Old City (Jerusalem)
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| Old City of Jerusalem and its Walls* | |
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| UNESCO World Heritage Site | |
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| State Party | Jerusalem |
| Type | Cultural |
| Criteria | ii, iii, vi |
| Reference | 148 |
| Region† | Arab States (site proposed by Jordan) |
| Inscription history | |
| Inscription | 1981 (5th Session) |
| Endangered | 1982- |
| * Name as inscribed on World Heritage List. † Region as classified by UNESCO. |
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The Old City (Hebrew: העיר העתיקה ha'ir ha'atika, Arabic: البلدة القديمة AlBalda Al Qadimah) is a 0.9 square kilometre (0.35 square mile) area within the modern city of Jerusalem.[1] 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.[2] Today, the Old City is roughly divided into the Muslim Quarter, the Christian Quarter, the Jewish Quarter and the Armenian Quarter.
Jordan proposed the Old City to be inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage Site List in 1980.[3] It was added to the List in 1981.[4] In 1982, Jordan requested that it be added to the List of World Heritage Sites in danger.[5]
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[edit] 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. 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. 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 walls stretch for approximately 4.5 kilometres, (2.8 miles), and rise to a height of 5–15 metres, (16–49 feet), with a thickness of 3 metres, (10 ft). [6] Altogether, the Old City walls contain 43 surveillance towers and 11 gates, seven of which are presently open.
In a survey conducted by the American television program, 'Good Morning America' and the American newspaper 'USA Today,' Jerusalem's Old City was voted one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.
[edit] Quarters
[edit] Armenian Quarter
The Armenian Quarter is the smallest of the four quarters of the Old City. Although the Armenian people are Christians, the Armenian Quarter is distinct from the Christian Quarter. Despite the small size and population of this quarter, 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 is remembered by residents of the quarter as a miracle, after two unexploded bombs were found inside the Armenian monastery. Today more than 3,000 Armenians live in Jerusalem, 500 of them in the Armenian Quarter. Some are temporary residents studying at the seminary or working as church functionaries. The Patriarchate owns the land in this quarter as well as valuable property in West Jerusalem and elsewhere. In 1975, a theological seminary was established in the Armenian Quarter. After the 1967 war, the Israeli government gave compensation for repairing any churches or holy sites damaged in the fighting, regardless of who caused the damage.
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[edit] 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.
[edit] Jewish Quarter
The Jewish Quarter (Hebrew: הרובע היהודי, 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 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 by the Arabs, 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)[7], 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.
[edit] 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. Its population was 22,000 in 2005. 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
[edit] Gates
During the era of the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem, there were four gates to the Old City, one on each side. The current walls, built by Suleiman the Magnificent, have a total of eleven gates, but only seven are open. Until 1887, each gate was closed before sunset and opened at sunrise. 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.
[edit] Open gates
| English | Hebrew | Arabic | Alternative names | Construction Year | Location |
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| New Gate | Sha'ar HeHadash | Al-Bab al-Jedid | Gate of Hammid | 1887 | West of northern side |
| Damascus Gate | Sha'ar Shkhem | Bab al-Amoud | Sha'ar Damesek, Nablus Gate, Gate of the Pillar | 1537 | Middle of northern side |
| Gate of Flowers | Sha'ar HaPerachim | Bab-a-Sahairad | Sha'ar Hordos, Sheep Gate, Herod's Gate | unknown | East of northern side |
| Lions' Gate | Sha'ar HaArayot | Bab Sittna Maryam | Gate of Yehoshafat, St. Stephen's Gate, Gate of the Tribes | 1538-39 | North of eastern side |
| Dung Gate | Sha'ar HaAshpot | Bab al-Maghariba | Gate of Silwan, Sha'ar HaMugrabim | 1538-40 | East of southern side |
| Zion Gate | Sha'ar Tzion | Bab El-Nabi Da'oud | Gate to the Jewish Quarter | 1540 | Middle of southern side |
| Jaffa Gate | Sha'ar Yaffo | Bab al-Khalil | The Gate of David's Prayer Shrine, Porta Davidi | 1530-40 | Middle of western side |
[edit] Sealed gates
| English | Hebrew | Description | Construction Year | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Golden Gate | Sha'ar HaRahamim | Gate of Mercy, the Gate of Eternal Life. According to the Jewish tradition, this is the gate through which the Messiah will enter Jerusalem. Ottoman Sultan Suleiman I sealed off the Golden Gate in 1541, allegedly to prevent the Messiah's entrance. | 6th century | Middle of eastern side |
| Single Gate | The gate led to the underground area of the Temple Mount known as Solomon's Stables | Herodian period | Southern wall of Temple Mount | |
| Double Gate | Herodian period | Southern wall of Temple Mount | ||
| Huldah Gates | Also known as the Triple Gate, as it comprises three arches | Herodian period | Southern wall of Temple Mount |
[edit] 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.
- Lions' Gate
Legend has it that Suleiman dreamed he would be eaten by lions if he did not build the Old City walls. He ordered two lions carved above one of the gates to commemorate this dream. These lions are still visible today.
- 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 Gates
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.
[edit] Virtual Tours
- Virtual tour of the Muslim Quarter
- Virtual tour of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
- Virtual tour of the Cardo
- Virtual tour of the Damascus gate
- Virtual tour of the Kotel
[edit] See also
- List of places in Jerusalem
- Defensive wall
- List of cities with defensive walls
- Gates of the Temple Mount
- Zedekiah's Cave
[edit] References
- ^ Kollek, Teddy (1977). "Afterword", in John Phillips: A Will to Survive - Israel: the Faces of the Terror 1948-the Faces of Hope Today. Dial Press/James Wade. “about 225 acres”
- ^ Ben-Arieh, Yehoshua (1984). Jerusalem in the 19th Century, The Old City. Yad Izhak Ben Zvi & St. Martin's Press, 14. ISBN 0312441878.
- ^ Advisory Body Evaluation (PDF file)
- ^ Report of the 1st Extraordinary Session of the World Heritage Committee
- ^ Justification for inscription on the List of World Heritage in Danger, 1982: Report of the 6th Session of the World Heritage Committee
- ^ Zaun-Goshen, Heike. Keys to the Treasure Trove - Jerusalem's Old City Gates. Jerusalem Post. Retrieved on 2007-07-10.
- ^ http://www.jiis.org.il/imageBank/File/shnaton_2004/shnaton_c1404.pdf
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| Jerusalem Gates |
| Damascus Gate | Dung Gate | Golden Gate | Herod's Gate | Jaffa Gate | Lions' Gate | New Gate | Zion Gate |
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