Early Jewish Zionism

After Saladin allows the Jews to resettle in Jerusalem, while they hailed him as the “new Cyrus”, the Jews progressively began to increase their population in Jerusalem. This increase was the cause of proclamations by many people, such as Judah Haleci, a Toledan physician fleeing spain to try and make an aliyah. Judah Haleci claimed that Jews had to return to the “land of their fathers” and “risk their lives” so that Shekhinah could return to Jerusalem and Redemption would begin and that Jerusalem is the “Gate of Heaven and that Jews needed to stake their rightful claim there. A philosopher by the name Maimonides also stated that Jerusalem is the “center of the Jewish people” and that the Jewish kingdom and law had to be based on the Temple, which was strange because they had lived so long without a temple or even settling in Jerusalem, but now they were all important again. According to Maimonides, the Divine Presence could not be banished from the temple mount, so the Jews would just have to treat the Haram as if it were the temple.

According to Secular Zionists, as stated by Yehuda Hai Alchelai, the Rabbi of Sarajevo, in 1840 CE “Redemption will begin with the Jews themselves.” These Secular Zionists established a fund to buy land in Palestine so as to make a new homeland for the Jews, because as Theodore Herzl stated in The Jewish State in 1896, the sanctity of Jerusalem played no role in their religion and he even went as far as to suggest a Zionist state in Uganda, Africa. At the first Zionist Conference, held in Basel, Switzerland in 1899, Herzl was described as “Messiah the Son of David standing before us” a title which would obviously have been very offensive to many Orthodox Jews. As a result of this convention, the Zionists built Tel Aviv (not in Jerusalem) as their new Jewish homeland. This increase in settlement by Jewish people in various parts of the world caused many bad feelings toward the Jews to crop up among many groups. As European nationalism rose, many anti-Semitic pogroms began. One in the Islamic world instigated by the Jews in 1840 CE as well as in Russia  and Eastern Europe in 1882 and 1902 respectively. This all culminated with the rise of Adolph Hitler to power and anti-Semitism reached its height.

 

Islamic Jerusalem

So, last time I talked about the Crusades, which happened kinda towards the end/after Islamic Jerusalem, so it appears like I skipped it. But, not to worry! I am talking about Islamic Jerusalem today.

So, after the Umayyad period which I discussed last time, the Abbasids took over Jerusalem. The Abassids were very conscious of wiping out the memory of Umayyid accomplishments, like palaces, etc. Boldly enough, the Ababasid Caliph Al-Ma-mun tries to take credit for building the Dome of the Rock, but forgets to change the date of construction (72^nd year of Moslem era) so everyone knew it was a lie. Also, the same Caliph had a polemic against Christianity and states “Believe not in the three (referring to the trinity) because God is only one.” Also, he murders John, the then Christian patriarch. Next up were the Fatimids who ruled from 969-1099 CE  and who came from Egypt. This rule was a period of upheaval; however, the population of Jerusalem steadily increases (up to ~20,000 on eve of Crusader conquest). The Fatamids lost control of Jerusalem briefly to the Seljuqs, who occupied Jerusalem, destroying and looting the city and massacring thousands of inhabitants. However, in 1098, the Fatamids lead a forty day siege on Jerusalem’s fortifications, destroying several sections of the city wall and eventually retaking the city from the Seljuqs, just in time to get it taken by the Crusaders!

Throughout this period of rule, the welfare of Christians and Jews depended on the ruler. Some would leave them be, while others would try to convert them to Islam. In 1009, Caliph al-Hakim ordered the destruction of all Jewish and Christian houses of prayer, including (and especially) the Holy Sepulcher. It was these kind of acts that sparked the crusades in the late 11th century CE. After the crusades ended in 1187 CE, an era known as Ayyubid Jerusalem began with Saladin controlling Jerusalem after his victory over the crusaders in 1187 at the Horns of Hattin in Galilee. Saladin was actually pretty tolerant of the other religions. Under his rule, Saladin gave the newly constructed church of the Holy Sepulcher to the Greek Orthodox, and settlement by Jews in Jerusalem began again. After Saladin’s death in 1194, another struggle for power emerged between the Ayyubids and Crusaders. This was the third crusade that lasted from 1189-1192 involving the French, English and German crusaders under Phillip Augustus, Richard “The Lionheart” and Frederick Barbarossa, respectively. In the end, Jerusalem was finally reached by Richard “The Lionheart” in 1192.

P.S. The Western wall was not an actual wall of the temple, but just the western wall of the retaining structure upon which the temple was built. My professor seemed adamant about this, so i thought I’d post it to clear up any confusion.

Crusader Jerusalem

Islamic Jerusalem lasted from 638-1099 CE beginning with the Umayyad period that lasted from 661-750 CE starting with the reign of Caliph Umar. The next period was the Abbasid period starting in 750 CE and lasting until 960 CE. The Islamic people persecuted the Christians greatly, including the destruction of the Holy Sepulcher in 1009 by Al-Hakim. Also, the Christians suffered a lot of difficulty on their pilgrimages to Jerusalem and were also massacred, like the massacre of German pilgrims in 1064. Around 1054 the great schism occurred that split Christianity in two ways between the Eastern Orthodox Church and Roman Catholic Church. As a reaction to the persecution of Christian population of Jerusalem, Pope Urban II made a speech calling upon the will of Western Europe (Franks) to assist the Christians in the East against the attacks from the Muslims. Also, he wanted them to help take over Jerusalem and “liberate” it. Consequently, there was a huge mass of people who came out to help fight, which was quite unexpected. This mass of people who flocked to help probably did so because there was a real Christian reward, like abolition of sins and approval in the eyes of God according to the Pope. Thus began the crusades.

A crusade is an expedition authorized by the pope on Christ’s Behalf, the leading participants in which took vows and consequently enjoyed the privileges of protection at home and the indulgence, a remission of the penalties due for the sins that was granted to crusaders. To gain the Indulgence, simply contributing funds to a crusade, preaching a crusade, collecting money for a crusade or settling as a colonist in the Holy Land was enough. There were four principalities acquired during the crusades: Adessa, Antioch, Tripoly and Jerusalem, the latter of which had control over the other principalities. The first crusade lasted from 1095-1099 CE and was preached by Pope Urban II at Clermont in 1905, as stated above. This brought about the end to Islamic control of Jerusalem as it became a Christian principality. The second crusade began in 1147 CE and ended in 1149 CE and was preached by St. Bernard at Vezelay. This crusade involved French and German crusaders under Louis VII and Conrad III, respectively. The crusades ended on July 4th, 1187 CE when Salah ad-Din routs the crusaders at the Horns of Hattin in Galilee at the famous Battle of Hattin. With this battle, the crusades ended and Jerusalem surrenders and reverts back to Muslim control.

Islamic Jerusalem

So today I am going to be talking about Islamic Jerusalem, which is a time period defined between 638 CE and 1099 CE. This begins after the Sesanians take Palestine and Jerusalem and rule between 614-628. After their take over, the Jews were allowed to resettle in Jerusalem for the first time since end of Bar-Kokhba Revolt in 135 CE. A year later, in 615 CE, Christian pogroms against Jews occurred in Jerusalem. By 628 CE, the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius retook Jerusalem and once again massacres of Jews in Jerusalem are allowed. For a while after, Byzantine Christians continued the policy of hatred against the Jews. Islam beings with a prophet named Muhammad who spreads the ideals of Islam to his followers. When Muhammad dies, he leaves no heir and members of two distinct groups vie for the position of Caliph (a delegate or representative). The Caliphs are chosen based upon their relationship to Muhammad and are separated as follows: Abu Bakr, who was Muhammad’s closest friend, Umar, who was Muhammad’s companion, Uthman, Ali, who was Muhammad’s son-in-law, and Mu’awiya who was Uthman’s cousin. Two main factions branched off from this group of people, the supporters of Ali, who formed the “Shi’atu Ali” (faction of Ali) who were collectively known as the Shi’ites, and the supporters of Mu’awiya, who formed “The People of Tradition (Sunna) and the Community” who were collectively known as the Sunnis.

Now for a bit of history in Islamic Jerusalem. Muslim Caliph Umar takes over Jerusalem from the Christians in 638 CE. In order to procure this dominion, Umar had to sign a written agreement disallowing Jewish settlement in Jerusalem. However, Umar later allowed the Jews to live there and the Jewish population steadily grew. This was the start of the Umayyad Dynasty which went from 638-750 CE. As Islam increased in popularity, pilgrimages (long trips to sacred places) became a very fundamental part of the society. The Quibla was known as the direction that you are to pray in (usually pointing toward Mecca after Muhammad’s arrival) and it was signified by the Mihrab, which was a niche pointing in the direction of prayer in the mosques. Caliph Umar builds a wooden mosque which would later be rebuilt into the Al-Aqsa Mosque (“The Farthest Mosque”) in the early 8th Century CE where a prayer is worth 500 prayers elsewhere and Abd al-Malik builds the Dome of the Rock in 691 CE. The purpose of these structures were to divert pilgrimage from Mecca to Jerusalem, partly due to monetary reasons and partly due to the rivalry with Ibn Zubayr. However, Jerusalem was only the third most sacred city in Islam, whereas Mecca is first and Medina is second.

Constantine

As Greco-Roman Hellenism began to infiltrate the many religious faiths all kinds of different denominations of Christians and Jews developed. Jesus’ predictions of things such as the destruction of the temple and other events made him a very important figure in Christianity (originally called “The Way”). The early church was rife with dissension between the very Jewish members and those that were becoming what we know today as Christians. I will describe the series of events of the early church that led to the modern Christian beliefs. Jesus’ ascension from the mount of Olives described in Acts 1 where he comes back from the dead and ascends to Heaven. Next, the Holy Spirit descends as described in Acts 2 as the promise of the Holy Spirit descending and dwelling within the people of Jerusalem. The dissension within the community came when many of the future Christians decided that it was not necessary to follow many of the Jewish rules and regulations (circumcision, kosher, etc.) and the subsequent splitting into different denominations occurred.

Now I am going to talk a little about Byzantine history. In 285 CE Emperor Diocletian split the administration of the Roman Empire between the West and the East. Diocletian then appointed himself as Augustus (Emperor) and Maximian as his Caesar (sort of like a lesser emperor). Soon Diocletian found that ruling over the whole kingdom (despite having Maximian as his Caesar) was too big and he decided to make Maximian his co-Augustus and then they each were able to appoint their own Caesar for their half of the kingdom, Diocletian appointing Galerius and Maximian appointing Constantius. This arrangement did not work well because when Diocletian retired and Galerius becomes Augustus and names his own Caesar, Constantius’ son Constantine the Great became angry because he wanted to become Caesar and so they battled and Constantine won and became sole emperor of the Roman Empire.

Constantine (ruled 312-337 CE), now as sole emperor, became enamored with Christianity. There are many theories as to why this occurred, one being that Constantine realized that Christianity was becoming increasingly popular and he could use it to unify his kingdom. So, Constantine made an edict in 313 CE in Milan legalizing Christianity and freeing the Christians from the persecution that they have long endured. Now, this may seem like Constantine is a wonderful person in Christianity’s history, but many view his acts as detrimental to Christianity. For example, Jesus was a pacifist and always preached pacifism. Conversely, Constantine began killing people in the name of Christianity, obviously not in a passive manner. Furthermore, Constantine’s mother, Helena, went to Jerusalem in 324 CE as the newly appointed  co-Augustus and ordered the church in Egypt be built to commemorate the burning bush. Also, Helena apparently found the cross that Jesus was crucified on. All of this religious fervor exhibited by the emperors and empresses increased the political intervention in religious affairs and the combination of Church and state ended up in the state ruling under religious law, in which bishops had as much power as emperors in some cases. Many people view this combination as the destruction of Christianity.

Herod the Great and Roman Rule

So, after Herod the Great died, his kingdom was divided up between his three sons; however, their individual powers were much more limited than Herod the Great’s was. The first son was Archelaus, who became the ethnarch of Judea. This region was about half of the overall kingdom and thus he got the most territory out of all three brothers. Sadly, he couldn’t really capitalize on this power thrust upon him and was exiled in 6 CE after only ruling for 10 years and is widely known as a very ineffective ruler. The second brother, Herod Antipas, became the tetrarch of Perea and Galilee. Like his brother, Herod Antipas was a very ineffective ruler and was exiled in 39 CE after ruling for 35 years. The last of the three brothers was Herod Phillip, who became the tetrarch of Iturea and Trachonitis, an area northwest of the sea of Galilee. Herod Phillip was the only brother to successfully rule as king until his death in 34 CE. After all the exiles and death and such, the Herodian rulers were gradually replaced by Roman procurators.

Ok, so after the Roman rulers were installed, there really isn’t any mention of them in the bible, except for one very important one that I thought I would bring up because everyone has probably heard of him before. This man is Pontius Pilate. Pilate was the only Roman governor of Judea mentioned in the gospels and he was governor from 36-36/7 CE. Pilate is most known for being the one who orders the execution of Jesus. However, it is not known well that he was a highly ineffective ruler and provoked the Jews. Due to this constant provocation, he was recalled to Rome in 36/7 CE by the Romans to prevent further complications with the Judeans. Pilate was not the only Roman governor who was very ineffective as a rule, as most of the governors that ruled between 6 and 66 CE were inexperienced and inept at their position. This rule by these useless governors and their constant provocation of the Jews eventually came to a head when the Jewish militants went into full-fledged revolt against Rome in 44 CE. The Jews put up a valiant effort, defeating many Roman governors of nearby territories, however, their efforts were for nought as their temple and Jerusalem were destroyed yet again in 70 CE by Emperor Titus and they fell back under Roman rule.

 

Hasmonean Kings

So, I promised I’d talk about the Hasmonean kings this time, so here it goes! After the Seleucids were overbearing with their Hellenization schemes, the Maccabee family led by Judah Maccabee began the Maccabean revolt, overthrowing the Seleucid kings and started the Hasmonean dynasty. An interesting fun fact, this would be the last time the Jews would be in control of the government in Jerusalem until the modern government. As Jews, the Hasmonean kings were very sensitive to the religious and cultural aspects of society in Jerusalem and therefore did not print coins with graven images of themselves on them. However, this seems to be the only social tact that these kings would display, because they soon became very oppressive and seemed to break all the traditional rules. For example, these Maccabean kings were known as Hasmonean because they were said to descend from the line of Hasmon, meaning that they were not of the correct line to be the High Priest of Jerusalem, a rule that was taken very seriously; that is, up until the Hasmonean kings showed up. These kings, starting with John Hyrcanus (134-104 BCE), assumed the role of High Priest concurrently as being King. In order to commit such an act, they claimed that it was only for a short time until everything got back in order and they could find the rightful descendant. However, this obviously never happened and it was a slippery slope from there as the Hasmonean kings became increasingly insensitive to Jewish religious traditions, executed political and religious rivals and brutally expanded their territory through the hiring of mercenary soldiers (a big no-no) and even forcibly Judaized the people in the new territories.

Obviously all of the sneaky and underhanded tactics employed by the Hasmonean kings did not make the people of Jerusalem very happy, and of course they are soon overthrown by, ironically, someone who was forcibly Judaized under the Hasmonean rule: Herod the Great. Herod the Great was from nearby Idumea and he rose to power in a very roundabout way. The Parthians were a major thorn in Rome’s side around 40 BCE, so Herod the Great goes and defeats them. Naturally, this was not just a favor, but more of an “I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mind” kind of thing and Herod had a real itch to be king od Judea. So, of course the Romans are like “sure, whatever” and install him as king of Judea. Ironically enough (yah, this was a really ironic period of history folks), the fact that Herod was forcibly Judaized made it easier for him to transition into power in Judea, because many people viewed him as “half Jewish” and he was familiar with all of the Jewish customs, so he obviously was able to make sure he didn’t step on and toes. But, poor Herod the Great turned out to be not so great because like most people who rise to power, they get a little mad with power. Herod the Great turned out to be very paranoid that someone was trying to take his throne and you may start to remember where you’ve heard his name before when I tell you this next bit. When Herod the Great hears news of Jesus being born in Bethlehem and how he is the “King of the Jews” Herod sends out a search party to find all children under two years of age in Bethlehem and have them killed. Wow. So, despite all the good Herod the Great did for Jerusalem, such as providing work through the multiple building projects for monuments to himself, offering relief during famines and allowing the Jews to select their own high priest (subject to his approval of course), he would unfortunately be HATED by the Jews for all of his two-faced craziness .

Just as a sidenote, our professor mentioned that there is no archaeological evidence of Jesus, but many scholars believe that he existed. Do with that what you will. See you next time!!!