Jerusalem

Location

Jerusalem stands on a highland ridge in the Judean hill country, roughly 2,500 feet above sea level, between the Mediterranean coast and the Dead Sea. Its ancient core sits on two ridges (the eastern Ophel and the western hill) divided by the Tyropoeon Valley. The Kidron Valley bounds the city on the east and the Hinnom Valley on the south. The modern city surrounds the walled Old City of the Ottoman period.

Biblical importance

Jerusalem is named more than 800 times in the Old Testament and more than 140 times in the New. It is the city of David (2 Samuel 5:6-9), the site of the First Temple (1 Kings 6) and the Second (Ezra 3), the place where Christ was crucified (Matthew 27), buried (John 19:41), and rose (Matthew 28:6), and the place from which the Holy Spirit was poured out at Pentecost (Acts 2). The New Jerusalem of Revelation 21 takes its name from this city.

Historical timeline

c. 1000 BC — David captures the Jebusite stronghold and makes it his capital (2 Samuel 5:6-9).
c. 960 BC — Solomon builds the First Temple (1 Kings 6).
586 BC — The Babylonians destroy the First Temple; the exile begins (2 Kings 25).
c. 516 BC — The Second Temple is completed under Zerubbabel (Ezra 6:15).
c. 20 BC — Herod the Great begins the massive expansion of the Second Temple (Josephus, Antiquities XV).
c. AD 30 or 33 — The Passion, Resurrection, and Ascension of Christ (KJV Gospels).
AD 30 (Pentecost) — The Holy Spirit descends on the disciples in the upper room (Acts 2).
AD 49 — The Council of Jerusalem — the first church council (Acts 15).
AD 70 — Titus destroys the Second Temple; the Jewish War ends (Josephus, Wars VI).
AD 135 — Hadrian founds Aelia Capitolina after the Bar Kokhba revolt.
AD 326 — Constantine's mother Helena visits Jerusalem; construction begins on the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
AD 335 — The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is consecrated (Eusebius, Vita Constantini).
AD 638 — The city is taken by the Rashidun Caliphate under Umar.
AD 1099 — First Crusade captures Jerusalem.
AD 1187 — Saladin retakes the city.
AD 1517 — Ottoman conquest under Selim I. The current walls of the Old City are built by Suleiman I in AD 1535-1541.
AD 1917 — British forces enter Jerusalem in the First World War.

Important biblical events

Genesis 14:18 (KJV) Melchizedek, king of Salem (traditionally identified with Jerusalem), brings out bread and wine and blesses Abram.
Genesis 22:2 (KJV) God commands Abraham to offer Isaac in the land of Moriah, traditionally identified with the Temple Mount.
2 Samuel 5:6-9 (KJV) David takes the stronghold of Zion; the city is called the city of David.
1 Kings 6:1 (KJV) Solomon begins building the First Temple.
2 Chronicles 3:1 (KJV) The Temple is built on Mount Moriah.
2 Kings 25:8-9 (KJV) Nebuzaradan burns the Temple and the palace.
Ezra 6:15 (KJV) The Second Temple is finished in the sixth year of Darius.
Luke 2:22 (KJV) Christ is presented at the Temple as an infant.
Luke 2:41-49 (KJV) Christ is found in the Temple among the doctors.
Matthew 21:12-13 (KJV) Christ cleanses the Temple.
Matthew 26:26-30 (KJV) The Last Supper in an upper room in Jerusalem.
Matthew 27:33 (KJV) Golgotha — the place of a skull — where Christ is crucified.
John 19:41 (KJV) Christ is buried in a new tomb in a garden near the place of the crucifixion.
Matthew 28:6 (KJV) The empty tomb: 'He is not here: for he is risen, as he said.'
Acts 1:9-12 (KJV) The Ascension from the Mount of Olives.
Acts 2:1-4 (KJV) Pentecost: the Holy Spirit descends on the disciples.
Acts 7:59-60 (KJV) Stephen is martyred outside the city gates.
Acts 15:6-29 (KJV) The Council of Jerusalem meets to consider Gentile inclusion.

Important Christian events

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, consecrated AD 335, marks the traditional site of both the crucifixion and the empty tomb (Eusebius, Vita Constantini III.28-33).
The Cenacle on Mount Zion is traditionally venerated as the site of the Last Supper and Pentecost, though the current structure dates to the Crusader period.
The Garden of Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives is a working olive grove; some of its trees have been dated to the Byzantine period.
Jerusalem became a Patriarchate at the Council of Chalcedon (AD 451), joining Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, and Antioch as the fifth patriarchal see.

Related Scripture

Psalm 122:6 (KJV) 'Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee.'
Psalm 137:5-6 (KJV) 'If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.'
Isaiah 2:3 (KJV) 'Out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.'
Matthew 5:35 (KJV) Christ names Jerusalem 'the city of the great King.'
Luke 19:41 (KJV) Christ weeps over Jerusalem.
Galatians 4:26 (KJV) 'Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.'
Hebrews 12:22 (KJV) 'ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem.'
Revelation 21:2 (KJV) The New Jerusalem descends from heaven, prepared as a bride.

Related biblical people

David, king of Israel — who took the city and made it his capital.
Solomon — who built the First Temple.
Isaiah, Jeremiah, and other prophets — who preached and lamented over the city.
Christ our Lord — crucified, buried, and risen here.
The apostles at Pentecost.
Stephen, the first martyr (Acts 7).
James, the brother of the Lord — leader of the Jerusalem church, traditionally martyred here c. AD 62 (Josephus, Antiquities XX.9).
Cyril of Jerusalem (c. AD 313-386), whose Catechetical Lectures were delivered here.

Related Journeys

Historical churches

Church of the Holy Sepulchre (Byzantine core c. AD 335, current Crusader-period structure) — sheltering both Calvary and the traditional tomb.
Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem (see Bethlehem page) — historically administered together with the Holy Sepulchre.
Church of St Anne (Crusader period, AD 1140s) — near the Pool of Bethesda (John 5:2).
Church of All Nations (Franciscan, twentieth century) at Gethsemane, on the earlier fourth-century foundation.
Cathedral of St James (Armenian Patriarchate, twelfth-century structure on earlier foundations) — traditional burial place of the apostle James.
Church of the Redeemer (Lutheran, consecrated 1898) — on the site of a medieval Latin church.

Historic monasteries

Monastery of the Cross (Georgian foundation, c. eleventh century; earlier tradition of foundation) — in the Valley of the Cross, traditionally the source of the tree from which the Cross was made.
Mar Saba (Judean Desert, founded AD 483 by Sabas the Sanctified) — one of the oldest continuously inhabited monasteries in the world.
St Onuphrius Monastery (Greek Orthodox) in the Hinnom Valley.

Museums and archaeological collections

Israel Museum (Jerusalem) — houses the Dead Sea Scrolls in the Shrine of the Book and the Model of Jerusalem in the Second Temple period.
Rockefeller Archaeological Museum — Byzantine and Islamic period finds.
Terra Sancta Museum (Franciscan) — Holy Land archaeology and Christian art.

Pilgrimage today

Pilgrimage to Jerusalem is one of the oldest continuous practices in Christianity, described already in Eusebius (fourth century). CrossAIHub does not recommend a tour operator, does not carry booking links, and does not review pilgrimage arrangements. If the household is drawn to visit, we recommend planning with a trusted parish or diocese. The Atlas exists so that reading is a pilgrimage too — a household may walk Jerusalem quietly at the kitchen table without a plane ticket.

Related liturgical seasons

Passion Week — the events of the Gospels centred on Jerusalem, from Palm Sunday through Easter Sunday.
Ascensiontide — forty days after Easter, commemorating the Ascension from the Mount of Olives.
Pentecost — fifty days after Easter, commemorating Acts 2.

Images (public-domain, to be added)

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An engraving of the Temple Mount as it appeared in the nineteenth century — the Dome of the Rock over the traditional site of Solomon's Temple.

Public-domain source: David Roberts, Sketches in the Holy Land (1842).

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An interior view of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre with the Aedicule over the traditional tomb.

Public-domain source: nineteenth-century engraving.

Historic maps (public-domain, to be added)

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Jerusalem in the Second Temple period, showing the Temple Mount, Antonia Fortress, and the city walls.

Public-domain source: Smith's Historical Atlas of the Bible, plate for Jerusalem.