Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, c. 1880
Jerusalem
Capital of Judah on a ridge in the Judean hills at 750 m elevation. Site of the Temple. Jesus was crucified and rose outside its walls.
Jerusalem stands on a plateau in the Judean hills at about 750 metres above sea level, defended on three sides by ravines. King David captured the Jebusite fortress and made it his capital around 1000 BC; his son Solomon built the First Temple on Mount Moriah. The city was destroyed by Babylon in 586 BC, rebuilt under Persia, expanded under the Hasmoneans and Herod the Great, and razed again by Rome in AD 70. In the Gospels it is the city of the Passion: Jesus entered on a donkey through the eastern gate, was tried by Pilate, crucified at Golgotha outside the city wall, and rose three days later from a borrowed tomb.
“Jerusalem.” Atlas. Accessed 2026. https://fcbh-atlas.vercel.app/en/place/jerusalem
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