(Ugarit religions)
104-539: The Four Holy Cities of Judaism are the cities of Jerusalem , Hebron , Safed and Tiberias , which were the four main centers of Jewish life after the Ottoman conquest of Palestine . According to the 1906 Jewish Encyclopedia : "Since the sixteenth century the Holiness of Palestine, especially for burial, has been almost wholly transferred to four cities—Jerusalem, Hebron, Tiberias, and Safed." Jerusalem Jerusalem
208-555: A demonym . Jerusalem is one of the world's oldest cities, with a history spanning over 5,000 years. Its origins trace back to around 3000 BCE, with the first settlement near the Gihon Spring . The city is first mentioned in Egyptian Execration texts around 2000 BCE as "Rusalimum." By the 17th century BCE, Jerusalem had developed into a fortified city under Canaanite rule, with massive walls protecting its water system. During
312-873: A voiceless uvular plosive (/q/), as in Classical Arabic , or with a glottal stop (ʔ) as in Levantine Arabic . Official Israeli government policy mandates that أُورُشَلِيمَ , transliterated as Ūrušalīm , which is the name frequently used in Christian translations of the Bible into Arabic, be used as the Arabic language name for the city in conjunction with القُدس , giving أُورُشَلِيمَ-القُدس , Ūrušalīm-al-Quds. Palestinian Arab families who hail from this city are often called " Qudsi " ( قُدسي ) or " Maqdasi " ( مقدسي ), while Palestinian Muslim Jerusalemites may use these terms as
416-403: A "treaty partner" in covenants, where the clan is seen as the "kin" of the deity. Eventually, El's cult became central to the ethnogenesis of Iron Age Israelites but so far, scholars are unable to determine how much of the population were El worshippers. It is more likely that different locales held different views of El. The Egyptian god Ptah is given the title ḏū gitti 'Lord of Gath ' in
520-518: A city of some importance in early sacred Hebrew writing. Possibly the redactor of the Apocryphon of Genesis wanted to dissociate Melchizedek from the area of Shechem, which at the time was in possession of the Samaritans . However that may be, later Rabbinic sources also equate Salem with Jerusalem, mainly to link Melchizedek to later Temple traditions. Originally titled Bayt al-Maqdis, today, Jerusalem
624-616: A large temple dedicated to Dagon and another to Hadad, there was no temple dedicated to El. El had a variety of epithets and forms. He is repeatedly referred to as ṯr il ("Bull El" or "the bull god") and 'il milk ("El the King"). He is bny bnwt ("Creator of creatures"), ' abū banī 'ili ("father of the gods"), and ab adm ("father of man"). The appellations of "eternal", "creator" and "eternal" or "ancient creator" are "characteristic designations of 'El in Canaanite myths and liturgies". He
728-587: A parasitic h, and ʾl may be an abbreviated form of ʾlh . In Ugaritic the plural form meaning "gods" is ʾilhm , equivalent to Hebrew ʾ lōhîm "powers". In the Hebrew texts this word is interpreted as being semantically singular for "god" by biblical commentators. However, according to the documentary hypothesis , at least four different authors – the Jahwist (J), Elohist (E), Deuteronomist (D), and Priestly (P) sources – were responsible for editing stories from
832-480: A period when Yahweh held a place in theology comparable to that of Hadad at Ugarit; or as late henotheistic /monotheistic applications to Yahweh of deeds more commonly attributed to Hadad; or simply as examples of eclectic application of the same motifs and imagery to various different gods. Similarly, it is argued inconclusively whether Ēl Shaddāi, Ēl 'Ôlām, Ēl 'Elyôn, and so forth, were originally understood as separate divinities. Albrecht Alt presented his theories on
936-419: A polytheistic religion into those of a monotheistic religion. These sources were joined together at various points in time by a series of editors or "redactors". Inconsistencies that arise between monotheism and polytheism in the texts are reflective of this hypothesis. The stem ʾl is found prominently in the earliest strata of east Semitic, northwest Semitic, and south Semitic groups. Personal names including
1040-576: A prism from Tel Lachish which has on its opposite face the name of Amenhotep II ( c. 1435 – c. 1420 BCE). The title ḏū gitti is also found in Serābitṭ text 353. Frank Moore Cross (1973, p. 19) points out that Ptah is often called the Lord (or one) of eternity and thinks it may be this identification of El with Ptah that lead to the epithet ' olam 'eternal' being applied to El so early and so consistently. Yet another connection
1144-582: A role as father of the gods, of creation, or both. However, because the word el sometimes refers to a god other than the great god El, it is frequently ambiguous as to whether El followed by another name means the great god El with a particular epithet applied or refers to another god entirely. For example, in the Ugaritic texts , ʾil mlk is understood to mean "El the King" but ʾil hd as "the god Hadad ". The Semitic root ʾlh ( Arabic ʾilāh , Aramaic ʾAlāh , ʾElāh , Hebrew ʾelōah ) may be ʾl with
SECTION 10
#17328446738031248-577: Is ḥātikuka ("your patriarch"). El is the grey-bearded ancient one, full of wisdom, malku ("King"), ab šnm ("Father of years"), ' El gibbōr ("El the warrior"). He is also called lṭpn ʾil d pʾid ("the Gracious One, the Benevolent God") and lṭpn wqdš ("the Gracious and Holy One"). "El" (Father of Heaven / Saturn) and his major son: "Hadad" (Father of Earth / Jupiter), are symbolized both by
1352-501: Is Yahweh who is prophesied to one day battle Leviathan the serpent, and slay the dragon in the sea in Isaiah 27:1 . The slaying of the serpent in myth is a deed attributed to both Ba'al Hadad and ' Anat in the Ugaritic texts, but not to El. But some scholars argue that "El Shadday" reflects a conception of El as a storm god. Such mythological motifs are variously seen as late survivals from
1456-514: Is a Northwest Semitic word meaning 'god' or ' deity ', or referring (as a proper name) to any one of multiple major ancient Near Eastern deities. A rarer form, ' ila , represents the predicate form in the Old Akkadian and Amorite languages. The word is derived from the Proto-Semitic *ʔil- . Specific deities known as ' El , ' Al or ' Il include the supreme god of
1560-521: Is a Palestinian Authority regional office and an electoral office located in the Dahiyat al Barid neighborhood. The Jerusalem City Council is a body of 31 elected members headed by the mayor, who serves a five-year term and appoints eight deputies. The former mayor of Jerusalem, Uri Lupolianski , was elected in 2003. In the November 2008 city elections, Nir Barkat was elected. In November 2018, Moshe Lion
1664-707: Is a city in the Southern Levant , on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea . It is one of the oldest cities in the world , and is considered holy to the three major Abrahamic religions — Judaism , Christianity , and Islam . Both the State of Israel and the State of Palestine claim Jerusalem as their capital city . Israel maintains its primary governmental institutions there, and
1768-585: Is a generic word for god that could be used for any god, including Hadad , Moloch , or Yahweh . In the Tanakh , ' lōhîm is the normal word for a god or the great God (or gods, given that the 'im' suffix makes a word plural in Hebrew). But the form ' El also appears, mostly in poetic passages and in the patriarchal narratives attributed to the Priestly source of the documentary hypothesis . It occurs 217 times in
1872-530: Is attested to in approximately 1350 BCE in one of the Amarna Letters EA333, found in Tell-el-Hesi from the ruler of Lachish to 'The Great One' A Phoenician inscribed amulet of the seventh century BCE from Arslan Tash may refer to El. The text was translated by Rosenthal (1969, p. 658) as follows: An eternal bond has been established for us. Ashshur has established (it) for us, and all
1976-575: Is called ' il brt and ' il dn , which Cross (p. 39) takes as 'El of the covenant' and 'El the judge' respectively. For the Canaanites and the ancient Levantine region as a whole, ʼĒl or ʼIl was the supreme god, the father of mankind and all creatures. He also fathered many gods, most importantly Baal , Yam , and Mot , each sharing similar attributes to the Greco-Roman gods: Zeus , Poseidon , and Hades respectively. As recorded on
2080-587: Is completely controlled by the Palestinian Authority. Al-Ram and Dahiyat al-Barid are mostly in Area B , where both Palestine and Israel has control. Other parts of Beit Hanina , Kafr Aqab and Arab al-Jahalin also falls under Area B. Jerusalem is situated on the southern spur of a plateau in the Judaean Mountains , which include the Mount of Olives (East) and Mount Scopus (North East). The elevation of
2184-904: Is located in central Tel Aviv's HaKirya district) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (which is located in Rishon LeZion , in the wider Tel Aviv metropolitan area , near Beit Dagan ). Since its capture in 1967, the Israeli government has built 12 Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem , with a population amounting to 220,000 Israeli Jewish settlers as of 2019. The international community consider Israeli settlements to be illegal under international law . The Palestinian National Authority views East Jerusalem as occupied territory according to United Nations Security Council Resolution 242 . The Palestinian Authority claims Jerusalem, including
SECTION 20
#17328446738032288-465: Is most commonly known in Arabic as القُدس , transliterated as al-Quds and meaning "the holy" or "the holy sanctuary", cognate with Hebrew : הקדש , romanized : ha-qodesh . The name is possibly a shortened form of مدينة القُدس Madīnat al-Quds "city of the holy sanctuary" after the Hebrew nickname with the same meaning, Ir ha-Qodesh ( עיר הקדש ). The ق (Q) is pronounced either with
2392-618: Is seen with the Mandaean angel Ptahil , whose name combines both the terms Ptah and Il. Wyatt, however, notes that in Ugaritic texts, Ptah is seemingly identified with the craftsman god Kothar-wa-Khasis, not El. In an inscription in the Proto-Sinaitic script , William F. Albright transcribed the phrase ʾL Ḏ ʿLM , which he translated as the appellation "El, (god) of eternity". The name Raphael or Rapha-El, meaning 'God has healed' in Ugarit,
2496-560: Is that in much of the Hebrew Bible the name El is an alternative name for Yahweh, but in the Elohist and Priestly traditions it is considered an earlier name than Yahweh. Mark Smith has argued that Yahweh and El were originally separate, but were considered synonymous from very early on. The name Yahweh is used in Genesis 2:4 , while Genesis 4:26 says that at that time, people began to "call upon
2600-667: Is the Valley of Hinnom , a steep ravine associated in biblical eschatology with the concept of Gehenna or Hell . The Tyropoeon Valley commenced in the northwest near the Damascus Gate , ran south-southeasterly through the centre of the Old City down to the Pool of Siloam , and divided the lower part into two hills, the Temple Mount to the east, and the rest of the city to the west, the lower and
2704-536: Is the third-holiest city, after Mecca and Medina . The city was the first standard direction for Muslim prayers , and in Islamic tradition , Muhammad made his Night Journey there in 621, ascending to heaven where he spoke to God , per the Quran . As a result, despite having an area of only 0.9 km ( 3 ⁄ 8 sq mi), the Old City is home to many sites of seminal religious importance , among them
2808-706: Is unquestioned, but sometimes exacted through threat or roundly mocked. He is "both comical and pathetic" in a "role of impotence." But this is arguably a misinterpretation since El had complementary relationships with other deities. Any "differences" they had pertained to function. For example, El and Baal were divine kings but El was the executive whilst Baal was the sustainer of the cosmos. The Hebrew form ( אל ) appears in Latin letters in Standard Hebrew transcription as El and in Tiberian Hebrew transcription as ʾĒl. ʼel
2912-647: The American embassy to Jerusalem, reversing decades of United States policy on the issue. The move was criticized by many nations. A resolution condemning the US decision was supported by all the 14 other members of the UN Security Council, but was vetoed by the US on 18 December 2017. A subsequent resolution condemning the US decision was passed in the United Nations General Assembly . On 14 May 2018,
3016-608: The Ayyubid and Mamluk periods, until it became part of the Ottoman Empire in 1517. In the modern period, Jerusalem was divided between Israel and Jordan after the 1948 Arab–Israeli War . Israel captured East Jerusalem during the Six-Day War in 1967, uniting the city under Israeli control. The status of Jerusalem remains a highly contentious issue, with both Israelis and Palestinians claiming it as their capital. Historiographically,
3120-629: The Canaanite period (14th century BCE), Jerusalem was named as Urusalim on ancient Egyptian tablets, probably meaning "City of Shalem " after a Canaanite deity . During the Israelite period, significant construction activity in Jerusalem began in the 10th century BCE (Iron Age II), and by the 9th century BCE, the city had developed into the religious and administrative center of the Kingdom of Judah . In 1538,
3224-828: The Church of the Holy Sepulchre . In 638 CE, Jerusalem was conquered by the Rashidun Caliphate , and under early Islamic rule, the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque were built, solidifying its religious importance in Islam. During the Crusades , Jerusalem changed hands multiple times, being captured by the Crusaders in 1099 and recaptured by Saladin in 1187. It remained under Islamic control through
Four Holy Cities - Misplaced Pages Continue
3328-587: The General Assembly of the United Nations in 1947, Jerusalem was envisaged to become a corpus separatum administered by the United Nations. In the war of 1948, the western part of the city was occupied by forces of the nascent state of Israel, while the eastern part was occupied by Jordan. The international community largely considers the legal status of Jerusalem to derive from the partition plan, and correspondingly refuses to recognize Israeli sovereignty over
3432-520: The Haram al-Sharif , as the capital of the State of Palestine, The PLO claims that West Jerusalem is also subject to permanent status negotiations. However, it has stated that it would be willing to consider alternative solutions, such as making Jerusalem an open city . The PLO's position is that East Jerusalem, as defined by the pre-1967 municipal boundaries , shall be the capital of Palestine and West Jerusalem
3536-500: The Israeli government — legislative , judicial , and executive —have resided there, except for the Ministry of Defense , which is located at HaKirya in Tel Aviv . At the time of Ben Gurion's proclamations and the ensuing Knesset vote of 24 January 1950, Jerusalem was divided between Israel and Jordan, and thus the proclamation only applied to West Jerusalem. In July 1980, Israel passed
3640-772: The Jerusalem District town of Mevaseret Zion ( Bolivia and Paraguay ). There are a number of consulates-general located in Jerusalem, which work primarily either with Israel, or the Palestinian authorities. In 1995, the United States Congress passed the Jerusalem Embassy Act , which required, subject to conditions, that its embassy be moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. On 6 December 2017 U.S. President Donald Trump officially recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital and announced his intention to move
3744-659: The Jerusalem Law as Basic Law . The law declared Jerusalem the "complete and united" capital of Israel. The Jerusalem Law was condemned by the international community, which did not recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. The United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 478 on 20 August 1980, which declared that the Jerusalem Law is "a violation of international law" , is "null and void and must be rescinded forthwith" . Member states were called upon to withdraw their diplomatic representation from Jerusalem. Following
3848-764: The Jewish people . The sobriquet of holy city (Hebrew: עיר הקודש , romanized: 'Ir ha-Qodesh ) was probably attached to Jerusalem in post-exilic times. The holiness of Jerusalem in Christianity , conserved in the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible , which Christians adopted as the Old Testament , was reinforced by the New Testament account of Jesus's crucifixion and resurrection there. Meanwhile, in Islam , Jerusalem
3952-411: The Jewish-Roman Wars , which culminated in the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE. The city was renamed Aelia Capitolina and rebuilt as a Roman colony after the Bar Kokhba revolt (132–136 CE), with Jews banned from entering the city. Jerusalem gained significance during the Byzantine Empire as a center of Christianity , particularly after Constantine the Great endorsed the construction of
4056-422: The Jordanian waqf , under the Jordanian Ministry of Religious Endowments. In 1988, Israel ordered the closure of Orient House , home of the Arab Studies Society, but also the headquarters of the Palestine Liberation Organization , for security reasons. The building reopened in 1992 as a Palestinian guesthouse. The Oslo Accords stated that the final status of Jerusalem would be determined by negotiations with
4160-415: The Kiryat HaMemshala (government complex) in the Givat Ram neighbourhood. Some government buildings are located in Kiryat Menachem Begin . The city is home to the Knesset, the Supreme Court , the Bank of Israel , the National Headquarters of the Israel Police , the official residences of the President and Prime Minister , the Cabinet , and all ministries except for the Ministry of Defense (which
4264-402: The Late Bronze Age , Jerusalem became a vassal of Ancient Egypt , as documented in the Amarna letters . The city's importance grew during the Israelite period , which began around 1000 BCE when King David captured Jerusalem and made it the capital of the United Kingdom of Israel . David's son, Solomon , built the First Temple , establishing the city as a major religious center. Following
Four Holy Cities - Misplaced Pages Continue
4368-411: The Masoretic Text : seventy-three times in the Psalms and fifty-five times in the Book of Job , and otherwise mostly in poetic passages or passages written in elevated prose. It occasionally appears with the definite article as hā'Ēl 'the god' (for example in 2 Samuel 22:31,33–48 ). The theological position of the Tanakh is that the names ʼĒl and ' Ĕlōhîm , when used in the singular to mean
4472-534: The Palestinian Authority . The accords banned any official Palestinian presence in the city until a final peace agreement, but provided for the opening of a Palestinian trade office in East Jerusalem. The Palestinian Authority regards East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state. President Mahmoud Abbas has said that any agreement that did not include East Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine would be unacceptable. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has similarly stated that Jerusalem would remain
4576-449: The Second Temple period . Jerusalem fell under Hellenistic rule after the conquests of Alexander the Great in 332 BCE, leading to increasing cultural and political influence from Greece . The Hasmonean revolt in 164 BCE briefly restored Jewish autonomy, with Jerusalem as the capital of an independent state. In 63 BCE, Jerusalem was conquered by Pompey and became part of the Roman Empire . The city remained under Roman control until
4680-478: The Semitic languages . They include Ugaritic ʾilu , pl. ʾlm ; Phoenician ʾl pl. ʾlm ; Hebrew ʾēl , pl. ʾēlîm ; Aramaic ʾl ; Akkadian ilu , pl. ilānu . In northwest Semitic use, ʼel was a generic word for any god as well as the special name or title of a particular god who was distinguished from other gods as being "the god". El is listed at the head of many pantheons. In some Canaanite and Ugaritic sources, El played
4784-409: The Supreme Court . The international community rejects the annexation as illegal and regards East Jerusalem as Palestinian territory occupied by Israel . The name "Jerusalem" is variously etymologized to mean "foundation (Semitic yry' 'to found, to lay a cornerstone') of the pagan god Shalem "; the god Shalem was thus the original tutelary deity of the Bronze Age city. Shalim or Shalem
4888-473: The Temple Mount with its Western Wall , Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque , and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre . At present, the status of Jerusalem remains one of the core issues in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict . During the 1948 Arab–Israeli War , West Jerusalem was among the areas incorporated into Israel, while East Jerusalem , including the Old City, was occupied and annexed by Jordan . Israel occupied East Jerusalem from Jordan during
4992-441: The city walls were rebuilt for a last time around Jerusalem under Suleiman the Magnificent of the Ottoman Empire . Today those walls define the Old City , which since the 19th century has been divided into four quarters – the Armenian , Christian , Jewish , and Muslim quarters. The Old City became a World Heritage Site in 1981, and is on the List of World Heritage in Danger . Since 1860, Jerusalem has grown far beyond
5096-427: The clay tablets of Ugarit , El is the husband of the goddess Asherah . Three pantheon lists found at Ugarit (modern Ras Shamrā — Arabic : رأس شمرا , Syria ) begin with the four gods ' il-'ib (which according to Cross; is the name of a generic kind of deity, perhaps the divine ancestor of the people), El, Dagnu (that is Dagon ), and Ba'l Ṣapān (that is the god Haddu or Hadad ). Though Ugarit had
5200-454: The dual , thus leading to the suggestion that the name Yerushalayim refers to the fact that the city initially sat on two hills. The Execration Texts of the Middle Kingdom of Egypt (c. 19th century BCE), which refer to a city called rwšꜣlmm or ꜣwšꜣmm , variously transcribed as Rušalimum , or Urušalimum , may indicate Jerusalem. Alternatively, the Amarna letters of Abdi-Heba (1330s BCE), which reference an Úrušalim , may be
5304-491: The polis would be similar to Hierolophos . The city was renamed Aelia Capitolina for part of the Roman period of its history. The Aramaic Apocryphon of Genesis of the Dead Sea Scrolls (1QapGen 22:13) equates Jerusalem with the earlier "Salem" (שלם), said to be the kingdom of Melchizedek in Genesis 14. Other early Hebrew sources, early Christian renderings of the verse and targumim , however, put Salem in Northern Israel near Shechem (Sichem), now Nablus ,
SECTION 50
#17328446738035408-415: The 1967 Six-Day War and subsequently annexed it into the city's municipality, together with additional surrounding territory. One of Israel's Basic Laws , the 1980 Jerusalem Law , refers to Jerusalem as the country's undivided capital. All branches of the Israeli government are located in Jerusalem, including the Knesset (Israel's parliament), the residences of the Prime Minister and President , and
5512-495: 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. Another name, " Zion ", initially referred to a distinct part of the city, but later came to signify the city as a whole, and afterwards to represent the whole biblical Land of Israel . In Greek and Latin, the city's name was transliterated Hierosolyma/Hierosoluma (Greek: Ἱεροσόλυμα; in Greek hieròs , ἱερός , means holy), and
5616-445: The English expression [by] God awful ). It is possible also that the expression ' ēlîm in both places descends from an archaic stock phrase in which ' lm was a singular form with the m -enclitic and therefore to be translated as 'sons of El'. The m -enclitic appears elsewhere in the Tanakh and in other Semitic languages. Its meaning is unknown, possibly simply emphasis. It appears in similar contexts in Ugaritic texts where
5720-411: The God of Gods ( ' El 'Elîm ) he will speak outrageous things, and will prosper until the indignation is accomplished: for that which is decided will be done. There are a few cases in the Tanakh where some think ' El is not equated with Yahweh. One example is found in Ezekiel 28:2 , in the taunt against a man who claims to be divine, in this instance, the leader of Tyre : Son of man, say to
5824-419: The God of Jerusalem". An earlier example of the name appears in a papyrus from the 7th century BCE. In extra-biblical inscriptions, the earliest known example of the -ayim ending was discovered on a column about 3 km west of ancient Jerusalem, dated to the first century BCE. An ancient settlement of Jerusalem, founded as early as the Bronze Age on the hill above the Gihon Spring , was, according to
5928-480: The God of the Jews evolved gradually from the Canaanite El, who was in all likelihood the "God of Abraham" ... If El was the high God of Abraham—Elohim, the prototype of Yahveh—Asherah was his wife, and there are archaeological indications that she was perceived as such before she was in effect "divorced" in the context of emerging Judaism of the 7th century BCE. (See 2 Kings 23:15 .) The apparent plural form ' Ēlîm or ' Ēlim "gods" occurs only four times in
6032-490: The Jerusalem landscape. Water supply has always been a major problem in Jerusalem, as attested to by the intricate network of ancient aqueducts , tunnels, pools and cisterns found in the city. Jerusalem is 60 km (37 mi) east of Tel Aviv and the Mediterranean Sea . On the opposite side of the city, approximately 35 km (22 mi) away, is the Dead Sea , the lowest body of water on Earth. Neighbouring cities and towns include Bethlehem and Beit Jala to
6136-447: The Muslim Quarter of the Old City in order to expand the Jewish presence in East Jerusalem, while some Islamic leaders have made claims that Jews have no historical connection to Jerusalem, alleging that the 2,500-year-old Western Wall was constructed as part of a mosque. Palestinians regard Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Palestine , and the city's borders have been the subject of bilateral talks. A team of experts assembled by
6240-402: The Old City is approximately 760 m (2,490 ft). The whole of Jerusalem is surrounded by valleys and dry riverbeds ( wadis ). The Kidron , Hinnom , and Tyropoeon Valleys intersect in an area just south of the Old City of Jerusalem. The Kidron Valley runs to the east of the Old City and separates the Mount of Olives from the city proper. Along the southern side of old Jerusalem
6344-432: The Old City's boundaries. In 2022, Jerusalem had a population of some 971,800 residents, of which almost 60% were Jews and almost 40% Palestinians. In 2020, the population was 951,100, of which Jews comprised 570,100 (59.9%), Muslims 353,800 (37.2%), Christians 16,300 (1.7%), and 10,800 unclassified (1.1%). According to the Hebrew Bible , King David conquered the city from the Jebusites and established it as
SECTION 60
#17328446738036448-402: The Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital. United Nations General Assembly Resolution 58/292 affirmed that the Palestinian people have the right to sovereignty over East Jerusalem. Government offices are located outside the Israeli municipal limits include the Palestinian Security Services , Force 17 , the Preventative Security Service and the Ministry of Interior . There
6552-446: The State of Palestine ultimately foresees it as its seat of power. Neither claim is widely recognized internationally . Throughout its long history , Jerusalem has been destroyed at least twice, besieged 23 times , captured and recaptured 44 times, and attacked 52 times. The part of Jerusalem called the City of David shows first signs of settlement in the 4th millennium BCE, in the shape of encampments of nomadic shepherds. During
6656-505: The Tanakh. Psalm 29 , understood as an enthronement psalm, begins: A Psalm of David. Ascribe to Yahweh, sons of Gods ( b nê 'Ēlîm ), Ascribe to Yahweh, glory and strength Psalm 89 :6 (verse 7 in Hebrew) has: For who in the skies compares to Yahweh, who can be likened to Yahweh among the sons of Gods ( b nê 'Ēlîm ). Traditionally b nê 'ēlîm has been interpreted as 'sons of the mighty', 'mighty ones', for ' El can mean 'mighty', though such use may be metaphorical (compare
6760-437: The United States officially opened its embassy in Jerusalem , transforming its Tel Aviv location into a consulate. Due to the general lack of international recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, some non-Israeli media outlets use Tel Aviv as a metonym for Israel. In April 2017, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced it viewed Western Jerusalem as Israel's capital in the context of UN-approved principles which include
6864-494: The ancient Canaanite religion and the supreme god of East Semitic speakers in Early Dynastic Period of Mesopotamia . Among the Hittites , El was known as Elkunirsa ( Hittite : 𒂖𒆪𒉌𒅕𒊭 Elkunīrša ). Although El gained different appearances and meanings in different languages over time, it continues to exist as -il or -el in compound proper noun phrases such as Ishmael, Israel, Samuel, Daniel, Raphael, Michael, and Gabriel. Cognate forms of El are found throughout
6968-412: The beginning of the account mention the goddess Athirat , who is otherwise El's chief wife and the goddess Raḥmayyu ("the one of the womb"). In the Ugaritic Ba'al cycle , El is introduced having an assembly of gods on Mount Lel (Lel possibly meaning "Night"), and dwelling on (or in) the fountains of the two rivers at the spring of the two deeps. He dwells in a tent according to some interpretations of
7072-474: The bill sent "a clear, unequivocal political message that Jerusalem will not be divided", and that "all those within the Palestinian and international community who expect the current Israeli government to accept any demands regarding Israel's sovereignty over its capital are mistaken and misleading". The status of the city, and especially its holy places, remains a core issue in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. The Israeli government has approved building plans in
7176-401: The bull, and both wear bull horns on their headdresses. The mysterious Ugaritic text Shachar and Shalim tells how (perhaps near the beginning of all things) El came to shores of the sea and saw two women who bobbed up and down. El was sexually aroused and took the two with him, killed a bird by throwing a staff at it, and roasted it over a fire. He asked the women to tell him when the bird
7280-456: The capital of Israel, with each state enjoying full sovereignty over its respective part of the city and with its own municipality. A joint development council would be responsible for coordinated development. Orient House in East Jerusalem served as the headquarters of the PLO in the 1980s and 1990s. It was closed by Israel in 2001, two days after the Sbarro restaurant suicide bombing . Some states, such as Russia and China , recognize
7384-446: The capital of the United Kingdom of Israel , and his son, King Solomon , commissioned the building of the First Temple . Modern scholars argue that Israelites branched out of the Canaanite peoples and culture through the development of a distinct monolatrous —and later monotheistic —religion centered on El / Yahweh . These foundational events, straddling the dawn of the 1st millennium BCE, assumed central symbolic importance for
7488-521: The city's history is often interpreted through the lens of competing national narratives. Israeli scholars emphasize the ancient Jewish connection to the city, while Palestinian narratives highlight the city's broader historical and multicultural significance. Both perspectives influence contemporary discussions of Jerusalem's status and future. From 1923 until 1948, Jerusalem served as the administrative capital of Mandatory Palestine . From 1949 until 1967, West Jerusalem served as Israel's capital, but
7592-570: The city. Following the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel extended its jurisdiction and administration over East Jerusalem, establishing new municipal borders. In 2010, Israel approved legislation giving Jerusalem the highest national priority status in Israel. The law prioritized construction throughout the city, and offered grants and tax benefits to residents to make housing, infrastructure, education, employment, business, tourism, and cultural events more affordable. Communications Minister Moshe Kahlon said that
7696-582: The district's capital. 37% of the population is Palestinian, but in 2014 not more than 10% of tax revenues were allocated for them. In East Jerusalem, 52% of the land was excluded from development, 35% designated for Jewish settlements, and 13% for Palestinian use, almost all of which was already built upon. In Oslo I Accord , certain parts of few neighborhoods were allotted to the Palestinian Authority . Parts of Sur Baher , Wadi al-Hummus, Umm Leisun and Umm Tuba , altogether came under Area A , which
7800-485: The divine beings and the majority of the group of all the holy ones, through the bond of heaven and earth for ever , ... However, Cross (1973, p. 17) translated the text as follows: The Eternal One ('Olam) has made a covenant oath with us, Asherah has made (a pact) with us. And all the sons of El, And the great council of all the Holy Ones. With oaths of Heaven and Ancient Earth. In some inscriptions,
7904-511: The earliest extra-biblical Hebrew writing of the word Jerusalem is dated to the sixth or seventh century BCE and was discovered in Khirbet Beit Lei near Beit Guvrin in 1961. The inscription states: "I am Yahweh thy God, I will accept the cities of Judah and I will redeem Jerusalem", or as other scholars suggest: "Yahweh is the God of the whole earth. The mountains of Judah belong to him, to
8008-452: The earliest mention of the city. The form Yerushalem or Yerushalayim first appears in the Bible, in the Book of Joshua . According to a Midrash , the name is a combination of two names united by God, Yireh ("the abiding place", the name given by Abraham to the place where he planned to sacrifice his son ) and Shalem ("Place of Peace", the name given by high priest Shem ). One of
8112-719: The expression bn 'il alternates with bn 'ilm , but both must mean 'sons of El'. That phrase with m -enclitic also appears in Phoenician inscriptions as late as the fifth century BCE. One of the other two occurrences in the Tanakh is in the " Song of Moses ", Exodus 15:11a : Who is like you among the Gods ( ' ēlim ), Yahweh? The final occurrence is in Daniel 11:36 : And the king will do according to his pleasure; and he will exalt himself and magnify himself over every god ( ' ēl ), and against
8216-401: The gods ( ' ilm ) in general or at least a large portion of them. The only sons of El named individually in the Ugaritic texts are Yamm ("Sea"), Mot ("Death"), and Ashtar , who may be the chief and leader of most of the sons of El. Ba'al Hadad is a few times called El's son rather than the son of Dagan as he is normally called, possibly because El is in the position of a clan-father to all
8320-406: The gods. The fragmentary text R.S. 24.258 describes a Marzēaḥ banquet to which El invites the other gods and then disgraces himself by becoming outrageously drunk and passing out after confronting an otherwise unknown Hubbay, "he with the horns and tail". The text ends with an incantation for the cure for a hangover . El's characterization in Ugarit texts is not always favorable. His authority
8424-763: The kingdom's split, Jerusalem became the capital of the Kingdom of Judah until it was captured by the Neo-Babylonian Empire in 586 BCE. The Babylonians destroyed the First Temple, leading to the Babylonian exile of the Jewish population. After the Persian conquest of Babylon in 539 BCE, Cyrus the Great allowed the Jews to return and rebuild the city and its temple, marking the start of
8528-552: The majority of its seats. The headquarters of the Jerusalem Municipality and the mayor's office are at Safra Square ( Kikar Safra ) on Jaffa Road . The municipal complex, comprising two modern buildings and ten renovated historic buildings surrounding a large plaza, opened in 1993 when it moved from the old town hall building built by the Mandate authorities . The city falls under the Jerusalem District , with Jerusalem as
8632-553: The name ' Ēl qōne 'arṣ ( Punic : 𐤀𐤋 𐤒𐤍 𐤀𐤓𐤑 ʾl qn ʾrṣ ) meaning "El creator of Earth" appears, even including a late inscription at Leptis Magna in Tripolitania dating to the second century. In Hittite texts, the expression becomes the single name Ilkunirsa , this Ilkunirsa appearing as the husband of Asherdu ( Asherah ) and father of 77 or 88 sons. In a Hurrian hymn to El (published in Ugaritica V , text RS 24.278), he
8736-568: The name of the LORD". El's title of " El Shadday ", which envisions him as the "god of the steppe", may also derive from the cultural beliefs of Upper Mesopotamian (i.e. Amurru ) immigrants, who were ancestors of the Israelites. In some places, especially in Psalm 29 , Yahweh is clearly envisioned as a storm god , something not true of El so far as scholars know (although true of his son, Ba'al Haddad). It
8840-608: The original differences of such gods in Der Gott der Väter in 1929. But others have argued that from patriarchal times, these different names were generally understood to refer to the same single great god, El. This is the position of Frank Moore Cross (1973). What is certain is that the form 'El does appear in Israelite names from every period including the name Yiśrā'ēl ("Israel"), meaning "El strives". According to The Oxford Companion to World Mythology , It seems almost certain that
8944-733: The public regarded it as a divided city. A poll conducted by Palestinian Centre for Public Opinion and American Pechter Middle East Polls for the Council on Foreign Relations, among East Jerusalem Arab residents in 2011 revealed that 39% of East Jerusalem Arab residents would prefer Israeli citizenship contrary to 31% who opted for Palestinian citizenship. According to the poll, 40% of Palestinian residents would prefer to leave their neighbourhoods if they would be placed under Palestinian rule. On 5 December 1949, Israel's first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion , proclaimed Jerusalem as Israel's "eternal" and "sacred" capital, and eight days later specified that only
9048-542: The resolution, 22 of the 24 countries that previously had their embassy in (West) Jerusalem relocated them in Tel Aviv, where many embassies already resided prior to Resolution 478. Costa Rica and El Salvador followed in 2006. There are five embassies—United States, Guatemala, Honduras, Papua-New Guinea and Kosovo —and two consulates located within the city limits of Jerusalem, and two Latin American states maintain embassies in
9152-519: The same as the manbaa al-nahrayn ("Source of the Two Rivers"), the abode of El in the Ugaritic Baal Cycle discovered in the 1920s and a separate serpent incantation. In the episode of the "Palace of Ba'al", the god Ba'al Hadad invites the "seventy sons of Athirat" to a feast in his new palace. Presumably these sons have been fathered on Athirat by El; in following passages they seem to be
9256-416: The south, Abu Dis and Ma'ale Adumim to the east, Mevaseret Zion to the west, and Ramallah and Giv'at Ze'ev to the north. El (deity) El ( / ɛ l / EL ; also ' Il , Ugaritic : 𐎛𐎍 ʾīlu ; Phoenician : 𐤀𐤋 ʾīl ; Hebrew : אֵל ʾēl ; Syriac : ܐܺܝܠ ʾīyl ; Arabic : إل ʾil or إله ʾilāh ; cognate to Akkadian : 𒀭 , romanized: ilu )
9360-505: The status of East Jerusalem as the capital of the future Palestinian state. On 15 December 2018, Australia officially recognized West Jerusalem as Israel's capital, but said their embassy in Tel Aviv would stay until a two-state resolution was settled. The decision was reversed in October 2022. The Kiryat HaLeom (national precinct) project is intended to house most government agencies and national cultural institutions. They are located in
9464-800: The stem ʾl are found with similar patterns in both the Amorite and Sabaic languages. There is evidence that the Canaanite/Phoenician and Aramaic conception of El is essentially the same as the Amorite conception of El, which was popularized in the 18th century BCE but has origins in the Pre- Sargonic period . Any "changes" in El's status can be explained by the randomness of available data. Tribal organizations in West Semitic culture also influenced El's portrayal as
9568-458: The supreme god, refer to Yahweh, beside whom other gods are supposed to be either nonexistent or insignificant. Whether this was a long-standing belief or a relatively new one has long been the subject of inconclusive scholarly debate about the prehistory of the sources of the Tanakh and about the prehistory of Israelite religion. In the P strand, Exodus 6:3 may be translated: I revealed myself to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as El Shaddai , but
9672-537: The text which may explain why he had no temple in Ugarit. As to the rivers and the spring of the two deeps, these might refer to real streams, or to the mythological sources of the salt water ocean and the fresh water sources under the earth, or to the waters above the heavens and the waters beneath the earth. A few miles from the swamp from which the Litani (the classical Leontes) and the Asi (the upper Orontes ) flow, Baalbek may be
9776-514: The then Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak in 2000 concluded that the city must be divided, since Israel had failed to achieve any of its national aims there. However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in 2014 that "Jerusalem will never be divided". A poll conducted in June 2013 found that 74% of Israeli Jews reject the idea of a Palestinian capital in any portion of Jerusalem, though 72% of
9880-522: The town, and its Jerusalem Affairs Offices are all located in Abu Dis. While the international community regards East Jerusalem, including the entire Old City, as part of the occupied Palestinian territories , neither part, West or East Jerusalem, is recognized as part of the territory of Israel or the State of Palestine . Under the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine adopted by
9984-486: The undivided capital of Israel. Due to its proximity to the city, especially the Temple Mount, Abu Dis , a Palestinian suburb of Jerusalem, has been proposed as the future capital of a Palestinian state by Israel. Israel has not incorporated Abu Dis within its security wall around Jerusalem. The Palestinian Authority has built a possible future parliament building for the Palestinian Legislative Council in
10088-413: The upper cities described by Josephus . Today, this valley is hidden by debris that has accumulated over the centuries. In biblical times, Jerusalem was surrounded by forests of almond, olive and pine trees. Over centuries of warfare and neglect, these forests were destroyed. Farmers in the Jerusalem region built stone terraces along the slopes to hold back the soil, a feature still very much in evidence in
10192-507: The war had "compelled" the Israeli leadership "to establish the seat of Government in Tel Aviv", while "for the State of Israel there has always been and always will be one capital only – Jerusalem the Eternal", and that after the war, efforts had been ongoing for creating the conditions for "the Knesset... returning to Jerusalem." This indeed took place, and since the beginning of 1950 all branches of
10296-538: Was elected mayor. Apart from the mayor and his deputies, City Council members receive no salaries and work on a voluntary basis. The longest-serving Jerusalem mayor was Teddy Kollek , who spent 28 years—six consecutive terms—in office. Most of the meetings of the Jerusalem City Council are private, but each month, it holds a session that is open to the public. Within the city council, religious political parties form an especially powerful faction, accounting for
10400-459: Was fully cooked, and to then address him either as husband or as father, for he would thenceforward behave to them as they called him. They saluted him as husband. He then lay with them, and they gave birth to Shachar ("Dawn") and Shalim ("Dusk"). Again El lay with his wives and the wives gave birth to "the gracious gods", "cleavers of the sea", "children of the sea". The names of these wives are not explicitly provided, but some confusing rubrics at
10504-405: Was not known to them by my name, YHWH . However, it is said in Genesis 14:18–20 that Abraham accepted the blessing of El, when Melchizedek , the king of Salem and high priest of its deity El Elyon blessed him. One scholarly position is that the identification of Yahweh with El is late, that Yahweh was earlier thought of as only one of many gods, and not normally identified with El. Another
10608-471: Was not recognized as such internationally because UN General Assembly Resolution 194 envisaged Jerusalem as an international city . As a result of the Six-Day War in 1967, the whole of Jerusalem came under Israeli control . On 27 June 1967, the government of Levi Eshkol extended Israeli law and jurisdiction to East Jerusalem, but agreed that administration of the Temple Mount compound would be maintained by
10712-484: Was the name of the god of dusk in the Canaanite religion , whose name is based on the same root S-L-M from which the Hebrew word for "peace" is derived ( Shalom in Hebrew , cognate with Arabic Salam ). The name thus offered itself to etymologizations such as "The City of Peace", "Abode of Peace", "Dwelling of Peace" ("founded in safety"), or "Vision of Peace" in some Christian authors. The ending -ayim indicates
10816-466: Was the term used by Matthew and Mark in their gospels instead of the Hebrew term. Up until the 2010's the consensus among historians was that following Alexander the Great 's conquest, Hierosoluma was set to be incorporated into the larger temple cities of the Seleucid kingdom , and to be Hellenized as Hierapolis. However, modern historians dispute this as a proper Ancient Greek translation for
#802197