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JERUSALEM |
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Ten measures of beauty gave God to the world: nine to Jerusalem and
one to the remainder
Ten measures of sorrow gave God to the world: nine to Jerusalem and one
to the remainder
- The Talmud, Kiddushin 49:2
Everybody has heard of Jerusalem ( Yerushalayim in Hebrew, al-Quds in
Arabic), and most people have some image of it in their heads, but
almost everyone who comes here is surprised at what they find. Sacred to
three religions and once considered to be the centre of the world, the
Holy City is, for all its fame, quite a small town, far from opulent,
provincial in many ways and conservative in outlook. But if it fails to
live up to its fabled magnificence, it is still a fascinating place,
full of museums, religious sites and ancient relics, at their densest in
the Old City, where almost every building has a story. Here you'll find
three of the world's most venerated institutions: the Church of the Holy
Sepulchre , held to be the location of the Crucifixion, and the holiest
site in Christendom; the Western (Wailing) Wall , last remnant of the
Second Temple and most sacred Jewish relic in the world; and the Dome of
the Rock , third most hallowed location in Islam as the spot from where
the Prophet Mohammed made his night ascent to heaven.
Even without these monuments, and even to a non-believer, Jerusalem has
much to offer - from the narrow alleys and vibrant souqs of the
magnificent walled Old City , within which lies the Via Dolorosa (the
path taken by Jesus to the Cross), to the churches and tombs of the
Mount of Olives , and the expensive shops and lively bars of downtown
West Jerusalem. In fact, Arab East Jerusalem and Israeli West Jerusalem
offer the visitor two worlds for the price of one: the tradition and
relaxed pace of the Arab world, and the cosmopolitan glitz of the West.
And the Palestinian fellahin and Bedouin who meet their urban
compatriots in the markets and shops of the East, and the Israeli
farmers (from kibbutzim and moshavim in the foothills and the plain) who
do much the same in the West, add further to the diverse cultural mix.
Perched high in the Judean Hills , the city's location is equally
captivating. The view on approach is dramatic, with even the modern city
providing a magnificent array of white high-rises gleaming in the
sunlight - an architectural legacy of the first British governor, who
declared that all new buildings must be made from local limestone, a
ruling followed under subsequent Israeli and Jordanian rule. To its west
lie the fertile planted fields, olive groves and settled villages of the
coastal plain and the Judean foothills, while to the east the harsh
desert of the Jordan Valley stretches out to a horizon that, on a clear
day, offers glimpses of the Dead Sea.
As far as politics is concerned, Jerusalem is at the heart of the
Israel-Palestine question, hotly contested and deeply divided. It may be
one city, but it's definitely two countries, and if the Israel-Jordan
border that once ran through the city no longer exists in physical form,
the political, legal and above all cultural divisions are still very
tangible. The two halves live uneasily side by side, a tension
heightened by the construction of new Jewish settlements that encroach
upon Palestinian land. Though Israel has taken the position since 1967
that Jerusalem is the single, indivisible capital of the Jewish state,
it's a status recognized by few other countries, so while the Knesset is
in Jerusalem, virtually all foreign embassies remain in Tel Aviv.
Meanwhile, the Palestinians also consider Jerusalem their true capital -
however unrealistic that may seem - and it remains the focus of their
commerce, culture, political aspirations.
Jerusalem then is a schizophrenic city, a frustrating and complex place
that can seem overwhelming on a first visit. In fact, such is the
emotion that the city inspires in some visitors that it has its own
mental disorder: some victims of Jerusalem Syndrome suffer the delusion
that they are characters from the Bible - Jesus is the favourite, but
others include Moses, King David, Elijah, John the Baptist and the
Virgin Mary. You might see them wandering the streets, dressed in the
robes of their adopted persona. Other sufferers commit bizarre acts in
their certainty of the imminent Second Coming - in 1969, an Australian
tourist tried to burn down the al-Aqsa Mosque in preparation for Jesus's
arrival.
Despite its very real difficulties however, Jerusalem is still a
beautiful city, teeming and alive, a historical location without compare
and the backdrop against which the histories of three religions were
acted out. It was from here that Mohammed ascended to heaven, from the
spot where God tested Abraham by asking him to sacrifice his son. It was
the residents of this city who welcomed Jesus by spreading palm leaves
on the ground before him, along these streets that he dragged the cross,
and here that he was executed upon it. Here, too, stood the capital of
David and Solomon, home to the two Jewish Temples of antiquity; and this
is the city for which the Jews through all their centuries of exile and
persecution cried their ancient hope, "next year in Jerusalem". Little
wonder that it inspires such dreams, such devotion, such love, such
madness.
Around Jerusalem too are a number of fascinating places that are easily
reached on outings. Of these, the ancient fortress of Masada gets many a
visitor out of bed by 3am for the ever-popular excursions to climb it at
dawn and see the sun rise from the top, before checking out that bizarre
natural phenomenon, the Dead Sea (for those who value their lie-in there
are more leisurely ways to see both). Nearer at hand, David's royal city
of Bethlehem , the biblical birthplace of Jesus, is almost within
walking distance, and a mere twenty minutes away by service taxi.
Jericho , the city whose walls came tumbling down, takes a little more
getting to, but still lies only an hour to the east. Westward, meanwhile,
the village of Abu Ghosh attracts lovers of fine Middle Eastern food as
much as those with an interest in history, and not far beyond, Emmaus
and Latrun are sites with resonances ancient and modern respectively.
Introducing the city
In terms of getting around, it's easiest to view the city as two small
towns: East and West Jerusalem. East Jerusalem is centred on the Old
City, the focus of any visit, whose layout is detailed below. North of
this, the commercial centre of East Jerusalem fans out from the Damascus
Gate along Nablus Road and Salah al-Din Street; in a time warp since
investment and development stopped in 1967, this is where you'll find
most of East Jerusalem's moneychangers, bookshops, travel agents,
restaurants and hotels. Also part of East Jerusalem are the Mount of
Olives, a hillside graveyard studded with churches to the east of the
Old City, and the City of David, to the south, whose rustic, village-like
atmosphere is a world apart from the bustle of the commercial centre.
Downtown West Jerusalem can be reached from the Old City by walking west
along Jaffa Road, its backbone. Shops, cafés, airline offices, banks,
cinemas and nightlife are all centred around its core - the pedestrian
precinct at Ben Yehuda Street midrahov (pedestrian precinct). Tourist
attractions in West Jerusalem tend to be scattered throughout the
suburbs, so you'll need to make use of the buses; from Jaffa Road or
King George Street there are services to sites including Mount Herzl,
the Israel Museum and Yad VaShem.
Most of the things that tourists come to see, however, are concentrated
in the pedestrianized Old City , Jerusalem's walled heart. Here you'll
find the Dome of the Rock, the Western Wall and the Church of the Holy
Sepulchre, as well as two of the most well-trodden tourist paths - the
Via Dolorosa, tracing the footsteps of Christ to the crucifixion, and
the Ramparts Walk, which takes you most of the way around the city on
the wall itself. The Old City is traditionally divided into four
quarters: the Muslim Quarter in the northeast; the Christian Quarter in
the northwest; the Armenian Quarter in the southwest; and the Jewish
Quarter in the southeast. In addition to these is the enormous walled
complex of al-Haram al-Sharif , or the Temple Mount, which takes up
nearly a fifth of the Old City and hugs the eastern wall between the
Muslim and Jewish quarters, overlooking the Kidron Valley opposite the
Mount of Olives.
The main points of entry into the Old City are the Damascus Gate to the
north and the Jaffa Gate to the west. From the Damascus Gate , al-Wad
Road goes straight through the Muslim Quarter to the Western Wall, while
Souq Khan al-Zeit follows the course of the Cardo (the main street in
Roman times), south between the Muslim and Christian quarters to the
Central Souqs, three parallel covered shopping streets that form the
heart of the Old City and at whose southern end all four quarters meet.
From the Jaffa Gate , David Street (Khutt Da'oud) separates the
Christian and Armenian quarters on its way down to the central souqs,
continuing thereafter as Bab al-Silsila Street. South of the souqs,
Habad Street divides the Jewish and Armenian quarters; Jewish Quarter
Road runs parallel to it, a block over to the east. Both follow the
course of the Byzantine extension of the Cardo, whose excavations lie
between them.
Of the remaining gates, the New Gate , in the northwest, is the quick
way to get from West Jerusalem into the centre of the Old City; the Zion
Gate , in the southwest, offers access from the Old City to Mount Zion;
the Dung Gate , in the southeast, gives best access to the Western Wall;
the Lions' Gate ( St Stephen's Gate ), in the east, is the entry point
for reaching the Via Dolorosa; and Herod's Gate , in the northeast, is
the quick way for Muslims to get from East Jerusalem to the mosques of
Temple Mount, but the least useful gate for most tourists.
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