The old city of Jerusalem is a magnificent sight, but more than its visual effect on one’s mind is its mystical awakening. You have to visit Jerusalem and sample its splendor to understand my point.
Archaeological evidence suggests that the first settlement was established near Gihon Spring between 3000 and 2800 BCE. The first known mention of the city was in c. 2000 BCE in the Middle Kingdom Egyptian Execration Texts in which the city was recorded as Rusalimum.
Scholars believe the first human settlements in Jerusalem took place during the Early Bronze Age—somewhere around 3500 B.C. In 1000 B.C., King David conquered Jerusalem and made it the capital of the Jewish kingdom. His son, Solomon, built the first holy Temple about 40 years later. See the 2nd Temple in 3D.
The ancient winding streets of Jerusalem’s Old City house some of the world’s most sacred religious sites for Jews, Muslims, and Christians, including the Temple Mount, Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Via Dolorosa, Dome of the Rock, and the Western Wall. Plus, each of the district’s four quarters has a unique character well worth experiencing.
Jerusalem is really a very beautiful city to visit, but there are other incredible places to travel to like the Dead Sea where you can sit floating. You won't sink because it has a high concentration of dissolved salt content which is also used to create wonderful hair and skin products.
Dead Sea minerals contain a variety of essential minerals, including magnesium, calcium, and potassium, which can help to boost collagen production. These minerals help to stimulate the skin's natural collagen production, leading to a more youthful and radiant complexion.
When visiting the Dead Sea, you can climb the cliff to see Masada’s ruins. Special because Masada’s cultural heritage site derives directly from its unique natural position. It is on an isolated cliff, in the middle of the Judean desert, facing the Dead Sea on one side and the desert on the other.
Two thousand years ago, 967 Jewish men, women, and children reportedly chose to take their own lives rather than suffer enslavement or death at the hands of the Roman army.
Tel Aviv is a major developed city that is adjacent to Jaffa which is the oldest seaport in the world, and home to a vibrant multiethnic community of Muslims, Christians, and Jews.
Archaeology and ancient documents show that Jaffa has been in existence as a port city for more than 4,000 years and is where Jonah (of Jonah and the whale) set off from.
Having been to Israel many times and witnessed first-hand the friendliness of Jews, Arabs, and Christians living together, it amazes me that this wonderful nation which has less than 1% of all the Arab land has to be tough to protect its people while making sure terrorist organizations leave them in peace.
21.1% (around 2,080,000 people) are Israeli citizens classified as Arab, some identifying as Palestinian, and including Druze, Circassians, all other Muslims, Christian Arabs, Armenians (which Israel considers "Arab").
In 1966, the same year that England won their only ever World Cup, martial law was lifted completely, and the government set about dismantling most of the discriminatory laws, while Arab citizens were granted the same rights as Jewish citizens under law.
However, Israel has been at war with Arab states on several occasions. Furthermore, a large majority of states within the Arab League do not recognize Israel, and Israelis and Jews in general are considered a frequent target of antisemitism in the Arab world.
Israel maintains full diplomatic relations with two of its Arab neighbours, Egypt and Jordan, after signing peace treaties in 1979 and 1994 respectively. Unfortunately, there is resentment towards Jews from all over the world.
The latest Palestinian conflict has caused outcry as Pro-Palestinian supporters believe too much Gazan bloodshed has been spilt. From the Israeli point of view, they are fighting for their lives to protect their civilians from further terrorist attacks like what happened on October 7th, 2023.
No one can deny, it must be very difficult to live in the middle of hostile neighbours and having to look over your shoulder, in case a knife comes from behind.
The first major blow, the massacre of Hebron in 1929 was on a big scale hostility when Palestinian Arabs slipped into the residential area where Jews were residing and stabbed and killed 67 of them while they were asleep in their beds.
Though I sympathize with the outcry, in no way do I back the fact that Pro-Palestinian marches effectively support Hamas, Hezbollah, Houthi, and the Iran regime, deliberate terrorist organizations that spread hate to Jews and have the wish to annihilate them.
Most civilized people want peace and tranquility, however, these particular groups that represent hostility in the region should not be confused with law abiding Israelis or for that matter Palestinians who suffer in the wake of their barbaric attacks.
I for one hope to have the opportunity to visit Jerusalem and the rest of Israel again for its beauty.
Take care!
Prof. Carl Boniface
Vocabulary builder:
Rusalimum = The root S-L-M in the name is thought to refer to either "peace" (compare with modern Salam or Shalom in modern Arabic and Hebrew) or Shalim, the god of dusk in the Canaanite religion. The ancient Canaanite religion was polytheistic. Their religious practices included sexual fertility rites, worship of multiple gods, and human sacrifice. In the Bible, the Canaanites were regarded as wicked and sinful.
Jonah = The story of Jonah is one of the most well-known and most unusual passages in the Biblical Old Testament. In a basic sense, it is the story of a reluctant prophet who avoids his call to give prophecy. God punishes Jonah by having a large fish or whale swallow him whole, but Jonah is later reconciled and forgiven.
Tough (adj) = hard, rough, dangerous, hard-hitting, harsh, (ant) pleasant
Druze = small Middle Eastern religious sect characterized by an eclectic system of doctrines and by a cohesion and loyalty among its (at times politically significant) members that have enabled them to maintain for centuries their close-knit identity and distinctive faith.
Spilt (v) = past tense and past participle of to spill. Fell, fallen, dropped
Slipped (v) past tense of to slip. Glided, swayed, flounced, cavorted, swanned, paraded, swaggered, strutted, pranced
Wake (n) = aftermath, backwash, stir, rouse, awaken, arouse, come around, get up
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