Lecture 18: 21st Century Jerusalem, Last Lecture

Already the final lecture of this quarter! I really wish we had more time to discuss modern Jerusalem. I think because there wasn’t enough time, the final two discussions seemed too shallow, and it sounded like Professor Cargill was afraid of offending us. I guess I would be, too, if I only had a couple of hours to cover two centuries worth of politically sensitive history.

Anyway, the first main issue we discussed was the West Bank Barrier. The main controversy was that the wall effectively created a border between Israel and Palestine without the consent of the Palestinians. Furthermore, it weaves around Jewish settlements in a way that cuts off many Palestinians from their jobs in Israel. In my essay, I elaborated on this topic, adding that many agricultural passageways and communities were cut up and split because of this barrier, leaving areas separated and farmers unable to till and harvest their own land. Moreover, medical services running between Palestine and Jerusalem are also greatly halted since ambulances must pass through checkpoints. On the other hand, it’s hard to immediately condemn Israelis since Palestinian terrorists have taken advantage of the system by hiding weapons and bombs inside ambulances. Moreover, the wall has decreased bombing incidents by 90%.

Modern Jerusalem at Night

We also discussed the Palestinian Civil War, Operation Cast Lead, and strategic Israeli settlements in the area. However, again, these were only briefly discussed, and are hard to analyze since they have occurred only in the past five years. In the end, we concluded that peace is wanted by the majority, rejected by few, and is coming soon to the area.

Lecture 17: 20th Century Jerusalem

Zionists taking an oath of allegiance on the way to Theodore Herzl's tomb

Even before the start of World War I, Jerusalem was changing drastically. Zionism, for instance, was rising in popularity, not just as movement bound to religious history, but as a secular one calling people back to their roots. In 1840, a fund was established to buy land in Palestine so that Jews could resettle their ancient homeland. Theodore Herzl championed Jews having a state of their own in his book The Jewish State, but suggested that it didn’t have to be in Jerusalem. Jews, especially from Yemen, settled in and built up the city of Tel Aviv as part of the first large wave of Zionists.

Meanwhile, on the world stage, a rise of nationalism had led to increasing Antisemitism in both the Western and the Islamic world. Pogroms resulted in waves of Jews fleeing to Palestine, where even there they were unwanted as their populations increased and clashed with Palestinians. And that’s when World War I happened.

Briefly, the Ottomans aligned with Germany and Austro-Hungary against the Allies. Consequently, when France and Britain won, former Ottoman territories were divided up between French and British control in the Sykes-Picot Agreement in 1916. This gave Britain Palestine, Jordan and Southern Iraq, placing our city Jerusalem under the British mandate. In a hushed up way, the Balfour Declaration was given to the Jewish population, claiming that Britain would help the Jews establish a national home in Palestine, even though the British said they would not violate Palestinian rights. The contents of this letter were even more muddled when Churchill wrote the “White Paper,” leading both Jews and Palestinians to believe they would receive British support for their individual and conflicting causes. This, as expected, led to conflict, and eventually violence as warring factions formed.

In response, the Peel Commission among the U.N. charted a Two State Solution, in which the area was divided between Jews and Arabs, leaving Jerusalem an “international city.” Israel reluctantly agreed, but Arabs flat out rejected the plan, leading to the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. The British withdrew from the region and the Jordanian army swept in a the opportunity. Hench, when a truce was finally made, it was made between Israel and Jordan, not with the Palestinians. It was Jordan, therefore, who received both the West Bank and Eastern Jerusalem. Under Jordinian rule, tourism became a highly lucrative trade, and the incentive for peace, due to tourism functioning as 85% of the economy, greatly increased. That was, until the Six Day War in 1967, when Israel launched a pre-emptive strike against allied Arab countries, leaving Israel victorious and Jerusalem under Israeli rule.

Lecture 16: Mamluk and Ottoman Jerusalem

After Jerusalem’s walls were dismantled by the Ayubbid Dynasty during the Fifth Crusade, the city’s population shrank. Without walls to guard residents, Jerusalem was no longer a desirable place to live in. Subsequently, it was the Mamluks who raised and ruled the city. The Mamluks were not a dynasty, but rather a movement of slaves and lower class people who had converted to Islam. Their movement was long-lived and emphasized Jerusalem as a religious center, instead of a political or military one as it had been over the past centuries. Remnants of the movement’s rise are seen in red and white alternating stones in the buildings they constructed. Muqarnas and black and white inlays are also characteristics of Mamluk architecture. Moreover, many buildings that were constructed at this time used stones from old Crusader sturctures. Several additions like minarets and towers were also made to the Temple Mount, mostly in proximity to the current day Islamic Quarter.

Then, in 1516, Jerusalem switched hands again, this time peacefully to the Ottoman Empire. For the most part, with the exception of a brief takeover by Egypt’s Mohammad Ali from 1831 to 1840, the Ottomans established a strong central government in Jerusalem for almost four hundred years. During this period, especially under Suleiman the Magnificent, a massive amount of infrastructure was developed. For instance, the walls were rebuilt, aqueducts were repaired, markets were renovated, and a public charity was established. The Haram al-Sharif and its monuments were extensively renovated as well. Among his other works, Suleiman established a shari’a court. Also important to Ottoman history was the building of the Suez Canal in 1869, which greatly revived Jerusalem in terms of economy and population.

The Mamluks later played a part in European history as a special corps in Napoleon's army

 

Lecture 15: Crusader Jerusalem

While Early Islamic Rule continued in Jerusalem, things were stirring up in Western Europe. The Great Schism of 1054 split the Church and ironically gave the Holy Roman Empire more power and influence. As news of the murder of the Patriarch of Jerusalem in 965, the destruction of the Holy Sepulcher in 1009, and the massacre of pilgrims to Jerusalem, like the German pilgrims in 1604, reached Europeans, a late reaction to persecuted Christians began to rise. The real fire-starter for the Crusades, however, was a somewhat unintended one. In 1095, Pope Urban II made a speech in a church council pressing people of all social levels to be “heralds of Christ” be exterminating Muslims. According to the pope, the “remission of sins” would be granted to those fighting in the Crusades. Now, the pope knew that the Crusades demanded lots of time and money, and that crusaders would have to leave behind their homes and fight against some battle-hardened Turks. Consequently, he didn’t expect the tremendous reaction from the Christian population that occurred. Urged by “the Call of Pope Urban II,” people raised funds to support crusaders and large waves began to travel toward Jerusalem.

The Crusaders finally captured Jerusalem in the summer of 1099 under famous figures like Godfrey of Boullion, Robert of Normandy, and Robert of Flanders. Jerusalem’s walls were breached initially on the northern side, it topographically weakest point. To reach this point, the Crusaders conquered lands north of Jerusalem, called principalities, and moved southward toward the city. Soon after capture, some guy named Baldwin was named King of Jerusalem.

Architectural evidence of the crusades still exist in and around Jerusalem. Harbors were built for wealthier crusaders traveling by ship, including the Jaffa and Akko harbors, and still contain crusader arches and tunnels. Forty-two churches within Jerusalem have been identified as being from the Crusader period. The Holy Sepulcher was also rebuilt, encompassing many pieces under one roof in a Romanesque fashion. Moreover, the Al-Aqsa mosque was converted into housing for the Order of the Knights Templar, a monastic order founded in 1118 for the purpose of defending pilgrims coming to Jerusalem. Their ideals can be found in the iconography of Templar coins.

Overall, Crusader lasted less than one hundred years. On July 4, 1187, Salah ad-Din and his gathered forces strategically claimed major water sources, leaving the Crusader population stranded without water, and won the battle at the Horns of Hattin. From there, Salah ad-Din and his army reconquered lands north of Jerusalem and moved south. Jerusalem was reclaimed under Islamic rule in September 26, 1187.

One of the major primary sources on the Crusades by Ibn al-Qalanisi

Lecture 14: Islamic Jerusalem

When the second Caliph Umar took Jerusalem in 638, Jerusalem became the center of yet another religion. According to tradition, Jerusalem became, and still is, the third holiest site in Islam. It was, in fact, the original qibla, or the direction toward which prayer is directed. This is not a new tradition; Jews had already instituted the idea of praying toward Jerusalem, especially during times of exile. However, the Prophet later received a revelation that Mecca should be the new qibla, reaffirming Mecca as the central site of Islam.

Jerusalem still held importance for several reasons. First, the city’s Temple Mount, or the Haram al-Sharif, was recognized as the site from which Muhammad ascended to heaven during the Mi’raj along with the archangel Gabriel. Along with being an axis connecting to heaven, the Temple Mount also created an axis to hell by connecting to an underground cave called “The Well of Souls.” It is here that Abraham, David, Solomon, Jesus, and Muhammad are believed to have prayed. The Temple Mount is also believed to be where the Final Judgment will take place. These religious associations were marked by resplendent architecture, such as the Dome of the Rock built by the fifth Caliph, Abd al-Molik, in 691 CE, and the Qubbat as-Silsila, which marks the place of final judgment. Both were designed with an emphasis on symmetry and geometric shapes. Finally, these structures served to make Jerusalem an alternate site of pilgrimage for practicing Muslims.

Overall, Islamic rule was marked with much more tolerance for other religions than previous controllers of Jerusalem. Jews, for instance, were allowed to come back to Jerusalem and stay there. Pilgrimages for Christians and Jews were also allowed.

Lecture 13: Byzantine Jerusalem

The history of Byzantine Jerusalem centers on Jerusalem under state-instituted Christianity and the city’s tension with Rome as the center of the world. It began when Emperor Diocletian’s Tetrachy was dismantled by Western Caesar Constantius’s son Constantine. In the meantime, the new religion called Christianity had gained momentum, especially due to the labors of Apostle Paul. As the religion became more defined in terms of doctrinal debate, the religion also expanded westward despite persecution. Emperor Constantine decided to use this expanding religion to unify his empire. Christianity was legalized through the Edict of Milan in 313 CE. Moreover, seeing that there were many different sects of Christianity, Constantine called the Council of Nicaea in 324 CE to create one orthodox set of beliefs. These are summed up by the Nicene Creed, and any sect dissenting these beliefs would later be declared heretical by the Holy Roman Empire. Unfortunately, Constantine’s rule drastically altered the way Christianity was practiced. For instance, he conquered and killed other groups in the name of Jesus, even though Jesus had never focused on ruling politically on earth.

With these political changes came alterations of Jerusalem as the symbolic center of Jerusalem. Constantine’s mother, Helena, embarked on the first Christian pilgrimage to Jerusalem and basically traveled around dedicating holy sites. For instance, the Church of Nativity was where Jesus supposedly was born, and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher was supposedly where Jesus was crucified, buried, and resurrected. The Madaba Map, a floor mosaic created in the 6th Century CE, depicts the Church of the Holy Sepulcher as the center, or axis mundi, of Jerusalem. This shifted importance away from the Temple Mount. In fact, the Temple, ever since Jesus’s ministry, had taken less and less significance, and was regarded by Christians as something more metaphysical than physical. Later on, Emperor Justinian had even replaced the Temple symbolically with the Nea Church, which took on many of the features of the Temple described in the Hebrew Bible.

Lecture 12: Jerusalem in Revolt

Following the rule of King Herod the Great were successions by his three, and I would argue, incompetent sons Herod Archelaus, Herod Antipas, and Herod Phillip. Unlike their father, these rulers were insensitive to Jewish traditions and incited revolt. First, revolt broke out in 66 CE, and Rome appointed Vespasian to conquer the area. To add to the chaos, Nero, an emperor utterly hated by the Jews, passed away and Vespasian was proclaimed emperor in 70 AD. He hands the unfinished job of conquering the Judean region to his son Titus, and in 70 CE, Titus conquered Jerusalem and destroyed the Temple. What followed was a similar replay to the cognitive dissonance that followed the First Temple destruction. Not only had the Temple been destroyed a second time, but the emperor Hadrian had built a temple dedicated to Jupiter on top of its ruins. Jews were forced to pay a tax for the upkeep of this temple while facing symbols of their defeat all around them. Coins minted “Capta Judea” were instituted in Jerusalem and architectural details, such as the looting of the Temple decorating the Arch of Titus, added further insult to injury. Jews now had to face an identity crisis with the loss of their Temple and city. One reaction was in the rise of synagogues, which served as worship places alternate to the Temple.

The Bar-Kokhba Revolt occurred in 132 CE under the leadership of Simon bar Kosiba. You can tell that things may not fare well when the name of your leader translates into “son of a lie.” Indeed, the revolt led by Simon bar Kosiba, who went by the name Simon Bar-Kokhba (“son of a star”) was put to an end in three years later.  Emperor Hadrian then grazed down Jerusalem and rebuilt it as a Roman city named Aelia Capitolina. Jews were expelled from Jerusalem and were only allowed back once a year on the 9th of Ab, to commemorate the destruction of the Second Temple. Evidence of this revolt can be seen in the cost-efficient overstriked coins stamped during this period. Coins spread propaganda by both stamping out Roman images, naming Bar-Kokhba as “prince” in reference to the messiah, and printing Eleazar the priest as the second messiah predicted to come from the priesthood.

Coins during the Bar-Kokhba Revolt appealed to memories of the Temple that once stood in Jerusalem.