Who Founded Jerusalem ?

 Nadene Goldfoot                                               

Jerusalem wasn't built by a single person; it was continuously constructed and reshaped by various civilizations over 5,000 years. Its earliest foundations were built by Canaanites and Jebusites. 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 the 14th century BCE, the city was an independent Canaanite stronghold ruled by Egyptian vassals, as documented in the Amarna Letters.During the Late Bronze Age  Jerusalem became a vassal of Ancient Egypt, as documented in the Amarna letters.                      

  The Amarna Letters are a cache of nearly 400 clay tablets discovered in 1887 at Tell el-Amarna, Egypt. Dating to the mid-14th century BC, this royal archive records diplomatic correspondence between the Egyptian pharaohs (mainly Amenhotep III and Akhenaten) and the rulers of neighboring kingdoms and vassal states.The Amarna letters are unusual in Egyptological research, because they are written not in the language of ancient Egypt, but in cuneiform, the writing system of ancient Mesopotamia. Most are in a variety of Akkadian sometimes characterised as a mixed language, Canaanite-Akkadian; one especially long letter—abbreviated EA 24—was written in a late dialect of Hurrian, and is the longest contiguous text known to survive in that language.

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

Major builders include King David (ruled from 1010-970 BCE) and King Solomon (961-920 BCE) , and then King Herod I(37-4 BCE) son of an Idumean father and a Nabatean mother,  and the

Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent (ruled from 1520-1566) who was a Muslim  with Muslim Ottoman  rulers holding it for the last 400 years to WWI where they lost it.  

The Canaanites and Jebusites (ca. 3000–1000 BCE): The first settlements trace back to the Early Bronze Age. It was later fortified and inhabited by the Jebusites before its conquest.  They lived in he hill region around Jerusalem and called it Jebus.  Joshua, the leader that Moses had to take over the Exodus, defeated the Jebus coalition but Israelites only lived there during the reign of King David.  (II Sam. 24:15.).  Jebus people had a king, the last being Araunah.  His people remained in the city under David and became tributary under King Solomon, David's son.  They were assimilated into the Israelites.                                 

                      First Temple by Solomon

King David ruled for 40 years and King Solomon ruled for 41 years=81 years (ca. 1000–950 BCE): King David captured the city, making it the capital of the ancient kingdom of Israel. His son, King Solomon, significantly expanded the city and built the First Temple. 

Herod the Great ruled  as King of Judaea from 37 BCE to 4 BCE;  for 33 years . He was appointed "King of the Jews" by the Roman Senate in 40 BCE , but his actual reign began in 37 BCE after he successfully captured Jerusalem and ousted his rivals.  Under Roman rule, King Herod the Great heavily developed Jerusalem, expanding the Temple Mount and rebuilding the Second Temple. King Herod I ("Herod the Great") was a practicing adherent to Judaism. However, he was not ethnically Jewish by birth; his ancestral background was Idumean (Edomite) and Nabatean Arab. His relationship with Judaism was complex and widely debated by his contemporaries: Herod the Great   was the ruler who ordered the "Massacre of the Innocents" (the killing of young boys in Bethlehem ) in an attempt to eliminate the prophesied infant king. This is when Moses was placed in the bullrushes, a hidden area.  

• Ancestral Conversion: The Idumeans were an ancient neighboring people who had been forcibly converted to Judaism a generation prior under the Hasmonean dynasty. Because he followed Jewish law, he was legally considered a Jew and observed Jewish customs, which allowed him to rule over Judea.

Jewish Revolt Against occupation of Romans-66-70 CE, Romans took Jerusalem, starved the Jews, took them as slaves, killed them, some got away- were threatened to never come back to Jerusalem-now a Roman fortress or face death.  

The Romans (135 CE): Following the Jewish revolt, the Roman Emperor Hadrian entirely rebuilt the city as a Roman colony named Aelia Capitolina. 

Suleiman the Magnificent (ca. 1537 CE): The iconic walls surrounding Jerusalem's Old City today were commissioned by the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent.

 Ottoman forces defeated the Mamluks and gained control of Jerusalem in 1516 -1917= 401 years. 

Brief Interruption: The empire lost the city for nine years between 1831 and 1840, when Muhammad Ali of Egypt occupied it before Ottoman authority was restored .

End of Rule: British forces, led by General Edmund Allenby, captured the city in December 1917 during World War I, permanently ending Ottoman control.

Resource:

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Herod-king-of-Judaea

The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia

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).

Shocking First Part I of CNN's "Jerusalem: City of Faith and Fury"

 Nadene Goldfoot                                           

I had high hopes for the Jerusalem series of 6,  advertised by CNN, and was shocked by their 1st presentation.  Probably most people will think it was terrific and will be mystified by what I noticed.  Maybe I'm more sensitive when it was presented by a non-Jewish group;  no rabbis or biblical commentators that I know of.

My first surprise was possibly quite true, and made me wonder.  The comment was that today's  Palestinians are saying that they came from the Jebusites.  They were brought up when first talking about King David who chose Jerusalem to be his capital.  In the early books of the Torah, Jerusalem was first called Jebus after the people inhabiting it before David.  The Jebusites were a Canaanite people settled in Palestine prior to the Israelite conquest of Moses via Joshua. Canaanites were divided into 11 peoples who occupied the area betwen the Nile and the Euphrates (Gen.10:15-19). They had created city-states.  Jacob, son of Isaac, son of Abraham, had lived in Canaan when a drought drove him with his family of 70 to Egypt where they had lived and were eventually taken into slavery for a period of 400 years.   Moses led them back home.  

The Jebusites lived in the hill region, principally around  Jebus.  Although Joshua defeated a Jebusite-led coalition, Jerusalem was occupied only in the reign of David.  The last Jebusite king was apparently Araunah, named in II Samuel 24:15.  The Jebusites remained in the city under David and became tributary under Solomon.  In the course of time, they appear to have been assimilated.  There wasn't a state of Jebusites, merely a city taking this name. We do not hear of it again.  

There are no remains like bones to test to see if Palestinians can claim ancestors that were Jebusites.  In fact, we Jews are more likely to be carrying their genes than anyone else.  As for the Palestinians, I believe that  Joan Peter's research for her book, From Time Immemorial, does the best research of all as to where Palestinians came from, and she lists the actual neighboring countries.  No one can really go back to the  Jebusites.  Besides that, the Arabs did not enter the land that early, more likely came after Mohammad had died in 632 CE.  

Moving on,  CNN did well to go back to 1,000 BCE.  Their subject was Saul, son of Kish from the tribe of Benjamin,  who became Israel's 1st king.  It was Saul's sword bearer, David, from the tribe of Judah, that we differ completely about.  I felt that they made David out as a terrible person and  king !  They used his dallying with Bathsheba as evidence and of having her husband killed so that he could marry her, a woman who became pregnant by him. 

 My Jewish comment, is that this happened more than 3,000 years ago as David ruled from 1010 to 970 BCE, and that all this information was from the Bible, open information, showing how human David was, and this is quite a revelation as to ancient history. Most people hid their faults, presenting themselves as being perfect.   David was loved by the Jewish people.  He is revered by Jews today who study their history, and certainly Israelis have great respect and love for him who also know their history.    Check out Egypt.  They erased walls that were not flattering to their pharaohs.  Our history hides nothing.  It reads like a soap opera.  That's something to admire.  We may squirm, but on first reading, can use it as a lesson to help us act better.  Most of us are related to these biblical people, so these are our ancestors.  

A commentator mentioned David's wives rebelling at Bathsheba's entrance to David's life.  I count that Bathsheba was his 3rd wife out of a total of 9 wives.  Two wives might argue among themselves but rebelling?  They knew he'd take more wives.  The 1st two were Michal and then Abigail.  David and Michal had no children.  Michal was the younger daughter of King Saul. Abigail's 1st husband, Nabal, had died and then she married David.  She won David's pardon for Nabal's churlishness by her gifts and conciliatory words.  Read I Samuel 25 about it.  CNN's writers were overly exaggerating  about his bad points and not saying much at all about his positive points other than he managed to unite the 12 tribes which most likely was quite a feat in itself. 

As a former teacher in Israel for 4 years in Safed holding dual citizenship and as an old Jewish lady who had taught Sunday School, I was getting quite edgy at this point.  I was thinking of the song I learned in Haifa's Ulpan-Da-vid, Melekh Yisrael, chai, chai, vic ay ain-ooh.".....  ("David, king of Israel, lives, lives," ......) certainly in our hearts; memory going back to 1980.    

Then we get to King Solomon, David and Bathsheba's son, "and the sky did fall on my head, Chicken Little".  The picture painted of Solomon was terrible! This is the king that was so wise, and CNN held that against him by the very story of his  best wisdom;  choosing the real mother of a child between 2 women who both claimed they were the real mother.  His decision of telling them to divide the child in two, which brought out the real mother immediately was made out to be showing his "ruthlessness."  Never in my life would I consider such a thought.  It brought out his wisdom of finding the mother who really loved the child who would give up the claim if it brought about its death. It made me think of how clever he had been.  I knew he wouldn't have allowed it to happen.   Only CNN's commentator, who was of Middle East nationality, I believe, not Jewish, who always commented so negatively.

                                               

Solomon was again called ruthless and was also said to have wanted to be greater than his father, and was like a despot. They spoke of the Temple and that a mosque sat over the 2nd Temple, which we also know.  Did they mention that since David had to fight for the land that Joshua told them they had inherited , Solomon was able to build the Temple because he hadn't been involved in any wars?  No.  No, I don't think anyone consulted with RASHI on this Series.  They reiterated that Solomon did not even provide a peaceful kingdom-he the king allowed to build the Temple because he had not been involved in any wars..not peaceful enough for CNN.       

 I am highly aware of Solomon's faults according to my expectations of a king and how he handled the job.  He had forced labor, if translated correctly, and too high of taxes in order to finish the Temple.  He had put the Temple above the need over the people's needs, and they rebelled.  His son, Rehoboam (933-917 BCE)  who went along with his father's wishes after Solomon died in 920 BCE. still 2,941  years ago, and didn't change his mind about it, with the crowd thinking that he would bend now that Solomon had died, then had to deal with their rebellion.  I really don't blame them.  I would have  too.  It's one thing to admit his faults in the Bible and another to harp on only that and not see all that he had done---to build the Temple!   Saul, David, and Solomon were our kings!  We use their errors in life as lessons. The commentators said that Solomon was falling away from G-d.   The commentators said that Solomon crushed the rebellion.  From what I know, they didn't rebel until he died in 920 BCE, and it was with Solomon's son, Rehoboam that they rebelled, causing the North and South War between Israel and Judah. 

                                               

Incidentally, RASHI (1040-1105 , the famous French biblical commentator, is a direct descendant of King David.  DNA testing backs up his claim and his pedigree.  I'm related to Rashi by 3 avenues.  So are many many other Jews.  

Well, I have faith and I'm furious over this presentation.  At a time of so much anti-Semitism going on all over the world, it only gives Jews and Israel a bad picture.  The commentators see us in such a bad light through what they have dug up, it really knocks my socks off.  

"The history of Jerusalem is a very complicated story," says Laura Schor, a professor of history at Hunter College, in the CNN series. "And if you don't know it in its complexity, it's very hard to understand what's going on there today."  That is true; people need to know a lot more, but.....to learn from competent sources, not critics.  

Wow, and presenting the Jews in such glowing terms!  I do hope she was too busy teaching to have written the script of this presentation.   She also served as the executive director of Hadassah and was the founding dean of the Macaulay Honors College from its inception in 2001 until its first class graduated in 2005. Dr. Schor is on the boards of the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute, the Macaulay Honors College Foundation Board, and the Slim Peace Board.  I do wonder if Dr. Schor oversaw this presentation.  I have been a member of Hadassah, a women's Zionist organization of America founded in 1912 by Henrietta Szold with the object to raise the standard of health in disease-ridden Palestine;  to encourage the development of Jewish life in America, and to foster the Jewish ideal.   I don't think this showing fostered the Jewish ideal or even was encouraging to Jews living in America. It was criticizing our heroes, David and his son, Solomon when we Jews more likely praise them.      

Resource;

CNN's 1st of series of Jerusalem 7/18/2021 

The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia