Old City of Jerusalem

Jerusalem's Old-City walls and Tower of David Jerusalem Old-City by night Jerusalem 's Old City Walls encompass an area of barely 1 km². They were built in the 16th century ( 1535 - 1538 ) by the Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent of the Ottoman Turks after they had been razed in 1244 . Those are the walls mentioned when talking about Jerusalem's walls, but there have been many different sets of walls surrounding Jerusalem. Before King David 's conquest of Jerusalem in the 10th century BC the city was known as Jebus and the home of the Jebusites . The Bible describes the city as heavily fortified with a strong city wall but not much is known about it. King Solomon extended the city walls. In about 440 BC , under the Persian period, Nehemiah arrived from Babylon and rebuilt them. In AD 41 - 44 Agrippa , king of Judea , built a new city wall known as the "Third Wall". In 135 , after Emperor Hadrian 's total destruction of Jerusalem and renaming it to Aelia Capitolina he rebuilt the walls. The current walls of the Old City do not include the original area conquered by King David . This area, which is now called The City of David , is located to south east of the current Old City Outside The Dung Gate .

The Old City ( , Ha'Ir Ha'Atiqah , , al-Balda al-Qadimah , , Yerusaghemi hin k'aghak' ) is a 0.9 square kilometers (0.35 sq mi) walled area within the modern city of Jerusalem . Until 1860, when the Jewish neighborhood Mishkenot Sha'ananim was established, this area constituted the entire city of Jerusalem. The Old City is home to several sites of key religious importance: the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque for Muslims , the Temple Mount and Western Wall for Jews and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for Christians , It was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Site List in 1981. Traditionally, the Old City has been divided into four uneven quarters, although the current designations were introduced only in the 19th century. Today, the Old City is roughly divided into the Muslim Quarter , the Christian Quarter , the Jewish Quarter and the Armenian Quarter . The Old City's monumental defensive walls and city gates were built in the late 16th century by the Ottomans . The current population of the Old City resides mostly in the Islamic and Christian quarters. As of 2007 the total population was 36,965; the breakdown of religious groups in 2006 was 27,500 Muslims, 5,681 Christians, 790 Armenians and 3,089 Jews. Following the 1948 Israeli War of Independence , the Old City was captured by Jordan and Jewish residents were evicted. During the Six-Day War in 1967, which saw hand-to-hand fighting on the Temple Mount , Israeli forces captured the Old City along with the rest of East Jerusalem , subsequently annexing them as Israeli territory and reuniting them with the western part of the city. Today, the Israeli government controls the entire area, which it considers part of its national capital, although internationally it is recognized as part of occupied Palestinian Territory. The Jerusalem Law of 1980, effectively annexing East Jerusalem to Israel, was declared null and void by UN Security Council Resolution 478 and East Jerusalem is regarded by the international community as part of occupied Palestinian territory. In 2010, Jerusalem's oldest fragment of writing was found outside the Old City's walls. See Positions on Jerusalem Kollek, Teddy (1977). In John Phillips (ed.). A Will to Survive - Israel: the Faces of the Terror 1948-the Faces of Hope Today . Dial Press/James Wade. about 225 acres Ben-Arieh, Yehoshua (1984). Jerusalem in the 19th Century, The Old City . The international law of occupation .

The history of the Old City has been documented in significant detail, notably in old maps of Jerusalem over the last 1,500 years. This area constituted the entire city of Jerusalem until the late 19th century; neighbouring villages such as Silwan , and new Jewish neighborhood such Mishkenot Sha'ananim , later became part of the municipal boundaries . The Old City is home to several sites of key religious importance: the Temple Mount and Western Wall for Jews , the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for Christians and the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque for Muslims . Traditionally, the Old City has been divided into four uneven quarters, although the current designations were introduced only in the 19th century. Today, the Old City is roughly divided (going counterclockwise from the northeastern corner) into the Muslim , Christian , Armenian and Jewish Quarters . The Old City's monumental defensive walls and city gates were built in 1535–1542 by the Ottoman sultan Suleiman the Magnificent . In John Phillips (ed.). A Will to Survive – Israel: the Faces of the Terror 1948-the Faces of Hope Today . Dial Press/James Wade. about 225 acres Ben-Arieh, Yehoshua (1984). Jerusalem in the 19th Century, The Old City .

The Old City of Jerusalem is a 0.9-square-kilometre (0.35 sq mi) walled area in East Jerusalem . The Old City is today divided into four uneven quarters, in a tradition which may have begun with an 1840s British map of the city ; these are the Muslim Quarter , the Christian Quarter , the Armenian Quarter , and the Jewish Quarter . A fifth area, the Temple Mount , known to Muslims as Al-Aqsa or Haram al-Sharif , is home to the Dome of the Rock , the Al-Aqsa Mosque and was once the site of the Jewish Temple . The Old City's current walls and city gates were built by the Ottoman Empire from 1535 to 1542 under Suleiman the Magnificent . The Old City is home to several sites of key importance and holiness to the three major Abrahamic religions : the Temple Mount and the Western Wall for Judaism , the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for Christianity , and the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque for Islam . The Old City, along with its walls, was added to the World Heritage Site list of UNESCO in 1981. In spite of its name, the Old City of Jerusalem's current layout is different from that of ancient times. Most archeologists believe that the City of David , an archaeological site on a rocky spur south of the Temple Mount, was the original settlement core of Jerusalem during the Bronze and Iron Ages . At times, the ancient city spread to the east and north, covering Mount Zion and the Temple Mount. The Old City as defined by the walls of Suleiman is thus shifted a bit northwards compared to earlier periods of the city's history, and smaller than it had been in its peak, during the late Second Temple period . The Old City's current layout has been documented in significant detail, notably in old maps of Jerusalem over the last 1,500 years. Until the mid-19th century, the entire city of Jerusalem (with the exception of David's Tomb complex ) was enclosed within the Old City walls. The departure from the walls began in the 19th century, when the city's municipal borders were expanded to include Arab villages such as Silwan and new Jewish neighborhoods such as Mishkenot Sha'ananim . The Old City came under Jordanian control following the 1948 Arab–Israeli War . During the 1967 Six-Day War , Israel occupied East Jerusalem; since then, the entire city has been under Israeli control. Israel unilaterally asserted in its 1980 Jerusalem Law that the whole of Jerusalem was Israel's capital. In international law East Jerusalem is defined as territory occupied by Israel . In John Phillips (ed.). A Will to Survive – Israel: the Faces of the Terror 1948-the Faces of Hope Today . T., & De Groot, A. "The Iron Age extramural occupation at the City of David and additional observations on the Siloam Channel." Excavation at the City of David , 1985. "The Excavations at the Gihon Spring and Warren's Shaft System in the City of David." Ancient Jerusalem Revealed . Israel Exploration Journal . 67 (1): 32– 49. The prevailing view among researchers that the early city, the City of David, lay in the southern part of the eastern ridge next to the spring.

In a tradition that may have begun with an 1840s British map of the city , the Old City is divided into four uneven quarters: the Muslim Quarter , the Christian Quarter , the Armenian Quarter , and the Jewish Quarter . A fifth area, the Temple Mount , known to Muslims as Al-Aqsa or Haram al-Sharif , is home to the Dome of the Rock , the Al-Aqsa Mosque , and was once the site of the Jewish Temple . The Old City's current walls and city gates were built by the Ottoman Empire from 1535 to 1542 under Suleiman the Magnificent . The Old City is home to several sites of key importance and holiness to the three major Abrahamic religions : the Temple Mount and the Western Wall for Judaism , the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for Christianity , and the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque for Islam . The Old City, along with its walls, was added to the World Heritage Site list of UNESCO in 1981. In spite of its name, the Old City of Jerusalem's current layout is different from that of ancient times. Most archeologists believe that the City of David , an archaeological site on a rocky spur south of the Temple Mount, was the original settlement core of Jerusalem during the Bronze and Iron Ages . At times, the ancient city spread to the east and north, covering Mount Zion and the Temple Mount. The Old City as defined by the walls of Suleiman is thus shifted a bit northwards compared to earlier periods of the city's history, and smaller than it had been in its peak, during the late Second Temple period . The Old City's current layout has been documented in significant detail, notably in old maps of Jerusalem over the last 1,500 years. Until the mid-19th century, the entire city of Jerusalem, with the exception of David's Tomb complex , was enclosed within the Old City walls. The departure from the walls began in the 19th century, when the city's municipal borders were expanded to include Arab villages such as Silwan and new Jewish neighborhoods such as Mishkenot Sha'ananim . The Old City came under Jordanian control following the 1948 Arab–Israeli War . During the 1967 Six-Day War , Israel occupied East Jerusalem; since then, the entire city has been under Israeli control. Israel unilaterally asserted in its 1980 Jerusalem Law that the whole of Jerusalem was Israel's capital. In international law, East Jerusalem is defined as territory occupied by Israel . In John Phillips (ed.). A Will to Survive – Israel: the Faces of the Terror 1948-the Faces of Hope Today . T., & De Groot, A. "The Iron Age extramural occupation at the City of David and additional observations on the Siloam Channel." Excavation at the City of David , 1985. "The Excavations at the Gihon Spring and Warren's Shaft System in the City of David." Ancient Jerusalem Revealed . Israel Exploration Journal . 67 (1): 32– 49. The prevailing view among researchers that the early city, the City of David, lay in the southern part of the eastern ridge next to the spring.