Revelations About Jerusalem and Its Very Ancient Jewish History

 Nadene Goldfoot                                                 

The Israelites cross the Jordan River on their way into the Promised Land. (Gustave Doré, 1866) Public Domain 

Num 21:1-3 As the Israelites come closer to Canaan, the Canaanite King of Arad attacks them in the northern Negev Desert on the road to Atharim, the way of the spies, and he warred against Israel and took a captive from it...

Arad was a town in the Negev Desert mentioned in the Bible as captured by Joshua.  Excavation of the site by Yohanan Aharoni and his discoveries include ancient fortifications, a Canaanite temple, and inscribed sherds.  A modern town of Arad, founded in 1960, has been built some distance from the ancient site.  Population in 1980 was 13,700. 

     Tel Arad National park, below,  consists of  the ruins of a large walled Canaanite city and  fortresses dated to the Israelite Kingdom period.

Jerusalem is the capital of Israel  situated in the center of the Judean Mountains.  It is in the territory of the land acquisitioned to the tribe of Judah by Joshua, which was one of the 12 tribes of Jacob through his 12 sons.  When the 601,730 Israelites had entered Canaan after their 40 year trek from Egypt, it was up to Joshua to decide where each tribe was to live.                                                                                       

                                                     

The original city of Jerusalem was slightly East of the watershed between the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea, on the eastern slope of a plateau;  recently, however, the New City has spread across the watershed into a series of ridges and valleys facing west.                                                                                           

                                       

  The original city was founded by King David, who ruled from 1010 to 970 BCE.  He was the youngest son of Jesse who was the grandson of Ruth and Boaz,  and was born in Bethlehem. At age 25, he had become the armor-bearer of his King Saul of Israel, and was a friend of Saul's son, Jonathan.  David showed that he had great military prowess when in war against the Philistines.  He was so outstanding that he was able to marry Saul's daughter, Michal. 

 David first had settled in Hebron and declared himself King of Judah. Nestled in the Judaean Mountains, it lies 930 metres (3,050 ft) above sea level. During the 8th year of his reign (1002 BCE), he captured the Jebusite stronghold of Jerusalem which he proclaimed his capital and to which he eventually moved the Ark.  Hebron was an ancient city in Judah, 18 miles south of Jerusalem.  Before Abraham's time, it was under the control of the Hittites.  Abraham bought from them a plot of land with the Cave of Machpelah on it in which to bury Sarah, his wife and niece.  David reigned here for 7 1/2 years before transferring his capital to Jerusalem.              

Jerusalem had been populated by the Jebus, who were allowed to stay there after being conquered.  Today’s photo shows the Old City of Jerusalem from about 3800 feet above sea level. The city itself is about 2400 to 2500 feet above (Mediterranean) sea level. The view is looking southeast across the Wilderness of Judea to the mountains of Moab in the Transjordan tableland. Jerusalem and Safed

 have similar climates.   

                                                 

Jerusalem had been our capital since David made it so in 1002 BCE and it lasted until 70CE, a total of 1,072 years. Is there a capital today that has lasted that long?  It was taken from the Jews because of the occupation by the Romans, then burning of the Jews' 2nd Temple and city of Jerusalem.  That had been an invasion.  One cannot do that today with the present rules through the United Nations.  That's aggression, not allowed.  The Jewish people had been without their capital for 1,878 years, gaining it back with the birth of Israel in 1948.  For the 1,878 years, they had prayed 3 times a day for its return.  Jerusalem and the yearning for it is imbedded in the soul of Jews. It's a part of Judaism as our skeleton is a part of our body.  It just is.  This is why our leaders could not accept a home in Africa or any other place.  It had to be with Jerusalem.  Jews are the descendants of the Judeans, the Israelites.  One must understand the connection we have to the land.  

 Forbes recently called Tel Aviv “the destination of the year” and “Israel's coolest city.” And insiders say it increasingly is drawing travelers looking for a little more fun and adventure than Jerusalem has to offer. Today, one can take a walking tour of Jerusalem by using YouTube.  I did it yesterday.  It was marvelous.  I was able to get around and see sites there that I had missed in 1980-85 when I lived in Safed. No, Jerusalem is not the "fun" city for the younger set, but is the most important city of our history.  It's also the most important city religiously to the Christians and the Muslims.  For this reason alone, it's a very unique city; one of a kind.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgJo5enmeJg

Another walk through old city of Jerusalem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLolUcc_unU 

and :  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYNewcAVUb4

There's even more listed online.  

There's even more listed.  

                   

Execration texts, also referred to as proscription lists, are ancient Egyptian hieratic texts, listing enemies of the pharaoh, most often enemies of the Egyptian state or troublesome foreign neighbors.

Early on in writings, it was called Jebus, for the people inhabiting it before David.   In ancient history, the name "Jerusalem" appears 1st as U/r/ushamem of the Execration Texts from the time of the Egyptian 12th Dynasty (19th to 18th centuries BCE).  In Akkadian, it is called Usrusalin found in the Tel el Amarna  letters (15th century BCE).  the name is now commonly assumed to be derived from the verb yarah ("cast the foundation stone, founded) and the name of the Semitic god, Shalem.                                        

The Jebusites were a Canaanite people who settled in Eretz Yisrael prior to the Israelite conquest.  They lived in the hill region, principally around Jerusalem which they called Jebus.  Although Joshua defeated a Jebusite led coalition, Jerusalem was occupied only during the reign of David (II Sam.5;6-7).  

The last Jebusite king was apparently Araunah (I Sam. 24:15). {Moreover, the last Jebusite king of Jerusalem, Araunah/Arawna/Awarna (or Ornan), bore a name generally understood as based on the Hurrian honorific ewir.} (In the Amarna letters, mention is made that the contemporaneous king of Jerusalem was named Abdi-Heba, which is a theophoric name invoking a Hurrian mother goddess named Hebat.  This implies that the Jebusites were Hurrians themselves, were heavily influenced by Hurrian culture, or were dominated by a Hurrian maryannu class (i.e., a Hurrian warrior-class elite). Others thought the Jebusites could have been an arm of the Hittites.  

The Jebusites remained in the city under David and became tributary under Solomon.  In the course of time, they appear to have been assimilated.  Possibly, that means that many Jews carried some of their genes. So they were alive way after 960 BCE when David died.   

Jerusalem has been referred to as Zion, after David's fortress, and was also known as the City of David.   The Bible lists many poetic names for Jerusalem, such as the "city of righteousness," the "faithful city", the "city of G0d", the "holy city," "city of truth,", "Ariel," etc.  The name, Jerusalem (Hierosolyma) in Latin, or in Greek-Ιερουσαλήμ, is derived from the Hebrew, Yerushalayim Hebrew: יְרוּשָׁלַיִם‎).

Jerusalem had record snow not too long ago to take this picture.  Snowfall in Israel is uncommon, but it occurs in higher parts of the country. In January and February 1950, Jerusalem experienced the largest snowfall registered since the beginning of meteorological measurements in 1870.   On December 13, 2013, 40–70 cm (16–28 in) of snow fell in Jerusalem and 1 m (3 ft 3 in) in the Kefar Etzion area. Warmer parts of Israel received heavy rains, causing floods. Although it was the Sabbath, the railway into Jerusalem ran for people stranded by blocked roads.

Roads were closed in Israel by deep snow and flooding. Storm clouds prompted Ben Gurion International Airport to shut down, forcing US Secretary of State John Kerry to cut short his meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah to return to Israel before roads and airports were out of service. Jerusalem was cut off for 48 hours by deep snow and flooding and cars abandoned after they got stuck in snow.                 

Resource:

The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia

https://aratta.wordpress.com/2017/03/07/the-hurrians-and-the-levant/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jebusites

https://www.travelmarketreport.com/articles/Tel-Aviv-Takes-Its-Place-As-Israels-Coolest-City#:~:text=Forbes%20recently%20called%20Tel%20Aviv,than%20Jerusalem%20has%20to%20offer.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_in_Israel

https://ferrelljenkins.blog/2010/01/22/jerusalem-at-3800-feet-altitude/

https://www.biblewalks.com/telarad

https://www.thebiblejourney.org/biblejourney2/26-the-journey-continues-from-sinai-to-moab/the-israelites-attempt-to-enter-canaan/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_Jerusalem#:~:text=Today%2C%20Jerusalem%20is%20called%20Yerushalayim,(Arabic%3A%20%D8%A7%D9%8E%D9%84%D9%92%D9%80%D9%82%D9%8F%D9%80%D8%AF%D9%92%D8%B3%E2%80%8E).