Old City of Jerusalem

Old City of Jerusalem and its Walls

UNESCO World Heritage Site
Criteria	Cultural: ii, iii, vi
Reference	148
Inscription	1981 (5th Session)
Endangered	1982 (site proposed by Jordan)

The Old City is a 0.9 square kilometer (0.35 square mile) area within the modern day city of Jerusalem. Until the 1860s this area constituted the entire city of Jerusalem. The Old City is home to several sites of key religious importance: the Temple Mount and its Western Wall for Jews, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for Christians, and the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque for Muslims.

Traditionally, the Old City has been divided into four quarters, although the current designations were introduced only in the 19th century. (reference: Ben-Arieh, Yehoshua (1984). Jerusalem in the 19th Century, The Old City. Yad Izhak Ben Zvi & St. Martin's Press, 14. ISBN 0312441878). Today, the Old City is roughly divided into the Muslim Quarter, the Christian Quarter, the Jewish Quarter and the Armenian Quarter.

The Old City was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Site List in 1981. In 1982, Jordan requested that it be added to the List of World Heritage Sites in danger.

History

Before King David's conquest of Jerusalem in the 11th century BCE the city was home to the Jebusites. The Bible describes the city as heavily fortified with a strong city wall. His son King Solomon extended the city walls and then, in about 440 BCE, in the Persian period, Nehemiah returned from Babylon and rebuilt them. In 41-44 CE, Agrippa, king of Judea, built a new city wall known as the "Third Wall."

In 1219 the walls of the city were razed by Mu'azzim Sultan of Damascus; in 1229, by treaty with Egypt, Jerusalem came into the hands of Frederick II of Germany. In 1239 he began to rebuild the walls; but they were again demolished by Da'ud, the emir of Kerak.

In 1243 Jerusalem came again under the control of the Christians, and the walls were repaired. The Kharezmian Tatars took the city in 1244 and Sultan Malik al-Muattam razed the city walls, rendering it again defenseless and dealing a heavy blow to the city's status.

The current walls of the Old City were built in 1538 by Suleiman the Magnificent. The city ruled by King David, known as Ir David, or the City of David, is now believed to be southwest of the Old City walls, outside the Dung Gate.

In a survey conducted by the American television program, 'Good Morning America' and the American newspaper 'USA Today,' the Old City of Jerusalem was voted one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.

Quarters

The Old City's quarters.

Armenian Quarter

Main article: Armenian Quarter

The Armenian Quarter is one of the four quarters of the Old City. Although the Armenian people are Christians, the Armenian Quarter is distinct from the Christian Quarter. Although theirs is the smallest of the four quarters, with the fewest residents, the Armenians and their Patriarchate remain staunchly independent and form a vigorous presence in the Old City. After the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, the four quarters of the city came under Jordanian control. Jordanian law required Armenians and other Christians to “give equal time to the Bible and Qur'an” in private Christian schools, and restricted the expansion of church assets. The 1967 war, 19 years later, is remembered by some in the Armenian community as a "miracle", due to the fact that two unexploded bombs were later found inside the Armenian monastery. Today more than 3,000 Armenians live in Jerusalem. The Armenian Quarter is home to roughly 500 of them, some of whom are temporary residents studying at the seminary or serving the church in various functions. The Patriarchate owns the entire quarter, as well as other "valuable" assets in West Jerusalem and elsewhere. Finances for the quarter receive assistance from the prosperous Armenian communities in America. In 1975 a seminary school was completed inside the quarter. Following the 1967 war the Israeli government gave compensation for repairing any churches or holy sites damaged in the fighting, regardless of who had caused the damage.

Christian Quarter

Main article: Christian Quarter

The Christian Quarter is situated in the north-western corner of the Old City, extending from the New Gate (see below) in the north, along the western wall of the Old City as far as the Jaffa Gate, along the Jaffa Gate - Western Wall route in the south, bordering on the Jewish and Armenian Quarters, as far as the Damascus Gate in the east, where it borders on the Muslim Quarter. The quarter contains the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, one of Christianity's holiest places.

Jewish Quarter

Main article: Jewish Quarter

The Jewish Quarter (Template:Lang-he, HaRova HaYehudi or the Rova) lies in the southeastern sector of the walled city, and stretches from the Zion Gate in the south, along the Armenian Quarter on the west, up to the Cardo in the north and and extends to the Western Wall and the Temple Mount in the east.The quarter has had a rich history, with a nearly continual Jewish presence since the eight century B.C.E. In 1948 its population of about 2,000 Jews was besieged, and forced to leave en masse. The quarter had been completely sacked, with ancient synagogues destroyed. The quarter remained under Transjordanian control until its capture by Israeli paratroops in the Six-Day War of 1967. The quarter has since been rebuilt and settled, and has a population of 2,348 (as of 2004) [1], and many large educational institutions have taken up residence. Before being rebuilt, the quarter was carefully excavated under the supervision of Hebrew University archaeologist Nahman Avigad. The archaeological remains, on display in a series of museums and outdoor parks to visit which tourists descend two or three stories beneath the level of the current city, collectively form one of the world's most accessible archaeological sites.

Muslim Quarter

Main article: Muslim Quarter

The Muslim Quarter is the largest and most populous of the four quarters and is situated in the northeastern corner of the Old City, extending from the Lions' Gate in the east, along the northern wall of the Temple Mount in the south, to the Damascus Gate route in the west. Like the other three quarters of the Old City, the Muslim quarter had a mixed population of Jews as well as Muslims and Christians until the riots of 1929, and was previously called the Mixed Quarter. Today 60 Jewish families live in the Muslim Quarter, and a few yeshivot are located there. The main one is Yeshivat Ateret Cohanim

Gates

There are eight gates in the Old City walls. As indicated by the chart below, these gates have been known by a variety of names used in different historic periods and by different community groups.

English	Hebrew	Alternative names	Construction Year	Location
New Gate	Sha'ar HeHadash	Gate of Hammid, Al-Bab al-Jedid	1887	West of northern side
Damascus Gate	Sha'ar Shkhem	Sha'ar Damesek, Nablus Gate, Bab al'Amoud- Gate of the Pillar	1537	Middle of northern side
Herod's Gate	Sha'ar HaPerachim	Flower Gate, Sha`ar Hordos, the Sheep Gate, Bab-a-Sahairad	unknown	East of northern side
Lions' Gate	Sha'ar HaArayot	Gate of Yehoshafat, St. Mary's Gate--Bab Sitt Maryam, St. Stephen's Gate, Gate of the Tribes	1538-39	North of eastern side
Golden Gate	Sha'ar HaRahamim	Gate of Mercy, the Gate of Eternal Life	6th century	Middle of eastern side
Dung Gate	Sha'ar HaAshpot	Gate of Silwan, Mograbi Gate, Sha`ar HaMugrabim, Bāb al-Maghāriba	1538-40	East of southern side
Zion Gate	Sha'ar Tzion	Gate of the Prophet David, Gate to the Jewish Quarter	1540	Middle of southern side
Jaffa Gate	Sha'ar Yaffo	Bab al-halil--Hebron Gate, The Gate of David's Prayer Shrine, Porta Davidi	1530-40	Middle of western side

History of the gates

• Jaffa Gate

Next to Jaffa Gate is a breach in the wall that was opened to accommodate the entourage of the German emperor, Wilhelm II, in 1898. The ancient Roman gates (one large gate flanked by a small gate on each side) are visible below street level at the Damascus Gate.

• New Gate

The New Gate dates from 1889, when the French Catholic clergy asked the sultan, Abdul Hamid II, to open the wall opposite the Notre Dame convent to facilitate access to the Christian Quarter. For 19 years, when east and west Jerusalem were divided, the New Gate was blocked up and the Jordanians built a military outpost above it.

• Huldah Gate

Visible from the Southern Wall excavations is a series of blocked gates called the Huldah Gates. Dating from the Herodian period, these gates (single, double and triple) were used by the throngs of pilgrims visiting the Second Temple. They were inside the city walls until Crusader times. The gates led to a series of tunnels beneath the Temple Mount. One gate was used to enter the Temple compound and the other to exit it. Today the Temple Mount is also accessible from gates inside the Old City, such as Bab el-Kattanin.

Image gallery

• Jerusalem's Old-City walls and Tower of David
  Jerusalem's Old-City walls and Tower of David
• 
  Jerusalem Old-City by night
• 
  1883 map of the city
• 
  1915 map of the city
• 
  Early 20th century. The Jewish quarter is at the bottom of the image. The two large domes are the Hurva Synagogue and the Tiferet Yisrael synagogue. Both were destroyed by the Jordanians in 1948.
• 
  Jaffa Gate ca. 1890-1900
• 
  Jews praying at the Western Wall at the turn of the 20th century

See also

• List of places in Jerusalem
• Defensive wall
• List of cities with defensive walls

External links and references

• The Jewish History Resource Center, Project of the Dinur Center for Research in Jewish History, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem - maps

Template:Jerusalem Old City Quarters
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