In May of 2000, Israel withdrew from Southern Lebanon, leading to the Second Intifada, and two years later in 2002 Israel began the construction of the West Bank Barrier. In 2005 the Israelis were forcibly removed from Gaza as a result of “Israel’s Unilateral Disengagement Plan.” A year after Israel engaged in the Lebanon War, followed by the Palestinian Civil War in 2007. Conflicts continued throughout the years and leaving Jerusalem in a rocky state with an unpredictable future.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
20th Century Jerusalem: Lecture 17.1 - March 8, 2011
Lecture picked up at the end of last week’s lecture regarding Ottoman Jerusalem and we began a discussion of Zionism. Professor Cargill began by introducing Zionism as the idea that all Jews should go to Jerusalem. During the 19th century, Europeanization took place, marking the beginning of Secular “Zionist” immigration. This resulted in shifting demographic among the Muslim, Jewish, and Christian populations. Secular Zionism, based on a book written by Theodore Herzl, did not have much to do with the sacredness of Jerusalem and rather there existed a Zionist state in Uganda. In 1899, the first Zionist conference took place in Basel, Switzerland which Herzl claimed to have had the presence of the “Messiah the son of David.” In the advent of European nationalism, anti-Semitism and immigration increased. In 1914-1917 the Ottomans aligned with Germany against France and Britain during World War I. Jerusalem served as the headquarters for VIII Turkish Corps and the British soon take Palestine from the Ottomans after the establishment of the Balfour Declaration (1917). This assured the Jews a new National Homeland. This declaration was clarified in Winston Churchill’s “White Paper” considering there was confusion regarding whether Palestine would be a Jewish state and it was established that there would be a continuation of Jewish settlement in Palestine.
Because of this takeover of Palestine, tensions arose among the Arab and Jewish communities. Such conflict was settled in the Peel Commission of 1937 through an early “two state” solution. This meant there would be a partitioning of Palestine into a northern section that would be given to the Jews and the south would be given to the Arabs. This led to Jerusalem’s attainment of the title of an “international city.” This Peel Commission was approved by the United Nations in 1947 and was accepted by Zionists while rejected by Arabs. Consequently fighting broke out, leading to the War of Independence in 1948. In May of that year, the British left and a year later in 1949 a truce was arranged by the UN leading to the signing of an armistice between Israel and Jordan on March 16. A green line was created between Israel and the Jordanian held West Bank. The Israelis took the west, Jordanians took the East, and the Palestinians got nothing. “Catastrophe” took place as a result of the establishment of the Israel state and the assertion of Jordanian control of the West Bank. King Hussein declared Jerusalem the second capital of the State of Jordan in 1953. Several years later in the Six-Day War, 1967, Syria gains alliances from Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt to plan a preemptive attack of Israel. This resulted in Moshe Daen, a Jewish general, to grant Muslims the power and authority of the Haram and Jerusalem was annexed. The UN rejects this Israeli annexation, but the Israelis don’t care and they still take over.
Mamluk and Ottoman Jerusalem – Lecture 16.1 - March 3, 2011
Mamluk Jerusalem was essentially a grassroots movement of people who were not usually in control. During this period between 1250-1516, Jerusalem became a religious center, was used as a place of political exile, and was a time of intensive building of schools, hospices, and hostels. Crusader structures were used as quarries for stone, Crusader markets were enlarged, two new Mosques were built, and colonnaded madrasas (schools) were built around the Haram. Al-Madrasa al-Ashrafiyya was built in 1482 by Sultan al-Ashraf Qaitbey who reigned from 1468-1496. His reign was remarkable for the number of find buildings he erected – the madrasa specifically was refered to as the “third jewel of Jerusalem” after the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque. During this period, there was very unique architecture consisting of patterns of alternating red/white and black/white stone, as well as dome shapes, monumental entrances and muqarnas (a decorative technique inside domes and above entrances). Also, in 1267 during the growth of the Jewish quarter, Nachmanides makes an aliyah and develops Kabbalah (Jewish Mysticism).
Lecture continued on to cover Ottoman Jerusalem as well. This period spanned from 1516-1918 and began as a result of Selim I defeat of the Malmuks in 1517 at Maj-Dablik (Northern Syria). During the 16th century the Ottoman kingdom flourished and established a strong centralized government in Jerusalem. Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent reigned from 1520-1566, a time during which he repaired and enlarged aqueducts, rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem, carried out an extensive campaign to refurbish the Haram and its monuments, rebuilt and renovated the markets, and built the Khassaki Sultan complex which was a huge public charity for the people living in Jerusalem. His work in Jerusalem was equivalent to that of Mecca and Medina, making Jerusalem the third most important city to the faith of Islam.
Crusader Jerusalem: Lecture 15.1 - March 1, 2011
Today we had a guest lecturer in Professor Cargill’s absence and discussed Crusader Jerusalem. The emergence of Holy Roman Empire in Western Europe and the Great Schism along with the late reaction to persecution of Christian population of Jerusalem were factors that contributed to the Crusades. In 1095, Pope Urban II gave a speech calling upon the nobility in Western Europe and encouraging them to liberate. This proposed a situation of unintended consequences because no one was sure what would happen and the response of all the people who wanted to participate was significantly greater than what was anticipated. The first Crusade was also known as the Peasant’s Crusade because ill equipped peasants were slaughtered by the Turks. During this Crusade Jerusalem is conquered by Godfrey de Bouillon in 1099. He divided Jerusalem into four quarters: the Patriarch’s quarter where the Church of the Holy Sepulcher was, the Templar’s quarter, the Syrian quarter, and the Armenian quarter. This led to the modification of existing Islamic monuments (cross added to top of the Dome of the Rock), the rebuilding of ruined Byzantine churches, the rebuilding of the Holy Sepulcher in a Romanesque style, the establishment of Templars to protect pilgrims coming to Jerusalem, the conversion of the Al-Aqsa Mosque to Templar headquarters and a church, leading to a transformation of Jerusalem.
In the following year from the First Crusade, Baldwin became “King of Jerusalem” and led the Second Crusade which lasted 1147-1149. In1187 the Crusaders are conquered by Saladin. He gives the Holy Sepulcher to the Greeks and allows anybody who wants to leave to leave, however, if they stay they must obey his rule; he also led the purification and reclamation of the Haram, Temple Mount. But after his death, several other Crusades happened and resulted in the reestablishment of Crusaders in Jerusalem. Finally, in 1291, the Crusaders accomplished a successful defeat.
Islamic Jerusalem: Lecture 14.1 - February 24, 2011
Once Byzantine Jerusalem was coming to an end, it became evident that the Byzantine Christians did not take any actions in order to help the Jews who had been kept out of Jerusalem from the Herodian rule. However, during the taking of Palestine and Jerusalem between 614-628 CE by the Sasanians, Jews were allowed to resettle in Jerusalem for the first time since the end of the Bar-Kokhba Revolt which was in 135 CE. Because the prophet Muhammad did not leave an heir, Caliphs (delegates or representatives) were established in order to lead the Islamic community.
In 638 CE, the Muslim Caliph Umar takes Jerusalem and establishes a written agreement with the Christian community to prevent the Jews from resettling in Jerusalem. However, he later allowed the Jews to move back into the city, causing the Jewish population to steadily grow. Jerusalem began being referred to as Aeilia, the city of the Temple. The period between 638-750 CE becomes known as the Umayyad Dynasty. In this time Caliph Umar builds a wooden Mosque and Abd al-Malik builds the Dome of the Rock in 691 CE. The purpose of this was to divert pilgrimages from Mecca to Jerusalem because there was a rivalry with Zubayr. Jews and Christians also continued to pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The Dome of the Rock held many traditions that stemmed from Mt. Moriah, Solomon’s Temple and as an axis to Hell. The Al-Aqsa Mosque was built between 705-715 CE by Caliph Walid, the son of Abd al-Malik and was said to be a place where one prayer was the equivalent of five hundred elsewhere. In this lecture Professor Cargill also mentions the five pillars of Islam: Shahada – “testimony” or “witness”, Salat – prayer five times a day, Zakat – almsgiving to the needy, Sawm – fasting in the month of Ramadan, and Hajj – making the pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in one’s lifetime.
Professor Cargill finished up this part of lecture the following week and introduced the Abbasid Dynasty and the Fatimids. The Abbasid Dynasty took place between 750-969 CE and was a period of time where the goal was to wipe out any memory of any Umayyad accomplishments such as palaces. The Abbasid Caliph Al-Ma-Mun also took credit for the building of the Dome of the Rock but forgets to erase the date of the construction when doing so. In 965 CE, Muhammad al-Sanhajj, the governor of Jerusalem, kills John, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, demonstrating a slight increase in the hostility towards Christians. From 969-1099 there was a period of upheaval, yet the population of Jerusalem continued to steadily increase. Caliph al-Hakim ordered the destruction of all Jewish and Christian houses of prayer, including the Holy Sepulcher and in 1033 an earthquake led to immense damage of Jerusalem’s walls and the Dome of the Rock. Years later there was a massacring of thousands of Jerusalem’s inhabitants by the Seljuqs from 1070-1098 leading to the Fatimids 40-day siege on Jerusalem’s fortifications. They destroyed much of the city but were able to retake the city back from the Seljuqs.
Byzantine Jerusalem: 13.1 - February 22, 2011
After the Roman takeover, the empire begins growing rapidly, making the division of the Roman empire into east and west vital. In the west there were three people claiming to be Augustus, leading to the battle of Milvian Bridge in 312 CE where a man by the name of Constantine wins. Constantine has a vision of the first two letters of Christ and is told “in this sign you shall conquer.” Jesus comes and explains Constantine’s vision to him in a dream and as a result he decideds to become Christian and make it the religion of his empire. This leads Constantine to set up Christianity in order to unite his empire. In 313 CE Christianity is legalized in the Edict of Milan and begins a westward expansion throughout Jerusalem.
In 324 CE Constantine’s mother, Helena, came to Jerusalem to rededicate the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, making it the new axis mundi. Then, in 391 CE, Theodosius establishes Christianity as the state religion and Justinian’s built the Nea Church while expanding the city. Now Jerusalem was a center for both Judaism and Christianity, so both Jewish and Christian pilgrimages were being made to Jerusalem. This led to many similarities beginning to be seen among the myths of the Temple and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.
Jerusalem in Revolt: Lecture 12.1 - January 17, 2011
After Herod, his Kingdom was divided among his three sons whose powers were much more limited than his. The Kingdom was divided regionally. Archelaus became the ethnarch of Judea, Herod Antipas became the tetrarch of Galilee and Perea and Herod Phillip became tetrarch of Iturea and Trachonitis right above the Sea of Galilee. As these regions stemmed further and further from Jerusalem, there was less Jewish culture and customs practiced. Gradually, rule shifted to Roman governors. Pontius Pilate became the ruler of Judea from 26-36 CE but he provoked the Jews and was ineffective. He tried Jesus and ordered his execution, but was soon recalled to Rome in 36 CE. The Roman governors in Jerusalem, between 6 – 66 CE, posed provocations from all sides and instigated growing internal Jewish conflict. In 66 CE, Jewish militants engage in open Revolt against Rome and the Roman governor of Syria, Mucianus was defeated. However, in 67 CE Vespasian is appointed to conquer Galilee Transjordan but in the Spring of 70 CE his son, Titus, takes charge and destroys the Temple on the 9th of Ab. This devastation led to the fleeing of Jewish holdouts to Masada, the southwestern shore of the Dead Sea, where many committed suicide. The first revolt is ended in 73 CE and Judea capta coins are made in order to further establish the Roman’s success and the Jewish defeat.
Sixty years later, there was the second revolt known as the “Bar-Kokhba Revolt.” It was led by Simon Bar-Kokhba who tried to embrace the idea of messianism in attempt to be a savior to the Jews. He referred to himself as a “Prince” because it was the greatest non-royal and non-priestly title he could possibly have. The revolt which lasted from 135-132 CE was unsuccessful and was ended by Roman emperor Hadrian. Hadrian banned circumcision and rebuilt Jerusalem as a Roman City (Aelia Capitolina) with a Temple to Jupiter on the Temple Mount. He also banned all Jews from the city and essentially kicked them out. This led to the building and development of Synagogues as an alternate form of worship other than the Temple which was now a center of worship for Jupiter. Synagogues established prayer as their form of sacrifice, had a shrine for the Torah in place of the Ark of the Covenant, and they were built on the highest place in town in order to be closer to heaven. Judaism was now transforming into a religion of the book.
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