Jerusalem

Jerusalem is the spiritual centre of the Bible — the city God chose to "put his name there" (1 Kings 11:36). Set on the Judean hills, it is named more than 800 times in Scripture and remains sacred to Jews, Christians, and Muslims alike.

From Salem to the city of David

The city first appears as Salem, whose king Melchizedek blessed Abram (Genesis 14:18). Centuries later David captured the Jebusite stronghold and made it his capital, bringing the ark there (2 Samuel 5:6–7). His son Solomon built the Temple on Mount Moriah (1 Kings 6:1).

Destruction and return

Because of Judah's idolatry, Babylon besieged and destroyed the city and its Temple in 586 BC (2 Kings 25:9). After the exile, returning Jews rebuilt the Temple under Zerubbabel and the walls under Nehemiah (Nehemiah 6:15).

The city of the cross and the church

Jerusalem is where Jesus taught, was crucified, buried, and rose again, and where, at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was poured out and the church was born (Luke 9:31; Acts 2). Scripture closes with the vision of a "new Jerusalem" coming down from God (Revelation 21:2).

Archaeology traces settlement on the City of David ridge back to the Bronze Age. Hezekiah's Tunnel — a 1,750-foot water channel cut through bedrock around 700 BC — survives with its ancient Siloam inscription, matching 2 Kings 20:20. The Western Wall is a remnant of the Herodian expansion of the Temple Mount. The Babylonian destruction of 586 BC and the Roman destruction of AD 70 are both attested in the archaeological record and ancient sources such as Josephus.