Jerusalem Essays (Examples)

Jerusalem is arguably Christianity's most important city, during the time of the New Testament all the way up to today. Though control of the city has changed hands many times, its main role has been as the capital of Israel and the site of the Jewish temple, and indeed, Jerusalem plays an important role in the Old Testament history of Israel's founding and growth (Armstrong, 2005, p. 194). However, it serves a crucial role in the New Testament as well, where it is mentioned over one-hundred forty times, not only in the context of the literal city visited by Jesus and his disciples, but also in the form of New Jerusalem, the new city created by God in evelations (Morton, 2002, p. 769). By examining the importance of Jerusalem to Jesus' life as well as the state of the city today, one is able to better understand how the historical…

Jerusalem

Some cities prove evocative enough to warrant a biography of their own, and Jerusalem is certainly one of them. Cities as ancient as layered as Jerusalem are more complex than any one person, for the entire gamut of human culture and history passes through their old walls. Like people, cities can also become profoundly insecure and even neurotic. In A oman in Jerusalem, the titular woman "believed in Jerusalem more than Jerusalem believes in itself," (236). It is not only Yehoshua's novel that underscores the significance of Jerusalem as a universal city. Jerusalem, a highly contested city, socially, politically, and culturally belongs to the world. Disputes over the est Bank and broader political conflicts reflect and draw attention to the importance of the ancient city of Jerusalem.

In A oman in Jerusalem, a powerful and subconscious longing for the city and its spiritual secrets is the theme of the…

Moses led them to east of the Jordan and died without reaching the Promised Land. He relinquished leadership to Joshua, who led the people across the Jordan to conquer the Promised Land.

The rule of Israelites in the land of Israel began with the conquests of Joshua (ca. 1250 CE). The period from 1000-587 CE is referred to as the "Period of the Kings" (Israel Science and Technology Homepage, 2004). The most noteworthy kings during this time were King David (1010-970 CE), who made Jerusalem the Capital of Israel, and his son Solomon (Shlomo, 970-931 CE), who built the first Temple in Jerusalem.

In 587 CE, abylonian Nebuchadnezzar's army captured Jerusalem, destroyed the Temple, and exiled the Jews to abylon (modern day Iraq) (Israel Science and Technology Homepage, 2004). Jerusalem itself fell under siege in 586 .C.E. And was destroyed. Th the abylonians' attack was part of their campaign to…

Thus, the struggle within the city of Jerusalem and Israel itself has expounded itself to an international conflict between two dominating and conflicting political and religious systems.

As the fight for Jerusalem continues, one is left in awe to imagine so much effort placed in the acquisition and protection of one single city. Jerusalem, and its surrounding lands, is an ancient source of three of the world's dominant religions. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all lay claims to areas of the Holy Land and the struggle to reclaim it continues even today. The city is one with a long and checkered past, full of struggle and great battles for sovereignty of a variety of different people. With so much conflict, one has to wonder in Jerusalem will ever be truly at peace.

eferences

Barnavi, Eli. (2002). A Historical Atlas of the Jewish People. Schocken books: New York.

Gold, Dore. (2007). The…

Empire to Empire: Jerusalem between Ottoman and British ule

Abigail Jacobson's From Empire to Empire: Jerusalem between Ottoman and British ule (2011) looks at much more than what is typically seen in books on Palestine during the First World War. While the majority of those books focus strongly on the British and their military campaign, Jacobson's book delves deeply into the other aspects of the city and how it moved through the pain and strife that the war caused it. These aspects of the war are generally ignored, even when a book specifically focuses on Jerusalem during that time period. This would indicate that most historians see Jerusalem as a place that was affected by British rule, and that saw the fall of the Ottoman Empire. However, these same historians see little else, in that Jerusalem appears to only matter in the context of who was controlling it or marching…

While this isn't considered definitive proof, many scholars have come to accept that a Jewish leader named David ruled in what is now Jerusalem.

Thousands of years of battle and torment occupied the land of Jerusalem after David's reign. The city was ruled at various times by Persians, Alexander the Great, the Romans, Muslims, the Turks, the ritish, and several other empires through history. Throughout these transitions of power, many of King David's ideas and plans came to fruition, demonstrating the lasting influence he had on that city. The Temple Mount, built by David's son Solomon and expanded into a fortress many years later, is still standing. The Western Wall of the Temple Mount is widely considered the holiest site in the city.

Jerusalem Today

Modern Jerusalem contains approximately 662,000 people (Jerusalem). It has been part of the independent state of Israel since 1947, and houses Jews, Christians, and Muslims.…

The maps depict two roads that are outside of the city walls. The first road led to Jerusalem and was referred to as the Mons Gaudi located in the northwest (Boaz, 2001). The second road led away from Jerusalem into Bethlehem. The Mons Gaudi ended and Davids gate and it is also called the oad to the city (Boaz, 2001).

It is believed that most of the medieval gate was destroyed. The author explains that "two unusual and very fine Corinthian capitals of Frankish workmanship can be seen in secondary use in the blind arch to the east of the Ottoman gate, but their origin is unknown (Boaz, 2001)." The author also explains that it is quite possible that once the citadel was extended and cane to look like it currently does, Davids Gate was relocated and renamed Jaffa's gate. Today the gate is located further to the west than…

Jerusalem

Located east of Jordan River, the holy city of Jerusalem and its historic sacred atmosphere rest on the hills of the City of David. Its significance has spanned centuries -- millennia, in fact. Today it is viewed as a spiritual home to Christians, Jews, Orthodox and Muslim religions. ars have been fought over it, and God Himself has been condemned to death there by a Roman prelate and the mob that called for His blood. It was the scene of the birth of a proud people and the scene where the gates of Heaven were opened.

Jerusalem is known as the Holy City because it is where so many important events related in the Old and New Testaments took place. For instance, it is where the Davidic Covenant was made between God and David, in which God made a series of promises to David and to Israel -- the…

Church of the Holy Sepulcher & the Crucifixion of Christ

Church of the Holy Sepulcher is the most important archeological site in Jerusalem and the importance of this building lies in Christian belief that this could be the place where Christ was crucified and buried. The building is being controlled by Christians of different denominations today and the keys to the Church remained with the Muslims for eights centuries. this demonstrates the power of one place to unite people of different backgrounds and faith. Church of Holy Sepulcher has witnessed many conflicts and has undergone many destructions and restorations, but it still is the one of those holy places in the world, which has become object of intense human devotion.

Jerusalem has always been the center of attention as an important religious lace for the followers of all three primary religions. It is because of this that Jerusalem boasts of…

Alluding to "proofs" that God exists shifts the discussion from attempts to mobilize "Jerusalem" in the service of "Athens" to more religiously motivated projects to justify faith. The goal here may be to assuage one's own doubts, develop latent truths within the content of faith, or, more often, to convince others through a demonstration of logic or even rhetoric. In many cases, these arguments are persuasive to the extent to which they define the religious proposition as a limit or convergent case: For Aquinas, for example, God as first cause or first mover, or God as the ultimate telos or source of all philosophical confidence.

hile they may be rhetorically dazzling in effect, these arguments resolve to special pleading for faith as not entirely subject to secular categories of reason, as when Habermas defined God as that aspect of experience "that gives coherence, unity, and thickness to [a] life-world" that…

Palestinian resident of East Jerusalem, I have grown up in a social environment and community rife with various significant conflicts: of culture, nationality, religion, and idealistic allegiances. As the product of a mixed European/Arab family with friends in both the Israeli and Palestinian communities, I have benefited from countless opportunities to observe and to contribute to the successful reconciliation of conflicting values and perspectives among my peers. My background has convinced me that what matters more than anything else in the human community is the committed pursuit of genuine peace and mutual respect and consideration among and between individuals, local, regional, and, ultimately, global communities.

At the same time, the relative quality of life of all of the individuals who are comprised by their respective societies is equally important. I that respect, my developmental social experiences have sensitized me to the tremendous need to improve specific components of my community.…

Dome of the Rock
The Temple held immense significance for the Jewish people and the Temple Wall still standing today but known as the Wailing Wall still serves as a symbol of the suffering of the Jewish people throughout time. The First Temple, built by Solomon, had been destroyed by the Babylonians in the 6th century BC. The Second Temple was constructed fifty years later under Cyrus the Great. It stood until 70 AD when the Romans razed it to the ground following the Jewish revolt. After that it was never rebuilt (Hamblin). However, Jerusalem remained a special place. It became the home of Christians and later of Muslims, who venerated it as the place where Mohammed started his night journey up to heaven (Islam, Al-Hamad). Because Jews and Muslims have two very different religions with different orientations, creeds, forms of worship and perspectives on God, the fact that both…

The European actions against the natives were in error, because they were committed by Protestant Christians, who, unlike Catholics or savages, should have known better and responded with higher forms of faith and feeling. The Indian atrocities were seen as inevitable, the result of "undesigned provocation" (even though esley acknowledges that the settlers are interlopers) rather than a response in defense of their land (ard, 1872).

Thus, although the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights may proclaim religious separation from all churches, America was actually founded by individuals seeking to create what today we would call a theocracy. Despite early amicable relations with the natives, eventually conflicts over territory caused the two populations to be hostile. The violence that ensued was justified by the religious rhetoric and beliefs of the Puritans, as they strove to create a New Jerusalem in a land that was inhabited by people whose civilization…

Also, because of the lack of land
and the unwillingness for the Nobles to maximize the potential of the land,
instead relying on Muslim traditions and European feudal models,
agriculture was not as prominent. Because a large mercenary military was
needed for protection, there was therefore a need for a great deal of
tribute and taxation to hire and fund the military aspects of the Kingdom
of Jerusalem. Despite these factors which would contribute to a weaker
economy, the Kingdom of Jerusalem was in a tenuous economic position but
was able to prosper, especially in the 12th century, as a result of the
trade and the realization of the potential of trading in the Middle East.
This meant riches for the merchants, colonizers, Europeans, and nobles who
could not only tax those from other places, but bring in new and valuable
products to Europe. Thus trade was improved greatly between…

For those like Ezra, such a situation threatened the very survival of the nation and faith itself. However, in addition to the idea of the "imperiled nation" embedded in the Jewish psyche during the time (and, perhaps during modern time as well), it also pointed to the lax state of Jewish life and ritual in Jerusalem during this period -- as well as the turmoil that must have existed at the time these reforms were implemented.

Although it might be imagined that at the very lease the social reform concerning mixed marriages would result in emotional turmoil -- it also resulted in real danger. This is because following his declaration that mixed marriage should be immediately dissolved, the Samaritans and other involved groups were understandably offended to a degree in which violent attack against the Jewish community became a real possibility. As a result, Ezra decided to embark on rebuilding…

In Chapter 8, Friedman shows how the lives of 241 U.S. Marines were sacrificed needlessly in Lebanon in 1983. Because the U.S. policy makers and military tacticians had no real understanding of the environment of the Middle East as a whole and in particular did not have a deeper understanding on the political scene of Lebanon, they over-estimated the force and persuasive power of American diplomacy capabilities, and underestimated the heated tensions between the different peoples of the region. The United States, for all of its alleged proficiency in language education, did not really speak the language of the Middle East; of 'my enemy's enemy' is my friend, a land where winks speak volumes. "The Lebanese, like all Middle Easterners, are a people with a vivid imagination," remarked Fouad Ajami, a friend of the author. "That is why a great power should never wink at anyone in the Middle East.…

let us begin by analyzing the Pharisees.

The term itself is derived from a Hebrew word which literally means "separated." Right from the ethimological interpretation we can deduce that the Pharisees were a group of people who saw things differently compared to the majority. This difference was manifested in the religious area, but also in the political area and the social one.

The Second Temple was the period in which the Phariseean philosophy flourished. It is worth underlining that it is this very philosophy and religious thought that put the basis of the contemporary forms of Judaism.

During the reign of the king Antiochus Epiphanes in which numerous pressures were being made in order to impose the Hellenistic culture and polytheist religion, an anti-Hellenistic Jewish movement was created in order to defend the traditional views.

This movement was called the Hasidim and the Pharisees are one of the group's successors.…

(Kleiner, 2010, pg. 360)

While Giotto's Christ Entering Jerusalem, is a depiction of Christ entering the Jerusalem. In this situation, he is trying to instill a sense of history and righteousness by showing Christ entering one of the holiest cities in Christianity. At the same time, he is embracing the same kind of basic painting style that was most commonly used during the time. This is important, because it shows how Giotto is taking more a historical approach about various events that are occurring. ("Christ Entering Jerusalem," 2009)

When you compare the two works side by side, it is clear that the 13th century ible is telling a story about how everyone should be acting within society, by highlighting how the King is viewed in same light as other religious symbols. While Christ Entering Jerusalem is showing a historical approach, based upon past events (giving everyone a sense of respect…

home, my family consisted of a Palestinian-Muslim father and a Polish-Christian mother, and I grew up speaking their respective native languages to them individually and English, my parents' mutual language, when we were all together. Meanwhile, living in Jerusalem also made it essential to learn Hebrew too. Finally, in that regard, I began learning conversational French at the age of three when I started my primary education at the Lycee Francais de Jerusalem.

However, foreign-language fluency represented only the tip of the proverbial iceberg for Palestinian child growing up in Jerusalem. It is a region of intense political factionalism and conflict where one could very easily become indoctrinated with negative beliefs and expectations of others. My family promoted the opposite approach by teaching me to recognize the common humanity and potential for good in all people. I believe that I can say without exaggeration that few formative social environments are…

They could only be disposed of, as it were, by leases till the year of jubilee, and were then to return to the seller or his heir."

This would preserve familial and tribal heritage as well as prevent the wealthy from being able to incur large masses of land, thus keeping certain families in extreme poverty. It gives all Israelites their liberty, as well as treats them all as equals, as the land would be regenerated every fifty years. "The chief point was that there should never be a build-up of power by a few to control the land and the people; therefore, there was redistribution of the land as it had been divided in the beginning."

Each family or tribe is given the opportunity to return to his or her land, and be renewed. "Those that were sold into other families, thereby became strangers to their own; but in…

Zionism

"Diaspora" is a Greek term meaning "to disperse," or "to scatter," and is often applied to the Jews and their dispersion out of the land of Israel. Many scholars point to the year 588 B.C., when the kingdom of Judea was conquered by the Babylonians as the beginning of the Jewish Diaspora. ("Diaspora") The Jews were forced to relocate to Babylon where, even after the Persians conquered the Babylonians and allowed the Jews to return to Judea, many remained. It was also when the Babylonians conquered Judea that many Jews fled to Egypt, where they created a Jewish community in exile that continued for centuries. After the return of the Jews to Judea in 538 B.C., the entire area became embroiled in a series of conflicts that resulted in the creation of a Hellenic culture throughout the middle east. As a result, Jews spread out from their traditional homeland…

Shroud Turin

Few pieces of cloth have garnered as much attention as the so-called Shroud of Turin, a piece of linen cloth allegedly containing the image of Jesus Christ. The shroud of Turin measures 4.4 meters in length and about one meter wide (about fourteen feet by three feet). Both the front and the back appear to have an image of a man "who had been scourged, crowned with thorns, crucified with nails, and stabbed by a lance in the side," (Fanti, Botella, Crosilla, Lattarulo, Svensson, Schneider and hanger 1).[footnoteRef:1] Traces of blood, fire, and water have also been identified on the shroud (Fanti, et al.; Heller & Adler). Because of the way the imagery on the shroud corresponds with the Biblical story of Jesus of Nazareth, it has been speculated that the shroud was the burial cloth of Jesus before the body was put into a tomb. [1: Fanti,…

7I bought male and female slaves, and had slaves who were born in my house; I also had great possessions of herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem. 8I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and of the provinces; I got singers, both men and women, and delights of the flesh, and many concubines.*

9 So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem; also my wisdom remained with me. 10 hatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them; I

kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil. 11 Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had spent in doing it, and again, all was vanity and a chasing after…

movie )) • What specific references medieval culture history film feature address 've explored class ? • Discuss film embodies clash cultures Crusaders Saracens, Christian Moslem worlds.

Ridley Scott's 2005 motion picture "Kingdom of Heaven" holds a great deal of references to Crusaders and to events having happened during the Crusades. Medieval culture involved religion being revived as one of the principal elements holding society together and the ible as a document that could be interpreted with the purpose to motivate people's acts of violence in the name of God. Scott's film provides an intricate account displaying actual feelings expressed during the Crusades and events that took place as Christians went to Jerusalem with the purpose of freeing it from groups that were apparently unworthy of inhabiting it on account of their failure to act in agreement with Christian laws.

Cultural clashes take place throughout the film and as the…

Judaism Religion

Rabbinic Judaism is the main form of Judaism that has existed from the 6th Century to date. From this form of Judaism, three different forms of Judaism have been established which are conservative, Orthodox and reform.

Covenant -- Torahic teachings defines it as an agreement that the people had with God. An Arch of Covenant as highlighted in the books of Samuel and Kings symbolized the agreement between God and the people before heading to Canaan.

Halakhah defines the entire structure of the Jewish Laws as they are taught from the oral or the written Torah taught to the Jews. The 613 Mitzvot as taught in the Torah structure the greater body of the Halakhah.

Mitzvot denote the good deeds that the Jews are taught. They are 613 laws coupled with the rabbinic teachings are all meant guide the moral behavior among the Jews.

Gentile refers to a…

On the contrary, Giotto di Bondone had been a revolutionary, as he seemed to be determined to desert long-standing concepts in favor of newer, and more evolved ones.

Byzantine paintings have a general tendency to represent scenes from a two-dimensional perspective, and, most probably, in order to compensate with the lack of spatial depth, they use a greater number of details. In Giotto's Christ Entering Jerusalem, viewers feel as if they are part of the painting, with the painter's desire to involve three-dimensionality into his painting being obvious. Also, the painter simplified the painting by abandoning complexity and focusing on the essential. Duccio, on the other hand, has involved much more details in his portrayal of Christ Entering Jerusalem. Regardless of the attention paid by Duccio to details, his painting lacks realism, viewers being able to observe that the figures in it appear to be floating.

Industrial Revolution

It might be argued that the Industrial Revolution throughout Europe was not a revolution in the traditional sense, insofar as it involved no violence. Anyone making this argument, however, is unaware of the existence of the Luddites. Active in England in the early nineteenth century, at the height of the industrial revolution, Luddites were English textile workers who revolted against their replacement with industrial machinery and responded by destroying that machinery. The ritish government responded by sending in the army. The labor historian Eric Hobsbawm notes that "the 12,000 troops deployed against the Luddites greatly exceeded in size the army which Wellington took" to defeat Napoleon, which may give some sense of where governmental priorities actually lay.[footnoteRef:0] The real point is that the Industrial Revolution was tremendously disruptive to the lives of ordinary workers and people, and what is remarkable in retrospect is only that there was not…

In verse 13, God directly challenges the false Gods to save the Israelites. God tells them that their idols will do them no good and that he can and will destroy them. God also reiterates his promise to the righteous that he will keep them safe and the land will be theirs. This verse demonstrates God's ultimate authority and superiority over the old pagan gods. It proclaims his undisputed position and his intolerance for the worship of other deities.

Chapter 57: It's Place in Isaiah

According to Isaiah, it is the duty of every Israelite to adhere to the morals and commandments of God

. Isaiah viewed Assyria as God's tool for doling out punishment to the rest of the world for transgressions

. Isaiah, Chapter 57 is a plea for the Israelites to take action as a nation so that they do not collectively suffer as sinners.

The Great…

Oicials
in the newly ormed Ministry o Finance drew rom a talented pool o
economists rom the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Privileged positions
were illed rom within the bureaucracy and were obtained through
exceptional perormance instead o cronyism or nepotism. O great
importance to their autonomy, oicials were able to disconnect themselves
rom total reliance on local unding thanks to inancial assistance rom
the international community and reparations rom Germany. Two igureheads
within the government guaranteed a decisive and coherent economic policy:
Levi Eshkol o the Ministry o Finance, and Pinhas Sapir o the Ministry o
Commerce and Industry. They worked hand-in-hand to ormulate a uniying
agenda that bureaucrats rom both departments could pursue towards a single
common goal.
The end-product o this labor in both nations was a inancial
structure in which banks, and by extension the government at large,
controlled the low o capital. On one hand, banks…

Current Affairs

At present, the conflict continues. In September 2011, Palestinian officials petitioned the United Nations in a unilateral bid for statehood. However, their efforts failed as they were summarily unsuccessfully in securing the nine votes needed in the 15 member Security Council to garner approval (Haaretz, 2011). Moreover, the United States has already indicated a veto of the proposal once it is made. In addition, Britain made it known that they would abstain from the decision according to UK Foreign Secretary William Hague. The dissent posited by President Obama and the UK's Foreign Secretary is reportedly reflected of the sentimentality of many world leaders who maintain sensibilities regarding Netanyahu and the fluctuating position of the Israeli government on the international stage.

However, although unsuccessful in September, the Palestinian Authority was granted full membership at the cultural agency of the United Nations', and are seeking membership of the World Health…

personality that I am most proud of, it is excruciatingly hard to single out one characteristic. However, given that I am Palestinian with mixed ethnic roots (Palestinian-Muslim father and Polish-Christian mother) living in a country that is torn by ethnic and religious divisiveness, I would posit that the character trait that I am most proud of is my ability to transcend all differences and see humans as humans regardless of their origin or personal makeup.

It may be that it was the Lycee Francais de Jerusalem that helped me develop this valuable attribute. The Lycee Francais de Jerusalem exposed me to a variety of different ways of thinking and backgrounds: there were Israelis and Europeans as well as of course, Palestinians, and it was one of those rare environments where contradictory and hugely different backgrounds met and amiably converged. Despite political differences and surrounding oppositional forces, I was able to…

Brochure

Join Us in "The Way"!

The church was formed when Christ, whom you all know as Jesus, was crucified and rose again on the third day. We celebrate that occurrence as His followers acknowledging that He is the Son of God, and that He came to offer us the free gift of salvation from the penalty of disobedience to God. We have established a congregation, and we want others to experience the quickening that we have felt.

The Spirit of God has descended on us, Whom Christ called the Holy Spirit, and we welcome others to feel the indwelling of God's Spirit. Christ, the Son of God, has promised us that through His death and the grace of God we can all have eternal life. We know that it is impossible to live in the presence of God unless we are without sin. The only way that we can…

Kingdom of Heaven

The great irony of Ridley Scott's 2005 film "Kingdom of Heaven" is that its central argument is calculated to seem inoffensive to contemporary audiences, but does so by being historically inaccurate. I take the central message of the film to be what Liam Neeson says approximately 22 into the film, as the ailing Crusader Godfrey of Ibelin (a somewhat fictionalized depiction of Godfrey of Bouillon) tells his son why he will be journeying from rural France to the Holy Land. The son, played by Orlando Bloom, asks his Crusader dad what the Crusader King of Jerusalem could possibly ask him to accomplish. Neeson, as the ailing Crusader, responds with the speech that gives the film its title:

"A better world than has ever been seen. A kingdom of conscience, a kingdom of heaven. There is peace between Christian and Muslim, we live together. Or, between Saladin and…

An additional type of offering was the peace-offering, which represented a feast where God was a guest and the host. Peace offerings were accompanied by meat and drink offerings. For all offerings, repentance was necessary.

In chapter seven, Edersheim describes a night in the temple. Edersheim points out the connection between Temple services and the Book of Revelations, which he suggests indicates that the Book of Revelation and the Fourth Gospel were written before Temple services actually ceased. Edersheim indicates that there was an evening service in the Temple. Accounting was also done in the evening. The Temple guard worked at night and consisted of ten men. The captain of the guard patrolled and beat any sleeping guards. The priests cast lots for the services of the day. Those who drew the first lot cleansed and prepared the later. Those who drew the second lot were to offer the sacrifice,…

In 300 BC, Jews were again exiled to Egypt by Ptolemy. His capture of Jerusalem led to the deportation of thousands of individuals to Egypt, and still others left of their own accord. Those that were left were often assigned to Ptolemy's garrison, since they were extremely loyal. These exiled Jews formed the Jewish colony in Alexandria, but again, the Jews were spread even further apart into the Diaspora (Harding, 58).

In 70 AD, Judea was yet again destroyed when Titus, son of emperor of Rome Vespasian, destroyed the Temple. Jewish captives were put to death, or taken to Rome (Harding, 92). Following the revolt of Bar Kochba in 136 AD, even more Jews were exiled. Still more Jews left due to economic conditions, and were scattered in Cyprus, Syria, Alexandria, and elsewhere (Isseroff, 1).

The resulting Diaspora produced a longing for the Jewish homeland, and an overall sense of…

According to the author, the elements of architecture found within the Dome, such as the interior double colonnades and the wooden dome are echoed in the Cathedral.

Gray concedes that one might argue for the Islamic nature of the mosaic decorations. However, even this element adheres more to the Hellenistic tradition before the Islamic synthesis than to Islam itself. Elements of Islam that are included are the fact that there is no representation of men or animals in the mosaic, as well as the syncretic vocabulary.

Myriam Rosen-Ayalon more closely examines both the iconography and the concomitant purpose of creating the Dome of the Rock. he appears to agree with Gray, that a number of non-Islam influences were at work when the Dome was created. More specifically, she addresses the interaction of the mosaic images with the text inscriptions of the Dome. In this way, the author attempts to find…

And he gained a following both among many Jews and among many of Greek origin. He was the Messiah. And when Pilate, because of an accusation made by the leading men among us, condemned him to the cross, those who had loved him previously did not cease to do so. For he appeared to them on the third day, living again, just as the divine prophets had spoken of these and countless other wondrous things about him. And up until this very day the tribe of Christians, named after him, has not died out (18.63-64)

This paragraph has also been very controversial, because many believe it would not be likely that Josephus would have written that Jesus "appeared to them on the third day, living again." Some scholars say that Josephus had given up all his Jewish leanings by this time, but others say that this was not the true…

It was after one of them bombed Cairo in July 1948, that the Israelis were able to establish air supremacy. Succeeding victories came in rapid succession on all three fronts. The Arab states all negotiated separate armistice agreements. Egypt was the first to sign in February 1949, followed by Lebanon, Transjordan and finally Syria. Iraq chose to withdraw its forces without signing an agreement. Israel significantly expanded its territory beyond the United Nations (UN) partition plan for Palestine at the expense of its Arab neighbors. The cost of victory was in more than 6,000 Israeli lives which represented approximately 1% of the population. After the peace agreement wartime recruits were rapidly dismissed. This made it difficult for the basic manpower problem of a small population faced with the need to mobilize a sizable army during a wartime emergency. After a study of the Swiss reservist system, Israel introduced a three-tiered…

Jewish Revolt of 66 AD can be traced to the death of Nero the Great when relations between the Jews and Rome deteriorated rapidly. Caligula (37-41 AD) who sought to impose exclusive empire-worship was another factor, but Caligula's being assassinated prevented it from occurring in his lifetime.

Jewish apocalyptic fervor was intense and, no doubt another causality to the revolution. In his Annals Tacitus explicitly asserted:

Most Jews were convinced that it was written in the ancient priestly writings that in those times the East would gain in might and those who came forth from Judea should possess the world (Tacitus, 5:13)

Also contributory was the growing Greek anti-emitism. The Hellenized merchants constituted the civil service and predominated as tax collectors. Most of the soldiers in the Roman garrisons were recruited from Greek cities such as Caesarea and amaritan ebaste. These Hellenized Greeks occupying Palestine were notorious for their anti-emitism,…

Crusaders were able to implement feudal states throughout their travels during this period of warfare, many of which have been termed Crusader states and which were erected throughout the Holy Land and in parts of Asia Minor as well as Greece. The most famous of these, of course, was the establishment of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, which took place in 1099 and reigned until its fall in 1291.

Kingdom of Jerusalem

It should be remembered that for the vast duration of the reign of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, European settlers were widely outnumbered by Franks and Muslims, and only comprised approximately 15 to 25% of the entire population (Kedar 148). The Europeans lived in areas which were both rural as well as urban, and despite attempts to integrate with the surrounding foreigners, they did not infiltrate areas which were predominantly Muslim and which had never had many Christian dwellers (Ellenblu…

In the same way, anyone that took it upon them to forsake the goods of this world, in order to crusade in the Holy Land would be able to inherit eternal life. Pope Urban reportedly also promised a complete remission of their sins to whoever promised to undertake and take part in the First Crusade to liberate the East from libels and heathens. He said, "...advance boldly, as knights of Christ, and rush as quickly as you can to the defense of the Eastern Church. For she it is from whom the joys of your whole salvation have come forth, who poured into your mouths the milk of divine wisdom, which set before you the holy teachings of the gospel." The great crowd of people then rushed forward, and proclaimed loudly, "It is the Will of God! It is the Will of God!" Pope urban answered them saying that yes,…

history medical studies have concluded that prayer helps to heal the sick. Many political meetings begin with a prayer and American currency has the words "In God We Trust" imprinted on its face. Around the world God is a powerful deity and one that has historically led entire societies to make decisions based on God's word. While God has been the single deity that leads and guides societies in their decisions both on an individual and collective basis there are many different concepts of what God is and entails. Two large worldwide faiths have many similarities and differences in God and its meaning. The faith of Christianity as well as the faith of Judaism both believe in a single God. The faiths are based in the word of that God and their followers respect and revere the God of their faith. While both faiths believe in a single God there…

Did the Crusades advance the cause of Christ?

According to a digitized volume originally published in 1864 by Partridge and Company, the Crusades were instigated chiefly by "the most superstitious and fanatical notions"; and these "soldiers of Jesus…carried destruction to those who knew him not. Is this the spirit of Christ or of his holy gospel? Is it not rather the spirit of Mahomet…" whose propaganda was always 'the sword or the Koran" (Meliora, p. 15). Simon de Montfort, the Duke of Burgundy, executed his task "…with relentless cruelty, ravaged the country, burned the houses, massacred all the people, whether Romanists on not" and inflicted the "most revolting indignities…upon the weak and helpless" (Meliora, 15).

Answering the question for this portion of the paper, Meliora states, "To Christianity as a religion the Crusades did much evil" because the Christian Church "…sank more deeply into superstition; the clergy into ignorance; and…

Nehemiah models the way by avoiding hypocrisy as well, as he is never accused of bad deeds by anyone.

The second of the five leadership practices, inspiring a shared vision, is at the heart of the Book of Nehemiah. The ultimate shared vision of the Jewish people during his time was to live peacefully under God's law in the Promised Land. Included in the shared vision was a geographical home: places to grow crops and raise animals, homes for families, temples, and markets. Therefore, rebuilding the Jerusalem wall became a shared vision for the entire Jewish community. Rebuilding the wall symbolized triumph over the past and over oppression. Rebuilding the wall would impart a sense of pride and victory. Nehemiah was able to inspire the shared vision by appealing to the high priests to participate together in the rebuilding of the wall. Chapter Three of the Book details the rebuilding…

King Herod, The Great

Quite a variety of members belonging to the royal dynasty had their names Herod being originated in Edom or Idumea after John Hyrcanus in 125 B.C was obligated to adopt the Jewish religion (1). The Herod family ruled in Palestine as vassals of the omans. Followed by Maccabees, the history of this dynasty mainly relates to the political history of Palestine during this whole era (1).

omans in 40 B.C made Herod I the Great, son of Antipater the king who managed to keep hold of his throne even during the times of changes in the government at ome (1). Herod's kingdom includes Idumea, Galilee, Judea, Batanea, Samaria and Peraea, which was more or less the same size as the kingdom of David and Solomon (1).

Though Herod had outstanding leadership skills, yet he was greatly detested by the Jews. One of the reasons for disliking…

The 11-member Special Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP) was formed. In the end, the majority of the members recommended that Palestine be divided into an Arab State and a Jewish State. Jerusalem would be awarded special international status.

On November 29th, 1947, the General Assembly adopted resolution 181 (III) the Plan of Partition with Economic Union, per the UNSCOP. This resolution included an attached four-part documented, which included the termination of the Mandate for Palestine, progressive withdrawal of ritish forces, and border creation between the Arab state, Jewish state and Jerusalem. The creation of Arab and Jewish states were to be done by October 1st, 1948. Palestine would be divided into eight parts. Three parts would be allocated to the Arab state; three would be allocated to the Jewish state. The seventh part would be the town of Jaffa, which would be an Arab enclave, within the Jewish state. The eight…

This is celebrated after seven consecutive sabbatical years. In short, the author holds that, when unspecified or highly symbolic periods of time are at issue in the Bible, these are mostly to be interpreted as years, especially if the context appears to indicate the validity of such a view.

The author JM Gurney

also appears to favor this view over the alternative Christological one, where the final week occurs during the end of Christ's life. Gurney's main problem with the this interpretation is indeed not so much that it is literal as that it requires an interpretation of the years in question as comprising 360 days each. Only such years would among to the 32 AD requirement for the Christological view that interprets the final week as occurring during Christ's life on earth. And this is then the view upon which Gurney and other critics base their views.

The author…

The est may even become addicted to you and your PLO (Pacepa 1987, 25)

The above conversation occurred in the early Carter administration, although the Romanian dictator first began advising and consorting with Arafat in 1972 (ibid, 37). Ceau-escu was not a prophet. Rather, he was just a shrewd dictatorial leader who knew how to use image, propaganda and the repetition of the same information over and over again until his viewpoint became the accepted one.

In Pacepa's narrative, Ceau-escu and Arafat were very close. Arafat saw Ceau-escu as a model and this model set the tone for the next more than two decades of Arafat's leadership of the PLO after their secret March, 1978 meeting in Bucharest. This meeting is so very important to understanding the development and history of the PLO and the Palestinian Authority from Oslo to the leader's death in 2004.

hile agreeing with Ceau-escu on…

This awakened them to bring sacrifices and offerings, as if they would bribe God to remove the punishment, and give them leave to go on in their sin. Many who will readily part with their sacrifices, will not be persuaded to part with their sins. They relied on the mere form as a service deserving a reward. The most costly devotions of wicked people, without thorough reformation of heart and life, cannot be acceptable to God."

15 When you spread out your hands, I will hide My eyes from you; Even though you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood. 16 " Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil, 17 Learn to do good; Seek justice, Rebuke the oppressor; Defend the fatherless, Plead for the widow.

Through Isaiah, God proceeds to…

Judaism, Christianity and IslamIntroductionThe three main world religions are Judaism, Christianity and Islam. These religions have a great deal of influence around the world. They are hundreds and even thousands of years old and share some similarities in terms of morals, values, and beliefs about the goodness of God. However, they also contrast sharply when it comes to specific doctrines. This paper looks at the historical timeline of these three religions, their theological divisions, how they contrast particularly on two pointsthe nature of Jesus and holy booksand challenges that they face in terms of relations with one another in a globalized world.TimelineThe historical relationship among Judaism, Christianity and Islam is that Judaism appears first on the historical timeline around 2000 BC. Abraham is considered the founder of Judaism, as he is cited as the Father of the Hebrews (Brenner, 1952). However, Moses is also viewed as a founder of Judaism,…

Much like the announced plans by President-elect Barack Obama to launch the most massive public works program since orld ar II by investing in the nation's highways and bridges, the same approach was used by the newly installed Israeli government to stimulate the economy. This approach, though, was considered a comprise approach since there were vastly differing views on what issues should be made priorities following the Oslo Peace Accords (Alterman 141). According to this author, "The shift of priorities was visible on the ground within a year or two: major highways and interchanges, long-neglected by the Likud governments, were upgraded. Environmental projects received public funds. Even the long-neglected rail system received a boost, which though modest was nevertheless its largest since pre-State British Mandate times" (Alterman 141). Despite this shift in priorities over the years, Israeli expansion and Palestinian statehood remain at the forefront of the ongoing and convoluted…

Not all the Knights perished, however. Some, still in the Holy Land, never returned to Europe. Others escaped, and some even joined other Holy Orders. The Order did mount a powerful defense, and in fear the men might gain public sympathy, the French government executed 54 of them by publicly burning them at the stake.

A few were found innocent, and these men received pensions. Some were punished by remaining jailed for long periods of time, and some actually gained their freedom and actually returned to a "normal" life, marrying and raising families. The leaders were burned at the stake in 1314, and that marked the end of the trials, the executions, and the Knights Templar, themselves.

In conclusion, the Knights Templar organization served a vital role in Middle Age Christian society. They helped guard pilgrims journeying to the Holy Land, they engaged in Holy Crusades to rid the Middle…

Since after May 1948 the Arab-Israeli has dominated the Middle East because both sides feel that Israel/Palestine belongs to them, it influenced the Israel's government to use military force against them.. With that, four major Arab-Israeli wars and numerous sporadic battles have occurred since the United Nations partition of Palestine in 1947 and the establishment of the modern state of Israel in 1948. Unfortunately, in today modern, these issues still have fueled many armed conflicts and suicide bombs between the two developing nations. However, at the time of the Six Day War, the issues with the Middle East countries influenced the Israel's government decision to fight with military force.

The breakup of the U.A.. And the resulting political instability only made Syria more hostile toward Israel. Another major cause of conflict was Syria's resistance to Israel's creation of a National Water Carrier to take water from the Jordan iver to…

These settlements make sure that the state of fragmentation and insecurity of the Palestinians continues and thereby hinders the economic, social and political development of the Palestinians. The total number of such settlements in the West bank, Jerusalem and the Gaza strip are 205, with the vast majority of them in West bank and Jerusalem. "These settlements have led to the more than 403,249 settlers in the West bank and Jerusalem itself." (Israeli Settlements on Occupied Palestinian Territories) Israel continues to expand the number of these settlements from time to time as well as the bypass roads connecting them. These new bypass roads as well as the expansions to the existing bypass roads add to the disruption of the Palestine economy, autonomy and society.

The Israeli settlements also have a negative impact on the access of the Palestinians to natural resources like water and arable land. This problem is likely…

Taharka

Egyptian history is clouded in doubt and mystery. e do recognize however that the contributions from this great and ancient culture to estern Civilization are numerous and profound. The purpose of this essay is to explore one of the greatest and perhaps least knows rules of Ancient Ruler, Taharka. The purpose of this essay is to explore Taharka's life in an attempt to become more familiarized with his accomplishments in influencing today's world. By examining his life, we may be able to understand more about today's current situation, not only in the Near and Middle East but all around the world.

Silverman (1997) described the region before Taharka's birth around 880 BC, as a "fragmented condition where Egypt began to fall under the influence of a state that had once been its colony, " the Nubian kingdom of Kush. Taharka's father Piye. Kush had become a great power and…

Queen of Sheba

Makeda, also known as the Queen of Sheba was a monarch in the ancient kingdom of Sheba; she is refered to in the Habeshan history, the New Testament, the Hebrew Bible and also the Qur'an. Other than these four sources, there are no evidences of her existence. The current location of her kingdom now is assumed to be in Yemen (Korotayev).

She is known to the Ethiopian people now as Makeda or Maqueda; throughout different sources, her name varies and she is called different things by different people during different times. Most of Black history has been suppressed throughout time, it has also been widely distorted or ignored by the modern world (Korotayev). However, there are some African traditions are so persistent that all of the power and deception of the estern academic establishment have failed to stamp them out. One of these is the story which…

Lamentations and Songs of Solomon: A Study in Contrast

Lamentations and Songs of Solomon are both poetic books in the Hebrew Bible; however, whereas Lamentations is a lament poem, the Songs of Solomon is more of a love poem. Nonetheless, the two complement each other, providing a number of crucial insights about love, God, sin, and the destruction of God's relationship with the church. This text demonstrates how the two books complement each other in providing insights for daily Christian living.

Analysis of Lamentations and the Songs of Solomon

Lamentations and Songs of Solomon are the two final poetic works dealt with in this course. Neither fits perfectly into the confines of psalm or wisdom poetry; however, both include elements of the same. The main difference between the two is that they focus on two different aspects of life -- love and death. The Song of Solomon presents itself as…

A favorite target for conspiracists today as well as in the past, a group of European intellectuals created the Order of the Illuminati in May 1776, in Bavaria, Germany, under the leadership of Adam Weishaupt (Atkins, 2002). In this regard, Stewart (2002) reports that, "The 'great' conspiracy organized in the last half of the eighteenth century through the efforts of a number of secret societies that were striving for a 'new order' of civilization to be governed by a small group of 'all-powerful rulers.' The most important of these societies, and the one to which all subsequent conspiracies could be traced, is the Illuminati founded in Bavaria on May 1, 1776 by Adam Weishaupt" (p. 424). According to Atkins, it was Weishaupt's fundamental and overriding goal to form a secret organization of elite members of Europe's leading citizens who could then strive to achieve the Enlightenment version of revolutionary social…

Aristotelian influence predominated together with the wisdom and learning of other ancient writers, while the former was often used as a framework for intellectual debates which readily expanded both philosophy and other areas of knowledge (Grant 127-131). The European university system was established alongside monasteries as centres for the propagation of knowledge. Scholars like Robert Grosseteste, Albertus Magnus, and Roger Bacon wrote about natural science to a growing audience. While Christianity did not recede as a dogmatic cultural system, it was not entirely determinative. Scholars could explore natural phenomena with an openness to past views, although often the learning acquired was purely rational rather than experimental, and was fused with a biblical worldview. In other words, the renaissance of the twelfth century played an integral part in transmitting scientific methodology within a predominantly religious environment that required thinkers to harmonise science with religion.

Other significant achievements took place in less…

This reflection on Milton and Blake is also the reflections of every person who is looking for purpose in their lives (ibid, 588).

However, in the last generation more and more people are asking the same question as Bloom and raising the issue of purpose. Like the humans that recorded the creation story in Genesis, we are searching for the purpose of our being and existence. Blake's parables answer use poetic license to extend this question of existence into the time of the twilight of the Enlightenment when new knowledge was causing people to ask many of the same questions that they asked when they set down the creation story of Genesis thousands of years before that (ibid).

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hile Israel may be the apple of God's eye, it appears that Jerusalem is that of Blake's since the work comes from this source as well. Inspiring the famous…