Ancient

—Ancient:

(see image) Cross-Sectional View of Jerusalem (West to East) as Seen from the South.(After Heyck, "Die Kreuzzüge.")

Capital at first of all Israel, later of the kingdom of Judah; chief city of Palestine; situated in 31° 46′ 45″ N. lat. and 35° 13′ 25″ E. long., upon the southern spur of a plateau the eastern side of which slopes from 2,460 ft. above sea-level north of the Temple area to 2,130 ft. at the southeastern extremity. The western hill is about 2,500 ft. high and slopes southeast from the Judean plateau. Jerusalem is surrounded upon all sides by valleys, of which those on the north are less pronounced than those on the other three sides. The principal two valleys start northwest of the present city. The first runs eastward with a slight southerly bend (the present Wadi al-Joz), then, deflecting directly south (formerly known as "Kidron Valley," the modern Wadi Sitti Maryam), divides the Mount of Olives from the city. The second runs directly south on the western side of the city, turns eastward at its southeastern extremity, then runs directly east, and joins the first valley near Bir Ayyub ("Job's Well"). It was called in olden times the "Valley of Hinnom," and is the modern Wadi al-Rababi, which is not to be identified with the first-mentioned valley, as Sir Charles Warren (in his "Recovery of Jerusalem," p. 290, and in Hastings,"Dict. Bible," s.v.) has done. Easy access to Jerusalem could be had only on the north and northwest. In olden times there were other valleys which divided up this complex; but these are now filled in by the accumulated rubbish of centuries. A third valley, commencing in the northwest where is now the Damascus Gate, ran south-southeasterly down to the Pool of Siloam, and divided the lower part into two hills (the lower and the upper cities of Josephus). This is probably the later Tyropœon ("Cheese-makers'") Valley, though it should be mentioned that W. R. Smith, Sayce, Birch, and Schwartz identify the Tyropœon with the Valley of Hinnom (Cheyne and Black, "Encyc. Bib.]." ii. 2423; Hastings, "Dict. Bible," ii. 387). A fourth valley led from the western hill (near the present Jaffa Gate) over to the Temple area: it is represented in modern Jerusalem by David street. A fifth cut the eastern hill into a northern and a southern part. Later Jerusalem was thus built upon four spurs (see frontispiece map of physical features of Jerusalem).

Jerusalem

In the El-Amarna Tablets

In the El-Amarna Tablets.

The earliest historical notices respecting Jerusalem come from the El-Amarna tablets. Before the fifteenth century B.C. Babylonian influences must have been present. There was a city called "Bit-Ninib" (Temple of the God Ninib) in the "district of Jerusalem "(Letter 180, 25). In the fifteenth century Amenophis III. had extended Egyptian rule so as to include Syria, Mesopotamia, Babylonia, and Assyria. This empire, however, became disrupted through its own weight. The individual districts in Palestine and Syria had been first under native princes ("amelu") with an Egyptian resident ("rabiz"), and then under a "Hazzanu," who was in reality a viceroy of the Pharaoh. Jerusalem was the chief seat of one of the districts, in consequence of which it may at one time have changed its name ("the king has placed his name upon Jerusalem," Letter 180, 60). The four El-Amarna letters from Jerusalem were written by itsHazzanu, one Abdi Heba. The whole district was sorely pressed by the Habiri. The chief conspirators against him were Milki-il, his father-in-law Tagi, Shuardatu, the Banu Lapaya, the Banu Arzawa, and Adaya, a military chief; they prevented him from personally reporting to his sovereign, upon whom he impressed the fact that if reenforcements were not sent, the whole "land of the King" would be lost. He protested his loyalty, and mentioned the presents he had sent to the king by the latter's officer Shuta. How long the conspiracy had lasted is not known. Before that, an Egyptian special officer (rabiz) had been sent to Jerusalem.
(see image) One of the El-Amarna Tablets Mentioning Abdi Heba of Jerusalem.(From Ball, "Light from the East.")

The Kash (?) had also entered Abdi Heba's dominions; and one city had gone over to the Kilti. From another of the El-Amarna letters (182, 5) it appears that Jerusalem itself was in the hands of rebels, and that Egyptian troops which had been sent under Haya had been detained in Gaza. It was evidently a period of general anarchy, due to the break-up of the Egyptian power.

Jerusalem

The Name

The Name.

The name "Jerusalem" is written in the Old Testament and upon most of the old Hebrew coins defectively , though punctuated "Yerushalayim" as a "kere perpetuum" (with the exception of five places where the "yod" is added; Frensdorff, "Massora Magna," p. 293). The Aramaic form, "Yerushlem" (Ezra iv. 8, 20, 24, 51), the Syriac "Urishlem," the Septuagint transcription 'Ιερουσαλημ, the Assyrian "Urusalim" (El-Amarna tablets) and "Ursalimu" (Sennacherib), point to an original pronunciation "Yerushalem"; the ending "-ayim" either being due to a diphthongization or representing a dual formation (König, "Lehrgebäude," ii. pt. 1, p. 437). A shortened form is perhaps to be found in "Shalem" (Gen. xiv. 18; Ps. lxxvi. 3; comp. Josephus, "Ant." i. 10, § 2), known also to the Arabs ("Shallam," in Yakut, "Geographisches Wörterb." iii. 315). Several etymologies for the word have been suggested; e.g., = "possession of peace" or "of Salem"; "foundation of peace" or "of Shalem [God of peace]"; according to the Midrash it is made up of "Shalem," the name given to the city by Shem, and "Yir'eh," that given to it by Abraham (Gen. R. lvi. 10; Midr. Teh. to Ps. lxxvi. 3). A more plausible derivation makes it the equivalent of "Uru-shalim" (="City of [the god] Shalim"; comp. the Assyrian god Shalman or Shulman, the Phenician [Greek Σαλαμαν], and the Egyptian Sharamana [Zimmern, in "K. A. T." 3d ed., pp. 224, 475; Praetorius, in "Z. D. M. G." lvii. p. 782), "Uri" having become "Yeru" by metathesis (see Haupt in "Isaiah," in "S. B. O. T." Eng. transl., p. 100). In the Greek period the name was Hellenized into Ιεροσόλνμα (Sibyllines, x. 103, New Testament, Josephus, Philo, and the classical writers). Following the New Testament, the Vulgate has both "Hierusalem" and "Hierosolyma" (or "Ierusalem," "Ierosolyma"). Philo uses the name Ιερόπολις (ed. Mangey, ii. 524). Under Hadrian (135) the city was renamed "Ælia Capitolina," from which Ptolemy took his Καπιτολιας. The Arabs at times preserved the ancient forms "Urishalam," "Urishallam," "Uraslam" (Yakut, l.c. i. 402), or "Iliya" (ib. 423), or more commonly "Bait al-Makdis" or "al-Mukaddas" (ib. iv. 590); in modern parlance, "Al-kuds al-Sharif" or simply "Al-kuds" = "the Sanctuary."
(see image) Sketch Showing Topographical Features of Jerusalem.(After Fulton, "The Beautiful Land.")

Jerusalem

Resists the Israelites

Resists the Israelites.

In Hebrew annals Jerusalem is first mentioned in connection with Melchizedek, King of Salem (Gen. xiv. 18), then with the incursions of the Israelites after the taking of Ai. It was one of the five cities of the Amorites, who seem to have succeeded to the Egyptian power in southern Palestine. Each of these cities had its prince ("melek"), that of Jerusalem being Adoni-zedek, who took the lead against the city of Gibeon (Josh. x. 1 et seq.). All the princes were taken, slain, and hanged at Makkedah (see, also, the list, ib. xii. 10). The relation of the inhabitants of Jerusalem to the Jebusites can not now be determined. They may themselves have been Jebusites; at least, the latter were not completely driven out at the time (ib. xv. 63). In fact, Jerusalem is expressly called a "foreign city," not belonging to the Israelites (Judges xix. 12); and the Jebusites are said to have lived there for very many years together with the Benjamites (ib. i. 21; according to Josh. xv. 63, "with the children of Judah"), in whose territory the city lay. At one time the city seems to have been called "Jebus" (Josh. xv. 8, xviii. 28; Judges xix. 10). It was at Jerusalem that Adoni-bezek died (Judges i. 7). Finally the Judahites took the place, burned it, and killed its inhabitants. It must have been soon rebuilt; for in the early history of David (I Sam. xvii. 54) it is again called by its old name, "Jerusalem." Perhaps only the "lower city" had been taken (Josephus, "Ant." v. 2, § 2)—just as in Maccabean times the Acra or citadel was held for twenty-six years by the Syrian garrison—which would explain the apparent contradiction between verses 8 and 21 of Judges i. (Moore, "Judges," p. 21). The name "Zion" seems already to have been attached to a portion of the city; at least the "Mezudat ziyyon" is mentioned (II Sam. v. 7; I Chron. xi. 5). But the place was renamed by David "'Ir Dawid" (= "City of David"), in the same manner as Assyrian rulers were wont to give their names to captured cities. Though dignified by the name "'Ir," the town need not necessarily have been large. In addition to the fortress, it must have contained some place of worship, besides houses for the people and the soldiers. What the "zinnor" (II Sam. v. 8) was is not known. The word is usually rendered "watercourse" (LXX. παραξιφις (?); Aquila, κρουνισμος = "stream"; Symmachus, ἐπαλξις = "battlement," "parapet"; according to later Hebrew usage, "canal," "aqueduct").

Jerusalem

Situation of Zion

Situation of Zion.

The exact situation of these early settlements has always been a matter of dispute. The author of I Macc. iv. 37 says expressly that the Temple was built upon Mt. Zion; and the presence of St. Mary's Well and the Siloam Pool seems to show that the natural position of the ancient fortress was upon the edge of the southeastern hill, where, as the excavations of Guthe and Bliss have shown, the level of the ground was much higher than at present. It is true that later tradition, both Jewish and Christian, agrees in placing Zion upon the southwestern hill; but even the latest attempts of Karl Rückert ("Die Lage des Berges Sion," Freiburg, 1898), Georg Gatt ("Sion in Jerusalem," Brixen, 1900, and "Zur Topographie Jerusalems," in "Z. D. P. V." xxv. 178), and C. Mommert ("Topographie des Alten Jerusalems," Leipsic, 1902) have not been successful in harmonizing this theory with the Biblical data. The theory is based chiefly upon (1) the direction of the old north wall, ending at the Haram, as described by Josephus ("B. J." v. 4, § 2), and south of which Zion must (?) have stood, and (2) the place of David's burial, which, according to tradition, is usually placed on the southwestern hill (see "Z. A. P. V." xxiv. 180-185).

There were only two natural water sources near Jerusalem, En-rogel and Gihon, respectively east and southeast of the city. The first (II Sam. xvii. 17; I Kings i. 9) has generally been identified withSt. Mary's, or the Virgin's, Spring, largely because the flight of steps running from the spring to Silwan is to-day called "ZaHwayleh," i.e., "Zoheleth" (I Kings l.c.). But the distance is too great; and the application of the term to these particular steps is not certain. En-rogel, according to tradition ("Ant." vii. 14, § 4), was in the king's garden; and Mitchell's identification of it with the Bir Ayyub is worthy of acceptance ("Jour. Bib. Lit." xxii. 108). The well Gihon (I Kings i. 33, 35, 38; II Chron. xxxii. 30, xxxiii. 14) is the so-called "Virgin's Spring." In addition, there were several pools: the "old pool" (Isa. xxii. 11), now called the Patriarch's Pool, northwest of the city; the "lower pool" (Isa. xxii. 9), now known as the Birkat al-Hamra; and the "upper pool" (ib. vii. 3, xxxvi. 2; II Kings xviii. 17), probably the Mamilla Pool, west of the Jaffa Gate, which fed the "old pool." In regard to the "Serpents' Pool," see below.

Jerusalem

City of David

City of David.

The city at this epoch may have extended to the southwestern hill; but it is not clear what enlargements were due to David. In II Sam. v. 9 it is said that he built "round about from Millo and inward." The Millo, however, was built by Solomon (I Kings ix. 15, 24); and the reference at the time of David may be to the place where in later times the Millo was. Whether the latter was part of the wall or a citadel (LXX. ή ăκρα) is not known. It was, however, part of the defense of the city, and is mentioned in connection with the walls (ib.). It was strengthened by Hezekiah upon the approach of Sennacherib (II Chron. xxxii. 5); and may have been an artificial terrace (comp. the Assyrian "Mulu" and "Tamlu").

A palace of stone and of cedar-wood from Lebanon was built for David by Tyrian workmen (II Sam. v. 11, vii. 2). It must have stood somewhere between the Temple and the Siloam Pool, from the latter of which steps led up to the city of David (Neh. iii. 15). Some sort of tabernacle must also have been erected for him, (, II Sam. vi. 17; , ib. vii. 2); for he brought the Ark from the house of Abinadab in Gibeah, first to the house of Obed-edom, and then to the city of David (ib. vi. 3, 11). It was here that he deposited the gold and the silver that he had taken from the Aramean princes and from the Moabites and Ammonites, whom he had subdued (ib. viii. 11 et seq.). The plague that appeared in the land toward the end of David's reign does not seem to have touched Jerusalem. It was supposed to have been stayed mysteriously at a threshing-floor on Mt. Moriah, north of the city of David, belonging to one Araunah or Aranyah, which place was then bought by David, who erected an altar there (II Sam. xxiv. 14 et seq.; I Chron. xxi. 15 et seq.). David was buried "in the city of David" (I Kings ii. 10). The site of the tomb is unknown; but it was situated probably in the rocks of the southeastern hill ("Z. D. P. V." iii. 210, v. 330). It is mentioned in Neh. iii. 16 as being near to the steps (see above)

Jerusalem

Improvements by Solomon

Improvements by Solomon.

Under Solomon the city took on a much grander aspect. There is now definite reference to a wall surrounding it (I Kings iii. 9, ix. 15), a part of which seems to have been the Millo mentioned above. This wall must have enclosed some portion left open by David (ib. xi. 27). Solomon erected a palace made up of various buildings (ib. iii. 1), which took thirteen years to build (ib. vii. 1). The Temple was commenced in the month Ziv (ib. vi. 1; see Temple); it occupied seven years in construction, and was finished in the month Bul (ib. vi. 38). With the help of a Tyrian, the two pillars Jachin and Boaz were fashioned out of bronze (ib. vii. 13 et seq., ix. 11). The Temple was made up of a forecourt, the Holy Place (40 × 20 × 30 ells), the Holy of Holies (a cube of 20 ells), and various smaller buildings adjoining. To this Temple the Ark was removed from the city of David on the Feast of Tabernacles (ib. viii. 1). With the assistance of Hiram of Tyre (I Kings v. 15 et seq.), Solomon built a palace for Pharaoh's daughter (ib. vii. 8), and the "house of the forest of Lebanon" ("bet ya'ar ha-Lebanon," ib. vii. 2), which measured 100 × 50 × 30 cubits, and the top part of which was used as an armory (ib. x. 16). All these buildings, constructed of stone and wood, seem to have stood in a sort of court ("Hazer"), around which was a wall of three courses of stone (ib. vii. 12). Smaller courts surrounded the individual buildings. Solomon is said to have embellished Jerusalem with silver and costly wood (ib. x. 27). In later years he built, also, a "bamah" to Chemosh and to Molech "in the Mount that is before Jerusalem" (ib. xi. 7, R. V.).

The extent of the city at this time might be gaged by tracing the probable line of the wall, if that line were at all certain. Some scholars believe that Solomon enclosed the western hill; the wall would then be the first of the three, which had sixty crenelations, mentioned by Josephus ("B. J." v. 4, § 2). It would accordingly have commenced at what was later the tower Hippicus, near the present Jaffa Gate; running eastward to the Xystus, it would then have encircled the greater part of the Temple mount; bending south and southwest, it would have skirted Ophel, though not including the Siloam Pool (Josephus says "above the fountains"); and, enclosing the present Jewish and Protestant cemeteries, it would then have turned north again, meeting the other end at the Jaffa Gate. Upon this supposition, the remains found in the excavations of Maudslay in 1865, successfully followed by Bliss in 1896-97, are parts of this wall. Where the towers Hananeel and Ha-Meah or Meah stood can not be ascertained. They are mentioned in Jer. xxxi. 38; Zech. xiv. 10; Neh. iii. 1, xii. 39. The former seems to have marked the northeast corner of the city; the latter, to have been on a wall leading westward from this corner.

Jerusalem