| Jerusalem |
BC on Mount Ophel above Gihon spring, the only natural spring of pure water within five miles. A 20-foot deep slab-covered channel was dug to Siloam Pool ca. 1800 B. C. King Hezekiah of Judah, ca. 820 B.C, had a curving tunnel cut through the bedrock. Listed in Egyptian texts as "Rusalimum", ca. 1600 B.C. Appears in diplomatic correspondence, the Amarna Letters, 14th century B.C. as "Urusalim". The name, in some similar form, persists to this day. King David conquered the Jebusites and established Jerusalem as Capital of the United Kingdom of Israel in 1003 B.C. It later became part of the Kingdom of Judah after Solomon divided the Kingdom in twain: Judah and Israel. King Solomon began construction of the first Temple on Mount Ophel in 950 B.C. Thence the epithet "Temple Mount." Jerusalem was conquered many times with the requisite destruction of buildings and Temple by the: Assyrians (721 BC), Babylonians (597 BC), Persians (537 BCE), Hellenes-Greeks (332 BC Alexander the Great), Egyptians - Ptolemy (320 BC), Syrian Seleucids (169 BC), Maccabees -Judah I (166 BC), and Romans - General Pompey (63 BC). Control of Jerusalem went back & forth between the Jews and Romans until in 135 AD the Roman Emperor Hadrian captured and totally destroyed Jerusalem. He built a new walled city "Aelia Capitolina" barring Jews therefrom. The never stable battleground of Jerusalem was to continue, (as it does yet): In 438 Empress Eudocia of Byzantium permits Jews to live in Jerusalem. In 614 Persian conquest of Jerusalem — They destroy most churches and expel Jews. In 629 Jerusalem was recaptured by Byzantines. In 638 the Ishmaelite (Muslim) Caliph Omar takes Jerusalem and Jews are readmitted. In 1010 Caliph al-Hakim orders destruction of synagogues and churches. The Crusaders, led by Godfrey de Bouillon, capture Jerusalem in 1099. Baldwin I, Godfrey's brother who refused the Crown, was declared King of Jerusalem. This was to last less than 100 years until the City was captured by the Muslims under the Kurdish General Saladin. Bear in mind that identifying first century sites in Jerusalem is problematic in the extreme. The constant change of control from those of differing religious faiths was usually accompanied by destruction of the previous religion's holy places, not uncommonly down to the very bedrock, which gives us, at best, "probable" locations. The Temple Mount, or Mount Moriah, is the site of the several Temples of Solomon and Solomon's Palace. They were built and razed and rebuilt dozens of times thru the ages. According to legend it contains the Rock upon which Abraham was to sacrifice Isaac (Genesis 22:1-2, Hebrews 11:17, R.S.V.)
they avow it was Ishmael who was to be sacrificed, he being born 13 years before Isaac. Hence Muslims are commonly referred to as "Ishmaelites".
Muhammad (570 - 632) ascended to Heaven, mentioned above. The Dome of the Rock Mosque was constructed here in 691 on the site of Solomon's Temple. At the same time the al Aqsa Mosque was built on the site of Solomon's Palace. the al Aqsa Mosque into the Templarum Salomonis. This latter became the residence of the King of Jerusalem, Baldwin I in 1099 who gave it to the Knights Templar as their residence in Jerusalem.
the Wailing Wall of today was the Western Wall of the Temple Mount expanded by Herod the Great, ca. 10 B.C. It apparently escaped destruction by the Roman Emperor Titus in 70 A.D. and Hadrian in 135 A.D. Legend has it that the Western/Wailing Wall was assigned by Herod to the poor to construct. Their poverty caused them to do all the work themselves. When the Temple Mount was destroyed by Titus, angels descended and spread their wings over the Western Wall saying: "This Wall, the work of the poor, shall never be destroyed." In any case, it IS still there. It is a prime site of reverence to Jews, and has been for some two millennia. Since the Temple Mount/Mt. Moriah/Solomon's Temple was restricted to the priestly class, the Sanhedrin, this Wall was as close as they could get.
gaps in the wall was practiced. As with so many Holy Places in Jerusalem the Wailing Wall is also sacred to the Muslims, who call it al Buraq. Al Buraq was the "winged horse" that transported Muhammad from Mecca to Jerusalem, the Miraaj or Night Journey (Qur'an 17:1), where al Buraq was tied to a ring in the Western Wall, thence to Heaven and back to Mecca in one night. Many of the tenets of the Muslim faith were revealed by Allah (God), as well as by the Angel Gabriel and the Prophet Moses at that time. built by St. Helena, the mother of Emperor Constantine, in 330 A.D., to commemorate Golgotha, the hill of the crucifixion, and the tomb of Christ's burial. It reportedly stands upon those sites. First century tombs that still exist under the church, one of which is attributed to the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, would seem to corroborate this. It is also the site where St. Helena found the "True Cross". It is said that if all the pieces of the "True Cross" now extant were reassembled one could build several of Noah's Arks.
Persians in 614 A.D. The Roman Emperor Heraclius captured Jerusalem from the Persians in 630, and restored the True Cross to the rebuilt Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Caliph Omar took Jerusalem in 638 and Jews are readmitted to the city. It was allowed to function as a Christian Church under the Muslims until it was razed down to bedrock by the Egyptian caliph al-Hakim in 1009. The rebuilding by the Crusaders, including several chapels, etc. was completed in 1149. THE DISCOVERY OF THE TRUE CROSS In the year 326 the mother of Constantine, Helena, who was some eighty years old, journeyed to Jerusalem motivated by some revelations, which she had received about the location of the Saviour's Tomb and His Cross.
buildings there were cleared with the co-operation of St. Macarius, bishop of the city. The Jews had hidden the Cross in a ditch or well, and covered it over with stones, to hide its location from the Christian faithful. Only a chosen few among the Jews knew the exact spot where it had been hidden, and one of them, named Judas (now St. Cyriacus), touched by Divine inspiration, pointed it out to Helena's excavators. Three crosses were excavated with no titulus to identify them one from the other. Following an inspiration from on high, Macarius caused the three crosses to be carried, one after the other, to the bedside of a worthy woman who was at the point of death. The touch of the other two was of no avail; but on touching that upon which Christ had died the woman got suddenly well again. St. Helena, herself, caused a man already dead and buried to be carried to the spot, whereupon, by contact with the third cross, he came to life. Thence the True Cross was miraculously identified. "Kings removing their diadems take up the cross, the symbol of their Saviour's death; on the purple, the cross; in their prayers, the cross; on their armour, the cross; on the holy table, the cross; throughout the universe, the cross. The cross shines brighter than the sun. " Homily of St. John Chrysostom (349– ca. 407) Archbishop of Constantinople. |
| Crusade to Jerusalem Nov 3-5, 2007 |
| Hosted by the Canton of Mathom Trove |
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