Jordanian Jerusalem

Six Day War-1967.

Soviets "inform" Syria of impending Israeli attack (may 13). Jordan then signs a military agreement with Egypt on May 30. Israelis forces strikes and wipe out the Egyptians, followed by entering hte old city. Moshe Dayan the Israeli general gives control of Haram to Muslims. The United Nations consequently reject the annexation of Jerusalem. 

Intifadas-"uprising"

1988-1992 1st Intifada(organized, declared) Palestine's vs. Israeli for control. Strikes boycott, barricades, graffiti, violent action was taken against the Israelis. 

2000-present 2nd Intifada provoked by Ariel Sharon

Oslo Accords 1993

First face to face agreement between Israel and PLO in Oslo. 

Letters of Mutual Recognition

Israel acknowledged PLO(Arafat) as rep. of Palestinian people. PLO recognized Israelis right to exist as a state and renounced Jerusalem.

20th Century Jerusalem

Orthodox Jews rejected the rise of Zionism in the 20th Century.One could not just live in Jerusalem and be a Jew. Theodore Herzl stated Jerusalem as irrelevant, suggesting a zionist state be built in Uganda, relations to Judaism didn't have anything to do with Jerusalem. Herzel was referred to as a messiah, son of David. The zionists eventually built Tel Aviv, not Jerusalem. From here spawned the rise of European Nationalism. The British conquered Egypt in 1882. WW1 from 1914-1917, THe Ottomans aligned with Germany against France and Britain. Jerusalem was the headquarters for VIII Turkish Corps . The Armenians consequently flee genocide in Turkey and the Armenian quarter swells. 

France and UK agreement divides former Ottoman Empire. British consisted of jordan. S. Iraq, Palestine...etc. The french took over Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, and N. Iraq. 

Peel Commission 1937, approved by United NAtions in 1947. Conflict between Jews and Arabs equalled riots. War of Independence 1948. British attacked by Jews, pulled troops out, and everyone moved in . Arab-Israeli War was full blown. 

Mamluk & Ottoman Jerusalem

Haram

Mamluk Jerusalem lasted from 1250-1516. Jerusalem slowly gained back its reputation as a religious center, politically and militarily insignificant, it was used as a place of exile. through the development of the Haram, Jerusalem was starting to turn back to a religious center. Although the appeal was returning Black Death, plague, hit Jerusalem accounting for an all time low population. Notable for this time in Jerusalem is the architecture. Known for its distinct red and white stones, domes, and maqarnas. 

Ottoman Jerusalem

(1516-1918)

The Ottoman government flourished, Jerusalem was now under a strong central government. through the rule of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. He repaired the aqueducts and expanded them, rebuilds the walls of Jerusalem as well. The sultan even encouraged Jewish refugees to settle in Jerusalem to restore the city. He also established a "a shari'a court", people need to follow the law but could practice whatever religion they pleased. Restorations of the Haram built up Jerusalem's spiritual reputation, significance, and importance. Suleiman also gave the Western Wall to the Jews as a place of prayer. Myths migrated from the Temple to the wall. 

Crusader Jerusalem

Pope Urban II

1099-1187

Jerusalem comes back under Christian rule. A pivotal moment during Crusader Jerusalem took place in 1095 with the deliverance of Pope Urban II's speech. He called on the nobility to go East and assist Byzantine against the Muslims and to liberate Jerusalem on the way. The siege if Jerusalem is for God's behalf. By 1099 Jerusalem returned to Christianity. The crusaders rebuilt the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. The notable contribution is the chapels reuniting under one roof. As there exists many different Christians in the church, a Muslim is a gate keeper. 

1st Crusade 1095-1099 preached by Pope Urban II 1095

2nd Crusade 1147-1149 preached by St. Bernard

July 4th, 1187 Salah ad-Din 

Jerusalem will surrender and revert back to Muslim

Islamic Jerusalem

Dome of The Rock

Islamic Jerusalem marks the end of Byzantine Jerusalem, the Sassanians take Palestine and Jerusalem, 614-628 CE. 614 is the date that Jews were allowed to resettle back in the Holy Land since the Bar-Kokhba Revolt. In Islamic Jerusalem caliphs are established to lead the Islamic community. Caliph Umar takes Jerusalem in 638. In a written agreement with the Christians he does not allow Jewish settlement, to which later he allowed them to move back in to the city and Jewish population steadily grew. It was never the Muslims keeping them out but the Christians. 

The Haram took the place of the Temple Mount and it is there the Dome of the Rock is established. As Islam rises in prominence, and Mecca becomes the center of faith, Jerusalem's traditions transfer to Mecca. 

Umayyad Dynasty 638-750 CE

Abd al-Maliks purpose in building the Dome of the Rock was to divert pilgrimage from Mecca to Jerusalem because of his rivalry with Ibn Zubayr, playing on Jerusalem's traditions and keeping people around. The Dome of the Rock commissioned in 687 and finished in 691, is a shrine and model of a Christian Martyria (memorial). 

Byzantine Jerusalem

Church of the Holy Sepulcher

312-637 BCE

The Roman city, Aelia Capitalia, replaced Jerusalem. In 285 CE, Emperor Diocletian splits the administration of the Roman Empire between West and East, instituting a tetrarchy. With the division of power, Constantine the Great came to power using christianity to unite his kingdom. Helena, Constantine's mother also had a hand in the reign, to which she built churches. 

The construction of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher became the new axis mundi, the Temple Mount was no longer the center. Then comes Julian, "The Apostate", 361-363, in which his first project is rebuilding the temple. Justinian expands Jerusalem and builds the Nea Chruch. The Nea Church is thought to be Solomon's Temple. Perhaps Justinian was rebuilding a structure to commemorate the earlier shrine.

Jerusalem in Revolt

Herod's Kingdom (shown above) is split into three divisions to three of his sons, powers were much more limited than when under Herod. As Herod was the last to be called King, his three sons Archelaus, Herod Antipas, and Herod Philip ruled respectively. All three eventually were sent into exile by the ROmans and the Herodian rulers were gradually replaced by Roman procurators. With all the shortcomings of the rulers their ineffective leadership, Roman's inexperienced government led to the rise of Jewish nationalism. Growing internal Jewish conflict resulted in the steady decline of law and order, 66 CE marked Jewish militant in open revolt against Rome. In symbol of their revolt against Rome. the Jewish minted their own coins as a way to declare their independence. 

Unfortunately the revolt came to an end in 67 CE with the guidance of Vespasian who wiped out the Jewish forces. Accordingly Vespasian became Emperor and left the revolt to son Titus. 

73 CE the Temple is destroyed. 

In times such as these cognitive dissonance strikes again. Vespasian instituted special tax on Jews as an incentive to renounce faith or support Rome and make it stronger. Therefore Judaism rooted itself in spiritual matters, they did not need a physical temple or place to practice Judaism just like Christianity. 

Masada

Rome made jewish captives build a ramp to Masada. 132 BCE marks the three year Bar-Kokhba revolt.Emperor Hadrian punished Jews bloodily, and rebuilt Jerusalem as a roman city. In response to the destruction of the Temple and conversion to ROman ways, synagogues were on the rise. 

Roman Jerusalem

Herodian Temple Mount

Roman Rule began in Palestine around 63 BCE. Pompey besieged Jerusalem and annexed it for Rome. Rome backed Herod as the King of Judea through Parthian invasion. From here the rise of Herod the Great starts, 37 BCE Herod gets Jerusalem from Parthians after siege. Herod now walks a thin line between pleasing the Jews and Romans. He is known as a "client king", meaning he wanted to please everyone on both sides. Herod the Great ultimately ruled from 37 to 4 BCE, and through this time was known to be extremely paranoid and impulsive. He murdered masses of people, even his own sons. In light of that Herod conducted many epic building projects. Among them lie the Herodian Temple Mount, 15 football fields long, with retaining walls 80 ft. tall, and stones thats were 40 plus ft weighing 100 tons.

Herod the Great although a good king constructively and economically got a bad wrap from the Jews who essentially hated him. Working both sides of the field did not fly with the Jews.

Good Herod: offered relief during famine, inanimate objects on coins, employed Jews through his building projects. Bad Herod: killed his own sons, family forcibly judaized , half worked for the jews and half for romans.

Hellenistic Jerusalem/Hasmonean Jerusalem

Alexander the Great coin

The persians for the first time in history started to use gold, silver, and bronze coins as currency and propaganda, hence Alexander the Great on a coin. 336-323 BCE, Alexander the Great defeats conquers everything including PAlestine. In 333 BCE, alexander the GReat also defeats King Darius at the Battle of Issus, followed by his death in 323 BCE. With all of his vast land his kingdom divides into the Ptolemies (Egyptains), and the Seleucids (Syrians). In short the Ptolemies captured Jeruslaem in 320 BCE, but then were beat by Antiochus III in 201 BCE. He advocated Hellenism and to "speak greek". 

The Hellenization of Jerusalem took place between 201-164 BCE. Every aspect of JEwish life was affected in that it conflicted with hellenizaton. The joining of the two is evident in Jewish funerary inscriptions which were done in Greek or In jewish homes were mosaics of Greek stories and characters.  The zodiac symbols were even assimilated into Jewish place of worship. Greeks basically took over in every way and turned the temple into a temple for Zeus! Some Jews welcomed it and other didn't and caused a REVOLT!

As the conservative Jews rebelled it was dubbed the Maccabean Revolt due to its leader Judas Maccabeus. They were finally successful by 165 BCE, and regained control of Jerusalem and the temple. The sacrificial system was resumed and in celebration they lit a candle which they had enough oil for one and by a miracle of God it lasted eight days to which established Hanukkah. Leaders descendants of "hasmon" restored the Golden Age! Hasmonean Rulers increasingly became hellenized to which they assumed office of high priest and King. They forcibly judaized surrounding regions. This caused a resurgence in Jerusalem's size and became a major urban center again. To conclude the Roman's came along and conquered by 63 BCE, this marks the end of Jewish self rule.

Persian Jerusalem

Cyrus' Cylinder

Persian Jerusalem includes the building of the second temple, 539-70 BCE. 

King Cyrus, ruler of the Persians, conquered the Babylonians, while the Judians were in exile. During this time of non-Davidic Kings, it was important to the "temporary" kings to portray themselves as liberators and not conquers. With all the change in JErusalem there consisted of three camps in Jerusalem. 1. The Jews who stayed in Jerusalem that had no skills and were poor. 2. The Jews who wanted to go back to Jerusalem. 3. Jews that wanted to stay in Babylon. This conflict between these groups made Jewish people turn against fellow Jewish. 

Biblically speaking there has to be a rationale for the break of David's Promise. In Isaiah, it states that King Cyrus was a foreign king that was anointed but was NOT a son of David. With this confusing time came the introduction of an evil counterpart as part of a rationalization for what was taking place. Satan begins to take blame for all BAD! Cyrus interpretation for his ruling was that God told him to take over...

Eventually a THIRD Temple was rebuilt between 520-515 BCE under Darius 1. Even with the temple rebuilt Judaism while in exile adapted ways to keep their faith even with the absence of the temple, through laws and holidays. Therefore was the temple even necessary? Poverty took over Jerusalem in this period and its population was small, but luckily a high priest comes and takes control and changes the understandings of Jerusalem since the first temple. 

Josiah's Jerusalem:Centralization of Religion

Josiah reigned from 640-609 BCE. During this time Jerusalem grew in prosperity and population due to the victory over the Assyrians. With this new found growth there also existed political and religious unrest with the new people who moved to Jerusalem. Meanwhile Josiah aided by his court advisors found a scroll known as "The Law". From here on out Josiah embarks on religious reform just like Hezekiah did but in a different way. While Hezekiah tore shrines for the Hebrew God because he wanted one place of worship, Josiah shrines had different Gods. "The Law" was to be commanded and obeyed, this marked the transition of Cult of Yahweh to the Law, text, and tradition. 

Society was transitioning just as much as religious form. There started to be a lost of astricas (receipts) and unofficial literature popping up. For example a Lachish letter from a soldier stating he knows how to read and write. Written in 587 BCE, is evidence that it might of been a societal expectation to know how to read and write, during Josiah's Jerusalem society know was one of literacy.

Hezekiah's Jerusalem

Hezekiah's Tunnel

Hezekiah's Jerusalem is known as "The growth of the city", many changes took place and in turn Jerusalem went through a Golden Age. 

Leading up to that point Jerusalem went through some rough patches. Rehoboam, Solomon's son who reigned from 930-913 BCE, wanted to show people that he was entirely more superior than his father. In turn the North people rebelled and became Israel, while Rehoboam was leader over the 2 tribes in the South, becoming Judah. In response to the separation of the North and South, the North set up two shrines to which the people could worship so they would have to leave to the South to support their economy. In the midst of their differences, pacts and alliances and battles are taking place. In short, the rise of the Assyrian Empire begins, but eventually they fall to the reign of the Babylonians in 609 BCE. 

The North now starts to flee to the South causing Urbanization. They also change their language to Aramaic. Jerusalem drastically changes in the realms of family structures, religious movements, centralization of power, social justice issues, and urban vs, rural. In prep for these changes Hezekiah starts to fortify and increase water supply, hence Hezekiah's tunnel. From this archaeological evidence we conclude he was preparing for war against Assyria. Hezekiah was successful in his feat and went on religious reform, which was only to be turned over by successor Josiah. 

Eliade: Theopanies and Signs

The Last Judgment by Gislebertus exemplifies Eliades described threshold that separates the spaces of the profane and the religious. It is the boundary that distinguishes and opposes two worlds while at the same time represents the place where passage from the profane to the sacred is possible (Eliade 25).This essentially is the judgment place where God in the middle decides if you rise to heaven or sink to hell, as represented by the weighing of souls. This idea of judgment acting as a threshold to the entrance of the church stems from earlier times in Babylon, Egypt, and Israel.

Again this idea of profane space being separated from religious space is still prevalent in todays society. Such as the faith of catholicism. With the entrance into the church, one uses holy water and blesses themselves, symbolic of purifying themselves. It is representative of passage from one space to another, the church. For a believer, the church shares in a different space from the street in which it stands (Eliade 25). This is a concept in which to keep in mind when thinking of sacred space and its symbolic rituals. 

David's Jerusalem: Part 2

Ark of the Covenant

The Ark of the Covenant, representation of the presence of God, is one of the five points where Jerusalem derives its sacredness. Along with God choosing Jerusalem, creation and the sabbath, Mt. Moriah, and Melchizedek's Salem. The Ark of the Covenant is notable in that it is central to all conquest stories, but once in the Temple it was not mentioned after that, because the Temple now became the central of importance. Keeping with this idea once the temple was destroyed the Ark once again became the center of importance. Biblical references to the ark of the Covenant lie in the Book of Exodus and Samuels. 

Lamassu from Khorsbad

 In relation to the Ark of the Covenant, a cherub is often found on top of an Ark in resemblance of protection. Often misinterpreted as baby angels, they were more along the lines of Babylonian Lamassus, a human headed winged lion. They are protectors and guardians, such as put in front of gates and entrance ways throughout the Ancient Near East consistent with Biblical text. In biblical texts these protectors can be relayed back to the story of the protection of the  gates of the Garden of Eden. 

Canaanite & David's Jerusalem

Gihon Springs

Main settlement factors for the area of Canaanite were respectively: water, agriculture, communication and trade. It also conveniently sits on a watershed highway. These resources being central to the land were also referred to in the Hebrew Bible. Such that claims made in the Hebrew Bible sometimes accurately describe actual landmarks still in existence in what is now Jerusalem. In support of Bible claims also exist clay figurines. These figurines with names of enemies carved onto them, followed by the smashing of the these figures to curse a person also provide evidence that Jerusalem were a real place as mentioned in the Bible and were big enough to be worthy of curse. For further evidence the Book of Luke makes many references to history that are credible today. 

City of David

The City of David established around 1000 BCE, lies between the Kidron and Central Valley. There is much skepticism that surrounds the figure of David, did he exist or not? In recent times there is the Tel Dan inscription that is the first non-biblical reference to David. This is NOT evidence that David existed but rather evidence that people referred to themselves as the "House of David", in which someone thought he exists. 

Jerusalem as Sacred Place: Key Points

Mt. Zion

Mt. Zion in Jerusalem is central to the history of the biblical text to which Solomon's temple resides. In Jerusalem lie many temples dating back to times earlier than Jerusalem, such as ziggurats from the Mesopotamian Era, in which they also served as a place for worship. The concept of building temples is a recurring theme throughout different religions and is thought to be divine in nature, meaning plans for a temple were lowered from the heavens or given by divine decree. 

On many accounts these sacred spaces attract stories and legends that may be historical or borrowed, in which build the reputation of the space. Such as the story of Adam being buried under the Dome of the Rock on Mt. Zion, which is tradition not actually recorded in biblical text. Stories such as this make Jerusalem's reputation as enormous as it is.

Now not only is there sacred space but sacred time that is consecrated and holy. This idea of sacred time has made its way into many faiths as a day of rest. A distinct benefit of sacred time is the undertaking of a religious identity through sacred time as there may not be a sacred space to which one may go. 

Remember:

Sacred Spaces in Jerusalem

Judaism: Temple Mount, Western Wall

Christianity: Holy Sepucher 

Muslim: Dome of the Rock, Al Aqsa Mosque

Hw: Read Eliade Ch1-2

Jerusalem as Sacred Space: Study Tips

The infamous vulcan sign has taken on a whole new meaning as dubbed by Dr. Cargill in the first lecture of Jerusalem 10W. You are looking at a map of Jerusalem, essentially. The 2 fingers to the right are the city of David while the Kidron Valley lies to the right of the two fingers. Where the two right fingers split from the palm would lie the Temple Mount. In between the left and right set of fingers is the Tyropean Valley also known as the Central Valley, while the outside of the 2 left fingers are the Hinnom Valley. In a nut shell that is the map of Jerusalem conveniently made for easy studying, as mentioned in lecture a portion of tests will be map identification. 

The Holy City is split into 5 quarters as seen above. 

NW-Christian

NE-Islamic

SW-Armeniam

SE-Jewish

E-temple Mount

In conclusion to the study tips is an easy summarization of how sacred space comes to be.

1. Birthplace of high profile being, or occurrence of supernatural as seen by witnesses.

2. People pilgrimage to experience the space

3. People start to leave things in resemblance of a shrine, start to venerate the site

4. Build something in commemoration of the sacred space

5. Visitors come in large numbers

6. To accommodate, buildings are built to house visitors leading to a whole established sacred space.

Two things to remember...

1. The Book of Revelation does NOT have an S at the end!

2. Archaeology can be used as a weapon!

HW: Look at Jerusalem via Google Map located on the course website.