The Jewish population returned to their homeland, and to Jerusalem. Their city was a sorry sight, largely in ruins. Where once there had been a Temple, palaces, houses and commercial buildings, now there was rubble.
Full Answer
What is the history of Jerusalem?
1200 BCE - Jerusalem is conquered by Canaanites (Jebusites) Iron Age II (1000-529 BCE) 1000 BCE - King David Conquers Jerusalem; Declares City Capital of Jewish Kingdom 960 BCE - David's Son, King Solomon, Builds First Jewish Temple
How big was Jerusalem at the end of the first temple?
By the end of the First Temple period (the First Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 B.C.E.), the walled city of Jerusalem covered 160 acres. By that time, settlement also extended northward outside the city walls, all of which expanded the city further.
What was Jerusalem like in the Persian Empire?
Persian Period (539-322 BCE) 1 539 BCE - Persian Ruler Cyrus the Great Conquers Babylonian Empire, Including Jerusalem 2 516 BCE - Cyrus Permits Jews in Babylonian Exile to Return to Jerusalem; Second Temple Built 3 445-425 BCE - Nehemiah the Prophet Rebuilds the Walls of Jerusalem; City Confined to Eastern Hill
Why is Jerusalem shaded in the Middle East?
The shaded area reflects the current walled Old City of Jerusalem. The next period Geva considers is the period of the United Monarchy, the time of King David and King Solomon and a couple centuries thereafter (1000 B.C.E. down to about the eighth century B.C.E.). In David’s time, the borders of the city did not change from the previous period.
What was Jerusalem before?
Jebus, Zion, City of David An ancient settlement of Jerusalem, founded as early as the Bronze Age on the hill above the Gihon Spring, was, according to the Bible, named Jebus. Called the "Fortress of Zion" (metsudat Zion), it was renamed as the "City of David", and was known by this name in antiquity.
What was Jerusalem called before Israel?
From its earliest name Ursalim, Jerusalem's name has mirrored the city's conquerors, passing through Jebus to the Roman Aelia Capitolina to al-Quds - and back to the ancient Israelite Yerushalayim.
Who were the very first inhabitants of Jerusalem?
According to the Bible, Jerusalem at this time was known as Jebus and its independent Canaanite inhabitants at this time were known as Jebusites.
What tribe did Jerusalem belong to?
Although Jerusalem was in the territory allocated to the tribe of Benjamin (Joshua 18:28), it remained under the independent control of the Jebusites. Judges 1:21 points to the city being within the territory of Benjamin, while Joshua 15:63 implies that the city was within the territory of Judah.
Who lived in Palestine first?
The earliest human remains in the region were found in Ubeidiya, some 3 km south of the Sea of Galilee, in the Jordan Rift Valley. The remains are dated to the Pleistocene, c. 1.5 million years ago. These are traces of the earliest migration of Homo erectus out of Africa.
What did the Romans call Israel?
It was named after the Tetrarchy of Judaea, but the Roman province encompassed a much larger territory. The name "Judaea" was derived from the Iron Age Kingdom of Judah. Before 4 August 70 is referred to as Second Temple Judaism, from which the Tannaim and Early Christianity emerged.
Where did Jews live before Israel?
Most of the Jewish population was exiled to Babylon, but some Jews remained. About 150 years later (539 BCE), the Persians conquered Babylon and permitted the Jews in exile to return to Israel and authorized the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem.
What was Palestine called in ancient times?
Definition. Palestine in the ancient world was part of the region known as Canaan where the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah were located.
What tribe is Jesus from?
Tribe of Judah - Wikipedia.
What language did the Jesus speak?
AramaicMost religious scholars and historians agree with Pope Francis that the historical Jesus principally spoke a Galilean dialect of Aramaic. Through trade, invasions and conquest, the Aramaic language had spread far afield by the 7th century B.C., and would become the lingua franca in much of the Middle East.
Where did Jews originate?
Land of IsraelJews originated as an ethnic and religious group in the Middle East during the second millennium BCE, in a part of the Levant known as the Land of Israel.
Where did Jews live before Israel?
Most of the Jewish population was exiled to Babylon, but some Jews remained. About 150 years later (539 BCE), the Persians conquered Babylon and permitted the Jews in exile to return to Israel and authorized the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem.
When did Jerusalem become part of Israel?
Jerusalem was reunified under Israeli rule as a result of the 1967 Six-Day War launched against Israel by the Arab world.
What was Israel before 1948?
The region was ruled under the British Mandate for Palestine until 1948, when the Jewish State of Israel was proclaimed in part of the ancient land of Israel. This was made possible by the Zionist movement and its promotion of mass Jewish immigration.
Where did Jews originate?
Land of IsraelJews originated as an ethnic and religious group in the Middle East during the second millennium BCE, in a part of the Levant known as the Land of Israel.
What is the shaded area of Jerusalem?
The shaded area reflects the current walled Old City of Jerusalem.
What happened to the population of Jerusalem in the 10th century?
By the 10th–11th centuries C.E., the city was confined to the area of the present Old City.
How many people lived in Jerusalem during the Roman era?
The next period— the Herodian (or Early Roman) period —extending from about 50 B.C.E. to the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in 70 C.E., includes the time when Jesus is associated with the city. Again, this period is very well documented archaeologically, but estimates of the city’s population at the time of the Roman destruction vary widely. One scholar estimated the number at nearly a quarter million, another at more than a 100,000. Several put the number around 75,000. A number of others estimated between 25,000 and 75,000. Geva, always the population minimalist, estimates the number at 20,000.
What is the first period of Jerusalem?
The first period that Geva considers in his study is from the 18th–11th centuries B.C. E. (Middle Bronze Age II to Iron Age I, in archaeological terms), the period before the arrival of the Israelites. Jerusalem was then confined to the small spur south of the Temple Mount known today as the City of David. As Geva reminds us, even then Jerusalem “was the center of an important territorial entity.” From this period, the area includes a massive fortification system that has recently been excavated. Overall, however, the area comprises only about 11–12 acres. Geva estimates the population of the city during this period at between 500 and 700 “at most.” (Previously other prominent scholars had estimated Jerusalem’s population in this period as 880–1,100, 1,000, 2,500, 3,000; still this is hardly what we would consider a metropolis.)
How many acres were there in Jerusalem?
By the end of the First Temple period (the First Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 B.C.E.), the walled city of Jerusalem covered 160 acres. By that time, settlement also extended northward outside the city walls, all of which expanded the city further. At its height, the population of Jerusalem at the end of the eighth century B.C.E., ...
How did the Crusades impact Jerusalem?
What Were the Crusades and How Did They Impact Jerusalem? Some of the most famous churches in Jerusalem were built during the Christian Crusades by Crusaders wishing to memorialize sites they believed to have great Christian significance.
Where was Jerusalem confined to?
Jerusalem was then confined to the small spur south of the Temple Mount known today as the City of David. As Geva reminds us, even then Jerusalem “was the center of an important territorial entity.”. From this period, the area includes a massive fortification system that has recently been excavated.
Where was Pontius Pilate found?
The second is a stone bearing the name of Pontius Pilate. It was found in the Mediterranean port city of Caesarea, the capital of Judea at the time, in secondary use as the step of a theater.
What is Joseph's burial box?
One is an ossuary – a burial bone box – inscribed with "Joseph, son of Caiaphas the high priest."
Is it rare to find artifacts that directly relate to historical figures?
According to Mevorach it's rare to find artifacts that directly relate to historical figures.
What is the most beautiful gate in Jerusalem?
1. Damascus Gate , 1890. One of Jerusalem’s most beautiful gates, built in 1537 under the rule of the Ottoman Empire.
What is the name of the gate that Israeli soldiers broke into the Old City during the 1967 war?
Zion gate leads into the Jewish Quarter and was the gate through which Israeli soldiers broke into the Old City during the 1967 war. The gate closed and guarded by British soldiers during the Arab revolt against Jews and the British colonial rule, 1938. Zion Gate , today.
What is the name of the wall in Jerusalem that was built in 1537?
Damascus Gate, 1890. One of Jerusalem’s most beautiful gates, built in 1537 under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. Damascus Gate, today. 2. The Western Wall, 1898. Notice that some stones contained writings in Hebrew, believed to be the work of visitors who wanted to commemorate their names upon the wall.
What is the significance of Jerusalem Day?
Jerusalem Day commemorates the unification of the city in 1967 under Israeli sovereignty, when IDF soldiers liberated the Old City from Jordanian occupation.
How many graves are there in Mount Scopus?
Located on Mount Scopus, the cemetery contains some 2500 graves of fallen soldiers who died in the region during World War I.
How long did it take for the Israelis to return to the Western Wall?
Only then were Israelis able to return to the holiest place on earth for the Jewish people, the Western Wall, after 20 years during which they had been denied access to the site.
Where are the Lancers buried?
Overlooking the David Citadel from Jaffa Gate, today. 16. The British War Cemetery of Jerusalem, 1917. Located on Mount Scopus, the cemetery contains some 2500 graves of fallen soldiers who died in the region during World War I.
What did ancient Jerusalem look like?
What did ancient Jerusalem look like? Picture an outcrop of rock dropping away steeply on three sides. Sitting on top is a citadel, perched like a hawk above a walled keep and a lookout tower.
Why did David choose Jerusalem?
He had grand plans, and his capital in Hebron did not fit with them. Hebron was too far south, and weighed down with history and tradition. David turned his eyes towards Jebus/Jerusalem . It was better placed, more central, on the border between Judah and the northern tribes.
What was an ancient fortress like?
Fortresses at this period in history usually had the following tactical features:
Why did the people of Jebus hold a riotous harvest festival?
When the threshing was finished, the people held a riotous harvest festival to give thanks to Nature. Jebus/Jerusalem was a place of hard work – peasants mostly, living their lives as best they could.
What was David's weak spot?
But David used his wits. He looked for its weak spot – in this case, the underground water shaft that led from the walled town down to its water supply (see the reconstruction below).
Did David penetrate the tunnel?
David knew this, and managed to penetrate the tunnel. He was then able to scale the water shaft and attack Jebus from the shaft of the well. He was, as we know, successful.
Did Jebus worship fertility gods?
Before David came there, the people of Jebus worshipped the fertility gods. They probably continued to do so for many years, even though this was officially frowned on in later centuries. Ordinary farming people reasoned that the forces of Nature had made the land blossom, and that it would be ungrateful – and foolish – to neglect them.
Why did David choose this particular rocky site for his capital?
Why did David choose this particular rocky site for his capital? It was of no great importance to anyone, but it lay in a strategic position between two rival kingdoms: Israel in the north, ruled by Ishbaal the successor of Saul, and Judah in the south which David, at that time just an outlaw chieftain, had recently conquered (see Map 6: the kingdoms of Israel and Judah at MAPS ).
Where did Hezekiah build the new fortifications?
He built new fortifications and an underground tunnel in Jerusalem (see bottom right of map), bringing water from the Gihon Spring to the Pool of Siloam inside the city. Despite the new walls and the water supply, Hezekiah could not withstand real trouble when it came. In 701BC Sennacherib of Assyria ‘came down like a wolf on the fold’, ...
What happened in Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile?
What happened in Jerusalem after the Babylonian Exile? The Jewish population returned to their homeland, and to Jerusalem.
Why did King David choose Jerusalem as his capital?
This topographic map shows how Jerusalem was built on rock and surrounded by rocky hills and valleys. The site was a natural fortress – no doubt that’s why King David chose it as his capital.
What did Jerusalem look like at the time of King David?
What did Jerusalem look like at the time of King David? When David arrived, it was more of a fortress than a city. And the fortress was called Jebus, not Jerusalem.
What about David’s old capital, Hebron?
What about David’s old capital, Hebron? It did not suit David’s purposes. He wanted a fresh start, a new base of power free of associations with the old regime. Jebus was ideal, because it was in a neutral area without a history of its own. At that stage it was only a fortress/settlement, not a city at all, with an estimated population of about two thousand people. There was
What was the largest sacred area in the world at the time?
He did this by building a vast stone platform, making the Temple area the largest sacred area in the world at that time – easily outdoing the Acropolis in Athens.
What did Jerusalem look like when Jesus was in the flesh and walked on this Earth?
During the reign of Herod the Great (37-4 B.C.), who ruled over Israel (now called Judea) as a Roman client king, Jerusalem underwent a complete make-over through the king's numerous building projects, including the expansion of the Second Temple, that is referred to as Herod's Temple, the construction of palaces and citadels, a theater, a hippodrome and bridges and the development of water supplies for the city. In the 33 years of his reign, Herod transformed the city to gain some acceptance and support by the population, as he was not Jewish by birth, but was an Edomite, a descendent of Esau, and his family had converted to the Jewish faith. He also aimed at gaining the support of the Roman authorities by remodeling the city with a Roman design and lifestyle in mind, as the construction of a theater and of a hippodrome built like a Roman circus demonstrates, in addition to the Antonia fortress, which was a military barracks named after his patron Mark Anthony. Click here to learn what the Roman Empire looked like at the Time of Jesus.
How long was the wall in Jerusalem?
The WALLS were a high stone wall that surrounded the entire city, about 4 miles long. In the time of Jesus, it protected an area of about a square mile, where about 25,000 people lived. At intervals along the wall were huge gates, each having a customs station, where publicans collected taxes on all merchandise entering or exiting Jerusalem.
How did Herod transform the city?
In the 33 years of his reign, Herod transformed the city to gain some acceptance and support by the population, as he was not Jewish by birth, but was an Edomite, a descendent of Esau, and his family had converted to the Jewish faith. He also aimed at gaining the support of the Roman authorities by remodeling the city with a Roman design ...
What year did the Jews revolt against Rome?
In the year 66 A.D. things changed, the Jews of Judea began revolting against Rome and, just as prophesied by Jesus, Rome, in response, dispatched its army to quench the rebellion and restore order in the region.
What was Herod's theatre?
Herod the Great built a theatre there, which was a large, open-air, stone auditorium with semicircular rows of seats ascending from a central stage, designed in the classic Roman style, for the rich Jewish people , who gathered there to watch Greek and Roman plays.
How many districts were there in Jerusalem?
The new rebuilt city was divided into seven districts, it occupied the territory of ancient Jerusalem, only leaving the southern part of it outside the walls; the Jews were excluded on pain of death. Despite the many and massive buildings (temple of Jupiter Capitolino, perhaps on the site of the ancient Temple, temple of Aphrodite, theater, baths, etc.), the political and cultural importance of the city was very humble, and much lower than Caesarea.
Why is the Third Temple not called the Third Temple?
It is not called the "Third Temple" because the rituals and the animal sacrifices continued without interruption during the whole renovation project. The Sanhedrin (Jewish religious ruling court) met in the eastern end of the Royal Stoa, a.k.a. Royal Porch.
