21st Century Jerusalem

Yesterday was the last day of class! The research papers were due by the end of class so that was pretty stressful. But basically today's class was all about the current day Jerusalem.  It was pretty much talking about the dominance of Western power over Israel.  We kind of bombard them with Western influence.  Professor Cargill went through a timeline starting from 2000 to the present day, emphasizing important wars and attacks, such as the September 11th attack.  After that day, Israel began the construction of the West Bank barrier, in an attempt to distinguish and separate themselves.  I attached a picture of the barrier in the beginning.  Banksy, a contemporary political activist artist, actually did pieces on Israeli rights concerning apartheid, independence, and the barrier. I thought this was relevant, especially after the crayon graffiti left in Westwood.  His work is so inspirational.  I attached some of those too. But anyways, the remainder of class was discussing the issue of Israel and Jerusalem as a part of a individual, two state, or three state party.  The independence of Israel from overpowering rule, especially Palestine, is currently an issue.  We'll see where this goes. Its been a cool quarter!

{Beautiful}

{Banksy's interpretations of a "paradise" on the outside}

{Banksy in our very own Westwood!}

20th Century Jerusalem

This class discussed the British Mandate Period all the way until the present day.  The British Mandate Period lasted from 1918-1948, and it incorporated the Balfour Declaration, the Sykes-Picot Agreement, the Peel Plan, and World War II.  Correspondingly, Professor Cargill discussed the Israeli state, which lasted from 1948-present.  In 1882, the British conquered Egypt.  Correspondingly, during World War I, the Ottomans aligned with Germany against France and Britain.  This agreement is known as the Sykes-Picot Agreement.  This agreement was a secret agreement between France and England.  they divided the Ottoman empire; the French got Iraq, Lebanon, and Syria, and the English got Palestine, Jordan, and Southern Iraq.  They used Palestine to break the stalemate, conquering them in 1917.  In 1917, a document that  came to be known as the Balfour Declaration promises the Jewish a National Homeland.  Professor Cargill then continued to discuss the British response to the Balfour Declaration, saying that they at first did not support a Jewish National Home but supported the idea of a continuation of a community in Palestine.  They ultimately partitioned the area to the west of the Jordan for Jewish settlement.  Eventually, tensions between the the Arabs and Jews escalated and fights broke out, leading to the Arab-Isaeli War.  After truce was called, Israel centralized Jerusalem, making West Jerusalem the Capital of the new Israeli state.  Soon after, Jerusalem called siege on the Old City, attacking Syria.  As a result, the Jews were forbidden to pray on the Temple Mount, although it "united" Jerusalem.  In November 15, 1988, the Palestinian declare independence.  The most important war, perhaps, was the war of independence in 1948, where Jerusalem was divided, in 1948-1967.  The Old City is under Jordanian control, and the New City is under Israeli control.  Since then, there has been the formation of Palestinian support organizations, such as the PLO.  This was thought to be a terrorist organization until the early nineties.  Eventually, the creation of the Oslo agreements called for peace between Israel and the PLO.  The tensions are somewhat relieved now.

Mamluk and Ottoman Jerusalem

Today we discussed the Mamluk Period (1244-1516) as well as the Ottoman Period (1517-1918).  In the Mamluk Period, Jerusalem was economically impoverished, as the population of Jews began to slowly increase.  In addition, during this time, Jerusalem became a key religious center, most notably with the construction of Al-Madrasa al-Ashrafiyya, a Qur'anic school. The Jewish quarter began to grow, and Jerusalem became spiritualized.  In other words, the Temple became a symbol of the path to God. Correpsondingly, the development of the Haram steadily progressed, and there was an intensive building of schools, hospices, and hostels.  HTe architecture during this time was characterized by the typical use of domes, and of black and white geometric designs.  During the Ottoman Period, leader Suleiman "the Magnificent" rebuilt all the walls, including the "Tower of David" and the Damascus Gate.  The Damascus is the largest of the seven gates of Jerusalem.  It was built in order to defend Jerusalem from siege or attack.  Jerusalem was essentially more prosperous under his rule.  Jewish refugees were encouraged to settle in Jerusalem, in order to increase the prosperation that was occurring.  After Suleiman's death, there was a gradual decline in the power and success of Jerusalem, as its inhabitants began to suffer from neglect.   In the 19th century, Jewish settlements begin to form outside the city walls.  More specifically, spanish expulsions in the 15th-16th century lead to immigration to Jerusalem.  This period is significant because it marked the period of tolerance between Muslims, Jews, and Christians.

Crusader Jerusalem

Today we discussed Crusader Jerusalem, taking place from 1099-1291.  In 1099, Jerusalem was conquered by Godfrey de Bouillon.  The Crusades were known as the Holy War.  It is distinguished by battles between Roman Catholic forces versus Muslims.  The Crusaders took vows and were granted penance for past since, called indulgences.  Their efforts were an attempt to recapture Jerusalem from Islam.  Professor Cargill continued on to talk about the causes of the crusades.  It was caused from a long-building tension of political, religious, and socio-economic stress.  The Christians felt undermined and underrepresented, and retaliated.  Thus, from 1099-1187, they reformed Jerusalem to become Christian.  Within these crusades, the Islamic shrines the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque were modified.  In addition, they rebuilt Christian influenced Byzantine churches (ie. The Church of the Holy Sepulcher), as well as other new churches.  In addition, they established four new quarters of Jerusalem: the Patriarch's quarter, the Templar's quarter, the Syrian quarter, and the Armenian quarter.  They rebuilt the Church of the Holy Sepulcher after its destruction in 1009.  Lastly after the second crusade was finished, under Saladin's rule, Jerusalem rule came to be known as Ayyubid Jerusalem.  During this time period, there was the re-settlement of Jews back into Jerusalem oncea gain.  Christian influences were slowly dissipating back into the Greek Orthodox.  Christian topography was replaced with Muslim shrines.  After the 5th crusade, the walls of Jerusalem were dismantled, causing the population to grow.  By the 6th crusade, Jerusalem was recaptured by the Crusaders and the Crusaders regained power.  The last crusader outpost was in 1291.

Islamic Jerusalem

Last class, we talked about Jerusalem in the context of the Christian religion.  Today, we continued to talk about Jerusalem in the context of the Islamic religion.  Quite helpful, actually, considering this is precisely the topic that I am discussing in my research paper :). Well, anyways, Professor started class, discussing the end of the Byzantine Empire.  Byzantine rulers, were extremely mean to Jewish people in Jerusalem, forbidding them to live there.  Towards the end of Byzantine Jerusalem, when Caliph Umar takes control of the city, Jews were slowly allowed to move back, and the population slowly increased.  The next ruler, Abd al-Malik, built the Dome of the Rock in 691 CE, in attempt to divert the pilgrimage from Mecca to Jerusalem.  In 1099, the Crusaders conquered Jerusalem and converted the Dome of the Rock into a church.  in 1187, Salah ad-Din re-conquers Jerusalem and restores the Dome of the Rock.  The Dome of the Rock was built with Byzantine Martyria influence.  This is also seen in the Holy Sepulcher.  Abd al-Malik attemped to incorporated Christian architectural traditions in order to outshine Christian monuments, emphasizing the importance and prestige of Islam.  In addition, Abd al-Malik made mosaic inscriptions of Qur-anic verses around the interior of the shrine, repudiating Christianity's view of Jesus as the son of God.  The location of the Dome of the Rock is especially significant because it is the site of the Holy of Holies. In addition, it is traditionally believed to be the site of Muhummad's pilgrimage.  Under it is believed to be the underworld, and the place of Final Judgement of the Lord at death.  Overall, both shrines are equally important in sanctifying their individually specific Messiahs.  Both demonstrate Byzantine architecture, have related Biblical contexts, and are memorializing a specific Messiah.

Byzantine Jerusalem

Today we focused on the impact of Jerusalem in the context of Christianity.  This is important because the Messiah of Christianity, Jesus, has a large association with Jerusalem.  Jerusalem is where Jesus was said to have been crucified, buried, and resurrected.  Professor Cargill began speaking about a ruler named Constantine the Great, who ruled from 312-337 CE.  In 313, he ratified the Edict of Milan, legalizing Christianity as an official religion.  In 324 CE, Constantine's mother, Helena, came to Jerusalem, and rededicated the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.  The Church of the Holy Sepulcher gradually gained the reifications that the Temple once had.  That is, it became considered the ""new axis mundi."  In 391, Theodosius named Christianity the state religion, further emphasizing the importance of Christianity in Jerusalem.  As the popularity of Christianity in grew, Justinian expanded Jerusalem, eradicating the "Nea Church."  With the foundation of the "Nea Chruch," the evolution of the Christian pilgrimage developed.  Constantine brought the benefit of a physical being in a scared space.  In addition, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher has a eticule in the middle that takes up most of the rotunda.  With the popularization and centralization of Christianity as a world religion, primal myths that were once associated with Judaism are transferred over to Christianity.

Jerusalem Revolt

Today we learned specifically about the revolts that took place in Jerusalem after Rome took over.  After Herod's death in 4 BCE, his kingdom was divided among three of Herod's sons.  The first son, Arachelaus, took control as the ethnarch of Judea.  He was highly ineffective, and ruled from 4 BCE all the way until he was exiled in 6 CE.  Herod's second son, Herod Antipas, took control as the tetrarach of Perea and Galilee, and ruled all the way from 4 BCE until he, too was exiled in 39 BCE.  The last son, Herod Philip, got kind of the bad end of the stick, as he was the tetrarch of Hurea and Trachonitis, ruling from 4 BCE all the way until his death in 34 CE.  He ruled the longest out of his three brothers.  Herodian rulers were gradually replaced by Roman procurators, executing direct Roman rule.  The most famous of these procurators is Pontius Pilate, who was the Roman governor who was best known for deciding on the trial of Jesus.  He was the only Roman governor that was mentioned in the Gospels.  He was known for being a highly ineffective, selfish ruler.  He was so terrible that the Romans recalled him off his throne back to Rome in 36 CE.  The Roman rulers were known for being very inexperienced and corrupt.  Consequently, there was growing Jewish nationalism and declining law and order, thus giving rise to the first Jewish Revolt.  During this time, the Temple was destroyed in 70 CE by ruler Titus.  After the Temple was destroyed, there was again a renewed sense of cognitive dissonance that arose, causing Jews to feel a sense of uncertainty and loss of faith.  Ruler Titus built an arch in Rome to commemorate his victory over the Jews, also minting coins with the words "Judea Capta" engraved.  This eventually led to the second revolt, which took place from 132-135 CE.  During this time, Jews were forbidden to visit Jerusalem.  In addition, the emperor Hadrian punished the Jews, imposing a tax for only Jews to pay.  This forced the Jews to either deny their faith, avoiding the tax, or renouncing their faith, but paying taxes to the Romans.  Each way was a lose-lose situation for thew Jews.  In addition, the banishment of Jews from Jerusalem gave rise to the popularity of synagogues, localizing worship in things other than the Temple.