Jerusalem is one of the oldest cities on earth, considered holy to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, as the three religions either originated or took root in the city. Divided into the Jewish Quarter, Christian Quarter, Muslim Quarter, and Armenian Quarter, it has 890,428 people of many races and religions. Currently, the city is divided between Israel and Palestine, and both nations claim that Jerusalem is its capital.
History
Jerusalem was originally called "Jebus", and was taken over by the United Kingdom of Israel in 1000 BC. The city was thus the "city of Zion", and became the capital of Israel and the Kingdom of Judea, and from that point onwards became the center of Judaism. The Jews flourished in the city for many years, although it changed hands many times as Egypt, Babylonia, the Persian Empire, the Macedonian Empire, and other nations conquered it. Many of the people were killed in the sieges, and Jerusalem was destroyed many times.
Under the Roman Empire (63 BC-614 AD), Jerusalem was completely transformed. It used to have many synagogues, but under the Roman governor Crispus Flavius in the 300s AD its architecture changed to include a large Christian Cathedral in addition to Roman aqueducts, an armorer, a forum, Pro-Consul's Palace, and other buildings. Jerusalem flourished under Roman rule, but in 614 AD it was conquered by the Sassanid Empire during its war with the Byzantine Empire (the eastern Roman empire after 476 AD). Jerusalem was reconquered by the Byzantines in 628 AD after peace was agreed to between the Romans and Persians, but in 637 AD it was conquered by the Arabs. The Arabs were lenient on the Jews and Christians, and they made the former pagan temple on Temple Mount into the Dome of the Rock, a mosque.
Jerusalem switched hands between Muslim dynasties several times, but after the 1075 capture of Jerusalem by the Seljuks, the Christians of Europe became tired of Muslim control of the city. The Christians launched the Crusades, and in 1099 they captured the holy city from the Fatimids. They founded the Kingdom of Jerusalem, which ruled over the city until 1187, when it was captured by Saladin and the Ayyubid Caliphate. By that year, Jerusalem had a population of 11,110 people, with 58% being Christians and 42% Muslims. The Muslims remained in control of the city, defending it from the Third Crusade, and they only lost it in 1229 in an agreement with Emperor Frederick II of Germany. In 1191, during the height of the Third Crusade, there were 25,081 people living in the city, most of them Muslim due to the eviction of the crusaders. Early in the Muslim occupation of Jerusalem, Saladin was out on the field battling the crusaders, so the city was left under the regent Majd Addin, who persecuted several people for alleged crimes. He publicly executed them and had a thirst for blood, and he was known to severely punish those who were arrested. He was assassinated in late 1191 by the Hashshashin due to his cruelty. However, they reclaimed it soon after the agreement, and Muslims ruled Jerusalem until 1918. The Ayyubids were replaced with the Mamelukes in 1261 and the Mamelukes by the Ottoman Empire in 1512, and the city was open to people of all religions under the Ottoman Empire's multicultural empire.
In 1918, Jerusalem fell to the United Kingdom during World War I, with both British and Arab rebel forces of Hejaz bringing down the Ottoman Empire. The city became the capital of Mandatory Palestine, a British province that was home to Jews and Arabs alike. However, in 1936 the Arabs rebelled against British rule, and the Jews formed Palmach, a paramilitary group that fought for independence. The rebellion was eventually quelled, but in 1947 the Palestinian Civil War broke out between Arabs and Jews as the British withdrew and began plans to divide the region into Arab and Jewish lands. However, in 1948 the Jews declared independence as the state of Israel and defeated invasions by the anti-Semitic Arab countries neighboring it, as well as pushing out several Arab settlers to make way for Jewish immigrants coming to the only Jewish country on the planet. Jerusalem was divided between the Jewish-controlled West Jerusalem and Jordanian-held East Jerusalem until 1967, when Israel took over East Jerusalem. The conflict over Jerusalem ended in 1993 when it was divided again, and although the Arabs and Jews were kept apart by a wall, there was still animosity, especially over the Dome of the Rock/Temple Mount. There were multiple intifadas and riots that led to thousands of deaths over the holy site, and Jerusalem is still divided today.
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