History of Jerusalem

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 (132–136 CE), 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" (compare with modern Salam or Shalom in modern Arabic and Hebrew) 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 (4 and 5 ton boulders, 26 feet high) 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.

thumb|upright|Ú-ru-sa-lim inscription in the [[Amarna letters, 14th century BCE]]

In the Amarna Period (c. 1350 BC), 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 (Hebrews), 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.

19th Dynasty. In the Late Bronze IIB, the 19th dynasty of Egypt came to power with border conflict against the Hittites who occupied Syria. In Year 4 of Ramesses II he occupied Amurru while in Year 5 of Ramesses II was the famous Battle of Kadesh. This event significantly weakened both the Hittites and Egyptians militarily, in addition to gradually drier climate conditions.

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 (Djahy being the Egyptian name for Canaan) 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. 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 (the identity of which is somewhat controversial). 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 (which the Bible places near the end of the reign of Solomon, c. 930 BCE, though Finkelstein and others dispute the very existence of a unified monarchy to begin with 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.

Assyrian period

Jerusalem was the capital of the Kingdom of Judah for some 400 years. It had survived an Assyrian siege in 701 BCE by Sennacherib, unlike Samaria, which had fallen some 20 years previously. According to the Bible, this was a miraculous event in which an angel killed 185,000 men in Sennacherib's army. According to Sennacherib's own account preserved in the Taylor prism, an inscription contemporary with the event, the king of Judah, Hezekiah, was "shut up in the city like a caged bird" and eventually persuaded Sennacherib to leave by sending him "30 talents of gold and 800 talents of silver, and diverse treasures, a rich and immense booty".

Babylonian period

The siege of Jerusalem in 597 BCE led to the city being overcome by the Babylonians, who then took the young King Jehoiachin into Babylonian captivity, together with most of the aristocracy. Zedekiah, who had been placed on the throne by Nebuchadnezzar (the Babylonian king), rebelled, and Nebuchadnezzar recaptured the city, killed Zedekiah's descendants in front of him, and plucked out Zedekiah's eyes so that that would be the last thing he ever saw. The Babylonians then took Zedekiah into captivity, along with prominent members of Judah. The Babylonians then burnt the temple, destroyed the city's walls, and appointed Gedaliah son of Achikam as governor of Judah. After 52 days of rule, Yishmael, son of Netaniah, a surviving descendant of Zedekiah, assassinated Gedaliah after encouragement by Baalis, the king of Ammon. Some of the remaining population of Judah, fearing the vengeance of Nebuchadnezzar, fled to Egypt.

Persian (Achaemenid) period

According to the Bible and perhaps corroborated by the Cyrus Cylinder, after several decades of captivity in Babylon and the Achaemenid conquest of Babylonia, Cyrus II of Persia allowed the Jews to return to Judah and rebuild the temple. The books of Ezra–Nehemiah record that the construction of the Second Temple was finished in the sixth year of Darius the Great (516 BCE), following which Artaxerxes I sent Ezra and then Nehemiah to rebuild the city's walls and to govern the Yehud province within the Eber-Nari satrapy. These events represent the final chapter in the historical narrative of the Hebrew Bible.

During this period, Aramaic-inscribed "Yehud coinage" were produced – these are believed to have been minted in or near Jerusalem, although none of the coins bear a mint mark.

Classical antiquity

Hellenistic period

Ptolemaic and Seleucid province

When Alexander the Great conquered the Persian Empire, Jerusalem and Judea fell under Greek control and Hellenistic influence. After the Wars of the Diadochoi following Alexander's death, Jerusalem and Judea fell under Ptolemaic control under Ptolemy I and continued minting Yehud coinage. In 198 BCE, as a result of the Battle of Panium, Ptolemy V lost Jerusalem and Judea to the Seleucids under Antiochus the Great.

Under the Seleucids many Jews had become Hellenized and with their assistance tried to Hellenize Jerusalem, eventually culminating in the 160s BCE in a rebellion led by Mattathias and his five sons: Simon, Yochanan, Eleazar, Jonathan and Judas Maccabeus, also known as the Maccabees. After Mattathias died, Judas Maccabee took over as the revolt's leader, and in 164 BCE, he captured Jerusalem and restored temple worship, an event celebrated to this day in the Jewish festival of Hanukkah.

Hasmonean period

thumb|[[Prutah of John Hyrcanus (134 to 104 BCE) with the ancient Hebrew inscription "Yehochanan Kohen Gadol Chaver Hayehudim" ("Yehochanan the High Priest, Chaver of the Jews")]]

As a result of the Maccabean Revolt, Jerusalem became the capital of the autonomous and eventually independent Hasmonean state which lasted for over a century. After Judas' death, his brothers Jonathan Apphus and Simon Thassi were successful in creating and consolidating the state. They were succeeded by John Hyrcanus, Simon's son, who won independence, enlarged Judea's borders, and began minting coins. Hasmonean Judea became a kingdom and continued to expand under his sons kings Aristobulus I and subsequently Alexander Jannaeus. When his widow Salome Alexandra died in 67 BCE her sons Hyrcanus II and Aristobulus II fought among themselves over who would succeed her. In order to resolve their dispute, the parties involved turned to Roman general Pompey, who paved the way for a Roman takeover of Judea.

Pompey supported Hyrcanus II over his brother Aristobulus II who then controlled Jerusalem, and the city was soon under siege. Upon his victory, Pompey desecrated the Temple by entering the Holy of Holies, which could only be done by the High Priest. Hyrcanus II was restored as High Priest, stripped of his royal title but recognized as an ethnarch in 47 BCE. Judea remained an autonomous province but still with a significant amount of independence. The last Hasmonean king was Aristobulus' son, Antigonus II Matityahu.

Early Roman period

In 37 BCE, Herod the Great captured Jerusalem after a forty-day siege, ending Hasmonean rule. Herod ruled the Province of Judea as a client-king of the Romans, rebuilt the Second Temple, more than doubled the size of the surrounding complex, and expanded the minting of coins to many denominations. The Temple Mount became the largest temenos (religious sanctuary) in the ancient world. Pliny the Elder, writing of Herod's achievements, called Jerusalem "the most famous by far of the Eastern cities and not only the cities of Judea." The Talmud comments that "He who has not seen the Temple of Herod has never seen a beautiful building in his life." And Tacitus wrote that "Jerusalem is the capital of the Jews. In it was a Temple possessing enormous riches."

Herod also built Caesarea Maritima which replaced Jerusalem as the capital of the Roman province. In 6 CE, following Herod's death in 4 BCE, Judea and the city of Jerusalem came under direct Roman rule through Roman prefects, procurators, and legates (see List of Hasmonean and Herodian rulers). However, one of Herod's descendants was the last one to return to power as nominal king of Iudaea Province: Agrippa I (r. 41–44).

In the 1st century CE, Jerusalem became the birthplace of Early Christianity. According to the New Testament, it is the location of the crucifixion, resurrection and Ascension of Jesus Christ (see also Jerusalem in Christianity). It was in Jerusalem that, according to the Acts of the Apostles, the Apostles of Christ received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and first began preaching the Gospel and proclaiming his resurrection. Jerusalem eventually became an early center of Christianity and home to one of the five Patriarchates of the Christian Church. After the Great Schism, it remained a part of the Eastern Orthodox Church.

By the end of the Second Temple period, Jerusalem's size and population had reached a peak that would not be broken until the 20th century. There were about 70,000 to 100,000 people living in the city at that time, according to modern estimations.

Jewish–Roman Wars

thumb|Inside wall from the [[Arch of Titus, Rome, showing the triumph held in the city after the fall of Jerusalem. The Menorah from the Temple is seen being carried in the victory procession.]]

In 66 CE, the Jewish population in the Roman province of Judaea rebelled against the Roman Empire in what is now known as the First Jewish–Roman War or Great Revolt. Jerusalem was then the center of Jewish rebel resistance. Following a brutal five-month siege, Roman legions under future emperor Titus reconquered and subsequently destroyed much of Jerusalem in 70 CE. Also the Second Temple was burnt and all that remained was the great external (retaining) walls supporting the esplanade on which the Temple had stood, a portion of which has become known as the Western Wall. Titus' victory is commemorated by the Arch of Titus in Rome. This victory gave the Flavian dynasty legitimacy to claim control over the empire. A triumph was held in Rome to celebrate the fall of Jerusalem, and two triumphal arches, including the well known Arch of Titus, were built to commemorate it. The treasures looted from the Temple were put on display.thumb|[[Bar Kokhba Revolt coinage, silver shekel with the Jewish Temple facade and a rising star, surrounded by "Shimon" (obverse). The reverse shows a lulav and the words "To the freedom of Jerusalem".]]

Jerusalem was later re-founded and rebuilt as the Roman colony of Aelia Capitolina. Foreign cults were introduced and Jews were forbidden entry. The construction of Aelia Capitolina is considered one of the proximate reasons for the eruption of the Bar Kokhba revolt in 132 CE. Early victories allowed the Jews under the leadership of Simon bar Kokhba to establish an independent state over much of Judea for three years, but it's uncertain if they would also assert their control over Jerusalem. Archaeological research found no evidence for Bar Kokhba ever managing to hold the city. Hadrian responded with overwhelming force, putting down the rebellion, killing as many as a half million Jews, and resettling the city as a Roman colonia. Jews were expelled from the area of Jerusalem, and were forbidden to enter the city on the pain of death, except on the day of Tisha B'Av (the Ninth of Av), the fast day on which Jews mourn the destruction of both Temples.

Late antiquity

Late Roman period

thumb|The [[Madaba Map depiction of 6th-century Jerusalem has the Cardo Maximus, the town's main street, beginning at the northern gate (today's Damascus Gate), and traversing the city in a straight line south to "Nea Church".]]

Aelia Capitolina of the Late Roman period was a Roman colony, with all the typical institutions and symbols - a forum, and temples to the Roman gods. Hadrian placed the city's main forum at the junction of the main Cardo and Decumanus, now the location of the (smaller) Muristan. He also built a large temple to Jupiter Capitolinus, which later became the site of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The city had no walls, was protected by a light garrison of the Tenth Legion. For the next two centuries, the city remained a relatively unimportant pagan Roman town.

A Roman legionary tomb at Manahat, the remains of Roman villas at Ein Yael and Ramat Rachel, and the Tenth Legion's kilns found close to Giv'at Ram, all within the borders of modern-day Jerusalem, are all signs that the rural area surrounding Aelia Capitolina underwent a romanization process, with Roman citizens and Roman veterans settling in the area during the Late Roman period. Jews were still banned from the city throughout the remainder of its time as a Roman province.

Byzantine period

Following the Christianization of the Roman Empire, Jerusalem prospered as a hub of Christian worship. After allegedly seeing a vision of a cross in the sky in 312, Constantine the Great began to favor Christianity, signed the Edict of Milan legalizing the religion, and sent his mother, Helena, to Jerusalem to search for the tomb of Jesus. Helena traveled to Jerusalem on a pilgrimage, where she recognized the site where Jesus was crucified, buried, and raised from the dead. On the spot, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was constructed and dedicated in 335 CE. Helena also claimed to have found the True Cross. Burial remains from the Byzantine period are exclusively Christian, suggesting that the population of Jerusalem in Byzantine times probably consisted only of Christians.thumb|[[Church of the Holy Sepulchre: Jerusalem is generally considered the cradle of Christianity.]]In the 5th century, the eastern continuation of the Roman Empire, ruled from the recently renamed Constantinople, maintained control of the city. Within the span of a few decades, Jerusalem shifted from Byzantine to Persian rule, then back to Roman-Byzantine dominion. Following Sassanid Khosrau II's early 7th century push through Syria, his generals Shahrbaraz and Shahin attacked Jerusalem aided by the Jews of Palaestina Prima, who had risen up against the Byzantines.

In the Siege of Jerusalem of 614, after 21 days of relentless siege warfare, Jerusalem was captured. Byzantine chronicles relate that the Sassanids and Jews slaughtered tens of thousands of Christians in the city, many at the Mamilla Pool, and destroyed their monuments and churches, including the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. This episode has been the subject of much debate between historians. The conquered city would remain in Sassanid hands for some fifteen years until the Byzantine emperor Heraclius reconquered it in 629.

Medieval period

Early Muslim period

Rashidun, Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphates

thumbnail|right|Map of Jerusalem as it appeared in the years 958–1052, according to [[Arab geographers such as al-Muqaddasi]]

thumbnail|right|The [[Hereford Mapa Mundi, depicting Jerusalem at the centre of the world]]

Jerusalem was one of the Arab Caliphate's first conquests in 638 CE; according to Arab historians of the time, the Rashidun Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab personally went to the city to receive its submission, cleaning out and praying at the Temple Mount in the process. Umar ibn al-Khattab allowed the Jews back into the city and freedom to live and worship after almost three centuries of banishment by the Romans and Byzantines.

Under the early centuries of Muslim rule, especially during the Umayyad (650–750) dynasty, the city prospered. Around 691–692 CE, the Dome of the Rock was built on the Temple Mount. Rather than a mosque, it is a shrine that enshrines the Foundation Stone. The Al-Aqsa Mosque was also built under Umayyad rule during the late 7th or early 8th century on the southern end of the compound, and was associated with a place of the same name mentioned in the Quran as a place visited by Muhammad during his Night Journey. Jerusalem is not mentioned by any of its names in the Quran, and the Qur'an does not mention the exact location of Al-Aqsa Mosque. Some scholars contend that the connection between the Al-Aqsa Mosque referenced in the Quran and the Temple Mount in Jerusalem is the result of an Umayyad political agenda that aimed to rival the prestige of the Mecca sanctuary, which was then ruled by their enemy, Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr.

The Abbasid period (750–969) is the least documented of the early Muslim period in general. The Temple Mount area was the center of known building activity, with structures damaged in earthquakes being repaired.

Geographers Ibn Hawqal and al-Istakhri (10th century) describe Jerusalem as "the most fertile province of Palestine", while its native son, the geographer al-Muqaddasi (born 946) devoted many pages to its praises in his most famous work, The Best Divisions in the Knowledge of the Climes. Under Muslim rule Jerusalem did not achieve the political or cultural status enjoyed by the capitals Damascus, Baghdad, Cairo etc. Al-Muqaddasi derives his name from the Arabic name for Jerusalem, Bayt al-Muqaddas, which is linguistically equivalent to the Hebrew Beit Ha-Mikdash, the Holy House.

Fatimid period

The early Arab period was also one of religious tolerance. However, in the early 11th century, the Egyptian Fatimid Caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah ordered the destruction of all churches. In 1033, there was another earthquake, severely damaging the Al-Aqsa Mosque. The Fatimid caliph Ali az-Zahir rebuilt and completely renovated the mosque between 1034 and 1036. The number of naves was drastically reduced from fifteen to seven. Az-Zahir built the four arcades of the central hall and aisle, which presently serve as the foundation of the mosque. The central aisle was double the width of the other aisles and had a large gable roof upon which the dome—made of wood—was constructed. Persian geographer, Nasir Khusraw describes the Aqsa Mosque during a visit in 1047:

<blockquote>The Haram Area (Noble Sanctuary) lies in the eastern part of the city; and through the bazaar of this (quarter) you enter the Area by a great and beautiful gateway (Dargah). ... After passing this gateway, you have on the right two great colonnades (Riwaq), each of which has nine-and-twenty marble pillars, whose capitals and bases are of colored marbles, and the joints are set in lead. Above the pillars rise arches, that are constructed, of masonry, without mortar or cement, and each arch is constructed of no more than five or six blocks of stone. These colonnades lead down to near the Maqsurah.</blockquote>

Seljuk period

Under Az-Zahir's successor al-Mustansir Billah, the Fatimid Caliphate entered a period of instability and decline, as factions fought for power in Cairo. In 1071, Jerusalem was captured by the Turkish warlord Atsiz ibn Uvaq, who seized most of Syria and Palestine as part of the expansion of the Seljuk Turks throughout the Middle East. As the Turks were staunch Sunnis, they were opposed not only to the Fatimids, but also to the numerous Shia Muslims, who saw themselves removed from dominance after a century of Fatimid rule. In 1176, riots between Sunnis and Shiites in Jerusalem led to a massacre of the latter. Although the Christians of the city were left unmolested, and allowed access to the Christian holy sites, the wars with Byzantium and the general instability in Syria impeded the arrival pilgrims from Europe. The Seljuks also forbade the repair of any church, despite the damages suffered in the recent turmoils. There does not appear to have been a significant Jewish community in the city at this time.

In 1086, the Seljuk emir of Damascus, Tutush I, appointed Artuk Bey governor of Jerusalem. Artuk died in 1091, and his sons Sökmen and Ilghazi succeeded him. In August 1098, while the Seljuks were distracted by the arrival of the First Crusade in Syria, the Fatimids under vizier al-Afdal Shahanshah appeared before the city and laid siege to it. After six weeks, the Seljuk garrison capitulated and was allowed to leave for Damascus and Diyar Bakr. The Fatimid takeover was followed by the expulsion of most of the Sunnis, in which many of them were also killed.

Crusader/Ayyubid period

The time span consisting of the 12th and 13th centuries is sometimes referred to as the medieval period, or the Middle Ages, in the history of Jerusalem.

First Crusader kingdom (1099–1187)

thumb|Taking of Jerusalem by the Crusaders, 15th July 1099, oil on canvas by [[Émile Signol, 1847 (Palace of Versailles)]]

Fatimid control of Jerusalem ended when it was captured by Crusaders in July 1099. The capture was accompanied by a massacre of almost all of the Muslim and Jewish inhabitants. Jerusalem became the capital of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Godfrey of Bouillon, was elected Lord of Jerusalem on 22 July 1099, but did not assume the royal crown and died a year later. Barons offered the lordship of Jerusalem to Godfrey's brother Baldwin, Count of Edessa, who had himself crowned by the Patriarch Daimbert on Christmas Day 1100 in the basilica of Bethlehem. Following the massacre of Jews during the conquest and the subsequent emigration of survivors, Jewish life in Jerusalem came to a near standstill during the 12th century, with almost no Jews remaining in the city. Further evidence of German communities in the holy city comes in the form of halakic questions sent from Germany to Jerusalem during the second half of the 11th century.

thumb|Medieval [[Tower of David (Migdal David) in Jerusalem today]]

In 1173 Benjamin of Tudela visited Jerusalem. He described it as a small city full of Jacobites, Armenians, Greeks, and Georgians. Two hundred Jews dwelt in a corner of the city under the Tower of David. In 1219 the walls of the city were razed by order of al-Mu'azzam, the Ayyubid sultan of Damascus. This rendered Jerusalem defenseless and dealt a heavy blow to the city's status. The Ayyubids destroyed the walls in expectation of ceding the city to the Crusaders as part of a peace treaty. This act also led to a new wave of Jewish flight, with many fleeing to Acre. In the decades after 1260 they also worked to eliminate the remaining Crusader states in the region. The last of these was defeated with the capture of Acre in 1291. Tankiz, the Mamluk amir in charge of Syria during the reign of al-Nasir Muhammad, built a new market called Suq al-Qattatin (Cotton Market) in 1336–7, along with the gate known as Bab al-Qattanin (Cotton Gate), which gave access to the Temple Mount from this market. today the second oldest active synagogue in Jerusalem, after that of the Karaite Jews built about 300 years earlier. Scholars date the Ramban Synagogue to the 13th century or later. (the room where the Last Supper took place) on Mount Zion and some land to build a monastery nearby for the friars, using funds provided by the king and queen of Naples. With two papal bullae, Gratias Agimus and Nuper Carissimae, dated in Avignon, 21 November 1342, Pope Clement VI approved and created the new entity which would be known as the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land (Custodia Terrae Sanctae).

The friars, coming from any of the Order's provinces, under the jurisdiction of the father guardian (superior) of the monastery on Mount Zion, were present in Jerusalem, in the Cenacle, in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and in the Basilica of the Nativity at Bethlehem. Their principal activity was to ensure liturgical life in these Christian sanctuaries and to give spiritual assistance to the pilgrims coming from the West, to European merchants resident or passing through the main cities of Egypt, Syria, and Lebanon, and to have a direct and authorized relation with Eastern Christian communities.

The monastery on Mount Zion was used by Brother Alberto da Sarteano for his papal mission for the union of the Oriental Christians (Greeks, Copts, and Ethiopians) with Rome during the Council of Florence (1440). For the same reason the party guided by Brother Giovanni di Calabria halted in Jerusalem on his way to meet the Christian Negus of Ethiopia (1482).

In 1482, the visiting Dominican priest Felix Fabri described Jerusalem as "a dwelling place of diverse nations of the world, and is, as it were, a collection of all manner of abominations". As "abominations" he listed Saracens, Greeks, Syrians, Jacobites, Abyssinians, Nestorians, Armenians, Gregorians, Maronites, Turcomans, Bedouins, Assassins, a possible Druze sect, Mamluks, and the Jews, whom he referred to "as the most cursed of all". However, a Christian pilgrim from Bohemia who had visited Jerusalem in 1491–1492 wrote in his book Journey to Jerusalem: "Christians and Jews alike in Jerusalem lived in great poverty and in conditions of great deprivation, there are not many Christians but there are many Jews, and these the Muslims persecute in various ways. Christians and Jews go about in Jerusalem in clothes considered fit only for wandering beggars. The Muslims know that the Jews think and even say that this is the Holy Land which has been promised to them and that those Jews who dwell there are regarded as holy by Jews elsewhere, because, in spite of all the troubles and sorrows inflicted on them by the Muslims, they refuse to leave the Land." Only the Latin Christians "long with all their hearts for Christian princes to come and subject all the country to the authority of the Church of Rome".

Early modern period

Early Ottoman period

In 1516, Jerusalem was taken over by the Ottoman Empire along with all of Greater Syria and enjoyed a period of renewal and peace under Suleiman the Magnificent, including the construction of the walls, which define until today what is now known as the Old City of Jerusalem. The outline of the walls largely follows that of different older fortifications. The rule of Suleiman and subsequent Ottoman Sultans brought an age of "religious peace"; Jew, Christian and Muslim enjoyed freedom of religion and it was possible to find a synagogue, a church and a mosque on the same street. The city remained open to all religions, although the empire's faulty management after Suleiman the Magnificent meant economical stagnation.

Latin presence

In 1551 the Friars were expelled by the Turks from the Cenacle and from their adjoining monastery. However, they were granted permission to purchase a Georgian monastery of nuns in the northwest quarter of the city, which became the new center of the Custody in Jerusalem and developed into the Latin Convent of Saint Saviour (known as Dayr al Ātīn دير الاتين

دير اللاتين Arabic)).

Jewish presence

In 1700, Judah HeHasid led the largest organized group of Jewish immigrants to the Land of Israel in centuries. His disciples built the Hurva Synagogue, which served as the main synagogue in Jerusalem from the 18th century until 1948, when it was destroyed by the Arab Legion. The synagogue was rebuilt in 2010.

Local vs. central power

In response to the onerous taxation policies and military campaigns against the city's hinterland by the governor Mehmed Pasha Kurd Bayram, the notables of Jerusalem, allied with the local peasantry and Bedouin, rebelled against the Ottomans in what became known as the Naqib al-Ashraf revolt and took control of the city in 1703–1705 before an imperial army reestablished Ottoman authority there. The consequent loss of power of Jerusalem's al-Wafa'iya al-Husayni family, which led the rebellion, paved the way for the al-Husayni family becoming one of the city's leading families. Thousands of Ottoman troops were garrisoned in Jerusalem in the aftermath of the revolt, which caused a decline in the local economy.

Late modern period

Late Ottoman period

thumb|1883 map of Jerusalem

In the mid-19th century, with the decline of the Ottoman Empire, the city was a backwater, with a population that did not exceed 8,000. Nevertheless, it was, even then, an extremely heterogeneous city because of its significance to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The population was divided into four major communities – Jewish, Christian, Muslim, and Armenian – and the first three of these could be further divided into countless subgroups, based on precise religious affiliation or country of origin. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was meticulously partitioned between the Greek Orthodox, Catholic, Armenian, Coptic, and Ethiopian churches. Tensions between the groups ran so deep that the keys to the shrine and its doors were safeguarded by a pair of 'neutral' Muslim families.

In his 1854 article for the New York Daily Tribune, Karl Marx provided a detailed and somber account of the demographics and living conditions in Jerusalem during the mid-19th century. He observed the harsh realities faced by the city's diverse communities, particularly focusing on the plight of the Jewish population. Marx wrote: