Views of Jerusalem the Holy City of David

jerusalem

Etymology
The city has a history that goes back to the 4th millennium BCE, making it one of the oldest cities in the world. The Old City was nominated for inclusion on the List of World Heritage Sites in danger by Jordan in 1982. In the course of its history, Jerusalem has been destroyed twice, besieged 23 times, attacked 52 times, and captured and recaptured 44 times. Today, the status of Jerusalem remains one of the core issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. A city called Rualimum or Urualimum appears in ancient Egyptian records as one of the first references to Jerusalem. These Egyptian forms are thought to derive from the local name attested in the Amarna letters, e.g: in EA 287 (where it takes several forms) Urusalim. In the biblical account, when first mentioned, Jerusalem (known as "Salem") is ruled by Melchizedek, an ally of Abraham (identified with Shem in legend). Under the leadership of the House of David and Solomon, Jerusalem remained the capital of the Kingdom of Judah. When the Assyrians conquered the Kingdom of Israel in 722 BCE, Jerusalem was strengthened by a great influx of refugees from the northern kingdom.