Jerusalem is situated on the southern spur of a plateau in the Judean Mountains, which include the Mount of Olives (East) and Mount Scopus (North East). The elevation of the Old City is approximately 760 m (2,500 ft). It is the capital of Israel and its largest city in both population and area. Jerusalem is also regarded as one of the most sacred cities of history.
The origin of Jerusalem, who founded it and why, including the 1st "kings" to hold the city is clouded in myth, misinformation and superstition. Ample archeological, historical evidence exists to understand the likely history of the city.
The city of the dead
Even within the satanic culture of the Phoenicians and Ugarit there existed extremists. One such cult were the Priests of Shalim who openly worshipped death as a deity in itself. Whereas human sacrifice in many ceremonies such as to Ba'al Hammon, Cybele the Phrygian goddess were part of ancient rituals for rebirth and renewal, evidence of this extreme cult suggests they worshipped the coming of a world apocalypse and rejoiced at death, misery and destruction.
Sometime around 1590 to 1550 BCE these cult priests and their followers were banished from Ugarit and founded a new city they called Urshalim (Jerusalem) meaning the "City of the dead/dusk" or simply "City of Death".
Garrison fort of Urušalimum
By 1350 BCE to 1400 BCE, Urshalim became known as a small military garrison Urušalimum of the Egyptian Empire that controlled the region at the time. Contrary to historic disinformation, the Egyptians were traditionally superstitious themselves and obsessed in death rituals (although not the worship of death as a deity as the priests of Shalim/Salem). It is almost certain they co-existed during this period without major incident.
During this period, the site almost certainly had a mainly military and priestly population of less than 1,000 to 3,000.
Akhenaten and the plague survivors at Urušalimum
In 1337 BCE Egypt was in complete turmoil as tens of thousands began dying from the plague. Pharaoh Akhenaten (upon which the Biblical figure is based) arranged a historic move by ordering his army and commanded Paatenemheb (Horemheb) to firstly identify houses of plague victims by painting the doors of infected houses and then to remove the plague victims at night over a space of a few days so as not to create panic or riots.
In an unprecedented move that changed the course of history, Pharaoh Akhenaten chose to accompany the plague victims into the Sinai -- possibly because he had also contracted the plague in a mild form --as legends say the Pharaoh wore a veil for the rest of his life to cover his face.
However, like the survivors of the 1st major recorded outbreak of Bubonic Plague in history, Pharaoh Akhenaten and several thousand survived. Today, we have genetic proof of the authenticity of both this plague event (the Bubonic Plague being dated to approximately the same period from the Nile River Rats) and the immunity of survivors (through the CCR5 receptor deformity found in a minority of population in Ireland, Europe and Asia that can trace their ancestry to this time).
By 1336 BCE Pharaoh Akhenaten temporarily made the garrison town of Urušalimum his capital bringing with him his regal sceptre (staff of Moses) and his royal Ark (Ark of the Covenant). All Hyksos Pharaohs carried as their royal standard an "Ark" at the front of their army as the living spirit of Amen-Ra. You can still see an authentic Ark of the Covenant today in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo of the son of Akhenaten-- Tutankhamen.
Pharaoh Akhenaten left Urušalimum (Jerusalem) no later than 1323 BCE on account of his attack and capture of Ugarit, making it his new capital. However, history suggests he chose to keep his Ark and Royal sceptre at Urušalimum with a number of plague survivors who chose to settle down at this garrison fort, proclaiming it now a sacred place for the new monotheistic religion of Akhenaten. These unique plague survivors became known as the Israelites -- an Egyptian term meaning "the unclean".
The exiled Ugarit priests of the cult of Shalim (Salem/Shem) eventually took control over the followers of Akhenaten's monotheism --largely by pretending to believe. However, history has shown these pioneering priests in pious duplicity never lost their devotion to the god of death, nor the worship of destruction, misery and praying for the end of the world.
1st Kings of Jerusalem
Contrary to Biblical mythology, the 1st accurate recording of a King of Jerusalem is Jeroboam around 965 BCE who captured the city and created a united Kingdom.
In 861, the High Priest of Yeb (Elephantine Island) whose name was Elijah took the Ark and Scepter of Akhenaten away from King Ahab of Jerusalem back to Egypt to a specially built Temple. The dimensions of the Temple are those written in the Bible and you can Google Earth the site to see they are precisely the same dimensions visible today.
When the Assyrians conquered the northern Kingdom of Israel in 722 BCE, the kings of Jerusalem retained their power by agreeing to be vassals of the Assyrians.
The "Messiah" Kings of Jerusalem maintained power until 596 BCE when the Persian Army of under Nebuchadnezzar captured the city, destroying the main temple (in the same year) and executed King Zedekiah and his entire family except one --Princess Tamar Tephi.
It was High Priest Jeremiah of Yeb (Elephantine Island), author of the first books of the Bible who took Princess Tamar Tephi, the Bethel Stone of Kings and the royal standard of Jerusalem (Red Lion Rampant on Yellow background) to the Cuilliaéan in Ireland by no later than 593 BCE.
Priest-King Eochaid of the Cuilliaéan (Druids) married Tephi, adopted the standard of Jerusalem as the colours of the new Celtic Empire including the scriptures of Jeremiah. It is only through the Cuilliaéan that the Lion of Judah, the bloodline of Messiah Kings survived and returned to the Middle East six hundred years later.
Jerusalem has never recovered its standard. Today, it is correctly flown as the standard of Scotland and deliberately incorrectly in reverse by the Kingdom of England.
In 538 BCE, after fifty years of Babylonian captivity, Persian King Cyrus the Great invited the Jews to return to Judah to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple.
Construction of the Second Temple was completed in 516 BCE, during the reign of Darius the Great, seventy years after the destruction of the First Temple. Jerusalem resumed its role as capital of Judah and center of Jewish worship.
Alexander the Great and Jerusalem
When Macedonian ruler Alexander the Great conquered the Persian Empire, Jerusalem and Judea fell under Macedonian control, eventually falling to the Ptolemaic dynasty under Ptolemy I. In 198 BCE, Ptolemy V lost Jerusalem and Judea to the Seleucids under Antiochus III.
The Seleucid attempt to recast Jerusalem as a Hellenized polis came to a head in 168 BCE with the successful Maccabean revolt of Mattathias the High Priest and his five sons against Antiochus Epiphanes, and their establishment of the Hasmonean Kingdom in 152 BCE with Jerusalem again as its capital.
As Rome became stronger it installed Herod as a Jewish client king. Herod the Great, as he was known, devoted himself to developing and beautifying the city.
He built walls, towers and palaces, and expanded the Temple Mount, buttressing the courtyard with blocks of stone weighing up to 100 tons.
Under Herod, the area of the Temple Mount doubled in size. In 6 CE, the city, as well as much of the surrounding area, came under direct Roman rule as the Iudaea Province and Herod's descendants through Agrippa II remained client kings of Judea until 96 CE.
Destruction of Herod's Temple
Upon the murder of Prince James the Just, the blood brother of Prince Jesus and head of the beloved Nazarene Sect by Paul of Tarsus and his supporters in 62 CE, the entire region erupted in civil war culminating in the capture of Jerusalem by Nazarene Zealot leaders Simon bar Jonah (St. Peter) and John of Gischala (St. John of Patmos).
The siege was long and bloody culminating in the deliberate destruction of the Temple of Herod by the Nazarenes on precisely the same day of the year that the Persians destroyed the 1st Temple exactly 666 years before. John included this fact in his writings some years later (Revelations of John).
Simon bar Jonah did not survive the siege and was crucified upside down on the Mount of Olives. However John of Gischala being a Roman citizen was sent into exile and the Island of Patmos.
Roman rule of Jerusalem and Aelia Capitolina
In 115 CE, Lucius bar Josephus (St. Lucius of Cyrene) declared himself the new Messiah and proceeded to rally an army of Jews in rebellion against Roman rule across North Africa. Hundreds of thousands were slaughtered. The rebellion was put down by 117 CE.
In 130 CE Roman Emperor Hadrian a fierce followed of the Gnostic religion of Nazarenes as taught by Valentinus, became the 1st sitting Emperor to visit Jerusalem. Heavily influenced by the Gnostic creed against evil and human sacrifice, Hadrian proclaimed the new name of Jerusalem to be Aelia Capitolina and banned all Jews from the city.
In 131 Jewish Rabbi Simon son of Gamaliel II calling himself Simon bar Kokhba launched a surprise guerilla assault on the Romans and briefly captured Jerusalem. The revolt was brutally ended when the fortress of Betar fell. Over half a million lives were lost in just four years.
As a result, the entire priest line of Hillel was hunted down across the Empire, the position of Nasci and the Sanhedrin disbanded and Yavne colony destroyed. As punishment, Hadrian ordered that no Rabbinical Jew was permitted to live or travel into Iudaea, nor the Province Syria Palaestina. This law did not apply to the Sarmatians, who were never considered to be the same religion sect. Thus, this period saw the beginning of the rise of the Sarmatians until their eventual destruction in 532.
Jerusalem and the formation of Christianity in 326
The Enforcement of the ban on Jews entering Aelia Capitolina (Jerusalem) continued until the 7th century CE, including the time from 326 and the official formation of the religion we know today as Christianity.
During the 4th century, the Roman Emperor Constantine I constructed Christian sites in Jerusalem such as the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
Following Sassanid Khosrau II's early seventh century push into Byzantine, advancing through Syria, Sassanid Generals Shahrbaraz and Shahin attacked the Byzantine-controlled city of Jerusalem.
In the Siege of Jerusalem (614), after 21 days of relentless siege warfare, Jerusalem was captured and the Persian victory resulted in the territorial annexation of Jerusalem.
After the Sassanid army entered Jerusalem, the forgery known as the holy "True Cross" was stolen and sent back to the Sassanian capital as a battle-captured holy relic. It is claimed that the Persians massacred thousands of Christians, but there is no credible evidence of this. The conquered city and the Holy Cross would remain in Sassanid hands for some fifteen years until the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius recovered them in 629.
Jerusalem is considered Islam's third holiest city after Mecca and Medina. Among Muslims of an earlier era, it was referred to as al-Bayt al-Muqaddas; later, it became known as al-Quds al-Sharif.
In 638, the Islamic Caliphate extended its dominion to Jerusalem. With the Arab conquest, Jews were allowed back into the city for the first time since 130 CE.
Umar was led to the Foundation Stone on the Temple Mount, which he cleared of refuse in preparation for building a mosque. According to the Gaullic bishop Arculf, who lived in Jerusalem from 679-688, the Mosque of Umar was a rectangular wooden structure built over ruins which could accommodated 3,000 worshipers.
The Umayyad caliph Abd al-Malik commissioned the construction of the Dome of the Rock in the late 7th century. The 10th century historian al-Muqaddasi writes that Abd al-Malik built the shrine in order to compete in grandeur of Jerusalem's monumental churches. Over the next four hundred years, Jerusalem's prominence diminished as Arab powers in the region jockeyed for control.
The massacre of AntiPope Urban
1099 is regarded as one of the most awful years in the history of Jerusalem as the year in which the Crusaders of Roman Cult leader AntiPope Urban seized the city and slaughtered every living soul including Christians, Muslims, Jews and livestock. Over 90,000 innocent people were murdered in one of the most shocking bloodbaths in history by this satanic AntiPope.
In a telling contrast between the leaders of the parasitic Roman Cult and Muslim leaders of the time, when Muslim General Saladin recaptured Jerusalem in 1187, he forbid any massacres in revenge -- instead returning the city to a site for peaceful pilgrimage for all Christians, Muslims and Jews.
In 1244, Jerusalem was sacked by the Kharezmian Tartars, who decimated the city's Christian population and drove out the Jews. The Khwarezmian Tatars were driven out by the Egyptians in 1247. From 1250-1517, Jerusalem was ruled by the Mamluks, during this period of time many clashes occurred between the Mamluks on one side and the crusaders and the Mongols on the other side. The area also suffered from many earthquakes and black plague.
In 1517, Jerusalem and environs fell to the Ottoman Turks, who generally remained in control until 1917.
With the annexation of Jerusalem by Muhammad Ali of Egypt in 1831, foreign missions and consulates began to establish a foothold in the city. In 1836, Ibrahim Pasha allowed Jerusalem's Jewish residents to restore four major synagogues, among them the Hurva.
Turkish rule was reinstated in 1840, but many Egyptian Muslims remained in Jerusalem. Jews from Algiers and North Africa began to settle in the city in growing numbers.
In the 1840s and 1850s, the international powers began a tug-of-war in Palestine as they sought to extend their protection over the country's religious minorities, a struggle carried out mainly through consular representatives in Jerusalem.
According to the Prussian consul, the population in 1845 was 16,410, with 7,120 Jews, 5,000 Muslims, 3,390 Christians, 800 Turkish soldiers and 100 Europeans.
In 1917 after the Battle of Jerusalem, the British Army, led by General Edmund Allenby, captured the city, and in 1922, the League of Nations at the Conference of Lausanne entrusted the United Kingdom to administer the Mandate for Palestine.
From 1922 to 1948 the total population of the city rose from 52,000 to 165,000 with two thirds of Jews and one-third of Arabs (Muslims and Christians).
The situation between Arabs and Jews in Palestine was not quiet. At Jerusalem, in particular riots occurred in 1920 and in 1929. Under the British, new garden suburbs were built in the western and northern parts of the city and institutions of higher learning such as the Hebrew University were founded.
Rejection of Jerusalem as International City in 1948
As the British Mandate for Palestine was expiring, the 1947 UN Partition Plan recommended "the creation of a special international regime in the City of Jerusalem, constituting it as a corpus separatum under the administration of the United Nations." The international regime (which also included the city of Bethlehem) was to remain in force for a period of ten years, whereupon a referendum was to be held in which the residents were to decide the future regime of their city. However, this plan was not implemented, as the 1948 war erupted, while the British withdrew from Palestine and Israel declared its independence.
The 1949 Armistice Agreements established a ceasefire line that cut through the center of the city and left Mount Scopus as an Israeli exclave. Barbed wire and concrete barriers separated east and west Jerusalem, and military skirmishes frequently threatened the ceasefire. After the establishment of the State of Israel, Jerusalem was declared its capital.
Jordan formally annexed East Jerusalem in 1950, subjecting it to Jordanian law.
During the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel captured East Jerusalem and asserted sovereignty over the entire city.
