Old City, Jerusalem, ISRAEL

Old City
The Old City is home to several sites of key religious importance : Temple Mount and Western Wall for Jews, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for christians and the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque for Muslim.
It was added to the Unesco World Heritage Site List in 1981.
According to the Hebrew Bible, before King David's conquest of Jerusalem in the 11th century BCE the city was home to the Jebusites and the city was heavily fortified with a strong city wall. King Solomon, son of David, extended the city walls to include the Temple and Temple Mount.
Today, the Old City is divided into uneven quarters, the Muslim Quarter, Christian Quarter, Armenian Quarter and Jewish Quarter.

History of Jerusalem
BCE

~18th Referenced in Egypt as "Rushalimum"

Mid Bronze II Referred in the bible as Cananaite "Shalem" (Genesis 14: 18)

~14th Mentioned as "Urasalim" in the Amarna letters, a 14th century BC Egyptian archive of clay tablets

~1250 Adonei Zadek, King of Shalem, is defeated by Israelite's Joshua (Joshua 10)

1000 King David conquers the city from the Jebusites; establishes his capital

950 King Solomon builds the 1st Temple

701 King Hezekiah refortifies the city and repels the Assyrians

586 1st Temple is ruined by Nebuchadnezzer; Israel is exiled

536 Exiles return to Jerusalem, reconstruct the ruined city and walls

516 2nd Temple is built

332 Alexander the Great conquers the city; starts Hellenism influence

165 Hasmonaim Liberate city from Antiochus IV; Jerusalem is Israel's capital again

63 Pompey takes the city; Roman rules starts (until 614AD)

37-4 Herod takes the city; massive rebuilding of city and the temple

4BC - 66AD Roman procurators rule the city (with Herod's descendant kings)

~33 Jesus is trialed and crucified by Pontius Pilate (5th Roman procurator of Judea)

66-70 Jewish rebels take the city

70 Jerusalem and its temple ruined by the Romans

132 Jewish Rebels retake the city

136 City is razed; Hadrian establishes Aelia Capitolina

335 Constantine and his Mother Helena convert the city to Christianity

Church of the Holy Sepulcher is erected

614 Persians take the city for a brief time

638 Arabs conquer the city; later build the Dome of the Rock mosque (691) and

Al-Aksa mosque (705)

1099 Crusaders take the city; hold it until 1187

1187 Saladin recaptures the city

1267 Mamelukes take the city; hold it until 1517AD

1517 Turks take the city; later (1538) Suleiman "the Magnificent" builds the current walls

1832 General Ibrahim Pasha, General of Egypt, conquers the city (until 1841)

1867 Charles warren starts the archaeological digs

1917 British rule until 1948

1948-9 Israel's Independence war; Jordan occupies old city; Jerusalem made Israel's capital

1967 East Jerusalem is reunited with West Jerusalem after 6 day war

*reference : http://www.biblewalks.com/sites/Jerusalem.html

Walls of Jerusalem

Length : 4,018 m
Height : 12 m (average)
Thickness : 2.5 m (average)
Number of Gate : 7 main gates(opened for traffic), 1 sealed gate(Golden Gate)

Golden Gate, 6th century
שער הרחמים

A double gate, last sealed in 1541
; Gate of Mercy, Gate of Repentance

Olive trees on the street

Dung Gate, 1538-1540
שער האשפות

Entrance to the Western Wall/Temple Mt. from the Dung Gate

The Archeological Garden

The Temple Mount Walls and Robinson's Arch
View of the walls of the Temple Mount, built of large stones with dressed margins. The stones protruding from the Western Wall are the springer courses of Robinson’s Arch, named after the American who first identified it. The arch supported a monumental stairway leading up to the Temple Mount plaza. These structures were built by Herod the Great (37-4 BCE) as part of the expansion of the Temple Mount enclosure.

Jaffa Gate, 1530-1540
שער יפו

Zion Gate, 1540
שער ציון

New Gate, 1887
השער החדש

Damascus Gate, 1537
שער שכם

Bus stop in front of Damascus Gate, goes to Palestine area

Barriers on the way to Jerusalem from Bethlehem in Palestine

Herod's Gate, 1875
שער הפרחים

Post Office around the Herod's Gate

Quarry and caves on the opposite side of the wall

Hebrew University on the mount of Scopus, view from the Old City

Lions Gate, 1538-1549
שער האריות

Muslims, going up to the Temple Mount to pray on Friday

Temple Mount

Elevation : 740 m
Mountain type : Limestone

Temple Mt. dress code
A modest dress, women should wear a knee length dress or long pants and upper arms and chest must be covered by a top or a scarf. Men are required to wear long pants below the knee or cover up with a shawl.

Dome of the Rock, 691

Non-Muslims are not permitted to enter inside the Dome of the Rock or Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Chain Gate - exit of the Temple Mt.

Streetscapes in the four quarters

Muslim Quarter

Christian Quarter

Arch of the Virgin Mary
An arch decorated with “pillows” which demarcated the opening of the Western entrance into the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in the Crusaders period.

Armenian Quater

Christ Church, in the Armenian quarter

Christ Church (church of Messiah)
The first Protestant church (Anglican) in the Holy Land built in 1849. This compound was also the home of the British consulate, the first modern hospital, schools, and a house of industry.

Services at Christ Church

In Hebrew

Monday Evening prayer and praise 18:30

Friday/Saturday Messianic Worship

In Arabic

Friday Evening Bible Study 18:00

In English

Sunday Morning Holy Communion Service 09:30

Sunday Evening Service 19:00

Wednesday Morning Communion 08:00

Wednesday Morning Women’s Bible Study 10:00
Wednesday Evening Bible Study 19:00

Jewish Quater

Western Cardo
Remains of a magnificent main road from the Roman-Byzantine period serving throughout time until today as a major thoroughfare for shopping.