Lecture 18: (Final) 20th and 21st Century Jerusalem

This was our final lecture for the quarter. We began with finishing the lecture on 20th century Jerusalem. After Jerusalem declares its independence, Jordan takes control of East Jerusalem and the West Bank. Later during the Six-Day war in 1967, the Arab nations of Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt ally together against Israel. They plan a preemptive strike against the Israeli state. However, Israel preempts the attack and destroys the Egyptian Air Force. As a result, Israel gained control of the Sinai Peninsula and the Old City.Later they also gain control of the Golan Heights after confrontations with Syria. This War resulted in Israel gaining more land than they would have under the Peel plan made by the UN.

After the Six-Day War ended in the creation of a larger Israeli state, the Palestinians had a difficult task in trying to establish their own national state. In 1987, they started the Intifada, the Uprising against the Israeli state. Later they declared their independence in 1988. The uprising gave a precedent that would lead to the creation of the Oslo Accords in 1993. The Palestinians were being taxed and the money was sent to West Jerusalem. The Uprising was staged against a perceived Israeli Occupation. It began with peaceful protests that focused on civil disobedience tactics like boycotting Israeli goods. However, these demonstrations later turned violent when Ariel Sharon the Prime Minister of Israel visited the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Another attempt to establish a Palestinian state failed with the Oslo Accords. They were held in Norway and called for the creation of a Palestinian National Authority as well as the withdrawal of Israel from the Gaza strip and West Bank. The outcome was not what the Palestinian group had hoped for. They ended up recognizing Israels's right to exist as a state and renounced terrorism. Israel, in turn, only recognized Chairman Yasser Arafat of the PLO as the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people instead of recognizing a Palestinian state. As a result, the Palestinians are still calling for the establishment of their own National State with pressure coming from the rest of the world leaders. However insurgents and radicals from both sides are preventing the peaceful negotiations of for this issue.

Now in the 21st century, Israel has withdrawn from Lebanon. On Sept 28 2000, the second Intifada occured calling for a Palestinian state. Later in 2002, Israel begins the construction of the West Bank barrier, The borders were based on the boundaries in 2002 rather than the Peel plan boundaries. Many argue that this was an apartheid fence that formed a wall between two villages. With the death of Yasser Arafat, the Hamas group wins the elections in the Gaza strip after news of embezzlement by Arafats's group is exposed. The Hamas group launches attacks on the Israeli state. Israel retaliates by shooting missiles back into Gaza and the Fatah group, Arafat's party, takes over the West Bank which is both politically and economically weak. There has been many attempts by the global community to send humanity aid into the area but had been blocked by Israel.

Lecture 17: 20th Century Jerusalem

We began our final lecture on 20th Century Jerusalem. Three major periods during this time was the Ottoman administration from 1516-1917, the British Mandate Period from 1918-1948, and finally the Israeli State from 1948-present day. One of the key movements that lead to many later events was the spread of Secular Zionism. Theodore Herzl was a proponent that called for the establishment of a Jewish State. He promoted the idea that Jerusalem itself isn't important but a Jewish State was. Later He was described as "Messiah the Son of David". These Zionists later build Tel Aviv. Alongside Zionism was an increase in European Nationalism and Anti-Semitism. Anti-Semitic Pogroms in the Islamic world and Russia brought Jews into Palestine. Hitler's policy of blaming Jews for the problems in Germany also brought an increase in the Jewish population in Palestine. However, one negative repercussion was increased conflicts with the Arabs in Palestine.

World War I helped to further the establishment of a Jewish State. In 1917, British General Allenby conquers Palestine. The creation of the Balfour Declaration in 1917 promised a Jewish National Homeland. One condition the British made for supporting the establishment of a Jewish State was that non-Jewish rights had to be preserved and honored. British occupation of the area lasted from 1918-1948. The British also helped with the Peel plan which was designed to partition the area for Jews and non-Jews. Britain's stance on a Jewish state were vague and were questioned by people in Palestine. The British clarified their stance in the White Paper by Winston Churchill in 1922. They partitioned an area to the west of the Jordan for a Jewish settlement and denied Arabs that an independent nation would be established for Palestinians. The Peel Commission to create both a Jewish and Palestinian state was supported by the Jews but rejected by the Arabs. Later in 1948 there was the Arab Israeli war. A Truce was arranged and later Israel and Jordan signed an armistice. A new Israeli state was established while Jordanians gained control of the west bank.

The new Jewish state defied the international community and made West Jerusalem the Capital of the new Israeli State. When King Abdullah of Jordan came to Jerusalem to pray, he was assassinated by an Arab radical. There were rumors that he came to pray and have a secret peace meeting. The next ruler, King Hussein declared that Jerusalem would become the second capital of the State of Jordan. We also see that the economy within the area began to revolve around tourism. Eventually, 85% of the economy of the West Bank is centered on tourism. Many of the leaders saw that the fighting with the area would decrease the amount of tourist trade and thus decrease profits.

Lecture 16: Mamluk and Ottoman Jerusalem

We went back an finished up a few more details regarding Islamic Jerusalem before starting the new lecture on Mamluk and Ottoman Jerusalem. During the Abbasid Dynasty, Cliph Al-Ma-mun took credit for the building of the Dome of the Rock but forgets to erase the date of its real construction during the 72nd year of the Moslem era. The Caliph continued the policy of accepting Jewish prophets but did not agree with their beliefs. There was also increased hostility between Muslims and Christians when Muhammid al-Sanhaji killed John, the Christian patriarch of Jerusalem. When the Fatimids came to power, they were a minority group within Islam. Depending on who was in power at the time, tolerance of other faiths varied. In 1009 CE, Caliph al-Hakim destroys the Holy Sepulcher. We see that many Muslim regimes fighting each other.

The Mamluk rule of Jerusalem was from 1250-1516. The Mamluks were owned soliders of slave origins that later converted to Islam. Their rule was not really a dynasty. During this time Jerusalem becomes more of religious center than a political center. Some of the Mamluks gained regional power and others became sultans. Jerusalem was politically and militarily insignificant because it was no longer a walled city and was a place of political exile. The Mamluks built up the temple mount and used Muqarnas in their architecture. They also set up Qur'anic schools called Madrasas. In addiction, they built public water fountains and hospices. They helped to restore the Dome of the Rock and the al-Aqsa Mosque.

Later during Ottoman rule of Jerusalem from 1516-1918, Jerusalem regains a strong centralized government. The Ottomans took Constantinople in 1453. Although their rule was very long, they lost control of Jerusalem temporarily to Mohammed Ali of Egypt in 1831 but restored control in 1840. One very influential ruler of the time was Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent who ruled from 1520-1566. Under his rule, there were many public works projects done. He rebulit the walls of Jerusalem large and higher, refurbished the temple mount and its monuments, renovated the markets, and enlarges the aqueducts and Sultan's pool. All of his actions were to make Jerusalem comparable to Mecca and Medina as the third great city. The law of the land was based on the laws outlined by the Qur'an. We also see that Jews were encouraged to resettle in the land and as a result tthe Jewish population in the city increased. In addition to the political significance of the city, Suleiman also built up the spiritual importance of the city as well by restoring the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and granting concessions to various religious groups. Jews were given a place to pray at the Western Wall of the Temple Mount.

Lecture 15: Crusader Jerusalem

We had a guest lecturer for Crusader Jerusalem. One interesting thing about the Crusades is that the terminology it used still exists today. The idea of a Holy War is invoked several times beyond the era of the actual Crusades. As a result of the Crusades, Jerusalem returned to Christian rule. In 638 CE, Byzantine control of the city fell to Islamic groups all the way until 1099 when Crusaders lay seige to the city. During the Islamic rule, there were several dynasties in power such as the Umayyad from 661-750, the Abbasid from 750-969, and the Fatamid from 969-1099. During the Abbasid rule, there was an increase in the amount of pilgrimage to the city. During the Fatamid era, there were increased conflicts between the Fatamid Muslims and the Turks. Later when control of Jerusalem passed to the Crusaders, they established the Latin Kingdom from 1099-1187.

There were several causes for the Crusades such as political, religious, and socio-economic reasons. When Pope Urban II issued his speech in 1095 CE, he called the people to free Jerusalem and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. There was also a late reaction to the difficulty of Christians making pilgrimages to Jerusalem. 2nd and 3rd sons ventured in the Crusades to make something for themselves because they did not receive the family inheritance. One unexpected result of Pope Urban II's speech was the large response from people of different classes including peasants and nobility. The reason for the 4 year gap between the time of the speech and the taking of Jerusalem was that the nobility took time to pool their resources. The peasants went first and were massacred by the Turks.

When the city was taken, the scene was depicted as extremely bloody. The Franks slaughtered more than 70,000. After taking the city, the Crusaders increased the construction of buildings in the city. They also established quarters. The Patriarch's quarter was for religious aspects. The Templar quarters was for the knights. The Syrian quarter was where the walls were first breached and the Armenian quarter. One of buildings that was rebuilt was the Holy Sepulcher church to have a more Romanesque style featuring walls with small openings. There is alot of tension between the various sects of Christianity regarding the Church. It is so tense that the keepers of the church are Muslims from a long lineage of  gatekeepers for the church.

Later, the Crusaders were defeated by Saladin and the city falls to Muslim rule once more. One of the agreements that Saladin made with the Christians was that Christians would be allowed safe passage if they surrendered the city. He also gave the Holy Sepulcher to the Greeks. The Muslim retaking of the city was much more humane than the manner in which the Christians took the city in 1099.

Lecture 14: Islamic Jerusalem

IN 614 CE, the Sasanians take possession of Palestine and Jerusalem. As a result Jews were allowed to return to Jerusalem after being banished by Hadrian in 135 CE. Later in 628 CE, Emperor retakes Jerusalem and allows the massacre of Jews. However, ten years later, Muslim Caliph Umar takes Jerusalem. Under Muslim rule, Jews were not allowed to settle in agreement with Christian demands. However, they were later allowed to resettle later.

In Islam, Jerusalem becomes a sacred place because of the construction of the Dome of the Rock and the construction of the Al-Aqsa mosque which is regarded as "the Farthest" mosque. The Dome of the Rock also had an inscription that showed they accepted Jews and Christians but took issue with viewing God as a Trinity as proclaimed by Christians.  Muslims always have to pray toward a particular direction. At the core of Islam are the Five Pillars of Islam which dictate practices of their beliefs which include praying daily, making a pilgrimage to Mecca, and giving to the needy. When a person is making a pilgrimage called Hajj, they decorate their doors to ward off people that may steal from them for it they did they would receive 3x the sin for stealing.

The Al-aqsa mosque was created as an alternative place of worship because the journey from Damascus to Saudi Arabia was very long. The building has no graven images but does have lots of geometric designs.Under Islamic rule, Christians and Jews were tolerated because they were people of the book who worshiped the same God as Muslims. Later the Crusaders retook Jerusalem in 1099.

Lecture 13: Byzantine Jerusalem

One of the trends we see is the gradual movement of Christianity westward. The importance of city's shift from Jerusalem to western cities like Rome. Much of this western movement comes from Paul's letters to the various Christian churches. Through the period of 63 BCE-614 CE, we see increasing Hellenization. There is also an increasing amount of spiritualization of faith and attitude toward Jerusalem. This leads to Faith becoming mobile once more and allowed people to cope with the destruction of the 2nd Temple in 70CE. To Christians, Jerusalem gains more of a symbolic role in their faith. As this sect of Judaism grew, there also arose issues about what was to be kept from Jewish Traditions. At the Jerusalem Council mentioned in Acts 15:1-4, there were debates over kosher regulations, circumcision as a prerequisite to becoming a Christian, and the devouring of offering that had been made to other deities. All of these issues were a Doctrine debate rather than issues regarding Jerusalem the city itself. Here we see the shift of importance from the Temple to the upkeeping of faith.

The growing influence of a faith based religion came as a result of the predicted destruction of the Temple by Jesus and other preachings such as in John 4: 19-26, which talked about a more spiritual Jerusalem rather than a physical one. With the conversion of Jerusalem into Aelia Capitolia in 300 CE, Christians internalized their faith and thus were able to survive as a religion while others that had been based on Temple worship, struggled and received more persecution.

Some other key events that took place that helped lead to the growing influence of Christianity was the division of the Roman empire into a Tetrarchy. This system had flaws regarding the issue of succession. One of the Tetrarchs Constantius, had a son, Constantine, that later would become the sole ruler of the Roman Empire. Some scholars argue that Constantine used Christianity as a political tool because the faith was growing in popularity. Nonetheless, his Edict of Milan in 313 made practicing Christianity legal once more. However, one radical change he brought was use of Christianity for war and conquer. This clashed with the more pacifistic teaching of Jesus, who preached peace and non-violence. Other issues of faith brought divisions amongst Christians of the East and the West. One result was the Council of Nicaea which set a standardized Doctrine for Christians to follow. All that did not agree were considered heretics and non-Christians. This was another result of Constantine's rule.

Constantine's mother, Helena, also helped bring a change to Jerusalem with the finding of the Jesus's tomb. This led to the construction of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and gave Christians a holy site to which they could pay pilgrimage to. The Church became a new center that attracted other myths and legends such as being the place where Adam was buried and where Abraham bound Isaac for sacrifice in the Akadeh.

Lecture 12; Jerusalem in Revolt

King Herod dies in 4 BCE and afterward the rulers of the Jerusalem were regarded as ethnarchs not kings. There were two major revolts that are covered. The 1st Jewish Revolt took place during 66-73 CE and was called the "Great Revolt". The Second revolt was a failure in comparison. After the second revolt Jerusalem ceased to be called Jerusalem. Our main sources of information for these events comes from the writing of Flavius Josephus who was a Jewish General that later became a Roman historian to chronicle Jewish history with a pro-Roman view. His life was spared when he predicted that a Roman General would become Emperor. The others sources we have come from the writings of Tacitus and archeological evidence.

After Herod's death, his inheritance was distributed according to his will. However, Herod had several wills and this made it difficult to see who would receive what. Archelaus, got Jerusalem and Samaria. Herod Antipas got Galilee and Perea. Herod Philip received Iturea. All of his sons were ineffective rulers that prompted Rome to send Procurators to take charge. However, many of these Roman rulers were also ineffective rulers as well.

Pontius Pilate was a Procurator that was mentioned in the Bible. He was highly ineffective, provoked the Jews by minting coins with pagan symbols, and also tried Jesus. He was later recalled to Rome due to his inefficiency. Some other characteristics of Roman governors were that they were often inexperienced, inept, and lead Jerusalem to a steady decline in Law and Order. They were sent there to test their abilities to rule.

Jews began to revolt by minting their own coins. In 66 CE, a revolt breaks out and Vespasian is appointed to conquer the area. Thus in 70 CE, the 2nd temple was destroyed by the Romans. Later Hadrian, a roman, comes to Jerusalem in builds a temple to Jupiter where the 2nd temple once stood in 135 CE. The Second Jewish Revolt was called the Bar-Kokhba Revolt. This revolt also minted coins but did a poor job when re-striking coins with Jewish propaganda. Hebrew words were often misspelled. The revolt was put down and Jews were banned from the city. Jerusalem was renamed as Aelia Capitolina. We see a rise in the use of synagogues and the issue of cognitive dissonance. Religion became more personalized and few Jewish sects were able to cope with the situation. One of these groups was Christianity. The other Jewish sect that remained focused on a more intellectual form of worship rather than blood sacrifice. They studied the "Law" and we see that they use the Ark of the Covenant as a way to protect the "scrolls". They worshiped in synagogues and we see that this was a response to the destruction of the temple.

Lecture 11: Roman, Herodian, and Jesus' Jerusalem

Hasmonean Jewish self-rule lasted for about 100 years. During that time factions began to weaken each other allowing Pompey, a Roman General, to come and annex Jerusalem. In 63 BCE he assumes control and settles a power dispute by installing Hyrcanus II as "ethnarch", a ruler of the people but not a king. He also installs an Idumean, a person from a nation to the south of Judea that had forcibly circumcised by the Jews. This man was Antipater, whose son, Herod, would later become king. After Antipater's murder in 43 BCE, Herod becomes king of Judea after expelling the Parthians in 40 BCE. As a Client King, Herod issued coins that were sensitive to the Jewish tradition of not having faces on coins but also had Roman elements on it to gain favor from Rome.

As a King, Herod was an effective but ruthless dictator. He was compulsive and loved himself greatly. His nature was beneficial to Roman in controlling the Jews. However, his love for himself gave the people jobs. He was known for having massive building projects that employed Jews as workers. One of these projects was the expansion of the Second Temple and the creation of the Temple Mount around it. In addition, He created things such as the Herodian Theater, Antonia Fortress, Caesarea Hippodrome which were attempts to gain favor with the Romans by them that he would support them in oppressing the people.

Next, we looked at the evidence for the existence of Jesus. However, there is no archeological evidence for his existence. A large number of scholars still believe he did exist despite the lack of evidence. There have been attempts to provide concrete evidence for Jesus such as an ossuary of Jesus. However these turned out to be fakes. There is evidence however that crucifixion occured because a bone was found with a nail drived through the ankle. However this does not prove that it was Jesus. It merely shows that people in Jerusalem had crucifixion.  

Lecture 10: Hellenistic and Hasmoean Jerusalem

After Persia defeated Babylon, the Jews were allowed to go back to Jerusalem by King Cyrus of Persia. There return from exile resulted in the development of 3 factions: 1 was the people who wanted to stay in Babylon, the second was the group that returned to Jerusalem after the Exile, and the third was the group that been allowed to stay in Jerusalem by the Babylonians. Persian influences also begin to affect Jewish beliefs. One of these regarded the reestablishment of the temple. There was also a new understanding of the 2nd Temple compared to the 1st. In addition to Persian influences, Greek influences or Hellenistic influences also affected Jewish beliefs.

During the Hellenistic Period, the books that were not included into the Hebrew/Christian Bible were still considered scripture to some groups. Another important source of literature comes from Josephus who although was Jewish became a Roman Historian. He was a rebellion leader at first but was caught. By claiming that he was a prophet and making predictions that came true, he was allowed to live and write Jewish History in Roman era. Later we move on to Alexander the Great who was another influence during this time. During the Persian period, there was the introduction of coins which were stamped pieces of silver and bronze. The Greeks adopted this invention and used it as propaganda. Alexander the Great put himslef on the coins to be like the god, Zeus.

Every aspect of Jewish life was affected by Hellenization. Language, literature and Philosophy greatly affected religion. One concept was the separation of soul and body. These new ideas lead to competition with older ones and brought about conflicts. The growing Greek influence also led to increased usage of Greek as the most spoken language among Jews and the Bible being translated into Greek. However, the translation is not a perfect copy of the Hebrew Bible. Some of the reactions to Hellenization was that some people welcomed a liberalization of ideas while others were against it, more conservative. There was also a social attitude of looking and acting Greek rather than Jewish. These differences between the Jews lead to the formation of sects and factions.

During Hasmonean, conservative Jews led a revolt against the Greeks called the "Maccabean Revolt". This historical event led to the establishment Hanukkah to commemorate the victory: taking back the temple nad the oil miracle. Jews were able to establish self-rule. Hasmonean Kings of the time also used coins for propaganda. One different between Jewish and Greek coins was the absence of  human being on the coins because it was forbidden. Jewish territory was greatly expanded. Despite the growth, the Hasmonean Dynasty became corrupt. The High Priesthood position was threatened. The Hasmonean Dynasty comes to an end as a result of infighting for control of the Dynasty and the arrival of the Romans

Lecture 9: Persian Jerusalem

The Persian Period overlaps with the 2nd Temple Period from 539 BCE-333BCE. Most of the information of this time comes from the book of Chronicles, the prophets Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. The books of Ezra and Nehemiah are written in Aramaic. The book of Daniel is also written in Aramaic. This tells us that Aramaic is becoming the more dominant languages used during this time. Aside from biblical text, there is very little written text about this time period which makes us think that there is not much happening in Jerusalem following their exile and return to Jerusalem. However, it could just be that we have yet to find these pieces of evidence.


Next we move to the Prophet Ezekiel and the discussion of the Ark of the Covenant. Ezekiel preached in an apocalyptic manner with lots of vivid imagery. One of the things he spoke about was the image of the Ark of the Covenant. However, his vision of the Ark showed that it had wheels and could move on its own, without needing carrying poles. The mention of the Ark, draws our attention to the fact that God is once again mobile. During the time of the 1st temple, he had been viewed as a stationary God because the Jews had established a permanent settlement and place of him. However, now that the temple was destroyed, the people are viewing him once more as a mobile God. One interesting fact is that the Ark was not mentioned in the Temple List, a record of the things that were taken away to Babylon. It raises questions like: did the Ark get taken away and wasn't recorded or was it no longer there before the Exile itself as a result of Hezekiah's religious reforms?

We then talked about King Cyrus, the Persian King that sent the Jews back to Jerusalem. He was viewed as a Messiah, even though he was not of the Davidic Line or the High Priest Lineage. However, the Jews viewed him as a savior that was sent by God, even though he was not a Jew. Another thing we explored was the relationship between Judaism and Zoroastrianism which was the religion of Persia. The two shared similarities like a period of creation, humans coming from the 1st couple, commandments given on mountains. One thing that was introduced was the concept of other divine being like angels and the Devil, alongside God. In this manner we get a duality where God represented all the good things that happened and that bad things were caused by the Devil. Among the Jews, these influences also created rifts between people on issues of the afterlife. The Sadducees did not believe in the afterlife while the Pharisees did.

Back in Jerusalem, the people reestablished the High Priesthood with Joshua leading them. The people also began to argue over whether to rebuild the temple because they had adjusted back to the idea of a mobile God. Around Jerusalem, there were also other temples being built. One such place was Samaria and there has been tension between the people of Jerusalem and Samaria over the issue of temple worship

Lecture 8: The exile of the Jewish people and reinterpretation of promise to David

We begin by looking at the Letter of a Literate Soldier. Specifically in the Lachish Letter 3 we can see that even common soldiers could right. This is an indication that a lot of writing was going on at the time. Also we can see a growing stigma against those who couldn't write. Another piece of literature we discussed was the Mezad Hasharyahu Ostracon which is a broken piece of pottery with writing that references something in scripture. It is a complaint letter about a worker being denied the return of his cloak. This echoes back with Exodus 22: 25-26 and Amos 2:8 which tell about a law regarding holding collateral. These writing show that people cited rules that would later show up in the Jewish Bible. The Torah Amulets were silver amulets that also had prayers written on them. This shows how there was an increase in things being written down from oral traditions. They indicate that literacy was going up before the Exile.

The reason why books are important is because they give us a different way to communicate ideas. People could write down oral traditions and compare them for differences much easier. It also gives credibility to things through analysis and facts. The Fate of Jerusalem would closely follow the interpretations of text and bring questions about changing texts or not.

Next, our discussion goes on to the Exile and the Destruction of the temple. The first Babylonian Exile was in 597 BCE and the second was in  586 BCE. During the second, the temple was destroyed and the elites of Jerusalem were exiled. In the third Exile in 581 BCE were the last days of Judah. There is mention that Josiah was killed by the Pharaoh Neco at Megiddo in 609 BCE. We also see through text that King Nebuchanezzar of Babylon defeats Egypt and Assyria in 605 BCE and later puts Zedekiah on the thrown in 597 BCE. He destroys the temple in 586 BCE before exiling the people of Jerusalem. Some of the textual evidence of the exile is found in the 290 tablets near the Ishtar gate, 4 of which mention the Judean Royal family. These Babylonian text agree with the biblical text regarding the exile. We also find that even in exile, the Royal Family was given an allowance. During Zedekiah's reign, he tries to rebel again Babylon and Nebuchanezzar lays siege to the city.

After the exile there were two views regarding the destruction of Jerusalem. The first is the Josianic conclusion and the other is the exilic postscript. Pre-exilic views have the expectation that although Josiah dies, the promise of David would be fulfilled. The post-exilic view looked for theological rationales. This leads on to people reinterpreting the promise to David. There is a Cognitive Dissonance about holding two contradictory ideas at the same time, where reality and belief clash. Thus people tried to rationalize events and find a compromise between the two.

Lecture 7: Hezekiah's Jerusalem (cont'd) and Beginning of Josiah

Hezekiah prepares for the rebellion against Assyria by building up the economy of Jerusalem and fortifying the city. He helped to build up the wine, olive and grain industries. They started to collect grain and hoard them in storage centers. One was located in a town south of Jerusalem. The government collected taxes in this manner. Later we learn that the Assyrians adopted Aramic because it was easier to learn and use. With increased usage, constant rules for the language developed. As a later result we see the rise of literature. Written law also gained more authority than the king because of the notion that everyone is subject to it. Rule of law needed to have people trained in writing and the law needed to be authoritative. Leaders from different states began to get involved with literature. The state used propaganda and began writing everything down.

Next we moved on to the top of what is a messiah? By definition it is someone who has been anointed by oil that came from either the High Priest line or the line of the Kings. Many groups have used used biblical references for their leaders as the "Messiah". One such reference are the words of Isaiah. Isaiah 10 is a good example. If used with the context of the text, it heralds the coming of Hezekiah. Another important text that we get from Isaiah is Isaiah 36-39 which brings about the belief that Jerusalem is inviolable and is paralleled in 2 Kings 8-20. According to the text, there is a prophecy that God would protect the city. The city survived the siege by the Assyrians. The people of Jerusalem attributed this back to the promise of David. Meanwhile, the Assyrians gave different reasons for why the city survived. The failure of the siege was written down and passed on to generations. Thus, we get the legend of Jerusalem as an inviolable city. Zion Theology stressed that it was for David's sake.

Lastly, we started to talk about Josiah.

Lecture 6; Hezekiah's Jerusalem

We began our discussion with the requirements for a Golden Age. They include: 1. someone had to have died and is being remembered for their contributions, 2. There needed to be a record of them building things. 3. They had to do things for the people like a temple. One of the best ways was to get a divine promise, memorialize it, and chronicle the promise. The era of David and Solomon is considered a Golden Era for early Jerusalem. After Solomon's death, the Kingdom breaks into two factions. The 10 Northern tribes formed Israel under Jeroboam. The last 2 Southern tribes followed Rehoboam, son of Solomon. The division began with the northern tribes asking the King to ease the "yolk" on them. After consulting his father's advisers, Rehoboam disregarded their advise to accommodate the people and threatened that he would be stricter than Solomon in a show of power and dominance. What we know about the incidence is somewhat skewed in favor of the South because it is written from the standpoint of the South.

The Southern Kingdom had Jerusalem and thus had credibility as a holy place. As a result, when people made pilgrimages to the city, the Southern Kingdom could make money. To counter this, the Northern Kingdom established alternate worship centers at Bethel and Dan. The South created shrines in other places as well. Next we looked at a summary of three periods for Jerusalem. The first was the Rise of the United Monarchy around 1000 BCE during the rule of David and Solomon. The Second was during the Era of the Two States in 925 BCE with Israel(north) and Judah(south). The third period is Jerusalem during the 8th century BCE that had the Rise of the Assyrian Empire, growth of urbanization and the reign of Hezekiah.

In the time of the two states, foreign powers were called upon to aid one side or the other in their conflict. Two of these powers was Egypt and Assyria. The two factions would pay off these foreign countries to aid them when they were in trouble or had conflict with another foreign country. As a result, the two states would often play off the foreign empires with each other. They paid the countries with gold from the temples and this often left the country in a form of debt which prompted them to seek another power to get rid of the current owner. Although Assyrian war tactics were brutal: cutting peoples head and putting them on poles, as well as deporting people, the empire had a great effect of society in Jerusalem. They adopted the use of Aramaic and got the nation to use it thus increased literacy and trade specialization in Jerusalem. The city expands and industrializes. There is even the growth of suburbs. As a result of this expansion, we see that the population of Jerusalem growing 400%. People started to migrate to the city and this led to tensions between groups. Families became more nuclear and there was social dislocation.

With the increased population, the demand for water increased. The Gihon Spring alone was not enough to supply the city. Hezekiah later solve this problem by making a tunnel that brought more water into the city. He also helped fortify the northern border as the city prepared to rebel against its Assyrian rulers.

Lecture 5: David's Jerusalem cont'd and Solomon's Jerusalem

One of the important passages we discussed was 2 Samuel 7 which referred to as "the promise to David". In it, Nathan, the court prophet, tells David that God as promised to make him a "house". God promised that the Davidic line would not pass away. Some people viewed this vision literally and lost faith when the temple was destroyed during the Babylonian invasion. People later reinterpreted the promise in the New Testament to validate Jesus' claim of being the Son of David, the Messiah. Another passage we examined was 1 Chronicles 21. This passage gave the reason why David did not build a temple for God but rather his son Solomon was the one to complete the task. David had killed many men and was thus stained by their blood while his son, Solomon, was to be considered a man of peace. The final thing we examined was the book of Psalms which was believed to have been written of/for David.

Next we moved to talking about Solomon's Jerusalem. In 1 Kings 6-8, we learn about the construction and consecration of the Temple of Solomon. The temple was to serve as a physical house for the Ark to rest and thus would become a dwelling for the LORD. He ruled from 970-930 BCE and was called "Wise King Solomon". It is believed that Solomon wrote the wisdom books: Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs. The last two are considered as things that would "soil the hands" because of their sexually provocative text and deviation from the rest of the bible. There is no archeological evidence to show that Solomon did exist. This absence of evidence raises the question if it is evidence of absence.There are no Tels that contain records of his rule. The Tel Meggido was the place where many battles took place and give some evidence about the events of the past because older structures were covered by newer ones.

Regarding the Solomon's temple, there is no physical evidence to show that it once existed, no Tels that contain pieces from the era of the 1st Temple. However, from literary evidence we get details about what and how the Temple was constructed. The structure of the temple had some parallels with temples from other regions and faiths. There was also a shift from a tradition that God had a wife to a monotheist belief. This is seen by the presence of objects like the bronze basin in front of the temple. They were common things found in temples of other deities.

Lecture 4

We began our lecture with a discussion about the existence of King David. Many scholars questioned whether he existed because there had been no archeological evidence to back up the claims made in the bible. When the Tel Dan inscriptions, there was evidence that a group of people existed that referred to themselves as the House of David. Later we shift to talking about construction and how it revolved around water. The closest water source was the Gihon Spring and the Warren shaft was built to access the water. However, there are doubts as to whether the shaft was used for the this purpose. There is also an argument whether the shaft was cut or was it naturally formed.

Next we moved onto the anointing of Solomon as the new King. The coronation ceremony that took place involved the future king riding on a donkey heading to  the Gihon spring. This process is later referenced in Matthew 21 to describe the march of Jesus from the Mount of Olives to Jerusalem, passing through the Gihon spring. The reference demonstrated the importance of the spring and the claim that was being made that he was the next King of the Jews.

We finished the lecture with a discussion about the Ark of the Covenant. To the ancient nomadic Jews, it was a portable shrine and throne for God. Exodus 22 described the Ark in detail. It is said to contain the broken pieces of the 10 Commandments and possibly the Mana eaten by the Jews as the trekked through the desert after their exodus from Egypt. The Ark is moved to Jerusalem under David's orders as he tries to build a temple for God. King Solomon, David's son is the one who ends up constructing temple to house the Ark and in doing so makes the Temple a sacred place.

Lecture 3: Canaanite Jerusalem

The lecture focused on Pre-Israelite Jerusalem during the Late Bronze age which predates 1000 BCE. The city of Jerusalem existed before King David's rule. It had continuous settlement in the area for three reasons. It was near a water source the Gihon Spring. The city had agriculture to support the settled civilization. It was also near a watershed for trade. The evidence that get we through archeology and literary evidence provides us confirmation of some of the claims about Jerusalem. From the people that lived there we get non-biblical text such as the Execration texts with hieroglyphics that were used as a form of simple magic to curse one's enemies. Some of these texts refer to Rusalimum which we know is associated with Jerusalem. This suggests that Jerusalem had some notoriety. Some other archeological evidence we get are the Wall and Tower near the Gihon and the Amarna Letters.

Although the texts confirm some of the claims made, others also show evidence that is contrary to what was thought of as true. There are some inconsistencies in the some of the biblical passages. For instance in Joshua 10,21 and 24, the people that were living in Jerusalem where wiped out by the people of Judah. However, in Joshua 15 and 1 it says that they were not all wiped out. This type of inconsistency lead to the idea that the bible had many different authors contributing to it. There are also some theories that arose such as conquest/non-quest for Jerusalem, immigration, and Mixed ethnic origins.

Later, we began to talk about Jerusalem during the time of David. David's reign was during the Iron Age. He was a prominent figure in biblical history in the tale of David and Goliath. He took control of Jerusalem from the Jebusites and the area he conquered was renamed the City of David in his honor.

Lecture 2: finishing off Jerusalem as a Sacred Space

Today's lecture is a continuation of Lecture 1. It focused on how a sacred space was established and why the city was able to grow in fame as a sacred place. The first issue was the establishment of temples. The idea of temples is a primeval convention that had been used before by other civilizations. The designs for these structures is said to have divine origins and not of human origin. Temples are the place in which God will dwell. These structures had been used before as places of worship by the Babylonians. There are two parts to the establishment of temples. The first is the actual construction of the site based on the designs that had been delivered from a higher power. The second is the consecration of the site itself. Consecration can be achieved by expanding the fame of a place by building it larger and outward or by attracting other legends and histories and assimilating them. In this fashion, the prestige of a site will grow. This is seen in readings such as Genesis 2-3, 14, and 22.

In addition to the establishment of a sacred space in Jerusalem, there was also the establishment of a "sacred time" the Sabbath. This key in the redefinition of what is meant to be Jewish when the temple was destroyed and its people scattered. However, there are some discrepancies which lead to differences in values amongst the groups that share this history. In Exodus 20, the sabbath was held in remembrance of the 7th day in which God rested after creating everything. In Deuteronomy 5, the sabbath was held in remembrance of the Jewish Exodus from Egypt. For the Jewish community, the latter reason is held whereas for the Christian community the former is held. Whatever the reason, there is still the establishment of a sacred time as well as a sacred space that groups can identify to.

There was also a discussion regarding the relationship of geography and axis mundi. The image of mountain which stands high above and overlooking people is seen as place where one can be closer to God who lives in the heavens. It was on a mountain, where God revealed his true name and where the Ten Commandments were given to the Israelite people. Stories from other people that had some relation to the Divine dwelling upon mountains were assimilated. The same can be said for caves and the connection to Hell. They were the "gateways" that lead to places that were farther from the heavens, dark, and mysterious. With these two contrasting images we start to see how Jerusalem can be an axis mundi for the city was near both.

recap of lecture 1: Sacred Space- Laying the Foundations

In our first class we looked at why Jerusalem is considered a "Sacred Space" by three major faiths in the world: Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. It is held on the same level of prestige as Mecca and Rome for some of the faiths. This raised the question of how does a place become sacred? What are the steps and requirements for to be considered sacred? During our lecture we identified a progression that starts with veneration of a site. Later as more people are drawn in to the place an official shrine is erected. This helps to call more people in and the place grows and grows influence and prestige culminating in pilgrimages as is the case of Jerusalem.

In order to have people visit a place, there needed to be inherent features that would draw or allow people to visit. Jerusalem is located between two major routes: Via Maris and the King's Highway. However, neither route goes through the city. In addition to trade routes, the city needed natural defenses and sources of water. Jerusalem was established among near three valleys that provided protection from the West, East, and South. They are the Kidron Valley, Hinnom Valley and the Tyropoeon Valley. The closest source of water for Jerusalem came from a spring called the Gihon spring and later the Siloam pool contributed to the water supply. These attributes allowed the city to thrive and last despite not having a trade route going directly through it.

As the city grew, Jerusalem was able to assimilate other legends which added to its status as a sacred place. One instance of this was mentioned in the story of the "Garden of Eden" which had 4 rivers flowing from it. Two were easily identified: the Tigris and the Euphrates. The Pishon is not found. The 4th river is the Gihon river which people thought was somehow related to the Gihon Spring. By having these references in religious texts, Jerusalem is able to strengthen its claim as a important sacred place and an axis mundi.