History of Jerusalem

History of Jerusalem shows us that traces of human footstep could be found from the Late Chalcolithic Period and Early Bronze Age. From the various documents we come to know that it was once known as Salem, under the rule of king Melchizedek, other documents tell us that the city of Jerusalem was founded by Abraham's forefathers Shem and Eber.

Later, from the Books of Samuel we come to know, that Jerusalem was at one time controlled by a group of scholars known as Jebusites and they resisted the Israeli's attempts to capture Jerusalem. Later on King David managed to capture the city by sending his army through the water shaft and attacked the citizens from inside the city. King Solomon built the Temple of Solomon which finally became a major cultural attraction of the city. When Hezekiah became the king of Judah, he made Jerusalem the capital of his kingdom. It served as the capital of Judah for 400 years and even survived the siege by Sennacherib, the Assyrian king. But soon the darkness grasped Jerusalem when Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar captured it in 597 BCE and Jehoiachin, the young king became a captive. After several decades, Jerusalem became the capital of Judah again when Cyrus II of Persia allowed the Jews to enter the city. Soon after Jerusalem came under the rule of the Greeks when they conquered Persia after the death of Herod it came under the Roman rule in 6 CE. New Testament gives it the dignity of being the location of both the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus. Titus conquered it in 70 CE and only the Wailing Wall of the Second Temple remained.

With the decline of the Ottoman Empire the modern history of Jerusalem began. Lots of immigrants came from the Middle East and Eastern Europe. From the British conquest of Jerusalem in 1917 also began a period of unrest and problem in the history of Jerusalem. Anti-Jewish riots took place in Jerusalem in 1920, 1929 and the 1930s. Violence continued throughout 1930s and 1940s.

In the 1930s, the Hadassah Medical Center and Hebrew University were founded.

History of Jerusalem took a new turn when UN General Assembly divided the Palestine into two parts one for the Jews another for the Arabs. In 1948, Jerusalem was divided, and east Jerusalem was captured in the Six Day War by the Israeli's in 1967. This is celebrated as a liberation day of the city. However, controversy still continues regarding the status of Jerusalem till date.