Jerusalem

:''For alternate uses see Jerusalem (disambiguation)''

(: القدس ''al-Quds'') is an ancient Middle_Eastern city (31°47'N, 35°13'E) of key importance to the religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Today, Jerusalem is a city of many faces. With a population of 700,000, it is a richly n, and Muslim. The status of the city is hotly disputed. It lies on the 1949 cease-fire line between Israel and the West_Bank. Israel controls the entire city and claims sovereignty over it. According to Israeli law, Jerusalem is the capital of Israel; it serves as the country's seat of government and otherwise functions as capital, but most countries do not recognise Israeli sovereignty over some or all of the city and therefore maintain their embassies in Tel_Aviv. Palestinians also claim all or part of Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian_state. The origin of the name of the city is uncertain. A common theory is that it combines the names of two Biblical cities which may have been Jerusalem: ''Jebus'' (named after the founder of the Jebusites) and ''Salem'' (a Canaanite deity). It is also possible to translate the name as either "Foundation of ''Salem''" or "Foundation of Peace". It is also known by some as the City of David.

History

Antiquity

This city has known many wars and various periods of occupation. At one time it was a city of the Jebusites. Later it came under Jewish control. The Bible, supported by archeological finds, records that King_David defeated the Jebusites in war and captured the city without destroying it. David then expanded the city to the south, and declared it the capital city of the united Kingdom_of_Israel. Later, still according to the Bible, the First Jewish Temple was built in Jerusalem by King_Solomon. The Temple became a major cultural center in the region, eventually overcoming other ritual centers such as Shilo and Bethel. By the end of the "First Temple Period," Jerusalem was the sole acting religious shrine in the kingdom and a center of regular pilgrimage. It was at this time that historical records begin to corroborate the biblical history, and the kings of Judah are historically identifiable, and we learn of the significance the Temple had. Near the end of the reign of King_Solomon, the northern ten tribe split off to form the Kingdom_of_Israel with its capital at Samaria. Jerusalem then become the capital of the southern kingdom, the Kingdom_of_Judah. Jerusalem was the capital of the Kingdom_of_Judah for some 400 years. It had survived (or, as some historians claim, averted) an Assyrian siege in 701_BC, unlike Samaria, the capital of the northern Kingdom_of_Israel, which had fallen in 722_BC. However, the city was overcome by the Babylonians in 598_BC, who then took the young king Jehoiachin into eternal captivity, together with most of the aristocracy of that time. However, the country rebelled again under Zedekiah, prompting the city's repeated conquest and destruction by Nebuchadnezzar. The temple was burnt, and the city's walls were ruined, thus rendering what remained of the city unprotected. After several decades of captivity and the Persian conquest of Bablyon, the Persians allowed the Jews to return to Judah and rebuild the city's walls and the Temple. It has continued to be the capital of Judah, as a province under the Persians, Greek and Romans, with a relatively short period of independence. The Temple complex was upgraded and the Temple itself rebuilt under Herod_the_Great. That structure is known as the Second_Temple. The city was ruined yet again when a civil war accompanied by a revolt against Rome in Judea led to the city's repeated sack and ruin, by the hands of Titus at 70 AD. The Second_Temple was burnt, and the whole city was ruined. The only remaining part of the Temple was a portion of an external (retaining) wall which became known as the Western Wall, the name ''Wailing_Wall'' being used exclusively by non-Jews or Jews estranged from their heritage.

First millennium

Sixty years later, the Roman emperor Hadrian ordered the city to be resettled, under the name ''Aelia Capitolina''. Jews were forbidden to enter the city, but for a single day of the year, The Ninth of Av (see Hebrew_calendar), when they could weep for the destruction of their city at the Temple's only remaining wall. The Byzantine_Empire, which came to control the region in after the split of the Roman_Empire, cherished the city for its Christian history. However, in accordance with traditions of religious tolerance often found in the ancient East, Jews were allowed into it in the 5th_century A.D. Although the Koran does not mention the name "Jerusalem", Islamic tradition holds that it was from Jerusalem that the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven in the Night Journey, or Isra. The city was one of the Arab_empire's first conquests in 638 AD; according to Arab historians of the time, the Caliph Umar_ibn_al-Khattab personally went to the city to receive its submission, cleaning out and praying at the Temple_Mount in the process. Sixty years later, the Dome_of_the_Rock was built, a structure in which there lies the stone where Muhammad is said to have tethered his mount Buraq during the Isra. This is also reputed to be the place where Abraham went to sacrifice his son (Isaac in the Jewish tradition, Ishmael in the Muslim one.) Note that the octagonal and gold-sheeted Dome is not the same thing as the Al-Aqsa_Mosque beside it, which was built more than three centuries later.

Second millennium

On July_15, 1099 during the First_Crusade, Christian soldiers took Jerusalem after a difficult one month siege. They then proceeded to slaughter most of the city's Muslim and Jewish inhabitants. Raymond_d'Aguiliers, chaplain to Raymond_de_Saint-Gilles, Count of Toulouse, wrote: :''Piles of heads, hands, and feet were to be seen in the streets of the city. It was necessary to pick one's way over the bodies of men and horses. But these were small matters compared to what happened at the Temple of Solomon, a place where religious ceremonies were ordinarily chanted. What happened there? If I tell the truth, it will exceed your powers of belief. So let it suffice to say this much, at least, that in the Temple and porch of Solomon, men rode in blood up to their knees and bridle-reins. Indeed, it was a just and splendid judgment of God that this place should be filled with the blood of unbelievers, since it had suffered so long from their blasphemies. The city was filled with corpses and blood.'' (Edward Peters, The First Crusade: The chronicle of Fulcher of Chartres and other source materials, p. 214) Jerusalem became the capital of the Kingdom_of_Jerusalem, which lasted until 1291, although Jerusalem itself was recaptured by Saladin in 1187. 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 taken down by order of the Sultan_of_Damascus; in 1229, by treaty with Egypt, Jerusalem came into the hands of Frederick II of Germany. In 1239 he began to rebuild the walls; but they were again demolished by Da'ud, the emir of Kerak. In 1243 Jerusalem came again into the power of the Christians, and the walls were repaired. The Kharezmian_Tatars took the city in 1244; and they in turn were driven out by the Egyptians in 1247. In 1260 the Tatars under Hulaku_Khan overran the whole land, and the Jews that were in Jerusalem had to flee to the neighboring villages. The early Arab period was also one of religious tolerance. However, in early 11th_century, the Egyptian Caliph Al-Hakim_bi-Amr_Allah ordered the destruction of all churches and synagogues in Jerusalem. The Crusaders, at the end of the century, captured Jerusalem and massacred the whole Jewish and Muslim population. They made Jerusalem the center of a feudal state, of which the King of Jerusalem was the chief. Neither Jews nor Muslims were allowed into the city during that time. In 1187, Jerusalem was retaken by Salah ad-Din, who permitted worship of all religions. In 1244, Sultan Malik_al-Muattam razed the city walls, rendering it again defenseless and dealing a heavy blow to the city's status. In the middle of the 13th_century, Jerusalem was captured by the Egyptian Mameluks. In 1517, it was taken over by the Ottoman_Empire and enjoyed a period of renewal under Suleiman_the_Magnificent - including the rebuilding of magnificent walls of what is now known as the Old City (however, some of the wall foundations are remains of genuine antique walls). The city remained open to all religions, although the empire's faulty management after Suleiman meant slow economical stagnation. 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, Abyssianians, Nestorians, Armenians, Gregorians, Maronites, Turcomans, Bedouins, Assassins, a sect possibly Druzes, Mamelukes, 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)

19th-early 20th centuries

The modern history of Jerusalem began in the mid-nineteenth century, with the decline of the Ottoman Empire. At that time, the city was a backwater, with a population that did not exceed 8,000. Nevertheless, it was, even then, an extremely heterogeneous city because of its significance to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The population was divided into four major communities--Jewish, Christian, Muslim, and Armenian--and the first three of these could be further divided into countless subgroups, based on precise religious affiliation or country of origin. An example of this would be the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which was meticulously partitioned between the Greek Orthodox, Catholic, Armenian, Coptic, and Ethiopian churches. Tensions between the groups ran so deep that the keys to the shrine were kept with a 'neutral' Muslim family for safekeeping. At that time, the communities were located mainly around their primary shrines. The Muslim community, then the largest, surrounded the Haram ash-Sharif or Temple Mount (northeast), the Christians lived mainly in the vicinity of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (northwest), the Jews lived mostly on the slope above the Western Wall(southeast), and the Armenians lived near the Zion Gate (southwest). In no way was this division exclusive, however, it did form the basis of the four quarters during the British Mandate period (1917-1948). 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, which shifted the balance of population. The first such immigrants were ultra-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 their with 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 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 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 Shaananim, 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 conquest

The British were victorious over the Turks in the Middle East and with victory in Palestine, General Sir Edmund_Allenby, commander-in-chief of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force entered Jerusalem on foot, out of respect for the Holy City, on December_11th, 1917. 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 neighborhoods flourished and the Old City of Jerusalem gradually emerged as little more than an impoverished older neighborhood.

Geography

Jerusalem is situated in 31� 46′ 45″ N. lat. and 35� 13′ 25″ E. long., upon the southern spur of a plateau the eastern side of which slopes from 2,460 ft. above sea-level north of the Temple area to 2,130 ft. at the southeastern extremity. The western hill is about 2,500 ft. high and slopes southeast from the Judean plateau. Jerusalem is surrounded upon all sides by valleys, of which those on the north are less pronounced than those on the other three sides. The principal two valleys start northwest of the present city. The first runs eastward with a slight southerly bend (the present Wadi al-Joz), then, deflecting directly south (formerly known as "Kidron Valley," the modern Wadi Sitti Maryam), divides the Mount of Olives from the city. The second runs directly south on the western side of the city, turns eastward at its southeastern extremity, then runs directly east, and joins the first valley near Bir Ayyub ("Job's Well"). It was called in olden times the "Valley of Hinnom," and is the modern Wadi al-Rababi, which is not to be identified with the first-mentioned valley. A third valley, commencing in the northwest where is now the Damascus Gate, ran south-southeasterly down to the Pool of Siloam, and divided the lower part into two hills (the lower and the upper cities of Josephus). This is probably the later Tyropœon ("Cheese-makers'") Valley. A fourth valley led from the western hill (near the present Jaffa Gate) over to the Temple area: it is represented in modern Jerusalem by David Street. A fifth cut the eastern hill into a northern and a southern part. Later Jerusalem was thus built upon four spurs.

Neighborhoods and places

West City

Talpiot

Qiriat_HaYovel

East City

Places

Old_City

Jewish Quarter

Western_Wall

The Cardo

Muslim Quarter

Temple_Mount, site of the former Temple_in_Jerusalem

Dome_of_the_Rock

Al_Aqsa_Mosque

Armenian Quarter

Christian Quarter

Church_of_the_Holy_Sepulchre

Lutheran Church of the Redeemer

Jerusalem's_Old_City_Walls

Mount_Scopus

Hebrew_University_of_Jerusalem

Brigham_Young_University_Jerusalem_Center

Mount_of_Olives

Valley of the Monastery_of_the_Cross

Hotels

King_David_Hotel

David Citadel Hotel

Local government

Mayors

Current mayor of Jerusalem is Uri_Lupolianski, member of the local United_Torah_Judaism faction and the first Ultra-Orthodox Jew to attain this position in the city. Earlier mayors of Jerusalem included:

Yousef_Dia_el-Din_al-Khalidi (during 1899-1906)

Faidi_al-Alami (1906-1909)

Aref_al-Dajani (1909-1918)

Mousa_Kasem_al-Husseini (grandfather of Faisal_Husseini, 1918-1920)

Ragheb_Nashashibi (1920-1934)

Hussein_Fakhri_al-Khalidi (1934-1937)

Mustafa_al-Khalidi (1938-1944)

Daniel_Auster (1944-1945)

Teddy_Kollek (1965-1983)

Ehud_Olmert (1993-2003)

Demographics

{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" align="center" |+Jerusalem's population at different times |- ! style="background:#efefef;" | Year !! style="background:#efefef;" | Jews !! style="background:#efefef;" | Muslims !! style="background:#efefef;" | Christians !! style="background:#efefef;" | Total |- | 1525 || 1000 || 3700 || ? || 4700 |- | 1538 || 1150 || 6750 || ? || 7900 |- | 1553 || 1634 || 11,750 || ? || 12,384 |- | 1562 || 1200 || 11,450 || ? || 12,650 |- | 1844 || 7120 || 5000 || 3390 || 15,510 |- | 1876 || 12,000 || 7560 || 5470 || 25,030 |- | 1896 || 28,110 || 8560 || 8750 || 45,420 |- | 1922 || 34,000 || 13,400 || 14,700 || 62,600 |- | 1931 || 51,200 || 19,900 || 19,300 || 90,500 |- | 1944 || 97,000 || 30,600 || 29,400 || 157,000 |- | 1948 || 100,000 || 40,000 || 25,000 || 165,000 |- | 1967 || 195,700 || 54,963 || 12,646 || 263,307 |- | 1980 || 292,300 || ? || ? || 407,100 |- | 1985 || 327,700 || ? || ? || 457,700 |- | 1987 || 340,000 || 121,000 || 14,000 || 475,000 |- | 1990 || 378,200 || 131,800 || 14,400 || 524,400 |- | 1995 || 482,000 || 164,300 || 16,300 || 662,600 |- | 1996 || 421,200 || ? || ? || 602,100 |- | 2000 || 448,800 || 208,700 || ? || 657,500 |- | 2004 || 464,000 || ? || ? || 692,000 |}

External sources:

http://www.jerusalemites.org/jerusalem/ottoman/24.htm http://www.passia.org/palestine_facts/pdf/pdf2002/jerusalem/populations-j.pdf http://focusonjerusalem.com/jerusalempopchart.html http://www.jewishpeople.net/demofjer.html#Table%201, British census (1922,1931), British estimate (1944).

Jerusalem and the Arab-Israeli conflict

The , 1950 the Knesset passed a resolution that stated Jerusalem was the capital of Israel. '''' () Following the 1948_Arab-Israeli_War, when a Palestinian-Arab state failed to materialize and Palestine was invaded by Egypt and Jordan, Jerusalem was divided. The Western half of the New City became part of the new state of Israel, while the eastern half, along with the Old City, was annexed by Jordan. Jordan did not allow Jewish access to the Western_Wall (known to non-Jews as the Wailing Wall) and Temple_Mount, Judiasm's holiest sites, in the Old City. Jordan constructed a slum within a few feet of the base of the Western Wall and used the area as a garbage dump, and converted some churches to mosques. Christian access to the Western Wall and the Temple_Mount was allowed in many cases, but this was seldom in use, as most of the Christians in Jerusalem were UN officials running between the divided parts. East Jerusalem was captured by the Israelis in the . The status of East Jerusalem remains a highly controversial issue. :''See also: Crusades, Temple_in_Jerusalem, Kingdom_of_Jerusalem, Orient_House''

Current status

Israeli and U.S. law designate Jerusalem as the capital of Israel; hardly any other country recognizes this designation. According to the 1947_UN_Partition_Plan, Jerusalem was supposed to be an international city, not part of either the proposed Jewish or Arab state. Following the 1948_Arab-Israeli_War, West Jerusalem was occupied by Israel, while East Jerusalem (including the Old City) was occupied by Jordan, along with the West_Bank. The Jordanian annexation of the West_Bank (including East Jerusalem) was not internationally recognized, except by the United_Kingdom and Pakistan. In the 1967 Six-Day_War, Israel occupied East Jerusalem, and began taking steps to unify the city under Israeli control. It annexed 6.4 km� of Jordanian Jerusalem and 64 km� of the nearby West Bank. (see

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