The Encyclopedia of World Religions

Jerusalem S 237

Jews to return home, but many decided to stay in Babylon instead. The resettling of Jerusalem and the rebuilding of the Temple under such leaders as N EHEMIAH and E ZRA went slowly. Later, in 164 B . C . E ., after a revolt led by Judas Maccabeus, Jeru salem became the capital of a thriving Jewish king dom, known as the Hasmonean kingdom. In 63 B . C . E . the Romans defeated the Hasmo neans. They eventually made Herod king to rule the territory for them. Although he was unpopu lar, Herod did expand the Temple to its most glo rious form. After Herod’s death in 4 B . C . E ., the political situation became increasingly unstable. From C . E . 66 to 74 Roman armies fought with Jew ish freedom-fighters. They destroyed the Temple for good in C . E . 70. The western retaining wall of the temple mount became an important place where Jews mourned this loss. After a revolt in 132–135, the Romans renamed Jerusalem and expelled all the Jews. Jerusalem became for most Jews a mythical, ancient city, essential to their identity but of no direct, practical significance. RABBIS preserved the regulations concerning the Temple in the Mishnah. Prophecies concerning the restoration of Jerusalem also seemed to point to future glory. In the first century, J ESUS , the founder of C HRIS TIANITY , was active in the region. He was tried, executed, and, Christians believe, rose from the dead at Jerusalem. In Jerusalem, too, his clos est followers created the first church. In this way Jerusalem became an important site in the Chris tian Holy Land. The places that tradition associ ates with Jesus, especially the Via Dolorosa—the path he took on his way to being executed—have become important destinations for pilgrims. Chris tians have also called the world to be established when Jesus returns “the new Jerusalem.” In 635 Jerusalem fell to Muslim rule. Because Muslims revere figures like A BRAHAM , David, and Solomon as prophets, they, too, consider Jerusa lem a sacred place. In 691 they built a shrine, the Dome of the Rock, on the temple mount. Islamic tradition has identified a rock outcropping in this shrine as the place from which M UHAMMAD was taken up one night into HEAVEN .

When Jeremiah urged surrender to Babylon, his opponents considered him to be a traitor in time of war. They imprisoned him and even tried to kill him by abandoning him in a dry well. When the Babylonians did conquer Judah, they gave Jeremiah complete freedom (Jeremiah 40.4–5). But that was not to last. After a series of political assassinations, a group of Judeans were afraid that Babylon would punish them. Jer emiah advised them to stay in Judah, but they fled to Egypt instead. They took Jeremiah along with them. There he ended his days prophesying much as he had begun: The Jews in Egypt would be destroyed because they had abandoned YHWH and were worshipping other gods. Jerusalem A city sacred to Jews, Christians, and Muslims. Its sacredness is intertwined with its history. Around the year 1000 B . C . E . Jerusalem was a stronghold of people known as Jebusites. King D AVID (ruled roughly 1000–961 B . C . E .) captured the city. He made it the capital of a united monarchy of Israel and Judah. His son S OLOMON (ruled roughly 961–922 B . C . E .) built a temple there for the dynas ty’s god, YHWH (“the Lord”). This is the structure Jews know as the First Temple. When Solomon died, the united monarchy split into two kingdoms, Israel and Judah. Jeru salem became the capital of Judah, and David’s descendants continued to rule there. Israel built alternative sanctuaries at Dan and Bethel, but some, including some very vocal prophets, still favored Jerusalem. King Josiah of Judah (ruled 640–609 B . C . E .) instituted a religious reform. Ear lier the people of Judah seem to have offered SACRI FICES at local sanctuaries. Josiah made the Jerusa lem Temple the only acceptable place of sacrifice. This meant that Jews would travel to Jerusalem to celebrate the major festivals of P ASSOVER , Shavuot, and Sukkot ( see J EWISH FESTIVALS ). In 587 B . C . E . the Babylonians sacked Jerusa lem, destroyed Solomon’s Temple, and deported the Judean elite to Babylon. In 539 B . C . E . Cyrus, king of Persia, conquered Babylon. He allowed the