Jerusalem

==== Late Antiquity ====
{{main|Aelia Capitolina||l2 = }}

Following the Bar Kokhba revolt, Emperor [[Hadrian]] combined [[Iudaea Province]] with neighbouring provinces under the new name of ''[[Syria Palaestina]]'', replacing the name of Judea.<ref>Elizabeth Speller, {{Google books |id=3c8kB3m0r8kC |page=218 |title=Following Hadrian: A Second-Century Journey Through the Roman Empire}}, Oxford University Press, 2004, p. 218</ref> The city was renamed [[Aelia Capitolina]],<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.usd.edu/erp/Palestine/people&p.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080310053409/http://www.usd.edu/erp/Palestine/people%26p.htm |archive-date=10 March 2008 |title=Palestine: People and Places |access-date=18 April 2007 |last=Lehmann |first=Clayton Miles |encyclopedia=The On-line Encyclopedia of the Roman Provinces |publisher=The University of South Dakota |url-status=dead}}</ref> and rebuilt it in the style of a typical Roman town. Jews were prohibited from entering the city on pain of death, except for one day each year, during the holiday of [[Tisha B'Av]]. Taken together, these measures,<ref name="Schäfer2003">{{cite book |author=Peter Schäfer |title=The Bar Kokhba war reconsidered: new perspectives on the second Jewish revolt against Rome |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1TA-Fg4wBnUC&pg=PA36 |access-date=4 December 2011 |year=2003 |publisher=Mohr Siebeck |isbn=978-3-16-148076-8 |pages=36– |archive-date=18 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230218083810/https://books.google.com/books?id=1TA-Fg4wBnUC&pg=PA36 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=ERPplaces>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.usd.edu/erp/Palestine/history.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080310053428/http://www.usd.edu/erp/Palestine/history.htm |archive-date=10 March 2008 |title=Palestine: History |access-date=18 April 2007 |date=22 February 2007 |last=Lehmann |first=Clayton Miles |encyclopedia=The On-line Encyclopedia of the Roman Provinces |publisher=The University of South Dakota}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Cohen |first=Shaye J. D. |chapter=Judaism to Mishnah: 135–220 C.E |title=Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism: A Parallel History of their Origins and Early Development |editor=Hershel Shanks |year=1996 |location=Washington, DC |page=196 |publisher=Biblical Archaeology Society}}</ref> which also affected Jewish Christians,<ref>Emily Jane Hunt, {{Google books |id=Dn5ERgK0djMC |page=7 |title=Christianity in the second century: the case of Tatian}}, Psychology Press, 2003, p. 7</ref> essentially "secularized" the city.<ref>E. Mary Smallwood {{Google books |id=nw0VAAAAIAAJ |page=460 |title=The Jews under Roman rule: from Pompey to Diocletian : a study in political relations}} Brill, 1981, p. 460.</ref> Historical sources and archaeological evidence indicate that the rebuilt city was now inhabited by veterans of the Roman military and immigrants from the western parts of the empire.<ref>Klein, E. (2010), "The Origins of the Rural Settlers in Judean Mountains and Foothills during the Late Roman Period", In: E. Baruch., A. Levy-Reifer and A. Faust (eds.), New Studies on Jerusalem, Vol. 16. Ramat-Gan, p. 325-327 (Hebrew). "Following the failure of the revolt, the process of the Roman administration's takeover of the city's lands and its surroundings was completed [...] The historical sources confirm that Hadrian gave the city the status of a colony of the citizens of Rome, a title that was awarded almost exclusively to cities where veterans and their families lived. [...] The totality of the data allows us to conclude that a significant component of the population of Ilia Capitolina is the veterans of the Roman army and settlers from the west of the empire."</ref>

The ban against Jews was maintained until the 7th century,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bu.edu/mzank/Jerusalem/p/period3-2.htm |last=Zank |first=Michael |publisher=Boston University |title=Byzantian Jerusalem |access-date=1 February 2007 |archive-date=4 January 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070104004345/http://www.bu.edu/mzank/Jerusalem/p/period3-2.htm |url-status=live}}</ref> though Christians would soon be granted an exemption: during the 4th century, the [[Roman emperor]] [[Constantine I]] ordered the construction of Christian holy sites in the city, including the [[Church of the Holy Sepulchre]]. Burial remains from the Byzantine period are exclusively Christian, suggesting that the population of Jerusalem in Byzantine times probably consisted only of Christians.<ref>Gideon Avni, {{Google books |id=ZLucAgAAQBAJ |page=144 |title=The Byzantine-Islamic Transition in Palestine: An Archaeological Approach}}, Oxford University Press 2014 p. 144.</ref>

[[File:Madaba map.jpg|thumb|right|The Byzantine [[Madaba Map]] showing the city, dating to the 5th century AD, it is the oldest surviving [[Cartography of Jerusalem|depiction of Jerusalem]].]]

In the 5th century, the eastern continuation of the [[Roman Empire]], ruled from the recently renamed [[Constantinople]], maintained control of the city. Within the span of a few decades, Jerusalem shifted from Byzantine to [[Achaemenid Empire|Persian]] rule, then back to Roman-Byzantine dominion. Following [[Sassanid Empire|Sassanid]] [[Khosrau II]]'s early 7th century push through Syria, his generals [[Shahrbaraz]] and [[Shahin Vahmanzadegan|Shahin]] attacked Jerusalem ({{lang-fa|Dej Houdkh}}) aided by the Jews of [[Palaestina Prima]], who had risen up against the Byzantines.<ref name=Strategos>{{Cite book |last=Conybeare |first=Frederick C. |author-link=Frederick Cornwallis Conybeare |title=The Capture of Jerusalem by the Persians in 614 AD |series=English Historical Review 25 |year=1910 |pages=502–17}}</ref>

In the [[Sasanian conquest of Jerusalem|Siege of Jerusalem of 614]], after 21 days of relentless [[siege|siege warfare]], Jerusalem was captured. Byzantine chronicles relate that the Sassanids and Jews slaughtered tens of thousands of Christians in the city, many at the [[Mamilla Pool]],<ref>[http://tourism.gov.il/Tourism_Euk/Articles/Attractions/Hidden+Treasures+in+Jerusalem.htm Hidden Treasures in Jerusalem] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170106095244/http://tourism.gov.il/Tourism_Euk/Articles/Attractions/Hidden+Treasures+in+Jerusalem.htm |date=6 January 2017 }}, the Jerusalem Tourism Authority</ref><ref>Jerusalem blessed, Jerusalem cursed: Jews, Christians, and Muslims in the Holy City from David's time to our own. By Thomas A. Idinopulos, I.R. Dee, 1991, p. 152</ref> and destroyed their monuments and churches, including the [[Church of the Holy Sepulchre]]. This episode has been the subject of much debate between historians.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=96507514 |last=Horowitz |first=Elliot |publisher=Jewish Social Studies |title=Modern Historians and the Persian Conquest of Jerusalem in 614 |access-date=20 January 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080526181012/http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=96507514 |archive-date=26 May 2008}}</ref> The conquered city would remain in Sassanid hands for some fifteen years until the Byzantine emperor [[Heraclius]] reconquered it in 629.<ref>Rodney Aist, ''The Christian Topography of Early Islamic Jerusalem'', Brepols Publishers, 2009 p. 56: 'Persian control of Jerusalem lasted from 614 to 629'.</ref>