Jerusalem

==Religious significance==
{{Main|Religious significance of Jerusalem}}Jerusalem has been sacred to Judaism for roughly 3000 years, to Christianity for around 2000 years, and to Islam for approximately 1400 years. The 2000 Statistical Yearbook of Jerusalem lists 1204 synagogues, 158 churches, and 73 mosques within the city.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Protecting Jerusalem's Holy Sites: A Strategy for Negotiating a Sacred Peace |url=https://archive.org/details/protectingjerusa00guin |url-access=limited |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2006 |edition=1st |last=Guinn |first=David E. |isbn=978-0-521-86662-0 |page=[https://archive.org/details/protectingjerusa00guin/page/n151 142]}}</ref> Despite efforts to maintain peaceful religious coexistence, some sites, such as the Temple Mount, have been a continuous source of friction and controversy. The [[Temple Mount]] is the holiest spot in [[Judaism]] and the third holiest site in Islam. Jews venerate it as the site of the two former [[Temple in Jerusalem|Temples]] and [[Muslim]]s believe that [[Muhammad in Islam|Muhammad]] was transported from the [[Great Mosque of Mecca]] to this location during the [[Isra and Mi'raj|Night Journey]].
[[File:THE_OLD_CITY_JERUSALEM.JPG|thumb|The [[Old City (Jerusalem)|Old City]] is home to many sites of seminal [[Religious significance of Jerusalem|religious importance]] for the three major [[Abrahamic religions]]—[[Judaism]], [[Christianity]], and [[Islam]].]]

=== Judaism ===
{{Further|Jerusalem in Judaism}}
Jerusalem has been the [[Four Holy Cities|holiest city]] in Judaism and the ancestral and spiritual homeland of the Jewish people since King David proclaimed it his capital in the 10th century BCE.{{refn|group=note|name=bible-david}}<ref name="1000BCE" /> Without counting its other names, Jerusalem appears in the [[Hebrew Bible]] 669 times.<ref>{{Citation |title=The Muslim Claim to Jerusalem |date=5 July 2017 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9781315125374-3 |work=Nothing Abides |pages=11–38 |publisher=Routledge |doi=10.4324/9781315125374-3 |isbn=978-1-315-12537-4 |access-date=5 February 2022}}</ref> The first section, the [[Torah]] (Pentateuch), only mentions [[Moriah]], but in later parts of the Bible, the city is mentioned explicitly.<ref>{{cite news |date=20 June 1995 |title=Parshat Re'eh: No Jerusalem in Torah – Israel Opinion, Ynetnews |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3136760,00.html |access-date=17 October 2011 |work=Ynetnews |last1=Burg |first1=Avraham}}</ref> The Temple Mount, which was the site of Solomon's Temple and the Second Temple, is the holiest site in Judaism and the place Jews turn towards during prayer.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rivka |first=Gonen |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/1148595286 |title=Contested Holiness: Jewish, Muslim, and Christian Perspectives on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem |publisher=KTAV Publishing House, Inc. |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-88125-798-4 |location=Jersey City, NJ |pages=4 |oclc=1148595286 |quote=To the Jews the Temple Mount is the holiest place on Earth, the place where God manifested himself to King David and where two Jewish temples - Solomon's Temple and the Second Temple – were located.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Marshall J. |first1=Breger |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/48940385 |title=Jerusalem: A City and Its Future |last2=Ahimeir |first2=Ora |publisher=Syracuse University Press |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-8156-2912-2 |pages=296 |oclc=48940385}}</ref> The Western Wall, a remnant of the wall surrounding the Second Temple, is the holiest place where Jews are permitted to pray.<ref>{{cite web |date=21 July 2019 |title=The Temple Mount in the Herodian Period (37 BC–70 A.D.) |url=https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-sites-places/temple-at-jerusalem/the-temple-mount-in-the-herodian-period/ |access-date=17 July 2020 |publisher=Biblical Archaeology Society}}</ref> Synagogues around the world are traditionally built with the Holy Ark facing Jerusalem,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.schechter.edu/askrabbi/synagoguetemple.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080131205934/http://www.schechter.edu/askrabbi/synagoguetemple.htm |archive-date=31 January 2008 |title=Synagogues |work=Ask the Rabbi |publisher=Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies |last=Goldberg |first=Monique Susskind |access-date=10 March 2007}}</ref> and Arks within Jerusalem face the [[Holy of Holies]].<ref name="returning">{{Cite book |url=http://www.jewishhistory.com/jh.php?id=AdditionalReadings&content=content/segal_ch12 |publisher=Department of Education and Culture of the World Zionist Organization |title=Returning: The Land of Israel as Focus in Jewish History |last=Segal |first=Benjamin J. |location=Jerusalem, Israel |year=1987 |page=124 |access-date=10 March 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051223025133/http://www.jewishhistory.com/jh.php?id=AdditionalReadings&content=content%2Fsegal_ch12 |archive-date=23 December 2005}}</ref> As prescribed in the [[Mishnah|Mishna]] and codified in the ''[[Shulchan Aruch]]'', daily prayers are recited while facing towards Jerusalem and the Temple Mount. Many Jews have "[[Mizrah|Mizrach]]" plaques hung on a wall of their homes to indicate the direction of prayer.<ref name="returning" /><ref>The Jewish injunction to pray toward Jerusalem comes in the ''[[Orach Chayim]]'' section of ''[[Shulchan Aruch]]'' (94:1) – "When one rises to pray anywhere in the Diaspora, he should face towards the Land of Israel, directing himself also toward Jerusalem, the Temple, and the Holy of Holies."</ref> The [[Western Wall]] is a remnant of the [[Second Temple]] and the holiest place where Jews are permitted to pray.

=== Christianity ===
{{Further|Jerusalem in Christianity}}
Jerusalem is generally considered the cradle of Christianity.<ref>{{cite book |title=Orientalism and Musical Mission: Palestine and the West |first=Rachel |last=Beckles Willson |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-107-03656-7 |page=146 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |quote=}}</ref> Christianity reveres Jerusalem for its [[Old Testament]] history, and also for its significance in the life of Jesus. According to the [[New Testament]], Jesus was brought to Jerusalem soon after his birth<ref>From the [[Authorized King James Version|King James Version of the Bible]]: "And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought [Jesus] to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord;" ([[Gospel of Luke|Luke]] 2:22)</ref> and later in his life cleansed the Second Temple.<ref>From the [[Authorized King James Version|King James Version of the Bible]]: "And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves;" ([[Gospel of Mark|Mark]] 11:15)</ref> The [[Cenacle]], believed to be the site of Jesus' [[Last Supper]], is located on [[Mount Zion]] in the same building that houses the [[David's Tomb|Tomb of King David]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=Jerusalem in the Time of the Crusades |url=https://archive.org/details/jerusalemtimecru00boas |url-access=limited |last=Boas |first=Adrian J. |publisher=Routledge |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-415-23000-1 |page=[https://archive.org/details/jerusalemtimecru00boas/page/n128 112] |chapter=Physical Remains of Crusader Jerusalem |quote=The interesting, if not reliable illustrations of the church on the round maps of Jerusalem show two distinct buildings on Mount Zion: the church of St Mary and the Cenacle (Chapel of the Last Supper) appear as separate buildings.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=A Life of Jesus |last=Endo |first=Shusaku |author-link=Shusaku Endo |isbn=978-0-8091-2319-3 |year=1999 |editor=Richard A. Schuchert |publisher=Paulist Press |page=116}}</ref> Another prominent Christian site in Jerusalem is [[Calvary|Golgotha]], the site of the [[crucifixion]]. The [[Gospel of John]] describes it as being located outside Jerusalem,<ref>From the [[Authorized King James Version|King James Version of the Bible]]: "This title then read many of the Jews: for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city: and it was written in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin." ([[Gospel of John|John]] 19:20)</ref> but recent archaeological evidence suggests Golgotha is a short distance from the Old City walls, within the present-day confines of the city.<ref name=worldwide>{{cite web |url=http://www.wcg.org/lit/jesus/golgotha.htm |publisher=Worldwide Church of God |title=Where Was Golgotha? |last=Stump |first=Keith W. |year=1993 |access-date=11 March 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070402020110/http://www.wcg.org/lit/jesus/golgotha.htm |archive-date=2 April 2007}}</ref> The land occupied by the [[Church of the Holy Sepulchre]] is considered one of the top candidates for Golgotha and thus has been a Christian pilgrimage site for the past 2000 years.<ref name=worldwide/><ref>{{Cite book |title=St. John's Gospel: A Bible Study Guide and Commentary for Individuals and Groups |last=Ray |first=Stephen K. |isbn=978-0-89870-821-9 |year=2002 |page=340 |publisher=Ignatius Press |location=San Francisco, CA}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=PilgrFile: Adventures of the Spirit |last=O'Reilly |first=Sean |author2=James O'Reilly |isbn=978-1-885211-56-9 |date=30 November 2000 |publisher=Travelers' Tales |edition=1st |page=[https://archive.org/details/pilgrimageadvent0000unse/page/14 14] |quote=The general consensus is that the Church of the Holy Sepulchre marks the hill called Golgotha, and that the site of the Crucifixion and the last five Stations of the Cross are located under its large black domes. |url=https://archive.org/details/pilgrimageadvent0000unse/page/14}}</ref> The [[Church of the Holy Sepulchre]] is generally considered the most important church in [[Christendom]].<ref>{{cite book |title=The World of the Crusades: A Daily Life Encyclopedia [2 volumes] |first=Andrew |last=Holt |year=2019 |isbn=978-1-4408-5462-0 |page=57 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |quote=was housed in the most important church in Christendom, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.}}</ref>  It contains the two holiest sites in [[Christianity]]: the site where [[Jesus]] was [[Crucifixion of Jesus|crucified]], and Jesus's empty tomb, where he is believed by Christians to have been [[Burial of Jesus|buried]] and [[Resurrection of Jesus|resurrected]].

=== Islam ===
{{Further|Jerusalem in Islam}}
{{see also|Islamization of Jerusalem}}
Jerusalem is the third-holiest city in [[Sunni Islam]].<ref name="3rd" /> Islamic tradition holds that for approximately a year, before it was permanently switched to the [[Kaaba]] in [[Mecca]], the ''[[qibla]]'' (direction of [[salat|prayer]]) for Muslims was Jerusalem.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Israeli-Palestinian War: Escalating to Nowhere |last=Cordesman |first=Anthony H. |publisher=Praeger Security International |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-275-98758-9 |page=62 |chapter=The Final Settlement Issues: Asymmetric Values & Asymmetric Warfare |author-link=Anthony Cordesman}}</ref><ref>{{Qref|2|142|b=yl|c=}}</ref> The city's lasting place in Islam, however, is primarily due to [[Muhammad]]'s [[Isra and Mi'raj|Night Journey]] ({{Circa|620 CE}}). Muslims believe that Muhammad was miraculously transported one night from the [[Great Mosque of Mecca]] to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, whereupon he ascended to [[Jannah|Heaven]] to meet previous [[prophets of Islam]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Monotheists: The Peoples of God |last=Peters |first=Francis E. |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-691-11460-6 |author-link=Francis Edward Peters |chapter=Muhammad the Prophet of God |pages=[https://archive.org/details/monotheistsjewsc00pete_0/page/95 95–6] |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/monotheistsjewsc00pete_0/page/95}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Sahih Bukhari |url=http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah/bukhari/093.sbt.html#009.093.608 |publisher=University of Southern California |work=Compendium of Muslim Texts |access-date=9 September 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081127160919/http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah/bukhari/093.sbt.html |archive-date=27 November 2008}} (from an English translation of [[Sahih al-Bukhari|Sahih Bukhari]], Volume IX, Book 93, Number 608)</ref><ref>{{Quotehadith|bukhari|7517|b=yl}}</ref> The first verse in the [[Qur'an]]'s [[al-Isra|''Surat al-Isra'']] notes the destination of Muhammad's journey as ''al-masjid al-aqṣā'' ("the farthest place of prayer").<ref>From [[Abdullah Yusuf Ali]]'s English translation of the [[Qur'an]]: "Glory to (Allah) Who did take His servant for a Journey by night from the Sacred Mosque to the farthest Mosque, whose precincts We did bless,- in order that We might show him some of Our Signs: for He is the One Who heareth and seeth (all things)." ([[al-Isra|17]]:1)</ref><ref>{{Qref|17|1|b=yl}}</ref> In the earliest days of Islam, this was understood as a reference to a site in the heavens,<ref name=":8">{{Cite book |title=The Encyclopaedia of Islam |publisher=Brill |year=2006 |edition=New ed. 2006 |volume=7 |pages=97–105}}</ref> however, Post-[[Rashidun Caliphate|Rashidun]] Islamic scholars understood it as relating to Jerusalem, and particularly to the site of the former Jewish Temple.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Colby |first=Frederick S. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sasZCjcTisIC&pg=PA15 |title=Narrating Muhammad's Night Journey: Tracing the Development of the Ibn 'Abbas Ascension Discourse |date=6 August 2008 |publisher=SUNY Press |isbn=978-0-7914-7788-5 |pages=15 |language=en |quote=From the earliest extant Muslim texts, it becomes clear that a group of Muslims from the beginning interpreted the 'furthest place of prayer' (al-masjid al-aqṣā) with the city of Jerusalem in general and its Herodian/Solomonic Temple in particular... Eventually, a general consensus formed around the idea that Muhammad's journey did indeed take him to Jerusalem.}}</ref> The [[hadith]], a collection of the sayings of Muhammad, mentions that the location of the Al-Aqsa Mosque is in Jerusalem.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://haditsbukharionline.blogspot.ca/2010/11/merits-of-helpers-in-madinah-ansaar.html |title=Merits of the Helpers in Madinah (Ansaar) – Hadith Sahih Bukhari |publisher=Haditsbukharionline.blogspot.ca |access-date=7 December 2012}}</ref> The [[Qibli Mosque|Al-Aqsa Mosque]], originally named after the wider compound it sits within,<ref>{{cite book |last=Hughes |first=Aaron W. |author-link=Aaron W. Hughes |title=Theorizing Islam: Disciplinary Deconstruction and Reconstruction |publisher=Taylor & Francis |series=Religion in Culture |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-317-54594-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nWV_BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA45 |page=45 |quote=Although later commentators would debate whether or not this journey was a physical one or took place at an internal level, it would come to play a crucial role in establishing Muhammad's prophetic credentials. In the first part of this journey, referred to as the isra, he traveled from the Kaba in Mecca to "the farthest mosque" (al-masjid al-aqsa), identified with the Temple Mount in Jerusalem: the al-Aqsa mosque that stands there today eventually took its name from this larger precinct, in which it was constructed.}}</ref> was built on the Temple Mount under the Umayyad Caliph [[Al-Walid ibn Abd al-Malik|Al-Walid]] several decades after Muhammad's death to commemorate the place from which Muslims believe he had ascended to Heaven.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.al-islam.org/al-miraj |title=Me'raj – The Night Ascension |date=27 September 2012 |publisher=Al-islam.org |access-date=7 December 2012}}</ref><gallery mode="packed">
File:THE TEMPLE MOUNT JERUSALEM.jpg|A view of the [[Temple Mount]]
File:Western Wall at night (20063).jpg|The [[Western Wall]], also known as the Wailing Wall and the Kotel, i
File:The Church of the Holy Sepulchre-Jerusalem.JPG|The [[Church of the Holy Sepulchre]]
File:Al-Aqsa Mosque (Jerusalem).jpg|[[Qibli Mosque|Al-Aqsa Mosque]], on the Temple Mount ([[Haram al-Sharif]] or [[Al-Aqsa compound]])
File:Jerusalem-Garden-Tomb-KTM-1266.jpg|[[The Garden Tomb]] – a new holy site established by British [[Protestantism|Protestants]] in the 19th century
</gallery>