Lecture 2 Jerusalem as sacred space Cont.

Before we talk about what we learned in lecture, I want to share this news this shocked me when I saw it. A terrorist bombing at New Year’s Mass in Egypt targeted to the Christian minority, killed 21 and wounded 97. ”The last thing I heard was a powerful explosion and then my ears went deaf,” Marco Boutros, a 17-year-old survivor, said from his hospital bed. “All I could see were body parts scattered all over — legs and bits of flesh.”

Here is the report of the incident: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2011/01/01/2011-01-01_bomb_explosion_at_new_years_mass_in_egypt_leaves_21_dead_al_qaeda_blamed_by_offi.html

It makes me wonder what makes people of different beliefs, different cultures, different opinions, take extreme measures like violence to try to prove a point or to show who is right. Violence only creates fear, anger, hatred and all of them would only exacerbate the conflicts. You cannot reach an agreement with another party by using violence.

However, I have hope in humanity. A Muslin community in Egypt stood up to support the threatened Christian minority and formed human shield for Coptic Christmas Services at the church. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/07/egyptian-muslims-serve-as_n_805951.html

We continue to talk about Jerusalem as a sacred space. Sacred space must founded, and this idea manifested in biblical passages such as Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9), and Beth-el, “the House of God” (Genesis 28:10-19). Moreover the consecration of sacred space relies on creation and re-creation. Creation is done by the divine power, but re-creation is done by religious man, who would build an altar or a temple at a holy site where blood sacrifices has been made.

In Genesis 2, God created man he placed him in the Garden of Eden. A river flows out from the garden and divides into four branches. Their names are Pishon, Gihon, Tigris and Euphrates . Gihon = Gihon spring outside of the wall of the city of David in Jerusalem. Then we read about the story of Binding of Isaac in Genesis 22 where Abraham was ordered by God to sacrifice his only son Isaac on Mt. Moriah. Centuries later, King Solomon built a temple for God on Mt. Moriah as God had promised to his father David.

All these evidences indicates the sanctity of Jerusalem. The Temple Mount (where Solomon would have built his temple), the Holy Sepulcher, and the Dome of the Rock are considered the very holy sites in Judaism, Christianity and Islam. All three religions establishes temples in Jerusalem, and that allows us to conclude that Jerusalem is sacred.

Jerusalem is also the axis mundi – center of the world. For it holds the gate of communication between earth, heaven and the underworld.

God appeared to Moses on the mountain of God and told Moses that he was standing on holy ground and he would bring the Israeli people up to this country of Canaanites, Hitties, Amorites, and Jebusites (tribes that had inhibited in Jerusalem.
God sent plague to Israel because David had offended him. An Angel told David that he must build and altar and make blood sacrifices at the threshing floor of Araunah at Mt Moriah.

In Mattew 5:22 “Gehenna” “But anyone who says “You fool!” will be in danger of the fire of hell.  ValleyofHinnom=Gai-­‐Hinnom=Gehenna

 

Lecture 1: Jerusalem as Sacred Space

Jerusalem is considered as sacred space in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, but why is Jerusalem such an important city?

In the middle eastern geographical context, Jerusalem lies  in between two trade routes; the Via Maris (the Great Trunk Road) and The King’s Highway. The Via Maris goes from Egypt to Mesopotamia along the Mediterranean sea coast , and the King’s Highway goes from the Red Sea to Mesopotamia.

Note that these two trade routes do not pass through Jerusalem. Jerusalem sits in between them, on the land bridge that connects Asia, Africa and Europe.

Jerusalem’s physical features:

Jerusalem sits on hills, and most population live in the valleys. Kidron Valley (eastern valley), Hinnon Valley (western valley) and Tyropean (central valley).

Psalm 125:2 “As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the LORD surrounds his people.”�AstheMountainsSurroundJerusalem,sotheLORDsurroundshispeople…􀁺

Establishing the city on the hill gains advantages in military defense, and that is why historically Jerusalem was always conquered from the North.

We know that all great cities cannot be established without water. Jerusalem is not founded near coast nor river, but it is blissed with water from the Gihon Spring (En Rogel, Siloam Pool, Hezekiah’s Tunnel) which provided enough fresh water for the city in the old days.

“[Jerusalem]… has no barbours, no river, no trunk-road, no convenient markets for nations on either side… The whole plateau stands aloof, waterless, on the road to nowhere. There are none of the natural conditions of a great city.” (G.A. Smith, Historical Geography of the Holy Land)

So why is Jerusalem the center of the world?

“Sacred space must be founded” – (Eliade)

Jerusalem as a holy city was founded by men because it does not possess any natural conditions for a great city. We can look at the biblical stories of Tower of Babel (Gen 11:1-9) and Beth-el “the House of God” (Gen 28:10-19) for explanation.

Jacob dreamed that there was a ladder coming down to the earth from heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And the Lord stood beside him and promised him that he will have many offsprings. Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said “How awesome is this place! This is none other then the House of God, and this is the gate of heaven” So Jacob took the stone that he had used as a pillow and set it up for a pillar and pour oil on the top of it. He called that place Bethel

Jerusalem attracted religious people by its temple, where men can worship God.

Events of the Jewish Temple:

• Solomon’s Temple
  -Built about 950 BCE
  -Destroyed 586BCE by the Babylonians
• “2nd” Temple
  -Built 551 BCE
  -Aggrandized 20BCE
  *Wailing Wall/Western Wall
  -Destroyed CE
• Dome of Rock
  - Built 691 CE

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