The history of Jerusalem

Jerusalem is one of the oldest cities in the world, with evidence of an original settlement dating back more than 4,000 years.

Vitally important was the constant supply of water provided by the Gihon Spring, in a land that normally only experienced rainfall from November to March.

Since then this Middle Eastern city has been attacked and devastated on numerous occasions. Former rulers include King David, who established the City of David, and his son Solomon, who expanded Jerusalem and built the first Great Temple on Mount Moriah.

Destruction 2,600 years ago saw most of the inhabitants exiled to Babylon, but as the Jewish diaspora returned, the Temple and the city were rebuilt.

Wars between the Ptolemaic and Seleucid successors of Alexander the Great seemed endless, but the resistance of the Maccabee brothers eventually led to the glorious reign of the Hasmonean kings Roman interference and the enforcement of the despotic Herod the Great as king led inevitable to the catastrophic Jewish/Roman wars and Jerusalem was once again destroyed.

Christianity eventually facilitated a reinvigorated Byzantine Jerusalem becoming one of the world's most beautiful cities.

The bubonic plague was survived, but a new low saw the Persians sack the city before Heraclius triumphantly returned Christ's True Cross to Jerusalem. The History of Jerusalem: Its Origins to the Early Middle Ages is the first of its kind to examine in detail the rich history of Jerusalem during antiquity up to the year 630 CE.

This in-depth account goes further than other volumes in terms of the breadth and scale of events covered, and it will appeal to those looking for an unbiased, but critical appraisal of the colourful history of Jerusalem and the surrounding areas.