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Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Jerusalem Timeline

Nadene Goldfoot                                                                     

Early Bronze Age 
3500 BCE-2000 BCE  U(r(ushamem), Urusalim, Jerusalem from Yarah=to cast the foundation stone or founded and Shalem=name of Semitic god; Jebus=for people inhabiting it before King David., the Canaanites.
Middle Bronze Age
2000 BCE-1550 BCE Jerusalem is capital of Canaanite city state; same as Salem ruled by Melchi-zedek (priest of the most high god) honored by Abraham.
Hyksos revolution left behind in Jerusalem elements of Hittite and Hurrite life
1500 BCE Tel el Amarna Period-Jerusalem ruled by king who was menaced by the Habiru invaders, appealed to his suzerain, the pharaoh,  for help.
         Cushite garrison maintained by Egypt.
1320 BCE Joshua's Conquest of Canaan, king of Jerusalem was Adoni-zedek was defeated at Aijalon.  Jerusalem remained as independent enclave between tribal areas of Benjamin and Judah.
1200 BCE Jebus-Jerusalem kept independence with Philistine help
1010 BCE King David captured Jerusalem, made it capital of united Israel. David treated Jebusites leniently.  Built the fortress of Zion and House of Heroes for his guards, constructed a tomb inside the city for himself and dynasty.  Transferred Ark of Covenant here.  Became his religious center of Israel.  Capital of empire reaching from Red Sea to Euphrates River.
970-930 BCE King Solomon: Commerical  ventures and heavy taxation for city.  Added Palace and Temple.
930 BCE: Secession of Northern Tribes of Israel, was then capital of Judah.  Davidic dynasty ruled until 586 BCE.
933-917 1st king of Judah, King Rehoboam
905 BCE plundered by Shishak of Egypt
785 BCE   King Joash of Israel threatened made breach in its wall, Also so did kings of Aram
730-721 BCE Last king of Israel, King Hoshea
701 BCE Sennacherib of Assyria besieged it.
               King Hezekiah cut the tunnel by which the waters of the Gibon were permanently diverted from Silgam into the Lower Pool inside the city.
Uzziah strengthened the city walls.  He also added towers and engines.  Jotham and Hezekiah made the other wall to encompass his pool.
597-586 BCE Last king of Judah, King Zedekiah
586 BCE Jerusalem fell to Babylonian ruler, Nebuchadnezzar.
       Most of the population was deported and the Temple  and Royal Palace were destroyed.
536-519  BCE: some exiles returned and renewed the Temple worship
519 BCE  Became capital of a Persian  (Iran) Province and was autonomous in internal matters, under rule of high priest of the House of Zadok.
500 BCE Walls were repaired by Nehemiah.  Ezra brought about a spiritual reform.
      All nobles and 1/10 of population were brought in to fill the half-empty city.  Theocratic rule lasted until Hellenistic times, city prospered materially due to growth of a  Jewish Diaspora which regarded Jerusalem as its spiritual  center.
312-198 BCE (growing Hellenization period) under Ptolemaic rule
                        Seleucid Rule
                      Antiochus IV led desecration of the Temple and religious persecution which brought about Hasmonean revolt.
164 BCE After 2 year struggle, Judah the Maccabee occupied the Temple Hill and restored the Temple service (Hanukkah)
152 BCE Jonathan restored Jewish rule.
63 BCE Roman General Pompey profited from war between Hasmoneans, Hyrcanus and Aristobulus to occupy Jerusalem.
40 BCE Parthians captured Jerusalem
37- 4 BCE Jerusalem fell to Roman appointed King Herod  who ruled it as a Roman vassal until his death.  He built a palace in the NW quarter of the city, protected it with 3 great towers; (Tower of David) is still seen.  Rebuilt Temple and Western Wall.  Erected fortress Antonia.

 6CE ruled by Roman Procurators
41-44 CE  ruled by Agrippa who began to build a 3rd Wall to the North.
29 CE Jesus was crucified.
66 CE  People revolted due to unbearable rule
70 CE Under Titus, city was besieged by Romans and fell.   Temple and most buildings were destroyed. The Roman army conquered what had been the glory of the Jewish nation for 1,000 years.  The Romans pillaged Jerusalem and slaughtered or enslaved every Jewish resident.
132  Bar Kokhba, Jewish General,  revolted with his army, held off Roman Army for 3 years
135 Bar Kokhba killed, Roman Emperor Hadrian razed Jerusalem and built Aelia Capitolina on its ruins.  Only Jews allowed entrance were Jewish slaves.  Judah and Israel renamed Palaestina to remove memory/history of Jews and their thousand year history.  Jews prayed from then on 3 times a day to return and rebuild Jerusalem.

300 CE Roman Empire now called Christian Byzantine Empire.  Returned name of Jerusalem, but not the Jews.  Jews still lived in Galilee's thriving towns and in Golan Heights.  Jews could only be in Jerusalem one day each year on Tisha B'Av, the day of the destruction of the Holy  Temple and of Jerusalem.  "The Jews can only come to mourn the city, and they must buy the privilege of weeping for the destruction of the city." Jerome.                                                          

638 Arab Conquest of city; took it from the Byzantines, Caliph Omar, Muslim ruler, permitted Jews to return.  Muslims leveled site and built the Dome of the Rock and the El Aksa Mosque where Hadrian had built a temple to Jupiter over ruins of Solomon's Temple.

1099 Crusaders conquered Jerusalem and killed every Jew and Muslim.  Blood was knee deep in streets.  Christians finally allowed Jewish textile dyers to return.  Benjamin of Tudela recorded that "there are about 200 Jews who live under the Tower of David."

1199 Muslims under Saladin defeated the Crusaders and Jews were again permitted free access to Jerusalem.  Rabbi Solomon ben Samson wrote: "We arrived at Jerusalem by the western end of the city, rending our garments on beholding it...It was a moment of tenderest emotion, and we wept bitterly."

1250  Egypt's Mamluks (soldier-slaves) took over the city.  The Ramban (Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman) came from Spain and found less than 10 Jews; not enough for a minyan.  He turned a house into a synagogue and re-established the Jewish community in Jerusalem and it grew.

1516 Ottoman turks conquered the city.  Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem and encouraged the exiled Jews  from Spain's 1492 Spanish Inquisition  to settle there.  Less than 100 years later, the empire became corrupt and imposed heavy taxes and many restrictions on Jews of Jerusalem, but they continued to return to this important city.

1850 Walled city of Jerusalem was so crowded with Jews that a few suggested moving outside the walls which would leave them exposed to roving bands of brigands.  Sir Moses Montefiore built a protected compound outside the walls; and 20 families took up residence there.  Soon other enclaves sprouted up and the new city of Jerusalem extended beyond what came to be known as the "Old City."

1917 Ottoman Empire holding "Palestine" for 400 years ended with British vanquishing the Turks during WWI.  General Allenby marched into Jerusalem and divided the Old City into 4 quarters.  The Muslim quarter was one part but it was actually half of the Old City.  The majority of the people living here were Jews, not Muslims.  The other parts were the Christian Quarter, the Jewish Quarter and the Armenian Quarter.
     British kept Turkish restrictions on Jews at the Western Wall and would not permit them to bring benches or stools to sit on.  They could not put up a mechitza.  If a Jew blew the Shofar on Rosh Hashana or the end of Yom Kippur they were arrested and put in prison.

May 14, 1948 Birthday of Israel, British left and the Old City of Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount and the Western Wall fell to the Jordanian army (Arab Legion).  All the Jewish residents were exiled.  The men were taken to Jordan as prisoners of war.  The women, children and elderly were forced out through Zion Gate.  Their homes that their families had had for generations were looted and burned behind them.  According to the League of Nations, this land was to go to the Jewish Homeland but the British didn't follow through, though they had accepted the mandate, and they allowed Jordan to do this.  Of course the Jews had their hands full, since 5 minutes after announcing they had the state, they were attacked from all sides.
                                                                         
1967 (June 5th to June 11th) Six Day War with all Arab surrounding states who attacked, yet Israel was victorious against such an onslaught.  In winning, they got back east Jerusalem, Judaea, Samaria and Gaza. Jordanian troops in the Old City and Jordanian sections of the city bombarded the New City but Israel reacted quickly and all was under Israeli control.

1967 (June 29th) formally united the 2 sections of the city and the barriers were removed.

1980 Jerusalem Law:  extended Israel sovereignty over the entire city.

1990 Population  of the eastern portion of the city, including 139,600 Moslems and Christians have been incorporated into the total population of 493,500 by 1990.

Today Sara Rigler tells us that she lives in the Old City of Jerusalem (east Jerusalem).  Her grandchildren are playing in the ruins of the Romans.  Her husband prays in the 13th century synagogue founded by the Ramban.  She takes walks where the Prophet Zechariah proclaimed, Old men and old women will once again dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and the squares of the city will be filled with boys and girls playing in its streets.  Her soul and every cell in her body celebrates the G-d-given gift of the return of the Jewish people to Jerusalem and the return of Jerusalem to the Jewish people.

My cousin, Stanley Goldfoot, lived on Dor v'Dor Street (from generation to generation Street.  He lived near where Golda Meier once lived.

Resource: Aish.com "Why Celebrate Jerusalem Day? by Sara Yoheved Rigler
The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia

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