independence Day), huge gatherings of tens of thousands on Jewish religious holidays, and ongoing daily prayers by regular attendees. It is also a major high-point for tourists visiting Jerusalem.

Under Israeli control, members of all religions are largely granted access to their holy sites. The major exceptions being some security limitations placed on some Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza Strip from accessing holy sites due to their inadmissibility to Jerusalem, as well as limitations on Jews from visiting the Temple Mount due to both politically motivated restrictions (where they are allowed to walk on the Mount in small groups, but are forbidden to pray or study while there) and religious edicts that forbid Jews from trespassing on what may be the site of the Holy of Holies. Concerns have been raised about possible attacks on the al-Aqsa Mosque after a serious fire broke in the mosque in 1969 (started by Michael Dennis Rohan, an Australian fundamentalist Christian). Riots broke out following the opening of an exit in the Arab Quarter for the Western Wall Tunnel on the instructions of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which prior Prime Minister Shimon Peres had instructed to be put on hold for the sake of peace (stating it has waited for over 1000 years, it could wait a few more).

Conversely, Israeli and other Jews have showed concerns over excavations being done by the Waqf on the Temple Mount that could harm Temple Relics, particularly excavations to the north of Solomon's Stables that were designed to create an emergency exit for them (having been pressured to do so by Israeli authorities). Some Jewish sources allege that the Waqf's excavations in Solomon's Stables also seriously harmed the Southern Wall; however an earthquake in 2004 that damaged the eastern wall could also be to blame.

The status of East Jerusalem remains a highly controversial issue. The international community does not recognize the annexation of the eastern part of the city, and most countries, including the US, maintain their embassies in Tel Aviv.

US Senate

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

Congress makes the following findings:

• (1) Each sovereign nation, under international law and custom, may designate its own capital.
• (2) Jerusalem has been the capital of the Jewish people for 3,000 years.
• (3) Jerusalem has never been the capital for any other state other than for the Jewish people.
• (4) Since 1950, the city of Jerusalem has been the capital of the State of Israel.
• (5) The city of Jerusalem is the seat of Israel's President, Parliament, and Supreme Court, and the site of numerous government ministries and social and cultural institutions.
• (6) The city of Jerusalem is the spiritual center of Judaism, and is also considered a holy city by the members of other religious faiths.
• (7) From 1948-1967, Jerusalem was a divided city and Israeli citizens of all faiths as well as Jewish citizens of all states were denied access to holy sites in the area controlled by Jordan.
• (8) In 1967, the city of Jerusalem was reunited during the conflict known as the Six Day War.
• (9) Since 1967, Jerusalem has been a united city under Israeli law, and persons of all religious faiths have been guaranteed under Israeli law full access to holy sites within the city.
• (10) The United States maintains its embassy in the functioning capital of every country except in the case of our democratic friend and strategic ally, the State of Israel.
• (11) The United States conducts official meetings and other business in the city of Jerusalem in de facto recognition of its status as the capital of Israel.
• (12) United States law states as a matter of United States policy that Jerusalem should be the undivided capital of Israel.
• (13) Relocating the United States Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem would express the continued support of the United States for Israel and for an undivided Jerusalem.

  Status of S.2737 Title: A bill to relocate to Jerusalem the United States Embassy in Israel, and for other purposes.

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

”Israel is going downhill toward decline and fall and God willing its obliteration is certain, ” Khamenei said during ameeting with Islamic Jihad leader Ramadan Abdullah Shallah, according to the Teheran Times.

Pray for the peace of Israel.

Notes

• Jewish Encyclopedia
• 2 Samuel 24:23, which literally has ..Araunah the King gave to the King [David]
• Biblical Archaeology Review, Reading David in Genesis, Gary A. Rendsburg
• Peake's commentary on the Bible
• Israel Finkelstein, The Bible Unearthed
• Bréhier, Louis Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem (1099-1291) Catholic Encyclopedia 1910
• "Seder ha-Dorot", p. 252, 1878 ed.
• Epstein, in "Monatsschrift," xlvii. 344; Jerusalem: Under the Arabs
• Protecting Jerusalem's Holy Sites: A Strategy for Negotiating a Sacred Peace by David E. Guinn (Cambridge University Press, 2006) p.35 ISBN 0521866626
• Jerusalem - 1948, 1967, 2000: Setting the Record Straight by Gerald M. Steinberg (Bar-Ilan University)
• Protecting Jerusalem's Holy Sites: A Strategy for Negotiating a Sacred Peace by David E. Guinn (Cambridge University Press, 2006) p.35 ISBN 0521866626
• Har-el, Menashe. This Is Jerusalem. Canaan Publishing House.
• Lehmann, Clayton Miles (2007-02-22). Palestine: History. The On-line Encyclopedia of the Roman Provinces. The University of South Dakota.
• Zank, Michael. Byzantian Jerusalem. Boston University. Retrieved on 2007-02-01.
• Gil, Moshe (February 1997). A History of Palestine, 634-1099. Cambridge University Press, 70-71. ISBN 0521599849.
• Zank, Michael. Abbasid Period and Fatimid Rule (750–1099). Boston University. Retrieved on 2007-02-01.
• Hoppe, Leslie J. (August 2000). The Holy City: Jerusalem in the Theology of the Old Testament. Michael Glazier Books, 15. ISBN 0814650813.
• "Seder ha-Dorot", p. 252, 1878 ed.
• Epstein, in "Monatsschrift," xlvii. 344; Jerusalem: Under the Arabs
• Hull, Michael D. (June 1999). "First Crusade: Siege of Jerusalem". Military History.
• Main Events in the History of Jerusalem. Jerusalem: The Endless Crusade. The CenturyOne Foundation (2003).
• Riley-Smith, The Crusades, p. 191
• Armstrong, p.304
• Cambridge Illustrated History of the Middle Ages, 1250-1520, p. 264
• Sylvia Schein, "Gesta Dei per Mongolos"
• Reuven Amitai, "Mongol raids into Palestine (1260 and 1300)
• Armstrong, pp. 307-308
• Anderson, pp. 304-305
• Armstrong, p. 310
• Elyon, Lili (April 1999). Jerusalem: Architecture in the Late Ottoman Period. Focus on Israel. Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Retrieved on 2007-04-20.
• Thomas.loc.gov Status of S.2737 Title: A bill to relocate to Jerusalem the United States Embassy in Israel, and for other purposes. Retrieved 2/7/2010
• Jerusalem Post article dated February 2, 2010, Retrieved 2/7/2010

References

• Armstrong, Karen (1996). Jerusalem: One City, Three Faiths. Random House. ISBN 0-679-43596-4.
• Demurger, Alain (2007). Jacques de Molay (in French). Editions Payot&Rivages. ISBN 2228902357.
• Hazard, Harry W. (editor) (1975). Volume III: The Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries, Kenneth M. Setton, general editor, A History of the Crusades, The University of Wisconsin Press. ISBN 0-299-06670-3.
• Jackson, Peter (2005). The Mongols and the West: 1221-1410. Longman. ISBN 978-0582368965.
• Maalouf, Amin (1984). The Crusades Through Arab Eyes. New York: Schocken Books. ISBN 0-8052-0898-4.
• Newman, Sharan (2006). Real History Behind the Templars. Berkley Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-425-21533-3.
• Nicolle, David (2001). The Crusades, Essential Histories. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84176-179-4.
• Richard, Jean (1996). Histoire des Croisades. Fayard. ISBN 2-213-59787-1.
• Riley-Smith, Jonathan (1987, 2005). The Crusades: A History, 2nd edition, Yale Nota Bene. ISBN 0-300-10128-7.
• Riley-Smith, Jonathan (2002). The Oxford History of the Crusades. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0192803123.
• Runciman, Steven (1987 (first published in 1952-1954)). A history of the Crusades 3. Penguin Books. ISBN 9780140137057.
• Schein, Sylvia (October 1979). "Gesta Dei per Mongolos 1300. The Genesis of a Non-Event". The English Historical Review 94 (373): 805–819. doi:10.1093/ehr/XCIV.CCCLXXIII.805.
• Schein, Sylvia (1991). Fideles Crucis: The Papacy, the West, and the Recovery of the Holy Land. Clarendon. ISBN 0198221657.
• Schein, Sylvia (2005). Gateway to the Heavenly City: crusader Jerusalem and the catholic West. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. ISBN 075460649X.
• Sinor, Denis (1999). "The Mongols in the West". Journal of Asian History 33 (1).
• Armstrong, Karen (1996). Jerusalem: One City, Three Faiths. Random House. ISBN 0-679-43596-4.