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Jerusalem

Jerusalem (31ƒ46?N 35ƒ14?E; Yerushalayim; Arabic: ) al-Quds, , is an ancient Middle Eastern city on the watershed between the Mediterranean Sea and the Dead Sea at an elevation of 650-840 meters. It is located east of Tel Aviv, south of Ramallah, west of Jericho and north of Bethlehem.

Jerusalem has a very long history. Archaeological findings indicate the existence of a settlement in Jerusalem in the 3rd millennium BCE. The first mention of the city in historic sources begins in the 2nd millennium BCE. First built and founded by the Jebusites, it became the capital of the Jewish kingdoms of Israel, Judah and Judea in the First Temple and Second Temple periods. It continued to be the main city in the Holy Land during the Muslim rule. It is a holy city of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Jerusalem is the de facto capital of the modern State of Israel; until 1967, this was comprised only of western Jerusalem. The status of the eastern part of Jerusalem, administered by Israel since 1967, as part of the Israeli capital or a capital for a future Palestinian state, and the control over that part of the city and its holy places, are subjects of international controversy. With a population of 704,900 (as of December 31, 2004 [1]), Jerusalem is a heterogeneous city, representing a wide range of national, religious, and socioeconomic groups. The section called the "Old City" is surrounded by walls and consists of four quarters: Armenian, Christian, Jewish, and Muslim. The current mayor of Jerusalem is Uri Lupolianski, the first Haredi to ever hold such position.

Name

The origin of the name of the city is uncertain. It is possible to understand the name (Hebrew Yerushalayim) as either "Heritage of Salem" or "Heritage of Peace" - a contraction of "heritage" (yerusha) and Salem (Shalem literally "whole" or "in harmony") or "peace" (shalom). (See the Biblical commentator Ramban for explanation.) "Shalem" is the original name used in Genesis 14:18 for the city. Similarly the Amarna Letters call the city Uru?alim in Akkadian, a cognate of the Hebrew Ir Shalem ("city of Salem"). Some consider a connection between the name and Shalim - the deity personifying dusk known from Ugaritic myths and offering lists. The ending -ayim or -im has the appearance of the Hebrew dual or plural suffix respectively. It has been argued that it is a dual form representing the fact that the city lies on two hills however the treatment of the ending as a suffix makes the rest of the name incomprehensible in Hebrew. A Midrashic interpretation comes from Genesis Rabba, which explains that Abraham came to "Shalem" after rescuing Lot. Upon arrival, he asked the king and high priest Melchizedek to bless him, and Melchizedek did so in the name of the Supreme God (indicating that he, like Abraham, was a monotheist). According to exegetes, God immortalizes this encounter between Melchizedek and Abraham by renaming the city in honor of them: the name "Yeru" (derived from "Yireh", the name Abraham gives to Mount Moriah after unbinding Isaac, and explained in Genesis as meaning that God will be revealed there) is placed in front of "Shalem". The plural ending implies the community of all believers in the One God who testify to the city's holiness.

History

According to Jewish mythology and tradition, Jerusalem was founded by Shem and Ever, ancestors of Abraham. Modern archeology traces the earliest written record of the city to Egyptian records of the Bronze Age. It is thought that the city dates back to least as far back as 3000 BCE. It was first built and founded by the Canaanites, who gave it the name Uru Salim, meaning "the city of peace". From about 1600 to 1300 BCE, the city came under Egyptian suzerainty though continued to be governed by Canaanite rulers who paid tribute to the Pharaohs. During this period the city increasingly came under attacks from the Habiru, possibly the ancestors of the Jews.

According to Biblical tradition, the city was controlled by the Jebusites until its conquest by David in c. 1000 BCE. David expanded the city to the south, and declared it the capital city of the united Kingdom of Israel. In c. 960 BCE, Solomon built the First Jewish Temple. For about four centuries after the ten tribes split off to form the northern Kingdom of Israel, Jerusalem served as the capital of the southern Kingdom of Judah.

By the end of the First Temple period, Jerusalem was the sole acting religious shrine in the kingdom and a center of regular pilgrimage. Historical records corroborate some of the Biblical history from around the 9th century BCE and attest the significance of the Temple in Jewish religious life. In 597 BCE, the city was overcome by the Babylonians and in 586 BCE, the city's walls were ruined and the Temple was burnt. After several decades of captivity, the Jews were allowed by Cyrus II of Persia to return to Judah and rebuild the city and the Temple. It continued to be the capital of Judah and center of Jewish worship for another four centuries under the Hasmonean Kingdom. By 19 BCE, the Temple Mount was raised and the Temple was rebuilt under Herod the Great, a Jewish client-king under Roman rule. In 6 CE, the city and Iudaea Province came under direct Roman rule. The Great Jewish Revolt resulted in the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE. The city served as the national capital again for almost 3 years during the Bar Kokhba's revolt against Rome; it was sacked in 135 CE. For almost two millennia since then, Jerusalem did not serve as the national capital of any independent state, until the renewed independence of Israel in 1948.

In 638, the city was taken by the advancing Muslim forces. The rights of the non-Muslims under Islam were governed by the Pact of Umar and Christians and Jews living in the city were granted autonomy in exchange for a required poll tax. Whereas the Byzantine Christian authorities had not tolerated the presence of Jews within the walls of the city, the Muslim rulers allowed the reestablishment of a Jewish community.[2] After the treaty of Capitulation signed with the Byzantines, Umar ordered the Patriarch Sophronius to guide him and those who accompanied him to the sanctuary of King David where he later decided to build a mosque in front of the Rock. The mosque became known as Masjid al Aqsa. In 1099, the city was conquered by the First Crusaders who slaughtered most of its Muslim and Jewish inhabitants. Series of conquests followed: in 1187 by Saladin, 1244 by the Kharezmian Tatars, 1247 by the Egyptians, 1259 by the Mongols, 1260 by the Mamelukes and in 1517, by the Ottoman Turks. In 1917, the British Army led by General Allenby captured the city. As the British Mandate of Palestine was expiring, the 1947 UN Partition Plan (Part III) recommended that "The City of Jerusalem shall be established as a corpus separatum under a special international regime and shall be administered by the United Nations."The 1949 cease-fire line between Israel and Jordan, also known as the Green Line, cuts through the city. From 1949 until 1967, Western Jerusalem was part of Israel and East Jerusalem was part of Jordan. From 1950 to 1967, the capital claimed by Israel comprised Western Jerusalem. After Israel captured Eastern Jerusalem from Jordan in the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel has administered and has asserted sovereignty over the entire city. The status of the city is disputed.

Religious significance

Jerusalem plays an important role in three major religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, as well as in a number of smaller religious groups. A large number of places of have religious significance for these religions, among which the Western Wall, Church of the Holy Sepulchre and Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Jerusalem as the capital of Israel

Israel proclaimed Jerusalem as its capital in 1950 and all the branches of Israeli government (Presidential, Legislative, Judicial and Administrative) are seated in Jerusalem. It is home to a number of key Israeli government buildings, including the Knesset, the Israeli Supreme Court and the houses of the President and Prime Minister. With the exception of the house of the premier, these buildings can be toured.

The United Nations rejected the designation of united Jerusalem as Israel's capital and

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