History of Jerusalem
is one of the world's oldest cities, with a history spanning over 5,000 years. Its origins trace back to around 3000 BCE, with the first settlement near the Gihon Spring. The city is first mentioned in Egyptian execration texts around 2000 BCE as "Rusalimum." By the 17th century BCE, Jerusalem had developed into a fortified city under Canaanite rule, with massive walls protecting its water system. During the Late Bronze Age, Jerusalem became a vassal of Ancient Egypt, as documented in the Amarna letters.
The city's importance grew during the Israelite period, which began around 1000 BCE when King David captured Jerusalem and made it the capital of the united Kingdom of Israel. David's son, Solomon, built the First Temple, establishing the city as a major religious center. Following the kingdom's split, Jerusalem became the capital of the Kingdom of Judah until it was captured by the Neo-Babylonian Empire in 586 BCE. The Babylonians destroyed the First Temple, leading to the Babylonian exile of the Jewish population. After the Persian conquest of Babylon in 539 BCE, Cyrus the Great allowed the Jews to return and rebuild the city and its temple, marking the start of the Second Temple period. Jerusalem fell under Hellenistic rule after the conquests of Alexander the Great in 332 BCE, leading to increasing cultural and political influence from Greece. The Hasmonean revolt in 1the 2nd century BCE briefly restored Jewish autonomy, with Jerusalem as the capital of an independent state.
In 63 BCE, Jerusalem was conquered by Pompey and became part of the Roman Empire. The city remained under Roman control until the Jewish–Roman wars, which culminated in the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE. The city was renamed Aelia Capitolina and rebuilt as a Roman colony after the Bar Kokhba revolt, with Jews banned from entering the city. Jerusalem gained significance during the Byzantine period as a center of Christianity, particularly after Constantine the Great endorsed the construction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. In 638 CE, Jerusalem was conquered by the Rashidun Caliphate, and under early Islamic rule, the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque were built, solidifying its religious importance in Islam. During the Crusades, Jerusalem changed hands multiple times, being captured by the Crusaders in 1099 and recaptured by Saladin in 1187. It remained under Islamic control through the Ayyubid and Mamluk periods, until it became part of the Ottoman Empire in 1517.
In the modern period, Jerusalem was divided between Israel and Jordan after the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. Israel captured East Jerusalem during the Six-Day War in 1967, uniting the city under Israeli control. The status of Jerusalem remains a highly contentious issue, with both Israelis and Palestinians claiming it as their capital. Historiographically, the city's history is often interpreted through the lens of competing national narratives. Israeli scholars emphasize the ancient Jewish connection to the city, while Palestinian narratives highlight the city's broader historical and multicultural significance. Both perspectives influence contemporary discussions of Jerusalem's status and future.
Bronze Age
Early Bronze
Archaeological evidence suggests that the first settlement was established near Gihon Spring between 3000 and 2800 BCE.Middle Bronze
The first known mention of the city was in c. 2000 BCE in the Middle Kingdom Egyptian execration texts in which the city was recorded as Rusalimum. The root S-L-M in the name is thought to refer to either "peace" or Shalim, the god of dusk in the Canaanite religion.Archaeological evidence suggests that by the 17th century BCE, the Canaanites had built massive walls on the eastern side of Jerusalem to protect their ancient water system.
Late Bronze
Egyptian period
18th Dynasty. By c. 1550–1400 BCE, Jerusalem had become a vassal to Egypt after the Egyptian New Kingdom under Ahmose I and Thutmose I had reunited Egypt and expanded into the Levant.In the Amarna Period, Urusalim was one of several small city-states competing and being vassals of the King of Egypt. It was an important stop for caravans with its fresh water spring. Several Amarna letters mentions the city and its rulers, competing with neighboring rulers for more domain. Among the people in the region causing problems are the Habiru, which would become one of several groups of people making up the "Israelites".
- Abdi-Heba. This ruler is mentioned in Amarna Letters EA 280, EA 366, EA 285, EA 286, EA 287, EA 288, EA 289, EA 290.
- Amarna Letters from Gath concerning Jerusalem and its ruler: EA 280, EA 335, EA 366.
- Amarna Letters from Jerusalem and its ruler: EA 285, EA 286, EA 287, EA 288, EA 289, EA 290.
20th Dynasty. With the end of the 19th dynasty, a transitional phase started. The 20th dynasty came to power after a period of political turmoil and rebellion. Ramesses III fought the Sea Peoples and is regarded the last great king. The Battle of Djahy in 1178 BCE. The power of the Egyptians in the region began to decline in the 12th century BCE, during the Late Bronze Age collapse. According to the Bible, Jerusalem at this time was known as Jebus, and its independent Canaanite inhabitants at this time were known as Jebusites.
Iron Age
Kingdom of Judah
According to the Bible, the Israelite history of the city began in c. 1000 BCE, with King David's sack of Jerusalem, following which Jerusalem became the City of David and capital of the united Kingdom of Israel. According to the Books of Samuel, the Jebusites managed to resist attempts by the Israelites to capture the city and by the time of King David were mocking such attempts, claiming that even the blind and lame could defeat the Israelite army. Nevertheless, the Masoretic Text for the Books of Samuel states that David managed to capture the city by stealth, sending his forces through a "water shaft" and attacking the city from the inside. Archaeologists now view this as implausible as the Gihon spring – the only known location from which water shafts lead into the city – is now known to have been heavily defended. The older Septuagint text, however, suggests that rather than by a water shaft, David's forces defeated the Jebusites by using daggers. There was another king in Jerusalem, Araunah, during and possibly before David's control of the city, who was probably the Jebusite king of Jerusalem. The city, which at that point stood upon the Ophel, was expanded to the south and declared by David to be the capital city of the Kingdom of Israel. David also constructed an altar at the location of a threshing floor he had purchased from Araunah; a portion of biblical scholars view this as an attempt by the narrative's author to give an Israelite foundation to a pre-existing sanctuary.Later, King Solomon built a more substantive temple, the Temple of Solomon, at a location which the Books of Chronicles equates with David's altar. The temple became a major cultural centre in the region; eventually, particularly after religious reforms such as those of Hezekiah and of Josiah, the temple became the main place of worship, at the expense of other, formerly powerful, ritual centres such as Shiloh and Bethel. Solomon is also described as having created several other important building works at Jerusalem, including the construction of his palace, and the construction of the Millo. Archaeologists are divided over whether the biblical narrative is supported by the evidence from excavations. Eilat Mazar contends that her digging uncovered remains of large stone buildings from the correct time period, while Israel Finkelstein disputes both the interpretation and the dating of the finds.
When the Kingdom of Judah split from the larger Kingdom of Israel, Jerusalem became the capital of the Kingdom of Judah, while the Kingdom of Israel located its capital at Shechem in Samaria. Thomas L. Thompson argues that it only became a city and capable of acting as a state capital in the middle of the 7th century BCE. However, Omer Sergi argues that recent archaeological discoveries at the City of David and the Ophel seem to indicate that Jerusalem was already a significant city by the Iron Age IIA.
Precise absolute dates recently obtained from organic material show that Jerusalem was relatively densely inhabited during the 12th to 10th centuries BCE, and date the start of a major westward expansion of the city already to the 9th century BCE.
Both the Bible and regional archaeological evidence suggest the region was politically unstable during the period 925–732 BCE. In 925 BCE, the region was invaded by Egyptian Pharaoh Sheshonk I of the Third Intermediate Period, who is possibly the same as Shishak, the first Pharaoh mentioned in the Bible who captured and pillaged Jerusalem. Around 75 years later, Jerusalem's forces were likely involved in an indecisive battle against the Neo-Assyrian King Shalmaneser III in the Battle of Qarqar. According to the Bible, Jehoshaphat of Judah was allied to Ahab of the Kingdom of Israel at this time. The Bible records that shortly after this battle, Jerusalem was sacked by Philistines, Arabs and Ethiopians, who looted King Jehoram's house and carried off all of his family except for his youngest son Jehoahaz.
Two decades later, most of Canaan including Jerusalem was conquered by Hazael of Aram-Damascus. According to the Bible, Jehoash of Judah gave all of Jerusalem's treasures as a tribute, but Hazael proceeded to destroy "all the princes of the people" in the city. And half a century later, the city was sacked by Jehoash of Israel, who destroyed the walls and took Amaziah of Judah prisoner.
By the end of the First Temple Period, Jerusalem was the sole acting religious shrine in the kingdom and a centre of regular pilgrimage; a fact which archaeologists generally view as being corroborated by the evidence, though there remained a more personal cult involving Asherah figures, which are found spread throughout the land right up to the end of this era.