The Old City of Jerusalem (Hebrew: הָעִיר הָעַתִּיקָה, written in Latin letters: Ha'ír Ha'atiká; Arabic: المدينة القديمة, written in Latin letters: al-Madīna al-Qadīma) is a walled area covering 0.9 square kilometers (0.35 square miles) in East Jerusalem.
A tradition, possibly starting with a British map from the 1840s, divides the Old City into four unequal sections: 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, contains the Dome of the Rock, the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and was once the location of the Jewish Temple.
The current walls and gates of the Old City were built by the Ottoman Empire between 1535 and 1542 under Suleiman the Magnificent. The Old City includes important religious sites for Judaism, Christianity, and Islam: 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. In 1981, the Old City, along with its walls, was added to UNESCO’s World Heritage Site list.
Although called the "Old City," its current layout differs from ancient times. Most archaeologists believe the City of David, an archaeological site on a rocky hill south of the Temple Mount, was Jerusalem’s original settlement during the Bronze and Iron Ages. At times, the ancient city expanded east and north, covering Mount Zion and the Temple Mount. The Old City, as defined by Suleiman’s walls, is slightly shifted north compared to earlier periods and smaller than it was during the late Second Temple period. The Old City’s layout has been recorded in detail, especially in maps of Jerusalem from the past 1,500 years.
Until the mid-19th century, the entire city of Jerusalem, except for David’s Tomb complex, was enclosed within the Old City walls. In the 19th century, the city’s borders expanded to include nearby Arab villages like Silwan and new Jewish neighborhoods like Mishkenot Sha’ananim. After the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, the Old City came under Jordanian control. During the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel captured East Jerusalem. Since then, the entire city has been under Israeli control. In 1980, Israel passed a law stating that all of Jerusalem is its capital. Under international law, East Jerusalem is considered territory occupied by Israel.
Population
In 1967, the Old City had 17,000 Muslims, 6,000 Christians (including Armenians), and no Jews because the Jordanian army forced them to leave in 1948.
Most people in the Old City live in the Muslim quarter. In 2007, the total population was 36,965. This included 27,500 Muslims (who increased to more than 30,000 by 2013), 5,681 non-Armenian Christians, 790 Armenians (who decreased to about 500 by 2013), and 3,089 Jews (including nearly 3,000 residents and about 1,500 yeshiva students by 2013).
By 2020, the Old City’s population was 31,120. This included 21,800 Muslims, 3,870 Christians, 3,240 Jews, and 2,160 Armenians.
Political status
During the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Jordan captured the Old City and forced all Jewish residents to leave. In 1967, during the Six-Day War, Israeli forces captured the Old City and the rest of East Jerusalem. They then took control of these areas and made them part of Israel, joining them with the western part of the city. Today, the Israeli government controls the entire area and considers it part of its national capital. However, the Jerusalem Law of 1980, which officially added East Jerusalem to Israel, was declared invalid by United Nations Security Council Resolution 478. East Jerusalem is now seen by most countries as part of occupied Palestinian territory.
History
According to the Hebrew Bible, before King David captured Jerusalem in the 11th century BCE, the city was inhabited by the Jebusites. The Bible describes Jerusalem as strongly protected by thick city walls, a detail supported by archaeological findings. The Bible refers to the city ruled by King David as the City of David, or Ir David in Hebrew, which was located southeast of the Old City walls, outside the Dung Gate. In the Bible, David’s son, King Solomon, expanded the city walls to include the Temple and the Temple Mount. After the United Kingdom of Israel was divided, the southern tribes remained in Jerusalem, making the city the capital of the Kingdom of Judah.
Jerusalem grew mostly to the west after the Neo-Assyrian Empire destroyed the northern Kingdom of Israel and many people fled to the south. King Hezekiah prepared for an Assyrian attack by strengthening the city’s walls, building towers, and creating a tunnel to bring water from a spring outside the walls to the city. He made two major improvements to help Jerusalem resist capture: the construction of the Siloam Tunnel and the building of the Broad Wall.
The First Temple period ended around 586 BCE when the Neo-Babylonian Empire, led by King Nebuchadnezzar, conquered Judah and Jerusalem, destroyed Solomon’s Temple, and ruined the city.
In 538 BCE, the Persian King Cyrus the Great allowed the Jews in Babylon to return to Judah to rebuild the Temple. Construction of the Second Temple was completed in 516 BCE during the reign of King Darius the Great, 70 years after the destruction of the First Temple.
Around 440 BCE, the city was rebuilt on a smaller scale during the Persian period, as described in the Bible, when Nehemiah led the Jews who had returned from the Babylonian Exile. Later, King Herod the Great built an additional wall, known as the Second Wall, and expanded the Temple Mount and rebuilt the Temple. Between 41–44 CE, King Agrippa of Judea began constructing the so-called "Third Wall" around the northern suburbs. The city was completely destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE.
The northern part of the city was rebuilt by Emperor Hadrian around 130 CE, and he named it Aelia Capitolina. During the Byzantine period, Jerusalem was extended southward and enclosed by new city walls.
In the 7th century (637 CE), Muslims took control of Jerusalem from the Byzantines under the second caliph, `Umar Ibn al-Khattab, who added it to the Islamic Arab Empire. He gave the city’s people a treaty ensuring their safety. After the siege of Jerusalem, Sophronius, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, welcomed `Umar, believing that `Umar fulfilled a biblical prophecy about a just and powerful leader who would protect Christians. According to Eutychius, the Patriarch of Alexandria, `Umar visited the Church of the Holy Sepulchre but prayed outside the church to prevent future Muslims from using his prayer as a reason to convert the church into a mosque. `Umar also wrote a decree prohibiting Muslims from gathering to pray at the site.
In 1099, Jerusalem was captured by the Western Christian army of the First Crusade and remained under their control until 1187, when it was recaptured by Saladin, an Arab Muslim leader. Saladin allowed Jews to return to the city. In 1219, the city’s walls were destroyed by Sultan Al-Mu'azzam of Damascus. In 1229, Jerusalem was handed over to Frederick II of Germany through a treaty with Egypt. Frederick II began rebuilding the walls, but they were later destroyed by Da'ud, the emir of Kerak. In 1239, the walls were repaired again, but in 1244, the Khwarazmian Turks captured the city, and Sultan Malik al-Muazzam destroyed the walls, weakening the city’s defenses.
The current walls of the Old City were built between 1535 and 1542 by the Ottoman Turkish sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. The walls are about 4.5 kilometers (2.8 miles) long, with heights ranging from 5 to 15 meters (16.4 to 49 feet) and a base thickness of 3 meters (10 feet). The Old City walls include 35 towers, with 15 located on the northern wall. Suleiman’s walls originally had six gates, and a seventh gate, the New Gate, was added in 1887. Some older gates have been sealed over time. The Golden Gate was initially rebuilt and left open by Suleiman’s architects but was later closed. The New Gate was opened in the 19th century as part of the Christian Quarter’s walls. Recently, two additional gates on the southeastern side of the city walls were reopened due to archaeological work.
UNESCO status
In 1980, Jordan suggested that the Old City be included as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was added to the list in 1981. In 1982, Jordan asked that it be placed on the List of World Heritage in Danger. The United States government disagreed, saying Jordan did not have the right to make this request and that Israel's agreement was needed because Israel had control over Jerusalem. In 2011, UNESCO stated again that East Jerusalem is part of the occupied Palestinian territory and that the status of Jerusalem must be decided through ongoing negotiations.
Archaeology
Archaeologists have found parts of city walls from the 8th and 7th centuries BCE in the Old City, near the Israelite Tower. These walls may include sections of a gate where many projectiles were discovered, showing evidence of the Babylonian attack on Jerusalem in 586 BCE. Another wall from the late 8th century BCE, called the "broad wall," was built to protect Jerusalem during the Assyrian siege in 701 BCE. This name comes from a description in the Book of Nehemiah.
In 2015, archaeologists uncovered the remains of a large fortress built by the Greeks in the center of old Jerusalem. This is believed to be the Acra fortress. The team also found coins from the time of Antiochus IV to Antiochus VII, along with Greek arrowheads, slingshots, ballistic stones, and amphorae.
In 2018, archaeologists discovered a small, 4-centimeter-long gold earring with a ram’s head about 200 meters south of the Temple Mount. Experts say the earring matches jewelry from the early Hellenistic period (3rd or early 2nd century BCE). This is the first time a golden earring from the Hellenistic period has been found in Jerusalem.
Between 1967 and 1983, many structures from the Herodian period were found in the Jewish Quarter. Among these was a large mansion believed to be the home of Annas the High Priest. Nearby, a carved image of the Temple menorah was discovered. This image was made while the actual menorah was still in the Temple, and it was carved into a plastered wall. The palace was destroyed during the final days of the Roman siege in 70 CE, just like the Burnt House, which belonged to the Kathros priestly family and was found nearby.
In 1968, an inscription called the Trumpeting Place was found at the southwest corner of Temple Mount. It is thought to mark the location where priests announced the start of Shabbat and other Jewish holidays.
In the 1970s, while excavating the remains of the Nea Church (the New Church of the Theotokos), a Greek inscription was discovered. It reads: "This work was donated by Emperor Flavius Justinian, through the efforts of Constantine, a holy priest and abbot, in the 13th year of the indiction." Another inscription with the names of Emperor Justinian and Constantine was found in 2017 near the ruins of a pilgrim hostel about one kilometer north of Damascus Gate. This proves the importance of the Nea Church complex during that time.
Quarters
The Old City is currently divided into four unequal parts: the Muslim Quarter, the Christian Quarter, the Armenian Quarter, and the Jewish Quarter. Matthew Teller notes that the idea of dividing the city into four quarters may have started with a British Royal Engineers map from 1841 or later labeling by Reverend George Williams. A fifth part, the Mughrabi Quarter, was destroyed after the Six-Day War.
This 19th-century map showed the city divided into four quarters, but earlier, the city had many more smaller areas called harat (Arabic for "neighborhoods" or "districts"). Over time, the Christian and Jewish areas of the city grew larger.
Although the quarters have names, they were not strictly separated by religion. For example, 30% of homes in the Muslim Quarter were rented to Jews, and 70% of homes in the Armenian Quarter belonged to Armenians.
Below is a list of the city’s historically recorded quarters from 1495 to the modern system:
The Muslim Quarter (Arabic: Hārat al-Muslimīn) is the largest and most populated of the four quarters. It is in the northeastern part of the Old City, stretching from the Lions’ Gate in the east, along the southern wall of the Temple Mount, to the Western Wall–Damascus Gate route in the west. During the British Mandate, Sir Ronald Storrs worked to restore the Cotton Market, which had fallen into disrepair. He described it as a public latrine filled with debris. With help from the Pro-Jerusalem Society, walls, roofs, and vaults were repaired, and looms were added to create jobs.
Until the 1929 riots, the Muslim Quarter had a mix of Muslims, Christians, and Jews. Today, it includes many Israeli homes and yeshivas, such as Yeshivat Ateret Yerushalayim. In 2020, its population was 21,850.
The Christian Quarter (Arabic: Ḥārat an-Naşāra) is in the northwestern corner of the Old City. It extends from the New Gate in the north, along the western wall of the Old City to the Jaffa Gate, and borders the Jewish and Armenian Quarters to the south and east. The quarter includes the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, considered the holiest site in Christianity. In 2020, its population was 3,870.
The Armenian Quarter (Armenian: Haygagan T'aġamas, Arabic: Ḥārat al-Arman) is the smallest of the four quarters. Though Armenians are Christian, this quarter is separate from the Christian Quarter. Despite its small size, the Armenian community and its religious leader remain independent. After the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, the city’s quarters were under Jordanian control. In 2007, the quarter had 2,424 residents (6.55% of the Old City’s total). In 2020, its population was 2,160.
The Jewish Quarter (Hebrew: HaRova HaYehudi, Arabic: Ḥārat al-Yahūd) is in the southeastern part of the walled city. It stretches from the Zion Gate in the south, along the Cardo to Chain Street in the north, and reaches the Western Wall and Temple Mount in the east. The quarter has a long history of Jewish presence dating back to the 8th century BCE. In 1948, its 2,000 residents were forced to leave during a siege. The area was heavily damaged during the Battle for Jerusalem.
The Jewish Quarter remained under Jordanian control until Israeli forces recaptured it during the Six-Day War in 1967. Soon after, the nearby Moroccan Quarter was destroyed to allow public access to the Western Wall. Jordan’s Custodian of Enemy Property listed 195 properties, including synagogues and homes, as Jewish. Most were occupied by Palestinian refugees until the Shuafat Refugee Camp was built.
In 1968, Israel took control of 12% of the Old City, including the Jewish Quarter and surrounding areas. About 80% of these properties were not owned by Jews. After rebuilding, these properties were sold only to Israelis and Jews. Many former owners refused compensation because their homes were part of religious trusts that could not be sold. In 2005, the population was 2,348. The area was carefully excavated by archaeologist Nahman Avigad, and findings are displayed in museums and parks. In 2020, its population was 3,240.
There was once a small Mughrabi Quarter in the Old City. Within a week of the Six-Day War ending, the quarter was mostly destroyed to create the Western Wall Plaza, improving access to the Western Wall. The remaining parts of the Mughrabi Quarter are now part of the Jewish Quarter. At the same time, a new rule was created: non-Muslims can only enter the Temple Mount through the Gate of the Moors, reached via the Mughrabi Bridge.
Gates
Throughout history, the walls of Jerusalem changed in shape and had different numbers of gates. During the time of the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem, the city had four gates, one on each side. The walls built by Suleiman the Magnificent included six gates. Some older gates that had been sealed before the Ottomans arrived were left as they were. Suleiman first opened and rebuilt the Golden Gate but later sealed it again. In 1887, the New Gate was added, bringing the number of working gates back to seven. A smaller gate, called the Tanners' Gate, was discovered during excavations in the 1990s and opened for visitors. Some historic gates are sealed and partially preserved, such as the double Golden Gate on the eastern wall and the Single, Triple, and Double Gates on the southern wall. Other gates, like the Gate of the Essenes on Mount Zion, the gate near Herod's royal palace, and the remains of the Gate of the Funerals or al-Buraq, have been found by archaeologists but only leave traces. Before 1887, each gate was closed at sunset and opened at sunrise. Gates have been called different names in different historical periods and by different groups of people.
Gallery
- Area known as the Jewish Quarter
- Street marketplace (souq) located on Christian Quarter Road (2006)
- Main entrance to the citadel, which is commonly called the Tower of David
- Church of the Holy Sepulchre
- Cathedral named Our Lady of the Annunciation in Jerusalem