A city in the Judean hills of Israel. Jerusalem is home to Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
There is evidence of Stone age settlement in the Jerusalem area, these people were then replaced by a race who became known as the Canaanites. The first mention of Jerusalem is in Egyptian hieroglyphs as "Ursalim" - the "City of Peace". Ironically, no city has ever been fought over, destroyed and rebuilt as often as Jerusalem. The city is first mentioned in the Bible under the name "Salem" (Peace) (Gen. 14:18), and was called "Jebus" the city of the Jebusites when Joshua conquered the Land.
In 1250 BC the Hebrews began their conquest of of Canaan. The city itself was captured by King David in 1000 BC and called by him "City of David". King David extended the city by buying a threshing floor outside the walls for 50 Shekels. King Solomon extended the city walls, built the first temple and made Jerusalem the centre of Judaism. In 587 BC Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar and the temple torn down.
In 537 BC the Jews rebuilt the 2nd Temple on the ruins of the first. In 333 BC Alexander the Great captured Jerusalem, after his death it fell under the rule of the Egyptians then the Syrians.
When Antiochus Epiphanes, in 169 BC tried to enforce the worship of Greek gods, the Jews, under the leadership of Judas Maccabeus rebelled and Jerusalem was freed.
The rule of his Hasmonean descendants ended when Herod the Great was crowned King in 37 BC. Herod rebuilt the Temple, fortified the city and the walls. In 66 AD the Jews revolted and captured the city from the Romans, they held on until 70 AD when Titus destroyed the city and the Temple leaving only the supporting wall, now known as the Western or Wailing Wall. After the Bar Kochba revolt in 135 AD, the Roman general Hadrian rebuilt Jerusalem, naming it Aelia Capitolina. Queen Helena, Constantine's mother, visited Jerusalem in 326 AD, built a church on the site of the crucifixion and made the city the centre of Christianity.
The Moslems under the Caliph Omar conquered the city in 637 AD, and built the Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount, the site of the first and second temples. Jerusalem remained under the rule of Islam, until the Crusaders captured it in 1099. In 1187, Jerusalem was occupied by Saladin. In 1229, the Crusaders retook the city, finally sealing its walls in 1244. After a short period of Mongol domination, the Turks captured the city in 1517 and Suliman the Great built the walls that still stand today.
In December 1917 during world war 1, Jerusalem was occupied by British troops under General Allenby.In 1947 the UN recommended that Palestine be divided into a Jewish state and a Palestinian state, the plan was rejected and on the 14th May 1948, war broke out between the Jews and the Arabs, as a result of which Jewish Jerusalem was cut off for months from the rest of the country and suffered heavy shelling and bombardment by the armies of Jordan and Egypt. The Jordanians occupied the eastern half of the city. Jerusalem was declared the official capital of Israel in 1950. The Palestinians also consider Jerusalem to be their capital. The Old City remained in Jordanian hands for nineteen years until the six day war in 1967 when it was recaptured by the Israeli forces.
In 1977 Anwar Sadat the president of Egypt visited the the city as part of the Camp David drive towards peace in the middle east, but the question of Jerusalem was put to one side as it has been in subsequent negociations until this day.
Jerusalem, a city still not at peace.
The History of Jerusalem - Main events
Timeline of Jerusalem History
3500 BCE
Jerusalem first settled on the Ophel above the Gihon Spring
1800 BCE
The Jebusites build the wall Jebus
993 BCE
King David attacks and captures Jerusalem. Jerusalem becomes City of David and capital of the Kingdom of Israel
967 BCE
King Solomon builds the First Temple
937 BCE
Jerusalem becomes the capital of the (southern) Kingdom of Judah led by Rehoboam after the split of the United Monarchy
712 BCE
The Assyrians lay an unsuccessful siege on Jerusalem.
712 BCE
King Hezekiah builds the Pool of Siloam tunnel in order to supply the Gihon Spring water to the city.
606 BCE -586 BCE
The Babylonians destroy Jerusalem in three waves of attacks. King Nebuchadnezzar burns the Solomon's Temple in 586 BCE.
539 BCE
Fall of Babylon
537 BCE
King Cyrus the Great allows the Israelites to return from the Babylonian captivity and rebuild the Temple. The first wave, led by Sheshbazzar, repatriates and reestablishes sacrificial worship on the site of the destroyed Temple. The second wave is led by Zerubbabel , the appointed governor of Judah and the high priest Joshua son of Jehozadak (Haggai 1:12).
516 BCE
The Second Temple is built on the 6th year of Darius the Persian.
458 BCE
Ezra leads 1,800 Jews from Babylonia
445 BCE
The appointed governor of Judah Nehemiah rebuilds the Old City walls Old_City_walls
410 BCE
The Great Assembly is established in Jerusalem.
332 BCE
Hellenistic domination under Alexander the Great.
313 BCE
Ptolemy I of Egypt rules Jerusalem.
175 BCE -165 BCE
Antiochus Epiphanes sacks Jerusalem and erects an altar to Zeus in the Second Temple after plundering it.
167 BCE -164 BCE
Maccabean revolt
165 BCE
25 Kislev The Maccabees recapture Jerusalem, rededicate the Temple. Jewish autonomy is restored under the Hasmoneans
63 BCE
Roman invasion by Pompey
37 BCE
Jerusalem is the capital of Roman client kingdom under Herod the Great , appointed by Rome.
19 BCE
Herod expands the Temple Mount and rebuilds the Temple (the Herod's Temple). Jerusalem becomes a part of the Roman province Iudaea , ruled by procurators.
33
Crucifixion of Jesus
66 -73
First Jewish-Roman War.
70
Titus besieges and sacks Jerusalem and destroys the Temple on Tisha B'Av.
132
Hadrian crushes Bar Kokhba's revolt, reestablishes Jerusalem as the Roman pagan polis Aelia Capitolina, and forbids Jewish presence.
324
Jerusalem becomes a part of the Byzantine Empire.
361
Tolerant to other faiths, pagan Emperor Julian the Apostate announces to the Jews that they are allowed to return to "holy Jerusalem which you have for many years longed to see rebuilt".
390
Church of the Holy Sepulchre is built.
614
Jerusalem falls to Persians led by General Shahrbaraz. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is burned and the True Cross is captured. "Ever since the Persian occupation, ... the Jews had resumed worship on the (Temple Mount) platform ..." (K. Armstrong: p. 229)
629
Byzantine Emperor Heraclius retakes Jerusalem.
638
Muslim Arabs under the leadership of Caliph conquer Jerusalem from Christian Byzantine Empire
687
The Dome of the Rock mosque is built by Caliph Abd al-Malik.
715
The Ummayads build Masjid al-Aqsa.
1009
Caliph Hakim orders destruction of churches and synagogues.
1077
Turks conquer Jerusalem.
1099
First Crusaders capture Jerusalem and slaughter most of the city's Muslim and Jewish inhabitants.
12th century Jerusalem is visited by Yehuda Halevi
1141 Maimonides
1165 Benjamin of Tudela
1187
Saladin captures Jerusalem from Crusaders, allows Jewish settlement.
1192
Richard the Lionheart fails to conquer Jerusalem.
1212
300 Rabbis from England and France settle in Jerusalem.
1244
Kharezmian Tatars conquer the city.
1247
Egyptians conquer the city.
1259
Jerusalem is sacked by the Mongols.
1260
Rule by the Mamelukes Nachmanides goes to Jerusalem and prays at the Western Wall.
1347
The second conquest by the Mamelukes.
1482
The visiting Dominican priest Felix Fabri described Jerusalem as "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".
1517
Sultan Selim of the Ottoman Empire captures Jerusalem.
1535
Suleiman the Magnificent rebuilds walls around Jerusalem.
1541
Muslims seal The Golden Gate to prevent Jewish Messiah's entrance.
1556
Earthquake damages the city.
1700
Judah the Pious with 1,000 followers settle in Jerusalem.
1705
Restrictive legislation against the Jews.
1798
Napoleon visits the area.
1827
First visit by Sir Moses Montefiore.
1831
Sultan Mehemet Ali of Egypt conquers the city.
1838
The first British consulate is opened.
1840
The Ottoman Turks retake the city.
1844
The first census: 7120 Jews, 5760 Muslims, 3390 Christians.
1860
The first Jewish neighborhood Mishkenot Sha'ananim is built outside the Old City walls.
1873 -1875
Mea Shearim is built.
1898
Theodore Herzl meets German Kaiser Wilhelm outside city walls.
1906
Bezalel School of Art is founded.
1917
British Army led by General Allenby captures the city.
1918
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI) is founded (inaugurated in 1925) on Mount Scopus on the land owned by the Jewish National Fund.
1923
The first lecture is delivered by the first president of World Union of Jewish Students (WUJS) Albert Einstein.
1918 -1920
Jerusalem is under British military administration.
1920
Arab riots.
1922 -1948
The British Mandate of Palestine. Haj Amin al-Husayni is appointed Mufti of Jerusalem.
1929
Arab riots in Hebron, Safed and Jerusalem.
1932
King David Hotel is opened. The first issue of The Palestine Post is published.
1947
November 29
1947
UN Partition Plan calls for internationalization of Jerusalem (UN General Assembly Resolution 181).
1948
Arab-Israeli War
April 9: Deir Yassin Massacre
May 13: Hadassah medical convoy massacre
May 14: The term of the British Mandate ends.
May 14: The State of Israel is established at 4 pm
May 28: The Jewish Quarter of the Old City falls to Arab Legion under Glubb Pasha .
July 26: West Jerusalem is proclaimed territory of Israel.
1949
Jerusalem is proclaimed the capital of Israel. The Knesset moves to Jerusalem from Tel-Aviv. Jordan prevents access to the Western Wall and Mount Scopus, in violation of the 1949
Armistice Agreements.
1951
King Abdullah I of Jordan is assassinated by Arab extremists on the Temple Mount.
1953
Establishment of Yad Vashem.
1964
Pope Paul VI visits the city.
1966
Inauguration of new Knesset building. Israel Museum and Shrine of the Book are established.
1967
5-11 June: The Six Day War.
June 7: The Old City is captured by the IDF.
June 28: Israel declares Jerusalem unified and announces free access to holy sites of all religions.
1969
An Australian Protestant extremist burns a part of the al-Aqsa Mosque.
1977
President of Egypt Anwar Sadat visits Jerusalem.
1978
WUJS headquarters moves from London to Jerusalem.
1980
The Jerusalem Law is enacted.
1994
Mutual recognition of Israel and the PLO
Jerusalem does not lie on any important trade routes nor is there any natural reason why this city should be one of the most important places in the world for more than four thousand years.
Brief history of jerusalem
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