This is a timeline of major events in the History of Jerusalem; a city that had been fought over sixteen times in its history.1 During its long history, Jerusalem has been destroyed twice, besieged 23 times, attacked 52 times, and captured and recaptured 44 times.2
4500–3500 BCE: First settlement established near Gihon Spring (earliest archeological evidence)
c. 2000 BCE: First known mention of the city (then known as Rusalimum) in the Middle Kingdom EgyptianExecration Texts.34 The Semitic root S-L-M in the name is thought to refer to either "peace" (Salam or Shalom in modern Arabic and Hebrew) or Shalim, the god of dusk in the Canaanite religion.
c.830 BCE: Hazael of Aram Damascus conquers most of Canaan. 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.
786 BCE: Jehoash of Israel sacks the city, destroys the walls and takes Amaziah of Judah prisoner (Biblical sources only)
c. 712 BCE: The Siloam Tunnel is built in order to keep water from the Gihon Spring inside the city. According to the Bible the tunnel was built by King Hezekiah in preparation for a siege by the Assyrians, along with an expansion of Jerusalem's fortifications across the Tyropoeon Valley to enclose the hill today known as Mount Zion.6
The first wave of Babylonian returnees is Sheshbazzar's Aliyah (Biblical sources only)
The second wave of Babylonian returnees is Zerubbabel's Aliyah (Biblical sources only)
The return of Babylonian Jews increases the schism with the Samaritans, who had remained in the region during the Assyrian and Babylonian deportations.
458 BCE: The third wave of Babylonian returnees is Ezra's Aliyah (Biblical sources only)
445 BCE: The fourth and final wave of Babylonian returnees is Nehemiah's Aliyah. Nehemiah is the appointed governor of Judah, and rebuilds the Old City walls (Biblical sources only)
410 BCE: The Great Assembly is established in Jerusalem.
312 BCE: Jerusalem is re-captured by Ptolemy I Soter after he defeats Antigonus' son Demetrius I at the Battle of Gaza. It is probable that Seleucus I Nicator, then an Admiral under Ptolemy's command, also took part in the battle, as following the battle he was given 800 infantry and 200 cavalry and immediately travelled to Babylon where he founded the Seleucid Empire
311 BCE: The Antigonid dynasty regains control of the city after Ptolemy withdraws from Syria again following a minor defeat to Antigonus I Monophthalmus, and a peace treaty is concluded.
302 BCE: Ptolemy invades Syria for a third time, but evacuated again shortly thereafter following false news of a victory for Antigonus against Lysimachus (another of the Diadochi)
175 BCE: Antiochus IV Epiphanes succeeds his father and becomes King of the Seleucid Empire. He accelerates Seleucid efforts to eradicate the Jewish religion by forcing the Jewish High Priest Onias III to step down in favor of his brother Jason, who was replaced by Menelaus three years later. He outlaws Sabbath and circumcision, sacks Jerusalem and erects an altar to Zeus in the Second Temple after plundering it.
167 BCE: Maccabean revolt sparked in 167BCE when a Seleucid Greek government representative under King Antiochus IV asked Mattathias to offer sacrifice to the Greek gods, he refused to do so, killed a Jew who had stepped forward to do so and attacked the government official that required the act.8 Led to the guerilla Battle of Wadi Haramia (Biblical source only).
116 BCE: A civil war between Seleucid half-brothers Antiochus VIII Grypus and Antiochus IX Cyzicenus results in a breakup of the kingdom and the independence of certain principalities, including Judea.1011
110 BCE: John Hyrcanus carries out the first military conquests of the independent Hasmonean kingdom, raising a mercenary army to capture Madaba and Schechem, significantly increasing the regional influence of Jerusalem1213
73–63 BCE: The Roman Republic extends its influence in to the region in the Third Mithridatic War. During the war, Armenian King Tigranes the Great takes control of Syria and prepares to invade Judea and Jerusalem but has to retreat following an invasion of Armenia by Lucullus.14 However, this period is believed to have resulted in the first settlement of Armenians in Jerusalem.15 According to Armenian historian Movses Khorenatsi writing in c.482 AD, Tigranes captured Jerusalem and deported Hyrcanus to Armenia, however most scholars deem this account to be incorrect.1617
30 CE: The first Christian martyr (Protomartyr) Saint Stephen stoned to death following Sanhedrin trial.
37–40 "Crisis under Caligula" – a financial crisis throughout the empire results in the "first open break" between Jews and Romans even though problems were already evident during the Census of Quirinius in 6 and under Sejanus before 31.29
45–46 After a famine in Judea Paul and Barnabus provide support to the Jerusalem poor from Antioch (Biblical source only).
138: Restrictions over Christian presence in the city are relaxed after Hadrian dies and Antoninus Pius becomes emperor.
195: Saint Narcissus of Jerusalem presides over a council held by the bishops of Palestine in Caesarea, and decreed that Easter was to be always kept on a Sunday, and not with the Jewish Passover
Helena finding the True Cross (Italian manuscript, c.825)
The Madaba Map depiction of sixth-century Jerusalem
324–325: Emperor Constantine wins the Civil Wars of the Tetrarchy (306–324) and reunites the empire. Within a few months, the First Council of Nicaea (first worldwide Christian council) confirms status of Aelia as a patriarchate.34 A significant wave of Christian immigration to the city begins. This is the date on which the city is generally taken to have been renamed Jerusalem.
c.325: The ban on Jews entering the city remains in force, but they are allowed to enter once a year to pray at the Western Wall on Tisha B'Av.
361: NeoplatonistJulian the Apostate becomes Roman Emperor and attempts to reverse the growing influence of Christianity by encouraging other religions. As a result, Alypius of Antioch is commissioned to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem and Jews are allowed to return to the city35
386: Saint Jerome moves to Jerusalem in order to commence work on the Vulgate, commissioned by Pope Damasus I and instrumental in the fixation of the Biblical canon in the West. He later moves to Bethlehem.
c.600: Latin Pope Gregory I commissions Abbot Probus of Ravenna to build a hospital in Jerusalem to treat Latin pilgrims to the Holy Land
610: The Temple Mount in Jerusalem become the focal point for MuslimSalah (prayers), known as the First Qibla, following Muhammad's initial revelations (Wahy) (Islamic sources)
617: Jewish governor Nehemiah ben Hushiel is killed by a mob of Christian citizens, three years after he is appointed. The Sassanids quell the uprising and appoint a Christian governor to replace him.
951–978: Estakhri, Traditions of Countries and Ibn Hawqal, The Face of the Earth write of Jund Filistin"Its capital and largest town in Ramla, but the Holy City of Jerusalem comes very near this last in size", and of Jerusalem: "It is a city perched high on the hills: and you have to go up to it from all sides. In all Jerusalem there is no running water, excepting what comes from springs, that can be used to irrigate the fields, and yet it is the most fertile portion of Filastin."45
966: Al-Muqaddasi leaves Jerusalem to begin his 20 year geographical study, writing in detail about Jerusalem in his Description of Syria, Including Palestine45
1077: Jerusalem revolts against the rule of Emir Atsiz ibd Uvaq while he is fighting the Fatimid Empire in Egypt. On his return to Jerusalem, Atsiz re-takes the city and massacres the local population.47 As a result, Atsiz is executed by Tutush I, governor of Syria under his brother, Seljuk leader Malik-Shah I. Tutush I appoints Artuq bin Ekseb, later founder of the Artuqid dynasty, as governor.
1091-5: Artuq bin Ekseb dies in 1091, and is succeeded as governor by his sons Ilghazi and Sokmen. Malik Shah dies in 1092, and the Great Seljuk Empire splits in to smaller warring states. Control of Jerusalem is disputed between Duqaq and Radwan after the death of their father Tutush I in 1095. The ongoing rivalry weakens Syria.
1100: Dagobert of Pisa becomes Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem. Godfrey of Bouillon promises to turn over the rule of Jerusalem to the Papacy once the crusaders capture Egypt. The invasion of Egypt did not occur as Godfrey died shortly thereafter. Baldwin was proclaimed the first King of Jerusalem after politically outmanoeuvering Dagobert.
1193: Mosque of Omar built under Saladin outside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, commemorating Umar the Great’s decision to pray outside the church so as not to set a precedent and thereby endanger the Church's status as a Christian site
1244: Siege of Jerusalem (1244) –– In order to permanently retake the city from rival breakaway Abbasid rulers who had allied with the Crusaders, As-Salih Ayyub summoned a huge mercenary army of Khwarezmians, who were available for hire following the defeat of the Khwarazm Shah dynasty by the Mongols ten years earlier.49 The Khwarezmians could not be controlled by As-Salih Ayyub, and destroyed the city. A few months later, the two sides met again at the decisive Battle of La Forbie, marking the end of the Crusader influence in the region
Hulagu Khan returns to Mongolia following the death of Mongke, leaving Kitbuqa and a reduced army to fight the Battle of Ain Jalut, north of Jerusalem. Seen as one of history's most significant battles, after the Mongols are defeated by the Egyptian Mamelukes under Baibars50
1267: Nachmanides goes to Jerusalem and prays at the Western Wall. Reported to have found only two Jewish families in the city
1300: Further Mongol raids into Palestine under Ghazan and Mulay. Jerusalem held by the Mongols for four months (see Ninth Crusade). Hetham II, King of Armenia, was allied to the Mongols and is reported to have visited Jerusalem where he donated his scepter to the Armenian Cathedral.
1482: The visiting Dominican priest Felix Fabri described Jerusalem as "a collection of all manner of abominations". As "abominations" he listed Saracens, Greeks, Syrians, Jacobites, Abyssianians, Nestorians, Armenians, Gregorians, Maronites, Turcomans, Bedouins, Assassins, a sect possibly Druzes, Mamelukes, and "the most accursed of all", Jews. 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".
1517: Sultan Selim I makes a pilgrimage to Jerusalem on his way to the final defeat of the Mamluks at the Battle of Ridaniya (Cairo). Selim proclaims himself Caliph of the Islamic world.
1518: Abu Ghosh clan sent to Jerusalem to restore order and to secure the pilgrimage route between Jaffa and Jerusalem
1663–5 Sabbatai Zevi, founder of the Sabbateans, preaches in Jerusalem before travelling back to his native Smyrna where he proclaimed himself the Messiah
1700: Judah the Pious with 1,000 followers settle in Jerusalem.
1703–1705: The city revolts against heavy taxation. It is finally put down two years later by Jurji Muhammad Pasha.52
1705: Restrictions imposed against the Jews.
1744: The English reference book Modern history or the present state of all nations stated that "Jerusalem is still reckoned the capital city of Palestine"53
1838–57: The first European consulates are opened in the city (e.g. Britain 1838)
1839–40: Rabbi Judah Alkalai publishes "The Pleasant Paths" and "The Peace of Jerusalem", urging the return of European Jews to Jerusalem and Palestine.
1840: A firman is issued by Ibrahim Pasha forbidding Jews to pave the passageway in front of the Western Wall. It also cautioned them against “raising their voices and displaying their books there.”
1840: The Ottoman Turks retake the city – with help from the English (Lord Palmerston)
1857: The Batei Mahse, two 8 two-story buildings, are built in the Jewish Quarter by the Batei Mahse Company, an organization of Dutch and German Jews5556
1877: Jerusalem representative Yousef al-Khalidi appointed as President of the Chamber of Deputies in the short-lived first Ottoman parliament following the accession of Abdul Hamid II and the declaration of the Kanun-ı Esasî
1881: Eliezer Ben-Yehuda moves to Jerusalem to begin his development of modern Hebrew to replace the languages used by Jews who made aliyah from various regions of the world
1882: The First Aliyah results in 25,000–35,000 Zionist immigrants entering the Palestine region
1887–8: Ottoman Palestine divided into the districts of Jerusalem, Nablus and Acre – Jerusalem District is "autonomous", i.e. attached directly to Istanbul
1897: First Zionist Congress at which Jerusalem was discussed as the possible capital of a future Jewish state. In response, Abdul Hamid II initiates policy of sending members of his own Palace staff to govern province of Jerusalem
July 26: West Jerusalem is proclaimed territory of Israel.
September 17: Folke Bernadotte, the United Nations' mediator in Palestine and the first official mediator in the UN's history, is killed by Lehi assassins
1949: Jerusalem is proclaimed the capital of Israel. The Knesset moves to Jerusalem from Tel-Aviv. Jordan prevents access to the Western Wall and Mount Scopus, in violation of the 1949 Armistice Agreements.
1951: King Abdullah I of Jordan is assassinated by Arab extremists on the Temple Mount.
June 28: Israel declares Jerusalem unified and announces free access to holy sites of all religions.
1968: Israel reclaims the Jewish Quarter, confiscating 129 dunams (0.129 km2) of land which had made up the Jewish Quarter before 1948,66 evicting 6,000 residents and 437 shops.67
2008: Israeli Sephardic Religious Party, Shas, refuses to form part of the government without a guarantee that there will be no negotiations that will lead to a partition of Jerusalem.
Graphical Overview of Jerusalem's Historical Periods
^ abcdeSlavik, Diane. 2001. Cities through Time: Daily Life in Ancient and Modern Jerusalem. Geneva, Illinois: Runestone Press, p. 60. ISBN 978-0-8225-3218-7
^Mazar, Benjamin. 1975. The Mountain of the Lord. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., p. 45. ISBN 0-385-04843-2
^Chronology of the Israelite Tribes from The History Files (historyfiles.co.uk)
^Ben-Dov, Meir. 1985. In the Shadow of the Temple. New York, New York: Harper & Row Publishers, Inc., pp. 34–35. ISBN 0-06-015362-8
^"And when he had ordained five councils (συνέδρια), he distributed the nation into the same number of parts. So these councils governed the people; the first was at Jerusalem, the second at Gadara, the third at Amathus, the fourth at Jericho, and the fifth at Sepphoris in Galilee." Josephus, Ant. xiv 54:
^"Josephus uses συνέδριον for the first time in connection with the decree of the Roman governor of Syria, Gabinius (57 BCE), who abolished the constitution and the then existing form of government of Palestine and divided the country into five provinces, at the head of each of which a sanhedrin was placed ("Ant." xiv 5, § 4)." via Jewish Encyclopedia: Sanhedrin:
^H.H. Ben-Sasson, A History of the Jewish People, page 247–248: "Consequently, the province of Judea may be regarded as a satellite of Syria, though, in view of the measure of independence left to its governor in domestic affairs, it would be wrong to say that in the Julio-Claudian era Judea was legally part of the province of Syria."
^A History of the Jewish People, H.H. Ben-Sasson editor, 1976, page 247: "When Judea was converted into a Roman province [in 6 CE, page 246], Jerusalem ceased to be the administrative capital of the country. The Romans moved the governmental residence and military headquarters to Caesarea. The centre of government was thus removed from Jerusalem, and the administration became increasingly based on inhabitants of the hellenistic cities (Sebaste, Caesarea and others)."
^John P. Meier's A Marginal Jew, v. 1, ch. 11; also H.H. Ben-Sasson, A History of the Jewish People, Harvard University Press, 1976, ISBN 0-674-39731-2, page 251: "But after the first agitation (which occurred in the wake of the first Roman census) had faded out, we no longer hear of bloodshed in Judea until the days of Pilate."
^H.H. Ben-Sasson, A History of the Jewish People, Harvard University Press, 1976, ISBN 0-674-39731-2, The Crisis Under Gaius Caligula, pages 254–256: "The reign of Gaius Caligula (37–41) witnessed the first open break between the Jews and the Julio-Claudian empire. Until then – if one accepts Sejanus' heyday and the trouble caused by the census after Archelaus' banishment – there was usually an atmosphere of understanding between the Jews and the empire ... These relations deteriorated seriously during Caligula's reign, and, though after his death the peace was outwardly re-established, considerable bitterness remained on both sides. ... Caligula ordered that a golden statue of himself be set up in the Temple in Jerusalem. ... Only Caligula's death, at the hands of Roman conspirators (41), prevented the outbreak of a Jewish-Roman war that might well have spread to the entire East."
^Christopher Mackay. "Ancient Rome a Military and Political History" 2007: 230
^Schaff's Seven Ecumenical Councils: First Nicaea: Canon VII: "Since custom and ancient tradition have prevailed that the Bishop of Aelia [i.e., Jerusalem] should be honored, let him, saving its due dignity to the Metropolis, have the next place of honor."; "It is very hard to determine just what was the “precedence” granted to the Bishop of Aelia, nor is it clear which is the "metropolis" referred to in the last clause. Most writers, including Hefele, Balsamon, Aristenus and Beveridge consider it to be Cæsarea; while Zonaras thinks Jerusalem to be intended, a view recently adopted and defended by Fuchs; others again suppose it is Antioch that is referred to."
^Browning, Robert. 1978. The Emperor Julian. Berkeley, California: University of California Press, p. 176. ISBN 0-520-03731-6
^Horn, Cornelia B.; Robert R. Phenix, Jr. 2008. The Lives of Peter the Iberian, Theodosius of Jerusalem, and the Monk Romanus. Atlanta, Georgia: Society of Biblical Literature, p. lxxxviii. ISBN 978-1-58983-200-8
^Singh, Nagendra. 2002. "International Encyclopedia of Islamic Dynasties"'
^Bosworth, Clifford Edmund. 2007. "Historic Cities of the Islamic World
^Runciman, Steven. 1951. A History of the Crusades: Volume 1 The First Crusade and the Foundation of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. New York, New York: Cambridge University Press, pp. 279–290. ISBN 0-521-06161-X
^Segev, Tom (1999). One Palestine, Complete. Metropolitan Books. pp. 295–313. ISBN0-8050-4848-0. The group assembled at the Wall shouting "the Wall is ours". They raised the Jewish national flag and sang Hatikvah, the Israeli anthem. The authorities had been notified of the march in advance and provided a heavy police escort in a bid to prevent any incidents. Rumors spread that the youths had attacked local residents and had cursed the name of Muhammad
^"Christians in the Holy Land" Edited by Michael Prior and William Taylor. ISBN 0-905035-32-1. Page 104: Albert Aghazarian "The significance of Jerusalem to Christians". This writer states that "Jews did not own any more than 20% of this quarter" prior to 1948.