On Monday, the United States formally opened its embassy in Jerusalem, finalizing the relocation of the U.S. mission to Israel from the previous location in Tel Aviv. Here are nine things you should know about one of the world’s oldest and most venerated cities.
1. Jerusalem is one of the oldest cities in the world. Evidence indicates the area within present-day Jerusalem was settled as far back as the Copper Age, sometime in the fourth millennium BC. There is also some evidence that a permanent settlement could have existed as early as Bronze Age, around 3000 to 2800 BC.
2. Jerusalem is not only one of the oldest cities in history but is also one of the most contested. According to historian Eric H. Kline, the city has been destroyed at least twice, besieged 23 times, attacked an additional 52 times, and captured and recaptured 44 times.
3. The name “Jerusalem” occurs 806 times in the Bible—660 times in the Old Testament and 146 times in the New Testament (not including synonyms used to reference the city). The first occurrence of Jerusalem is found in Joshua 10:1 (“As soon as Adoni-zedek, king of Jerusalem, heard how Joshua had captured Ai”). Some scholars also believe an allusion to Jerusalem appears in Genesis 14:18 with the reference to Melchizedek, king of Salem, because poetic parallel construction in Psalm 76:2 equates Salem with Zion.
4. Jerusalem is home to some of the most holy sites in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. For Christians, the city is significant because it was the location of Jesus’s Last Supper; of his arrest, trial, and crucifixion; of his nearby burial; of his resurrection and post-resurrection appearances; and of his ascension and promise to return. For Jews, the city is home to the Kotel, or Western Wall, a remnant of the retaining wall of the mount from the Holy Temple. As Erica Chernofsky notes, “Jews believe that this was the location of the foundation stone from which the world was created, and where Abraham prepared to sacrifice his son Isaac. Many Jews believe the Dome of the Rock is the site of the Holy of Holies.” (The Holy of Holies, located within the Temple Mount, is the most sacred site in Judaism.) In Islam, the Dome of the Rock is where Muslims believe Muhammad ascended to heaven after being transported from Mecca to the location where the Al-Aqsa Mosque now stands. This site is the third holiest site for Muslims, after Mecca and Medina.
5. After being anointed king of Israel, King David captured the city of Jerusalem from the Jebusites (Canaanites) and made it the nation’s capital (2 Sam. 5:3-6). The city remained the capital of Israel until the Romans sacked it in AD 70. From that point until 1948, various non-Jewish factions controlled the city.
6. From 1517 to 1917, the city was controlled by the Ottoman Empire, and then from 1917 to 1947, by the British Empire. In 1947 the United Nations developed the Partition Plan for Palestine, a proposal to divide the city between Israel and Palestine. Before the plan could be implemented, though, war broke out in the region. The war of 1948 resulted in the division of Jerusalem, with the Israelis controlling West Jerusalem and the Jordanians controlling East Jerusalem, including the area known as the Old City with the religious holy sites. The city remained divided between Arabs and Jews until the Six Day War.
7. For two decades after the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, tensions remained between Israel and its Arab neighbors. In May 1967, Egypt, Jordan, and Syria began mobilizing their military forces and initiated a naval blockade of Israeli shipping and seaports. Israel responded by preemptively attacking Egyptian airfields and destroying 90 percent of Egypt’s air force. In the first three days of the war, Israel managed to capture the Gaza Strip, the Suez Canal, and the Sinai Peninsula. Although Israel had asked Jordan to remain neutral in the city of Jerusalem, the Jordanians began to attack West Jerusalem. On June 7, Israel captured all of Jerusalem and accepted a ceasefire with Jordan. Since then, Israel has controlled the entire city (Muslims in Israel have full access to their holy sites, though Palestinians in the West Bank have restricted access into the city).
8. In 1980, the Knesset adopted the “Jerusalem Law,” which stated, “Jerusalem, complete and united, is the capital of Israel” and that “Jerusalem is the seat of the President of the State, the Knesset, the Government and the Supreme Court.” The United Nations Security Council, which had long criticized Israeli annexation of the city, responded by adopting Resolution 478. The resolution declares the Jerusalem Law to be a violation of international law and calls upon UN member states to withdraw their diplomatic missions from the city. The resolution passed 14-0, with the United States abstaining.
9. In 1995, the U.S. Congress passed the Jerusalem Embassy Act, which provides funding for the relocation of the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The law was adopted by a large majority of both the House (374–37) and the Senate (93–5). But the law also included a provision giving the president “waiver authority” to suspend the decision to move for six months if the chief executive deems it is “necessary to protect the national security interests of the United States.” Since then every president—Clinton, Bush, and Obama—has signed the waiver every six months. President Trump signed the waiver twice before directing the State Department to move the U.S. embassy.
Other posts in this series:
Christianity in Korea • Creation of Modern Israel • David Koresh and the Branch Davidians • Rajneeshees • Football • The Opioid Epidemic (Part II) • The Unification Church • Billy Graham • Frederick Douglass • Memphis Sanitation Strike of 1968 • Winter Olympics • The ‘Mississippi Burning’ Murders • Events and Discoveries in 2017 • Christmas Traditions • Sexual Misconduct • Lutheranism • Jewish High Holy Days • Nation of Islam • Slave Trade • Solar Eclipses • Alcohol Abuse in America • History of the Homeschooling Movement • Eugenics • North Korea • Ramadan • Black Hebrew Israelites • Neil Gorsuch and Supreme Court Confirmations • International Women’s Day • Health Effects of Marijuana • J. R. R. Tolkien • Aleppo and the Syrian Crisis • Fidel Castro • C.S. Lewis • ESV Bible • Alzheimer’s Disease • Mother Teresa • The Opioid Epidemic • The Olympic Games • Physician-Assisted Suicide • Nuclear Weapons • China’s Cultural Revolution • Jehovah’s Witnesses • Harriet Tubman • Autism • Seventh-day Adventism • Justice Antonin Scalia (1936–2016) • Female Genital Mutilation • Orphans • Pastors • Global Persecution of Christians (2015 Edition) • Global Hunger • National Hispanic Heritage Month • Pope Francis • Refugees in America • Confederate Flag Controversy • Elisabeth Elliot • Animal Fighting • Mental Health • Prayer in the Bible • Same-sex Marriage • Genocide • Church Architecture • Auschwitz and Nazi Extermination Camps • Boko Haram • Adoption • Military Chaplains • Atheism • Intimate Partner Violence • Rabbinic Judaism • Hamas • Male Body Image Issues • Mormonism • Islam • Independence Day and the Declaration of Independence • Anglicanism • Transgenderism • Southern Baptist Convention • Surrogacy • John Calvin • The Rwandan Genocide • The Chronicles of Narnia • The Story of Noah • Fred Phelps and Westboro Baptist Church • Pimps and Sex Traffickers • Marriage in America • Black History Month • The Holocaust • Roe v. Wade • Poverty in America • Christmas • The Hobbit • Council of Trent • Halloween and Reformation Day • Casinos and Gambling • Prison Rape • 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing • Chemical Weapons • March on Washington • Duck Dynasty • Child Brides • Human Trafficking • Scopes Monkey Trial • Social Media • Supreme Court’s Same-Sex Marriage Cases • The Bible • Human Cloning • Pornography and the Brain • Planned Parenthood • Boston Marathon Bombing • Female Body Image Issues • Islamic State
Is there enough evidence for us to believe the Gospels?
In an age of faith deconstruction and skepticism about the Bible’s authority, it’s common to hear claims that the Gospels are unreliable propaganda. And if the Gospels are shown to be historically unreliable, the whole foundation of Christianity begins to crumble.
