By the same author

Catherine the Great and PotemkinS tal in: T he Court of the Red T s ar

Young S tal inSas henka

JERUSALEMTHE BIOGRAPHY

Simon Sebag Montefiore

T o my darl ing daughterLi ly Baths heba

T he view of J erus alem is the his tory of the world; i t is more; i t is the his tory of heaven and earth.Benjam in Dis rael i , Tanc red

T he c i ty has been des troyed, rebui l t, des troyed and rebui l t again. J erus alem is an old nymphomaniac who s queezes lover after lover to death, before s hrugging him off her wi th a yawn, a blac k widow who devours her mates whi le they are s ti l l penetrating her.Amos Oz, A Tale of Lov e and Dark nes s

T he Land of Is rael is the c entre of the world; J erus alem is the c entre of the Land; the Holy T emple is the c entre of J erus alem; the Holy of Hol ies is the c entre of the Holy T emple; the Holy A rk is the c entre of the Holy of Hol ies and the Foundation S tone from whic h the world was es tabl is hed is before the Holy A rk.Midras h T anhuma, Kedos him 10

T he s anc tuary of the earth is Syria; the s anc tuary of Syria is Pales tine; the s anc tuary of Pales tine is J erus alem; the s anc tuary of J erus alem is the Mount; the s anc tuary of the Mount is the plac e of wors hip; the s anc tuary of the plac e of wors hip is the Dome of the Roc k.T haur ibn Yazid, Fadai l

J erus alem is the mos t i l lus trious of c i ties . S ti l l J erus alem has s ome dis advantages . T hus i t is reported 'J erus alem is a golden goblet ful l of s c orpions '.Muqaddas i , Des c ription of Sy ria inc luding Pales tine

CONTENTS

Lis t of Il lus trationsLis t of Family T rees and MapsPrefac eAc knowledgementsNotes on Names , T rans l i terations and T i tlesP rologue

PART ONE: JUDAISM

1. T he W orld of David2. T he Ris e of David3. T he K ingdom and the T emple4. T he K ings of J udah5. T he W hore of Babylon6. T he Pers ians7. T he Mac edonians8. T he Mac c abees9. T he Romans A rrive10. T he Herods11. J es us Chris t12. T he Las t of the Herods13. J ewis h W ars : T he Death of J erus alem

PART TW O: PAGANISM

14. Ael ia Capi tol inaPART THREE CHRISTIANITY

15. T he Apogee of Byzantium16. Suns et of the Byzantines : Pers ian Invas ion

PART FOUR: ISLAM

17. T he A rab Conques t18. T he Umayyads : T he T emple Res tored19. T he Abbas ids : Dis tant Mas ters20. T he Fatim ids : T oleranc e and Lunac y

PART FIVE: CRUSADE

21. T he S laughter22. T he Ris e of Outremer23. T he Golden Age of Outremer24. S talemate25. T he Leper-K ing26. Saladin27. T he T hird Crus ade: Saladin and Ric hard28. T he Saladin Dynas ty

PART S IX : MAMLUK

29. S lave to Sul tan30. Dec l ine of the Mamluks

PART SEVEN: OTTOMAN

31. T he Magnific enc e of Suleiman32. Mys tic s and Mes s iahs33. T he Famil ies

PART E IGHT: EMPIRE

34. Napoleon in the Holy Land35. T he New Romantic s : Chateaubriand and Dis rael i36. T he A lbanian Conques t37. T he Evangel is ts38. T he New City39. T he New Rel igion40. A rab City, Imperial Ci ty41. Rus s ians

PART NINE: ZIONISM

42. T he Kais er43. T he Oud-P layer Of J erus alem44. W orld W ar45. A rab Revol t, Bal four Dec laration46. T he Chris tmas P res ent47. T he V ic tors And T he Spoi ls48. T he B ri tis h Mandate49. T he A rab Revol t50. T he Dirty W ar51. J ewis h Independenc e, A rab Catas trophe52. Divided53. S ix DaysEpi logue

Family T rees

MapsNotesB ibl iographyIndexCopyright

ILLUSTRATIONS

SECTION ONEAerial view of the T emple Mount (A lbatros s /T opfoto)

T el Dan s tele, c . 850 BC (Zev Radovan)Ivory pomegranate, Is rael Mus eum (AKG)Sec tion of Hezekiah's wal l (AKG)T he S i loam ins c ription, c . 700 BC, Is tanbul A rc haeologic al Mus eum (AKG)Detai l of rel ief from the palac e of Sennac herib in Nineveh (AKG)Detai l of rel ief from the T reas ury of the Palac e of Pers epol is (B ridgeman A rt Library)Coin dis c overed near J eric ho, c . 333 BC (Zev Radovan)S i lver tetradrac hm of P tolemy I Soter, c . 300 BC, Is rael Mus eum (AKG)S i lver tetradrac hm of Antioc hus IV Epiphanes , c . 175 BC, Is rael Mus eum (AKG)J udah the Mac c abeeS i lver denarius of Mark Antony and Cleopatra V II (T he T rus tees of the B ri tis h Mus eum)Rec ons truc tion of the Sec ond T emple, Is rael Mus eum (AKG)Os s uary of 'S imon the bui lder of the Sanc tuary' (AKG)Greek ins c ription from the temple, c .50 BC, Is tanbul A rc haeologic al Mus eum (AKG)South-eas tern c orner of Herodian wal l enc irc l ing the T emple Mount (Zev Radovan)T he Cruc i fixion, Hubert van Eyc k, Ca' d'Oro, Venic e (B ridgeman A rt Library)Coin of Herod Antipas , c . AD 4-39, Is rael Mus eum (AKG)Coin of Herod Agrippa I, c . AD 43-39, Is rael Mus eum (AKG)Head of T i tus , fi rs t c entury AD, Louvre Mus eum, Paris (B ridgeman A rt Library)Skeletal arm of young woman, AD 67 (Zev Radovan)Roc ks at the foot of the W al l , J erus alem (author's photograph)Detai l from the A rc h of T i tus , Rome (AKG)Coin m inted to c ommemorate vic tory over J udaea, AD 81 (Zev Radovan)B ronze bus t of Hadrian, c . 135, Is rael Mus eum (B ridgeman A rt Library)S i lver c oin is s ued by S imon bar Koc hba, c . 132-5, Is rael Mus eum (AKG)Fourth-c entury pi lgrim graffi ti , Churc h of the Holy Sepulc hre (AKG)Colos s al head of Cons tantine the Great, Palazzo dei Cons ervatori , Rome (AKG)

SECTION TW OMarble s tatue of J ul ian the Apos tate, 362, Louvre Mus eum, Paris (AKG)J us tinian I and his retinue, c . 550, San V i tale, Ravenna (B ridgeman A rt Library)T heodora and her retinue, c . 550, San V i tale, Ravenna (B ridgeman A rt Library)Mos aic map of Pales tine, Madaba (AKG)T he Golden Gate (author's photograph)As c ens ion of Muhammad, from a manus c ript of Nizami 's poem 'Khamza', 1539-43, B ri tis h Library (AKG)Umayyad dynas ty gold dinar s howing Abd al-Mal ik (T he T rus tees of the B ri tis h Mus eum)T he Dome of the Roc k (AKG)Interior of the Dome of the Roc k (Garo Nalbandian)T he looting of J erus alem in 1099, i l lum inated m iniature from a univers al c hronic le, J ean de Courc y, B ibl ioteque Nationale, Paris (B ridgeman A rt Library)Baldwin I c ros s es the J ordan, i l lum ination from Roman de Godefroi de Boui l lon , B ibl ioteque Nationale, Paris (AKG)Medieval map of J erus alem from Robert the Monk's Chronic le of the Crus ades (Corbis )Mel is ende marrying Fulk of Anjou from the His toire de la c onquete de J erus alem by W i l l iam of T yre, B ibl ioteque Nationale, Paris (B ridgeman A rt Library)Mel is ende's ps al ter, c . 1131-43, B ri tis h Library (AKG)Baldwin IV and W il l iam of T yre, i l lum ination from His toire de Outremer by W i l l iam of T yre, B ri tis h Library (AKG)Portrai t of Saladin, B ri tis h Library (B ridgeman A rt Library)Frederic k II entering J erus alem, 1227, Vatic an Library (AKG)T he Dome of As c ens ion (AKG)Entranc e to the Market of the Cotton Merc hantsQaitbay fountain (AKG)Suleiman I, portrai t attributed to s c hool of T i tian, c . 1530, Kuns this toris c hes Mus eum, V ienna (AKG)Fountain of the Gate of the Chain (AKG)Engraving of Sabbatai Zevi (AKG)Detai l from the exterior mos aic s of the Dome of the Roc k (Corbis )

SECTION THREEIbrahim Pas ha, Charles -Phi l ippe Lariviere, Mus eum of Frenc h His tory at the Palac e of Vers ai l les (RMN)Greek Churc h of the Holy Sepulc hre , David Roberts , 1839 (AKG)S ir Mos es Montefiore (author's c ol lec tion)Montefiore windmil l (Mis hkenot Sha'ananim)Photograph of the Churc h of the Holy Sepulc hre, Patriarc h Yes s ayi , 1861 (A rmenian Partriarc hate)A group of Yemenite J ews (Americ an Colony)A group of As hkenazi J ews , 1885, Hul ton A rc hive (Getty)Crowd of Rus s ian pi lgrims at the Churc h of the Holy Sepulc hre (Americ an Colony)K ing David S treet, Granger Col lec tion (T opfoto)T heodor Herzl and his fam i ly, Hul ton A rc hive (Getty)Kais er W i lhelm II in J erus alem, 1889, Hul ton A rc hive (Getty)T he Kais er at the T omb of the K ings (Americ an Colony)Bertha Spafford and other members of the Americ an Colony with Bedouin friends , 1902 (Americ an Colony)Hus s ein Sel im al-Hus s eini (Americ an Colony)Montagu Parker (Morley fam i ly arc hives )W as if J awhariyyeh (Ins ti tute for Pales tine S tudies )J emal Pas ha, 1915 (Americ an Colony)T urkis h exec utions in J erus alem (Mary Evans P ic ture Library)Chaim W eizmann, 1918David Lloyd George and W ins ton Churc hi l l , 1910 (Getty)T .E . Lawrenc e on the governor's balc ony, 1920 (Getty)T he Mayor of J erus alem s urrenders the c i ty, 1917 (Getty)Fourth of J uly rec eption at the Americ an Colony (Americ an Colony)W ins ton Churc hi l l , T . E . Lawrenc e and Amir Abdul lah in the gardens of Government Hous e, 1921, Mats on Photograph Col lec tion (Library of Congres s , W as hington, DC)

SECTION FOURInves ti ture by the Duke of Connaught in Barrac ks Square (Americ an Colony)Group outs ide Government Hous e, 1924 (Is rael S tate A rc hive)K ing Hus s ein in J erus alem, 1923 (Library of Congres s , W as hington, DC)K ing Fais al and Amir Abdul lah s urrounded by s tudents , 1933, Mats on Photograph Col lec tion (Library of Congres s , W as hington, DC)David Ben-Gurion, 1924 (Mary Evans P ic ture Library)Mufti Am in al-Hus s eini at the Nabi Mus a fes tival , 1937 (Keys tone P res s , Franc e)Holy Fire c eremony, 1941, Mats on Photograph Col lec tion (Library of Congres s , W as hington, DC)P rayers at the W es tern W al l , 1944 (Central Zionis t A rc hives )As mahan (Getty)Mufti Am in al-Hus s eini meets Adol f Hi tler, 1941 (AKG)Abd al-Kadir al -Hus s eini , 1940s (As s oc iated P res s )Abd al-Kadir al -Hus s eini 's funeral proc es s ion, 1948 (Government P res s Offic e, S tate of Is rael)Bombing of the K ing David HotelKaty Antonius (Pales tinian Ac ademic Soc iety for the S tudy of International A ffai rs )J erus alem in s moke during the A rab-Is rael i W ar, 28 May 1948 (Mary Evans P ic ture Library)A rab s oldiers es c orting a J ewis h pris oner, 1 J une 1948, T ime and Li fe P ic tures (Getty)J ewis h girl fleeing from burning bui ldings , 28 May 1948, T ime and Li fe P ic tures (Getty)A rab troops behind s andbag barric ades , 1 J une 1948 (AKG)K ing Abdul lah wi th c rowds in J erus alem, 1 J uly 1948 (Getty)T he s c ene in al-Aqs a mos que after K ing Abdul lah's as s as s ination, 20 J uly 1951 (As s oc iated P res s )K ing Hus s ein of J ordan, 29 J uly 1967 (As s oc iated P res s )Y i tzhak Rabin and Mos he Dayan during an Is rael i c abinet meeting, 1967 (Mic ha Bar Am/Magnum Photos )Is rael i paratroopers advanc ing to Lions ' Gate, 7 J une 1967 (Avner Offer)Is rael i s oldiers praying at the W es tern W al l , 7 J une 1967 (Cornel l Capa/Magnum Photos )T he s heikh in c harge of the mos ques on the T emple Mount, 7 J une 1967 (Mic ha Bar Am/Magnum Photos )Is rael i troops making their way towards al-Aqs a (Mic ha Bar Am/Magnum Photos )Is rael i paratroopers at the Dome of the Roc k (Avner Offer)

FAMILY TREES

T he Mac c abees : K ings and High P ries ts , 160-37 BCT he Herods , 37 BC-AD 100T he P rophet Muhammad and the Is lam ic Cal iphs and Dynas tiesCrus ader K ings of J erus alem, 1099-1291T he Has hemite (Sheri fian) Dynas ty, 1916-

MAPS

T he K ingdom of David and Solomon, and the K ingdoms of Is rael and J udah, 1000-586 BCT he Empires , 586 BC-AD 1918J erus alem in the Firs t Century AD and J es us ' Pas s ionT he Crus ader K ingdoms , 1098-1489Mamluk and Ottoman J erus alem, 1260-1917T he Sykes -P ic ot P lan, 1916Sheri f Hus s ein's Imperial Dream, 1916UN P lan, 1947Is rael s inc e 1948J erus alem: T he Old Ci tyJ erus alem in the Early T wentieth Century

PREFACE

T he his tory of J erus alem is the his tory of the world, but i t is als o the c hronic le of an often penurious provinc ial town amid the J udaean hi l ls . J erus alem was onc e regarded as the c entre of the world and today that is more true than ever: the c i ty is the foc us of the s truggle between the Abrahamic rel igions , the s hrinefor inc reas ingly popular Chris tian, J ewis h and Is lam ic fundamental is m, the s trategic battlefield of c las hing c ivi l izations , the front l ine between atheis m and fai th, the c ynos ure of s ec ular fas c ination, the objec t of giddy c ons pirac is m and internet myth-making, and the i l lum inated s tage for the c ameras of the world inthe age of twenty-four-hour news . Rel igious , pol i tic al and media interes t feed on eac h other to make J erus alem more intens ely s c rutinized today than ever before.

J erus alem is the Holy Ci ty, yet i t has always been a den of s upers ti tion, c harlatanis m and bigotry; the des ire and prize of empires , yet of no s trategic value; the c os mopol i tan home of many s ec ts , eac h of whic h bel ieves the c i ty belongs to them alone; a c i ty of many names - yet eac h tradi tion is s o s ec tarian i texc ludes any other. T his is a plac e of s uc h del ic ac y that i t is des c ribed in J ewis h s ac red l i terature in the fem inine - always a s ens ual , l iving woman, always a beauty, but s ometimes a s hameles s harlot, s ometimes a wounded princ es s whos e lovers have fors aken her. J erus alem is the hous e of the one God, thec api tal of two peoples , the temple of three rel igions and s he is the only c i ty to exis t twic e - in heaven and on earth: the peerles s grac e of the terres trial is as nothing to the glories of the c eles tial . T he very fac t that J erus alem is both terres trial and c eles tial means that the c i ty c an exis t anywhere: new J erus alemshave been founded al l over the world and everyone has their own vis ion of J erus alem. P rophets and patriarc hs , Abraham, David, J es us and Muhammad are s aid to have trodden thes e s tones . T he Abrahamic rel igions were born there and the world wi l l als o end there on the Day of J udgement. J erus alem, s ac red tothe Peoples of the Book, is the c i ty of the Book: the B ible is , in many ways , J erus alem 's own c hronic le and i ts readers , from the J ews and early Chris tians via the Mus l im c onquerors and the Crus aders to today's Americ an evangel is ts , have repeatedly al tered her his tory to ful fi l bibl ic al prophec y.

W hen the B ible was trans lated into Greek then Latin and Engl is h, i t bec ame the univers al book and i t made J erus alem the univers al c i ty. Every great king bec ame a David, every s pec ial people were the new Is rael i tes and every noble c ivi l ization a new J erus alem, the c i ty that belongs to no one and exis ts foreveryone in their imagination. And this is the c i ty's tragedy as wel l as her magic : every dreamer of J erus alem, every vis i tor in al l ages from J es us ' Apos tles to Saladin's s oldiers , from V ic torian pi lgrims to today's touris ts and journal is ts , arrives wi th a vis ion of the authentic J erus alem and then is bi tterly dis appointedby what they find, an ever-c hanging c i ty that has thrived and s hrunk, been rebui l t and des troyed many times . But s inc e this is J erus alem, property of al l , only their image is the right one; the tainted, s ynthetic real i ty mus t be c hanged; everyone has the right to impos e their 'J erus alem ' on J erus alem - and, wi th s wordand fi re, they often have.

Ibn Khaldun, the fourteenth-c entury his torian who is both partic ipant and s ourc e for s ome of the events related in this book, noted that his tory is s o 'eagerly s ought after. T he men in the s treet as pire to know i t. K ings and leaders vie for i t.' T his is es pec ial ly true for J erus alem. It is impos s ible to wri te a his tory ofthis c i ty wi thout ac knowledging that J erus alem is als o a theme, a fulc rum, a s pine even, of world his tory. A t a time when the power of internet mythology means that the hi-tec h mous e and the c urved s word c an both be weapons in the s ame fundamental is t ars enal , the ques t for his toric al fac ts is even moreimportant now than i t was for Ibn Khaldun.

A his tory of J erus alem mus t be a s tudy of the nature of hol ines s . T he phras e 'Holy Ci ty' is c ons tantly us ed to des c ribe the reverenc e for her s hrines , but what i t real ly means is that J erus alem has bec ome the es s ential plac e on earth for c ommunic ation between God and man.W e mus t als o ans wer the ques tion: of al l the plac es in the world, why J erus alem? T he s i te was remote from the trade routes of the Mediterranean c oas t; i t was s hort of water, baked in the s ummer s un, c hi l led by winter winds , i ts jagged roc ks bl is tered and inhos pi table. But the s elec tion of J erus alem as the

Temple c i ty was partly dec is ive and pers onal , partly organic and evolutionary: the s anc ti ty bec ame ever more intens e bec aus e s he had been holy for s o long. Hol ines s requires not jus t s piri tual i ty and fai th but als o legi timac y and tradi tion. A radic al prophet pres enting a new vis ion mus t explain the c enturies thathave gone before and jus ti fy his own revelation in the ac c epted language and geography of hol ines s - the prophec ies of earl ier revelations and the s i tes already long revered. Nothing makes a plac e hol ier than the c ompeti tion of another rel igion.

Many atheis tic vis i tors are repel led by this hol ines s , s eeing i t as infec tious s upers ti tion in a c i ty s uffering a pandemic of righteous bigotry. But that is to deny the profound human need for rel igion without whic h i t is impos s ible to unders tand J erus alem. Rel igions mus t explain the fragi le joys and perpetualanxieties that mys ti fy and frighten humanity: we need to s ens e a greater forc e than ours elves . W e res pec t death and long to find meaning in i t. As the meeting-plac e of God and man, J erus alem is where thes e ques tions are s ettled at the Apoc alyps e - the End of Days , when there wi l l be war, a battle between Chris tand anti -Chris t, when the Kaaba wi l l c ome from Mec c a to J erus alem, when there wi l l be judgement, res urrec tion of the dead and the reign of the Mes s iah and the K ingdom of Heaven, the New J erus alem. A l l three Abrahamic rel igions bel ieve in the Apoc alyps e, but the detai ls vary by fai th and s ec t. Sec ularis ts mayregard al l this as antique gobbledegook, but, on the c ontrary, s uc h ideas are al l too c urrent. In this age of J ewis h, Chris tian and Mus l im fundamental is m, the Apoc alyps e is a dynamic forc e in the world's febri le pol i tic s .

Death is our c ons tant c ompanion: pi lgrims have long c ome to J erus alem to die and be buried around the Temple Mount to be ready to ris e again in the Apoc alyps e, and they c ontinue to c ome. T he c i ty is s urrounded by and founded upon c emeteries ; the wizened body-parts of anc ient s aints are revered - thedes ic c ated blac kened right hand of Mary Magdalene is s ti l l dis played in the Greek Orthodox Superior's Room in the Churc h of the Holy Sepulc hre. Many s hrines , even many private hous es , are bui l t around tombs . T he darknes s of this c i ty of the dead s tems not jus t from a s ort of nec rophi l ia, but als o fromnec romanc y: the dead here are almos t al ive, even as they await res urrec tion. T he unending s truggle for J erus alem - mas s ac res , mayhem, wars , terroris m, s ieges and c atas trophes - have made this plac e into a battlefield, in A ldous Huxley's words the 's laughterhous e of the rel igions ', in Flaubert's a 'c harnel-hous e'.Melvi l le c al led the c i ty a 's kul l ' bes ieged by 'arm ies of the dead'; whi le Edward Said remembered that his father had hated J erus alem bec aus e i t 'rem inded him of death'.

T his s anc tuary of heaven and earth did not always evolve providential ly. Rel igions begin wi th a s park revealed to one c haris matic prophet - Mos es , J es us , Muhammad. Empires are founded, c i ties c onquered, by the energy and luc k of one warlord. T he dec is ions of individuals , s tarting wi th K ing David, madeJ erus alem into J erus alem.

T here was s urely s c ant pros pec t that David's l i ttle c i tadel , c api tal of a s mal l kingdom, would bec ome the world's c ynos ure. Ironic al ly i t was Nebuc hadnezzar's des truc tion of J erus alem that c reated the template for hol ines s bec aus e that c atas trophe led the J ews to rec ord and ac c laim the glories of Zion. Suc hc atac lys ms us ual ly led to the vanis hing of peoples . Yet the J ews ' exuberant s urvival , their obs tinate devotion to their God and, above al l , their rec ording of their vers ion of his tory in the B ible laid the foundation for J erus alem 's fame and s anc ti ty. T he B ible took the plac e of the J ewis h s tate and the Temple andbec ame, as Heinric h Heine put in, the 'portable fatherland of the J ews , the portable J erus alem '. No other c i ty has i ts own book and no other book has s o guided the des tiny of a c i ty.

T he s anc ti ty of the c i ty grew out of the exc eptional is m of the J ews as the Chos en People. J erus alem bec ame the Chos en City, Pales tine the Chos en Land, and this exc eptional is m was inheri ted and embrac ed by the Chris tians and the Mus l ims . T he paramount s anc ti ty of J erus alem and of the land of Is raelwas reflec ted in the growing rel igious obs es s ion with the res toration of the J ews to Is rael and the W es tern enthus ias m for Zionis m, i ts s ec ular equivalent, between the s ixteenth-c entury Reformation in Europe and the 1970s . S inc e then, the tragic narrative of the Pales tinians , wi th J erus alem as their los t Holy Ci ty,has al tered the perc eption of Is rael . T hus W es tern fixation, this s ens e of univers al owners hip, c an work both ways - i t is a m ixed bles s ing or a double-edged s word. T oday i t is reflec ted in the s c rutiny of J erus alem and the Is rael-Pales tine c onfl ic t, more intens e, more emotional than any other on earth.

Yet nothing is qui te as s imple i t s eems . T he his tory is often pres ented as a s eries of brutal c hanges and violent revers als but I want to s how that J erus alem was a c i ty of c ontinui ty and c o-exis tenc e, a hybrid metropol is of hybrid bui ldings and hybrid people who defy the narrow c ategorizations that belong in thes eparate rel igious legends and national is t narratives of later times . T hat is why, wherever pos s ible, I fol low the his tory through fam i l ies - the Davidians , Mac c abees and Herodians , the Umayyads and the hous es of Baldwin and Saladin, up to the Hus s einis , Khal idis , Spaffords , Roths c hi lds and Montefiores - whic hreveal the organic patterns of l i fe that defy the abrupt inc idents and s ec tarian narratives of c onventional his tory. T here are not jus t two s ides in J erus alem but many interl inked, overlapping c ul tures and layered loyal ties - a multi -fac eted, mutating kaleidos c ope of A rab Orthodox, A rab Mus l ims , Sephardic J ews ,As hkenazi J ews , Haredi J ews of legion c ourts , s ec ular J ews , A rmenian Orthodox, Georgians , Serbs , Rus s ians , Copts , P rotes tants , E thiopians , Latins and s o on. A s ingle individual often had s everal loyal ties to di fferent identi ties , the human equivalent of J erus alem 's layers of s tone and dus t.

In fac t, the c i ty's relevanc e has ebbed and flowed, never s ti l l , always in a s tate of trans formation, l ike a plant that c hanges s hape, s ize, even c olour, yet always remains rooted in the s ame plac e. T he lates t, gl ib manifes tation - J erus alem as media 'Holy Ci ty s ac red to three rel igions ' and twenty-four-hour-newss how - is relatively rec ent. T here have been c enturies when J erus alem s eemed to los e rel igious and pol i tic al importanc e. In many c as es , i t was pol i tic al nec es s i ty, not divine revelation, that again s timulated and ins pired rel igious devotion.

W henever J erus alem has s eemed mos t forgotten and i rrelevant, i t was often the bibl iolatry, the devoted s tudy of bibl ic al truth by people in faraway lands - whether in Mec c a, Mos c ow, Mas s ac hus etts - who projec ted their fai th bac k on to J erus alem. A l l c i ties are windows into foreign m inds ets but this one is als oa two-way m irror reveal ing her inner l i fe whi le reflec ting the world outs ide. W hether i t was the epoc h of total fai th, righteous empire-bui lding, evangel ic al revelation or s ec ular national is m, J erus alem bec ame i ts s ymbol, and i ts prize. But l ike the m irrors in a c i rc us , the reflec tions are always dis torted, often freakis h.

J erus alem has a way of dis appointing and tormenting both c onquerors and vis i tors . T he c ontras t between the real and heavenly c i ties is s o exc ruc iating that a hundred patients a year are c ommitted to the c i ty's as ylum, s uffering from the J erus alem Syndrome, a madnes s of antic ipation, dis appointment anddelus ion. But J erus alem Syndrome is pol i tic al too: J erus alem defies s ens e, prac tic al pol i tic s and s trategy, exis ting in the realm of ravenous pas s ions and invinc ible emotions , impermeable to reas on.

Even vic tory in this s truggle for dominanc e and truth merely intens i fies the c i ty's hol ines s for others . T he greedier the pos s es s or, the fierc er the c ompeti tion, the more vis c eral the reac tion. T he law of unintended c ons equenc es reigns here.No other plac e evokes s uc h a des ire for exc lus ive pos s es s ion. Yet this jealous zeal is i ronic s inc e mos t of J erus alem 's s hrines , and the s tories that go with them, have been borrowed or s tolen, belonging formerly to another rel igion. T he c i ty's pas t is often imaginary. V irtual ly every s tone onc e s tood in the long-

forgotten temple of another fai th, the vic tory arc h of another empire. Mos t, but not al l , c onques ts have been ac c ompanied by the ins tinc t to expunge the taint of other fai ths whi le c ommandeering their tradi tions , s tories , s i tes . T here has been muc h des truc tion, but more often the c onquerors have not des troyed whatc ame before but reus ed and added to i t. T he important s i tes s uc h as the Temple Mount, the Ci tadel , the Ci ty of David, Mount Zion and the Churc h of the Holy Sepulc hre do not pres ent dis tinc t layers of his tory but are more l ike pal imps es ts , works of embroidery in whic h the s i lk threads are s o interwoven i t is nowimpos s ible to s eparate them.

T he c ompeti tion to pos s es s the infec tious hol ines s of others has led s ome s hrines to bec ome holy to al l three of the rel igions s uc c es s ively then s imultaneous ly; kings have dec reed and men died for them - and yet they are now almos t forgotten: Mount Zion has been the s i te of frenzied J ewis h, Mus l im andChris tian reverenc e but now there are few Mus l im or J ewis h pi lgrims , and i t is mainly Chris tian again.

In J erus alem, the truth is often muc h les s important than the myth. 'In J erus alem, don't as k me the his tory of fac ts ,' s ays the em inent Pales tinian his torian Dr Nazmi al-J ubeh. 'Take away the fic tion and there's nothing left.' His tory is s o pungently powerful here that i t is repeatedly dis torted: arc haeology is i ts el f ahis toric al forc e and arc haeologis ts have at times wielded as muc h power as s oldiers , rec rui ted to appropriate the pas t for the pres ent. A dis c ipl ine that aims to be objec tive and s c ienti fic c an be us ed to rational ize rel igious -ethnic prejudic e and jus ti fy imperial ambitions . Is rael is , Pales tinians and the evangel ic alimperial is ts of the nineteenth c entury have al l been gui l ty of c ommandeering the s ame events and as s igning them c ontradic tory meanings and fac ts . So a his tory of J erus alem has to be a his tory of both truth and legend. But there are fac ts and this book aims to tel l them, however unpalatable to one s ide or theother.My aim here is to wri te the his tory of J erus alem in i ts broades t s ens e for general readers , whether they are atheis ts or bel ievers , Chris tians , Mus l ims or J ews , wi thout a pol i tic al agenda, even in today's s tri fe.

I tel l the s tory c hronologic al ly, through the l ives of the men and women - s oldiers and prophets , poets and kings , peas ants and mus ic ians - and the fam i l ies who made J erus alem. I think this is the bes t way to bring the c i ty to l i fe and to s how how i ts c omplex and unexpec ted truths are the res ul t of this his tory. Itis only by c hronologic al narrative that one avoids the temptation to s ee the pas t through the obs es s ions of the pres ent. I have tried to avoid teleology - wri ting his tory as i f every event were inevi table. S inc e eac h mutation is a reac tion to the one that prec eded i t, c hronology is the bes t way to make s ens e of thisevolution, ans wer the ques tion - why J erus alem? - and s how why people ac ted the way they did. I hope this is als o the mos t entertaining way to tel l i t. W ho am I to ruin a s tory that - to us e a Hol lywood c l ic he that is , in this c as e, meri ted - is the greates t ever told? Among thous ands of books on J erus alem, there arevery few narrative his tories . Four epoc hs - David, J es us , the Crus ades and the A rab-Is rael i c onfl ic t - are fam i l iar, thanks to the B ible, movies , novels and the news , but they are s ti l l frequently m is unders tood. As for the res t, I dearly wis h to bring muc h forgotten his tory to new readers .

T his is a his tory of J erus alem as the c entre of world his tory, but i t is not intended to be an enc yc lopaedia of every as pec t of J erus alem, nor a guidebook of every nic he, c api tal and arc hway in every bui lding. T his is not a m inute his tory of the Orthodox, Latins or A rmenians , the Is lam ic Hanafi or Shafi i s c hools oflaw, the Has idic or the Karai te J ews , nor is i t told from any s pec i fic point of view. T he l i fe of the Mus l im c i ty from Mamluks to the Mandate has been neglec ted. T he J erus alem Famil ies have been s tudied by ac ademic s of the Pales tinian experienc e, but s c arc ely c overed by popular his torians . T heir his tories havebeen and remain extremely important: s ome key s ourc es are not yet avai lable in Engl is h, but I have had them trans lated and I have interviewed the fam i ly members of al l thes e c lans in order to learn their s tories . But they are only part of the mos aic . T his is not a his tory of J udais m, Chris tiani ty or Is lam, nor a s tudy ofthe nature of God in J erus alem: al l thes e have been expertly done by others - mos t rec ently in Karen A rms trong's exc el lent J erus alem: One City, Three Fai ths . Nor is this a detai led his tory of the Is rael-Pales tine c onfl ic t: no s ubjec t today is s o obs es s ively s tudied. But my daunting c hal lenge is to c over al l thes ethings , I hope in proportion.

My tas k is to purs ue the fac ts , not to adjudic ate between the mys teries of di fferent rel igions . I c ertainly do not c laim the right to judge whether the divine wonders and s ac red texts of the three great rel igions are 'true'. Anyone who s tudies the B ible or J erus alem has to rec ognize that there are many levels of truth.T he bel iefs of other rel igions and other epoc hs s eem s trange to us , whi le the fam i l iar c us toms of our own time and plac e always appear em inently reas onable. Even the twenty-fi rs t c entury, whic h many s eem to regard as the very ac me of s ec ular reas on and c ommon s ens e, has i ts own c onventional wis doms andquas i-rel igious orthodoxies that wi l l appear inc omprehens ibly abs urd to our great-grandc hi ldren. But the effec t of the rel igions and their m irac les on the his tory of J erus alem is undeniably real , and i t is impos s ible to know J erus alem without s ome res pec t for rel igion.

T here are c enturies of J erus alem 's his tory when l i ttle is known and everything is c ontrovers ial . Being J erus alem, the ac ademic and arc haeologic al debates are always venomous and s ometimes violent, even leading to riots and fighting. Events in the las t hal f-c entury are s o c ontrovers ial that there are manyvers ions of them.

In the early period, his torians , arc haeologis ts and c ranks al ike have s queezed, moulded and manhandled the very few s ourc es avai lable to fi t every pos s ible theory whic h they have then advoc ated with al l the c onfidenc e of abs olute c ertainty. In al l c as es , I have reviewed the original s ourc es and the manytheories and c ome to a c onc lus ion. If I c overed mys el f c omprehens ively in every c as e, the mos t c ommon words in this book would be 'maybe', 'probably', 'm ight' and 'c ould'. I have therefore not inc luded them on every appropriate oc c as ion but I as k the reader to unders tand that behind every s entenc e is a c olos s al ,ever-c hanging l i terature. Eac h s ec tion has been c hec ked and read by an ac ademic s pec ial is t. I am fortunate that I have been helped in this by s ome of the mos t dis tinguis hed profes s ors at work today.

T he mos t fraught of thes e c ontrovers ies is that of K ing David, bec aus e i ts pol i tic al impl ic ations are s o c harged and s o c ontemporary. Even at i ts mos t s c ienti fic , this debate has been c onduc ted more dramatic al ly and with greater hars hnes s than one would find in any other plac e on any other s ubjec t, exc eptperhaps the natures of Chris t or Muhammad. T he s ourc e for the s tory of David is the B ible. His his toric al l i fe was long taken for granted. In the nineteenth c entury, the imperial is tic -Chris tian interes t in the Holy Land ins pired the arc haeologic al ques t for David's J erus alem. T he Chris tian nature of this inves tigationwas redirec ted by the c reation of the S tate of Is rael in 1948 whic h gave i t pas s ionate rel igious -pol i tic al s igni fic anc e bec aus e of David's s tatus as the founder of J ewis h J erus alem. In the abs enc e of muc h evidenc e of the tenth c entury, revis ionis t Is rael i his torians downs ized David's c i ty. Some even ques tionedwhether he was a his toric al c harac ter at al l , muc h to the outrage of J ewis h tradi tional is ts and to the glee of Pales tinian pol i tic ians , bec aus e i t underm ined the J ewis h c laim . But the dis c overy of the Tel Dan s tele in 1993 proved that K ing David did exis t. T he B ible, though not wri tten primari ly as his tory, isnonetheles s a his toric al s ourc e whic h I have us ed to tel l the s tory. T he extent of David's c i ty and the trus tworthines s of the B ible are dis c us s ed in the text and for the pres ent c onfl ic t over the City of David, s ee the Epi logue.

Muc h later, i t is impos s ible to wri te about the nineteenth c entury wi thout feel ing the s hadow of Edward Said's Oriental is m. Said, a Pales tinian Chris tian born in J erus alem who bec ame a l i terary profes s or at Columbia Univers i ty in New York and an original pol i tic al voic e in the world of Pales tinian national is m,argued that the 's ubtle and pers is tent Euroc entric prejudic e agains t A rabo-Is lam ic peoples and their c ul ture', partic ularly among nineteenth-c entury travel lers s uc h as Chateaubriand, Melvi l le and T wain, had dim inis hed A rab c ul ture and jus ti fied imperial is m. However, Said's own work ins pired s ome of his ac olytesto try to airbrus h thes e W es tern intruders out of the his tory: this is abs urd. It is true, however, that thes e vis i tors s aw and unders tood l i ttle of the real l i fe of A rab and J ewis h J erus alem and, as explained above, I have worked hard to s how the ac tual l ives of the indigenous population. But this book is not a polem icand the his torian of J erus alem mus t s how the dominating influenc e of W es tern romantic -imperial c ul ture towards the c i ty bec aus e i t explains why the Middle Eas t s o mattered to the Great Powers .

S im i larly, I have portrayed the progres s of B ri tis h pro-Zionis m, s ec ular and evangel ic al , from Palmers ton and Shaftes bury to Lloyd George, Bal four, Churc hi l l and their friend W eizmann for the s imple reas on that this was the s ingle mos t dec is ive influenc e on the fate of J erus alem and Pales tine in the nineteenthand twentieth c enturies .

I end the main body of the book in 1967 bec aus e the S ix Day W ar es s ential ly c reated the s i tuation today and i t provides a dec is ive s top. T he Epi logue c urs ori ly brings the pol i tic s up to the pres ent and ends with a detai led portrai t of a typic al morning in the three Holy P lac es . But the s i tuation is ever c hanging. IfI were to c ontinue the his tory in detai l up to today, the book would lac k any c lear ending and have to be updated almos t hourly. Ins tead I have tried to s how why J erus alem c ontinues to be both the es s enc e of and obs tac le to a peac e deal .

T his work is a s ynthes is bas ed on a wide reading of the primary s ourc es , anc ient and modern, on pers onal s eminars wi th s pec ial is ts , profes s ors , arc haeologis ts , fam i l ies and s tates men, and on innumerable vis i ts to J erus alem, the s hrines and arc haeologic al digs . I have been fortunate to unc over s ome newor rarely us ed s ourc es . My res earc h has brought three s pec ial joys : that of s pending muc h time in J erus alem; that of reading the wondrous works of wri ters from Us amah bin Munqidh, Ibn Khaldun, Evl iya Celebi and W as if J awhariyyeh to W i l l iam of T yre, J os ephus and T. E . Lawrenc e; and, thi rdly, that of beingbefriended and helped, wi th s uc h trus t and generos i ty, am id feroc ious pol i tic al c ris es , by J erus alem ites of al l s ec ts - Pales tinians , Is rael is and A rmenians , Mus l ims , J ews and Chris tians .

I feel I have been preparing to wri te this book al l my l i fe. S inc e c hi ldhood, I have been wandering around J erus alem. Bec aus e of a fam i ly c onnec tion, related in the book, 'J erus alem ' is my fam i ly motto. W hatever the pers onal l ink, I am here to rec ount the his tory of what happened and what people bel ieved. Toreturn to where we s tarted, there have always been two J erus alems , the temporal and the c eles tial , both ruled more by fai th and emotion than by reas on and fac ts . And J erus alem remains the c entre of the world.

Not everyone wi l l l ike my approac h - after al l , this is J erus alem. But in wri ting the book I always remembered Lloyd George's advic e to his Governor of J erus alem, S torrs , who was being s avagely c ri tic ized by both J ews and A rabs : 'W el l , i f ei ther one s ide s tops c omplaining, you'l l be dis m is s ed.'1

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I have been helped in this huge projec t by a wide c as t of s c holars outs tanding in their fields . I am deeply grateful to them for their help, advic e and, where s tated, reading and c orrec ting of my text.In the arc haeologic al-bibl ic al period, thank you, above al l , to the fol lowing for reading and c orrec ting this s ec tion: P rofes s or Ronny Reic h; P rofes s or Dan Bahat, formerly the Chief A rc haeologis t of J erus alem, who als o gave me detai led tours of the c i ty; Dr Raphael Greenberg, who l ikewis e treated me to s i te

vis i ts ; and Ros emary Es hel . T hanks for help and advic e to Irving Finkel , As s is tant Keeper of Anc ient Iraq and magic al-medic al texts at the B ri tis h Mus eum; and to Dr E leanor Robs on, Reader in Anc ient Middle Eas tern Sc ienc e, Department of His tory and Phi los ophy of Sc ienc e, Cambridge Univers i ty, for herc orrec tion of the s ec tions on As s yria-Babylon-Pers ia, and Dr Nic ola Sc hreiber for her advic e on the pottery impl ic ations for the dating of the gateways of Megiddo; to Dr Gideon Avni , Direc tor of Exc avations and Surveys Department, IAA ; Dr E l i Shukron, for his regular tours of the dig in the City of David; Dr ShimonGibs on; Dr Renee S ivan of the Ci tadel . And s pec ial thanks to Dr Yus uf al-Nats heh, Direc tor of the Department of Is lam ic A rc haeology of the Haram al-Shari f, for his help throughout the projec t and for arranging ac c es s to c los ed s i tes on the Haram and tours wi th Khader al-Shihabi . On the Herodian-Roman-Byzantine period, I am immens ely grateful to P rofes s or Martin Goodman of Oxford Univers i ty and to Dr Adrian Golds worthy for the reading and c orrec tion of my text.

On the early Is lam ic period, A rabs , T urks and Mamluks , I owe huge thanks for his advic e, guidanc e and detai led c orrec tion of my text to Hugh Kennedy, P rofes s or of A rabic at the Sc hool of Oriental and A fric an S tudies (SOAS), and als o to Dr Nazmi al-J ubeh, Dr Yus uf al-Nats heh and Khader al-Shihabi . On theMamil la Cemetery, I thank T aufik De'adel .

On the Crus ades : thanks to P rofes s or J onathan Ri ley-Smith, P rofes s or of Ec c les ias tic al His tory, Cambridge Univers i ty, and to P rofes s or David Abulafia, P rofes s or of Mediterranean His tory, Cambridge Univers i ty, for reading and c orrec ting the text.On J ewis h his tory from the Fatim ids to the Ottomans : thanks to P rofes s or Abulafia who gave me ac c es s to manus c ript s ec tions of his Great Sea: A Human His tory of the Mediterranean , to P rofes s or Minna Rozen, Hai fa Univers i ty, and to S ir Martin Gi lbert, who let me read the manus c ript of In Is hmael 's Hous e .On the Ottoman period and the Pales tinian J erus alem Famil ies : thanks to P rofes s or Adel Manna, who read and c orrec ted the text of the s ixteenth-, s eventeenth- and eighteenth-c entury s ec tions .On the nineteenth-c entury-imperial is t-early-Zionis t periods : thanks to Yehos hoa Ben-A rieh; S ir Martin Gi lbert; P rofes s or T udor Parfi tt; Carol ine Finkel ; Dr Abigai l Green, who let me read her manus c ript Mos es Montefiore: J ew is h Liberator, Imperial Hero ; and Bas hir Barakat, for his private res earc h on the

J erus alem Famil ies . K irs ten E l l is generous ly gave me ac c es s to unpubl is hed c hapters of Star of the Morning . Dr Clare Mouradian gave me muc h advic e and material . P rofes s or Minna Rozen s hared her res earc h on Dis rael i and other papers . On the Rus s ian c onnec tion, thanks to P rofes s or S imon Dixon, and toGal ina Babkova in Mos c ow; and on the A rmenians to George Hintl ian and Dr Igor Dorfmann-Lazarev.

On the Zionis t period, the twentieth c entury and the Epi logue: I owe the greates t thanks to Dr Nadim Shehadi, As s oc iate Fel low of the Middle Eas t P rogramme, Chatham Hous e, and to P rofes s or Col in Shindler, SOAS, both of whom read and c orrec ted thes e enti re s ec tions . I am grateful to David and J ac kieLandau of the Ec onomis t and Haaretz for their c orrec tions . T hanks to Dr J ac ques Gautier; to Dr A lbert Aghazarian; to J amal al-Nus s eibeh for ideas and c ontac ts ; to Huda Imam for her tour of the Sec uri ty W al l ; to Yakov Loupo for his res earc h on the ul tra-Orthodox.

I owe muc h to Dr J ohn Cas ey of Gonvi l le and Caius Col lege, Cambridge, who nobly and merc i les s ly c orrec ted the enti re text, as did George Hintl ian, his torian of the Ottoman period, Sec retary of the A rmenian Patriarc hate 1975-95. Spec ial thanks to Maral Amin Quttieneh for her trans lation of A rabic materialsinto Engl is h.

T hanks for advic e and fam i ly his tory to the fol lowing members of the J erus alem Famil ies interviewed or c ons ul ted: Muhammad al-A lam i, Nas s eredin al-Nas has hibi , J amal al-Nus s eibeh, Zaki al -Nus s eibeh, W ajeeh al-Nus s eibeh, Saida al-Nus s eibeh, Mahmoud al-J aral lah, Huda Imam of the J erus alem Ins ti tute,Hai fa al-Khal idi , Khader al-Shihabi , Said al-Hus s eini , Ibrahim al-Hus s eini , Omar al-Dajani , Aded al-J udeh, Maral Amin Quttieneh, Dr Rajai M. al-Dajani , Ranu al-Dajani , Adeb al-Ans ari , Naj i Qazaz, Yas s er Shuki T oha, owner of my favouri te Abu Shukri res taurant; P rofes s or Ras hid Khal idi of Columbia Univers i ty.

T hanks to Shmuel Rabinowitz, Rabbi of the W es tern W al l and the Holy S i tes ; to Father A thanas ius Mac ora of the Cathol ic s , Father Samuel Aghoyan, A rmenian Superior of the Churc h of the Holy Sepulc hre, Father A frayem E loras hamily of the Copts , Syriac B is hop Severius , Syriac Father Malke Morat.I am grateful to Shimon Peres , the P res ident of the S tate of Is rael , and Lord W eidenfeld, both of whom s hared memories and ideas ; to P rinc es s Firyal of J ordan for her memories of J ordanian J erus alem; and to P rinc e and P rinc es s T alal bin Muhammad of J ordan.T hanks to HRH the Duke of Edinburgh for his advic e and for c hec king the text on his mother P rinc es s Andrew of Greec e and his aunt Grand Duc hes s E l la; and to HRH the P rinc e of W ales . I am es pec ial ly grateful for ac c es s to their private fam i ly arc hives to the Earl of Morley and to the Hon. and Mrs Nigel Parker

for their c harm ing hos pi tal i ty.Y i tzhak Yaac ovy was the man who introduc ed me to J erus alem: s urvivor of Aus c hwitz, fighter in the 1948 W ar of Independenc e, man of letters , young aide in Ben-Gurion's offic e, he was the long-s erving Chairman of the Eas t J erus alem Development Company under Mayor T eddy Kol lek.T he envoys of both the S tate of Is rael and the Pales tinian Authori ty were immens ely generous in time, ideas , information and c onvers ation: thanks to Ron P ros or, the Is rael i Ambas s ador to London, Rani Gidor, Sharon Hannoy and Ronit Ben Dor at the Is rael i Embas s y; P rofes s or Manuel Has s as s ian, the

Pales tinian Authori ty Ambas s ador in London.W il l iam Dalrymple and Charles Glas s were both extremely generous throughout this projec t wi th ideas , materials and reading-l is ts . T he J erus alem Foundation was inc redibly helpful : thanks to Ruth Ches in, Nuri t Gordon, A lan Freeman and Uri Dromi, Direc tor of Mis hkenot Shaanim. No one helped as muc h with

ac ademic and other c ontac ts as J ohn Levy of the Friends of Is rael Educ ational Foundation and of the Ac ademic S tudy Group, and Ray B ruc e, veteran televis ion produc er.T hanks to Peter Sebag-Montefiore and his daughter Louis e As pinal l for s haring Geoffrey Sebag-Montefiore's papers ; to Kate Sebag-Montefiore for res earc h into W i l l iam Sebag-Montefiore's adventures .T hanks for help, advic e, enc ouragement to: Amos and Ni ly Oz, Munther Fahmi at the Americ an Colony Books hop, Phi l ip W inds or-Aubrey, David Hare, David K royanker, Hannah Kedar, Fred Is eman, Lea Carpenter B rokaw, Danna Harman, Dorothy and David Harman, Carol ine Finkel , Lorenza Smith, P rofes s or

Benjam in Kedar, Yaov Farhi , Diala Khlat, Ziyad Clot, Yous s ef Khlat, Rania J oubran, Rebec c a Abram, S ir Roc c o and Lady Forte, Kenneth Ros e, Dorri t Mous s aeff and her father Shlomo Mous s aeff, S ir Ronald and Lady Cohen, David Khal i l i , Ric hard Foreman, Ryan P rinc e, Tom Hol land, Tarek Abu Zayyad, P rofes s orIs rael Finkels tein, P rofes s or Avigdor Shinan, P rofes s or Yair Zakovi tc h, J onathan Foreman, Mus a K lebnikoff, A rlene Las c ona, Ceri As ton, Rev. Robin Gri ffi th-J ones , the Mas ter of the Temple, Hani Abu Diab, Miriam Ovits , J oana Sc hl iemann, Sarah Helm, P rofes s or S imon Goldhi l l , Dr Dorothy K ing, Dr Phi l ip Mans el ,Sam K i ley, J ohn Mic klethwait, edi tor of the Ec onomis t, Gideon Lic hfield, Rabbi Mark W iner, Mauric e B i tton, the Curator of Bevis Marks Synagogue, Rabbi Abraham Levy, P rofes s or Harry Zei tl in, P rofes s or F. M. al-E lois c hari , Melanie Fal l , Rabbi David Goldberg, Melanie Gibs on, Annabel le W eidenfeld, Adam, Gi l l ,David and Rac hel Montefiore, Dr Gabriel Barkey, Marek T amm, E than B ronner of the New York Times , Henry Hemming, W i l l iam S ieghart. T hanks to T om Morgan for help wi th the res earc h.

T hanks to my agent Georgina Capel and my international rights agents Abi Gi lbert and Romily Mus t; to my B ri tis h publ is hers A lan Sams on, Ion T rewin and Sus an Lamb, my bri l l iant edi tor Bea Hemming at W eidenfeld; and to Peter J ames , the mas ter of c opy-edi tors ; to my mos t longs tanding publ is hers : SonnyMehta at Knopf; in B razi l to Luiz Sc hwarz and Ana Paula His ayama at Companhia das Letras ; in Franc e, Mirei l le Paoloni at Calmann Levy; in Germany, Peter S i l lem at Fis c her; in Is rael , Ziv Lewis at K inneret; in Hol land, Henk van ter Borg, at Nieuw Ams terdam; in Norway, Ida Berns ten and Gerd J ohns en atCappelens ; in Poland, J olanta W olos zans ka at Magnum; in Portugal , A lexandra Louro at A letheia Edi tores ; in Spain, Carmen Es teban at Cri tic a; in Es tonia, K ris ta Kaer of Varrak; and in Sweden, Per Faus tino and S tefan Hi lding at Nors tedts .

My parents Dr S tephen and Apri l Sebag-Montefiore have been s uperb edi tors of al l my books . Above al l I want to thank my wife Santa, who has been the patient, enc ouraging and loving s ul tana of this long proc es s . Santa and my c hi ldren Li ly and Sas ha have, l ike me, undoubtedly s uffered the ful l effec ts of theJ erus alem Syndrome. T hey may never rec over, but they probably know more about the Roc k, the W al l and the Sepulc hre than many a pries t, rabbi or mul lah.

NOTES ON NAMES,TRANSLITERATIONS AND TITLES

T his book inevi tably c ontains a c hal lenging divers i ty of names , languages and ques tions of trans l i teration. It is for general readers , s o my pol ic y is to us e the mos t ac c es s ible and fam i l iar names . I apologize to puris ts who are offended by thes e dec is ions .In the J udaean period, I general ly us e the Greek not the Latin or Hebrew names for the Has monean kings - A ris tobulos , for example. W ith m inor c harac ters s uc h as Herod's brother-in-law I us e his Hebrew name J onathan ins tead of his Greek one, A ris tobulos , to avoid c onfus ion with the many other

A ris tobulos es . W ith hous ehold names , I us e the fam i l iar - Herod (not Herodes ), Pompey, Mark Antony, T amurlane, Saladin. For Pers ian names , i f wel l known s uc h as Cyrus , I us e that vers ion. T he Mac c abean fam i ly reigned as the Has monean dynas ty, but I c al l them Mac c abean throughout for the s ake of c lari ty.In the A rab period, the c hal lenges are greater. I do not pretend to be c ons is tent. I general ly us e fam i l iar Engl is h forms - s uc h as Damas c us rather than Dimas hq. I have dropped the A rabic artic le 'al -' before pers ons , groups and towns but kept i t on the whole wi thin c ompound names and for the fi rs t mention of

names in the text and the notes and not thereafter. I do not us e diac ri tic al marks . Mos t of the Abbas id and Fatam id c al iphs and Ayyubid s ul tans adopted a regnant name, a laqab, s uc h as al-Mans ur. Purely to eas e reading, I drop in al l c as es the defini te artic le. I us e 'ibn' ins tead of 'bin' exc ept in wel l -known names .In names s uc h as Abu Sufyan, I do not us e the A rabic geni tive (whic h would give, for example, Muawiya ibn Abi Sufyan), again for fac i l i ty. I general ly c al l the Ayyubids the 'hous e of Saladin'.

T here is no c ons is tenc y in the W es tern his toric al us e of A rab names - for example, the Abbas ids are known by their rul ing names apart from Harun al-Ras hid bec aus e he is famous thanks to the A rabian Nights s tories . A l l his torians us e the name Saladin for the twel fth-c entury s ul tan yet c al l his brother al-Adi l .Saladin's birth name was Yus uf ibn Ayyub; his brother was Abu Bakr ibn Ayyub. Both men adopted honori fic names Salah al-Din and Sai f al -Din; and both later us ed regnant names al-Nas ir (the V ic tor) for Saladin and al-Adi l (the J us t) for his brother. For eas e, I us e Saladin and Safedin res pec tively, partly to avoidc onfus ion of Ayyubid names s uc h as al-Adi l , al -Aziz, al -A fdal , and partly to highl ight the c onnec tion with Saladin.

During the Mamluk period, his torians us ual ly us e the name Baibars , rather than us ing his regnant name al-Zahir, but then employ regnant names for mos t of the others - exc ept for al -Nas ir Muhammad where they us e both. I fol low this inc ons is tent tradi tion.During the Ottoman period, in les s wel l -known names , I try to us e T urkis h, not A rabic , s pel l ings . I have s imply c hos en the mos t rec ognizable vers ion: J emal Pas ha is Cemal in T urkis h and often trans l i terated as Djemal. I us e Mehmet A l i ins tead of Muhammad A l i .In modern times , I c al l Hus s ein ibn A l i the Sheri f of Mec c a or K ing Hus s ein of the Hejaz; I c al l his s ons P rinc e or Amir (unti l they too bec ome kings ) Fais al and Abdul lah ins tead of Fais al and Abdul lah ibn Hus s ein. I c al l them Sheri fians in the early period and Has hemites later. I c al l the fi rs t king of Saudi

A rabia Abdul Aziz al-Saud but more often us e the W es ternized vers ion, Ibn Saud. Bertha Spafford married Frederic k Ves ter: for c ons is tenc y I c al l her Spafford throughout.Canaan, J udah, J udaea, Is rael , Palaes tina, B i lad al-Shams , Pales tine, Greater Syria, Coele Syria, the Holy Land, are jus t s ome of the names us ed to des c ribe the c ountry, wi th varying borders . T here are s aid to be s eventy names for J erus alem (s ome are l is ted in the Appendix). W ithin the c i ty, the Hous e of

God, the Holy Hous e, the Temple, al l refer to the J ewis h Temple. T he Dome, the Qubbet al-Sakhra, Temple of the Lord, Templum Domini refer to the Dome of the Roc k; the Aqs a is the Temple of Solomon. Har HaBayi t is the Hebrew and Haram al-Shari f is the A rabic for the Temple Mount, whic h I als o c al l thes ac red es planade. T he Sanc tuary refers ei ther to the Holy of Hol ies or later to the Temple Mount, whic h Mus l ims c al l the Noble Sanc tuary (Haram); for Mus l ims , the T wo Sanc tuaries refer to J erus alem and Hebron, another Herodian bui lding: the tomb of Abraham and the patriarc hs . T he Anas tas is , the Churc h, theSepulc hre and Deir Sul tan refer to the Churc h of the Holy Sepulc hre. T he Roc k is Sakhra in A rabic ; the Foundation S tone is Even HaShtiyah in Hebrew; the Holy of Hol ies is Kodes h haKodes him. T he W al l , the Kotel , the W es tern and W ai l ing W al l and al-Buraq wal l refer to the J ewis h holy s i te. T he Citadel and theTower of David refer to the Herodian s tronghold c los e to the J affa Gate. T he V irgin's Tomb and S t Mary of J ehos haphat are the s ame plac e. T he Val ley of J ehos haphat is the K idron Val ley. David's Tomb, Nabi Daoud, the Cenac le and Coenac ulum des c ribe the s hrine on Mount Zion. Eac h of the gates has s o manynames whic h c hange s o frequently that to l is t them would be worthles s . Every s treet has at leas t three names : the Old Ci ty's main s treet is E l W ad in A rabic ; Ha-Gai in Hebrew and the Val ley in Engl is h.

Cons tantinople and Byzantium refer to Eas tern Rome and i ts empire; after 1453, I refer to the c i ty as Is tanbul . Cathol ic s and Latins are us ed interc hangeably; Orthodox and Greeks als o. Iran and Pers ia are us ed interc hangeably. I us e Iraq ins tead of Mes opotamia for ac c es s ibi l i ty.On ti tles : the Roman emperors were the princeps in Latin and later imperator; Byzantine emperors later bec ame bas i leos in Greek. In early Is lam, Muhammad's s uc c es s ors were various ly Commanders of the Fai thful and c al iph. Sul tan, padis hah and c al iph are al l ti tles of the Ottoman rulers ; in Germany, Kais er

and emperor and in Rus s ia, ts ar and emperor are us ed interc hangeably.

PROLOGUE

On 8th of the J ewis h month of Ab, in late J uly AD 70, T i tus , the Roman Emperor Ves pas ian's s on who was in c ommand of the four-month s iege of J erus alem, ordered his enti re army to prepare to s torm the Temple at dawn. T he next day happened to be the very day on whic h Babylonians had des troyed J erus alemover 500 years before. Now, T i tus c ommanded an army of four legions - a total of 60,000 Roman legionaries and loc al auxi l iaries who were eager to del iver the final blow to the defiant but broken c i ty. W ithin the wal ls , perhaps hal f a m i l l ion s tarving J ews s urvived in diabol ic al c ondi tions : s ome were fanatic alrel igious zealots , s ome were freebooting bandi ts , but mos t were innoc ent fam i l ies wi th no es c ape from this magnific ent death-trap. T here were many J ews l iving outs ide J udaea - they were to be found throughout the Mediterranean and Near Eas t - and this final des perate s truggle would dec ide not only the fate ofthe c i ty and her inhabi tants , but als o the future of J udais m and the s mal l J ewis h c ul t of Chris tiani ty - and even, looking forward ac ros s s ix c enturies , the s hape of Is lam.

T he Romans had bui l t ramps up agains t the wal ls of the Temple. But their as s aul ts had fai led. Earl ier that day, T i tus told his generals that his efforts to pres erve this 'foreign temple' were c os ting him too many s oldiers and he ordered the Temple gates s et al ight. T he s i lver of the gates melted and s pread thefi re to the wooden doorways and windows , thenc e to the wooden fi ttings in the pas s ageways of the Temple i ts el f. T i tus ordered the fi re to be quenc hed. T he Romans , he dec lared, s hould 'not avenge thems elves on inanimate objec ts ins tead of men'. T hen he reti red for the night into his headquarters in the hal f-ruined T ower of Antonia overlooking the res plendent T emple c omplex.

A round the wal ls , there were grues ome s c enes that mus t have res embled hel l on earth. T hous ands of bodies putrefied in the s un. T he s tenc h was unbearable. Pac ks of dogs and jac kals feas ted on human fles h. In the prec eding months , T i tus had ordered al l pris oners or defec tors to be c ruc i fied. Five hundredJ ews were c ruc i fied eac h day. T he Mount of Ol ives and the c raggy hi l ls around the c i ty were s o c rowded with c ruc i fixes that there was s c arc ely room for any more, nor trees to make them.1 T i tus ' s oldiers amus ed thems elves by nai l ing their vic tims s played and s pread-eagled in abs urd pos i tions . So des perate weremany J erus alem ites to es c ape the c i ty that, as they left, they s wal lowed their c oins , to c onc eal their treas ure, whic h they hoped to retrieve when they were s afely c lear of the Romans . T hey emerged 'puffed up with fam ine and s wel led l ike men with drops y', but i f they ate they 'burs t as under'. As their bel l ies exploded,the s oldiers dis c overed their reeking intes tinal treas ure troves , s o they s tarted to gut al l pris oners , evis c erating them and s earc hing their intes tines whi le they were s ti l l al ive. But T i tus was appal led and tried to ban thes e anatomic al plunderings . T o no avai l : T i tus ' Syrian auxi l iaries , who hated and were hated by theJ ews with al l the mal ic e of neighbours , rel is hed thes e mac abre games .2 T he c ruel ties infl ic ted by the Romans and the rebels wi thin the wal ls c ompare with s ome of the wors t atroc i ties of the twentieth c entury.

T he war had begun when the inepti tude and greed of the Roman governors had driven even the J udaean aris toc rac y, Rome's own J ewis h al l ies , to make c ommon c aus e with a popular rel igious revol t. T he rebels were a m ixture of rel igious J ews and opportunis tic brigands who had exploi ted the downfal l of theemperor, Nero, and the c haos that fol lowed his s uic ide, to expel the Romans and re-es tabl is h an independent J ewis h s tate, bas ed around the T emple. But the J ewis h revolution immediately s tarted to c ons ume i ts el f in bloody purges and gang-warfare.

T hree Roman emperors fol lowed Nero in rapid and c haotic s uc c es s ion. By the time Ves pas ian emerged as emperor and des patc hed T i tus to take J erus alem, the c i ty was divided between three warlords at war wi th eac h other. T he J ewis h warlords had fi rs t fought pi tc hed battles in the T emple c ourts , whic h ranwith blood, and then plundered the c i ty. T heir fighters worked their way through the ric her neighbourhoods , rans ac king the hous es , ki l l ing the men and abus ing the women - 'i t was s port to them '. Crazed by their power and the thri l l of the hunt, probably intoxic ated with looted wine, they 'indulged thems elves infem inine wantonnes s , dec ked their hair and put on women's garments and be-s meared thems elves with ointments and had paints under their eyes '. T hes e provinc ial c ut-throats , s waggering in 'finely dyed c loaks ', ki l led anyone in their path. In their ingenious depravi ty, they 'invented unlawful pleas ures '. J erus alem,given over to 'intolerable unc leannes s ', bec ame 'a brothel ' and torture-c hamber - and yet remained a s hrine.3

Somehow the Temple c ontinued to func tion. Bac k in Apri l , pi lgrims had arrived for Pas s over jus t before the Romans c los ed in on the c i ty. T he population was us ual ly in the high tens of thous ands , but the Romans had now trapped the pi lgrims and many refugees from the war, s o there were hundreds ofthous ands of people in the c i ty. Only as T i tus enc irc led the wal ls did the rebel c hieftains hal t their in-fighting to uni te their 21,000 warriors and fac e the Romans together.

T he c i ty that T i tus s aw for the fi rs t time from Mount Sc opus , named after the Greek skopeo meaning 'look at', was , in P l iny's words , 'by far the mos t c elebrated c i ty of the Eas t', an opulent, thriving metropol is bui l t around one of the greates t temples of the anc ient world, i ts el f an exquis i te work of art on animmens e s c ale. J erus alem had already exis ted for thous ands of years but this many-wal led and towered c i ty, as tride two mountains am id the barren c rags of J udaea, had never been as populous or as awes ome as i t was in the fi rs t c entury AD: indeed J erus alem would not be s o great again unti l the twentiethc entury. T his was the ac hievement of Herod the Great, the bri l l iant, ps yc hotic J udaean king whos e palac es and fortres s es were bui l t on s o monumental a s c ale and were s o luxurious in their dec oration that the J ewis h his torian J os ephus s ays that they 'exc eed al l my abi l i ty to des c ribe them '.

T he Temple i ts el f overs hadowed al l els e in i ts numinous glory. 'A t the fi rs t ris ing of the s un', i ts gleaming c ourts and gi lded gates 'reflec ted bac k a very fiery s plendour and made thos e who forc ed thems elves to look upon i t to turn their eyes away'. W hen s trangers - s uc h as T i tus and his legionaries - s aw thisTemple for the fi rs t time, i t appeared 'l ike a mountain c overed with s now'. P ious J ews knew that at the c entre of the c ourts of this c i ty-wi thin-a-c i ty atop Mount Moriah was a tiny room of s uperlative hol ines s that c ontained virtual ly nothing at al l . T his s pac e was the foc us of J ewis h s anc ti ty: the Holy of Hol ies , thedwel l ing-plac e of God Hims elf.

Herod's Temple was a s hrine but i t was als o a near-impregnable fortres s wi thin the wal led c i ty. T he J ews , enc ouraged by Roman weaknes s in the Year of the Four Emperors and aided by J erus alem 's prec ipi tous heights , her forti fic ations and the labyrinthine Temple i ts el f, had c onfronted T i tus wi thoverweening c onfidenc e. A fter al l , they had defied Rome for almos t five years . However, T i tus pos s es s ed the authori ty, the ambition, the res ourc es and the talent nec es s ary for the tas k. He s et about reduc ing J erus alem with s ys tematic effic ienc y and overwhelm ing forc e. Bal l is tae s tones , probably fi red by T i tus ,have been found in the tunnels bes ide the Temple's wes tern wal l , tes tament to the intens i ty of Roman bombardment. T he J ews fought for every inc h with almos t s uic idal abandon. Yet T i tus , c ommanding the ful l ars enal of s iege engines , c atapul ts and the ingenui ty of Roman engineering, overc ame the fi rs t wal lwi thin fi fteen days . He led a thous and legionaries into the maze of J erus alem 's markets and s tormed the s ec ond wal l . But the J ews s ortied out and retook i t. T he wal l had to be s tormed al l over again. T i tus next tried to overawe the c i ty wi th a parade of his army - c uiras s es , helmets , blades flas hing, flags fluttering,eagles gl inting, 'hors es ric hly c aparis oned'. T hous ands of J erus alem ites gathered on the battlements to gawp at this s how, admiring 'the beauty of their armour and admirable order of the men'. T he J ews remained defiant, or too afraid of their warlords to dis obey their orders : no s urrender.

Final ly, T i tus dec ided to enc irc le and s eal the enti re c i ty by bui lding a wal l of c i rc umval lation. In late J une, the Romans s tormed the hulking Antonia Fortres s that c ommanded the T emple i ts el f and then razed i t, exc ept for one tower where T i tus s et up his c ommand-pos t.By m id-s ummer, as the bl is tered and jagged hi l ls s prouted fores ts of fly-blown c ruc i fied c adavers , the c i ty wi thin was tormented by a s ens e of impending doom, intrans igent fanatic is m, whims ic al s adis m, and s earing hunger. A rmed gangs prowled for food. Chi ldren grabbed the mors els from their fathers '

hands ; mothers s tole the tidbi ts of their own babies . Loc ked doors s ugges ted hidden provis ions and the warriors broke in, driving s takes up their vic tims ' rec tums to forc e them to reveal their c ac hes of grain. If they found nothing, they were even more 'barbarous ly c ruel ' as i f they had been 'defrauded.' Even though thefighters thems elves s ti l l had food, they ki l led and tortured out of habi t 'to keep their madnes s in exerc is e'. J erus alem was riven by wi tc h-hunts as people denounc ed eac h other as hoarders and trai tors . No other c i ty, reflec ted the eyewitnes s J os ephus , 'did ever al low s uc h m is eries , nor did any age ever breed ageneration more frui tful in wic kednes s than this was , s inc e the beginning of the world'.4

T he young wandered the s treets 'l ike s hadows , al l s wol len wi th fam ine, and fel l down dead, wherever their m is ery s eized them '. People died trying to bury their fam i l ies whi le others were buried c areles s ly, s ti l l breathing. Famine devoured whole fam i l ies in their homes . J erus alem ites s aw their loved ones die'wi th dry eyes and open mouths . A deep s i lenc e and a kind of deadly night s eized the c i ty' - yet thos e who peris hed did s o 'wi th their eyes fixed on the Temple'. T he s treets were heaped with dead bodies . Soon, des pi te J ewis h law, no one buried the dead any more in this grandios e c harnelhous e. Perhaps J es usChris t had fores een this when he predic ted the c oming Apoc alyps e, s aying 'Let the dead bury their dead.' Sometimes the rebels jus t heaved bodies over the wal ls . T he Romans left them to rot in putres c ent pi les . Yet the rebels were s ti l l fighting.

T i tus hims el f, an uns queamis h Roman s oldier, who had ki l led twelve J ews with his own c ros s bow in his fi rs t s kirm is h, was horri fied and amazed: he c ould only groan to the gods that this was not his doing. 'T he darl ing and del ight of the human rac e', he was known for his generos i ty. 'Friends , I've los t a day,' hewould s ay when he had not found time to give pres ents to his c omrades . S turdy and bluff wi th a c left c hin, generous mouth and round fac e, T i tus was proving to be a gi fted c ommander and a popular s on of the new emperor Ves pas ian: their unproven dynas ty depended on T i tus ' vic tory over the J ewis h rebels .

T i tus ' entourage was fi l led wi th J ewis h renegades inc luding three J erus alem ites - a his torian, a king and (i t s eems ) a double-queen who was s haring the Caes ar's bed. T he his torian was T i tus ' advis er J os ephus , a rebel J ewis h c ommander who had defec ted to the Romans and who is the s ole s ourc e for thisac c ount. T he king was Herod Agrippa II, a very Roman J ew, brought up at the c ourt of the Emperor Claudius ; he had been the s upervis or of the J ewis h Temple, bui l t by his great-grandfather Herod the Great, and often res ided in his J erus alem palac e, even though he ruled dis parate terri tories ac ros s the north ofmodern Is rael , Syria and Lebanon.

T he king was almos t c ertainly ac c ompanied by his s is ter, Berenic e, daughter of a J ewis h monarc h, and twic e a queen by marriage, who had rec ently bec ome T i tus ' m is tres s . Her Roman enemies later denounc ed her as 'the J ewis h Cleopatra'. She was around forty but 's he was in her bes t years and at theheight of her beauty', noted J os ephus . A t the s tart of the rebel l ion, s he and her brother, who l ived together (inc es tuous ly, c laimed their enemies ), had attempted to fac e down the rebels in a las t appeal to reas on. Now thes e three J ews helples s ly watc hed the 'death-agony of a famous c i ty' - Berenic e did s o from thebed of i ts des troyer.

P ris oners and defec tors brought news from within the c i ty that es pec ial ly ups et J os ephus , whos e own parents were trapped ins ide. Even the fighters s tarted to run out of food, s o they too probed and dis s ec ted the quic k and the dead, for gold, for c rumbs , for mere s eeds , 's tumbl ing and s taggering l ike maddogs '. T hey ate c ow dung, leather, gi rdles , s hoes and old hay. A ric h woman named Mary, having los t al l her money and food, bec ame s o demented that s he ki l led her own s on and roas ted him , eating hal f and keeping the res t for later. T he del ic ious aroma c rept ac ros s the c i ty. T he rebels s avoured i t, s ought i t ands mas hed into the hous e, but even thos e prac tis ed hatc hetmen, on s eeing the c hi ld's hal f-eaten body, 'went out trembl ing'.5

Spymania and paranoia ruled J erus alem the Holy - as the J ewis h c oins c al led her. Raving c harlatans and preac hing hierophants haunted the s treets , prom is ing del iveranc e and s alvation. J erus alem was , J os ephus obs erved, 'l ike a wi ld beas t gone mad whic h, for want of food, fel l now upon eating i ts ownfles h'.T hat night of the 8th of Ab, when T i tus had reti red to res t, his legionaries tried to dous e the fi re s pread by the molten s i lver, as he had ordered. But the rebels attac ked the fi re-fighting legionaries . T he Romans fought bac k and pus hed the J ews into the Temple i ts el f. One legionary, s eized 'wi th a divine fury', grabbeds ome burning materials and, l i fted up by another s oldier, l i t the c urtains and frame of 'a golden window', whic h was l inked to the rooms around the ac tual Temple. By morning, the fi re had s pread to the very heart of hol ines s . T he J ews , s eeing the flames l ic king the Holy of Hol ies and threatening to des troy i t, 'madea great c lamour and ran to prevent i t'. But i t was too late. T hey barric aded thems elves in the Inner Court then watc hed with aghas t s i lenc e.

J us t a few yards away, among the ruins of the Antonia Fortres s , T i tus was awakened; he jumped up and 'ran towards the Holy Hous e to put a s top to the fi re'. His entourage inc luding J os ephus , and probably K ing Agrippa and Berenic e, fol lowed, and after them ran thous ands of Roman s oldiers - al l 'in greatas tonis hment'. T he fighting was frenzied. J os ephus c laims that T i tus again ordered the fi re extinguis hed, but this Roman c ol laborator had good reas ons to exc us e his patron. Nonetheles s , everyone was s houting, the fi re was rac ing and the Roman s oldiers knew that, by the laws of warfare, a c i ty that had res is teds o obs tinately expec ted to be s ac ked.

T hey pretended not to hear T i tus and even s houted ahead to their c omrades to tos s in more fi rebrands . T he legionaries were s o impetuous that many were c rus hed or burned to death in the s tampede of their bloodlus t and hunger for gold, plundering s o muc h that the pric e would s oon drop ac ros s the Eas t.T i tus , unable to s top the fi re and s urely rel ieved at the pros pec t of final vic tory, proc eeded through the burning Temple unti l he c ame to the Holy of Hol ies . Even the high pries t was al lowed to enter there only onc e a year. No foreigner had tainted i ts puri ty s inc e the Roman s oldier-s tates man Pompey in 63 BC. ButT i tus looked ins ide 'and s aw i t and i ts c ontents whic h he found to be far s uperior', wrote J os ephus , indeed 'not inferior to what we ours elves boas ted of i t'. Now he ordered the c enturions to beat the s oldiers s preading the fi re, but 'their pas s ions were too s trong.' As the inferno ros e around the Holy of Hol ies , T i tuswas pul led to s afety by his aides - 'and no one forbade them to s et fi re to i t' any more.

T he fighting raged among the flames : dazed, s tarving J erus alem ites wandered los t and dis tres s ed through the burning portals . T hous ands of c ivi l ians and rebels mus tered on the s teps of the al tar, wai ting to fight to the las t or jus t die hopeles s ly. A l l had their throats c ut by the exhi larated Romans as though i twere a mas s human s ac ri fic e, unti l 'around the al tar lay dead bodies heaped one upon another' wi th the blood running down the s teps . T en thous and J ews died in the burning T emple.

T he c rac king of vas t s tones and wooden beams made a s ound l ike thunder. J os ephus watc hed the death of the T emple:

T he roar of the flames s treaming far and wide m ingled with the groans of the fal l ing vic tims and owing to the height of the hi l l and the mas s of the burning pi le, one would have thought the whole c i ty was ablaze. And then the din - nothing more deafening or appal l ing c ould be c onc eived than that. T herewere the war c ries of the Roman legions s weeping onward, the howls of the rebels enc irc led by fi re and s words , the rus h of the people who, c ut off above, fled panic -s tric ken only to fal l into the arms of the foe, and their s hrieks as they met their fate, blended with lamentations and wai l ing [of thos e in thec i ty]. T rans jordan and the s urrounding mountains c ontributed their ec hoes , deepening the din. You would have thought the T emple hi l l was boi l ing over from i ts bas e, being everywhere one mas s of flame.

Mount Moriah, one of the two mountains of J erus alem, where K ing David had plac ed the A rk of the Covenant and where his s on Solomon had bui l t the fi rs t Temple, was 's eething hot ful l of fi re on every part of i t', whi le ins ide, dead bodies c overed the floors . But the s oldiers trampled on the c orps es in theirtriumph. T he pries ts fought bac k and s ome threw thems elves into the blaze. Now the rampaging Romans , s eeing that the inner T emple was des troyed, grabbed the gold and furni ture, c arrying out their s wag, before they s et fi re to the res t of the c omplex.6

As the Inner Courtyard burned, and the next day dawned, the s urviving rebels broke out through the Roman l ines into the labyrinthine Outer Courtyards , s ome es c aping into the c i ty. T he Romans c ounterattac ked with c avalry, c learing the ins urgents and then burning the Temple's treas ury c hambers , whic h werefi l led wi th ric hes drawn from the Temple tax paid by al l J ews , from A lexandria to Babylon. T hey found there 6,000 women and c hi ldren huddled together in apoc alyptic expec tation. A 'fals e prophet' had earl ier proc laimed that they c ould antic ipate the 'm irac ulous s igns of their del iveranc e' in the Temple. T helegionaries s imply s et the pas s ageways al ight, burning al l thes e people al ive.

T he Romans c arried their eagles on to the Holy Mountain, s ac ri fic ed to their gods , and hai led T i tus as their imperator - c ommander-in-c hief. P ries ts were s ti l l hiding out around the Holy of Hol ies . T wo plunged into the flames , and one s uc c eeded in bringing out the treas ures of the T emple - the robes of the highpries t, the two golden c andelabra and heaps of c innamon and c as s ia, s pic es that were burned every day in the Sanc tuary. W hen the res t s urrendered, T i tus exec uted them as 'i t was fi tting for pries ts to peris h wi th their T emple'.J erus alem was - and s ti l l is - a c i ty of tunnels . Now the rebels dis appeared underground whi le retaining c ontrol of the Ci tadel and the Upper Ci ty to the wes t. It took T i tus another month to c onquer the res t of J erus alem. W hen i t fel l , the Romans and their Syrian and Greek auxi l iaries 'poured into the al leys . Sword inhand; they mas s ac red indis c rim inately al l whom they met and burned the hous es with al l who had taken refuge within.' A t night when the ki l l ing s topped, 'the fi re gained mas tery of the s treets '.

T i tus parleyed with the two J ewis h warlords ac ros s the bridge that s panned the val ley between the Temple and the c i ty, offering them their l ives in return for s urrender. But s ti l l they refus ed. He ordered the plundering and burning of the Lower Ci ty, in whic h vi rtual ly every hous e was fi l led wi th dead bodies . W henthe J erus alem ite warlords retreated to Herod's Palac e and Citadel , T i tus bui l t ramparts to underm ine them and on 7th of E lul , in m id-Augus t, the Romans s tormed the forti fic ations . T he ins urgents fought on in the tunnels unti l one of their leaders J ohn of Gis hala s urrendered (he was s pared, though he fac edl i felong impris onment). T he other c hieftain S imon ben Giora emerged in a whi te robe out of a tunnel under the T emple, and was as s igned a s tarring role in T i tus ' T riumph, the c elebration of the vic tory in Rome.

In the mayhem and the methodic al des truc tion afterwards , a world vanis hed, leaving a few moments frozen in time. T he Romans butc hered the old and the infi rm : the s keletal hand of a woman found on the doors tep of her burnt hous e reveals the panic and terror; the as hes of the mans ions in the J ewis h Quartertel l of the inferno. T wo hundred bronze c oins have been found in a s hop on the s treet that ran under the monumental s tairc as e into the Temple, a s ec ret s tas h probably hidden in the las t hours of the fal l of the c i ty. Soon even the Romans wearied of s laughter. T he J erus alem ites were herded into c onc entrationc amps s et up in the W omen's Court of the T emple i ts el f where they were fi l tered: fighters were ki l led; the s trong were s ent to work in the Egyptian m ines ; the young and hands ome were s old as s laves , c hos en to be ki l led fighting l ions in the c i rc us or to be dis played in the T riumph.

J os ephus s earc hed through the pi ti ful pris oners in the Temple c ourtyards , finding his brother and fi fty friends whom T i tus al lowed him to l iberate. His parents had pres umably died. But he notic ed three of his friends among the c ruc i fied. 'I was c ut to the heart and told T i tus ,' who ordered them to be taken downand c ared for by doc tors . Only one s urvived.

T i tus dec ided, l ike Nebuc hadnezzar, to eradic ate J erus alem, a dec is ion whic h J os ephus blamed on the rebels : 'T he rebel l ion des troyed the c i ty and the Romans des troyed the rebel l ion.' T he toppl ing of Herod the Great's mos t awes ome monument, the Temple, mus t have been an engineering c hal lenge. T hegiant as hlars of the Royal Portic o c ras hed down on to the new pavements below and there they were found nearly 2000 years later in a c olos s al heap, jus t as they had fal len, c onc ealed beneath c enturies of debris . T he wrec kage was dumped into the val ley next to the Temple where i t s tarted to fi l l up the ravine,now almos t invis ible, between the Temple Mount and the Upper Ci ty. But the holding wal ls of the Temple Mount, inc luding today's W es tern W al l , s urvived. T he s pol ia, the fal len s tones , of Herod's Temple and c i ty are everywhere in J erus alem, us ed and reus ed by al l J erus alem 's c onquerors and bui lders , from theRomans to the A rabs , from the Crus aders to the Ottomans , for over a thous and years afterwards .7

No one knows how many people died in J erus alem, and anc ient his torians are always rec kles s wi th numbers . Tac i tus s ays there were 600,000 in the bes ieged c i ty, whi le J os ephus c laims over a m i l l ion. W hatever the true figure, i t was vas t, and al l of thes e people died of s tarvation, were ki l led or were s old intos lavery.

T i tus embarked on a mac abre vic tory tour. His m is tres s Berenic e and her brother the king hos ted him in their c api tal Caes area Phi l ippi , in today's Golan Heights . T here he watc hed thous ands of J ewis h pris oners fight eac h other - and wi ld animals - to the death. A few days later, he s aw another 2,500 ki l led inthe c irc us at Caes area Mari tima and yet more were playful ly s laughtered in Beirut before T i tus returned to Rome to c elebrate his T riumph.

T he legions 'enti rely demol is hed the res t of the c i ty, and overthrew i ts wal ls '. T i tus left only the towers of Herod's Ci tadel 'as a monument of his good fortune'. T here the Tenth Legion made i ts headquarters . 'T his was the end whic h J erus alem c ame to', wrote J os ephus , 'a c i ty otherwis e of great magnific enc eand of m ighty fame among al l mankind'.J erus alem had been total ly des troyed five c enturies earl ier by Nebuc hadnezzar, K ing of Babylon. W ithin fi fty years of that fi rs t des truc tion, the T emple was rebui l t and the J ews returned. But this time, after AD 70, the T emple was never rebui l t - and, exc ept for a few brief interludes , the J ews would not rule J erus alemagain for nearly 2,000 years . Yet wi thin the as hes of this c alam ity lay the s eeds not only of modern J udais m but als o of J erus alem 's s anc ti ty for Chris tiani ty and Is lam.

Early during the s iege, ac c ording to muc h later rabbinic al legend, Yohanan ben Zakkai , a res pec ted rabbi , had ordered his pupi ls to c arry him out of the doomed c i ty in a c offin, a metaphor for the foundation of a new J udais m no longer bas ed on the s ac ri fic ial c ul t in the T emple.8

T he J ews , who c ontinued to l ive in the c ountrys ide of J udaea and Gal i lee, as wel l as in large c ommunities ac ros s the Roman and Pers ian empires , mourned the los s of J erus alem and revered the c i ty ever after. T he B ible and the oral tradi tions replac ed the Temple, but i t was s aid that P rovidenc e waited forthree and a hal f years on the Mount of Ol ives to s ee i f the T emple would be res tored - before ris ing to heaven. T he des truc tion was als o dec is ive for the Chris tians .

T he s mal l Chris tian c ommunity of J erus alem, led by S imon, J es us ' c ous in, had es c aped from the c i ty before the Romans c los ed in. Even though there were many non-J ewis h Chris tians l iving around the Roman world, thes e J erus alem ites remained a J ewis h s ec t praying at the Temple. But now the Templehad been des troyed, the Chris tians bel ieved that the J ews had los t the favour of God: the fol lowers of J es us s eparated for ever from the mother fai th, c laim ing to be the rightful heirs to the J ewis h heri tage. T he Chris tians envis aged a new, c eles tial J erus alem, not a s hattered J ewis h c i ty. T he earl ies t Gos pels ,probably wri tten jus t after the des truc tion, rec ounted how J es us had fores een the s iege of the c i ty: 'ye s hal l s ee J erus alem c ompas s ed with arm ies '; and the demol i tion of the Temple: 'Not one s tone s hal l remain.' T he ruined Sanc tuary and the downfal l of the J ews were proof of the new revelation. In the 620s , whenMuhammad founded his new rel igion, he fi rs t adopted J ewis h tradi tions , praying towards J erus alem and revering the J ewis h prophets , bec aus e for him too the des truc tion of the T emple proved that God had withdrawn his bles s ing from J ews and bes towed i t on Is lam.

It is i ronic that the dec is ion of T i tus to des troy J erus alem helped make the c i ty the very template of hol ines s for the other two Peoples of the Book. From the very beginning, J erus alem 's s anc ti ty did not jus t evolve but was promoted by the dec is ions of a handful of men. A round 1000 BC, a thous and years beforeT i tus , the fi rs t of thes e men c aptured J erus alem: K ing David.

PART ONE

JUDAISM

T he c i ty of the Lord, the Zion of the Holy One of Is rael ... Awake, awake; put on thy s trength, O Zion; put on thy beauti ful garments , O J erus alem, the holy c i ty.Is aiah 60.14, 52.1

My native c i ty is J erus alem, in whic h is s i tuated the s ac red s hrine of the mos t high God. T he holy c i ty is the mother c i ty not of one c ountry, J udaea, but of mos t of the other neighbouring lands , as wel l as lands far away, mos t of As ia, [and] s im i larly Europe, to s ay nothing of the c ountries beyond the Euphrates .Herod Agrippa I, K ing of J udaea, quoted in Phi lo, De Spec ial ibus Legibus

He who has not s een J erus alem in her s plendour has never s een a des irable c i ty in his l i fe. He who has not s een the T emple in i ts ful l c ons truc tion has never s een a glorious bui lding in his l i fe.Babylonian T almud, Trac tate of the Tabernac le

If I forget thee, O J erus alem, let my right hand forget her c unning. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue c leave to the roof of my mouth; i f I prefer not J erus alem above my c hief joy.Ps alm 137.5-6

J erus alem is the mos t famous c i ty of the Eas t.P l iny the E lder, Natural His tory , 5.15

THE WORLD OF DAVID

THE FIRST KING: CANAANITES

W hen David c aptured the c i tadel of Zion, J erus alem was already anc ient. But i t was s c arc ely a c i ty, jus t a s mal l mountain s tronghold in a land that would have many names - Canaan, J udah, J udaea, Is rael , Pales tine, the Holy Land to Chris tians , the P romis ed Land to J ews . T his terri tory, jus t 100 by 150 m i les , l iesbetween the s outh-eas tern c orner of the Mediterranean and the River J ordan. Its lus h c oas tal plain offered the bes t path for invaders and traders between Egypt and the empires of the eas t. Yet the is olated and remote town of J erus alem, 30 m i les from the neares t c oas t, far from any trade routes , s tood high am id thegolden-roc ked des olation of the c l i ffs , gorges and s c ree of the J udaean hi l ls , expos ed to freezing, s ometimes even s nowy, winters and to wi theringly hot s ummers . Nonetheles s , there was s ec uri ty atop thes e forbidding hi l ls ; and there was a s pring in the val ley beneath, jus t enough to s upport a town.

T he romantic image of David's c i ty is far more vivid than any fac ts of veri fiable his tory. In the fog of J erus alem 's pre-his tory, fragments of pottery, ghos tly roc k-c ut tombs , s ec tions of wal l , ins c riptions in the palac es of faraway kings and the holy l i terature of the B ible c an provide only fleeting gl ints of human l i fe inan invinc ible gloom, s eparated by hundreds of years . T he s poradic c lues that emerge c as t a fl ic kering l ight on s ome random moment of a vanis hed c ivi l ization, fol lowed by c enturies of l i fe of whic h we know nothing - unti l the next s park i l lum inates another image. Only the s prings , mountains and val leys remain thes ame, and even they have been redirec ted, res c ulpted, refi l led by m i l lennia of weather, debris and human endeavour. T his muc h or l i ttle is c ertain: by the time of K ing David, hol ines s , s ec uri ty and nature had c ombined to make J erus alem an anc ient fas tnes s that was regarded as impregnable.

People had l ived there as early as 5000 BC. In the early B ronze Age, around 3200 BC, when the mother of c i ties , Uruk, in what bec ame Iraq, was already home to 40,000 c i tizens , and nearby J eric ho was a forti fied town, people buried their dead in tombs in J erus alem 's hi l ls , and s tarted to bui ld s mal l s quarehous es in what was probably a wal led vi l lage on a hi l l above a s pring. T his vi l lage was then abandoned for many years . J erus alem s c arc ely exis ted whi le the Egyptian pharaohs of the Old K ingdom reac hed the zeni th of their pyram id bui lding and c ompleted the Great Sphinx. T hen in the 1900S BC, at a time whenMinoan c ivi l ization flouris hed in Crete, K ing Hammurabi was about to c ompi le his legal c ode in Babylon and B ri tons wors hipped at S tonehenge, s ome pottery, s herds of whic h were dis c overed near Luxor in Egypt, mentions a town named Urs al im , a vers ion of Salem or Shalem, god of the evening s tar. T he namemay mean 'Salem has founded'.*

Bac k in J erus alem, a s ettlement had developed around the Gihon Spring: the Canaanite inhabi tants c ut a c hannel through the roc k leading to a pool wi thin the wal ls of their c i tadel . A forti fied underground pas s ageway protec ted their ac c es s to the water. T he lates t arc haeologic al digs on the s i te reveal thatthey guarded the s pring with a tower and a mas s ive wal l , 23 feet thic k, us ing s tones weighing 3 tons . T he tower c ould als o have s erved as a temple c elebrating the c os mic s anc ti ty of the s pring. In other parts of Canaan, pries tly kings bui l t forti fied tower-temples . Further up the hi l l , remnants of a c i ty wal l have beenfound, the earl ies t in J erus alem. T he Canaanites turn out to have been bui lders on a s c ale more impres s ive than anyone in J erus alem unti l Herod the Great almos t 2,000 years later.1

T he J erus alem ites bec ame s ubjec ts of Egypt whic h had c onquered Pales tine in 1458 BC. Egyptian garris ons guarded nearby J affa and Gaza. In 1350 BC, the frightened K ing of J erus alem begged his overlord, Akhenaten, the pharaoh of the New K ingdom of Egypt, to s end him help - even 'fi fty arc hers ' - todefend his s mal l kingdom from the aggres s ion of neighbouring kings and bands of marauding outlaws . K ing Abdi-Hepa c al led his c i tadel 'the c api tal of the Land of J erus alem of whic h the name is Bei t Shulmani ', the Hous e of W el l -being. Perhaps the word Shulman is the origin of the 'Shalem ' in the name of thec i ty.

Abdi-Hepa was a pal try potentate in a world dominated by the Egyptians to the s outh, by the Hitti tes to the north (in today's T urkey) and to the north-wes t by the Myc enean Greeks who would fight the T rojan W ar. T he king's fi rs t name is wes t Semitic - the Semites being the many Middle Eas t peoples andlanguages , s uppos edly des c ended from Shem, s on of Noah. T herefore Abdi-Hepa c ould have hai led from anywhere in the north-eas tern Mediterranean. His appeals , found in the pharaoh's arc hive, are panic -s tric ken and s yc ophantic , the fi rs t known words of a J erus alem ite:*

A t the feet of the K ing I have fal len 7 and 7 times . Here is the deed that Mi lki ly and Shuwardatu have done agains t the land - they have led the troops of Gezer ... agains t the law of the K ing ... T he land of the K ing has gone over to the Habiru [marauding outlaws ]. And now a town belonging to J erus alem hasgone over to the men of Qi l tu. May the K ing l is ten to Abdi-Hepa your s ervant and s end arc hers .

W e hear no more, but whatever happened to this beleaguered king, jus t over a c entury later the J erus alem ites bui l t s teep terrac ed s truc tures above the Gihon Spring on the Ophel hi l l that s urvive today, the foundation of a c i tadel or temple of Salem. 2 T hes e powerful wal ls , towers and terrac es were part of theCanaanite c i tadel known as Zion that David would c apture. Some time during the thi rteenth c entury BC, a people c al led the J ebus i tes oc c upied J erus alem. But now the old Mediterranean world was being torn apart by waves of s o-c al led Sea Peoples who c ame from the Aegean.

In this s torm of raids and m igrations , the empires rec eded. T he Hitti tes fel l , Myc enae was mys terious ly des troyed, Egypt was s haken - and a people c al led the Hebrews made their fi rs t appearanc e.ABRAHAM IN JERUSALEM: ISRAELITES

T his new 'Dark Age', whic h las ted three c enturies , al lowed the Hebrews , als o known as Is rael i tes , an obs c ure people who wors hipped one God, to s ettle and bui ld a kingdom in the narrow land of Canaan. T heir progres s is i l lum inated by the s tories about the c reation of the world, their origins and their relations hipwith their God. T hey pas s ed down thes e tradi tions whic h were then rec orded in s ac red Hebrew texts , later c ol lated into the Five Books of Mos es , the Pentateuc h, the fi rs t s ec tion of the J ewis h s c riptures , the Tanakh. T he B ible bec ame the book of books , but i t is not one doc ument. It is a mys tic al l ibrary ofinterwoven texts by unknown authors who wrote and edi ted at di fferent times with widely divergent aims .

T his s ac red work of s o many epoc hs and s o many hands c ontains s ome fac ts of provable his tory, s ome s tories of unprovable myth, s ome poetry of s oaring beauty, and many pas s ages of unintel l igible, perhaps c oded, perhaps s imply m is trans lated, mys tery. Mos t of i t is wri tten not to rec ount events but topromote a higher truth - the relations hip of one people and their God. To the bel iever, the B ible is s imply the frui t of divine revelation. To the his torian, this is a c ontradic tory, unrel iable, repeti tive, * yet invaluable s ourc e, often the only one avai lable to us - and i t is als o, effec tively, the fi rs t and paramount biography ofJ erus alem.

T he founding patriarc h of the Hebrews was , ac c ording to Genes is the fi rs t book of the B ible, Abram - who is portrayed as travel l ing from Ur (in today's Iraq) to s ettle in Hebron. T his was in Canaan, the land prom is ed to him by God, who renamed him the name 'Father of Peoples ' - Abraham. On his travels ,Abraham was welc omed by Melc hizedek, the pries t-king of Salem in the name of E l-E lyon, the Mos t High God. T his , the c i ty's fi rs t mention in the B ible, s ugges ts that J erus alem was already a Canaanite s hrine ruled by pries t-kings . Later God tes ted Abraham by ordering him to s ac ri fic e his s on Is aac on a mountainin 'the land of Moriah' - identi fied as Mount Moriah, the T emple Mount of J erus alem.

Abraham 's roguis h grands on J ac ob us ed tric kery to c l inc h his inheri tanc e, but redeemed hims el f in a wres tl ing matc h with a s tranger who turned out to be God, henc e his new name, Is rael - He who S trives wi th God. T his was the appropriate birth of the J ewis h people, whos e relations hip wi th God was to be s opas s ionate and tormented. Is rael was the father of the founders of the twelve tribes who emigrated to Egypt. T here are s o many c ontradic tions in the s tories of thes e s o-c al led Patriarc hs that they are impos s ible to date his toric al ly.

A fter 430 years , the Book of Exodus portrays the Is rael i tes , repres s ed as s laves bui lding the pharaoh's c i ties , m irac ulous ly es c aping Egypt wi th God's help (s ti l l c elebrated by J ews in the fes tival of Pas s over), led by a Hebrew princ e named Mos es . As they wandered through S inai , God granted Mos es the TenCommandments . If the Is rael i tes l ived and wors hipped ac c ording to thes e rules , God promis ed them the land of Canaan. W hen Mos es s ought the nature of this God, as king 'W hat is thy name?', he rec eived the majes tic al ly forbidding reply, 'I AM T HAT I AM,' a God without a name, rendered in Hebrew as YHW H:Yahweh or, as Chris tians later m is s pel t i t, J ehovah.*

Many Semites did s ettle in Egypt; Rams es II the Great was probably the pharaoh who forc ed the Hebrews to work on his s tore-c i ties ; Mos es ' name was Egyptian, whic h s ugges ts at leas t that he originated there; and there is no reas on to doubt that the fi rs t c haris matic leader of the monotheis tic rel igions - Mos esor s omeone l ike him - did rec eive this divine revelation for that is how rel igions begin. T he tradi tion of a Semitic people who es c aped repres s ion is plaus ible but i t defies dating.

Mos es gl imps ed the P romis ed Land from Mount Nebo but died before he c ould enter i t. It was his s uc c es s or J os hua who led the Is rael i tes into Canaan. T he B ible portrays their journey as both a bloody rampage and a gradual s ettlement. T here is no arc haeologic al evidenc e of a c onques t but pas toral s ettlersdid found many unwal led vi l lages in the J udaean highlands .+ A s mal l group of Is rael i tes , who es c aped Egypt, were probably among them. T hey were uni ted by their wors hip of their God - Yahweh - whom they revered in a moveable temple, a tabernac le that held the s ac red wooden c hes t known as the A rk of theCovenant. T hey perhaps c rafted their identi ty by tel l ing the s tories of their founding Patriarc hs . Many of thes e tradi tions , from Adam and the Garden of Eden to Abraham, would later be revered not jus t by J ews but by Chris tians and Mus l ims too - and would be loc ated in J erus alem.

T he Is rael i tes were now very c los e to the c i ty for the fi rs t time.

THE RISE OF DAVID

YOUNG DAVID

J os hua s et up his headquarters north of J erus alem, at Shec hem, where he bui l t a s hrine to Yahweh. J erus alem was the home of the J ebus i tes , ruled by K ing Adonizedek, a name that s ugges ts a pries t-king. Adonizedek res is ted J os hua but was defeated. Yet 'the s ons of J udah c ould not drive out the J ebus i tes ',who 'l ived in J erus alem s ide by s ide with the s ons of J udah as they do today'. A round 1200 BC, Merneptah, the s on of Rams es the Great and perhaps the pharaoh who was forc ed to releas e Mos es ' Is rael i tes , fac ed attac ks from the Sea Peoples - throwing the old empires of the Near Eas t into flux. T he pharaohraided Canaan to res tore order. W hen he returned home, he ins c ribed his triumph on the wal ls of his T heban temple, dec laring that he had defeated the Sea Peoples , rec aptured As hkelon - and mas s ac red a people who now appear in his tory for the fi rs t time: 'Is rael is laid was te and his s eed is not.'

Is rael was not yet a kingdom; rather, the Book of J udges rec ounts , i t was a c onfederation of tribes ruled by elders who were now c hal lenged by a new enemy: the Phi l is tines , part of the Sea Peoples , who originated in the Aegean. T hey c onquered the c oas t of Canaan, bui lding five ric h c i ties where they wovec lothes , c rafted red and blac k pottery, and wors hipped their many gods . T he Is rael i tes , hi l l s hepherds from l i ttle vi l lages , were no matc h for thes e s ophis tic ated Phi l is tines whos e infantry wore Greek-s tyle breas tplates , greaves (leg armour) and helmets , and deployed c los e-c ombat weapons that c hal lenged thec umbers ome c hariotry of the Egyptians .

T he Is rael i tes elec ted c haris matic warlords - the J udges - to fight Phi l is tines and Canaanites . A t one point, a muc h neglec ted vers e of the Book of J udges c laims the Is rael i tes took and burned J erus alem; i f s o, they did not manage to keep the s tronghold.A t the Battle of Ebenezer in about 1050 BC, the Phi l is tines c rus hed the Is rael i tes , des troyed their s hrine at Shi loh, c aptured the A rk of the Covenant, the s ac red s ymbol of Yahweh, and advanc ed into the hi l l c ountry around J erus alem. Fac ed with annihi lation and wis hing to be 'l ike other nations ', the Is rael i tes

dec ided to elec t a king, c hos en by God.3 T hey turned to their ageing prophet, Samuel. P rophets were not predic tors of the future but analys ts of the pres ent -propheteia in Greek means the interpreting of the wi l l of the gods . T he Is rael i tes needed a m i l i tary c ommander: Samuel c hos e a young warrior, Saul , whom heanointed with holy oi l . Rul ing from a hi l l top c i tadel at Gibeon (T el l al -Ful), jus t three m i les north of J erus alem, this 'c aptain over my people Is rael ' jus ti fied his s elec tion by defeating the Moabites , Edomites and Phi l is tines . But Saul was not s ui ted to the throne: 'an evi l s piri t from the Lord troubled him .'

Samuel, fac ed with a mental ly uns table king, s ec retly looked els ewhere. He s ens ed the bles s ing of genius among the eight s ons of J es s e of Bethlehem: David, the younges t, 'was ruddy, and withal of a beauti ful c ountenanc e, and goodly to look to. And the Lord s aid, A ris e, anoint him : for this is he.' David wasals o 'c unning in playing, a m ighty val iant man, and a man of war, and prudent in matters '. He grew up to be the mos t remarkable yet rounded c harac ter in the Old T es tament. T he c reator of s ac red J erus alem was a poet, c onqueror, murderer, adul terer, the es s enc e of the holy king and the flawed adventurer.

Samuel brought young David to c ourt where K ing Saul appointed him as one of his armour-bearers . W hen the king was haunted by madnes s , David s howed his fi rs t god-given gi ft: he played the harp 's o Saul was refres hed'. David's mus ic al talents are an important part of his c haris ma: s ome of the Ps almsas c ribed to him may even be his .

T he Phi l is tines advanc ed to the val ley of E lah. Saul and his army fac ed them. T he Phi l is tines produc ed a brobdingnagian c hampion, Gol iath from Gath,* whos e ful l armour c ontras ted with the fl ims y gear of the Is rael i tes . Saul feared a pi tc hed battle s o he mus t have been rel ieved, i f s c eptic al , when Daviddemanded a s hot at beating Gol iath. David c hos e 'five s mooth s tones out of the brook' and, wielding his s l ing, he 's lang i t and s mote the Phi l is tine in his forehead, that the s tone s unk into his forehead'.+ He beheaded the fal len c hampion and the Is rael i tes purs ued the Phi l is tines al l the way to their c i ty of Ekron.W hatever i ts truth, the s tory s igni fies that as a boy David made his name as a warrior.*

Saul promoted David but the women in the s treets s ang 'Saul hath s lain his thous ands ; David, his ten thous ands .' Saul 's s on J onathan befriended David and his daughter Mic hal loved him . Saul al lowed them to marry but was tormented by jealous y: he twic e tried to ki l l his s on-in-law with a javel in. P rinc es sMic hal s aved David's l i fe by letting him down from a palac e window, and he was later granted as ylum by the pries ts of Nob. T he king purs ued him , ki l l ing al l the pries ts exc ept one, but David es c aped again, l iving on the run as the leader of 600 brigands . T wic e he c rept up on the s leeping king but s pared his l i fe,leading Saul to weep: 'T hou art more righteous than I.'

Final ly David defec ted to the Phi l is tine K ing of Gath who granted him his own c i ty domain, Ziklag. T he Phi l is tines again invaded J udah and defeated Saul on Mount Gi lboa. His s on J onathan was ki l led and the king hims el f fel l on his s word.

THE KINGDOM AND THE TEMPLE

DAVID: THE ROYAL CITY

A young man appeared at David's c amp c laim ing to have ki l led Saul : 'I have s lain the Lord's anointed.' David ki l led the mes s enger and then lamented Saul and J onathan in timeles s poetry:

T he beauty of Is rael is s lain upon thy high plac es : how are the m ighty fal len! Ye daughters of Is rael , weepover Saul who c lothed you in s c arlet, wi th other del ights , who put on ornaments of gold upon your apparel ... Saul and J onathan were lovely and pleas ant in their l ives and in their death they were notdivided: they were s wifter than eagles , they were s tronger than l ions ... How are the m ighty fal len and the weapons of war peris hed! 4

A t this dark hour, the s outhern tribes of J udah anointed David as king with Hebron as his c api tal , whi le Saul 's s urviving s on, Is hbos heth, s uc c eeded Saul to rule the northern tribes of Is rael . A fter a s even-year war, Is hbos heth was murdered and the northern tribes too anointed David as king. T he monarc hy wasuni ted yet the s pl i t between Is rael and J udah was a s c his m healed only by David's c haris ma.

J erus alem, known as J ebus after i ts J ebus i te inhabi tants , s tood jus t s outh of Saul 's s tronghold, Gibeon. David and his army advanc ed on the c i tadel of Zion, fac ing the form idable forti fic ations whic h have been rec ently unc overed around the Gihon Spring.* Zion was s aid to be impregnable and how Davidc aptured i t is a mys tery. T he B ible portrays the J ebus i tes l ining the wal ls wi th the bl ind and the lame, a warning to any attac ker of what would befal l him . But the king s omehow penetrated the c i ty - through what the Hebrew B ible c al ls a z innor. T his may be a water-tunnel , one of the network now being exc avated onthe Ophel hi l l , or i t may be the name of s ome magic al s pel l . E i ther way, 'David took the s tronghold of Zion: the s ame is the c i ty of David.'

T his c apture may jus t have been a palac e c oup. David did not s laughter the J ebus i tes ; ins tead he c o-opted them into his c os mopol i tan c ourt and army. He renamed Zion the City of David, repaired the wal ls and s ummoned the A rk of the Covenant (rec aptured in battle) to J erus alem. Its awes ome s anc ti ty ki l ledone of thos e moving i t, s o David plac ed i t wi th a trus ted Git unti l i t was s afe to bear. 'David and al l the hous e of Is rael brought up the ark of the Lord wi th s houting and the s ound of the trumpet.' Donning the s ac erdotal loinc loth, 'David danc ed before the Lord wi th al l his m ight.' In return, God promis ed David, 'thinehous e and thy kingdom s hal l be es tabl is hed for ever'. A fter the c enturies of s truggle, David was dec laring that Yahweh had found a permanent home in a holy c i ty.5

Mic hal , Saul 's daughter, moc ked her hus band's hal f-naked s ubmis s ion to God as a dis play of vulgar vani ty. 6 W hi le the earl ier books of the B ible are a m ixture of anc ient texts and bac kdated s tories wri tten muc h later, the rounded, unheroic portrai t of David, buried within the s ec ond Book of Samuel and the fi rs tBook of K ings , reads s o vividly that i t may have been bas ed on the memoir of a c ourtier.

David c hos e this s tronghold for his c api tal bec aus e i t belonged nei ther to the northern tribes nor to his own s outhern J udah. He brought the golden s hields of his c onquered enemies to J erus alem, where he bui l t hims el f a palac e, importing c edarwood from his Phoenic ian al l ies in T yre. David is s aid to havec onquered a kingdom that s tretc hed from Lebanon to the borders of Egypt, and eas twards into today's J ordan and Syria, even plac ing a garris on in Damas c us . Our only s ourc e for David is the B ible: between 1200 and 850 BC, the empires of Egypt and Iraq were in ec l ips e and left meagre royal rec ords , but they als oleft a power vac uum. David c ertainly exis ted: an ins c ription found in 1993 at T el Dan in northern Is rael dating from the ninth c entury BC s hows that the kings of J udah were known as the Hous e of David, proving that David was the kingdom 's founder.

Yet David's J erus alem was tiny. A t this time, the c i ty of Babylon, in today's Iraq, c overed 2,500 ac res ; even the nearby town of Hazor c overed 200. J erus alem was probably no more than 15 ac res , jus t enough to hous e about 1,200 people around the c i tadel . But the rec ent dis c overies of forti fic ations above theGihon Spring prove that David's Zion was muc h more s ubs tantial than previous ly thought, even i f i t was very far from an imperial c api tal .* David's kingdom, c onquered with his Cretan, Phi l is tine and Hitti te merc enaries , is plaus ible too, however exaggerated by the B ible, and was only a tribal federation held togetherby his pers onal i ty. T he Mac c abees would, muc h later, s how how dynamic warlords c ould quic kly c onquer a J ewis h empire during an imperial power vac uum.

One evening, David was relaxing on the roof of his palac e: 'he s aw a woman was hing hers el f and the woman was very beauti ful to look upon. And David s ent and enquired after the woman. And one s aid, Is this not Baths heba?' T he woman was married to one of his non-Is rael i te merc enary c aptains , Uriah theHitti te. David s ummoned her and 's he c ame in unto him and he lay wi th her', making her pregnant. T he king ordered his c ommander J oab to s end him her hus band bac k from the wars in pres ent-day J ordan. W hen Uriah arrived, David ordered him to go home to 'was h thy feet' though he real ly intended that Uriahs hould s leep with Baths heba to c over up her pregnanc y. But Uriah refus ed s o David ordered him to take this letter bac k to J oab: 'Set ye Uriah in the forefront of the hottes t battle ... that he may be s m itten.' Uriah was ki l led.

Baths heba bec ame David's favouri te wi fe, but the prophet Nathan told the king the s tory of a ric h man who had everything but s ti l l s tole a poor man's only lamb. David was appal led by the injus tic e: 'the man that hath done this thing s hal l s urely die! ' 'Thou art that man,' repl ied Nathan. T he king real ized that hehad c ommitted a terrible c rime. He and Baths heba los t their fi rs t c hi ld born of this s in - but their s ec ond s on, Solomon, s urvived.7

Far from being s ome ideal c ourt of a holy king, David pres ided over a bearpi t that rings true in i ts detai ls . Like many an empire bui l t around one s trongman, when he ai led, the c rac ks s tarted to s how: his s ons s truggled for the s uc c es s ion. His eldes t, Amnon, may have expec ted to s uc c eed David but the king'sfavouri te was Amnon's hal f-brother, the s poi led and ambitious Abs alom, wi th his lus trous head of hair and a phys ique without blem is h: 'in al l Is rael there was none to be s o muc h prais ed as Abs alom for his beauty'.

ABSALOM: RISE AND FALL OF A PRINCE

After Amnon lured Abs alom 's s is ter Tamar to his hous e and raped her, Abs alom had Amnon murdered outs ide J erus alem. As David mourned, Abs alom fled the c api tal and returned only after three years . T he king and his favouri te were rec onc i led: Abs alom bowed to the ground before the throne and David kis s edhim. But P rinc e Abs alom c ould not rein in his ambition. He paraded through J erus alem in his c hariot and hors es with fi fty men running before him . He underm ined his father's government - 'Abs alom s tole the heart of Is rael ' - and s et up his own rebel c ourt at Hebron.

T he people floc ked to the ris ing s un, Abs alom. But now David regained s ome of his old s piri t: he s eized the A rk of the Covenant, the emblem of God's favour, and then abandoned J erus alem. W hi le Abs alom es tabl is hed hims el f in J erus alem, the old king ral l ied his forc es . 'Deal gently for my s ake with the youngman,' David told his general , J oab. W hen David's forc es mas s ac red the rebels in the fores t of Ephraim , Abs alom fled on a mule. His gorgeous hair was his undoing: 'and the mule went under the thic k boughs of a great oak, and his head c aught hold of the oak and he was taken up between the heaven and the earth;and the mule that was under him went away.' W hen the dangl ing Abs alom was s potted, J oab ki l led him and buried the body in a pi t ins tead of beneath the pi l lar the rebel princ e had bui l t for hims el f. * 'Is the young man Abs alom s afe?' the king as ked pathetic al ly. W hen David heard that the princ e was dead, helamented: 'Oh my s on, Abs alom, my s on, my s on Abs alom, would God I had died for thee, O Abs alom, my s on, my s on! '8 As fam ine and plague s pread ac ros s the kingdom, David s tood on Mount Moriah and s aw the angel of death threaten J erus alem. He experienc ed a theophany, a divine revelation, in whic h hewas ordered to bui ld an al tar there. T here may already have been a s hrine in J erus alem whos e rulers are des c ribed as pries t-kings . One of the original inhabi tants of the c i ty, A raunah the J ebus i te, owned land on Moriah whic h s ugges ts that the c i ty had expanded from the Ophel onto the neighbouring mountain. 'SoDavid bought the thres hing floor and the oxen for fi fty s hekels of s i lver. And David bui l t there an al tar unto the Lord and offered burnt offerings and peac e offerings .' David planned a temple there and ordered c edarwood from Abibaal , the Phoenic ian K ing of T yre. It was the c rowning moment in his c areer, the bringingtogether of God and his people, the union of Is rael and J udah, and the anointment of J erus alem hers el f as the holy c api tal . But i t was not to be. God told David: 'T hou s hal t not bui ld an hous e for my name, bec aus e thou has t been a man of war and has t s hed blood.'

Now that David was 'old and s tric ken', his c ourtiers and s ons intrigued for the s uc c es s ion. Another s on Adoni jah made a bid for the throne, whi le a l is s om c onc ubine, Abis hag, was brought in to dis trac t David. But the plotters underes timated Baths heba.9

SOLOMON: THE TEMPLE

Baths heba c laimed the throne for her s on Solomon. David c al led in Zadok the pries t and Nathan the prophet, who es c orted Solomon on the king's own mule down to the s ac red Gihon Spring. T here he was anointed king. T he trumpet was blown and the people c elebrated. Adoni jah, hearing the c elebrations , s oughtrefuge in the s anc tuary of the al tar, and Solomon guaranteed his l i fe.10

A fter an extraordinary c areer that uni ted the Is rael i tes and c as t J erus alem as God's c i ty, David died, having ordered Solomon to bui ld the Temple on Mount Moriah. It was the authors of the B ible, wri ting four c enturies afterwards to ins truc t their own times , who made the imperfec t David into the es s enc e of thes ac red king. He was buried in the City of David.* His s on was very di fferent. Solomon would finis h that s ac red m is s ion - but he s tarted his reign, in about 970 BC, wi th a bloody s ettl ing of s c ores .

Baths heba, the queen mother, as ked Solomon to al low his elder hal f-brother, Adoni jah, to marry K ing David's las t c onc ubine, Abis hag. 'As k for him the kingdom too?' repl ied Solomon s arc as tic al ly, ordering the murder of Adoni jah and a purge of his father's old guard. T his s tory is the las t from the c ourt his torianof David but i t is als o real ly the fi rs t and only gl imps e of Solomon as a man, for he bec omes the ins c rutably wis e and s plendid s tereotype of a fabulous emperor. Everything Solomon had was bigger and better than any ordinary king: his wis dom generated 3,000 proverbs and 1,005 s ongs , his harem c ontained 700wives and 300 c onc ubines , and his army boas ted 12,000 c avalry and 1,400 c hariots . T hos e expens ive s howpiec es of m i l i tary tec hnology were hous ed in his forti fied towns , Megiddo, Gezer and Hazor, whi le his fleet was anc hored at Ezion-Geber on the Gulf of Aqaba.11

Solomon traded with Egypt and Ci l ic ia in s pic es and gold, c hariots and hors es . He s hared trading expedi tions to Sudan and Somal ia wi th his Phoenic ian al ly K ing Hiram of T yre. He hos ted the Queen of Sheba (probably Saba, today's Yemen), who c ame to J erus alem 'wi th a very great train wi th c amels thatbore s pic es and very muc h gold and prec ious s tones '. T he gold c ame from Ophir, probably India; the bronze from his own m ines . His weal th embel l is hed J erus alem: 'T he king made s i lver to be in J erus alem as s tones and c edars made he to be as the s yc amore trees that are in the vale, for abundanc e.' T he mos ttel l ing mark of his international pres tige was his marriage to a pharaoh's daughter. Pharaohs almos t never married their daughters to foreign princ es - es pec ial ly not parvenu J udaeans only rec ently graduated from hi l l s hepherd c hieftains . Yet onc e-haughty Egypt was in s uc h s hameful c haos that Pharaoh S iamunraided Gezer not far from J erus alem and, perhaps finding hims el f expos ed far from home, offered the s poi ls to Solomon along with his daughter, an unthinkable honour at any other time. But the T emple of J erus alem, planned by his father, was his mas terpiec e.

T he 'hous e of God' was to s tand right next to Solomon's royal palac e in an imperial -s ac red ac ropol is , des c ribed in the B ible, that boas ted hal ls and palac es of as tonis hing grandeur c overed in gold and c edarwood, inc luding the Hous e of the Fores t of Lebanon and the Hal l of P i l lars where the king adjudic ated.T his was not jus t an Is rael i te ac hievement. T he Phoenic ians , who l ived in independent c i ty s tates along the Lebanes e c oas t, were the mos t s ophis tic ated artis ans and s eafaring traders of the Mediterranean, famed for their T yrian purple from whic h they derived their name (phoinix , meaning purple) and for

c reating the alphabet. K ing Hiram of T yre provided not only the c ypres s and c edarwood but als o the c rafts men who c arved the s i lver and gold ornamentation. Everything was 'pure gold'.T he Temple was not jus t a s hrine, i t was the home of God hims el f, a c omplex made up of three parts , s tanding about 33 by 115 feet, in a wal led enc los ure. Firs t there was a gateway with two bronze pi l lars , Yac hin and Boaz, 33 feet high, dec orated with pomegranates and l i l ies , that led into a huge pi l lared

c ourtyard open to the s kies and s urrounded on three s ides with two-s torey c hambers that may have c ontained the royal arc hives or treas ury. T he portic o opened into a s ac red hal l : ten golden lamps s tood along wal ls . A golden table for s hewbread was plac ed in front of an inc ens e al tar for s ac ri fic es , a water pooland wheeled lavers wi th bowls on top for puri fic ation, and a bronze pool known as the Sea. S teps led up towards the Holy of Hol ies ,* a s mal l c hamber guarded by two winged c herubim, 17 feet high, made of ol ive wood c overed with gold foi l .

Yet Solomon's own magnific enc e c ame fi rs t. He took s even years to finis h the Temple, and thirteen to bui ld his own palac e, whic h was larger. T here had to be s i lenc e in God's hous e, s o 'there was nei ther hammer nor axe nor any tool of i ron heard in the hous e': his Phoenic ian c rafts men dres s ed the s tones ,c arved the c edar and c ypres s , and c rafted the s i lver, bronze and gold dec orations in T yre before s hipping them to J erus alem. K ing Solomon forti fied Mount Moriah by expanding the old wal ls : henc eforth the name 'Zion' des c ribed both the original c i tadel and the new T emple Mount.

W hen al l was finis hed, Solomon as s embled the people to watc h the pries ts bear the ac ac ia wood c hes t of the A rk of the Covenant from i ts tent on the c i tadel of Zion, the City of David, to the Temple on Mount Moriah. Solomon s ac ri fic ed at the al tar and then the pries ts took the A rk into the Holy of Hol ies and

plac ed i t beneath the wings of the two immens e gold c herubim. T here was nothing in the Holy of Hol ies exc ept the c herubim, and the A rk, and nothing within the A rk - jus t 4 by 2 feet - exc ept the tablets of Mos es ' law. Its hol ines s was s uc h that i t was not des igned for publ ic wors hip: In this emptines s res ided theaus tere, imageles s divini ty of Yahweh, an idea unique to the Is rael i tes .

As the pries t c ame out, the 'c loud' of the Divine P res enc e, 'the glory of the Lord, fi l led the hous e of the Lord.' Solomon c ons ec rated the Temple before his people, dec laring to God: 'I have s urely bui l t thee a hous e to dwel l in, a s ettled plac e for thee to abide for ever,' God repl ied to Solomon, 'I wi l l es tabl is h thethrone of thy kingdom upon Is rael for ever, as I prom is ed to David thy father.' T his bec ame the fi rs t of the fes tivals that developed into the great pi lgrimages of the J ewis h c alendar: 'three times a year did Solomon offer burnt offerings upon the al tar'. A t that moment, the c onc ept of s anc ti ty in the J udaeo-Chris tian-Is lam ic world found i ts eternal home. J ews and the other Peoples of the Book bel ieve that the Divine P res enc e has never left the T emple Mount. J erus alem would bec ome the s uperlative plac e for divine-human c ommunic ation on earth.

SOLOMON: THE DECLINE

A ll the ideal J erus alems , new and old, c eles tial and temporal , were bas ed on the B ible's des c ription of Solomon's c i ty. But there is no other s ourc e to c onfi rm i t, and nothing has been found of his T emple.T his is les s s urpris ing than i t s ounds . It is impos s ible to exc avate the Temple Mount for pol i tic al and rel igious reas ons , but even i f s uc h exc avations were al lowed we would probably find no trac es of Solomon's Temple bec aus e i t was obl i terated at leas t twic e, c ut down to bedroc k at leas t onc e and

remodel led c ountles s times . Yet the Temple is plaus ible in s ize and des ign even i f the bibl ic al wri ters exaggerated i ts s plendour. Solomon's Temple was a c las s ic s hrine of i ts time. T he Phoenic ian temples , on whic h Solomon's was partly bas ed, were thriving c orporations run by hundreds of offic ials , templepros ti tutes whos e fees c ontributed to c orporate inc ome, and even in-hous e barbers for thos e who dedic ated their hair to their gods . T he layout of Syrian temples , dis c overed al l over the region, along with their s ac red paraphernal ia s uc h as their lavers , were very s im i lar to the bibl ic al des c riptions of Solomon'sSanc tuary.

Its bounty of gold and ivory is c ompletely c redible. A c entury later, the kings of Is rael reigned from s umptuous palac es in nearby Samaria where their ivory has been found by arc haeologis ts . T he B ible s ays Solomon dedic ated 500 gold s hields to the Temple in an era when other s ourc es prove that gold wasplenti ful - imported from Ophir, the Egyptians als o m ined i t in Nubia. J us t after Solomon's death, the pharaoh Shes honq was paid off wi th the Temple's treas ury of gold when he threatened J erus alem. K ing Solomon's m ines were long thought to be mythic al , but c opper m ines have been found in J ordan that wereworking during his reign. T he s ize of his army, too, was feas ible given that we know a king of Is rael would field 2,000 c hariots jus t over a c entury later.*12

Solomon's magnific enc e may be exaggerated, but his dec l ine rings only too true: the king of wis dom bec ame an unpopular tyrant who funded his monumental extravaganc es through high taxes and the 'c has tis ement of whips '. To the dis gus t of the monotheis tic bibl ic al authors , wri ting two c enturies later,Solomon prayed to Yahweh and other loc al gods , and furthermore he 'loved many s trange women'.

Solomon fac ed rebel l ions from Edom in the s outh and Damas c us in the north, whi le his general , J eroboam, s tarted to plan a revol t among the northern tribes . Solomon ordered J eroboam's as s as s ination but the general fled to Egypt where he was bac ked by Shes honq, the Libyan pharaoh of a res urgent empire.T he Is rael i te kingdom was tottering.

THE KINGS OF JUDAH

930-626 BC

REHOBOAM VERSUS JEROBOAM: THE SPLIT

W hen Solomon died in 930 BC after a reign of forty years , his s on Rehoboam s ummoned the tribes to Shec hem. T he northerners c hos e the general , J eroboam, to tel l the young king that they would no longer tolerate Solomon's taxes , 'I wi l l add to your yoke: my father hath c has tis ed you with whips ,' repl ied the bras hRehoboam, 'I wi l l c has tis e you with s c orpions .' T he ten northern tribes rebel led, anointing J eroboam as king of a new breakaway kingdom of Is rael .

Rehoboam remained king of J udah; he was David's grands on and he pos s es s ed the Temple of J erus alem, the home of Yahweh. But the more experienc ed J eroboam, who made his c api tal at Shec hem, fac ed up to this : 'If this people go up to do s ac ri fic e in the hous e of the Lord at J erus alem, then s hal l theheart of this people turn again unto Rehoboam K ing of J udah and they s hal l ki l l me.' So he bui l t two m ini-temples at Bethel and Dan, tradi tional Canaanite s hrines . J eroboam's reign was long and s uc c es s ful , but he c ould never matc h Rehoboam's J erus alem.

T he two Is rael i te kingdoms were s ometimes at war wi th eac h other, s ometimes c los e al l ies . For around four c enturies after 900 BC, the Davidic dynas ty ruled J udah, the s mal l rump around the royal Temple c i ty of J erus alem, whi le the muc h ric her Is rael bec ame a loc al m i l i tary power in the north, us ual lydominated by c harioteer generals who s eized the throne in bloody c oups . One of thes e us urpers ki l led s o many of the rul ing fam i ly that 'he left him not one that pis s eth agains t a wal l '. T he authors of the Books of K ings and Chronic les , wri ting two c enturies later, were not c onc erned with pers onal detai l or s tric tc hronology but judged the rulers by their loyal ty to the one God of Is rael . Fortunately, however, the Dark Age was over: the ins c riptions of the empires of Egypt and Iraq now i l lum inate - and often c onfi rm - the furious ly righteous ponti fic ations of the B ible.

Nine years after Solomon's death, Egypt and his tory returned to J erus alem. T he pharaoh Shes honq, who had enc ouraged the breakup of the Is rael i te uni ted monarc hy, marc hed up the c oas t, s werving inland towards J erus alem. T he Temple was ric h enough to make s uc h a detour luc rative. K ing Rehoboam hadto buy off Shes honq with the Temple treas ury - Solomon's gold. A ttac king both Is rael i te kingdoms , the pharaoh devas tated Megiddo on the c oas t where he left an ins c ription on a s tele boas ting of his c onques ts : a tantal izing fragment s urvives . On his return, he advertis ed his s uc c es s ful raid at his Temple of Amunin Karnak. A hieroglyphic text at Bubas tis , then the pharaoh's c api tal , s hows that s oon afterwards Shes honq's heir Os orkon dedic ated 383 tons of gold to his temples , probably the loot from J erus alem. Shes honq's invas ion is the fi rs t bibl ic al event c onfi rmed by arc haeology.

A fter fi fty years of fighting, the two Is rael i te kingdoms made peac e. K ing Ahab of Is rael had made a pres tigious marriage to a Phoenic ian princ es s , who bec ame the B ible's arc h-mons tres s , a c orrupt tyrant and wors hipper of Baal and other idols . Her name was J ezebel and s he and her fam i ly c ame to rule Is rael- and J erus alem. T hey brought butc hery and dis as ter to both.13

JEZEBEL AND DAUGHTER, QUEEN OF JERUSALEM

J ezebel and Ahab had a daughter named A thal iah whom they married to king J ehorah of J udah: s he arrived in a J erus alem that was thriving - Syrian merc hants traded in their quarter, a J udaean fleet s ai led the Red Sea and the Canaanite idols had been expel led from the Temple. But J ezebel 's daughter did notbring luc k or happines s .

T he Is rael i tes had flouris hed only whi le the great powers were in abeyanc e. Now in 854, As s yria, bas ed around Nineveh in modern Iraq, ros e again. W hen the As s yrian king Shalmanes er III s tarted the c onques t of the Syrian kingdoms , J udah, Is rael and Syria formed a c oal i tion to res is t him . A t the Battle ofKarkar, K ing Ahab, fielding 2,000 c hariots and 10,000 infantry and bac ked by the J udaeans and the various Syrian kings , hal ted the As s yrians . But afterwards , the c oal i tion fel l apart. T he J udaeans and Is rael i tes fought wi th the Syrians ; their s ubjec t peoples rebel led.* K ing Ahab of Is rael was ki l led by an arrow -'dogs l ic ked up his blood'. A general named J ehu rebel led in Is rael , s laughtered the royal fam i ly - s tac king the heads of Ahab's s eventy s ons in a heap at the gate of Samaria, and as s as s inated not only the new king of Is rael but the vis i ting king of J udah too. As for Queen J ezebel , s he was tos s ed out of her palac ewindow, to be pulverized under c hariot-wheels .*

J ezebel 's c arc as s was fed to the dogs in Is rael but in about 841 BC, J ezebel 's daughter, Queen A thal iah, s eized power in J erus alem, ki l l ing al l the Davidian princ es (her own grandc hi ldren) that s he c ould find. Only one baby princ e, J ehoas h, was s aved. T he s ec ond Book of K ings - and s ome newarc haeologic al finds - here del iver the fi rs t gl imps e of l i fe in J erus alem.14

T he princ el ing was hidden in the Temple c omplex whi le J ezebel 's hal f-Phoenic ian, hal f-Is rael i te daughter attrac ted c os mopol i tan trade and Baal is t wors hip to her s mal l mountain c api tal . An exquis i te ivory dove perc hed atop a pomegranate, les s than an inc h high, was found in J erus alem, i t was probably us edto dec orate a piec e of furni ture in a grand J erus alem hous e. Phoenic ian c lay s eals - known as bul lae , the headed notepaper of the day - have been found around the roc k pool below the City of David wi th images of their s hips and holy totems s uc h as a winged s un over a throne, along with 10,000 fis hbones ,probably imported from the Mediterranean by thes e oc ean-going traders . But A thal iah was s oon as hated as J ezebel . Her idolatrous pries ts s et up Baal and other gods in the Temple. A fter s ix years , the Temple's pries t c al led J erus alem 's grandees to a s ec ret meeting and revealed the exis tenc e of the l i ttle princ e,J ehoas h - to whom they immediately s wore loyal ty. T he pries t armed the guards with the s pears and s hields of K ing David, s ti l l s tored in the T emple, and then publ ic ly anointed the c hi ld, c rying 'God s ave the king' and blowing trumpets .

T he Queen heard 'the nois e of the guard and the people' and rus hed through the ac ropol is from the palac e into the neighbouring Temple, now pac ked with people. 'T reas on! T reas on! ' s he c ried, but the guards s eized her, dragged her off the holy mountain and ki l led her outs ide the gates . T he pries ts of Baalwere lync hed, their idols s mas hed.

K ing J ehoas h ruled for forty years unti l about 801 when he was defeated in battle by the Syrian king, who marc hed on J erus alem and forc ed him to pay out 'al l the gold in the treas ures ' of the Temple. He was murdered. T hirty years later, a king of Is rael raided J erus alem and plundered the Temple. From now onthe growing wealth of the T emple made i t a tempting prize.15

Yet J erus alem 's remote pros peri ty was no matc h for As s yria, energized under a new king: that c arnivorous empire was again on the marc h. T he kings of Is rael and of A ram-Damas c us tried to put together a c oal i tion to res is t the As s yrians . W hen K ing Ahaz of J udah refus ed, the Is rael i tes and Syrians bes iegedJ erus alem. T hey c ould not break through the newly forti fied wal ls , but K ing Ahaz des patc hed the T emple treas ury and an appeal for help to T iglath-P i les er III of As s yria. In 732, the As s yrians annexed Syria and ravaged Is rael . In J erus alem, K ing Ahaz agonized over whether to s ubmit to As s yria or fight.

ISAIAH: JERUSALEM AS BEAUTY AND HARLOT

T he king was advis ed by Is aiah, princ e, pries t and pol i tic al c ons igl iere, to wai t: Yahweh would protec t J erus alem. T he king, s aid Is aiah, would have a s on named Emmanuel - meaning 'God with us ' - 'For unto us a c hi ld is born' who would be 'the Mighty God, the everlas ting Father, the P rinc e of Peac e', bringing'peac e without end'.

T here were at leas t two authors of the Book of Is aiah - one of them wrote over 200 years later - but this fi rs t Is aiah was not jus t a prophet but a vis ionary poet who, in an age of vorac ious As s yrian aggres s ion, was the fi rs t to imagine l i fe beyond the des truc tion of the Temple, in a mys tic al J erus alem. 'I s aw theLord s i tting upon a throne high and l i fted upand his train fi l led the temple ... and the hous e was fi l led wi th s moke.'

Is aiah loved the 'holy mountain', whic h he s aw as a beauti ful woman, 'the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hi l l of J erus alem ', s ometimes righteous , s ometimes a harlot. T he pos s es s ion of J erus alem was nothing without godl ines s and dec enc y. But i f al l was los t and 'J erus alem is ruined', there would be anew mys tic al J erus alem for everyone 'upon every dwel l ing-plac e', preac hing loving-kindnes s : 'Learn to do wel l ; s eek judgement; rel ieve the oppres s ed; judge the fatherles s ; plead for the widow.' Is aiah fores aw an extraordinary phenomenon: 'the mountain of the Lord's hous e s hal l be es tabl is hed in the topof themountains ... and al l nations s hal l flow to i t'. T he laws , values and s tories of this remote and perhaps vanquis hed mountain c i ty would ris e again: 'And many people s hal l go and s ay, Come ye and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the Hous e of the God of J ac ob; and he wi l l teac h us of his ways ... Out ofZion s hal l go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from J erus alem. And he s hal l judge among the nations .' Is aiah predic ted a mys tic al Day of J udgement when an anointed king - the Mes s iah - would c ome: 'they s hal l beat their s words into ploughs hares and s pears into pruning-hooks ... and nei ther s hal l they learnwar any more.' T he dead would ris e again. 'T he wolf als o s hal l dwel l wi th the lamb and the leopard s hal l l ie down with the kid.'

T his inc andes c ent poetry fi rs t expres s ed the apoc alyptic yearnings that would run throughout J erus alem 's his tory unti l today. Is aiah would help s hape not only J udais m but Chris tiani ty. J es us Chris t s tudied Is aiah, and his teac hings - from the des truc tion of the Temple and the idea of a univers al s piri tualJ erus alem to the c hampioning of the underdog - derive from this poetic al vis ion. J es us hims el f would be s een as Is aiah's Emmanuel.

K ing Ahaz travel led to Damas c us to make obeis anc e to T iglath-P i les er, returning with an As s yrian-s tyle al tar for the Temple. W hen the c onqueror died in 727 BC, Is rael rebel led, but the new As s yrian king Sargon II bes ieged Samaria the c api tal for three years and then s wal lowed Is rael , deporting 27,000 of i tspeople to As s yria. Ten of the T welve T ribes , who had l ived in the northern kingdom, almos t vanis h from his tory. * T he modern J ews are des c ended from the las t two tribes who s urvived as the K ingdom of J udah.16 T he baby whom Is aiah had hai led as Emmanuel was K ing Hezekiah, who was no Mes s iah butnonetheles s pos s es s ed the mos t pric eles s of al l pol i tic al qual i ties , luc k. And trac es of his J erus alem s urvive today.

SENNACHERIB: THE W OLF ON THE FOLD

Hezekiah waited twenty years for a c hanc e to revol t agains t As s yria: fi rs t he purged the idols , s hattering the bronze s nake that s tood in the Temple, and s ummoned his people to c elebrate an early vers ion of Pas s over in a J erus alem whic h was expanding for the fi rs t time on to the wes tern hi l l . * T he c i ty fi l led wi threfugees from the fal len northern kingdom, and they probably brought wi th them s ome of their anc ient s c rol ls of early Is rael i te his tory and legend. J erus alem 's s c holars s tarted to fus e together the J udaean tradi tions wi th thos e of the northern tribes : ul timately thes e s c rol ls , wri tten jus t as the Greeks were rec ordingHomer's epic poem the Il iad , would bec ome the B ible.

W hen Sargon II was ki l led in battle in 705, the J erus alem ites , even Is aiah, hoped i t marked the fal l of the evi l empire. Egypt prom is ed s upport; the c i ty of Babylon rebel led and s ent ambas s adors to Hezekiah, who fel t his moment had c ome: he joined a new c oal i tion agains t As s yria and prepared for war. But,unfortunately for the J udaeans , the new Great K ing of As s yria was a warlord of apparently endles s c onfidenc e and energy: his name was Sennac herib.

He c al led hims el f 'K ing of the W orld, K ing of As s yria' at a time when the ti tles were s ynonymous . As s yria ruled from the Pers ian Gulf to Cyprus . Its landloc ked heartland in today's Iraq was defended by mountains to the north and the Euphrates in the wes t but was vulnerable to attac k from s outh and eas t. T heempire res embled a s hark that c ould s urvive only by c ons tant c ons umption. For the As s yrians , c onques t was a rel igious duty. Eac h new king s wore at his ac c es s ion to expand what they c al led 'the land of God As hur' - the c ountry was named after i ts patron god. T he kings were both high pries ts and c ommanderswho led their 200,000-s trong arm ies in pers on, and l ike the tyrants of modern times , they c owed their s ubjec ts us ing not jus t terror but vas t deportations of peoples from one end of the empire to another.

T he body of Sennac herib's father was never rec overed from the battlefield, a terrible s ign of divine dis pleas ure, and the empire s tarted to break up. But Sennac herib s mas hed al l the rebel l ions and when he rec aptured Babylon, he des troyed the enti re c i ty. But onc e order was res tored, he tried to c ons ol idate,extravagantly rebui lding his c api tal Nineveh, c i ty of Is htar, goddes s of war and pas s ion, wi th c anals i rrigating i ts gardens and his mas s ive Palac e W ithout Rival . T he As s yrian kings were avid propagandis ts , whos e triumphal is t dec orations on the wal ls of their palac es advertis ed As s yrian vic tories and thegrues ome deaths of their enemies - mas s -impal ings , flayings and beheadings . T he c ourtiers of c onquered c i ties paraded through Nineveh wearing the heads of their kings on ghoul is h nec klac es around their nec ks . But their depredations were probably no more vic ious than other c onquerors : the Egyptians , forexample, c ol lec ted the hands and penis es of their enemies . Ironic al ly As s yria's mos t brutal era was over; Sennac herib preferred to negotiate i f pos s ible.

Sennac herib buried rec ords of his ac hievements in the foundations of his palac es . In Iraq, arc haeologis ts have found the remains of his c i ty, reveal ing As s yria at i ts apogee, made ric h by c onques t and agric ul ture, adminis tered by s c ribes whos e rec ords were pres erved in royal arc hives . T heir l ibrariesc ontained c ol lec tions of omens to aid royal dec is ion-making, and of inc antations , ri tuals and hymns to maintain divine s upport, but als o tablets of l i terary c las s ic s s uc h as the Epic of Gi lgames h . W ors hipping many gods , revering magic al figurines and s piri ts and c al l ing upon the power of divination, the As s yrianss tudied medic ine, wri ting pres c riptions on tablets that read: 'If the man is s uffering from the fol lowing s ymptoms , the problem is ...T ake the fol lowing drugs ...'

Is rael i te pris oners , toi l ing far from home in the res plendently gaudy c i ties of As s yria wi th their Babel-l ike ziggurat towers and painted palac es , s aw them as metropol is es 'of blood, ful l of l ies , ful l of plunder, never wi thout vic tims ! ' T he prophet Nahum des c ribed 'the c rac k of whips , the c latter of wheels , gal lopinghors es and jol ting c hariots ! ' Now thos e eight-s poked c hariots , thos e vas t arm ies and Sennac herib hims el f were marc hing on J erus alem, s wooping down, s ays Deuteronomy, 'l ike a vul ture in fl ight'.

HEZEKIAH'S TUNNEL

Hezekiah knew what horrors had befal len Babylon; he frantic al ly bui l t forti fic ations around J erus alem 's new quarters . Sec tions of his 'broad wal l ', 25 feet wide, s urvive today in s everal plac es but mos t impres s ively in the J ewis h Quarter. He prepared for a s iege by ordering two groups c rafts men to hac k a tunnel 1,700feet through the roc k to l ink the Gihon Spring outs ide the c i ty to the S i loam Pool, s outh of the Temple Mount below the City of David, whic h now, thanks to his new forti fic ations , lay ins ide the wal ls . W hen the two teams met up deep in the roc k, they c elebrated by c arving an ins c ription to rec ord their amazingac hievement:

[W hen the tunnel ] was driven through. And this was the way in whic h i t was c ut through. W hi le [they were] s ti l l [exc avating with their] axes , eac h man toward his fel low, and whi le there were s ti l l three c ubi ts to c ut through, [they heard] the voic e of a man c al l ing to his fel lows , for there was a fis s ure in theroc k on the right [and the left]. And when the tunnel was driven through, the quarrymen hewed [the roc k], eac h man toward his fel low, axe agains t axe; and the water flowed from the s pring toward the res ervoir for 1,200 c ubi ts and the height of the roc k above the heads of the quarrymen was 100 c ubi ts .*

North of the Temple Mount, Hezekiah dammed a val ley to c reate one of the Bethes da Pools to del iver more water into the c i ty, and he s eems to have dis tributed food - oi l , wine, grain - to his forc es , ready for s iege and war. J ar handles have been found at s i tes ac ros s J udah marked lmlk - 'for the king' - s tamped withhis emblem, the four-winged s c arab.

'T he As s yrian c ame down l ike the wolf on the fold,' wrote Byron. Sennac herib and his vas t arm ies were now very c los e to J erus alem. T he Great K ing would have travel led, l ike mos t As s yrian kings , in a hulking three-hors e c hariot, s haded under the royal paras ol , hors es s plendidly c aparis oned with s himmeringheadc res ts whi le he hims el f would have worn a long embroidered robe, a flat hat wi th a pointed peak, a s quare-c ut, long, braided beard and ros ette brac elets , and often c arried a bow in his hands and a s word at his bel t in a s c abbard dec orated with l ions . He s aw hims el f more as a l ion than a bibl ic al vul ture orByronic wol f - As s yrian kings wore l ions kins to c elebrate their vic tories in the T emple of Is htar, dec orated their palac es with l ion s phinxes and avidly hunted l ions as the s port of great kings .

He bypas s ed J erus alem to bes iege Hezekiah's s ec ond c i ty, forti fied Lac his h, to the s outh. W e know from the bas -rel iefs at his Nineveh palac e what his troops (and the J udaeans ) looked l ike: the As s yrians , a polyglot imperial army, wore their hair braided, and dres s ed in tunic s and c hainmai l , wi th plumed andpointed helmets , arrayed in c ontingents of c harioteers , s pearmen, arc hers and s l ingers . T hey bui l t s iege-ramps ; s appers underm ined the wal ls , a fears omely s piked s iege-engine s hattered the forti fic ations . A rc hers and s l ingers laid down withering fi re as Sennac herib's infantry s tormed ups c al ing ladders to takethe c i ty. A rc haeologis ts have exc avated a mas s grave of 1,500 men, women and c hi ldren, s ome impaled or s kinned, jus t as the bas -rel ief s hows ; throngs of refugees fled the mayhem. J erus alem knew what to expec t.17

Sennac herib s wiftly defeated an Egyptian army that had c ome to aid Hezekiah, ravaged J udah and then c los ed on J erus alem, c amping to the north, the s ame plac e c hos en by T i tus over five hundred years later.Hezekiah pois oned any wel ls outs ide J erus alem. His troops , manning his new wal ls , wore turbans fas tened with headbands and long earflaps , s hort ki l ts , leg armour and boots . As the s iege s et in, there mus t have been panic in the c i ty. Sennac herib s ent his generals to parley - res is tanc e was hopeles s . T he

prophet Mic ah fores aw the des truc tion of Zion. However, old Is aiah c ouns el led patienc e: Yahweh would provide.Hezekiah prayed in the T emple. Sennac herib bragged that he had s urrounded J erus alem 'l ike a bird in a c age'. But Is aiah was right: God intervened.

MANASSEH: CHILD SACRIFICE IN THE VALLEY OF HELL

'T he angel of the Lord went out and s mote in the c amp of the As s yrians ... and when they aros e in the morning, they were al l dead c orps es .' T he As s yrians s uddenly pac ked up their c amp, probably to s uppres s a rebel l ion in the eas t. 'So Sennac herib king of As s yria departed.' Yahweh told Sennac herib that 'T hedaughter of J erus alem hath s haken her head at thee.' T his was the J erus alem vers ion, but Sennac herib's annals des c ribe Hezekiah's c rus hing tribute, inc luding 30 talents of gold and 800 of s i lver: he s eems to have paid them to leave. Sennac herib reduc ed J udah to a rump not muc h larger than the dis tric t ofJ erus alem and boas ted that he had deported 200,150 people.18

W hen Hezekiah died s oon after the s iege, his s on Manas s eh bec ame a loyal Syrian vas s al . He brutal ly c rus hed any oppos i tion in J erus alem, married an A rabian princ es s , overturned his father's reforms and ins tal led ri tual male pros ti tutes and the idols Baal and As herah in the Temple. Mos t dreadful of al l , heenc ouraged the s ac ri fic e of c hi ldren at the roas ter - the tophet - in the Val ley of Hinnom,* s outh of the c i ty. Indeed 'he made his own s on pas s through the fi re ...' Chi ldren were s aid to be taken there as pries ts beat drums to hide the s hrieks of the vic tims from their parents .

T hanks to Manas s eh, the Val ley of Hinnom bec ame not jus t the plac e of death, but Gehenna, 'hel l ' in J ewis h and later Chris tian and Is lam ic mythology. If the T emple Mount was J erus alem 's own heaven, Gehenna was her own Hades .T hen in 626, Nabopolas s ar, a Chaldean general , s eized c ontrol of Babylon and s tarted to des troy the As s yrian empire, rec ording his exploi ts in the Babylonian Chronic les . In 612, Nineveh fel l to an al l ianc e of Babylonians and Medes . In 609, the s uc c es s ion of Manas s eh's eight-year-old grands on, J os iah,

s eemed to herald a golden age ruled by a Mes s iah.19

THE WHORE OF BABYLON

586-539 BC

JOSIAH: THE REVOLUTIONARY SAVIOUR

It was a m irac le: the evi l empire of As s yria had fal len apart and the kingdom of J udah was free. K ing J os iah may have extended his kingdom northwards into the former lands of Is rael , s outhwards towards the Red Sea and eas twards towards the Mediterranean, and then, in the eighteenth year of his reign, Hi lkiah thec hief pries t found a forgotten s c rol l s tored in the c hambers of the T emple.

J os iah rec ognized the power of this doc ument, an early vers ion of the Book of Deuteronomy ('Sec ond Law' in Greek), probably one of the s c rol ls brought s outhwards from Is rael after i ts fal l and hidden in the Temple during Manas s eh's pers ec utions . Having as s embled the J udaeans in the Temple, J os iah s toodby that totem ic s ymbol, the royal pi l lar, and announc ed his c ovenant wi th the one God to keep the Law. T he king s et his s c holars to retel l the anc ient his tory of the J udaeans , l inking the mythic al Patriarc hs , the s ac red kings David and Solomon and the s tory of J erus alem into a s ingle pas t, to i l lum inate the pres ent.T his was another s tep towards the c reation of the B ible. Indeed thes e laws were bac kdated and attributed to Mos es , but the bibl ic al portrai t of the Temple of Solomon s urely reflec ted the real but later J erus alem of J os iah, the new David. Henc eforth the holy mountain bec ame nothing les s than ha-Makom inHebrew: the P lac e.

T he king had the idols burned in the K idron Val ley, and expel led the male pros ti tutes from the Temple; he s mas hed the c hi ld-roas ters of the Val ley of Hel l and ki l led the idolatrous pries ts , grinding their bones into their al tars . * J os iah's revolution s ounds violent, frenzied and puri tanic al . He then held a Pas s overfes tival to c elebrate. 'And l ike unto him was there no king before him .' Yet he was playing a dangerous game. W hen Nec ho, the Egyptian pharaoh, marc hed up the c oas t, J os iah, fearing he was about to s wap As s yrian for Egyptian dominion, rus hed to s top him . In 609 BC, the pharaoh c rus hed the J udaeans andki l led J os iah at Megiddo. J os iah had fai led, but his optim is tic , revelatory reign was more influential than any other between David and J es us . T he dream of independenc e, however, ended at Megiddo, whic h bec ame the very defini tion of c atas trophe: A rmageddon.20

T he pharaoh advanc ed on J erus alem and plac ed J os iah's brother J ehoiakim on the throne of J udah. But Egypt fai led to s top the ris e of a new Near Eas tern empire. In 605, the Babylonian king's s on, Nebuc hadnezzar, routed the Egyptians at Carc hemis h. As s yria vanis hed; Babylon inheri ted J udah. But in 597,K ing J ehoiakim s aw his c hanc e in the m ids t of this ins tabi l i ty to l iberate J udah and c al led a national fas t to win God's protec tion. His advis er and prophet J eremiah warned, in the fi rs t jerem iad, that God would des troy J erus alem. K ing J ehoiakim publ ic ly burned J eremiah's wri tings .* He al l ied J udah with Egypt, butno Egyptian help c ame as a new c onqueror des c ended on J erus alem.

NEBUCHADNEZZAR

'In the s eventh month of K is lev,' dec lared Nebuc hadnezzar's c hronic le, pres erved on a c lay ins c ription, 'the Babylonian king marc hed to the land of Hatti [Syria], bes ieged the City of J udah [J erus alem] and on the s ec ond day of the month of Adar [16 Marc h 697] took the c i ty and c aptured the king.' Nebuc hadnezzarplundered the T emple and deported the king and 10,000 nobles , artis ans and young men to Babylon. T here, J ehoiakim joined his vanquis her's c ourt.

Nebuc hadnezzar was the s on of a us urper but he was a dynamic empire-bui lder, who regarded hims el f as the vic eroy on earth of Babylon's patron god Bel-Marduk. Inheri ting the As s yrian s tyle of feroc ious imperial repres s ion, he promoted hims el f as a paragon of piety and virtue. A t home 'the s trong us ed toplunder the weak', but Nebuc hadnezzar 'did not res t night or day but wi th c ouns el and del iberation he pers is ted' in giving jus tic e. His J udaean vic tims m ight not have rec ognized the s oi-dis ant 'K ing of J us tic e'.

T he exi les from J udah found thems elves in a c i ty that made Zion look l ike a vi l lage. W hi le a few thous and l ived in J erus alem, Babylon boas ted a quarter of a m i l l ion in a metropol is s o majes tic and hedonis tic that the goddes s of love and war Is htar was s aid to tiptoe through the s treets , kis s ing her favouri tes inthe inns and al leyways .

Nebuc hadnezzar s tamped Babylon with his own aes thetic flai r: grandios e gigantis m tinted in his favouri te c olour, divine s ky-blue, reflec ted in the c anals of the m ighty Euphrates . T he four towers of the Is htar Gate were fac ed with blue-glazed bric ks , i l lus trated with bul ls and dragons in yel low and oc hre, leadinginto the c i ty's triumphal boulevard, the P roc es s ional W ay. His palac e, in his words an 'edi fic e to be admired, a gleaming s anc tuary, my royal abode', was dec orated with towering l ions . Hanging Gardens embel l is hed his s ummer palac e. Honouring Babylon's patron god Marduk, Nebuc hadnezzar rais ed a ziggurat, animmens e s even-s torey, s tepped tower wi th a flat top: his Foundation P latform of Heaven and Earth was the real T ower of Babel , i ts many languages reflec ting the c os mopol i tan c api tal of the enti re Near Eas t.

In J erus alem, Nebuc hadnezzar plac ed the exi led king's unc le, Zedekiah, on the throne. In 594, Zedekiah vis i ted Babylon to make obeis anc e to Nebuc hadnezzar, but on his return he launc hed a rebel l ion, haunted by the prophet J eremiah, who warned that the Babylonians would des troy the c i ty. Nebuc hadnezzarmarc hed s outhwards . Zedekiah appealed to the Egyptians , who s ent meagre forc es that were s oon defeated. Ins ide J erus alem, J eremiah, obs erving the panic and paranoia, tried to es c ape but was arres ted at the gates . T he king, torn between as king his advic e and exec uting him for treas on, impris oned him in thedungeons under the royal palac e. For eighteen months , Nebuc hadnezzar ravaged J udah,* leaving J erus alem unti l las t.

In 587, Nebuc hadnezzar enc irc led J erus alem with forts and a s iege wal l . 'T he fam ine', wrote J eremiah, 'was s ore in the c i ty'. Young c hi ldren 'faint for hunger at the topof every s treet', and there were hints of c annibal is m: 'the daughter of my people is bec ome c ruel ... T he hands of the pi ti ful women have s oddentheir own c hi ldren: they were their meat in the des truc tion'. Even the ric h were s oon des perate, wrote the author of Lamentations : 'they that were brought up in s c arlet embrac e dunghi l ls ', s earc hing for food. People wandered the s treets , dazed, 'l ike bl ind men'. A rc haeologis ts have found a s ewer pipe that dated fromthe s iege: the J udaeans us ual ly l ived on lenti ls , wheat and barley, but the pipe's c ontents s howed that people were l iving on plants and herbs , dis eas ed with whipworm and tapeworm.

On the 9th of the J ewis h month of Ab, Augus t 586, after eighteen months , Nebuc hadnezzar broke into the c i ty, whic h was s et on fi re, probably wi th flamed torc hes and burning arrows (arrowheads were dis c overed in today's J ewis h Quarter in a layer of s oot, as hes and c harred wood). Yet the fi re that c ons umedthe hous es als o baked the c lay bul lae , the s eals of the bureauc rac y, s o hard that they have s urvived to this day among the burned hous es . J erus alem s uffered the infernal depredations of fal len c i ties . T hos e that were ki l led were luc kier than thos e who s tarved: 'Our s kin was blac k l ike the oven bec aus e of thefam ine. T hey ravis hed the women in Zion; princ es were hanged up by their hand.' Edomites from the s outh poured into the c i ty to loot, party and gloat in the wrec kage: 'Rejoic e and be glad, O daughter of Edom ... thou s hal t be drunken and s hal t make thys el f naked.' T he Edomites , ac c ording to Ps alm 137,enc ouraged the Babylonians to 'ras e i t, ras e i t, even to the foundation thereof ... Happy s hal l he be, that taketh and das heth thy l i ttle ones agains t the s tones .' T he Babylonians ravaged J erus alem whi le, beneath the royal palac e, J eremiah s urvived in his dungeon.

NEBUCHADNEZZAR: THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION

Zedekiah broke out through the gate c los e to the S i loam Pool, heading for J eric ho, but the Babylonians c aptured the king and brought him before Nebuc hadnezzar 'where s entenc e was pronounc ed on him . T hey ki l led the s ons of Zedekiah before his eyes . T hen they put out his eyes , bound him with bronze s hac klesand took him to Babylon.' T he Babylonians mus t have found J eremiah in the king's pris on for they brought him to Nebuc hadnezzar, who apparently interviewed him and gave him to the c ommander of the imperial guard, Nebuzaradan, who was in c harge of J erus alem. Nebuc hadnezzar deported 20,000 J udaeans toBabylon, though J eremiah s ays he left many of the poor behind.

A month later Nebuc hadnezzar ordered his general to obl i terate the c i ty. Nebuzaradan 'burned the Hous e of the Lord, the king's palac e and al l the hous es of J erus alem ' and 'brake down the wal ls '. T he Temple was des troyed, i ts gold and s i lver ves s els plundered, and the A rk of the Covenant vanis hed for ever.'T hey have c as t fi re into thy Sanc tuary,' rec ounted Ps alm 74. T he pries ts were ki l led before Nebuc hadnezzar. As with T i tus in AD 70, T emple and palac e mus t have been toppled into the val ley beneath: 'How is the gold bec ome dim ! How is the mos t fine gold c hanged! T he s tones of the Sanc tuary are poured in thetop of every s treet.'*

T he s treets were empty: 'How doth the c i ty s i t s ol i tary that was ful l of people.' T he wel l -off were impoveris hed: 'they that did feed del ic ately are des olate in the s treets '. Foxes loped ac ros s the barren mountain of Zion. T he Lamentations of the J udaeans mourned their bleeding 'J erus alem ... as a mens truouswoman': 'She weepeth s ore in the night and her tears are on her c heeks : among her lovers , s he hath none to c omfort her.'

T he des truc tion of the Temple mus t have s eemed to be the death not jus t of a c i ty but of an enti re nation. 'T he ways of Zion do mourn bec aus e none c ome to the s olemn feas ts : al l her gates are des olate: her pries ts s igh ... And from the daughter of Zion al l her beauty is departed. T he c rown is fal len from ourhead.' T his s eemed to be the end of the world, or, as the Book of Daniel explained i t, 'the abomination that maketh des olate'. T he J udaeans would s urely vanis h l ike other peoples whos e gods had fai led them. But the J ews s omehow trans formed this c atas trophe into the formative experienc e that redoubled thes anc ti ty of J erus alem and c reated a prototype for the Day of J udgement. For al l three rel igions , this inferno made J erus alem the venue of the Las t Days and the c oming of the divine kingdom. T his was the Apoc alyps e - bas ed on the Greek word for 'revelation' - that J es us would prophes y. For Chris tians i t bec ame adefining and perennial expec tation, whi le Muhammad would s ee Nebuc hadnezzar's des truc tion as the withdrawal of divine favour from the J ews , making way for his Is lam ic revelation.

In Babylonian exi le, s ome of the J udaeans kept their c ommitment to God and Zion. A t the s ame time as Homer's poems were bec oming the national epic of the Greeks , the J udaeans s tarted to define thems elves by their own bibl ic al texts and their faraway c i ty: 'By the rivers of Babylon, there we s at down, yea,we wept when we remembered Zion. W e hanged our harps upon the wi l lows in the m ids t thereof.' Yet even the Babylonians , ac c ording to Ps alm 137, apprec iated the J udaean s ongs : 'For there they that c arried us away c aptive required of us a s ong; and they that was ted us required of us m irth, s aying, S ing us oneof the s ongs of Zion. How s hal l we s ing the Lord's s ong in a s trange land?'

Yet i t was there that the B ible began to take s hape. W hi le young J erus alem ites s uc h as Daniel were educ ated in the royal hous ehold and the more worldly exi les bec ame Babylonians , J udaeans developed new laws to emphas ize that they were s ti l l dis tinc t and s pec ial - they res pec ted the Sabbath,c i rc umc is ed their c hi ldren, adhered to dietary laws , adopted J ewis h names - bec aus e the fal l of J erus alem had demons trated what happened when they did not res pec t God's laws . Away from J udah, the J udaeans were bec oming J ews .*

T he Exi les immortal ized Babylon as 'the mother of pros ti tutes and the abominations of the earth', yet the empire pros pered and their nemes is , Nebuc hadnezzar, ruled for over forty years . However, Daniel c laims the king went ins ane: he was 'driven away from the people and ate gras s l ike c attle, his nai ls growingl ike c laws of a bird' - a s ui table punis hment for his c rimes (and wonderful ins piration for W i l l iam B lake's paintings ). If vengeanc e was not c omplete, the exi les c ould at leas t wonder at the i ronies of l i fe in Babylon: Nebuc hadnezzar's s on Amel-Marduk was s uc h a dis appointment that his father threw him in pris on,where he bec ame ac quainted with J ehoiac hin, K ing of J udah.

BELSHAZZAR'S FEAST

W hen Amel-Marduk bec ame king of Babylon, he freed his royal J udaean friend from pris on. But in 556 the dynas ty was overthrown: the new king, Nabonidus , rejec ted Bel-Marduk, god of Babylon, in favour of S in the moon-god and ec c entric al ly left the c i ty to l ive at Teima, far away in the A rabian des ert. Naboniduswas s truc k by a mys terious dis eas e, and i t was s urely he (not Nebuc hadnezzar, as Daniel c laimed) who went mad and 'ate gras s l ike c attle'.

In the king's abs enc e, the regent, his s on Bels hazzar, ac c ording to the B ible, held the depraved feas t at whic h he us ed the 'gold and s i lver goblets that Nebuc hadnezzar had taken from the Temple in J erus alem ' and s uddenly s aw on the wal l God's words : 'MENE MENE T EKEL UPHARSIN'. Dec oded, thes e weremeas urements warning that the days of the empire were numbered. Bels hazzar trembled. For the W hore of Babylon, 'the wri ting was on the wal l '.

In 539 BC, the Pers ians marc hed on Babylon. J ewis h his tory is fi l led wi th m irac ulous del iveranc es . T his was one of the mos t dramatic . A fter forty-s even years 'by the rivers of Babylon', the dec is ion of one man, in i ts way as s eminal as that of David, res tored Zion.21

THE PERSIANS

539-336 BC

CYRUS THE GREAT

As tyges , K ing of Media in wes tern Pers ia, dreamed that his daughter was urinating a golden s tream whic h s quirted out the whole of his kingdom. His magi, the Pers ian pries ts , interpreted this to mean that his grands ons would threaten his rule. As tyges married his daughter to a weak, unthreatening neighbour tothe eas t, the K ing of Ans han. T his marriage s pawned an heir, Kouros h, who bec ame Cyrus the Great. As tyges dreamed again that a vine was growing from between his daughter's fec und thighs unti l i t overs hadowed him - a s exual-pol i tic al vers ion of J ac k and the Beans talk. As tyges ordered his c ommanderHarpagus to murder l i ttle Cyrus , but the boy was hidden with a s hepherd. W hen As tyges dis c overed that Cyrus was not dead, he butc hered and c ooked Harpagus ' s on and s erved him to his father as a s tew. It was not a meal that Harpagus would eas i ly forget or forgive.

On the death of his father in about 559 BC, Cyrus returned and s eized his kingdom. As tyges ' pungent dreams , as rec ounted by the Greek his torian Herodotus , who l iked to bel ieve al l Pers ian bus ines s was dec ided with the help of s exual or urinary auguries , c ame true: Cyrus , bac ked by Harpagus , defeated hisgrandfather, uni ting the Medes and Pers ians . Leaving Bels hazzar's Babylon to the s outh, Cyrus c onfronted another potentate, Croes us , weal thy K ing of Lydia in wes tern T urkey. Cyrus forc e-marc hed his c ameleer army to s urpris e Croes us in his c api tal . T he Lydian hors es bol ted when they detec ted the s mel l ofc harging c amels . T hen Cyrus turned on Babylon.

Nebuc hadnezzar's blue-glazed metropol is opened i ts gates to Cyrus , who s hrewdly paid homage to Bel-Marduk, the neglec ted Babylonian god. T he fal l of Babylon elated the J ewis h exi les : 'For the Lord hath done i t; s hout ... break forth into s inging, ye mountains , O fores t, and every tree therein; for the Lord hathredeemed J ac ob, and glori fied hims el f in Is rael .' Cyrus inheri ted the Babylonian empire, inc luding J erus alem: 'every king on earth', he s aid, 'brought me heavy tribute and kis s ed my feet when I s at in Babylon'.

Cyrus had a fres h vis ion of empire. W hi le the As s yrians and Babylonians bui l t empires on s laughter and deportation, Cyrus offered rel igious toleranc e in return for pol i tic al dominanc e to 'uni te peoples into one empire'.*

Soon after, the K ing of Pers ia is s ued a dec ree that mus t have as tonis hed the J ews : T he Lord God hath given me al l the kingdoms of the earth and he hath c harged me to bui ld him a hous e at J erus alem. W ho is there among you of al l his people? Let him go up to J erus alem and bui ld the hous e of the Lord Godof Is rael .'

Not only was he s ending the J udaean exi les home, and guaranteeing their rights and laws - the fi rs t ruler ever to do s o - but he returned J erus alem to them and offered to rebui ld the Temple. Cyrus appointed Shes hbazzar, s on of the las t king, to govern J erus alem, returning to him the Temple ves s els . No wondera J udaean prophet hai led Cyrus as the Mes s iah. 'He is my s hepherd, and s hal l perform al l my pleas ure: even s aying to J erus alem, T hou s hal t be bui l t; and to the temple, T hy foundation s hal l be laid.'

Shes hbazzar led 42,360 exi les bac k to J erus alem in the provinc e of Yehud - J udah. + T he c i ty was a was teland after the magnific enc e of Babylon, but 'Awake, awake, put on thy s trength, O Zion.' wrote Is aiah, 'put on thy beauti ful garments , O J erus alem, the holy c i ty ... Shake thys el f from the dus t ... O c aptivedaughter of Zion.' However, the plans of Cyrus and the returning exi les were obs truc ted by the loc als who had remained in J udaea and partic ularly Samaria.

J us t nine years after the return from exi le, Cyrus , s ti l l in his prime, was ki l led in battle in Central As ia. It was s aid that his vic torious enemy dropped his head into a blood-fi l led wines kin to s atiate his greedy thirs t for the lands of others . His heir redeemed his body and buried him in a golden s arc ophagus atPas argadae (in s outhern Iran) where his tomb s ti l l s tands . 'He ec l ips ed al l other monarc hs , before him and s inc e,' wrote the Greek s oldier Xenophon. J erus alem had los t her protec tor.22

DARIUS AND ZERUBBABEL: THE NEW TEMPLE

T he fate of Cyrus ' empire, al ready larger than anything that had gone before, was dec ided c los e to J erus alem. Cyrus ' s on Cambys es II - Kambuj iya - s uc c eeded to the throne and in 525 marc hed through Gaza and ac ros s S inai to c onquer Egypt. Far away in Pers ia, his brother rebel led. On his way home to s ave histhrone, Cambys es died mys terious ly near Gaza; there, s even noble c ons pirators met on hors ebac k to plan the s eizure of the empire. T hey had not dec ided who would be their c andidate, s o they agreed that 'the one whos e hors e was fi rs t to neigh after dawn s hould have the throne'. T he hors e of Darius , a youngs c ion of one of the noble c lans and Cambys es ' lanc e-bearer, was the fi rs t to neigh. Herodotus c laimed that Darius c heated by ordering his groom to dip his fingers into a mare's vulva: he then gave Darius ' hors e a thri l l ing whi ff at the vi tal moment. T hus Herodotus gleeful ly attributed the ris e of an eas tern des pot to avenereal s leight of hand.

A ided by his s ix c o-c ons pirators , Darius gal loped eas twards , and s uc c eeded in rec onquering the enti re Pers ian empire, s uppres s ing rebel l ions in vi rtual ly every provinc e. But the c ivi l war 'c eas ed the work of the hous e of God in J erus alem unto the s ec ond year of the reign of Darius '. In about 520, P rinc eZerubbabel, grands on of the las t king of J udah, and his pries t, J os hua, s on of the las t pries t of the old T emple, s et off from Babylonia to res c ue J erus alem.

Zerubbabel rededic ated the al tar on the T emple Mount, hi ring artis ans and buying Phoenic ian c edarwood to rebui ld the T emple. Exc i ted by the ris ing edi fic e, enc ouraged by the dis order in the empire, the J ews c ould not help but entertain mes s ianic dreams of a new kingdom. 'In that day, s ai th the Lord of hos ts ,I wi l l take thee, O Zerubbabel, my s ervant ... and make thee as a s ignet', wrote the prophet Haggai, c i ting the Davidic s ignet-ring los t by Zerubbabel 's grandfather. J ewis h leaders arrived from Babylon with gold and s i lver, hai l ing Zerubbabel (whic h means 'Seed of Babylon') as the 'Shoot' that 's hal l as s ume majes tyand rule upon his throne'.

T he loc al people, who l ived around the c i ty and to the north in Samaria, now wanted to join in wi th this s ac red tas k and offered Zerubbabel their help, but the returning Exi les prac tis ed a new J udais m. T hey regarded thes e loc als as hal f-heathens , dis daining them as the Am Ha-A retz, 'the people of the land'.A larmed by the revival in J erus alem or bribed by the loc als , the Pers ian governor s topped the bui lding.

W ithin three years , Darius had defeated al l c hal lenges and emerged as one of the mos t ac c ompl is hed rulers of the anc ient world, es tabl is hing a tolerant world empire that s tretc hed from T hrac e and Egypt to the Hindu Kus h - the fi rs t to extend ac ros s three c ontinents .* T he new Great K ing turned out to be arare c ombination of c onqueror and adminis trator. From his image c arved in roc k to c ommemorate his vic tory, we know that this Darius - Darayavaus h - pres ented hims el f as a c las s ic A ryan with high brow and s traight nos e, s hown as 5 feet 10 inc hes tal l , wearing a war c rown of gold s tudded with oval jewels , hisfringe frizzed, his drooping mous tac he twirled, his hair tied in a bun and his s quare beard arranged in four rows of c urls al ternating with s traight s trands . In his majes ty, he wore a long robe over trous ers and s hoes , and c arried a duc k-headed bow.

T his was the awes ome ruler to whom Zerubbabel appealed, c i ting the dec ree of Cyrus . Darius ordered a c hec k of the imperial rol ls and found the dec ree, c ommanding, 'Let the governor of the J ews bui ld this hous e of God. I, Darius , have a dec ree. Let i t be done with s peed.' In 518, he marc hed wes twards tores tore order in Egypt, probably pas s ing through J udaea to s ettle the over-exc i ted J ews of J erus alem: he may have exec uted Zerubbabel, who now dis appeared without explanation - the las t of the Davidians .

In Marc h 515, the Sec ond Temple was dedic ated joyful ly by the pries ts wi th the s ac ri fic e of 100 bul loc ks , 200 rams , 400 lambs and twelve goats (to expiate the s ins of the T welve T ribes ). T he J udaeans thus c elebrated the fi rs t Pas s over s inc e the Exi le. But when the old men who remembered Solomon'sT emple s aw this modes t bui lding, they burs t into tears . T he c i ty remained tiny and des erted.23

Over fi fty years later, the c up-bearer of Darius ' grands on, K ing A rtaxerxes I, was a J ew named Nehemiah. T he J erus alem ites appealed to him for help: 'T he remnant are in great affl ic tion. T he wal l of J erus alem is broken down.' Nehemiah was heartbroken: 'I s at down and wept and mourned.' W hen he was nexts erving at c ourt in Sus a, the Pers ian c api tal , K ing A rtaxerxes as ked, 'W hy is thy c ountenanc e s ad?' 'Let the king l ive for ever,' repl ied this J ewis h c ourtier, 'why s hould not my c ountenanc e be s ad, when the c i ty, the plac e of my father's s epulc hres , l ieth was te? ... If i t pleas e the king ... s end me unto J udah ... that Imay bui ld i t.' Nehemiah was 's ore afraid' as he awaited the ans wer.

NEHEMIAH: THE DECLINE OF THE PERSIANS

T he Great K ing appointed Nehemiah governor and granted him funds and a m i l i tary es c ort. But the Samari tans , north of J erus alem, were ruled by their own heredi tary governor, Sanbal lat, who dis trus ted this s ec retive c ourtier from faraway Sus a and the s c hemes of the returning Exi les . By night Nehemiah, whofeared as s as s ination, ins pec ted J erus alem 's broken wal ls and burned gates . His memoir, the only pol i tic al autobiography in the B ible, tel ls how Sanbal lat 'laughed us to s c orn' when he heard the plans to rebui ld the wal ls unti l Nehemiah revealed his appointment as governor. Landowners and pries ts were eac hgiven s ec tions of the wal l to rebui ld. W hen they were attac ked by Sanbal lat's ruffians , Nehemiah s et guards 's o the wal l was finis hed in fi fty and two days ', enc los ing jus t the Ci ty of David and the T emple Mount, wi th a s mal l fortres s north of the T emple.

Now J erus alem 'was large and great', Nehemiah s aid, but 'the people were few therein'. Nehemiah pers uaded the J ews outs ide the c i ty to draw lots : one out of every ten would s ettle in J erus alem. A fter twelve years Nehemiah travel led to Pers ia to report to the king, but when he returned to J erus alem he foundthat Sanbal lat's c ronies were luc ratively running the T emple whi le the J ews were marrying with the loc als . Nehemiah expel led thes e interlopers , dis c ouraged intermarriage and impos ed his new pure J udais m.

As the Pers ian kings los t c ontrol over their provinc es , the J ews developed their own s emi-independent s tatelet of Yehud. Bas ed around the Temple, and funded by growing numbers of pi lgrims , Yehud was ruled by the Torah and governed by a dynas ty of high pries ts s uppos edly des c ended from K ing David'spries t Zadok. Onc e again, the T emple treas ury bec ame a c oveted prize. One of the high pries ts was murdered ins ide the T emple by his own avaric ious brother, J es us (the A ramaic for J os hua), a s ac ri lege that gave the Pers ian governor the pretext to marc h on J erus alem and loot i ts gold.24

W hi le the Pers ian c ourtiers were dis trac ted by their own homic idal intrigues , K ing Phi l ip II of Mac edon trained a form idable army, c onquered the Greek c i ty-s tates and prepared to launc h a s ac red war agains t Pers ia to avenge the invas ions of Darius and his s on Xerxes . W hen Phi l ip was as s as s inated, histwenty-year-old s on A lexander s eized the throne and launc hed the attac k on Pers ia that would bring Greec e to J erus alem.

THE MACEDONIANS

336-166 BC

ALEXANDER THE GREAT

W ithin three years of his father's murder in 336 BC, A lexander had twic e defeated the Pers ian king Darius III, who dec ided to wi thdraw eas twards . A lexander did not purs ue him at fi rs t, but ins tead marc hed along the c oas t towards Egypt, and ordered J erus alem to c ontribute provis ions for his army. T he high pries tini tial ly refus ed. But not for long: when T yre res is ted him , A lexander bes ieged the c i ty and when i t fel l , he c ruc i fied al l i ts s urvivors .

A lexander 'hurried to go up to J erus alem ', wrote the J ewis h his torian J os ephus muc h later, c laim ing that the c onqueror was welc omed at the gates by the high pries t in his purple and s c arlet robes and al l the J erus alem ites in whi te. T hey led him into the Temple where he s ac ri fic ed to the J ewis h God. T hiss tory was probably wis hful thinking: i t is more l ikely that the high pries t, along with the leaders of the s emi-J ewis h Samari tans , paid c ourt to A lexander on the c oas t at Ros h Ha Ayim and that, emulating Cyrus , he rec ognized their right to l ive by their own laws .* He then pus hed on to c onquer Egypt, where he foundedthe c i ty of A lexandria before heading eas t, never to return.

A fter finis hing off the Pers ian empire and expanding his hegemony as far as Pakis tan, A lexander began his great projec t, the fus ing of the Pers ians and Mac edonians into a s ingle el i te to rule his world. If he did not qui te s uc c eed, he c hanged the world more than any other c onqueror in his tory by s preading hisvers ion of Hel lenikon - Greek c ul ture, language, poetry, rel igion, s port and Homeric kings hip - from the des erts of Libya to the foothi l ls of A fghanis tan. T he Greek way of l i fe bec ame as univers al as the B ri tis h during the nineteenth c entury or the Americ an today. From now on, even the monotheis tic J ewis h enemiesof this phi los ophic al and polytheis tic c ul ture c ould not help but s ee the world through the lens of Hel lenis m.

On 13 J une 323, eight years after c onquering the known world, A lexander lay in Babylon dying ei ther of fever or of pois on, aged jus t thi rty-three. His devoted s oldiers fi led pas t his bed with tears pouring down their fac es . W hen they as ked him to whom he had left his kingdom, he repl ied: 'T o the s tronges t.'25

PTOLEMY: THE SABBATH SACKING

T he tournament to find the s tronges t was a twenty-year war between A lexander's generals . J erus alem was tos s ed between thes e Mac edonian warlords who 'multipl ied the evi ls in the earth'. In the duel between the two leading c ontenders , J erus alem c hanged hands s ix times . She was ruled for fi fteen years by One-Eyed Antigonos , unti l in 301 he was ki l led in battle and the vic tor, P tolemy, arrived outs ide the wal ls to c laim J erus alem.

P tolemy was A lexander's c ous in, a veteran general who had fought his way from Greec e to Pakis tan, where he had c ommanded the Mac edonian fleet on the Indus . J us t after A lexander's death, he was granted Egypt. W hen he heard that A lexander the Great's c ortege was on i ts way bac k to Greec e, he rus hed upthrough Pales tine to s eize i t and c arried i t bac k to res t in his c api tal , A lexandria. T he guardian of the ul timate Greek tal is man, A lexander's body, bec ame the keeper of his flame. P tolemy was not jus t a warlord: the s oldier's s trong c hin and blunt nos e on his c oins bel ied his s ubtlety and c ommon s ens e.

Now P tolemy told the J erus alem ites that he wis hed to enter the c i ty on the Sabbath to s ac ri fic e to the J ewis h God. T he res ting J ews bel ieved this rus e and P tolemy s eized the c i ty, thus reveal ing the fanatic is m of J ewis h obs ervanc e. But when the s un s et on the Sabbath, the J ews fought bac k. P tolemy's troopsthen rampaged through J erus alem - 'the hous es ri fled, the women ravis hed; and hal f the c i ty go forth into c aptivi ty'. P tolemy probably pos ted Mac edonian garris ons in the Baris Fortres s , bui l t by Nehemiah jus t north of the Temple, and he deported thous ands of J ews to Egypt. T hes e founded the Greek-s peakingJ ewis h c ommunity in P tolemy's s plendid c api tal A lexandria. In Egypt, P tolemy and his s uc c es s ors bec ame pharaohs ; in A lexandria and the Mediterranean they were Greek kings . P tolemy Soter - the 'Saviour' as he was known - adopted the loc al gods , Is is and Os iris , and Egyptian tradi tions of kings hip, promotinghis dynas ty as both Egyptian god-kings and s emi-divine Greek monarc hs . He and his s ons c onquered Cyprus , Cyrenaic a and then s wathes of Anatol ia and the Greek Is lands . He unders tood that not jus t magnific enc e but als o c ul ture would give him legi timac y and greatnes s . So he made A lexandria the world'sparamount Greek c i ty, opulent and s ophis tic ated, founding i ts Mus eum and the Library, rec rui ting Greek s c holars and c ommis s ioning the Pharos l ighthous e, one of the W onders of the W orld. His empire endured for three c enturies down to the las t of his fam i ly - Cleopatra.

P tolemy l ived into his eighties , and wrote a his tory of A lexander.26 P tolemy II Phi ladelphos favoured the J ews , freeing 120,000 J ewis h s laves and s ending gold to embel l is h the Temple. He unders tood the power of pageantry and s pec tac le. In 275 he held a parade for a s mal l number of s pec ial gues ts in thename of Dionys us , god of wine and abundanc e, in whic h a vas t wines kin made of leopard pel ts held 200,000 gal lons of wine and a phal los 180 feet long and 9 feet wide was paraded along with elephants and s ubjec ts from every c orner of his empire. He was als o an avid book c ol lec tor. W hen the high pries t s entthe twenty or s o books of the J ewis h Tanakh * to A lexandria, the king ordered i t to be trans lated into Greek. He res pec ted the s c holars hip of his A lexandrian J ews and invi ted them to a dinner to dis c us s the trans lation: 'everything', prom is ed the king, 'wi l l be s erved in c ompl ianc e with your habi ts and for me als o.' Itwas s aid that in s eventy days the s eventy s c holars eac h produc ed an identic al trans lation. T he Septuagint B ible c hanged the his tory of J erus alem and later made pos s ible the s pread of Chris tiani ty. T hanks to A lexander, Greek was the international language; now, for the fi rs t time, the B ible c ould be read byvirtual ly everyone.27

JOSEPH THE TOBIAD

J erus alem remained a s emi-independent s tatelet wi thin P tolemy's empire, and J udah is s ued i ts own c oins , ins c ribed 'Yehud'. She was not jus t a pol i tic al enti ty but God's own c i ty ruled by the high pries ts . T hes e s c ions of the Oniad fam i ly, c laim ing des c ent from the bibl ic al pries t Zadok, enjoyed the opportuni ty toamas s fortunes and power, provided they paid tribute to the P tolem ies . In the 240s , High P ries t Onias II tried to hold bac k the 20 s i lver talents he owed P tolemy III Euergetes . T his c reated an opportuni ty for a wel l -c onnec ted young J ew who dec ided to outbid the high pries t not jus t for J erus alem but for the enti reland.

T his adventurer was the high pries t's own nephew, J os eph,* who s et off for A lexandria where the king was holding an auc tion: bidders prom is ed the highes t tribute in return for the power to rule and tax their terri tories . T he Syrian grandees moc ked young J os eph but he outplayed them with outrageous c hutzpah.He managed to s ee the king fi rs t and c harmed him . W hen P tolemy III as ked for offers , the bumptious J os eph outbid his rivals for al l of Coele-Syria, Phoenic ia, J udah and Samaria. T he king as ked J os eph for the us ual hos tages to guarantee his prom is ed tribute. 'I give you no other pers ons , O K ing,' repl ied thec oc ky J erus alem ite, 'than yours el f and your wi fe.' J os eph c ould have been exec uted for this impertinenc e but P tolemy laughed and agreed.

J os eph returned to J erus alem with 2,000 Egyptian infantry. He had muc h to prove. W hen As hkelon refus ed to pay i ts taxes , he murdered i ts twenty leading c i tizens . As hkelon paid.J os eph, l ike his names ake in Genes is , had played at the highes t level in Egypt and won. In A lexandria, where he hobnobbed with the king, he fel l in love with an ac tres s . W hen he s et up the s educ tion, his brother replac ed her wi th his own daughter. During the night, J os eph was too drunk to notic e and when he

was s ober, he fel l in love with his niec e and their marriage s trengthened the dynas ty. However, their s on Hyrc anus grew up to be as muc h of a rogue as J os eph hims el f. Living grandly, rul ing s everely and taxing exorbi tantly, J os eph was nonetheles s 'a good man of great magnanim ity', ac c ording to J os ephus ,admired for his 'gravi ty, wis dom and jus tic e. He brought the J ews out of a s tate of poverty and meannes s to one that was more s plendid.'

J os eph the T obiad was important to the kings of Egypt bec aus e they were now c ontinuous ly fighting a rival Mac edonian dynas ty, the Seleuc ids , for c ontrol of the Middle Eas t. In about 241, P tolemy III s howed his grati tude, after a vic tory over his enemies , by vis i ting J erus alem and there s ac ri fic ing res pec tful ly inthe T emple, hos ted no doubt by J os eph. W hen the king died, however, the Egyptians found thems elves c hal lenged by a teenaged Seleuc id king of i rrepres s ible ambition.

ANTIOCHUS THE GREAT: CLASH OF THE ELEPHANTS

T he c hal lenger was the Mac edonian king of As ia, Antioc hus III. In 223, this peripatetic eighteen-year-old inheri ted a grandios e ti tle and a dis integrating empire,* but he pos s es s ed the gi fts to revers e this dec ay. Antioc hus regarded hims el f as the heir to A lexander and, l ike al l the Mac edonian kings , he as s oc iatedhims elf wi th Apol lo, Herc ules , Ac hi l les and, above al l , Zeus . In a dizzying s uc c es s ion of c ampaigns , Antioc hus rec onquered A lexander's eas tern empire as far as India, earning the s oubriquet 'the Great'. He repeatedly attac ked Pales tine but the P tolem ies repel led his invas ions and the ageing J os eph the Tobiadc ontinued to rule J erus alem. But his s on Hyrc anus betrayed him and attac ked the c i ty. Shortly before his death, J os eph defeated his s on, who went on to c arve out his own princ ipal i ty in today's J ordan.

In 201, Antioc hus the Great, now in his forties , returned from his triumphs in the eas t. J erus alem was 'tos s ed l ike a s hip in a s torm between both s ides '. Final ly, Antioc hus routed the Egyptians , and J erus alem welc omed a new mas ter. 'T he J ews , when we c ame into their c i ty,' dec lared Antioc hus , 'gave us as plendid rec eption and met us wi th their s enate, and als o helped us expel the Egyptian garris on.' A Seleuc id king and army were an impres s ive s ight. Antioc hus would have worn a diadem of royal ty, lac ed boots of c rims on embroidered with gold, a broad-brimmed hat and a dark-blue c loak s pangled with gold s tars ,brooc hed at the throat in c rims on. T he J erus alem ites provis ioned his multinational army that inc luded Mac edonian phalanxes bearing their s aris s a lanc es , Cretan mountain fighters , Ci l ic ian l ight infantry, T hrac ian s l ingers , Mys ian bowmen, Lydian javel ineers , Pers ian bowmen, Kurdis h infantry, Iranian heavy-armoured c ataphrac ts on war hors es and, mos t pres tigious of al l , elephants - probably a fi rs t for J erus alem.+

Antioc hus prom is ed to repair the Temple and the wal ls , repopulate the c i ty and c onfi rmed the J ews ' right to rule thems elves 'in ac c ordanc e with the laws of their fathers '. He even banned foreigners from entering the Temple or bringing 'into the c i ty the fles h of hors es or mules or wi ld or tame as s es or leopards ,foxes or hares '. S imon, the high pries t, had c ertainly bac ked the right s ide: never had J erus alem enjoyed s uc h an indulgent c onqueror. J erus alem ites looked bac k at this time as a golden age ruled by the ideal high pries t who, they s aid, res embled 'the morning s tar in the m ids t of a c loud'.28

SIMON THE JUST: THE MORNING STAR

W hen S imon* emerged from the Holy of Hol ies on the Day of A tonement, the High P ries t 'was c lothed in the perfec tion of glory, when he went up to the holy al tar'. He was the paragon of the high pries ts who ruled J udah as anointed princ es , a c ombination of monarc h, pope and ayatol lah: he wore gi lded robes , agleaming breas tplate and a c rown-l ike turban on whic h he s ported the nezer, a golden flower, the s ymbol of l i fe and s alvation, a rel ic of the headdres s of the kings of J udah. J es us Ben S ira, the author of Ec c les ias tic us and the fi rs t wri ter to c apture the s ac red drama of the flouris hing c i ty, des c ribed S imon as 'ac ypres s tree whic h groweth up to the c louds '.

J erus alem had bec ome a theoc rac y - the very word was invented by the his torian J os ephus to des c ribe this s tatelet wi th i ts 'enti re s overeignty and al l authori ty in the hands of God'. Hars h rules regulated every detai l of l i fe, for there was no dis tinc tion between pol i tic s and rel igion. In J erus alem there were nos tatues nor graven images . T he obs ervanc e of the Sabbath was an obs es s ion. A l l c rimes agains t rel igion were punis hed with death. T here were four forms of exec ution - s toning, burning, beheading and s trangl ing. Adul terers were s toned, a punis hment infl ic ted by the whole c ommunity (though the c ondemnedwere fi rs t thrown down a c l i ff s o that they were us ual ly unc ons c ious by the time of the s toning). A s on who s truc k his father was garrotted. A man who fornic ated with both a mother and her daughter was burned.

T he Temple was the c entre of J ewis h l i fe: the high pries t and his c ounc i l , the Sanhedrin, met there. Every morning, the trumpets announc ed the fi rs t prayer, l ike the muezzin of Is lam. Four times a day, the blaring of the s even s i lver trumpets c al led the wors hippers to pros trate thems elves in the Temple. T he twodai ly s ac ri fic es of a male s heep, c ow or dove without blem is h at the Temple al tar, morning and evening, always ac c ompanied by an offering of inc ens e on the al tar of perfumes , were the c hief ri tuals of J ewis h wors hip. T he word 'holoc aus t', derived from the Hebrew olah meaning to 'go up', refers to the burning ofthe whole animal whos e s moke 'goes up' to God. T he c i ty mus t have s melt of the T emple al tar, the c ens ers wi th their del ic ious c innamon and c as s ia m ixing with the reek of burning fles h. Smal l wonder the people wore muc h myrrh, nard and balm as perfumes .

P i lgrims poured into J erus alem for the fes tivals . A t the Sheep Gate to the north of the T emple, s heep and c attle were herded and wrangled, ready for s ac ri fic e. A t Pas s over, 200,000 lambs were s laughtered. But T abernac les was the hol ies t and mos t exuberant week of the J erus alem year, when men and girls inwhite c os tumes danc ed in the T emple c ourtyards , s inging, waving l ighted torc hes and feas ting. T hey gathered palms and branc hes to bui ld huts on the rooftops of their hous es or in the T emple c ourts .*

Yet even under the pure S imon, there were many worldly J ews who probably looked l ike ric h Greeks , l iving in their new Grec ian palac es on the wes tern hi l ls ide known as the Upper Ci ty. W hat the fanatic al J ewis h c ons ervatives regarded as heathen pol lution, thes e c os mopol i tans s aw as c ivi l ization. T his wasthe s tart of a new pattern in J erus alem: the more s ac red s he bec ame, the more divided. T wo ways of l i fe exis ted in the c los es t proxim ity wi th the intimate loathing of a fam i ly feud. Now the c i ty - and the very exis tenc e of the J ews - was threatened by the mos t infamous mons ter s inc e Nebuc hadnezzar.29

ANTIOCHUS EP IPHANES: THE MAD GOD

J erus alem 's benefac tor, Antioc hus the Great, c ould not res t: he now turned to the c onques t of As ia Minor and Greec e. But the over-c onfident K ing of As ia underes timated the ris ing power of the Republ ic of Rome, whic h had jus t defeated Hannibal and Carthage to dominate the wes tern Mediterranean. Romerepel led Antioc hus ' bid for Greec e, forc ing the Great K ing to s urrender his fleet and elephant c orps and s end his s on to Rome as a hos tage. Antioc hus headed eas t to replenis h his treas ury but, whi le looting a Pers ian temple, he was as s as s inated.

J ews , from Babylon to A lexandria, now paid an annual ti the to the Temple, and J erus alem was s o ric h that her treas ures intens i fied power s truggles among the J ewis h leaders and s tarted to attrac t the c as h-s trapped Mac edonian kings . T he new king of As ia, named Antioc hus l ike his father, rus hed to thec api tal at Antioc h and s eized the throne, ki l l ing any other fam i ly c laimants . B rought up in Rome and A thens , Antioc hus IV inheri ted the i rrepres s ible, gl i ttering talents of his father but his c ac kl ing menac e and manic flamboyanc e more res embled the demented exhibi tionis m of Cal igula or Nero.

As the s on of a Great K ing laid low, he had too muc h to prove. As beauti ful as he was unhinged, Antioc hus rel is hed the pageantry of c ourt ri tual yet was bored by i ts c ons traints , priding hims el f on his abs olute right to s urpris e. In Antioc h, the young king got drunk in the main s quare and bathed and wasmas s aged in publ ic wi th expens ive unguents , befriending grooms and porters in the baths . W hen a s pec tator c omplained about his extravagant us e of myrrh, Antioc hus ordered the pot s mas hed over the man's head, c aus ing a riot as the mob tried to s alvage this pric eles s lotion whi le the king jus t laughedhys teric al ly. He enjoyed dres s ing up, appearing in the s treets in a c rown of ros es with a golden c loak, but when his s ubjec ts s tared he threw s tones at them. A t night, he plunged in dis guis e into the s tews of Antioc h's bac ks treets . Spontaneous ly friendly to s trangers , his c ares s es were panther-l ike for he c oulds uddenly turn nas ty, as pi ti les s as he was genial .

T he potentates of the Hel lenic age us ual ly c laimed des c ent from Herc ules and other gods , but Antioc hus took i t a s tep further. He c al led hims el f Epiphanes - the God-manifes t - though his s ubjec ts nic knamed him Epumanes - the Madman. But there was method in his madnes s for he hoped to bind his empiretogether around the wors hip of one king, one rel igion. He ful ly expec ted his s ubjec ts to wors hip their loc al gods and merge them into the Greek pantheon and his own c ul t. But i t was di fferent for the J ews , who had a love-hate relations hip wi th Greek c ul ture. T hey c raved i ts c ivi l ization but res ented i ts dominanc e.J os ephus s ays they regarded Greeks as fec kles s , prom is c uous , modernizing l ightweights , yet many J erus alem ites were already l iving the fas hionable l i fes tyle, us ing Greek and J ewis h names to s how they c ould be both. J ewis h c ons ervatives dis agreed; for them, the Greeks were s imply idolators , whos e nudeathletic s dis gus ted them.

T he fi rs t ins tinc t of the J ewis h grandees was to rac e eac h other to Antioc h to bid for power in J erus alem. T he c ris is s tarted with a fam i ly feud about money and influenc e. W hen High P ries t Onias III made his bid to the king, his brother J as on offered an extra eighty talents and returned as high pries t wi th aprogramme to rebrand J erus alem as a Greek pol is : he renamed her Antioc h-Hieros olyma (Antioc h-in-J erus alem) in honour of the king, downgraded the Torah and bui l t a Greek gymnas ium probably on the wes tern hi l l fac ing the Temple. J as on's reforms were qui te popular. Young J ews were painful ly keen to appearfas hionable at the gymnas ium, where they exerc is ed naked exc ept for a Greek hat. Somehow they managed to revers e their c i rc umc is ions , the mark of the c ovenant wi th God, giving the appearanc e of res toring their fores kins , s urely a triumph of fas hion over c omfort. But J as on hims el f was outbid for J erus alem: hes ent his henc hman Menelaos to Antioc h to del iver his tribute. But ins tead the thuggis h Menelaos s tole the Temple funds , outbid J as on and bought the high pries thood, even though he lac ked the required Zadoki te l ineage. Menelaos s eized J erus alem. W hen the J erus alem ites s ent delegates to the king to protes t,he exec uted them, and he even al lowed Menelaos to arrange the murder of the ex-High P ries t Onias .

Antioc hus was mos t c onc erned to rais e funds to rec onquer his empire - and he was about to pul l off an as tonis hing c oup: the uni ting of the P tolemaic and Seleuc id empires . In 170 BC Antioc hus c onquered Egypt, but the J erus alem ites underm ined his triumph, rebel l ing under the depos ed J as on. T heMadman marc hed bac k ac ros s S inai , and s tormed J erus alem deporting 10,000 J ews .* Ac c ompanied by his henc hman Menelaos , he entered the Holy of Hol ies , an unforgivable s ac ri lege, and s tole i ts pric eles s artefac ts - the golden al tar, the c andles tic k of l ight and the s hewbread table. W ors e, Antioc hus orderedthe J ews to s ac ri fic e to him as God-manifes t, tes ting the loyal ty of the many J ews who were probably attrac ted to Greek c ul ture - and then, his c offers fi l led wi th T emple gold, he rus hed bac k to Egypt to c rus h any res is tanc e.

Antioc hus l iked to play the Roman, s porting a toga and holding moc k elec tions in Antioc h, whi le he s ec retly rebui l t his banned fleet and elephant c orps . But Rome, determ ined to dominate the eas tern Mediterranean, would not tolerate Antioc hus ' new empire. W hen the Roman envoy Popi l l ius Laenas met theking in A lexandria, he bras hly drew a c i rc le in the s and around Antioc hus , demanding he agree to wi thdraw from Egypt before s tepping out of i t - the origin of the phras e 'draw a l ine in the s and'. Antioc hus , 'groaning and in bi tternes s of heart', bowed before Roman power.

Meanwhi le the J ews refus ed to s ac ri fic e to Antioc hus the God. T o ens ure that J erus alem would not rebel a thi rd time, the Madman dec ided to eradic ate the J ewis h rel igion i ts el f.ANTIOCHUS EP IPHANES:

ANOTHER ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION

In 167, Antioc hus c aptured J erus alem by a rus e on the Sabbath, s laughtered thous ands , des troyed her wal ls and bui l t a new c i tadel , the Ac ra. He handed the c i ty over to a Greek governor and the c ol laborator Menelaos .T hen Antioc hus forbade any s ac ri fic es or s ervic es in the Temple, banned the Sabbath, the Law and c irc umc is ion on pain of death, and ordered the Temple to be s oi led wi th pigs ' fles h. On 6 Dec ember, the Temple was c ons ec rated as a s hrine to the s tate god, Olympian Zeus - the very abomination of

des olation. A s ac ri fic e was made to Antioc hus the God-K ing, probably in his pres enc e, at the al tar outs ide the Holy of Hol ies . 'T he Temple was fi l led wi th riot and revel l ing by Genti les who dal l ied wi th harlots ,' fornic ating 'in the holy plac es '. Menelaos ac quies c ed in this , people proc es s ed through the Templewearing ivy c rowns , and, after prayers , even many of the pries ts des c ended to watc h the naked games at the gymnas ium.

T hos e prac tis ing the Sabbath were burned al ive or s uffered a grues ome Greek import: c ruc i fixion. An old man peris hed rather than eat pork; women who c irc umc is ed their c hi ldren were thrown with their babies off the wal ls of J erus alem. T he Torah was torn to s hreds and burned publ ic ly: everyone found with ac opy was put to death. Yet the Torah, l ike the Temple, was worth more than l i fe. T hes e deaths c reated a new c ul t of martyrdom and s timulated expec tation of the Apoc alyps e. 'Many of them that s leep in the dus t of the earth s hal l awake and c ome to everlas ting l i fe' in J erus alem, evi l would fai l , and goodnes striumph with the arrival of a Mes s iah - and a Son of Man, inves ted with eternal glory.*

Antioc hus progres s ed bac k to Antioc h, where he c elebrated his flawed vic tories wi th a fes tival . Gold-armoured Sc ythian hors emen, Indian elephants , gladiators and Nis aean hors es with gold bridles paraded through the c api tal , fol lowed by young athletes wi th gi lded c rowns , a thous and oxen for s ac ri fic e, floatsbearing s tatues , and women s praying perfume on to the c rowds . Gladiators fought in the c i rc us es and fountains ran red with wine whi le the king entertained a thous and gues ts at his palac e. T he Madman s upervis ed everything, riding up and down the proc es s ion, us hering in gues ts , joking with his c omedians . A tthe end of the banquet, the c omedians c arried in a figure s waddled in c loth. T hey laid i t on the ground where, at the fi rs t notes of a s ymphonia, i t s uddenly threw off i ts c overings and out burs t the king naked and danc ing.

Far to the s outh of this del i rious debauc h, Antioc hus ' generals were enforc ing his pers ec utions . In the vi l lage of Modin, near J erus alem, an old pries t c al led Mattathias , father of five s ons , was ordered to make the s ac ri fic e to Antioc hus to prove he was no longer a J ew, but he repl ied: 'If al l the nations of theK ing's dominion hearken unto him yet wi l l I and my s ons walk in the Covenant of our fathers .' W hen another J ew s tepped forward to make the s ac ri fic e, Mattathias ' 'zeal was kindled, his veins trembled', and, drawing his s word, he ki l led fi rs t the trai tor, then Antioc hus ' general , and pul led down the al tar. 'W hoevermaintaineth the Covenant,' he s aid, 'let him c ome forth after me.' T he old man and his five s ons fled into the mountains , joined by extremely pious J ews known as the Righteous - Has idim . Ini tial ly they were s o pious that they obs erved the Sabbath even (dis as trous ly) in battle: the Greeks pres umably tried to fight al ltheir battles on Saturdays .

Mattathias died s oon afterwards , but his thi rd s on J udah, as s uming c ommand in the hi l ls around J erus alem, defeated three Syrian arm ies in a row. Antioc hus ini tial ly did not take the J ewis h revol t s erious ly for he marc hed eas t to c onquer Iraq and Pers ia, ordering his vic eroy Lys ias to c rus h the rebels . ButJ udah defeated him too.

Even Antioc hus , c ampaigning in faraway Pers ia, real ized that J udah's vic tories threatened his empire, and c anc el led the terror. T he J ews , he wrote to the pro-Greek members of the Sanhedrin, c ould 'us e their own proper meats and obs erve their own laws '. But he was too late, and s oon afterwards Antioc husEpiphanes s uffered an epi leptic fi t and fel l dead from his c hariot.30 J udah had already earned the heroic moniker that would give i ts name to a dynas ty: the Hammer.

THE MACCABEES

164-66 BC

JUDAH THE HAMMER

In the winter of 164 BC, J udah the Hammer c onquered al l of J udaea and J erus alem apart from Antioc hus ' newly bui l t Ac ra Fortres s . W hen J udah s aw the Temple overgrown and des erted, he lamented. He burned inc ens e, rededic ated the Holy of Hol ies , and on 14 Dec ember pres ided as s ac ri fic es res umed. In theravaged c i ty, there was a s hortage of oi l to l ight the c andelabra in the T emple, but s omehow the c andles never went out. T he l iberation and res anc ti fic ation of the T emple are s ti l l c elebrated in the J ewis h fes tival of Hanukkah - the Dedic ation.

T he Hammer - Mac c abeus * in Latin - c ampaigned ac ros s the J ordan and s ent his brother S imon to res c ue the J ews in Gal i lee. In J udah's abs enc e, the J ews were defeated. T he Mac c abee s truc k bac k, c aptured Hebron and Edom and s mas hed the pagan s hrine in As hdod before bes ieging the Ac ra inJ erus alem. But the Seleuc id regent defeated the Mac c abees at Beth-Zac haria, s outh of Bethlehem, then bes ieged J erus alem, unti l he had to wi thdraw to fac e a revol t in Antioc h. He therefore granted the J ews the right to l ive 'after their own laws ' and wors hip in their Temple. Four c enturies after Nebuc hadnezzar,J ewis h independenc e was res tored.

But the J ews were not yet s afe. T he Seleuc ids , bes et by c ivi l wars , dim inis hed but s ti l l form idable, were determ ined to c rus h the J ews and retain Pales tine. T his vic ious , c ompl ic ated war las ted twenty years . T here is no need to rec ount every detai l , wi th i ts many s im i larly named Seleuc id pretenders , but therewere moments when the Mac c abees were c los e to annihi lation. Yet this endles s ly res ourc eful , gi fted fam i ly always managed to rec over and s trike bac k.

T he Ac ra Fortres s , overlooking the Temple, remained to torment the divided J erus alem. As the trumpets blew and the pries ts again performed the s ac ri fic es , Ac ra's pagan merc enaries and renegade J ews s ometimes 'rus hed out s uddenly', s ays J os ephus , 'and des troyed thos e going up to the Temple'. T heJ erus alem ites exec uted the high pries t, Menelaos , 'the c aus e of al l evi ls ', and elec ted a new one.* But the Seleuc ids ral l ied again. T heir general Nic anor rec aptured J erus alem. Pointing at the al tar, the Greek is s ued a threat: 'unles s J udah and his hos t be now del ivered in my hands , I wi l l burn upthis Hous e.'

J udah, fighting for his l i fe, appealed to Rome, that enemy of the Greek kingdoms , and Rome effec tively rec ognized J ewis h s overeignty. In 161, the Hammer routed Nic anor, ordering his head and his arm to be c ut off and brought to J erus alem. A t the Temple, he pres ented thes e ghoul is h trophies - the hand andthe exc is ed tongue that had threatened the Temple were s hredded and hung out for the birds whi le the head lol led atop the fortres s . J erus alem ites c elebrated Nic anor Day as a fes tival of del iveranc e. T he Seleuc ids then defeated and ki l led the Mac c abee hims el f; J erus alem fel l . J udah was buried in Modin. A l ls eemed los t. But he was s urvived by his brothers .31

SIMON THE GREAT: TRIUMPH OF THE MACCABEES

After two years on the run, J onathan, J udah's brother, emerged from the des erts to rout the Seleuc ids again, s etting up his c ourt at Mic hmas , north of Greek-held J erus alem. J onathan, known as the Diplomat, played off the rival kings of Syria and Egypt to regain J erus alem. He then res tored the wal ls , res anc ti fied theTemple and, in 153, pers uaded the Seleuc id king to appoint him to the gold-c las ped rank of 'king's friend' - and High P ries t. T he Mac c abee was anointed with the oi l and bedec ked with the royal flower and the pries tly robes at the mos t rauc ous of fes tivals , Tabernac les . Yet J onathan was des c ended from aprovinc ial pries t wi th no c onnec tion to Zadok. A t leas t one J ewis h s ec t s aw him as the 'W ic ked P ries t'.

Firs t J onathan was bac ked by the Egyptian king P tolemy V I Phi lometer, who marc hed up the c oas t to J oppa (J erus alem 's neares t port, J affa), to meet J onathan, in their res pec tive pharaonic and pries tly magnific enc e. A t P tolemais (now Ac re), Phi lometer ac hieved the dream of every Greek king s inc e A lexanderthe Great: he was c rowned king of Egypt and As ia. But at the very moment of his triumph, his hors e reared at the s ight of the Seleuc id elephants , and he was ki l led.*

As rival Seleuc ids fought for power, J onathan the Diplomat repeatedly s witc hed s ides . One of the Seleuc id pretenders , bes ieged in his Antioc h palac e, appealed for J onathan's help in return for ful l J ewis h independenc e. J onathan marc hed his 2,000 men al l the way from J erus alem, through what is now Is rael ,Lebanon and Syria, to Antioc h. T he J ewis h s oldiers , fi ring arrows from the palac e then leaping from roof to roof ac ros s the burning c i ty, res c ued and res tored the king. Returning to J udaea, J onathan c onquered As hkelon, Gaza, and Beth-Zur - and s tarted to bes iege the Ac ra Fortres s in J erus alem. But he was luredto P tolemais wi thout his bodyguards to meet his lates t Greek al ly who s eized him and marc hed on J erus alem.

T he Mac c abee fam i ly was not yet exhaus ted: there was s ti l l one more brother.32 T his was S imon, who reforti fied J erus alem and ral l ied his army. A long with a s udden s nows torm, this forc ed the Greek to retreat, but he had his revenge: he exec uted S imon's c aptive brother, J onathan. In s pring 141, S imons tormed and demol is hed the Ac ra,+ razing the very hi l l on whic h i t s tood before c elebrating in J erus alem 'wi th prais e, palm branc hes , harps , c ymbals , viols and hymns .' T he 'yoke of the heathen was taken away from Is rael ' and a Great As s embly hai led S imon as heredi tary ruler, c lothing him in royal purple buc kledwith gold, king in al l but name. 'T he people began to wri te in their c ontrac ts : "In the fi rs t year of S imon the Great, High P ries t, Commander-in-Chief and Leader of the J ews ".'

JOHN HYRCANUS: EMPIRE-BUILDER

S imon the Great was at the height of his populari ty when, in 134 BC, he was invi ted to dinner by his s on-in-law. T here, the las t of the fi rs t generation of Mac c abees was as s as s inated, and the s on-in-law then s eized S imon's wi fe and two of his s ons . As s as s ins tried to c atc h his other s on J ohn - Yehohanan inHebrew - but he made i t to J erus alem and held the c i ty.

J ohn fac ed dis as ter on every s ide. W hen he purs ued the c ons pirators to their s tronghold, his mother and brothers were torn to piec es before him . As the thi rd s on, J ohn had not expec ted to reign but he pos s es s ed al l the fam i ly talents to bec ome the ideal J ewis h ruler, wi th 'c haris matic -Mes s ianic trai ts '. Indeed,wrote J os ephus , God granted J ohn 'three of the greates t privi leges - the rule of the nation, the offic e of High P ries t and the gi ft of prophec y'.

T he Seleuc id king, Antioc hus V II S idetes , exploi ted this J ewis h c ivi l war to regain Pales tine and bes iege J erus alem. T he J erus alem ites were s tarting to s tarve, when K ing S idetes s ignal led his wi l l ingnes s to negotiate by s ending in 'a magnific ent s ac ri fic e' of bul ls wi th gi lded horns for the Feas t ofT abernac les . J ohn s ued for peac e, agreeing to s urrender Mac c abee c onques ts outs ide J udaea, to pay 500 s i lver talents and to demol is h the wal ls .

J ohn had to s upport his new mas ter on c ampaign agains t the ris ing power in Iran and Iraq, the Parthians . T he expedi tion proved a dis as ter for the Greeks but a bles s ing for the J ews . J ohn may have s ec retly negotiated with the Parthian king, who had many J ewis h s ubjec ts . T he Greek king was ki l led ands omehow J ohn es c aped from this quagmire, returning with his independenc e res tored.*

T he great powers were dis trac ted by their own internec ine intrigues , s o J ohn was free to embark on c onques ts on a s c ale uns een s inc e David, who i ronic al ly helped fund his wars : J ohn plundered his ric h tomb, pres umably in the old Ci ty of David. He c onquered Madaba ac ros s the J ordan, forc ed the c onvers ionof the Edomites (who bec ame known as the Idumeans ) to the s outh, and des troyed Samaria before taking Gal i lee. In J erus alem, J ohn bui l t the s o-c al led Firs t W al l around the growing c i ty. * His kingdom was a regional power, and i ts Temple was the c entre of J ewis h l i fe, though the growing c ommunities around theMediterranean c onduc ted their dai ly prayers in loc al s ynagogues . It was probably in this newly c onfident time that the twenty-four books bec ame the agreed text of the J ewis h Old T es tament.

A fter J ohn's death, his s on A ris tobulos dec lared hims el f king of J udaea, the fi rs t monarc h in J erus alem s inc e 586, and c onquered Iturea in today's northern Is rael and s outhern Lebanon. But the Mac c abeans were now almos t as Greek as their enemies , us ing both Greek and Hebrew names . T hey s tarted tobehave with al l the feroc i ty of Greek tyrants . A ris tobulos threw his mother into jai l and murdered his more popular brother, a c rime that drove him mad with gui l t. Yet as he died vomiting blood, he feared that his arrogant s urviving brother, A lexander J annaeus , was a mons ter who would des troy the Mac c abees .33

ALEXANDER THE THRACIAN: THE FURIOUS YOUNG LION

As s oon as he had s ec ured J erus alem, K ing A lexander (J annaeus was the Greek vers ion of his Hebrew name Yehonatan) married his brother's widow and s et about c onquering a J ewis h empire. A lexander was s poi l t and heartles s - s oon the J ews loathed him for his debauc hed s adis m. But A lexander enjoyed hisfreedom to wage war on his neighbours - the Greek kingdoms were c ol laps ing, the Romans had not yet arrived. A lexander always managed to s urvive his frequent defeats thanks to the luc k of the devi l* and tenac ious s avagery: the J ews nic knamed him the T hrac ian for his barbaris m and his army of Greekmerc enaries .

A lexander c onquered Gaza and Raphia on the borders of Egypt and the Gaulani tis (Golan) in the north. Ambus hed by the Nabataean A rabs in Moab, A lexander fled bac k to J erus alem. W hen he offic iated as high pries t at the Feas t of Tabernac les , the people bombarded him with frui t. Enc ouraged by the morerel igious Pharis ees (who fol lowed oral tradi tions as wel l as the wri tten Torah), they taunted him with the c laim that, s inc e his mother had been a pris oner, he was unfi t to be high pries t. A lexander res ponded by unleas hing his Greek merc enaries , who mas s ac red 6,000 people in the s treets . T he Seleuc ids exploi tedthe rebel l ion to attac k J udaea. A lexander fled to the hi l ls .

He bided his time, planning his revenge. W hen the king re-entered J erus alem, he s laughtered 50,000 of his own people. He c elebrated his vic tory by c avorting wi th his c onc ubines at a feas t whi le he watc hed 800 rebels being c ruc i fied around the hi l ls . T he throats of their wives and c hi ldren were s l i t before theireyes . 'T he furious young l ion', as his enemies c al led him , died of alc ohol is m, leaving his wi fe Salome A lexandra a J ewis h empire that inc luded parts of today's Is rael , Pales tine, J ordan, Syria and Lebanon. He advis ed her to c onc eal his death from the s oldiers unti l s he had s ec ured J erus alem, then to govern withthe Pharis ees .

T he new queen was the fi rs t woman to rule J erus alem s inc e J ezebel 's daughter. But the genius of the dynas ty was exhaus ted. Salome A lexandra (Salome being the Greek vers ion of Shalomzion - Peac e in Zion), s hrewd widow of two kings , ruled her l i ttle empire into her s ixties wi th the help of the Pharis ees , buts he s truggled to c ontrol her two s ons : the elder, the high pries t J ohn Hyrc anus II, was not energetic enough, whi le the younger A ris tobulos was too energetic by far.

To the north, Rome advanc ed relentles s ly around the Mediterranean, s wal lowing fi rs t Greec e then today's T urkey, where Roman power was res is ted by Mithridates , the Greek K ing of Pontus . In 66 BC, the Roman general Pompey defeated Mithridates , and moved s outh to fi l l the vac uum. Rome was c oming toJ erus alem.

THE ROMANS ARRIVE

66-40 BC

POMPEY IN THE HOLY OF HOLIES

W hen Queen Salome died, her s ons fought. Hyrc anus II was defeated near J eric ho by his brother A ris tobulos II. T he brothers were rec onc i led, embrac ing before the J erus alem ites in the Temple, and A ris tobulos bec ame king. Hyrc anus reti red, but he was advis ed and c ontrol led by a c unning outs ider, Antipater.T his Idumean potentate* was the future. His s on would bec ome K ing Herod. T heir talented and depraved fam i ly would dominate J erus alem for over a c entury and es s ential ly c reate the T emple Mount and W es tern W al l as they are today.

Antipater helped Hyrc anus flee to Petra, the 'ros e red c i ty hal f as old as time', the Nabataean A rab c api tal . K ing A retas (Hari th in A rabic ), fabulous ly ric h from the Indian s pic e trade and related to Antipater's A rab wife, helped them defeat K ing A ris tobulos , who fled bac k to J erus alem. T he A rab king gave c has e,bes ieging A ris tobulos in the forti fied T emple Mount. But al l this s ound and fury s igni fied nothing, bec aus e to the north Pompey was s etting up headquarters in Damas c us . Gnaeus Pompeius , the mos t powerful man in Rome, was a maveric k c ommander who without offic ial pos i tion had led his private army to vic toryin the Roman c ivi l wars in Italy, S ic i ly and North A fric a. He had c elebrated two T riumphs and won vas t weal th. He was a c autious general wi th a c herubic fac e - 'nothing was more del ic ate than Pompey's c heeks ' - but this was dec eptive: Pompey was , wrote the his torian Sal lus t, 'hones t in fac e, s hameles s in heart',and his early s adis m and greed in the c ivi l wars had earned him the nic kname 'the young butc her'. Now he had es tabl is hed hims el f in Rome but the laurels of a Roman s trongman required c ons tant refres hment. His nic kname 'Magnus ' - the Great - was at leas t partly s arc as tic . As a boy he had wors hipped A lexanderthe Great, and his Homeric , heroic kings hip, along with the unc onquered provinc es and prizes of the Eas t, would henc eforth prove i rres is tible to every Roman ol igarc h on the make.

In 64 BC, Pompey term inated the Seleuc id kingdom, annexed Syria and was happy to mediate between the warring J ews . Delegations arrived from J erus alem repres enting not only both the feuding brothers but als o the Pharis ees , who begged Pompey to rid them of Mac c abeans . Pompey ordered both princ es toawait his judgement, but A ris tobulos , who had not qui te gras ped the s teely power of Rome, ras hly double-c ros s ed him .

Pompey s wooped on J erus alem. He c aptured A ris tobulos , but the Mac c abean's retainers oc c upied the forti fied Temple Mount, breaking down the bridge that l inked i t to the Upper Ci ty. Pompey, enc amped north of the Bethes da Pool , bes ieged the Temple for three months , us ing c atapul ts to bombard i t. Onc eagain taking advantage of J ewis h piety - i t was the Sabbath and a fas t - the Romans s tormed the Temple from the north, c utting the throats of the pries ts who guarded the al tar. J ews s et al ight their own hous es ; others threw thems elves from the battlements . T welve thous and were ki l led. Pompey des troyedforti fic ations , abol is hed the monarc hy, c onfis c ated mos t of the Mac c abean kingdom and appointed Hyrc anus as high pries t, rul ing jus t J udaea with his m inis ter Antipater.

Pompey c ould not res is t the opportuni ty of s eeing ins ide the famous Holy of Hol ies . T he Romans were intrigued by Eas tern ri tes yet proud of their many gods and dis dainful of the prim itive s upers ti tion of J ewis h monotheis m. T he Greeks s neered that the J ews in s ec ret wors hipped a golden as s 's head orfattened up a human s ac ri fic e to c annibal ize later. Pompey and his entourage entered the Holy of Hol ies , an uns peakable s ac ri lege given that even the high pries t vis i ted i t only onc e a year. T he Roman was probably only the s ec ond genti le (after Antioc hus IV ) ever to penetrate the Sanc tuary. Yet he res pec tful lyexamined the golden table and the holy c andelabra - and real ized that there was nothing els e there, no godhead, jus t an intens e s anc ti ty. He s tole nothing.

Pompey hurried bac k to Rome to enjoy the T riumph c elebrating his As ian c onques ts . Hyrc anus meanwhi le was tormented by the rebel l ions of A ris tobulos and his s ons , but the real ruler, his m inis ter Antipater, pos s es s ed a genius for winning s upport in Rome whic h was now the s ourc e of al l power. However,even that mos t s erpentine of pol i tic ians was c hal lenged by the twis ts of Roman pol i tic s . Pompey was forc ed to s hare power in a triumvirate wi th two other leaders , Cras s us and Caes ar, the latter s oon to make his name c onquering Gaul. In 55 BC, Cras s us , the next Roman ol igarc h looking for glory in the eas t,arrived in Syria, keen to equal the c onques ts of his rivals .34

CAESAR AND CLEOPATRA

Cras s us , known in Rome as Dives , the Ric h Man, was notorious for his avaric e and c ruel ty. He had added vic tims to the Roman dic tator Sul la's death-l is ts purely to s eize their money, whi le he had c elebrated his s uppres s ion of the Spartac us rebel l ion by c ruc i fying 6,000 s laves along the Appian W ay. Now heplanned an expedi tion to throw bac k the new Parthian kingdom that had replac ed the Pers ians and Seleuc ids in today's Iraq and Iran.

Cras s us funded his invas ion by raiding the Temple in J erus alem, whenc e he s tole 2,000 talents untouc hed by Pompey and the 'beam of s ol id gold' in the Holy of Hol ies . But the Parthians annihi lated Cras s us and his army. T he Parthian king Orad II was watc hing a Greek play when Cras s us ' head was tos s edon s tage. Orad had molten gold poured into Cras s us ' mouth, s aying, 'Be s atis fied now with thy l i fe's des ire.'35

Now Rome's two s trongmen, Caes ar and Pompey, c ompeted for s upremac y. In 49 BC, Caes ar c ros s ed the Rubic on from Gaul and invaded Italy, defeating Pompey eighteen months later. Pompey fled to Egypt. E lec ted dic tator of Rome, Caes ar gave c has e, arriving in Egypt two days after the Egyptians hadmurdered Pompey. He was horri fied yet rel ieved to rec eive Pompey's pic kled head as a welc oming gi ft. He had c ampaigned in the Eas t thi rty years earl ier. Now he found Egypt divided in a vic ious s truggle between K ing P tolemy X III and his s is ter-wi fe Cleopatra V II to s ec ure for Rome the ric hes t prize of the Eas t:Egypt. But he c ould not have fores een how this young queen, depos ed from the throne and in des perate s trai ts , would s hape his wi l l to her own ends .

Cleopatra demanded a s ec ret audienc e with the mas ter of the Roman empire. T his ac c ompl is hed impres ario of s exual-pol i tic al pantom ime had hers el f c arried into Caes ar's palac e wrapped in a laundry bag (not a c arpet) - perhaps divining that he was s us c eptible to s uc h theatric al exc i tement. Gaius J ul iusCaes ar, battleworn and grizzled, was fi fty-two and s el f-c ons c ious about his balding pate. But this as tounding i f s omewhat c hi l l ing l i fe-forc e, pos s es s ed of al l the talents of war, letters and pol i tic s , and the remors eles s energy of a younger man, was als o a s exual adventurer who had s lept wi th the wives of bothCras s us and Pompey. Cleopatra was twenty-one: 'her beauty was abs olutely not wi thout paral lel but her phys ic al attrac tions , c ombined with her pers uas ive c harm and the aura s he projec ted' exerted a powerful fas c ination, even i f, as c oins and s tatues s ugges t, s he pos s es s ed the aqui l ine nos e and pointed c hin ofher forebears . She had a kingdom to rec laim and a peerles s l ineage to l ive up to. Both Caes ar and Cleopatra were keen prac ti tioners of the adventurous s c hool of pol i tic s . T hey embarked on an affai r - s he s oon bore him a c hi ld, Caes arion - but, more importantly, he was now c ommitted to bac k her.

Caes ar s oon found hims el f trapped in A lexandria as the Egyptians ros e agains t Cleopatra and her Roman patron. Meanwhi le in J erus alem, Antipater, Pompey's al ly, s aw a c hanc e of redeeming hims el f wi th Caes ar. He marc hed on Egypt wi th 3,000 J ewis h troops , pers uaded the Egyptian J ews to bac k him , andattac ked Caes ar's opponents . Caes ar triumphed and res tored Cleopatra. Before returning to Rome, the grateful Caes ar reappointed Hyrc anus as high pries t and ethnarc h - ruler - of the J ews and let him repair J erus alem 's wal ls , but he granted al l the power to Antipater as proc urator of J udaea with his s ons as theloc al tetrarc hs : the elder one, Phas ael , ran J erus alem; the younger, Herod, got Gal i lee.

Herod, aged jus t fi fteen, immediately s howed his mettle when he hunted down and ki l led a band of fanatic al rel igious J ews . In J erus alem, the Sanhedrin were inc ens ed by young Herod's unauthorized ki l l ings and s ummoned him for trial . However, the Romans apprec iated that Antipater and his s ons were thes ort of al l ies required to govern this turbulent people. T he Roman governor of Syria ordered Herod's ac qui ttal and awarded him greater powers .

Herod was already exc eptional . He was , wrote J os ephus , 'bles s ed with every gi ft of looks , body and m ind'. Named to be a hero, he was s ophis tic ated enough to c harm and impres s the pre-em inent Romans of the era. He was s exual ly vorac ious - or, as J os ephus put i t, 's lave to his pas s ions ' - yet he was notc rude. He had tas te in arc hi tec ture, was highly educ ated in Greek, Latin and J ewis h c ul ture and, when not bus y with pol i tic s and pleas ure, he enjoyed debates on his tory and phi los ophy. Yet power always c ame fi rs t and this c raving would pois on every relations hip he had. Son of a s ec ond-generation Idumeanc onvert to J udais m and an A rab mother (henc e his brother was c al led Phas ael - Fais al), Herod was a c os mopol i tan who c ould play the Roman and the Greek and the J ew. But the J ews never qui te forgave his mongrel origins . Rais ed in a ric h but vigi lant and ruthles s hous ehold, he would s ee the des truc tion of hisc los es t fam i ly and s ens e the fragi l i ty of power and the fac i l i ty of terror. He grew up us ing death as a pol i tic al tool : paranoid, over-s ens i tive, almos t hys teric al , this tough teenager, a 'man of great barbari ty' as wel l as s ens i tivi ty, played to s urvive and dominate at al l c os ts .

A fter Caes ar was as s as s inated in 44, Cas s ius (who was one of his ki l lers ) arrived to govern Syria. Herod's father Antipater s witc hed s ides . But the s omers aul ts of intrigue final ly c aught up with him , and he was pois oned by a rival , who managed to oc c upy J erus alem - unti l Herod had him murdered. Soonafterwards , Cas s ius and his fel low as s as s in B rutus were defeated at Phi l ippi . T he vic tors were Caes ar's great-nephew and adopted s on Oc tavian, twenty-two years old, and the s was hbuc kl ing general Mark Antony. T hey s pl i t the empire, Antony rec eiving the Eas t. As Antony proc es s ed towards Syria, two youngpotentates , wi th radic al ly oppos i te interes ts , rus hed to meet the Roman s trongman. One wanted to res tore the J ewis h kingdom, the other to s wal low i t into her anc es tral empire.36

ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA

Cleopatra c ame to Antony, as a queen at the height of her c haris ma, s c ion of the P tolem ies , the mos t pres tigious dynas ty in the known world, and, as Is is -Aphrodi te to meet her Dionys us , who c ould grant her the provinc es of her forefathers .T heir meeting was fateful for both. Antony was fourteen years older than her but in his prime: he was hard-drinking, thic k-nec ked, barrel-c hes ted, lantern-jawed and prided hims el f on his mus c ular legs . He was dazzled by Cleopatra and keen to embrac e the Greek c ul ture and s ybari tic s plendour of the Eas t,

s eeing hims el f as the heir of A lexander, des c endant of Herc ules - and Dionys us of c ours e. But he als o required Egyptian money and provis ions for his planned Parthian invas ion. T hus they needed eac h other, and nec es s i ty is s o often the mother of romanc e. Antony and Cleopatra c elebrated their al l ianc e andaffair by murdering Cleopatra's s is ter (s he had already murdered her brother).

Herod, too, had ridden has ti ly to Antony. As a young c avalry c ommander in Egypt, the general had been c ul tivated by Herod's father. He therefore appointed Herod and his brother as the real rulers of J udaea with High P ries t Hyrc anus as the figurehead. Herod c elebrated his ris ing power wi th a royal engagement.His fianc ee was Mariamme, a Mac c abean princ es s who, by fam i ly intermarriage, was the granddaughter of two kings . Her body, wrote J os ephus , was as beauti ful as her fac e. T his relations hip, played out in J erus alem, would be pas s ionately des truc tive.

Antony fol lowed Cleopatra, now pregnant wi th his twins , to her c api tal , A lexandria. But, jus t as i t appeared that Herod's ris e was as s ured, the Parthians invaded Syria. Antigonos , a Mac c abean princ e who was Hyrc anus ' nephew, offered the Parthians 1,000 talents and a harem of 500 girls in exc hange forJ erus alem.

PACORUS: PARTHIAN SHOT

T he J ewis h c i ty ros e agains t the Roman puppets Herod and his brother Phas ael . Bes ieged in the royal palac e oppos i te the Temple, the brothers defeated the rebel l ion - but the Parthians were a di fferent matter. J erus alem was c rowded with pi lgrims - i t was the Feas t of W eeks - as Mac c abean s upporters openedthe gates for the Parthian princ e Pac orus * and his protege Antigonos . J erus alem c elebrated the return of the Mac c abees .

T he Parthians pretended to play the hones t broker between Herod and Antigonos . Ins tead they lured Herod's brother Phas ael into a trap. Herod fac ed el im ination as the Parthians looted the c i ty and then handed power to Antigonos as king of J udaea and high pries t.+ He muti lated his unc le Hyrc anus , c utting offhis ears , to dis qual i fy him from the high pries thood. As for Herod's brother Phas ael , he was ei ther murdered or das hed out his own brains .

Herod had los t J erus alem and his brother. He had bac ked the Romans , but i t was the Parthians who had c onquered the Middle Eas t. A merc urial man, he was s urely c yc lothym ic , i f not a manic depres s ive. But his wi l l to power, pungent intel l igenc e, greed for l i fe and ins tinc t for s urvival were feroc ious . Healmos t c rac ked up, but he overc ame his nerves . By night, he gathered his entourage for a des perate es c ape, and a bid for power.

HEROD: ESCAPE TO CLEOPATRA

Herod, ac c ompanied by his retinue - 500 c onc ubines , his mother, s is ter, and, mos t importantly, his fianc ee, the Mac c abee princ es s Mariamme - gal loped out of J erus alem into the barren J udaean hi l ls . K ing Antigonos , furious that Herod had es c aped with his c onc ubines (c learly the harem offered as payment tothe Parthians ) s ent his c avalry in purs ui t. As he fled through the hi l ls , Herod again broke down and tried to c ommit s uic ide, but his guards s natc hed his rais ed s word. Soon afterwards Antigonos ' hors emen c aught up with his c aravan. Herod rec overed his c onfidenc e and defeated them. Leaving his entourage in theimpregnable mountain fortres s of Mas ada, he hims el f es c aped to Egypt.

Antony had already left for Rome, but Herod was welc omed by Queen Cleopatra, who offered him employment in a bid to keep him in A lexandria. Ins tead Herod s ai led for Rome, ac c ompanied by his fianc ee's l i ttle brother, J onathan, a Mac c abean princ e who was his c andidate for the J udaean throne. But Antony,who was now planning a war to expel the Parthians , real ized that this was no job for a c hi ld; i t would require Herod's ruthles s c ompetenc e.

Antony and Oc tavian, his partner in rul ing the empire, es c orted Herod to the Senate where he was dec lared king of J udaea and Roman al ly: rex s oc ius et amic us popul i Romani . T he newly m inted K ing Herod walked out of the Senate flanked by Oc tavian and Antony, the two pi l lars of the world, qui te a momentfor a hal f-J ew hal f-A rab from the mountains of Edom. His relations hip wi th thes e two men would be the foundation of his forty-year reign of terror and magnific enc e. However, he was a long way from rul ing a kingdom: the Parthians s ti l l oc c upied the eas t; Antigonos reigned in J erus alem. To the J ews , Herod was aRoman s tooge and Idumean mongrel . He would have to fight for every inc h of his kingdom, and then J erus alem.37

THE HERODS

40 BC-AD 10

THE FALL OF ANTIGONOS: LAST OF THE MACCABEANS

Herod s ai led to P tolemais , mus tered an army and s tarted to c onquer his kingdom. W hen rebels held out in impregnable c aves in Gal i lee, he lowered his troops in c hes ts held by c hains and, armed with hooks , thes e s oldiers fis hed out his opponents and s ent them hurtl ing into the c anyons below. But Herodneeded Antony's s upport to take J erus alem.

T he Romans were driving bac k the Parthians . In 38 BC, Antony hims el f was bes ieging a Parthian fortres s at Samos ata (s outh-eas tern T urkey) when Herod marc hed north to offer, and as k for, help. T he Parthians had ambus hed Antony when Herod c ounter-attac ked and s aved the baggage-train. T he bluff Antonywelc omed Herod l ike an old c omrade, affec tionately hugging him in front of his army, paraded in honour of the young king of J udaea. T he grateful Antony des patc hed 30,000 infantry and 6,000 c avalry to bes iege J erus alem in Herod's name. As the Romans pi tc hed c amp jus t north of the Temple, Herod married thes eventeen-year-old Mariamme. A fter a forty-day s iege, the Romans s tormed the outer wal l . T wo weeks later, they burs t into the Temple, ravaging the c i ty 'l ike a c ompany of madmen', c utting down the J erus alem ites in the narrow s treets . Herod had to bribe the Romans to s top the s laughter - and then s ent thec aptured Antigonos to Antony who s ol ic i tous ly beheaded the las t Mac c abean king. T he Roman s trongman then s et off to invade Parthia wi th 100,000 troops . His m i l i tary prowes s was muc h exaggerated; his expedi tion was a near-dis as ter, and he los t a thi rd of his army. T he s urvivors were s aved by Cleopatra'sdel ivery of provis ions . Antony's reputation in Rome never qui te rec overed.

K ing Herod c elebrated his c onques t of J erus alem by l iquidating forty-five of the s eventy-one members of the Sanhedrin. Demol is hing the Baris Fortres s north of the Temple, he bui l t a s quare forti fied tower wi th four turrets , the Antonia, named after his patron, and c olos s al enough to dominate the c i ty. Nothing isleft of the Antonia exc ept trac es of i ts s tone-c ut bas e, but we know what i t mus t have been l ike bec aus e many of Herod's fortres s es s urvive: eac h of his mountain s trongholds was des igned to c ombine impregnable s ec uri ty wi th peerles s luxury. * Yet he never fel t s ec ure, and now he had to defend his kingdom fromthe intrigues of two queens , his own wife Mariamme - and Cleopatra.38

HEROD AND CLEOPATRA

Herod may have been feared but he hims el f was wary of the Mac c abeans , and the mos t dangerous of them was in his own bed. T he king, now aged thirty-s ix, had fal len in love with Mariamme, who was c ul tured, c has te and haughty. But her mother, A lexandra, a real-l i fe vers ion of the s tereotype of the mother-in-lawfrom hel l , immediately s tarted to c ons pire wi th Cleopatra to des troy Herod. T he Mac c abean women were proud of their l ineage and s he res ented her daughter having married into the mongrel Herodians . Yet A lexandra did not real ize that, even by the feral s tandards of fi rs t-c entury pol i tic s , the ps yc hotic Herod wasmore than a matc h for her.

S inc e the muti lated old Hyrc anus c ould no longer offic iate in the Temple, A lexandra wanted her teenaged s on J onathan, Mariamme's younger brother, to bec ome high pries t, an em inenc e to whic h Herod, the hal f-A rab Idumean parvenu, c ould not as pire. J onathan happened to be not only the rightful king butals o of arres ting beauty in an age when appearanc es were bel ieved to reflec t divine favour. He was mobbed wherever he went. Herod feared the teenager and s olved this problem by rais ing an obs c ure Babylonian J ew to the high pries thood. A lexandra s ec retly appealed to Cleopatra. Antony had inc reas edCleopatra's kingdom with lands in Lebanon, Crete and north A fric a and als o gave her one of Herod's mos t valuable pos s es s ions - the bals am and date groves of J eric ho.+ Herod rented them bac k from her but i t was obvious that s he c oveted J udaea, the terri tory of her forefathers .

Dangl ing the pretty J onathan l ike a tas ty mors el , Mariamme and her mother A lexandra s ent a painting of the boy to Antony who, l ike mos t men of his era, apprec iated male as muc h as female beauty. Cleopatra prom is ed to s upport his c laim to be king. So when Antony s ummoned the boy, Herod was thoroughlyalarmed and refus ed to let him go. Herod plac ed his mother-in-law under c los e s urvei l lanc e in J erus alem, whi le Cleopatra offered as ylum to her and her s on. A lexandra had two c offins made to s muggle them out of the palac e.

A t las t Herod, unable to res is t Mac c abean populari ty and the entreaties of his wi fe, appointed J onathan as high pries t at the Feas t of Tabernac les . W hen J onathan went up to the al tar in his gorgeous robes and royal-pries tly headdres s , the J erus alem ites loudly prais ed him . Herod s olved his problem inHerodian s tyle: he invi ted the high pries t to join him at his s umptuous palac e in J eric ho. Herod was alarm ingly kind; the night was s teamy; J onathan was enc ouraged to s wim. In the pleas ure pools , Herod's henc hmen held him under water, and his body was found floating there in the morning. Mariamme and hermother were heart-broken and outraged; J erus alem grieved. A t J onathan's funeral , Herod hims el f broke down in tears .

A lexandra reported the murder to Cleopatra, whos e s ympathy was purely pol i tic al : s he had ki l led at leas t two and probably three of her own s ibl ings . She pers uaded Antony to s ummon Herod to Syria. If Cleopatra got her way, he would not return. Herod prepared for this ris ky enc ounter - and s howed his love forMariamme in his own s inis ter way: he plac ed her under the guardians hip of his unc le J os eph, vic eroy in his abs enc e, but ordered that i f he was exec uted by Antony, Mariamme mus t be ins tantly put to death. W hen Herod was gone, J os eph repeatedly told Mariamme how muc h the king loved her, s o muc h, he added,that he would rather ki l l her than let her l ive wi thout him . Mariamme was s hoc ked. J erus alem s eethed with rumours that Herod was dead. In Herod's abs enc e, Mariamme lorded i t over the king's s is ter, Salome, one of the mos t vic ious players in a viperous c ourt.

In Laodic ea, Herod, that expert at handl ing Roman potentates , c harmed Antony who forgave him ; the two banqueted together day and night. On Herod's return Salome told her brother how their unc le J os eph had s educ ed Mariamme whi le his mother-in-law was planning rebel l ion. Somehow Herod and Mariammewere rec onc i led. He now dec lared his love for her. 'T hey both fel l into tears and embrac ed' - unti l s he let on that s he knew about his plan to exec ute her. Herod, tormented with jealous y, plac ed Mariamme under hous e arres t and exec uted his unc le J os eph.

In 34 BC, Antony reas s erted Roman power, after his early bungled expedi tion, by s uc c es s ful ly invading Parthian A rmenia. Cleopatra ac c ompanied him to the Euphrates and, on the way home, vis i ted Herod. T hes e two begui l ing mons ters s pent days together, fl i rting and c ons idering how to ki l l one another.Herod c laimed that Cleopatra tried to s educ e him : this was probably her us ual manner wi th any man who c ould do s omething for her. It was als o a deadly s nare. Herod res is ted and dec ided to ki l l the s erpent of old Ni le, but his c ouns el lors advis ed s trongly agains t i t.

T he Egyptian queen progres s ed home to A lexandria. T here Antony, in a s pec tac ular c eremony, rais ed Cleopatra to 'Queen of K ings '. Caes arion, her s on by Caes ar, now thirteen years old, bec ame her c o-pharaoh, whi le her three c hi ldren by Antony bec ame kings of A rmenia, Phoenic ia and Cyrene. In Rome, thisOriental pos ing appeared unRoman, unmanly and unwis e. Antony tried to jus ti fy his Eas tern was s ai ls by wri ting his only known work of l i terature enti tled 'On His Drinking' - and he wrote to Oc tavian, 'W hy have you c hanged? Is i t bec aus e I'm s c rewing the queen? Does i t real ly matter where or in whom you dip yourwic k?' But i t did matter. Cleopatra was s een as a fatale mons trum. Oc tavian was bec oming ever s tronger as their partners hip fel l apart. In 32 BC, the Senate revoked Antony's imperium. Next Oc tavian dec lared war on Cleopatra. T he two s ides met in Greec e: Antony and Cleopatra mus tered his army and her Egyptian-Phoenic ian fleet. It was a war for the world.39

AUGUSTUS AND HEROD

Herod had to bac k the winner. He offered to join Antony in Greec e but ins tead he was ordered to attac k the A rab Nabataeans in today's J ordan. By the time Herod returned, Oc tavian and Antony were fac ing eac h other at Ac tium. Antony was no matc h for Oc tavian's c ommander, Marc us Agrippa. T he s ea battle was adebac le. Antony and Cleopatra fled bac k to Egypt. W ould Oc tavian als o des troy Antony's J udaean king?

Herod again prepared for death, leaving his brother Pheroras in c harge and, jus t to be s afe, having old Hyrc anus s trangled. He plac ed his mother and s is ter in Mas ada whi le Mariamme and A lexandra were kept in A lexandrium, another mountain fortres s . If anything happened to him , he again ordered thatMariamme was to die. T hen he s ai led for the mos t important meeting of his l i fe.

Oc tavian rec eived him in Rhodes . Herod handled the meeting s hrewdly and frankly. He humbly laid his diadem c rown at Oc tavian's feet. T hen ins tead of dis owning Antony, he as ked Oc tavian not to c ons ider w hos e friend he had been but 'w hat s ort of friend I am '. Oc tavian res tored his c rown. Herod returned toJ erus alem in triumph, then fol lowed Oc tavian down to Egypt, arriving in A lexandria jus t after Antony and Cleopatra had c ommitted s uic ide, he by blade, s he by as p.

Oc tavian now emerged as the fi rs t Roman emperor, adopting the name Augus tus . S ti l l only thi rty-three, this punc ti l ious manager, del ic ate, unemotional and c ens orious , bec ame Herod's mos t loyal patron. Indeed the emperor and his deputy, almos t his partner-in-power, the plain-s poken Marc us Agrippa, bec ames o c los e to Herod that, in J os ephus ' expres s ion, 'Caes ar preferred no one to Herod bes ides Agrippa and Agrippa made no one his greater friend than Herod bes ides Caes ar.'

Augus tus inc reas ed Herod's kingdom to inc lude s wathes of modern Is rael , J ordan, Syria and Lebanon. Like Augus tus , Herod was an ic i ly c ompetent manager: when fam ine s truc k, he s old his own gold and bought Egyptian grain to import, s aving the J udaeans from s tarvation. He pres ided over a hal f-Greek, hal f-J ewis h c ourt, s ervic ed by pretty eunuc hs and c onc ubines . Many of his entourage were inheri ted from Cleopatra. His s ec retary Nikolaus of Damas c us had been the tutor to her c hi ldren,* and his bodyguard of 400 Galatians had been her pers onal bodyguard: Augus tus gave them to Herod as a pres ent and they joinedhis own Germans and T hrac ians . T hes e blond barbarians handled torture and murder for this mos t c os mopol i tan king: 'Herod was Phoenic ian by des c ent, Hel lenized by c ul ture, Idumean by plac e of bi rth, J ewis h by rel igion, J erus alem ite by res idenc e and Roman by c i tizens hip.'

In J erus alem, he and Mariamme res ided at the Antonia Fortres s . T here he was a J ewis h king, reading Deuteronomy every s even years in the Temple and appointing the high pries t, whos e robes he kept in the Antonia. But outs ide J erus alem he was a munific ent Greek monarc h whos e new pagan c i ties - c hieflyCaes area on the c oas t and Sebas te (being the Greek for Augus tus ) on the s i te of Samaria - were opulent c omplexes of temples , hippodromes , and palac es . Even in J erus alem, he bui l t a Greek-s tyle theatre and hippodrome where he pres ented his Ac tian Games to c elebrate Augus tus ' vic tory. W hen this pagans pec tac le provoked a J ewis h c ons pirac y, the plotters were exec uted. But his beloved wife did not c elebrate his s uc c es s . T he c ourt was pois oned by the s truggle between the Mac c abean and Herodian princ es s es .40

MARIAMME: HEROD IN LOVE AND HATRED

W hile Herod had been away, Mariamme had onc e again c harmed her guardian into reveal ing her hus band's plans for her i f he did not return. Herod found her pers onal ly i rres is tible yet pol i tic al ly toxic : s he openly ac c us ed him of ki l l ing her brother. Sometimes s he made i t humi l iatingly obvious to the enti re c ourt thats he was denying him s ex; at other times they were pas s ionately rec onc i led. She was the mother of two of his s ons , yet s he was als o planning his des truc tion. She taunted Salome, Herod's s is ter, wi th her c ommonnes s . Herod was 'entangled between hatred and love', his obs es s ion al l the more intens e bec aus e i twas m ixed up with his other reigning pas s ion: power.

His s is ter Salome as c ribed Mariamme's hold on him to magic . She brought him evidenc e that the Mac c abean had begui led him with a love-potion. Mariamme's eunuc hs were tortured unti l they revealed her gui l t. T he guardian who had watc hed Mariamme in his abs enc e was ki l led. Mariamme hers el f wasimpris oned in the Antonia then put on trial . Salome kept up the momentum of revelations , determ ined that the Mac c abean queen s hould die.

Mariamme was s entenc ed to death, whereupon her mother A lexandra denounc ed her, hoping to s ave her own s kin. In res pons e, the c rowd booed her. As Mariamme was led to exec ution, s he behaved with as tonis hing 'greatnes s of s oul ', s aying that i t was a s hame her mother s hould expos e hers el f in that way.P robably s trangled, Mariamme died l ike a real Mac c abean 'wi thout c hanging the c olour of her fac e', dis playing a grac e that 'revealed the nobi l i ty of her des c ent to the s pec tators '. Herod went bers erk wi th grief, bel ieving that his love for Mariamme was a divine vengeanc e des igned to des troy him . He s hrieked for heraround the palac es , ordered his s ervants to find her, and tried to dis trac t hims el f wi th banquets . But his parties ended with him weeping for Mariamme. He fel l i l l and erupted in boi ls , at whic h A lexandra made a las t bid for power. Herod had her ki l led, and then murdered four of his mos t intimate friends who perhapshad been c los e to the c harm ing queen. He never qui te rec overed from Mariamme, a c urs e that was to return to des troy another generation. T he T almud later c laimed that Herod pres erved Mariamme's body in honey, and this may have been true - for i t was fi ttingly s weet, s ui tably mac abre.

Soon after her death, Herod s tarted to work on his mas terpiec e: J erus alem. T he Mac c abean Palac e oppos i te the Temple was not grand enough for him . T he Antonia mus t have been haunted by the ghos t of Mariamme. In 23 BC, he expanded his wes tern forti fic ations by bui lding a new towered c i tadel andpalac e c omplex, a J erus alem-within-J erus alem. Surrounded by a wal l 45 feet high, the Citadel boas ted three s entimental ly named towers , the highes t, the Hippic us (after a youthful friend ki l led in battle), 128 feet high, i ts bas e 45 feet s quare, the Phas ael (after his dead brother) and the Mariamme.* W hi le theAntonia dominated the T emple, this fortres s ruled the c i ty.

To the s outh of the Ci tadel , Herod bui l t his Palac e, a pleas ure dome c ontaining two s umptuous apartments named after his patrons , Augus tus and Agrippa, wi th wal ls of marble, c edarwood beams , elaborate mos aic s , gold and s i lver dec orations . A round the palac e were c ons truc ted c ourtyards , c olonnadesand portic oes c omplete wi th green lawns , lus h groves and c ool pools and c anals s et off by c as c ades , above whic h perc hed dovec otes (Herod probably c ommunic ated with his provinc es by pigeon pos t). A l l this was funded by Herod's Croes ian wealth: he was , after the emperor, the ric hes t man in the Mediterranean+ T he bus tle of the palac e, wi th the trumpets of the T emple and the rumble of the c i ty in the dis tanc e, mus t have been pac i fied by the c ooing of bi rds and tinkle of fountains .

But his c ourt was anything but tranqui l . His brothers were pi ti les s intriguers : his s is ter Salome ranks as a peerles s mons tres s and his own harem of women were al l apparently as ambitious and as paranoid as the king hims el f. Herod's priapic tas tes c ompl ic ated the pol i tic s - he was , wrote J os ephus , 'a man ofappeti tes '. He had married one wife, Doris , before Mariamme; and, after her, he married at leas t another eight, c hoos ing beauties for love or lus t, never again for their pedigree. As wel l as his 500-s trong harem, his Greek tas tes extended to the pages and eunuc hs of his hous ehold. But his burgeoning fam i ly of hal f-s poi led, hal f-neglec ted s ons , eac h bac ked by a power-hungry mother, bec ame a devi l 's brood. Even the mas terful puppeteer hims el f s truggled to manage al l this hatred and jealous y. Yet the c ourt did not dis trac t him from his mos t c heris hed projec t. Knowing that the pres tige of J erus alem was l inked to his own,Herod dec ided to equal Solomon.41

HEROD: THE TEMPLE

Herod pul led down the exis ting Sec ond Temple and bui l t a wonder of the world in i ts plac e. T he J ews were afraid he would des troy the old Temple and never finis h the new one, s o he c al led a c i ty meeting to pers uade them, preparing every detai l . A thous and pries ts were trained as bui lders . Lebanes e c edarfores ts were fel led, the beams floated down the c oas t. A t quarries around J erus alem, the mas s ive as hlar s tones , gleaming yel low and almos t whi te l imes tone, were marked and c ut out. A thous and wagons were amas s ed, but the s tones were gargantuan. In the tunnels alongs ide the Temple Mount, there is ones tone, 44.6 feet long, 11 feet high, that weighs 600 tons .* No din, no hammering had pol luted the bui lding of Solomon's T emple, s o Herod ens ured that everything was readied offs i te and s i lently s lotted into plac e. T he Holy of Hol ies was ready in two years , but the enti re c omplex was not c ompleted for eighty.

Herod dug down to the foundation roc k and bui l t from there, s o he would have des troyed any remnants of Solomon's and Zerubbabel 's Temples . T hough l im i ted to the eas t by the s teepnes s of the K idron Val ley, he expanded the es planade of the Temple Mount to the s outh, fi l l ing the s pac e with a s ubs truc tureheld up by eighty-eight pi l lars and twelve vaul ted arc hes , now c al led Solomon's S tables , to c reate a 3-ac re platform, twic e as large as the Roman Forum. Today, i t is eas y to s ee the s eam in the eas tern wal l , vis ible 105 feet from the s outh-wes tern c orner of the c i ty, wi th Herodian as hlars to the left and s mal lerMac c abean s tones to the right.

T he c ourts of the T emple led in dim inis hing s ize to ever-inc reas ing s anc ti ty. Genti les and J ews al ike c ould enter the huge Court of Genti les , but a wal l enc irc led the Court of W omen with this warning ins c ription:FOREIGNER! DO NOT ENT ER W IT HIN T HE GRILLE

AND PART IT ION SURROUNDING T HE T EMPLEHE W HO IS CAUGHT

W ILL HAVE ONLY HIMSELF T O BLAMEFOR HIS DEAT H W HICH W ILL FOLLOW

Fifty s teps led up to a gate that opened into the Court of Is rael , open to any male J ew, whic h led to the exc lus ive Court of P ries ts . W ithin that s tood the Sanc tuary, the Hekhal i ts el f, c ontaining the Holy of Hol ies . T his res ted upon the roc k where Abraham was s aid to have almos t s ac ri fic ed Is aac , and whereDavid bui l t his al tar. Here the s ac ri fic es were c onduc ted on the A l tar of Burnt Offering, whic h fac ed the Court of W omen and the Mount of Ol ives .

Herod's Antonia Fortres s guarded the Temple Mount in the north. T here, Herod c ons truc ted his own s ec ret tunnel into the Temple. In the s outh the Temple was reac hed by monumental s tairs pas s ing through the Double and T riple Gates , to underground pas s ages dec orated with doves and flowers that led intothe Temple. On the wes t, a monumental bridge, doubl ing as an aqueduc t bringing water into huge hidden c is terns , s tretc hed ac ros s the val ley into the Temple. In i ts s heer eas tern wal l s tood the Shus han Gate, us ed exc lus ively by the high pries t to progres s to the Mount of Ol ives to s anc ti fy the ful l moon, or tos ac ri fic e that rares t, hol ies t of vic tims , the unblem is hed red hei fer.*

T here were pi l lared portic oes on al l four s ides but the greates t of thes e was the Royal Portic o, a vas t bas i l ic a whic h dominated the whole mountain. About 70,000 people l ived in Herod's c i ty but during the fes tivals hundreds of thous ands arrived on pi lgrimage. Like any bus tl ing s hrine, even today, the Templeneeded a gathering plac e for friends to meet and for ri tuals to be arranged. T his was the Royal Portic o. W hen vis i tors arrived, they c ould s hop on the bus y s hopping s treet that ran beneath the monumental arc hes along the wes tern wal ls . W hen i t was time to vis i t the Temple, pi lgrims took puri fying baths in themany mik v ahs - ri tual pools - that have been found around the s outhern entranc es . T hey would c l imb one of the monumental s tairc as es that led into the Royal Portic o where they s aw al l the s ights of the c i ty, before i t was time to pray.

A t the s outh-eas tern c orner, the towering wal ls and c l i ff of the K idron Val ley c reated a prec ipi tous peak, the P innac le, where the Gos pels s ay the Devi l tempted J es us . A t the s outh-wes tern c orner, fac ing the wealthy Upper Ci ty, pries ts announc ed the s tart of fes tivals and Sabbaths on Friday nights wi th trumpetblas ts that mus t have ec hoed ac ros s the des olate gorges . A s tone, thrown down by T i tus in AD 70, proc laims 'T he T rumpeting P lac e'.

T he des ign of the Temple, s upervis ed by the king and his anonymous arc hi tec ts (an os s uary has been found ins c ribed 'S imon bui lder of the Temple'), s howed a bri l l iant unders tanding of s pac e and theatre. Dazzl ing and awe-ins piring, Herod's Temple was 'c overed al l over wi th plates of gold and at the fi rs tris ing of the s un reflec ted bac k a fiery s plendour' s o bright that vis i tors had to look away. A rriving in J erus alem from the Mount of Ol ives , i t reared up'l ike a mountain c overed with s now'. T his was the Temple that J es us knew and that T i tus des troyed. Herod's es planade s urvives as the Is lam ic Haram al-Shari fs upported on three s ides by Herodian s tones that s ti l l gleam today, partic ularly in the W es tern W al l revered by the J ews .

Onc e the Sanc tuary and the es planade were c omplete - i t was s aid there was no rain in the daytime, s o that work was never delayed - Herod, who c ould not enter the Holy of Hol ies s inc e he was not a pries t, c elebrated by s ac ri fic ing 300 oxen.42 He had reac hed his apogee. But his undeniable greatnes s was tobe c hal lenged by his own c hi ldren when the c rimes of the pas t returned to haunt the heirs of the future.

HEROD'S PRINCES: THE FAMILY TRAGEDY

Herod now had at leas t twelve c hi ldren by his ten wives . He s eemed to ignore mos t of them exc ept for his two s ons by Mariamme, A lexander and A ris tobulos . T hey were hal f-Mac c abee, hal f-Herodian and they would be his s uc c es s ors . He s ent them to Rome where Augus tus hims el f s upervis ed their educ ation. A fterfive years , Herod brought the two teenage princ es home to marry: A lexander wed the daughter of the K ing of Cappadoc ia whi le A ris tobulos married Herod's niec e.*

In 15 BC, Marc us Agrippa arrived to ins pec t Herod's J erus alem, ac c ompanied by his new wife, J ul ia, Augus tus ' nymphomaniac al daughter. Agrippa, Augus tus ' partner and vic tor of Ac tium, was already friends with Herod, who proudly s howed him J erus alem. He s tayed in his eponymous apartments in theCitadel and there gave banquets in Herod's honour. Augus tus already paid for a dai ly s ac ri fic e to Yahweh in the Temple, but now Agrippa s ac ri fic ed a hundred oxen. He managed to behave with s uc h tac t that even the pric kly J ews gave him the ac c olade of laying palms in his path and the Herodians named theirc hi ldren after him . A fterwards , the pair toured Greec e with their fleets . W hen loc al J ews appealed agains t Greek repres s ion, Agrippa bac ked J ewis h rights , Herod thanked him and the two embrac ed as equals .43 But on his return from hobnobbing with the Roman potentate, Herod was c hal lenged by his ownc hi ldren.

P rinc es A lexander and A ris tobulos , pol is hed by a Roman educ ation, inheri ting the looks and arroganc e of both parents , s oon blamed their father for their mother's fate and, l ike her, dis dained the hal f-breed Herodians . A lexander, being married to a king's daughter, was partic ularly s nobbis h; both boys moc kedAris tobulos ' Herodian wife, thus ins ul ting her mother, their dangerous aunt Salome. T hey boas ted that when they were kings they would put Herod's wives to labour wi th the s laves and us e Herod's other s ons as c lerks .

Salome reported al l this to Herod, who was infuriated by the ingrati tude and alarmed by the betrayal of thes e s poi l t princ el ings . He had long ignored Antipater, his eldes t s on, by his fi rs t wi fe Doris . But now in 13 BC, Herod rec al led Antipater and as ked Agrippa to take him to Rome with a s ealed doc ument for theemperor: i t was his wi l l , dis inheri ting the two boys and ins tead bequeathing the kingdom to Antipater. But his new heir, probably in his m id-twenties , was embittered by paternal neglec t and fraternal envy. He and his mother c ons pired to des troy the dis inheri ted princ es , whom they ac c us ed of treas on.

Herod as ked Augus tus , s taying at Aqui leia on the Adriatic , to judge the three princ es . Augus tus rec onc i led father and s ons , wi th the res ul t that Herod s ai led home, c al led a meeting in the c ourt of the Temple and announc ed that his three s ons would s hare the kingdom. Doris , Antipater and Salome s et aboutrevers ing this rec onc i l iation for their own purpos es , but they were helped by the arroganc e of the boys : P rinc e A lexander told everyone that Herod dyed his hair to look younger and c onfided that he del iberately m is s ed his targets out hunting to make his father feel better. He als o s educ ed three of the king's owneunuc hs , giving him ac c es s to his father's s ec rets . Herod arres ted and tortured A lexander's s ervants unti l one c onfes s ed that his mas ter planned to as s as s inate him out hunting. A lexander's father-in-law, the K ing of Cappadoc ia, who was vis i ting his daughter, managed to rec onc i le father and s ons again. Herodexpres s ed his grati tude by pres enting the Cappadoc ian with a very Herodian gi ft: a c ourtes an who gloried in the name Pannyc his - A l l -Night-Long.

T he peac e did not las t long: the torture of s ervants now revealed a letter from A lexander to the c ommander of the A lexandrium Fortres s that s aid: 'W hen we have ac hieved al l we s et out to do, we'l l c ome to you.' Herod dreamed that A lexander was rais ing a dagger over him , a nightmare s o vivid that he arres tedboth boys , who admitted they were planning to es c ape. Herod had to c ons ul t Augus tus , by now ti ring of his old friend's exc es s es - though the emperor hims el f was no s tranger to naughty c hi ldren and tangled s uc c es s ions . Augus tus ruled that, i f the boys had plotted agains t Herod, he had every right to punis h them.

Herod held the trial in Berytus (Beirut), outs ide his formal juris dic tion - and therefore s uppos edly a fai r plac e for the trial . T he boys were s entenc ed to death as Herod wis hed, whic h was hardly s urpris ing s inc e he had generous ly embel l is hed the c i ty. Herod's c ouns el lors advis ed merc y - but when one hinted thatthe boys were s uborning the army, Herod l iquidated 300 offic ers . T he princ es were taken bac k to J udaea and garrotted. T he tragedy of their mother Mariamme, the c urs e of the Mac c abees , had c ome ful l c i rc le. Augus tus was not amus ed. Knowing that J ews es c hewed pork, he c ommented dri ly: 'I'd rather be Herod'spig than his s on.' But this was jus t the beginning of the Grand Guignol dec ay of Herod the Great.

HEROD: THE LIV ING PUTREFACTION

T he king, now in his s ixties , was ai l ing and paranoid. Antipater was the s ole named heir, but there were many other s ons avai lable to inheri t the kingdom, and Herod's s is ter Salome s tarted to plot agains t him ; s he found a s ervant who c laimed that Antipater was planning to pois on Herod with a mys terious drug.Antipater, who was in Rome meeting with Augus tus , rus hed home and gal loped to the palac e in J erus alem, but he was arres ted there before he c ould reac h his father. A t his trial , the s us pec t drug was given to a c onvic t who dropped down dead. More torture revealed that a J ewis h s lave belonging to the Empres sLivia, Augus tus ' own wife and hers el f an expert on pois ons , had forged letters to frame Salome.

Herod s ent the evidenc e to Augus tus and drew up his thi rd wi l l , leaving the kingdom to another of his s ons , Antipas , the Herod who would later enc ounter J ohn the Baptis t and J es us . Herod's i l lnes s dis torted his judgement and weakened his grip on the J ewis h oppos i tion. He plac ed a gi lded bronze eagle onthe great gate of the Temple. Some s tudents c l imbed on to the roof, abs ei led down in front of the c rowded c ourtyard and c ut i t down. T he troops of the Antonia Fortres s rus hed into the Temple to arres t them. Paraded before Herod on his s ic kbed, they ins is ted they were obeying the Torah. T he c ulpri ts were burnedal ive.

Herod c ol laps ed, s uffering an agonizing and grues ome putrefac tion: i t s tarted as an i tc hing al l over wi th a glowing s ens ation within his intes tines , then developed into a s wel l ing of his feet and bel ly, c ompl ic ated by ulc eration of the c olon. His body s tarted to ooze c lear fluid, he c ould s c arc ely breathe, a vi les tenc h emanated from him , and his geni tals s wel led grotes quely unti l his penis and s c rotum burs t out into s uppurating gangrene that then gave birth to a s eething mas s of worms .

T he rotting king hoped he would rec over in the warmth of his J eric ho palac e but, as his s uffering inc reas ed, he was borne out to the warm s ulphur baths at Cal l i rhoe, whic h s ti l l exis t on the Dead Sea, only for the s uphur to aggravate the agony. * T reated with hot oi l , he pas s ed out and was c arried bac k toJ eric ho where he ordered the s ummoning of the T emple el i te from J erus alem, whom he had loc ked en mas s e in the hippodrome. It is unl ikely that he planned to s laughter them. P robably he wanted to fines s e the s uc c es s ion whi le holding al l troublemaking grandees in c us tody.

A t around this time, a c hi ld named J os hua ben J os eph, or (in A ramaic ) J es us , was born. His parents were a c arpenter, J os eph, and his teenaged betrothed, Mary (Mariamme in Hebrew), bas ed in Nazareth, up in Gal i lee. T hey were not muc h ric her than peas ants , but i t was s aid they were des c ended from the oldDavidian hous e. T hey travel led down to Bethlehem where a c hi ld, J es us , was born 'that s hal l rule my people Is rael '. A fter he had been c irc umc is ed on the eighth day, ac c ording to S t Luke, 'they brought him to J erus alem, to pres ent him to the Lord' and make the tradi tional s ac ri fic e in the Temple. A wealthy fam i lywould s ac ri fic e a s heepor even a c ow, but J os eph c ould afford only two turtle-doves or pigeons .

As Herod lay dying, Matthew's Gos pel c laims , he ordered his forc es to l iquidate this Davidian c hi ld by mas s ac ring al l newborn babies , but J os eph took refuge in Egypt unti l he heard that Herod had died. T here were c ertainly mes s ianic rumours afoot and Herod would have feared a Davidian pretender, but thereis no evidenc e that the king ever heard of J es us or mas s ac red any innoc ents . It is i ronic that this mons ter s hould be partic ularly remembered for the one c rime he neglec ted to c ommit. As for the c hi ld from Nazareth, we do not hear of him again for about thi rty years .*

ARCHELAUS: MESSIAHS AND MASSACRES

Emperor Augus tus s ent his reply to Herod: he had had Livia's s lave girl beaten to death and Herod was free to punis h P rinc e Antipater. Yet Herod was now in s uc h torment, he s eized a dagger to ki l l hims el f. T his frac as c onvinc ed Antipater, in his nearby c el l , that the old tyrant was dead. He exuberantly c al led in hisjai ler to unloc k the c el l . Surely, final ly, Antipater was K ing of the J ews ? T he jai ler had heard the c ries too. Hurrying to c ourt, he found Herod was not dead, jus t demented. His s ervants had s eized the kni fe from him . T he jai ler reported Antipater's treas on. T his pus tulous but l iving c arc as s of a king beat his ownhead, howled and ordered his guards to ki l l the hated s on immediately. T hen he rewrote his wi l l , dividing the kingdom between three of his teenaged s ons - wi th J erus alem and J udaea going to A rc helaus .

Five days later, in Marc h 4 BC, after a reign of thi rty-s even years , Herod the Great, who had s urvived 'ten thous and dangers ', died. T he eighteen-year-old A rc helaus danc ed, s ang and made merry as i f an enemy, not a father, had died. Even Herod's grotes que fam i ly were s hoc ked. T he body, wearing the c rown andgripping the s c eptre, was borne on a c atafalque of purple-draped, bejewel led gold in a parade - led by A rc helaus and fol lowed by the German and T hrac ian guards , and by 500 s ervants c arrying s pic es (the s tink mus t have been pungent) - the 24 m i les to the mountain fortres s of Herodium. T here Herod was buried ina tomb* that was los t for 2,000 years .44

Arc helaus returned to s ec ure J erus alem, as c ending a golden throne in the Temple, where he announc ed the s oftening of his father's s everi ty. T he c i ty was fi l led wi th Pas s over pi lgrims , many of whom, c ertain that the king's death heralded an apoc alyptic del iveranc e, ran amok in the Temple. A rc helaus ' guardswere s toned. A rc helaus , al though he had jus t prom is ed an eas ing of the repres s ion, s ent in the c avalry: 3,000 people were s laughtered in the T emple.

T his teenage des pot left his s teady brother Phi l ip in c harge and s ai led for Rome to c onfi rm his s uc c es s ion with Augus tus . But his younger brother, Antipas , rac ed him to Rome, hoping to win the kingdom for hims el f. As s oon as A rc helaus was gone, Augus tus ' loc al s teward, Sabinus , rans ac ked Herod'sJ erus alem Palac e to find his hidden fortune, s parking more riots . T he Governor of Syria, Varus , marc hed down to res tore order but gangs of Gal i leans and Idumeans , arriving for Pentec os t, s eized the T emple and mas s ac red any Romans they c ould find as Sabinus c owered in Phas ael 's T ower.

Outs ide J erus alem, three rebels - ex-s laves - dec lared thems elves king, burned Herodian palac es and marauded in a 'wi ld fury'. T hes e s el f-appointed kings were ps eudo-prophets , proving that J es us was indeed born at a time of intens e rel igious s pec ulation. Having s pent al l of Herod's reign awaiting s uc hleaders in vain, the J ews found that three arrived at onc e: Varus defeated and ki l led al l three pretenders ,* but henc eforth ps eudo-prophets kept c oming and the Romans kept ki l l ing them. Varus c ruc i fied 2,000 rebels around J erus alem.

In Rome, Augus tus , now s ixty, l is tened to the s quabbles of the Herodians and c onfi rmed Herod's wi l l but, wi thholding the ti tle of king, appointed A rc helaus as ethnarc h of J udaea, Samaria and Idumea with Antipas as tetrarc h of Gal i lee and Peraea (part of today's J ordan), and their hal f-brother Phi l ipas tetrarc hof the res t.+ T he l i fe of the ric h in the Roman vi l las of A rc helaus ' J erus alem was louc he, Grec ian and extremely unJ ewis h: a s i lver goblet, buried nearby, los t for two m i l lennia before i t was bought in 1911 by an Americ an c ol lec tor, depic ts expl ic i t homos exual c oupl ings - on one s ide, a man lowers hims el f us ing apul ley onto a c atam ite as a voyeur s lave peeps through the door, whi le on the other two l i the boys intertwine on a c ouc h. But A rc helaus turned out to be s o vic ious , inept and extravagant that, after ten years , Augus tus depos ed him , exi l ing him to Gaul. J udaea bec ame a Roman provinc e, and J erus alem was ruledfrom Caes area on the c oas t by a s eries of low-ranking prefec ts ; i t was now that the Romans held a c ens us to regis ter taxpayers . T his s ubmis s ion to Roman power was humil iating enough to provoke a m inor J ewis h rebel l ion and was the c ens us rec al led by Luke, probably wrongly, as the reas on that J es us ' fam i lyc ame to Bethlehem.

For thi rty years , Herod Antipas ruled Gal i lee, dreaming of his father's kingdom whic h he had almos t inheri ted, unti l J ohn the Baptis t, a c haris matic new prophet, burs t out of the des ert to moc k and c hal lenge him .45

JESUS CHRIST

AD 10-40

JOHN THE BAPTIST AND THE FOX OF GALILEE

J ohn's parents , Zac harias , a pries t in the Temple, and E l izabeth l ived in the vi l lage of E in Kerem, jus t outs ide the c i ty. Zac harias was probably one of the humble pries ts who drew lots for their duties in the Temple, a far c ry from the Temple grandees . But J ohn would often have vis i ted the Temple as a boy. T herewere many ways to be a good J ew and he c hos e to l ive as c etic al ly in the wi ldernes s as Is aiah had urged: 'P repare the way of Yahweh in the des ert.'

In the late 20S AD, J ohn s tarted to win a fol lowing fi rs t in the des erts not far from J erus alem - 'al l men mus ed in their hearts of J ohn whether he were the Chris t or not' - and then later further north in Herod Antipas ' Gal i lee, where he had fam i ly. Mary was a c ous in of J ohn's mother. W hen s he was pregnant wi thher s on J es us , s he s tayed with J ohn's parents . J es us c ame from Nazareth to hear his c ous in preac h and J ohn baptized him in the J ordan. T he c ous ins s tarted to preac h together, offering rem is s ion of s in in baptis m, their new c eremony adapted from the J ewis h tradi tion of ri tual bathing in the mik v ah . However,J ohn als o s tarted to denounc e Herod Antipas .

T he Tetrarc h of Gal i lee l ived majes tic al ly, his luxuries funded by tax-c ol lec tors who were widely hated. Antipas c ons tantly lobbied the new Roman emperor, T iberius , Augus tus ' moros e s teps on, to grant him his father's ful l kingdom. He named his c api tal 'Livias ' after Augus tus ' widow, T iberius ' mother, a friendof the fam i ly. T hen in AD 18, he founded a new c i ty on the Sea of Gal i lee named T iberias . J es us , l ike J ohn, des pis ed Antipas as a venal debauc hee and Roman s tooge: 'that fox', J es us c al led him .

Antipas had married the daughter of the Nabataean A rab king A retas IV , an al l ianc e des igned to ens ure peac e between J ewis h and A rab neighbours . A fter thi rty years on his l i ttle throne, the m iddle-aged Antipas fel l fatal ly in love with his niec e, Herodias . She was the daughter of Herod the Great's exec uted s onAris tobulos and was already married to a hal f-brother. Now s he demanded that Antipas divorc e his A rab wife. Antipas fool is hly agreed, but the Nabataean princ es s did not go quietly. To huge c rowds , J ohn the Baptis t taunted this adul terous c ouple as a latter-day Ahab and J ezebel unti l Antipas ordered his arres t.T he prophet was impris oned in Herod the Great's Mac haerus Fortres s ac ros s the J ordan, 2,300 feet above the Dead Sea. J ohn was not alone in thes e dungeons for there was another c elebri ty pris oner: Antipas ' A rab wife.

Antipas and his c ourtiers c elebrated his birthday at a banquet wi th Herodias and her daughter, Salome, who was married to the tetrarc h Phi l ip. (T he mos aic floors of Mac haerus ' banqueting hal l are s ti l l partly intac t - as are s ome of the c el ls beneath.) Salome 'c ame in and s he danc ed and pleas ed Herod',perhaps even perform ing a s tripteas e of the s even vei ls ,* s o grac eful ly that he s aid: 'As k of me whats oever thou wi l t and I wi l l give i t thee.' P rompted by her mother, Salome repl ied, 'T he head of J ohn the Baptis t.' Moments later, the head was brought up from the dungeons , borne into the banquet on a c harger andgiven 'to the dams el and the dams el gave i t to her mother'.

J es us , real izing that he was in danger, es c aped to the des ert, but he frequently vis i ted J erus alem - the only founder of the three Abrahamic rel igions to have walked her s treets . T he c i ty and the Temple were c entral to his vis ion of hims el f. T he l i fe of a J ew was bas ed on s tudy of the prophets , obs ervanc e of theLaws and pi lgrimage to J erus alem, whic h J es us c al led 'the Ci ty of the Great K ing'. A l though the fi rs t three dec ades of J es us ' l i fe are unknown to us , i t is c lear that he was s teeped in knowledge of the J ewis h B ible and everything he did was a metic ulous ful fi lment of i ts prophec ies . As he was a J ew, the Templewas a fam i l iar part of J es us ' l i fe and he was obs es s ional about the fate of J erus alem. W hen he was twelve his parents took him to the Temple for Pas s over. As they left, Luke s ays he s l ipped away from them and after three worrying days 'they found him in the temple s i tting in the m ids t of the doc tors , hearing themand as king them ques tions '. W hen he was tempted, the devi l 's etteth him on the pinnac le of the temple'. As he unvei led his m is s ion to his fol lowers , he s tres s ed that the playing-out of his own des tiny had to take plac e in J erus alem: 'From that time forth began J es us to s hew unto his dis c iples how he mus t go untoJ erus alem and s uffer many things ... and be ki l led and be rais ed again on the thi rd day.' But J erus alem would pay for this : 'And when ye s hal l s ee J erus alem c ompas s ed with arm ies , then know that the des olation thereof is nigh ... J erus alem s hal l be trodden down of the Genti les , unti l the times of the Genti les beful fi l led.'

Supported by his T welve Apos tles (inc luding his brother J ames ), J es us emerged again in his Gal i lean homeland, moving s outhwards as he preac hed what he c al led 'the good news ', in his own s ubtle and homes pun s tyle, often us ing parables . But the mes s age was direc t and dramatic : 'Repent: for thekingdom of heaven is at hand.' J es us left no wri tings and his teac hings have been endles s ly analys ed, but the four Gos pels reveal that the es s enc e of his m inis try was his warning of the imminent Apoc alyps e - J udgement Day and the K ingdom of Heaven.

T his was a terri fying and radic al vis ion in whic h J es us hims el f would play a c entral part as the mys tic al s emi-mes s ianic Son of Man, a phras e taken from Is aiah and Daniel : 'T he Son of Man s hal l s end forth his angels , and they s hal l gather out of his kingdom al l things that offend, and them whic h do iniqui ty;and s hal l c as t them into a furnac e of fi re: there s hal l be wai l ing and gnas hing of teeth. T hen s hal l the righteous s hine forth as the s un in the kingdom of their Father.' He fores aw the des truc tion of al l human ties : 'And the brother s hal l del iver up the brother to death, and the father the c hi ld: and the c hi ldren s hal l ris eup agains t their parents , and c aus e them to be put to death ... T hink not that I am c ome to s end peac e on earth: I c ame not to s end peac e, but a s word.'

T his was not a s oc ial or national is tic revolution: J es us was mos t c onc erned with the world after the Las t Days ; he preac hed s oc ial jus tic e not s o muc h in this world as in the next: 'B les s ed are the poor in s piri t: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.' Tax-c ol lec tors and harlots would enter God's kingdom beforegrandees and pries ts . J es us s hoc kingly evoked the Apoc alyps e when he s howed that the old laws would no longer matter: 'Let the dead bury their dead.' W hen the world ended, 'the Son of Man s hal l s i t in the throne of his glory' and al l the nations would gather before him for judgement. T here would be 'everlas tingpunis hment' for the evi l and 'l i fe eternal ' for the righteous .

However, J es us was c areful , in mos t c as es , to s tay wi thin J ewis h law and in fac t his enti re m inis try emphas ized that he was ful fi l l ing bibl ic al prophec ies : 'T hink not that I am c ome to des troy the law, or the prophets : I am not c ome to des troy, but to ful fi l .' Rigid adherenc e to the J ewis h law though was notenough: 'exc ept your righteous nes s s hal l exc eed the righteous nes s of the s c ribes and Pharis ees , ye s hal l in no c as e enter into the kingdom of heaven'. Yet he did not make the m is take of di rec tly c hal lenging the Roman emperor, or even Herod. If the Apoc alyps e dominated his preac hing, he offered a more direc tproof of his s anc ti ty: he was a healer, he c ured c ripples and rais ed people from the dead and 'great multi tudes were gathered together unto him '.

J es us vis i ted J erus alem at leas t three times for Pas s over and other fes tivals before his final vis i t, ac c ording to J ohn, and had two luc ky es c apes . W hen he preac hed in the Temple during Tabernac les , he was hai led by s ome as a prophet and by others as the Chris t - though s nobbis h J erus alem ites s neered,'Shal l Chris t c ome out of Gal i lee?' W hen he debated with the authori ties , the c rowd c hal lenged him : 'T hen they took up s tones to c as t at him but J es us hid hims el f and went out of the temple, going though the m ids t of them.' He c ame bac k for Hanukkah (the Fes tival of Dedic ation), but when he c laimed 'I and myFather are one, then the J ews took up s tones again to s tone him ... but he es c aped'. He knew what a vis i t to J erus alem would mean.

Meanwhi le in Gal i lee, Antipas ' dis c arded A rab wife es c aped from the dungeons of Mac haerus to the c ourt of her father, A retas IV, the wealthies t K ing of Nabataea, the bui lder of the remarkable Khazneh s hrine and royal tomb in 'ros e-red' Petra. Furious at this ins ul t, A retas invaded Antipas ' princ ipal i ty. Herodiashad fi rs t c aus ed the death of a prophet and had now s tarted an A rab-J ewis h war whic h Antipas los t. Roman al l ies were not perm itted to launc h private wars : the Emperor T iberius , who bathed in inc reas ingly s eni le debauc hery in Capri , was i rri tated by Antipas ' fol ly but bac ked him .

Herod Antipas now heard about J es us . People wondered who he was . Some thought him 'J ohn the Baptis t but s ome s ay E l ias and others , one of the prophets ', whi le his dis c iple Peter bel ieved he was the Mes s iah. J es us was es pec ial ly popular among women, and s ome of thes e were Herodians - the wi fe ofHerod's s teward was a fol lower. Antipas knew of the c onnec tion to the Baptis t: 'It is J ohn, whom I beheaded: he is ris en from the dead.' He threatened to arres t J es us , but s igni fic antly s ome of the Pharis ees , evidently friendly towards him , warned him : 'Depart henc e: for Herod wi l l ki l l thee.'

Ins tead J es us defied Antipas . 'Go ye, and tel l that fox' that he would c ontinue heal ing and preac hing for two days and on the thi rd he would vis i t the only plac e where a J ewis h Son of Man c ould ful fi l his des tiny: 'It c annot be that a prophet peris h out of J erus alem.' His s ubl imely poetic al mes s age to the s on ofthe king who had bui l t the Temple is s teeped in J es us ' love for the doomed c i ty: 'O J erus alem, J erus alem, whic h ki l les t the prophets , and s tones t them that are s ent unto thee: how often would I have gathered thy c hi ldren together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings , and ye would not! Behold, yourhous e is left unto you des olate.'46

JESUS OF NAZARETH: THREE DAYS IN JERUSALEM

At the Pas s over of AD 33,* J es us and Herod Antipas arrived in J erus alem at almos t the s ame time. J es us led a proc es s ion to Bethany on the Mount of Ol ives , wi th i ts s pec tac ular view of the gleaming s nowy mountain of the Temple. He s ent his Apos tles into the c i ty to bring bac k an as s - not one of our donkeysbut the s turdy mount of kings . T he Gos pels , our only s ourc es , eac h give s l ightly di fferent vers ions of what happened in the next three days . 'A l l this was done', explains Matthew, 'that the s c riptures of the prophets m ight be ful fi l led'.

T he Mes s iah was prophes ied to enter the c i ty on an as s , and as J es us approac hed, his fol lowers laid down palms before him and hai led him as 'Son of David' and 'K ing of Is rael '. He probably entered the c i ty, l ike many vis i tors , through the s outhern gate near the S i loam Pool and then c l imbed to the Temple upthe monumental s tairc as e of Robins on's A rc h. His Apos tles , Gal i lean provinc ials who had never vis i ted the c i ty, were dazzled by the grandeur of the Temple: 'Mas ter, s ee what manner of s tones and what bui ldings are here! ' J es us , who had often s een the Temple, repl ied, 'Sees t thou thes e great bui ldings ? T heres hal l not be left one s tone upon another, that s hal l not be thrown down.'

J es us expres s ed his love for and dis appointment in J erus alem but he fores aw the abomination of des olation. His torians bel ieve that thes e prophec ies were added later, bec aus e the Gos pels were wri tten after T i tus had des troyed the Temple. Yet J erus alem had been s mas hed and rebui l t before, and J es uswas reflec ting the popular anti -T emple tradi tions .* 'Des troy this Temple and I s hal l bui ld another not made by human hands ,' he added, ec hoing his prophetic ins piration, Is aiah. Both s aw beyond the real c i ty to a heavenly J erus alem that would have the power to s hake the world, yet J es us prom is ed to rebui ld theT emple hims el f in three days , perhaps s howing that i t was the c orruption, not the Holy Hous e i ts el f, that he oppos ed.

By day, J es us taught, and healed s ic k people at the Bethes da Pool jus t north of the Temple and at the S i loam Pool to i ts s outh, both c rowded with J ewis h pi lgrims puri fying thems elves to enter the Holy Hous e. A t night he returned to his friends ' home in Bethany. On the Monday morning, he again entered thec i ty but this time he approac hed the Royal Portic o of the T emple.

A t Pas s over, J erus alem was at i ts mos t c rowded and dangerous . Power was founded on money, rank and Roman c onnec tions . But the J ews did not s hare the Roman res pec t for m i l i tary kudos or c old c as h. Res pec t in J erus alem was bas ed on fam i ly (Temple magnates and Herodian princ el ings ), s c holars hip(the Pharis ee teac hers ) and the wi ld c ard of divine ins piration. In the Upper Ci ty, ac ros s the val ley from the Temple, the grandees l ived in Grec ian-Roman mans ions with J ewis h features : the s o-c al led Palatial Res idenc e exc avated there has s pac ious rec eiving-rooms and mik v ahs . Here s tood the palac es ofAntipas and the high pries t J os eph Caiaphas . But the real authori ty in J erus alem was the prefec t, Pontius P i late, who us ual ly ruled his provinc e from Caes area on the c oas t but always c ame to s upervis e Pas s over, s taying at Herod's Ci tadel .

Antipas was not the only J ewis h royal ty in J erus alem. Helena, the Queen of Adiabene, a s mal l kingdom in today's northern Iraq,* had c onverted to J udais m and moved to J erus alem, bui lding a palac e in the City of David, donating the golden c andelabra over the doorway of the Temple s anc tuary and paying forfood when there were bad harves ts . Queen Helena too would have been there for Pas s over, probably wearing the s ort of jewel lery rec ently dis c overed in J erus alem: a large pearl inlaid in gold wi th two drop piec es , eac h with an emerald s et in gold.

J os ephus gues s ed that two and a hal f m i l l ion J ews c ame for Pas s over. T his is an exaggeration but there were J ews 'out of every nation,' from Parthia and Babylonia to Crete and Libya. T he only way to imagine this throng is to s ee Mec c a during the haj . A t Pas s over, every fam i ly had to s ac ri fic e a lamb, s o thec i ty was jammed with bleating s heep - 255,600 lambs were s ac ri fic ed. T here was muc h to do: pi lgrims had to take a dip in a mik v ah every time they approac hed the Temple as wel l as buy their s ac ri fic ial lambs in the Royal Portic o. Not everyone c ould s tay in the c i ty. T hous ands lodged in the s urrounding vi l lages ,l ike J es us , or c amped around the wal ls . As the s mel l of burning meat and heady inc ens e wafted - and the trumpet blas ts , announc ing prayers and s ac ri fic es , ric oc heted - ac ros s the c i ty, everything was foc us ed on the T emple, nervous ly watc hed by the Roman s oldiers from the Antonia Fortres s .

J es us now walked into the towering, c olonnaded Royal Portic o, the bus tl ing, c olourful , c rowded c entre of al l l i fe, where pi lgrims gathered to organize their ac c ommodation, to meet friends , and to c hange money for the T yrian s i lver us ed to buy s ac ri fic ial lambs , doves , or, for the ric h, oxen. T his was not theTemple i ts el f nor one of i ts inner c ourts but the mos t ac c es s ible and publ ic s ec tion of the enti re c omplex, des igned to s erve l ike a forum. In the Portic o, J es us attac ked the Temple es tabl is hment: 'Is this hous e, whic h is c al led by thy name, bec ome a den of robbers ?' he s aid, overturning the tables of the money-c hangers whi le quoting and c hannel l ing the prophec ies of J eremiah, Zac hariah and Is aiah. His demons tration attrac ted attention but not enough to warrant any intervention by T emple guards or Roman s oldiers .

A fter another night in Bethany, he returned to the Temple + the next morning to debate wi th his c ri tic s . T he Gos pels c i te the Pharis ees as J es us ' enemies , but this probably reflec ted the s i tuation fi fty years later when their authors were wri ting. T he Pharis ees were the more flexible and popul is t s ec t, and s omeof their teac hings may have been s im i lar to thos e of J es us . His real enemies were the T emple aris toc rac y. T he Herodians now c hal lenged him about paying taxes to Rome, but he repl ied adeptly, 'Render unto Caes ar the things that are Caes ar's and to God the things that are God's .'

Yet he did not c al l hims el f the Mes s iah, emphas izing the Shema, the bas ic J ewis h prayer to the one God, and the love of his fel low men: he was very muc h a J ew. But then he warned the exc i ted c rowds of the imminent Apoc alyps e that would of c ours e take plac e in J erus alem: 'You are not far from theK ingdom of God.' W hi le J ews held various views on the c oming of the Mes s iah, mos t agreed that God would pres ide over the end of the world, whic h would be fol lowed by the c reation of the Mes s iah's kingdom in J erus alem: 'Sound in Zion the trumpet to s ummon the s aints ,' dec lared the Ps alms of Solomon, wri ttennot long after J es us ' death, 'announc e in J erus alem the voic e of one bringing good news for the God of Is rael has been merc i ful .' Henc e his fol lowers as ked him : 'Tel l us what s hal l be the s ign of your c oming and of the end of the world?' 'W atc h therefore for ye know not what hour your Lord wi l l c ome,' he ans wered,but then he s pel t out the c oming Apoc alyps e: 'Nation s hal l ris e agains t nation, and kingdom agains t kingdom, and there s hal l be fam ines and pes ti lenc es and earthquakes ,' before they s aw 'the Son of Man c oming in c louds of heaven with power and great glory'. J es us ' inflammatory gambit would have s erious lyalarmed the Roman prefec t and high pries ts , who, he warned, c ould expec t no merc y in the Las t Days : 'Ye s erpents , ye generation of vipers , how c an ye es c ape the damnation of hel l?'

J erus alem was always tens e at Pas s over but the authori ties were even more jumpy than us ual . Mark and Luke s tate, in a c ouple of neglec ted vers es , that there had jus t been s ome s ort of Gal i lean rebel l ion in J erus alem, s uppres s ed by P i late, who had ki l led eighteen Gal i leans around the 'tower of S i loam ' s outhof the T emple. One of the s urviving rebels , Barabbas , whom J es us would s oon enc ounter, had 'c ommitted a murder in the ins urrec tion'. T he high pries ts dec ided to take no c hanc es with another Gal i lean predic ting their des truc tion in an imminent Apoc alyps e: Caiaphas and Annas , the influential former high pries t,dis c us s ed what to do. Surely i t was better, argued Caiaphas in J ohn's Gos pel , 'that one man s hould die for the people and that the whole nation peris h not'. T hey made their plans .

T he next day J es us prepared for Pas s over at the Upper Room - the Cenac le, or Coenac ulum - on the wes tern hi l l of J erus alem (later known as Mount Zion). A t the s upper, J es us s omehow learned that his Apos tle, J udas Is c ariot, had betrayed him for thi rty piec es of s i lver, but he did not c hange his plan to walkaround the c i ty to the tranqui l ol ive groves of the Garden of Geths emane jus t ac ros s the K idron Val ley from the T emple. J udas s l ipped away. W e do not know i f he betrayed J es us out of princ iple - for being too radic al or not radic al enough - or out of greed or envy.

J udas returned with a pos s e of s enior pries ts , Temple guards and Roman legionaries . J es us was not ins tantly rec ognizable in the dark, s o J udas betrayed him by identi fying him with a kis s and rec eived his s i lver. In a c haotic torc hl i t drama, the Apos tles drew their s words , Peter lopped off the ear of one of thehigh pries t's lac keys and a nameles s boy ran off s tark naked into the night, a touc h s o ec c entric , i t rings of truth. J es us was arres ted and the Apos tles s c attered exc ept for two who fol lowed at a dis tanc e.

It was now almos t m idnight. J es us , guarded by Roman s oldiers , was marc hed around the s outhern wal ls through the S i loam Gate to the palac e of the c i ty's eminenc e gris e Annas , in the Upper Ci ty.* Annas dominated J erus alem and pers oni fied the rigid, inc es tuous network of T emple fam i l ies . Hims elf a formerhigh pries t, he was the father-in-law of the pres ent inc umbent Caiaphas and no les s than five of his s ons would be high pries ts . But he and Caiaphas were des pis ed by mos t J ews as venal , thuggis h c ol laborators , whos e s ervants , c omplained one J ewis h text, 'beat us wi th s taves '; their jus tic e was a c orrupt money-making s c am. J es us , on the other hand, had s truc k a popular c hord and had admirers even among the Sanhedrin. T he trial of this popular and fearles s preac her would have to be c onduc ted s hi fti ly, by night.

Some time after m idnight, as the guards bui l t a fi re in the c ourtyard (and J es us ' dis c iple Peter thric e denied knowing his mas ter), Annas and his s on-in-law as s embled their loyal Sanhedrin members - but not al l of them, bec aus e at leas t one, J os eph of A rimathea, was an admirer of J es us and never approvedhis arres t. J es us was c ros s -examined by the high pries t: had he threatened to des troy the T emple and rebui ld i t in three days ? Did he c laim to be the Mes s iah? J es us s aid nothing but final ly admitted, 'ye s hal l s ee the Son of Man s i tting on the right hand of power, and c oming in the c louds of heaven'.

'He hath s poken blas phemy,' s aid Caiaphas .

'He is gui l ty of death,' ans wered the c rowd who had gathered des pi te the late hour. J es us was bl indfolded and s pent the night being taunted in the c ourtyard unti l dawn, when the real bus ines s c ould begin. P i late was waiting.47

PONTIUS P ILATE: THE TRIAL OF JESUS

T he Roman prefec t, guarded by his auxi l iary troops and watc hed by a tens e c rowd, held c ourt on the P raetorium, the rais ed platform outs ide Herod's Ci tadel , the Roman headquarters near today's J affa Gate. Pontius P i late was an aggres s ive, tac tles s martinet out of his depth in J udaea. He was already loathed inJ erus alem, notorious for his 'venal i ty, violenc e, theft, as s aul ts , abus e, endles s exec utions and s avage feroc i ty'. Even one of the Herodian princ es c al led him 'vindic tive wi th a furious temper'.

He had already outraged the J ews by ordering his troops to marc h into J erus alem dis playing their s hields wi th images of the emperor. Herod Antipas led delegations reques ting their removal . A lways 'inflexible and c ruel ', P i late refus ed. W hen more J ews protes ted, he unleas hed his guards , but the delegates layon the ground and bared their nec ks . P i late then removed the offending images . More rec ently he had ki l led the Gal i lean rebels 'whos e blood P i late had m ingled with their s ac ri fic es '.48

'A rt thou the K ing of the J ews ?' P i late as ked J es us . A fter al l , J es us ' fol lowers had ac c laimed him king when he entered J erus alem. But he ans wered, 'T hou s ayes t i t,' and refus ed to add anything more. But P i late did learn he was a Gal i lean. 'As s oon as he knew that he belonged unto Herod's juris dic tion', P i lates ent his pris oner to Herod Antipas as a c ourtes y to the ruler of Gal i lee, who had a s pec ial interes t in J es us . It was a s hort walk to Antipas ' palac e. Herod Antipas , s ays Luke, 'was exc eeding glad' for he had wanted to meet J ohn the Baptis t's s uc c es s or for a long time 'and he hoped to have s een s ome m irac le doneby him '. But J es us s o des pis ed the 'fox', ki l ler of J ohn, that he did not even deign to s peak to him .

Antipas played with J es us , as king him to perform his tric ks , pres ented him with a royal robe and c al led him 'king'. T he tetrarc h was hardly l ikely to try to s ave J ohn the Baptis t's s uc c es s or, but he apprec iated the opportuni ty to interview him . P i late and Antipas had long been enemies but now they 'made friendstogether'. Nonetheles s , J es us was a Roman problem. Herod Antipas s ent him bac k to the P raetorium. T here, P i late tried J es us , two s o-c al led thieves and Barabbas , who, s ays Mark, 'lay bound with them that had made ins urrec tion wi th him '. T his s ugges ts that a handful of rebels , who perhaps inc luded the two'thieves ', were being tried wi th J es us .

P i late toyed with releas ing one of thes e pris oners . Some of the c rowd c al led for Barabbas . Ac c ording to the Gos pels , Barabbas was releas ed. T he s tory s ounds unl ikely: the Romans us ual ly exec uted murderous rebels . J es us was s entenc ed to c ruc i fixion whi le, ac c ording to Matthew, P i late 'took water andwas hed his hands before the multi tude, s aying, I am innoc ent of the blood of this jus t pers on'.

'His blood be upon us and our c hi ldren,' repl ied the c rowd.Far from being a mealy-mouthed vac i l lator, the violent and obs tinate P i late had never previous ly fel t the need to was h his hands before his blood-letting. In an earl ier dis pute wi th the J ews , he had s ent his troops in c ivi l ian dis guis e among a peac eful J erus alem c rowd; at P i late's s ignal , they had drawn their

s words and c leared the s treets , ki l l ing many. Now P i late, al ready fac ed with the Barabbas rebel l ion that week, c learly feared any res urgenc e of the 'kings ' and 'ps eudo-prophets ' who had plagued J udaea s inc e Herod's death. J es us was inflammatory in his obl ique way, and he was undoubtedly popular. Even manyyears later, J os ephus , hims el f a Pharis ee, des c ribed J es us as a wis e teac her.

T he tradi tional ac c ount of the s entenc ing therefore does not ring true. T he Gos pels c laim that the pries ts ins is ted they did not have the authori ty to pas s death s entenc es , but i t is far from c lear that this is true. T he high pries t, wri tes J os ephus , 'wi l l adjudic ate in c as es of dis pute, punis h thos e c onvic ted ofc rime'. T he Gos pels , wri tten or amended after the des truc tion of the T emple in 70, blamed the J ews and ac qui tted the Romans , keen to s how loyal ty to the empire. Yet the c harges agains t J es us , and the punis hment i ts el f, tel l their own s tory: this was a Roman operation.

J es us , l ike mos t c ruc i fixion vic tims , was s c ourged with a leather whip tipped with ei ther bone or metal , a torment s o s avage that i t often ki l led the vic tim . W earing a plac ard reading 'K ING OF T HE J EW S ' prepared by the Roman s oldiers , many of them Syrian-Greek auxi l iaries , and bleeding heavi ly after hisflagel lation, J es us was led away, on what was probably the morning of 14th of Nis an or Friday 3 Apri l 33. A long with the other two vic tims , he c arried the patibulum, c ros s bar, for his own c ruc i fixion, out of the Ci tadel pris on and through the s treets of the Upper Ci ty. His fol lowers pers uaded a c ertain S imon of Cyreneto help bear the c ros s bar whi le his women admirers lamented. 'Daughters of J erus alem,' he s aid, 'weep not for me but weep for yours elves and your c hi ldren,' bec aus e the Apoc alyps e was imminent - 'the days are c oming'.

J es us left J erus alem for the las t time, turning left through the Gennath (Gardens ) Gate into an area of hi l ly gardens , roc k-c ut tombs and J erus alem 's exec ution hi l l , the aptly named P lac e of the Skul l : Golgotha.*

JESUS CHRIST: THE PASSION

A c rowd of enemies and friends fol lowed J es us out of the c i ty to watc h the mac abre and tec hnic al bus ines s of exec ution, always a s pec tac le that fas c inated. T he s un had ris en when he arrived at the exec ution plac e where the upright pos t awaited him : i t would have been us ed before him and would be us ed againafter him . T he s oldiers offered J es us the tradi tional drink of wine and myrrh to s teady his nerves , but he refus ed i t. He was then attac hed to the c ros s bar and hois ted up the s take.

Cruc i fixion, s aid J os ephus , was 'the mos t m is erable death',+ des igned to demean the vic tim publ ic ly. Henc e P i late ordered J es us ' plac ard to be attac hed to his c ros s - K ING OF T HE J EW S. V ic tims c ould be tied or nai led. T he s ki l l was to ens ure vic tims did not bleed to death. T he nai ls were us ual ly driventhrough the forearms - not the palms - and ankles : the bones of a c ruc i fied J ew have been found in a tomb in north J erus alem with a 41/2-inc h i ron nai l s ti l l s tic king through a s keletal ankle. Nai ls from c ruc i fixion vic tims were popularly worn as c harms , around the nec k, by both J ews and genti les to ward off i l lnes s ,s o the later Chris tian fetis h for c ruc i fic ial rel ic s was ac tual ly part of a long tradi tion. V ic tims were us ual ly c ruc i fied naked - wi th men fac ing outwards , women inwards .

T he exec utioners were experts at ei ther prolonging the agony or ending i t quic kly. T he aim was to not ki l l J es us too quic kly but to demons trate the futi l i ty of defying Roman power. He was mos t probably nai led to the c ros s wi th his arms outs tretc hed as s hown in Chris tian art, s upported by a s mal l wedge, s edi le ,under the buttoc ks and a s uppedaneum ledge under the feet. T his arrangement meant he c ould s urvive for hours , even days . T he quic kes t way to expedi te death was to break the legs . T he body weight was then borne by the arms and the vic tim would as phyxiate wi thin ten m inutes .

Hours pas s ed; his enemies moc ked him ; pas s ers -by jeered. His friend Mary of Magdala kept vigi l alongs ide his mother Mary and the unnamed 'dis c iple whom he loved', pos s ibly his brother J ames . His s upporter J os eph of A rimathea vis i ted him too. T he heat of the day c ame and went. 'I thi rs t,' J es us s aid. Hisfemale fol lowers dipped a s ponge into vinegar and hys s op, and rais ed i t to his l ips on a reed s o that he c ould s uc k on i t. Sometimes he s eemed to des pair: 'My God, my God, why has t thou fors aken me?' he c al led out, quoting the appropriate s c ripture, Ps alm 22. Yet what did he mean by God fors aking him? W asJ es us expec ting God to unleas h the End of Days ?

As he weakened, he s aw his mother. 'Behold thy s on,' he s aid, as king the beloved dis c iple to c are for her. If i t was his brother, this made s ens e, for the dis c iple es c orted Mary away to res t. T he c rowds mus t have dis pers ed. Night fel l .Cruc i fixion was a s low death from heat s troke, hunger, s uffoc ation, s hoc k or thi rs t, and J es us was probably bleeding from the flagel lation. Suddenly he gave a s igh. 'It is finis hed,' he s aid, and los t c ons c ious nes s . Given the tens ion in J erus alem and the imminent Sabbath and Pas s over hol iday, P i late mus t

have ordered his exec utioners to ac c elerate matters . T he s oldiers broke the legs of the two bandi ts or rebels , al lowing them to s uffoc ate, but when they c ame to J es us he already s eemed dead, s o 'one of the s oldiers wi th a s pear pierc ed his s ide and forthwith c ame blood and water'. It may have ac tual ly been thes pear that had ki l led him .

J os eph of A rimathea hurried to the P raetorium to as k P i late for the body. V ic tims were us ual ly left to rot on their c ros s es , the prey of vul tures , but J ews bel ieved in s wift burial . P i late agreed.J ewis h dead were not buried in the earth during the fi rs t c entury but laid in a s hroud in a roc k tomb, whic h their fam i ly always c hec ked, partly to ens ure that the dec eas ed were indeed dead and not merely c omatos e: i t was rare but not unheard of to find that the 'dead' were awake the next morning. T he bodies

were then left for a year to des ic c ate, then the bones were plac ed in a bone-box, known as an os s uary, often with the name c arved on the outs ide, in a roc k-c ut tomb.J os eph and J es us ' fam i ly and fol lowers brought down the body and quic kly found an unus ed tomb in a nearby garden where they laid him . T he body was s weetened by expens ive s pic es and wrapped in a s hroud - l ike the fi rs t-c entury s hroud found in a tomb a l i ttle s outh of the c i ty wal ls in the Field of B lood, s ti l l

bearing c lumps of human hair (but unl ike the famous T urin Shroud, whic h has now been dated to between 1260 and 1390). It is l ikely that the pres ent Churc h of the Holy Sepulc hre, whic h enc los es both the plac e of c ruc i fixion and the tomb, is the genuine s i te s inc e i ts tradi tion was kept al ive by loc al Chris tians forthe next three c enturies . P i late pos ted guards around J es us ' tomb at Caiaphas ' reques t 'les t his dis c iples c ome by night and s teal him away and s ay unto the people, He is ris en from the dead'.

Up to this point, the s tory of J es us ' Pas s ion - from the Latin patior, to s uffer - is bas ed on our s ole s ourc e, the Gos pels , but no fai th is required to bel ieve in the l i fe and death of a J ewis h prophet and thaumaturge. However, three days after his c ruc i fixion, on Sunday morning, ac c ording to Luke, s ome of J es us 'female fam i ly and fol lowers (inc luding his mother and J oanna, the wife of Herod Antipas ' s teward) vis i ted the tomb: 'T hey found the s tone rol led away from the s epulc hre and they entered in and found not the body of the Lord J es us ... As they were muc h perplexed, behold two men s tood by them in s hining garmentsand as they were afraid ... they s aid unto them: W hy s eek ye the l iving among the dead? He is not here but is ris en.' T he frightened dis c iples were in hiding on the Mount of Ol ives during the Pas s over week, but J es us appeared s everal times to them and to his mother, s aying to them, 'Be not afraid.' W hen T homasdoubted the Res urrec tion, J es us s howed him the wounds on his hands and in his s ide. A fter s ome days , he led them up to the Mount of Ol ives where he as c ended to heaven. T his Res urrec tion, whic h turned a s ordid death into a trans form ing triumph of l i fe over death, is the defining moment of Chris tian fai th,c elebrated on Eas ter Sunday.

For thos e who do not s hare this fai th, the fac ts are impos s ible to veri fy. Matthew reveals what was s urely the c ontemporary al ternative vers ion of events , 'c ommonly reported among the J ews to this day': the high pries ts immediately paid off the s oldiers who were meant to be guarding the tomb and ordered themto tel l everyone that 'his dis c iples c ame by night and s tole him away whi le we s lept'.

A rc haeologis ts tend to bel ieve that the body was s imply removed and buried by friends and fam i ly in another roc k-c ut tomb s omewhere around J erus alem. T hey have exc avated tombs , wi th os s uaries that bear names s uc h as 'J ames brother of J es us ' and even 'J es us s on of J os eph'. T hes e have generatedmedia headl ines . Some have been expos ed as forgeries but mos t are genuine fi rs t-c entury tombs with very c ommon J ewis h names - and with no c onnec tion to J es us .*

J erus alem c elebrated Pas s over. J udas inves ted his s i lver in real es tate - the Potter's Field on the Akeldama s outh of the c i ty, appropriately in the Val ley of Hel l - where he then 'burs t as under in the m ids t and al l his bowels gus hed out'. + W hen the dis c iples emerged from hiding, they met for Pentec os t in theUpper Room, the Cenac le on Mount Zion, 'and s uddenly there c ame from heaven a rus hing m ighty wind' - the Holy Spiri t that al lowed them to s peak in tongues to the many national i ties who were in J erus alem and to perform heal ing in the name of J es us . Peter and J ohn were entering the Temple through theBeauti ful Gate for their dai ly prayers when a c ripple as ked for alms . 'Ris e up and walk,' they s aid, and he did.

T he Apos tles elec ted J es us ' brother as 'Overs eer of J erus alem ', leader of thes e J ewis h s ec taries known as the Nazarenes . T he s ec t mus t have grown bec aus e not long after J es us ' death, 'there was a great pers ec ution agains t the c hurc h at J erus alem '. One of J es us ' Greek-s peaking fol lowers , S tephen, haddenounc ed the Temple, s aying that 'the Mos t High dwel leth not in temples made with hands '. P roving that the high pries t c ould order c api tal punis hment, S tephen was tried by the Sanhedrin and s toned outs ide the wal ls , probably to the north of today's Damas c us Gate. He was the fi rs t Chris tian 'martyr' - anadaptation of the Greek word for 'wi tnes s '. Yet J ames and his Nazarenes remained prac tis ing J ews , loyal to J es us , but als o teac hing and praying in the Temple for the next thi rty years . J ames was widely admired there as a J ewis h holy man. J es us ' J udais m was c learly no more idios ync ratic than that of the manyother preac hers who c ame before and after him .

J es us ' enemies did not pros per. Soon after his c ruc i fixion, P i late was s unk by a Samari tan ps eudo-prophet who preac hed to exc i ted c rowds that he had found Mos es ' urn on Mount Gerizim . P i late s ent in the c avalry who c ul led many of his fol lowers . T he prefec t had already driven J erus alem to the edge of openrevol t; now the Samari tans too denounc ed his brutal i ty.

T he Governor of Syria had to res tore order in J erus alem. He s ac ked both Caiaphas and P i late, who was s ent bac k to Rome. T his was s o popular that the J erus alem ites jubi lantly welc omed the Roman governor. P i late vanis hes from his tory. T iberius was meanwhi le ti ring of Herod Antipas .49 But this was not theend of that dynas ty: the Herodians were about to enjoy an extraordinary res toration thanks to the mos t adventurous of the J ewis h princ es , who would befriend Rome's demented emperor and regain J erus alem.

THE LAST OF THE HERODS

AD 40-66

HEROD AGRIPPA: CALIGULA'S FRIEND

Young Herod Agrippa grew up in Rome amid the imperial fam i ly and bec ame bes t friends with the emperor T iberius ' s on Drus us . T his c harm ing, high-rol l ing extrovert - the grands on of Herod the Great and Mariamme, c hi ld of their exec uted s on A ris tobulos - amas s ed huge debts to keep up with the emperor's s onand the fas t c rowd.

W hen Drus us died young in AD 23, the heartbroken emperor c ould no longer fac e his s on's friends and Herod Agrippa, now broke, retreated to Gal i lee, ruled by Antipas who was married to his s is ter Herodias . Antipas gave him a drab job in T iberias , but drabnes s was not Agrippa's s tyle and he fled to Idumea,the fam i ly's homeland, and there c ontemplated s uic ide. W ith this prodigal rogue, however, s omething always turned up.

A round the time of J es us ' c ruc i fixion, Phi l ip, the tetrarc h of the fam i ly's northern lands , died. Antipas as ked the emperor to expand his princ ipal i ty. T iberius had always l iked Herod Agrippa; s o he rus hed to the emperor's res idenc e on Capri to s take his own c laim and underm ine his unc le's . He found T iberiusres iding gloomily at the J upi ter V i l la, his jaded appeti tes , ac c ording to the his torian Suetonius , fed by boys known as his 'm innows ', trained to s uc k his privates as he s wam in the pool .

T iberius welc omed Agrippa - unti l he heard about the s tring of unpaid debts he had left around the Mediterranean. But Agrippa, a born gambler, pers uaded his mother's friend Antonia to lend him money and appeal to the emperor. Severe and c has te, Antonia, daughter of Mark Antony, was res pec ted by T iberiusas the ideal Roman aris toc rat. He took her advic e and forgave the J ewis h ras c al . Agrippa us ed the c as h not to pay off his debts but to give a generous pres ent to another bankrupt princ el ing, Cal igula, who with the c hi ld Gemel lus , s on of Agrippa's late friend Drus us , was T iberius ' joint heir. T he emperor as ked theHerodian to look after Gemel lus .

Ins tead the opportunis tic Agrippa bec ame bes t friends with Gaius Cal igula, who ever s inc e being paraded before the legions as a c hi ld mas c ot in a m ini-m i l i tary uni form (inc luding army boots , c al igae - henc e the nic kname 'Bootkins '), was beloved for being the s on of the popular general Germanic us . Nowtwenty-five, balding and gangly, Cal igula had grown up s poi l t, dis s olute and qui te pos s ibly ins ane, but he remained the people's darl ing and he was impatient to inheri t the empire. Cal igula and Herod Agrippa are l ikely to have s hared a l i fe of extravagant debauc hery, a m i l l ion m i les from the piety of the latter'sbrethren in J erus alem. As they rode around Capri , the two fantas ized about T iberius ' death, but their c harioteer was l is tening. W hen Agrippa had him arres ted for s teal ing, the c harioteer s ni tc hed to the emperor. Agrippa was thrown into jai l and bound in c hains but, protec ted by his friend Cal igula, he was al lowed tobathe, rec eive friends and rel is h his favouri te dis hes .

W hen T iberius final ly died in Marc h 37, Cal igula, having murdered young Gemel lus , s uc c eeded as emperor. He at onc e releas ed his friend, pres ented him with gold fetters to c ommemorate his time in real s hac kles and promoted him to king, giving him Phi l ip's northern tetrarc hy. Quite a revers al of fortune.S imultaneous ly Agrippa's s is ter Herodias and J es us ' hated 'fox', Antipas , travel led to Rome to undo this dec is ion and win their own kingdom. But A grippa framed them, al leging that they were planning a rebel l ion. Cal igula depos ed Antipas , the ki l ler of J ohn the Baptis t - who later died in Lyons - and gave al l hislands to Herod Agrippa.

T he new king s c arc ely vis i ted his kingdom, preferring to s tay c los e to Cal igula whos e homic idal ec c entric i ties rapidly turned him from Rome's favouri te to i ts oppres s or. Lac king the m i l i tary kudos of his predec es s ors , Cal igula tried to bols ter his pres tige by ordering his own image to be wors hipped ac ros s theempire - and in the Holy of Hol ies of the Temple. J erus alem was defiant; the J ews prepared to rebel , wi th delegations tel l ing the Governor of Syria that 'he mus t fi rs t s ac ri fic e the enti re J ewis h nation' before they would tolerate s uc h a s ac ri lege. E thnic fighting broke out in A lexandria between Greeks and J ews .W hen the two parties s ent delegations to Cal igula, the Greeks c laimed that the J ews were the only people who would not wors hip Cal igula's s tatue.

Fortunately, K ing Agrippa was s ti l l in Rome, ever more intimate wi th the inc reas ingly erratic Cal igula. W hen the emperor launc hed an expedi tion to Gaul, the J ewis h king was one of his entourage. But, ins tead of fighting, Cal igula dec lared vic tory over the s ea, c ol lec ting s eas hel ls for his T riumph.Cal igula ordered Petronius , the Governor of Syria, to enforc e his orders and c rus h J erus alem. J ewis h delegations , led by Herodian princ es , begged Petronius to c hange his m ind. Petronius hes i tated, knowing that i t was war to proc eed and death to refus e. But K ing Herod Agrippa, the prodigal time-s erver,

s uddenly s howed hims el f to be the s urpris ing c hampion of the J ews , wri ting c ourageous ly to Cal igula in one of the mos t as tonis hing letters wri tten on behal f of J erus alem:

I, as you know, am by birth a J ew and my native c i ty is J erus alem in whic h is s i tuated the s ac red s hrine of the mos t high God. T his Temple, my Lord Gaius , has never from the fi rs t admitted any figure wrought by men's hands , bec aus e i t is the s anc tuary of the true God. Your grandfather [Marc us ] Agrippavis i ted and paid honour to the Temple and s o did Augus tus . [He then thanks Cal igula for favours granted but] I exc hange al l [thos e benefi ts ] for one thing only - that the anc es tral ins ti tutions be not dis turbed. E i ther I mus t s eem a trai tor to my own or no longer be c ounted your friend as I have been; there isno other al ternative.*

Even i f the s tark bravado of this 'death or freedom ' is exaggerated, this was a ris ky letter to wri te to Cal igula - yet the king's intervention did apparently s ave J erus alem.A t a feas t, the emperor thanked K ing Agrippa for the help he had given him before his ac c es s ion, offering to grant him any reques t. T he king as ked him not to plac e his image in the T emple. Cal igula agreed.

HEROD AGRIPPA AND EMPEROR CLAUDIUS:ASSASSINATION, GLORY AND W ORMS

After rec overing from a s trange i l lnes s in late 37, the emperor bec ame inc reas ingly unbalanc ed. During the next years , the s ourc es c laim he c ommitted inc es t wi th his three s is ters , pros ti tuted them to other men and appointed his hors e as a c ons ul . It is hard to as s es s the truth of thes e s c andals , though hisac tions c ertainly al ienated and terri fied muc h of the Roman el i te. He married his s is ter, then, when s he bec ame pregnant, s uppos edly ripped the baby out of her womb. K is s ing his m is tres s es , he mus ed, 'And this beauti ful throat wi l l be c ut whenever I pleas e' and told the c ons uls , 'I only have to give one nod andyour throats wi l l be c ut on the s pot.' His favouri te bon mot was 'i f only Rome had one nec k', but unwis ely he als o l iked to teas e his mac ho P raetorian Guards with s auc y pas s words s uc h as 'P riapus '. It c ould not go on.

A t m idday on 24 J anuary 41, Cal igula, ac c ompanied by Herod Agrippa, was leaving the theatre through a c overed walkway when one of the P raetorian tribunes drew his s word and c ried, 'Take this ! ' T he s wordblow hi t Cal igula's s houlder, almos t fi l leting him in hal f, but he kept s houting, 'I'm s ti l l al ive.' T hec ons pirators c ried, 'S trike again,' and finis hed him off. His German bodyguards marauded through the s treets , the P raetorian Guards men rans ac ked the imperial palac e on the Palatine Hi l l and murdered Cal igula's wi fe, das hing out the brains of his baby. T he Senate mean-whi le tried to res tore the republ ic , endingthe des potis m of the emperors .

Herod Agrippa took c ontrol of Cal igula's body, winning time by dec laring that the emperor was s ti l l al ive but wounded, whi le he led a s quad of P raetorians to the palac e. T hey notic ed a s ti rring behind a c urtain and dis c overed the lame, s tammering s c holar, Claudius , Cal igula's unc le and s on of Agrippa's fam i lyfriend Antonia. Together, they ac c laimed him as emperor, c arrying him to their c amp on a s hield. Claudius , a republ ic an, tried to refus e the honour, but the J ewis h king advis ed him to ac c ept the c rown and pers uaded the Senate to offer i t to him . No prac tis ing J ew, before or s inc e, even in modern times , has everbeen s o powerful . T he new Emperor Claudius , who proved a s teady, s ens ible ruler, rewarded his friend by pres enting him with J erus alem and the whole of Herod the Great's kingdom, as wel l as granting him the rank of c ons ul . Even Agrippa's brother rec eived a kingdom.

Herod Agrippa had left J erus alem as a penni les s ne'er-do-wel l ; he returned as king of J udaea. He made a s ac ri fic e in the Temple, and duti ful ly read Deuteronomy to the gathered people. T he J ews were moved when he wept for his own m ixed origins and dedic ated Cal igula's gold fetters , the s ymbol of his goodfortune, to the Temple. 'T he holy c i ty', whic h he s aw as 'the mother-c i ty' not jus t of J udaea but of J ews ac ros s Europe and As ia, was won over by this new Herod, whos e c oins c al led him 'Great K ing Agrippa, Friend of Caes ar'. Outs ide J erus alem he l ived l ike a Roman-Greek king, but when he was in the c i ty he l ivedas a J ew and s ac ri fic ed eac h day in the T emple. He beauti fied and forti fied the expanding J erus alem, adding a T hird W al l to enc los e the new Bezetha s uburb - the northern s ec tion of whic h has been exc avated.

Yet even Agrippa s truggled to manage J erus alem 's tens ions : he appointed three s uc c es s ive high pries ts in two years and ac ted agains t the J ewis h Chris tians . T his may have c oinc ided with Claudius ' c rac kdown on the J ewis h Chris tians in Rome - they were expel led for dis orders 'at the ins tigation of Chres tus '(Chris t). 'Now about this time', s ays the Ac ts of the Apos tles , 'Herod the king s tretc hed forth his hands to vex c ertain of the c hurc h,' and had J ames beheaded (not J es us ' brother but the dis c iple of that name). He als o arres ted Peter, whom he planned to exec ute after Pas s over. Peter s omehow s urvived: theChris tians hai led this as a m irac le but other s ourc es s ugges t that the king s imply releas ed him , pos s ibly as a gi ft to the c rowds .

Agrippa's making of emperors had gone to his head, for he c al led a s ummit of loc al kings to T iberias wi thout as king Roman perm is s ion. T he Romans were alarmed and ordered the kings to dis pers e. Claudius hal ted the bui lding of any more J erus alem forti fic ations . A fterwards , Agrippa was holding c ourt l ike aGreek god-king in gold-enc rus ted robes in the forum of Caes area when he was taken i l l wi th s tomac h pains : 'he was eaten of worms ', s ays the Ac ts of the Apos tles . T he J ews s at in s ac kc loth praying for his rec overy but in vain. Agrippa had the c haris ma and s ens i tivi ty to c onc i l iate J ewis h moderates , J ewis hfanatic s and Romans ; there died the only man who m ight have s aved J erus alem. 50

HEROD AGRIPPA II: NERO'S FRIEND

T he king's death unleas hed riots . T hough his s on and names ake Agrippa II was only s eventeen, Claudius wanted to give him the kingdom, but he was advis ed that the boy was too young to govern his inflammable inheri tanc e. Ins tead the emperor res tored direc t rule by Roman proc urators and granted the lateAgrippa's brother, K ing Herod of Chalc is , the right to appoint high pries ts and manage the Temple. For the next twenty-five years , J erus alem was run in an ambiguous partners hip between Roman proc urators and Herodian kings but they c ould not s oothe the turbulenc e c aus ed by a s uc c es s ion of propheticc harlatans , ethnic c onfl ic ts between Greeks , J ews and Samari tans , and the widening gap between the ric h, pro-Roman grandees and the poorer, rel igious J ews .

T he J ewis h Chris tians , the Nazarenes , led by J es us ' brother J ames , and their s o-c al led pres by teroi or elders , s urvived in J erus alem where the original dis c iples wors hipped as J ews in the Temple. But J es us was far from the las t of the preac hers who c hal lenged Roman order: J os ephus l is ts the eruption ofone ps eudo-prophet after another, mos t of them exec uted by the Romans .

T he proc urators did not help matters . Like P i late, their reac tion to this efflores c enc e of prophets was to mas s ac re their fol lowers whi le s queezing the provinc e for profi t. One year, at Pas s over in J erus alem, a Roman s oldier expos ed his bottom to the J ews , c aus ing a riot. T he proc urator s ent in s oldiers whos tarted a s tampede in whic h thous ands s uffoc ated in the narrow s treets . A few years later, when fighting broke out between J ews and Samari tans , the Romans c ruc i fied many J ews . Both s ides appealed to Rome. T he Samari tans would have s uc c eeded but young Herod Agrippa, who was being educ ated in Rome,won over Claudius ' powerful wi fe, Agrippina: the emperor not only bac ked the J ews but ordered the Roman tribune at faul t to be humil iated in J erus alem and then exec uted. Like his father wi th Cal igula, Agrippa II was popular not only wi th Claudius but wi th his heir, Nero. W hen his unc le Herod of Chalc is died,Agrippa was made king of that Lebanes e fiefdom with s pec ial powers over the T emple in J erus alem.

In Rome, the now s eni le Claudius was pois oned by Agrippina,* s uppos edly wi th a plateful of mus hrooms . T he new teenaged emperor Nero awarded Agrippa II more terri tories in Gal i lee, Syria and Lebanon. Agrippa grateful ly renamed Caes area Phi l ippi , his c api tal , Neronias and advertis ed his warm relationswith Nero on his c oins wi th the legend 'Phi lo-Caes ar'. However, Nero's proc urators tended to be c orrupt and c lums y. One of the wors t was Antonius Fel ix, a venal Greek freedman who, wri tes the his torian Tac i tus , 'prac tis ed every kind of c ruel ty and lus t, wielding the power of a king with the ins tinc ts of a s lave'. As hewas the brother of the s ec retary to Claudius and (for a time) to Nero, the J ews c ould no longer appeal to Rome. K ing Agrippa's s c andalous s is ters pers oni fied the c orruption of the el i te. Drus i l la, who 'exc eeded al l women in beauty', was married to the A rab king Azizus of Emes a, but Fel ix 'c onc eived a pas s ion forher. She being unhappy and wis hing to es c ape the mal ic e of her s is ter Berenic e' eloped with Fel ix. Berenic e, who had been Queen of Chalc is (married to her unc le), left her lates t hus band, the K ing of Ci l ic ia, to l ive wi th her brother: Roman rumours s ugges ted inc es t. Fel ix m i lked J udaea for money whi le 'a news pec ies of bandi t' known as the S ic ari i (after their s hort Roman daggers - the origin of the word 's ic kle') s tarted to as s as s inate J ewis h grandees at fes tivals in the m iddle of J erus alem - their fi rs t s uc c es s was the ki l l ing of an ex-high pries t. Fac ed with ethnic s laughter and repeated 'ps eudo-prophets ', Fel ix s truggledto keepthe peac e whi le enric hing hims el f.

Amid this apoc alyptic turbulenc e, the s mal l s ec t of J es us was now s pl i t between i ts J ewis h leaders in J erus alem and i ts genti le fol lowers in the wider Roman world. Now the mos t dynamic radic al of al l J es us ' fol lowers , who more than anyone els e would forge a new world rel igion, returned to plan the future ofChris tiani ty.

PAUL OF TARSUS: THE CREATOR OF CHRISTIANITY

J erus alem was rec overing from her lates t s pas m of apoc alyptic violenc e. An Egyptian J ew had jus t led a mob up the Mount of Ol ives , announc ing, wi th ec hoes of J es us , that he was going to bring down the wal ls and take J erus alem. T he ps eudo-prophet tried to s torm the c i ty, but the J erus alem ites joined theRomans in repel l ing his fol lowers . Fel ix's legions then ki l led mos t of them.51 T here was a manhunt for the 's orc erer' hims el f, as Paul arrived in the c i ty he knew wel l .

Paul 's father was a Pharis ee who pros pered enough to bec ome a Roman c i tizen. He s ent his s on - born about the s ame time as J es us but in Ci l ic ia (today's T urkey) - to s tudy in the Temple in J erus alem. W hen J es us was c ruc i fied, Saul , as he then was , s upported the 'threatenings and s laughter': he held thec loaks of thos e who s toned S tephen 'and was c ons enting to his death'. A tent-maker, this Greek-s peaking Roman Pharis ee s erved as an agent of the high pries t unti l , around ad 37, on the road to Damas c us , he experienc ed his 'apoc alyps e': 'Suddenly there s hined round him a l ight from heaven' and he heard avoic e 's aying unto him : Saul , Saul , why pers ec utes t thou me?' T he ris en Chris t c ommis s ioned him to bec ome a thi rteenth apos tle to preac h the good news to the genti les .

J ames and the Chris tians in J erus alem were unders tandably s us pic ious of this new c onvert, but Paul fel t c ompel led to teac h his mes s age with al l his obes s ional energy: 'W oe is unto me i f I preac h not the Gos pel .' Final ly, 'J ames , the Lord's brother' ac c epted this new c ol league. For the next fi fteen years , thisi rrepres s ible fi rebrand travel led the eas t, dogmatic al ly preac hing his own vers ion of J es us ' Gos pel that fierc ely rejec ted the exc lus ivi ty of the J ews . 'T he Apos tle to Genti les ' bel ieved that 'for our s ake' God had made J es us 'a s in offering, who knew no s in, s o that in him , we m ight bec ome the righteous nes s of God'.Paul foc us ed on the Res urrec tion, whic h he s aw as the bridge between humanity and God. Paul 's J erus alem was the Heavenly K ingdom, not the real Temple; his 'Is rael ' was any fol lower of J es us , not the J ewis h nation. He was , in s ome ways , s trangely modern, for, c ontrary to the hars h ethos of the anc ient world,he bel ieved in love, equal i ty and inc lus ivenes s : Greeks and J ews , women and men, al l were one, al l c ould ac hieve s alvation jus t by fai th in Chris t. His letters dominate the New T es tament, form ing a quarter of i ts books . His vis ion was boundles s , for he wis hed to c onvert al l people.

J es us had won a few non-J ewis h fol lowers , but Paul was partic ularly s uc c es s ful among genti les and the s o-c al led God-fearers , thos e non-J ews who had embrac ed as pec ts of J udais m without undergoing c irc umc is ion. Paul 's Syrian c onverts in Antioc h were the fi rs t to be known as 'Chris tians '. A round AD 50,Paul returned to J erus alem to pers uade J ames and Peter to al low non-J ews into the s ec t. J ames agreed a c ompromis e, but in the fol lowing years he learned that Paul was turning J ews agains t Mos aic Law.

An unmarried puri tanic al loner, Paul endured s hipwrec ks , robberies , beatings and s tonings on his travels , yet nothing dis trac ted him from his m is s ion - to remodel the rus tic J ewis h Gal i lean into J es us Chris t, the s aviour of al l mankind who would imminently return in the Sec ond Coming - the K ingdom ofHeaven. Sometimes he was s ti l l a J ew hims el f and he may have returned to J erus alem as many as five times , but s ometimes he pres ented J udais m as the new enemy. In the earl ies t Chris tian text, his Firs t Letter to the T hes s alonians (Greek genti les who had c onverted to Chris tiani ty), he ranted agains t the J ewsfor ki l l ing J es us and their own prophets . He bel ieved that c i rc umc is ion, the J ewis h Covenant wi th God, was a J ewis h duty but i rrelevant for genti les : 'Look out for the dogs ! Look out for thos e who c ut off the fles h! For we are the true c i rc umc is ion who wors hip God in s piri t and glory in Chris t J es us ,' he raged atChris tian genti les c ons idering c i rc umc is ion.

By now J ames and the elders in J erus alem dis approved of Paul . T hey had known the real J es us , yet Paul ins is ted: 'I have been c ruc i fied wi th Chris t. T he l i fe I l ive now is not my l i fe but the l i fe Chris t l ives in me.' He c laimed, 'I bear the marks of J es us branded on my body.' J ames , that res pec ted holy man,ac c us ed him of rejec ting J udais m. Even Paul c ould not ignore J es us ' own brother. In AD 58, he c ame to make peac e with the J es us dynas ty.

THE DEATH OF JAMES THE JUST: THE JESUS DYNASTY

Paul ac c ompanied J ames to the Temple to puri fy hims el f and pray as a J ew, but he was rec ognized by s ome J ews who had s een him preac h on his travels . T he Roman c enturion, c harged with keeping order in the Temple, had to res c ue him from lync hing. W hen Paul again s tarted preac hing, the Romans thoughthe was the fugi tive Egyptian 's orc erer', s o he was c lapped in c hains and marc hed to the Antonia c as tle to be s c ourged. 'Is i t lawful for you to s c ourge a man that is a Roman?' Paul as ked. T he c enturion was dumbfounded to find that this wi ld-eyed vis ionary was a Roman c i tizen with the right to appeal to Nero forjudgement. T he Romans al lowed the high pries t and Sanhedrin to ques tion Paul , watc hed by an i rate c rowd. His ans wers were s o ins ul ting that again he was almos t lync hed. T he c enturion c almed the mob by s ending him off to Caes area.52

Paul 's exploi ts may have tainted the J ewis h Chris tians . In 62, the high pries t Ananus , s on of Annas who had tried J es us , arres ted J ames , tried him before the Sanhedrin and had him tos s ed off the wal l of the Temple, probably from the P innac le where his brother had been tempted by the Devi l . J ames was thens toned and given the c oup de grac e wi th a mal let.* J os ephus , who was l iving in J erus alem, denounc ed Ananus as 's avage', explaining that mos t J ews were appal led: J es us ' brother had been univers al ly res pec ted. K ing Agrippa II ins tantly s ac ked Ananus . Yet the Chris tians remained a dynas ty: J es us and J ameswere s uc c eeded by their c ous in or hal f-brother S imon.

Meanwhi le, Paul arrived as a pris oner in Caes area: Fel ix the proc urator rec eived Paul alongs ide his Herodian wife, the former queen Drus i l la, and offered to free him in return for a bribe. Paul refus ed. Fel ix had more pres s ing worries . Fighting broke out between J ews and Syrians . He s laughtered a large numberof J ews and was rec al led to Rome,+ leaving Paul in jai l . Herod Agrippa II and his s is ter Berenic e, ex-queen of both Chalc is and Ci l ic ia (and s uppos edly his inc es tuous lover), vis i ted Caes area to greet the new proc urator, who offered the Chris tian c as e to the king, as P i late had s ent J es us to Antipas before him .

Paul preac hed the Chris tian Gos pel to the royal c ouple who rec l ined in 'great pomp', c leverly adapting his mes s age for the moderate king: 'I know thee to be an expert in al l c us toms among the J ews . K ing Agrippa, bel ieves t thou the prophets ? I know thou bel ieves t.'

'A lmos t thou pers uades t me to be a Chris tian,' repl ied the king. 'T his man m ight have been s et at l iberty i f he had not appealed to Caes ar.' But Paul had appealed to Nero - and to Nero he mus t go.53

JOSEPHUS: THE COUNTDOW N TO REVOLUTION

Paul was not the only J ew awaiting judgement from Nero. Fel ix had als o des patc hed s ome unfortunate pries ts from the Temple to be judged by the emperor. T heir friend, a twenty-s ix-year-old named J os eph ben Matthias , dec ided to s ai l to Rome and s ave his fel low pries ts . Better known as J os ephus , he was to bemany things - rebel c ommander, Herodian protege, imperial c ourtier - but above al l , he was to be J erus alem 's s upreme his torian.

J os ephus was a pries t's s on, des c ended from the Mac c abeans , a J udaean landowner, rais ed in J erus alem, where he was admired for his learning and wit. As a teenager he had experimented with the three major J ewis h s ec ts , even joining s ome as c etic s in the des ert, before returning to J erus alem.W hen he arrived in Rome, J os ephus made c ontac t wi th a J ewis h ac tor in favour wi th the pernic ious but thes pian emperor. Nero had ki l led his wi fe and fal len in love with Poppaea, a married beauty wi th red hair and pale s kin. Onc e s he was empres s , Poppaea gave Nero the c onfidenc e to ki l l his own mal ignant

mother Agrippina. Yet Poppaea als o bec ame one of the s emi-J ewis h 'God-fearers '. T hrough his ac tor friend, J os ephus reac hed the empres s , who helped free his friends . J os ephus had done wel l , but when he and his friends returned home, they found J erus alem pervaded 'wi th high hopes of a revol t agains t theRomans .' Yet revol t was not inevi table: J os ephus ' ac quaintanc e with Poppaea s hows how the l ines between Rome and J erus alem were s ti l l open. T he c i ty fi l led annual ly wi th vas t numbers of J ewis h pi lgrims with l i ttle s ign of trouble des pi te the pres enc e of only one auxi l iary Roman c ohort (600-1,200 men) in theAntonia. T he ric h T emple c i ty exis ted 'in a s tate of peac e and pros peri ty', run by a J ewis h high pries t appointed by a J ewis h king. It was only now that the T emple was final ly c ompleted, c aus ing the unemployment of 18,000 bui lders . So K ing Agrippa c reated more work for them by c ommis s ioning new s treets .*

A t any time, a more di l igent emperor, a more jus t proc urator, c ould have res tored order among the J ewis h fac tions . W hi le the empire was run by Nero's effic ient Greek freedmen, his pos turings as ac tor and athlete, even his blood purges , were tolerable. But when the ec onomy s tarted to fai l , Nero's inepti tudes pread down to J udaea, where there was now 'no form of vi l lainy' that his proc urators 'om itted to prac tis e'. In J erus alem, the lates t inc umbent ran a protec tion-rac ket, taking bribes from the grandees whos e thuggis h retinues c ompeted with the S ic ari i to terrorize the c i ty. No wonder another prophet, i ronic al ly namedJ es us , loudly c ried in the T emple, 'W oe to J erus alem! ' J udged ins ane, he was s c ourged but not ki l led. Yet J os ephus rec ounts l i ttle anti -Roman s entiment.

In 64, Rome c aught fi re. Nero probably overs aw the fi re-fighting and he opened his gardens to thos e who had los t their homes . But c ons pirac is ts c laimed that Nero had s tarted the fi re to enable him to bui ld a larger palac e and that he had neglec ted to fight the fi re bec aus e he was pluc king on his lyre. Neroblamed the fas t-s preading s emi-J ewis h s ec t, the Chris tians , many of whom he c aus ed to be burned al ive, torn to piec es by wi ld animals or c ruc i fied. Among his vic tims were two arres ted in J erus alem years earl ier: Peter was s aid to have been c ruc i fied head down; Paul beheaded. Nero's anti -Chris tian pogromearned him his plac e in the Chris tian Book of Revelation, the las t in the c anon of what bec ame the New T es tament: Satan's 'beas ts ' are Roman emperors and 666, the number of the beas t, probably a c ode for Nero.*

T he 'exquis i te tortures ' he devis ed for the Chris tians did not s ave Nero. A t home, he kic ked his pregnant empres s Poppaea in the s tomac h, ac c idental ly ki l l ing her. As the emperor ki l led enemies real and imagined whi le promoting his ac ting c areer, his lates t proc urator in J udaea, Ges s ius Florus , 'os tentatious lyparaded his outrages upon the nation'. T he c atas trophe s tarted in Caes area: Syrian Greeks s ac ri fic ed a c oc kerel outs ide a s ynagogue; the J ews protes ted. Florus was bribed to s upport the genti les and then marc hed down to J erus alem, demanding a tax of s eventeen talents from the Temple. W hen he appeared atthe P raetorium in the s pring of 66, J ewis h youths c ol lec ted pennies and tos s ed them at him . Florus ' Greek and Syrian troops attac ked the c rowds . Florus demanded that the Temple grandees hand over the hool igans , but they refus ed. His legionaries ran amok, 'plunged into every hous e and s laughtered theinhabi tants '. Florus flagel lated and c ruc i fied his pris oners , inc luding J ewis h grandees who were Roman c i tizens . T his was the las t s traw: the Temple aris toc rats c ould no longer c ount on Roman protec tion. T he brutal i ty of Florus ' loc al auxi l iaries inflamed J ewis h res is tanc e. As his c avalry c lattered through thes treets wi th 'a degree of madnes s ,' they even attac ked K ing Agrippa's s is ter, Queen Berenic e. Her guards bundled her bac k into the Mac c abean Palac e but s he res olved to s ave J erus alem.54

JEWISH WARS: THE DEATH OF JERUSALEM

AD 66-70

BERENICE THE BAREFOOT QUEEN: REVOLUTION

Berenic e walked barefoot to the P raetorium hers el f - the s ame route J es us would have taken from Herod Antipas bac k to P i late thi rty years earl ier. T he beauti ful Berenic e - daughter and s is ter of kings , and twic e a queen - was on a pi lgrimage to J erus alem, to thank God for her rec overy from an i l lnes s , fas ting forthi rty days and s having her head (s urpris ing in this Romanized Herodian). Now s he threw hers el f before Florus and begged him to s top, but he wanted vengeanc e and booty. As his reinforc ements approac hed J erus alem, the J ews were divided between thos e keen on rec onc i l iation wi th the Romans and the radic alswho were preparing for war, perhaps in the hope of winning a l im i ted independenc e under Roman s uzerainty.

T he pries ts in the Temple paraded the holy ves s els , s prinkl ing the dus t of mourning in their hair, in a bid to res train the young rebels . T he J ews marc hed out peac eful ly to greet the Roman c ohorts , but on Florus ' ins truc tions the c avalry rode them down. T he c rowds ran for the gates but many s uffoc ated in thes tampede. Florus then c harged towards the T emple Mount, hoping to s eize the c ommanding Antonia Fortres s . In res pons e the J ews bombarded the Romans with s pears from the rooftops , oc c upied the Antonia and c ut down the bridges that led into the T emple, turning i t into a fortres s of i ts own.

J us t as Florus left, Herod Agrippa arrived from A lexandria. T he king c al led an as s embly of the J erus alem ites in the Upper Ci ty beneath his Palac e. As Berenic e l is tened from the s afety of the roof, Agrippa begged the J ews to s tay the rebel l ion: 'Don't venture to oppos e the enti re empire of the Romans . W ar, i f i tbe onc e begun, is not eas i ly laid down. T he power of the Romans is invinc ible in al l parts of the habi table earth. Have pi ty, i f not on your women and c hi ldren, yet upon this metropol is - s pare the Temple! ' Agrippa and his s is ter wept openly. T he J erus alem ites s houted that they wis hed only to fight Florus . Agrippatold them to pay their tribute. T he people agreed and Agrippa led them to the T emple to arrange thes e peac eful ges tures . But on the T emple Mount, K ing Agrippa ins is ted the J ews obey Florus unti l a new proc urator arrived, outraging the c rowd al l over again.

T he pries ts , inc luding J os ephus , met in the Temple and debated whether to s top the dai ly s ac ri fic e to the Roman emperor that s igni fied loyal ty to Rome. T his dec is ive ac t of rebel l ion was approved - 'the foundation of war wi th the Romans ', wrote J os ephus , who hims el f joined the revol t. As the rebels s eizedthe T emple and the moderate grandees took the Upper Ci ty, the J ewis h fac tions bombarded eac h other wi th s l ings hot and s pears .

Agrippa and Berenic e left J erus alem, s ending 3,000 c avalry to bac k the moderates , but i t was the extrem is ts who triumphed. T he Zealots , a popular party bas ed around the Temple, and the S ic ari i , the dagger-wielding brigands , s tormed the Upper Ci ty and drove out K ing Agrippa's troops . T hey burned thepalac es of the high pries t and the Mac c abees as wel l as the arc hives where debts were rec orded. For a s hort moment, their leader, a 'barbarous , c ruel ' warlord ruled J erus alem unti l the pries ts as s as s inated him and the S ic ari i es c aped to the Mas ada fortres s near the Dead Sea and played no further part unti lJ erus alem had fal len.

T he pries ts were bac k in nominal c ontrol but from now on, the fac tions in J erus alem and their warlords , often provinc ial opportunis ts and loc al adventurers as wel l as rel igious fanatic s , embarked on a s avage and c haotic J ewis h c ivi l war. Even J os ephus , our s ole s ourc e, fai ls to c lari fy who formed thes efac tions and what they bel ieved. But he trac es the s train of rel igious anti -Roman zealotry al l the way bac k to the Gal i lean rebel l ions after Herod the Great's death: 'they have a pas s ion for l iberty, whic h is almos t unc onquerable s inc e they are c onvinc ed God alone is their leader'. T hey 's owed the s eed from whic hs prang l i fe'. During the next few years , he s ays , J ew fought J ew 'in a perpetual s laughter'.

T he Roman garris on of 600, s ti l l holding Herod the Great's Ci tadel , agreed to give up their arms in return for s afe pas s age out of the c i ty but thes e Syrians and Greeks who had mas s ac red s o many innoc ent J ews were then 's avagely butc hered'. K ing Agrippa abandoned his attempts to mediate and threw in hishand with Rome. In November 66, the Roman Governor of Syria, bac ked by Agrippa and al l ied kings , marc hed down from Antioc h and fought his way into J erus alem. Yet he abruptly reti red, perhaps having been bribed, and his retreat under feroc ious J ewis h attac k c os t the l ives of more than 5,000 Roman s oldiers ,and the eagle of a legion.

T he die was c as t. Roman pride had to be avenged. T he rebels c hos e the former high pries t, Ananus , as the leader of independent Is rael . He s trengthened the wal ls , whi le the c i ty ec hoed to the hammering and forging of armour and weapons . He als o appointed generals , among them J os ephus , the futurehis torian, who now left the c i ty as the c ommander of Gal i lee, where he found hims el f fighting a warlord, J ohn of Gis c hala, more vic ious ly than ei ther of them fought the Romans .

T he new J ewis h c oins c elebrated 'T he Freedom of Zion' and 'J erus alem the Holy' - yet i t s eemed this was a l iberation that not many had wanted and the c i ty wai ted l ike 'a plac e doomed to des truc tion'. Nero was in Greec e to perform his s ongs and c ompete in c hariot-rac es in the Olympic Games (he won eventhough he fel l out of his c hariot), when he heard that Is rael had rebel led.

JOSEPHUS' PROPHECY: THE MULETEER AS EMPEROR

Nero feared vic torious generals , s o he c hos e as the c ommander of his J ewis h W ar a dogged veteran from his own entourage. T i tus Flavius Ves pas ianus was in his late fi fties and often annoyed the emperor by fal l ing as leep during his theatric al performanc es . But he had made his name in the c onques t of B ri tainand his nic kname - T he Muleteer - revealed his unglamorous dependabi l i ty and the fortune he had made by s el l ing mules to the army.

Sending his s on T i tus to A lexandria to c ol lec t reinforc ements , Ves pas ian mus tered an army of 60,000, four legions plus Syrian s l ingers , A rab arc hers and the c avalry of K ing Herod Agrippa. T hen he marc hed down the c oas t to P tolemais (Ac re). In early 67, he methodic al ly s tarted to rec onquer Gal i lee, res is tedfanatic al ly by J os ephus and his Gal i leans . Final ly, Ves pas ian bes ieged J os ephus in his fortres s of J otapata. On 29 J uly that year, T i tus c rept through the s hattered wal ls and s eized the c i ty. T he J ews fought to the death, many of them c ommitting s uic ide.

J os ephus and s ome other s urvivors hid in a c ave. W hen the Romans trapped them, they dec ided to ki l l thems elves and drew lots to determ ine who would ki l l whom. 'By the providenc e of God' (or by c heating), J os ephus drew the las t lot and emerged al ive from the c ave. Ves pas ian dec ided to s end him as a prizeto Nero, whic h would entai l an atroc ious death. J os ephus as ked to s peak to the general . W hen he s tood before Ves pas ian and T i tus , he s aid: 'Ves pas ian! I c ome to you as a mes s enger of greater tidings . Do you s end me to Nero? W hy? It is you, Ves pas ian, who are and s hal l be Caes ar and Emperor, you and yours on.' T he dour Ves pas ian was flattered, keeping J os ephus in pris on but s ending him pres ents . T i tus , who was almos t the s ame age as J os ephus , befriended him .

As Ves pas ian and T i tus advanc ed towards J udaea, J os ephus ' rival , J ohn of Gis c hala, es c aped to J erus alem - 'a c i ty wi thout a governor' engaged in a frenzy of s el f-des truc tive butc hery.JERUSALEM THE BROTHEL: THE TYRANTS JOHN AND S IMON

T he gates of J erus alem remained open to J ewis h pi lgrims , s o rel igious fanatic s , battle-hardened c ut-throats and thous ands of refugees poured into the c i ty, where the rebels expended their energies in gang warfare, orgias tic pleas ure-s eeking and vic ious witc h-hunts for trai tors .Young, bras h brigands now c hal lenged the rule of the pries ts . T hey s eized the Temple, overthrowing the high pries t hims el f, elec ting by lot in his s tead a 'mere rus tic '. Ananus ral l ied the J erus alem ites and attac ked the Temple, but he hes i tated to s torm the inner c ourts and Holy of Hol ies . J ohn of Gis c hala and

his Gal i lean fighters s aw an opportuni ty to win the enti re c i ty. J ohn invi ted in the Idumeans , that 'mos t barbarous and bloody nation' from s outh of J erus alem. T he Idumeans broke into the c i ty, s tormed the Temple, whic h 'overflowed with blood', and then rampaged through the s treets , ki l l ing 12,000. T hey murderedAnanus and then his pries ts , s tripped them and s tamped on the naked bodies , before tos s ing them over the wal ls to be eaten by dogs . 'T he death of Ananus ', s ays J os ephus , 'was the beginning of the des truc tion of the c i ty.' Final ly, laden with booty and s ated with blood, the Idumeans left a J erus alem dominatedby a new s trongman, J ohn of Gis c hala.

Even though the Romans were not far away, J ohn gave free rein to his Gal i leans and Zealots to enjoy their prizes . T he Holy Hous e bec ame a bawdy-hous e; but s ome of J ohn's s upporters s oon los t fai th in this tyrant and defec ted to the ris ing power outs ide the c i ty, a young warlord named S imon ben Giora, 'notas c unning as J ohn but s uperior in s trength and c ourage'. S imon 'was a greater terror to the people than the Romans thems elves '. T he J erus alem ites , hoping to s ave thems elves from one tyrant, invi ted in a s ec ond - S imon ben Giora - who s oon oc c upied muc h of the c i ty. But J ohn s ti l l held the Temple. Now theZealots rebel led agains t him , s eizing the Inner Temple s o that, in the words of Tac i tus , 'there were three generals , three arm ies ' fighting eac h other for one c i ty - even though the Romans were getting c los er. W hen nearby J eric ho fel l to Ves pas ian, al l three J ewis h fac tions c eas ed fighting eac h other and worked toforti fy J erus alem, digging trenc hes and s trengthening Herod Agrippa I's T hird W al l in the north. Ves pas ian prepared to bes iege J erus alem. But then al l at onc e he s topped.

Rome had los t i ts head. On 9 J une 68, Nero, bes et by rebel l ions , c ommitted s uic ide with the words : 'W hat an artis t the world is los ing in me! ' In quic k s uc c es s ion, Rome ac c laimed and des troyed three emperors whi le three Fals e Neros aros e and foundered in the provinc es - as i f one real one had not beenenough. Final ly, the legions of J udaea and Egypt hai led Ves pas ian as their own emperor. T he Muleteer remembered J os ephus ' prophec y and freed him , granting him c i tizens hip and appointing him as his advis er, almos t his mas c ot, as he c onquered fi rs t J udaea - and then the world. Berenic e pawned her jewels tohelp fund Ves pas ian's bid for the throne of Rome: the Muleteer was grateful . T he new emperor headed via A lexandria to Rome and his s on T i tus , c ommanding 60,000 troops , advanc ed on the Holy Ci ty, knowing that his dynas ty would be made or broken by the fate of J erus alem.55

PART TW O

PAGANISM

How doth the c i ty s i t s ol i tary, that was ful l of people! how is s he bec ome as a widow! s he that was great among the nations , and princ es s among the provinc es , how is s he bec ome tributary! She weepeth s ore in the night, and her tears are on her c heeks : among al l her lovers s he hath none to c omfort her.Lamentations , 1.1-2

Even whi le J erus alem was s ti l l s tanding and the J ews at peac e with us , the prac tic e of their s ac red ri tes was at varianc e with the glory of our empire and the c us toms of our anc es tors .Cic ero, Pro L. Flac c o

It is better for a pers on to l ive in the Land of Is rael in a c i ty enti rely of non-J ews than to l ive outs ide the Land in a c i ty enti rely J ewis h. He who is buried there i t is as i f he were born in J erus alem and he who is buried in J erus alem, i t is as though he were born under the throne of glory.J udah ha Nas i , Talmud

T en meas ures of beauty des c ended upon the world, nine were given to J erus alem and one to the res t of the world.Midras h T anhuma, Kedos him 10

For the freedom of J erus alem.S imon bar Koc hba, c oins

T hus was J erus alem des troyed on the very day of Saturn, the day whic h even now the J ews reverenc e mos t.Dio Cas s ius , Roman His tory

AELIA CAPITOLINA

AD 70-312

TITUS ' TRIUMPH: JERUSALEM IN ROME

A few weeks later, onc e the c i ty had been des troyed and he had c ompleted his round of bloody s pec tac les , T i tus again pas s ed through J erus alem, c omparing her melanc holy ruins wi th her vanis hed glory. He then s ai led for Rome, taking with him the c aptured J ewis h leaders , his royal m is tres s Berenic e, hisfavouri te renegade J os ephus , and the treas ures of the Temple - to c elebrate the c onques t of J erus alem. Ves pas ian and T i tus , c rowned with laurel and c lothed in purple, emerged from the Temple of Is is , were greeted by the Senate and took their plac es in the Forum to review one of the mos t extravagant T riumphsin the his tory of Rome.

T he pageant of divine s tatues and gi lded floats , three or even four s toreys high, heaped with treas ure, afforded the s pec tators both 'pleas ure and s urpris e', noted J os ephus dri ly, 'for there was to be s een a happy c ountry laid was te'. T he fal l of J erus alem was ac ted out in tableaux v iv ants - legionaries c harging,J ews mas s ac red, Temple in flames - and on top of eac h float s tood the Roman c ommanders of every town taken. T here fol lowed what was for J os ephus the c ruel les t c ut of al l , the s plendours of the Holy of Hol ies : the golden table, the c andelabra and the Law of the J ews . T he s tar pris oner, S imon ben Giora, wasparaded with a rope around his nec k.

W hen the proc es s ion s topped at the Temple of J upi ter, S imon and the rebel c hieftains were exec uted; the c rowds c heered; s ac ri fic es were c ons ec rated. T here died J erus alem, mus ed J os ephus : 'Nei ther i ts antiqui ty, nor i ts deep wealth, nor i ts people s pread over the whole habi table world nor yet the greatglory of i ts rel igious ri tes , were s uffic ient to prevent i ts ruin.'

T he T riumph was c ommemorated by the c ons truc tion of the A rc h of T i tus , whic h s ti l l s tands in Rome.* J ewis h s poi ls paid for the Colos s eum and the Temple of Peac e, where Ves pas ian dis played the prizes of J erus alem - exc ept for the Law s c rol ls and the purple vei ls of the Holy of Hol ies that were plac ed inthe imperial palac e i ts el f. T he T riumph and remodel l ing of c entral Rome c elebrated not jus t a new dynas ty but a rededic ation of the empire i ts el f and vic tory over J udais m. T he tax paid by al l J ews to the Temple was replac ed by the Fis c us J udaic us , paid to the Roman s tate to fund the rebui lding of the Temple ofJ upi ter, a humil iation fierc ely enforc ed.* Yet mos t J ews , s urviving in J udaea and Gal i lee, and in the populous c ommunities of the Mediterranean and Babylonia, l ived as they had l ived before, ac c epting Roman or Parthian rule.

T he J ewis h W ar was not qui te over. T he Mas ada Fortres s held out for three years , under E leazar the Gal i lean, as the Romans rais ed a ramp to s torm i t. In Apri l 73, their leader addres s ed his men and their fam i l ies about the real i ties of this darknew world: 'W here is this c i ty that was bel ieved to have God hims el finhabi ting therein?' J erus alem was gone and now they fac ed s lavery:

W e long ago my generous friends res olved never to be s ervants to the Romans nor to any other than God Hims elf. W e were the fi rs t that revol ted agains t them; we are the las t that fight agains t them and I c annot but es teem i t as a favour that God has granted us that i t is s ti l l in our power to die bravely and ina s tate of freedom, in a glorious manner, together wi th our deares t friends . Let our wives die before they are abus ed and our c hi ldren before they have tas ted s lavery.

So the 'hus bands tenderly embrac ed their wives , and took their c hi ldren into their arms , giving the longes t parting kis s es to them with tears in their eyes '. Eac h man ki l led his wi fe and c hi ldren; ten men were c hos en by lot to s lay the res t unti l al l 960 were dead.To mos t Romans , the Mas ada s uic ide c onfi rmed J ews as demented fanatic s . Tac i tus , though wri ting thi rty years later, expres s ed the c onventional view that the J ews were 's inis ter and revol ting' bigots , wi th bizarre s upers ti tions inc luding monotheis m and c irc umc is ion, who des pis ed Roman gods , 'rejec ted

patriotis m ' and 'have entrenc hed thems elves by their very wic kednes s '. Yet J os ephus c ol lec ted the detai ls of Mas ada from the handful of s urvivors who hid during the s uic ide and c ould not c onc eal his admiration for J ewis h c ourage.BERENICE: THE JEW ISH CLEOPATRA

J os ephus l ived in Ves pas ian's old hous e in Rome. T i tus gave him s ome of the s c rol ls from the Temple, a pens ion and lands in J udaea, and c ommis s ioned his fi rs t book, The J ew is h W ar. T he emperor and T i tus were not J os ephus ' only s ourc e. 'W hen you c ome to me,' wrote his 'dear friend' K ing Herod Agrippa,'I'l l inform you of a great many things .' But J os ephus real ized that 'my privi leged pos i tion exac ted envy and brought danger': he needed the imperial protec tion he rec eived up to the reign of Domitian, who s ol ic i tous ly exec uted s ome of his enemies . Yet even as J os ephus bas ked in Flavian favour in his las t years - hedied around ad 100 - he hoped the T emple would be rebui l t, and his pride in the J ewis h c ontribution to c ivi l ization s urged: 'W e've introduc ed the res t of the world to a very large number of beauti ful ideas . W hat greater beauty than inviolable piety? W hat higher jus tic e than obedienc e to the Laws ?'

Berenic e, the Herodian princ es s , s tayed in Rome with T i tus but s he offended the Romans with her flas hy diamonds , her royal ai rs and the s tories of her inc es t wi th her brother. 'She dwelt in the palac e c ohabi ting wi th T i tus . She expec ted to marry him and was already behaving in every res pec t as i f s he were hiswife.' It was s aid that T i tus had the general Caec ina murdered for fl i rting wi th her. T i tus loved her but the Romans c ompared her to Antony's femme fatale, Cleopatra - or wors e, s inc e the J ews were now des pis ed and defeated. T i tus had to s end her away. W hen he s uc c eeded his father in 79, s he returned to Rome,now in her fi fties , but s uc h was the outc ry that he again s eparated from the J ewis h Cleopatra, aware that the Flavians were far from s ec ure on the throne. Perhaps s he rejoined her brother, almos t the las t of the Herodians .*

T i tus ' reign was s hort. He died two years later wi th the words : 'I have only done one thing wrong.' T he des truc tion of J erus alem? T he J ews bel ieved his early death was God's punis hment.1 For forty years , a tens e exhaus tion reigned over bl ighted J erus alem before J udaea again exploded in a final anddis as trous s pas m of rage.

DEATH OF THE JESUS DYNASTY:THE FORGOTTEN CRUCIFIX ION

J erus alem was the headquarters of the Tenth Legion, whos e c amp was s et up in the pres ent-day A rmenian Quarter around the three towers of Herod's Ci tadel - the bas e of the las t of them, the Hippic us , s tands today. T he Legion's roofti les and bric ks , always emblazoned with i ts anti -J ewis h emblem, the boar, havebeen found al l over the c i ty. J erus alem was not total ly des erted but had been s ettled wi th Syrian and Greek veterans , who tradi tional ly hated the J ews . T his barren moons c ape of gigantic roc kheaps mus t have been eerie. But J ews mus t have hoped that the T emple would be rebui l t as i t had been onc e before.

Ves pas ian al lowed the rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai , who had es c aped J erus alem in a c offin, to teac h the Law at Yavneh (J amnia) on the Mediterranean, and the J ews were not formal ly banned from J erus alem. Indeed many of the wealthier J ews had probably joined the Romans , as J os ephus and Agrippa haddone. Nonetheles s , they were not al lowed onto the Temple Mount. Ins tead, pi lgrims bi tterly mourned the Temple, praying next to the Tomb of Zec hariah * in the K idron Val ley. Some hoped for the Apoc alyps e to res tore God's kingdom, but for ben Zakkai the vanis hed c i ty as s umed an immaterial mys tic is m. W hen hevis i ted the ruins , his pupi l c ried, 'W oe to us ! ' 'Be not grieved,' repl ied the rabbi (ac c ording to the T almud, c ompi led s everal c enturies later). 'W e have another atonement. It is ac ts of loving-kindnes s .' No one real ized i t at this time, but this was the beginning of modern J udais m - wi thout the T emple.

T he J ewis h Chris tians , led by S imon s on of Cleophas , J es us ' hal f-brother or c ous in, returned to J erus alem where they s tarted to honour the Upper Room, on today's Mount Zion. Beneath the pres ent bui lding l ies a s ynagogue, bui l t probably wi th Herodian debris from the Temple. Yet the growing number ofgenti le Chris tians around the Mediterranean no longer revered the real J erus alem. T he defeat of the J ews s eparated them for ever from the mother-rel igion, proving the truth of J es us ' prophec ies and the s uc c es s ion of a new revelation. J erus alem was jus t the wi ldernes s of a fai led fai th. T he Bookof Revelationreplac ed the T emple wi th Chris t the Lamb. A t the End of Days , golden, bejewel led J erus alem would des c end from heaven.

T hes e s ec ts had to be c areful : the Romans were on guard agains t any s igns of mes s ianic kings hip. T i tus ' s uc c es s or, his brother Domitian, maintained the anti -J ewis h tax and pers ec uted the Chris tians , as a way of ral lying s upport for his own fal tering regime. On his as s as s ination, the pac i fic , elderly EmperorNerva relaxed the repres s ion and the J ewis h tax. Yet this was a fals e dawn. Nerva had no s ons , s o he c hos e his pre-em inent general as heir. T rajan, tal l , athletic , s tern, was the ideal emperor, perhaps the greates t s inc e Augus tus . But he s aw hims el f as a c onqueror of new lands and a res torer of old values - badnews for the Chris tians , and wors e for the J ews . In 106 he ordered the c ruc i fixion of S imon, the Overs eer of the Chris tians in J erus alem, bec aus e, l ike J es us , he c laimed des c ent from K ing David. T here ended the J es us dynas ty.

T rajan, proud that his father had made his name fighting the J ews under T i tus , res tored the Fis c us J udaic us , but he was another A lexander hero-wors hipper: he invaded Parthia, expanding Roman power into Iraq, home of the Babylonian J ews . During the fighting, they s urely appealed to their Roman brethren.As T rajan advanc ed into Iraq, the J ews of A fric a, Egypt and Cyprus , led by rebel 'kings ', mas s ac red thous ands of Romans and Greeks , vengeanc e at las t, pos s ibly c o-ordinated by the J ews of Parthia.

T rajan, fearing J ewis h treas on in his rear and attac k from Babylonian J ews as he advanc ed into Iraq, 'was determ ined i f pos s ible to des troy the nation utterly'. T rajan ordered J ews to be ki l led from Iraq to Egypt, where, wrote the his torian Appian, 'T rajan was des troying total ly the J ewis h rac e.' T he J ews werenow s een as hos ti le to the Roman Empire: they 'regard as profane everything we hold s ac red,' wrote T ac i tus , 'whi le they perm it al l we abhor'.

Rome's J ewis h problem was witnes s ed by the new Governor of Syria, Ael ius Hadrian, who was married to T rajan's niec e. W hen T rajan died unexpec tedly wi thout an heir, his empres s announc ed that he had adopted a s on on his deathbed: the new emperor was Hadrian, who devis ed a s olution to end theJ ewis h problem onc e and for al l . He was a remarkable emperor, one of the makers of J erus alem and one of the s upreme mons ters of J ewis h his tory.2

HADRIAN: THE JERUSALEM SOLUTION

In 130, the emperor vis i ted J erus alem, ac c ompanied by his young lover Antinous , and dec ided to abol is h the c i ty, even down to i ts very name. He ordered a new c i ty to be bui l t on the s i te of the old one, to be named Ael ia Capi tol ina, after his own fam i ly and J upi ter Capi tol inus (the god mos t as s oc iated with theempire), and he banned c irc umc is ion, the s ign of God's c ovenant wi th the J ews , on pain of death. T he J ews , real izing that this meant the T emple would never be rebui l t, s marted under thes e blows , whi le the obl ivious emperor travel led on to Egypt.

Hadrian, now aged fi fty-four, born in Spain to a fam i ly ric h from the produc tion of ol ive oi l , was a man s eemingly des igned to rule the empire. B les s ed with a photographic memory, he c ould dic tate, l is ten and c ons ul t s imultaneous ly; he des igned his own arc hi tec ture and c ompos ed his own poetry and mus ic .He exis ted in perpetual movement, res tles s ly travel l ing the provinc es to reorganize and c ons ol idate the empire. He was c ri tic ized for wi thdrawing from T rajan's hard-won c onques ts in Dac ia and Iraq. Ins tead he envis aged a s table empire, uni ted by Greek c ul ture, a tas te s o marked that he was nic knamed theGreekl ing. (His Greek beard and hairs tyle were groomed with c url ing i rons by s pec ial ly trained s laves .) In 123, on one of his tours in As ia Minor, he met the love of his l i fe, the Greek boy Antinous , who bec ame almos t his c ons ort.* Yet this perfec t emperor was als o an unpredic table c ontrol-freak. In a rage, he onc es tabbed a s lave in the eye with a pen; and he opened and c los ed his reign with blood purges .

Now in J erus alem, on the wrec kage of the J ewis h c i ty, he planned a c las s ic Roman town, bui l t around the wors hip of Roman, Greekand Egyptian gods . A s plendid three-gated entranc e, the Neapol is (today's Damas c us ) Gate, bui l t wi th Herodian s tones , opened into a c i rc ular s pac e, dec orated with a c olumn,whenc e the two main s treets , the Cardines - axes - led down to two forums , one c los e to the demol is hed Antonia Fortres s and the other s outh of today's Holy Sepulc hre. T here Hadrian bui l t his Temple of J upi ter wi th a s tatue of Aphrodi te outs ide i t, on the very roc k where J es us had been c ruc i fied, pos s ibly adel iberate dec is ion to deny the s hrine to the J ewis h Chris tians . W ors e, Hadrian planned a s hrine on the Temple Mount, marked by a grandios e eques trian s tatue of hims el f.* Hadrian was del iberately eradic ating J erus alem 's J ewis hnes s . Indeed he had s tudied that other Phi lhel lenic s howman, Antioc husEpiphanes , reviving his plan to bui ld an Olympian temple in A thens .

On 24 Oc tober, the fes tival in whic h the Egyptians c elebrated the death of their god Os iris , Hadrian's lover Antinous mys terious ly drowned in the Ni le. Did he ki l l hims el f? Did Hadrian or the Egyptians s ac ri fic e him? W as i t an ac c ident? T he us ual ly ins c rutable Hadrian was heartbroken, dei fying the boy asOs iris , founding a town Antinopol is and an Antinous c ul t, s preading s tatues of his grac eful fac e and magnific ent phys ique al l over the Mediterranean.

On his way home from Egypt, Hadrian pas s ed through J erus alem, where he probably ploughed the furrow around the c i ty-l im i ts of Ael ia Capi tol ina. Outraged by the repres s ion, the paganization of J erus alem and the obl igatory nudes of the boy Antinous , the J ews s tas hed weapons and prepared undergroundc omplexes in the J udaean hi l ls .

Onc e Hadrian was s afely on his way, a mys terious leader known as the P rinc e of Is rael launc hed the mos t terrible of the J ewis h wars .3

SIMON BAR KOCHBA: THE SON OF THE STAR

'A t fi rs t the Romans took no ac c ount of the J ews ,' but this time the J ews were wel l prepared under one c apable c ommander, S imon bar Koc hba, s el f-dec lared P rinc e of Is rael and Son of the S tar, the s ame mys tic al s ign of kings hip that marked the birth of J es us , prophes ied in Numbers : 'T here s hal l c ome forth as tar out of J ac ob, and a s c eptre s hal l ris e out of Is rael and s hal l s m ite Moab.' Many hai led him as the new David. 'T his is the K ing Mes s iah,' ins is ted the res pec ted rabbi Akiba (in the fourth-c entury Talmud), but not everyone agreed. 'Gras s wi l l s prout on your c hin, Akiba,' ans wered another rabbi , 'and the Son ofDavid wi l l s ti l l not have appeared.' Koc hba's real name was bar Kos iba; s c eptic s punned that he was bar Koziba, the Son of the Lie.

S imon s wiftly defeated the Roman governor and his two legions . His orders , dis c overed in a J udaean c ave, reveal his hars h c ompetenc e: 'I s hal l deal wi th the Romans ' - and he did. He wiped out an enti re legion. 'He c aught m is s i les on his knee then hurled them bac k and ki l led s ome of the enemy.' T he princ etolerated no dis s ent: 'S imon bar Kos iba to Yehonatan and Mas abala. Let al l men from Tekoa and other plac es who are wi th you, be s ent to me without delay. And i f you s hal l not s end them, you s hal l be punis hed.' A rel igious zealot, he s uppos edly 'ordered Chris tians to be punis hed s everely i f they did not denyJ es us was the Mes s iah', ac c ording to J us tin, a c ontemporary Chris tian. He 'ki l led the Chris tians when they refus ed to help him agains t the Romans ', added a Chris tian, Eus ebius , wri ting muc h later. 'T he man was murderous and a bandi t but rel ied on his name, as i f deal ing wi th s laves , and c laimed to be a giver ofl ight.' He was s aid to have tes ted his fighters ' dedic ation by as king eac h to c ut off a finger.

T he Son of the S tar ruled his S tate of Is rael from the fort of Herodium, jus t s outh of J erus alem: his c oins announc ed 'Year One: T he Redemption of Is rael '. But did he rededic ate the Temple and res tore the s ac ri fic e? His c oins boas ted 'For the Freedom of J erus alem ', and were emblazoned with the Temple, butnone of his c oins have been found in J erus alem. Appian wrote that Hadrian, l ike T i tus , des troyed J erus alem, implying that there was s omething to demol is h, and the rebels , s weeping al l before them, would s urely have bes ieged the Tenth Legion in the Citadel and wors hipped on the Temple Mount i f they had hadthe c hanc e, but we do not know i f they did.

Hadrian has tened bac k to J udaea, s ummoned his bes t c ommander J ul ius Severus al l the way from B ri tain, and mus tered s even or even twelve legions who 'moved out agains t the J ews , treating their madnes s without merc y,' ac c ording to Cas s ius Dio, one of the few his torians of this obs c ure war. 'He des troyedin heaps thous ands of men, women and c hi ldren and under the law of war ens laved the land.' W hen Severus arrived, he adopted J ewis h tac tic s , 'c utting off s mal l groups , depriving them of their food and s hutting them in' s o that he c ould 'c rus h and exterm inate them '. As the Romans c los ed in, bar Koc hba neededs evere threats to enforc e dis c ipl ine: 'If you maltreat the Gal i leans with you,' he told a l ieutenant, 'I wi l l put fetters on your feet as I did to ben Aphlul ! '

T he J ews retreated to the c aves of J udaea, whic h is why S imon's letters and their poignant belongings have been found there. T hes e refugees and warriors c arried keys to their abandoned hous es , the c ons olation of thos e doomed never to return, and their luxuries - a glas s plate, a vani ty m irror in a leatherc as e, a wooden jewel lery box, an inc ens e s hovel . T here, they peris hed, for the pos s es s ions l ie bes ide their bones . T heir fragmented letters rec ord the ters e s emaphores of c atas trophe: 'T i l l the end ... they have no hope ... my brothers in the s outh ... thes e were los t by the s word ...'

T he Romans moved in on bar Koc hba's las t fortres s , Betar, 6 m i les s outh of J erus alem. S imon hims el f died in the las t s tand at Betar, wi th a s nake around his nec k ac c ording to J ewis h legend. 'B ring his body to me! ' s aid Hadrian, and was impres s ed by the head and the s nake. 'If God had not s lain him , whowould have overc ome him?' Hadrian had probably already returned to Rome but, ei ther way, he wreaked an almos t genoc idal vengeanc e.

'Very few s urvived,' wrote Cas s ius Dio. 'Fi fty of their outpos ts and 985 vi l lages were razed to the ground. 585,000 were ki l led in battles ' and many more by 's tarvation, dis eas e and fi re'. Seventy-five known J ewis h s ettlements s imply vanis hed. So many J ews were ens laved that at the Hebron s lave market theyfetc hed les s than a hors e. J ews c ontinued to l ive in the c ountrys ide, but J udaea i ts el f never rec overed from Hadrian's ravages . Hadrian not only enforc ed the ban on c irc umc is ion but banned the J ews from even approac hing Ael ia, on pain of death. J erus alem had vanis hed. Hadrian wiped J udaea off the map,del iberately renaming i t Palaes tina, after the J ews ' anc ient enemies , the Phi l is tines .

Hadrian rec eived ac c lamation as imperator, but this time there was no T riumph: the emperor was tarnis hed and exhaus ted by his los s es in J udaea. W hen he reported to the Senate, he was unable to give the us ual reas s uranc e, 'I am wel l , and s o is the army.' Suffering from the arterios c leros is (flagged by thes pl i t earlobes depic ted on his s tatues ), s wol len with drops y, Hadrian ki l led any pos s ible s uc c es s ors , even his ninety-year-old brother-in-law, who c urs ed him : 'May he long for death but be unable to die.' T he c urs e c ame true: unable to die, Hadrian tried to ki l l hims el f. But no autoc rat has ever wri tten as wi tti ly andwis tful ly about death as Hadrian:

Li ttle s oul , l i ttle wanderer, l i ttle c harmer,Body's gues t and c ompanion,T o what plac es wi l l you s et out for now?T o darkl ing, c old and gloomy ones --And you won't be making your us ual jokes .

W hen he eventual ly died - 'hated by al l ' - the Senate refus ed to dei fy him . J ewis h l i terature never mentions Hadrian without adding, 'May his bones rot in hel l ! '

His s uc c es s or, Antoninus P ius , s l ightly relaxed the pers ec ution of J ews , al lowing c irc umc is ion again, but Antoninus ' s tatue joined Hadrian's on the Temple Mount * to emphas ize that the Temple would never be rebui l t. T he Chris tians , now ful ly s eparated from the J ews , c ould not help but c row. 'T he Hous e ofSanc tuary', wrote the Chris tian J us tin to Antoninus , 'has bec ome a c urs e, and the glory whic h our fathers bles s ed is burned with fi re.' Unfortunately for the J ews , the s ettled pol i tic s of the empire for the res t of the c entury dis c ouraged any c hange in Hadrian's pol ic y.

Ael ia Capi tol ina was a m inor Roman c olony of 10,000, wi thout wal ls , jus t two-fi fths of i ts former s ize, extending only from today's Damas c us Gate to the Gate of the Chain, wi th two forums , the Temple of J upi ter on the s i te of Golgotha, two thermal baths , a theatre, a nymphaeum (s tatues of nymphs aroundpools ) and an amphitheatre, al l dec orated with c olonnades , tetrapylons and s tatues , inc luding a large one of the Tenth Legion's very unkos her boar. Gradual ly the Tenth Legion was moved away from J erus alem as the J ews , no longer a threat, c ame to be regarded more as an i rri tant. W hen the emperor Marc usAurel ius pas s ed through on his way to Egypt, 'being often dis gus ted with the malodorous and dis orderly J ews ', he jokingly c ompared them to other rebel l ious tribes : 'Oh Quadi, oh Samari tans , at las t I have found a people more unruly than you! ' J erus alem had no natural indus tries exc ept hol ines s - and the abs enc eof the T enth Legion mus t have made her even more of a bac kwater.

W hen the peac eful s uc c es s ion in Rome ended in c ivi l war in 193, the J ews , who now l ived mainly in Gal i lee and around the Mediterranean c oas t, began to s ti r, ei ther fighting their loc al enemies the Samari tans or perhaps ris ing in s upport of the ul timate winner of the throne, Septimus Severus . T his led to as oftening of anti -J ewis h pol ic y: the new emperor and his s on Carac al la vis i ted Ael ia in 201 and s eem to have met the J ewis h leader, J udah haNas i , known as 'the P rinc e'. W hen Carac al la s uc c eeded to the throne, he rewarded J udah with es tates in the Golan and Lydda (near J erus alem) and with the heredi tarypower to adjudic ate rel igious dis putes and s et the c alendar, rec ognizing him as the c ommunity leader - the Patriarc h of the J ews .

T he wealthy J udah, who s eems to have c ombined rabbinic al s c holars hip wi th aris toc ratic luxury, held c ourt in Gal i lee wi th a bodyguard of Goths whi le he c ompi led the Mis hnah, the oral tradi tions of pos t-Temple J udais m. T hanks to J udah's imperial c onnec tions , and to the pas s ing of time, J ews were al lowed,after bribing the garris on, to pray oppos i te the ruined T emple on the Mount of Ol ives or in the K idron Val ley. T here, they bel ieved, the s hek inah - the holy s piri t - res ided. It is s aid that J udah won perm is s ion for a s mal l 'holy c ommunity' of J ews to l ive in J erus alem, praying in the one s ynagogue on today's Mount Zion.Nonetheles s , the Severan emperors never rec ons idered Hadrian's pol ic y.

Yet the J ewis h longing for J erus alem never fal tered. W herever they l ived in the fol lowing c enturies , J ews prayed three times a day: 'May i t be your wi l l that the Temple be rebui l t s oon in our days .' In the Mis hnah, they c ompi led every detai l of Temple ri tual , ready for i ts res toration. 'A woman may put on al l herornaments ,' ins truc ted the Tos efta, another c ompi lation of oral tradi tions , 'but s hould leave out one s mal l thing in remembranc e of J erus alem.' T he Pas s over s eder dinner ended with the words : 'Next Year in J erus alem '. If they ever approac hed J erus alem, they devis ed a ri tual of rending their garments on c atc hings ight of the ruined c i ty. Even J ews who l ived far away wanted to be buried c los e to the T emple s o that they would be the fi rs t to ris e again on J udgement Day. T hus began the J ewis h c emetery on the Mount of Ol ives .

T here was every c hanc e that the T emple would be rebui l t - indeed i t had been before and very nearly was again. W hi le the J ews were s ti l l formal ly banned from J erus alem, i t was now the Chris tians who were s een as the c lear and pres ent danger to Rome.4

From 235, the empire s uffered a thi rty-year c ris is , s hattered from ins ide and out. In the eas t, a vigorous new Pers ian empire, replac ing Parthia, c hal lenged the Romans . During the c ris is , the Roman emperors blamed the Chris tians for being atheis ts who refus ed to s ac ri fic e to their gods and s avagely pers ec utedthem, even though Chris tiani ty was not s o muc h a s ingle rel igion as a bundle of di fferent tradi tions .* But Chris tians agreed on the bas ic s : redemption and l i fe after death for thos e s aved by J es us Chris t, c onfi rm ing the anc ient J ewis h prophec ies whic h they had c ommandeered and adopted as their own. T heirfounder had been ki l led by the Romans as a rebel , but the Chris tians rebranded thems elves as a fai th hos ti le to the J ews , not to the Romans . Henc e Rome bec ame their holy c i ty; mos t Chris tians in Pales tine l ived in Caes area on the c oas t; J erus alem bec ame'the heavenly c i ty', whi le the ac tual plac e,Ael ia, wasjus t anobs c ure town where J es us had died. Yet loc al Chris tians kept al ive the tradi tion of the s i te of the Cruc i fixion and Res urrec tion, now buried under Hadrian's T emple of J upi ter, even c reeping ins ide to pray and s c ratc h graffi ti .*

A t Rome's nadir in 260, the Pers ians c aptured the emperor (who was forc ed to drink molten gold, and was then gutted and s tuffed with s traw) whi le the enti re Eas t, inc luding the unwal led town of Ael ia, was los t to a s hort-l ived Palmyran empire led by a young woman, Zenobia. But wi thin twelve years Rome hadrec overed the Eas t. A t the end of the c entury, the emperor Dioc letian s uc c es s ful ly res tored Roman power and revived the wors hip of the old gods . But the Chris tians s eemed to be underm ining this res urgenc e. In 299, Dioc letian was s ac ri fic ing to the gods at a parade in Syria when s ome Chris tian s oldiers madethe s ign of the c ros s , at whic h the pagan diviners dec lared that the divination had fai led. W hen Dioc letian's palac e burned down, he blamed the Chris tians and unleas hed a vic ious pers ec ution, martyring Chris tians , burning their books , des troying their c hurc hes .

W hen Dioc letian abdic ated in 305, dividing the empire, Galerius , new emperor of the Eas t, intens i fied the butc hery of Chris tians by axe, roas ting and muti lation. But the emperor of the W es t was Cons tantius Chlorus , a s turdy Il lyrian s oldier, who as s umed the purple in York. A lready i l l , he died s oon afterwardsbut in J uly 306 the B ri tis h legions hai led his young s on, Cons tantine, as emperor. It would take him fi fteen years to c onquer fi rs t the W es t and then the Eas t, but Cons tantine, l ike K ing David, would c hange the his tory of the world and the fate of J erus alem with a s ingle dec is ion.5

PART THREE

CHRISTIANITY

J erus alem - i t is the c i ty of the great K ing.J es us , S t Matthew, 5.35

O J erus alem, J erus alem, thou that ki l les t the prophets and s tones t them whic h are s ent unto thee.J es us , S t Matthew, 23.37

Des troy this temple and in three days I wi l l rais e i t up.J es us , S t J ohn, 2.19

As J udaea is exal ted above al l other provinc es s o is this c i ty exal ted above al l J udaea.S t J erome, Epis tles

J erus alem is now made a plac e of res ort from al l parts of the world, and there is s uc h a throng of pi lgrims of both s exes that al l temptation is here c ol lec ted together.S t J erome, Epis tles

THE APOGEE OF BYZANTIUM

312-518 AD

CONSTANTINE THE GREAT: CHRIST, GOD OF V ICTORY

In 312, Cons tantine invaded Italy and attac ked his rival Maxentius jus t outs ide Rome. T he night before battle, Cons tantine s aw before him 'in the s ky the s ign of a c ros s of l ight' s uperimpos ed on the s un with the s logan: 'By this s ign you wi l l c onquer! ' So he emblazoned the s hields of his s oldiers wi th the Chi-Rhos ymbol, the fi rs t two letters of 'Chris t' in Greek. T he next day at the Battle of Mi lvian B ridge, he won the W es t. In this age of auguries and vis ions , Cons tantine bel ieved he owed his power to the Chris tian 'Supreme God'.

Cons tantine was a rough s oldier, a holy vis ionary, a murderous autoc rat and a pol i tic al s howman who s las hed his way to power but, onc e at the pinnac le of human s upremac y, he envis ioned an empire uni fied under one rel igion, one emperor. He was a bundle of c ontradic tions - he was bul lnec ked, aqui l ine-nos ed and his paranoia often exploded in the s udden ki l l ing of friends and fam i ly. He wore his hair s houlder-length, s ported gaudy brac elets and bejewel led robes , and rel is hed the pageantry of power, the debates of phi los ophers and bis hops and s c hemes of arc hi tec tural beauty and rel igious boldnes s . No oneknows why he embrac ed Chris tiani ty at that moment, though, l ike many brutal ly c onfident men, he adored his mother, Helena, and s he was an early c onvert. If his pers onal c onvers ion was as dramatic as Paul 's on the road to Damas c us , his pol i tic al embrac e of Chris tiani ty was gradual . Mos t importantly, Chris t haddel ivered vic tory in battle, and that was a language that Cons tantine unders tood: Chris t the Lamb bec ame the god of vic tory. Not that Cons tantine was in any way lamb-l ike hims el f: he s oon pres ented hims el f as the Equal of the Apos tles . T here was nothing remarkable in his promotion of hims el f as a m i l i taryc ommander wi th divine protec tion. Roman emperors , l ike Greek kings , always identi fied thems elves with divine patrons . Cons tantine's own father revered the Unc onquered Sun, a s tep towards monotheis m. But the c hoic e of the Chris t was not inevi table - i t depended purely on Cons tantine's pers onal whim. In 312,Manic haeanis m and Mithrais m were no les s popular than Chris tiani ty. Cons tantine c ould jus t as eas i ly have c hos en one of thes e - and Europe m ight today be Mithrais tic or Manic haean.*

In 313, Cons tantine and the Eas tern emperor Lic inius granted toleration and privi leges to the Chris tians in their Edic t of Mi lan. But i t was only in 324 that Cons tantine, now aged fi fty-one, defeated Lic inius to uni te the empire. He tried to impos e Chris tian c has ti ty ac ros s his domains and banned pagans ac ri fic es , s ac red pros ti tution, rel igious orgies , and gladiatorial s hows , replac ing them with c hariot-rac ing. T hat year, he moved his c api tal eas twards , founding his Sec ond Rome on the s i te of a Greek town c al led Byzantium on the Bos phorus , a gateway between Europe and As ia. T his s oon bec ame known asCons tantinople wi th i ts own patriarc h, who now joined the bis hop of Rome and the patriarc hs of A lexandria and Antioc h as the rul ing powers of Chris tiani ty. T he new fai th s ui ted Cons tantine's new s tyle of kings hip. Chris tiani ty had from the earl ies t days of J ames , Overs eer of J erus alem, developed a hierarc hy ofelders (presby teroi ) and overs eers / bis hops (epis kopoi )in c harge of regional dioc es es . Cons tantine s aw that Chris tiani ty, wi th i ts hierarc hy, paral leled the organization of the Roman empire: there would be one emperor, one s tate, one fai th.

Yet he had no s ooner bound his s upremac y to his imperial rel igion than he dis c overed that Chris tiani ty was divided: the Gos pels were vague about J es us ' nature and his relations hip to God. W as J es us a man with s ome divine c harac teris tic s or God inhabi ting the body of a man? Now that the Churc h wases tabl is hed, Chris tology bec ame paramount, more important than l i fe i ts el f, for the right defini tion of Chris t would dec ide whether a man would ac hieve s alvation and enter heaven. In our s ec ular era, the debates on nuc lear dis armament or global warm ing are the c los es t equivalents in their pas s ion and intens i ty.Chris tiani ty now bec ame a mas s rel igion in an age of fanatic al fai th and thes e ques tions were debated in the s treets as wel l as in the palac es of the empire. W hen A rius , an A lexandrian pries t who preac hed to huge c rowds us ing popular j ingles , argued that J es us was s ubordinate to God and therefore morehuman than divine, this ups et the many who regarded Chris t as more God than man. W hen the loc al governor tried to s uppres s A rius , his fol lowers rioted in A lexandria.

In 325 Cons tantine, infuriated and bemus ed by this doc trinal tumult, c al led the bis hops to the Counc i l of Nic aea and tried to impos e his s olution: that J es us was divine and human, 'of one s ubs tanc e' wi th the Father. It was at Nic aea (pres ent-day Is nik in T urkey), that Mac arius , the B is hop of Ael ia Capi tol ina(onc e c al led J erus alem), brought the fate of his s mal l and neglec ted town to Cons tantine's attention. Cons tantine knew Ael ia, probably having vis i ted i t as a boy of eight when he was in Emperor Dioc letian's entourage. Now keen to c elebrate his s uc c es s at Nic aea and projec t the s ac red glory of his empire, hedec ided to res tore the c i ty and c reate what Eus ebius (B is hop of Caes area and the emperor's biographer) c al led 'T he New J erus alem bui l t over agains t the one s o famous of old'. Cons tantine c ommis s ioned a c hurc h that befi tted J erus alem as the c radle of the Good News . But the work was ac c elerated by theemperor's murderous domes tic troubles .

CONSTANTINE THE GREAT: THE FAMILY KILLINGS

Soon after Cons tantine's vic tory, his wi fe Faus ta denounc ed his eldes t s on (by an earl ier marriage) Cris pus Caes ar for a s exual offenc e. Did s he play on Cons tantine's new Chris tian c has ti ty by c laim ing that Cris pus had tried to s educ e her or that he was a rapis t? W as i t ac tual ly an affai r turned s our? Cris pus wouldnot have been the fi rs t young man to have an affai r wi th his s tepmother nor the las t to want one, but perhaps the emperor was already jealous of Cris pus ' m i l i tary s uc c es s es . Certainly Faus ta had every reas on to dis l ike this obs tac le to the ris e of her own s ons .

W hatever the truth, Cons tantine, outraged by his s on's immoral i ty, ordered his exec ution. T he emperor's Chris tian advis ers were dis gus ted and the mos t important woman in his l i fe, his mother, now intervened. Helena had been a B i thnian barmaid and pos s ibly never married his father, but s he was an earlyc onvert to Chris tiani ty and was now the Augus ta - empres s - in her own right.

Helena c onvinc ed Cons tantine that he had been manipulated. Perhaps s he revealed that Faus ta had ac tual ly tried to s educ e Cris pus , not vic e vers a. Redeeming one unforgivable murder wi th another, Cons tantine ordered the exec ution of his wi fe, Faus ta, for adul tery: s he was ei ther s c alded to death in boi l ingwater or s uffoc ated in an overheated s teamroom, a partic ularly unChris tian s olution to a highly unChris tian di lemma. But J erus alem would benefi t from this double murder,* s c arc ely mentioned by the embarras s ed Chris tian eulogis ts .

Soon afterwards , Helena, s ec uring c arte blanc he to embel l is h Chris t's c i ty, s et off for J erus alem.+ Her glory would be Cons tantine's penanc e.1

HELENA: THE FIRST ARCHAEOLOGIST

Helena, s eptuagenarian empres s , whos e c oins s how her s harp fac e and her braided c oi ffuer and tiara, arrived in Ael ia 'wi th al l the energy of youth', and generous funds , to bec ome J erus alem 's mos t monumental bui lder and m irac ulous ly s uc c es s ful arc haeologis t.Cons tantine knew that the plac e of J es us ' Cruc i fixion and burial lay beneath Hadrian's Temple wi th i ts s tatue of that 'impure demon c al led Aphrodi te, a dark s hrine of l i feles s idols ', as Eus ebius put i t. He had ordered B is hop Mac arius to puri fy the plac e, demol is h the pagan temple, exc avate the original tomb

within and bui ld there a bas i l ic a that would be 'the fines t in the world' wi th 'the mos t beauti ful s truc tures , c olumns and marbles , the mos t prec ious and s ervic eable, ornamented in gold'.Helena determ ined to find the ac tual tomb. T he pagan temple had to be s mas hed, the paving s tones l i fted, the earth removed and the holy plac e loc ated. T he empres s 's ques t mus t have c reated an exc i ted and luc rative s earc h in s mal l Ael ia. A J ew, perhaps one of the remaining Chris tian J ews , produc ed

doc uments that led to the dis c overy of the c ave that was dec lared to be J es us ' tomb. Helena als o s ought the s i te of the Cruc i fixion and even the Cros s i ts el f.No arc haeologis t has ever approac hed her s uc c es s . She dis c overed three wooden c ros s es , a wooden plaque that read 'J es us of Nazareth, K ing of J ews ', and the ac tual nai ls . But whic h c ros s was the right one? T he empres s and bis hop are s aid to have borne thes e piec es of wood to the beds ide of a dying

woman. W hen the thi rd was plac ed bes ide her, the inval id 's uddenly opened her eyes , regained her s trength and s prang wel l from her bed'. Helena 's ent part to her s on Cons tantine together wi th the nai ls ', whic h the emperor had s et into the bridle of his hors e. From now on, al l Chris tendom c raved the holy rel ic s thatus ual ly originated in J erus alem, and this Li fe-Giving T ree begat a fores t of s pl inters of the T rue Cros s , whic h s tarted to replac e the earl ier Chi-Rho as the s ymbol of Chris tiani ty.

Helena's dis c overy of the Cros s was pos s ibly a later invention, but s he c ertainly c hanged the c i ty for ever. She bui l t c hurc hes of the As c ens ion and of the E leona on the Mount of Ol ives . Her thi rd c hurc h, that of the Holy Sepulc hre, whic h took ten years to c omplete, was not one bui lding but a c omplex of fourparts , i ts fac ade fac ing eas twards , whic h was entered from the main Roman s treet, the Cardo. (Today's c hurc h fac es s outh.) T he vis i tor c l imbed s teps into an atrium that led via three entranc es into the Bas i l ic a or Martyrium, a huge 'c hurc h of wondrous beauty', wi th five ais les and rows of pi l lars , whic h led in turn,through i ts aps e, into the Holy Garden, a c olonnaded c ourtyard where, in the s outh-eas tern c orner, s tood the hi l l of Golgotha enc los ed in an open c hapel . T he gold-domed Rotunda (the Anas tas is ) opened to the s ky s o that the l ight s hone down on to J es us ' tomb. Its s plendour dominated J erus alem 's s ac red s pac e,moc king the T emple Mount, where Helena level led any pagan s hrine and 'ordered fi l th thrown in i ts plac e' to s how the fai lure of the J ewis h God.*

J us t a few years later, in 333, one of the fi rs t new pi lgrims , an anonymous vis i tor from Bordeaux, found Ael ia already trans formed into a bus tl ing Chris tian temple-c i ty. T he 'wondrous ' Churc h was not finis hed but was ris ing fas t, yet Hadrian's s tatue s ti l l s tood am id the ruins of the T emple Mount.Empres s Helena vis i ted al l the s i tes of J es us ' l i fe, c reating the fi rs t roadmap for the pi lgrims who s lowly began to floc k to J erus alem to experienc e i ts s pec ial hol ines s . Helena was nearly eighty by the time s he returned to Cons tantinople where her s on kept parts of the Cros s , des patc hing another s pl inter and

the plaque to her aptly named Roman c hurc h, Santa Croc e in Gerus alemme.Eus ebius , B is hop of Caes area, was jealous of J erus alem 's new eminenc e, doubting that this J ewis h c i ty, 'whic h after the bloody murder of the Lord had paid the penal ty of i ts wic ked inhabi tants ', c ould be the c i ty of God. A fter al l , the Chris tians had paid l i ttle attention to J erus alem for three c enturies . Yet

Eus ebius had a point: Cons tantine had to c onfront the heri tage of the J ews jus t as the c reator of the New J erus alem had to divert the hol ines s of the J ewis h s i tes towards his new s hrines .W hen the Romans wors hipped many gods , they tolerated others , providing they did not threaten the s tate, but a monotheis tic rel igion demanded the rec ogni tion of one truth, one god. T he pers ec ution of the J ewis h Chris t-ki l lers whos e wretc hednes s proved Chris tian truth, thus bec ame es s ential . Cons tantine

ordered that any J ews who tried to s top their brethren from c onverting to Chris tiani ty were to be ins tantly burned.* Yet a s mal l J ewis h c ommunity had been l iving in J erus alem, praying at a s ynagogue on Mount Zion, for over a c entury and J ews dis c reetly prayed on the des erted Temple Mount. Now' the detes tablemob of J ews ', as Cons tantine c al led them, were banned from J erus alem exc ept onc e a year when they were al lowed on to the Temple Mount, where the Bordeaux pi lgrim s aw them 'mourn and rend their garments ' over the 'perforated s tone' - the foundation-s tone of the Temple, today enc los ed by the Dome of theRoc k.

Cons tantine dec ided to c elebrate the thi rtieth annivers ary of his ac c es s ion in J erus alem but was s ti l l s truggl ing to c ontrol the c ontrovers y s ti rred up by the troubles ome pries t A rius - even after he had departed this world in a fec al ly explos ive inc ident.+ W hen Cons tantine ordered a s ynod 'to free the Churc h fromblas phemy and l ighten my c ares ', onc e again the A rians defied him , overs hadowing the fi rs t Chris tian fes tival in J erus alem, a gathering of bis hops from ac ros s the world. But the emperor was too i l l to c ome. Final ly baptized on his deathbed in 337, he divided the empire among his three s ons and two nephews .T he only things on whic h they agreed were the c ontinuation of the Chris tian empire and the promulgation of more anti -J ewis h laws : in 339, they banned intermarriage with J ews , whom they c al led a 's avage, abominable dis grac e'.

Cons tantine's heirs fought for twenty years , a c ivi l war final ly won by his s ec ond s on Cons tantius . T his turbulenc e uns ettled Palaes tina. In 351, an earthquake in J erus alem led al l the Chris tians to rus h to the Churc h of the Holy Sepulc hre 's eized with awe'. W hen the Gal i lean J ews rebel led, led by a mes s ianicking, they were s o wantonly s laughtered by the emperor's c ous in Gal lus Caes ar that even the Romans were s ic kened. Yet the J ews now found s ympathy in a s urpris ing plac e: the Emperor dec ided to overturn Chris tiani ty - and rebui ld the J ewis h T emple.2

JULIAN THE APOSTATE: JERUSALEM RESTORED

On 19 J uly 362, the new emperor, Cons tantine's nephew J ul ian, who was in Antioc h on his way to invade Pers ia, as ked a J ewis h delegation: 'W hy do you not s ac ri fic e?''W e aren't al lowed,' repl ied the J ews . 'Res tore us to the c i ty, rebui ld the T emple and the A l tar.''I s hal l endeavour wi th the utmos t zeal ', repl ied J ul ian, 'to s et up the T emple of the Mos t High God.' T he emperor's as tonis hing reply was greeted with s uc h J ewis h enthus ias m that i t was 'as i f the days of their kingdom had already arrived'.J ul ian revers ed the Hadrianic and Cons tantinian pers ec utions , res tored J erus alem to the J ews , returned their property, revoked the anti -J ewis h taxes and granted power of taxation and the ti tle praetorian prefec t to their patriarc h Hi l lel . J ews mus t have poured into J erus alem from al l over the Roman and Pers ian

worlds to c elebrate this m irac le. T hey rec laimed the T emple Mount, probably removing the s tatues of Hadrian and Antoninus to rais e a provis ional s ynagogue, perhaps around the s tones that the Bordeaux P i lgrim c al led the Hous e of K ing Hezekiah.J ul ian was s hy, c erebral and awkward. A bias ed Chris tian rec al led his 'oddly dis jointed nec k, hunc hed and twi tc hing s houlders , wi ld darting eye, s waying walk, haughty way of breathing down that prom inent nos e, that nervous and unc ontrol led laughter, ever-nodding head and hal ting s peec h'. But the bearded,

burly emperor was als o dec is ive and s ingle-m inded. He res tored paganis m, favouring the fam i ly's old divine patron, the Sun, enc ouraging the tradi tional s ac ri fic es in pagan temples and dis m is s ing Gal i lean (as he c al led Chris tian) teac hers in order to dim inis h their effete, unRoman values .J ul ian had never expec ted to rule the empire. He was jus t five when Cons tantius murdered his father and mos t of his fam i ly; only two s urvived, Gal lus and J ul ian. In 349, Cons tantius appointed Gal lus as Caes ar only to behead him , partly for his inept s uppres s ion of a J ewis h revol t. Yet he needed a Caes ar in

the W es t and there was now only one c andidate left. J ul ian, then a s tudent of phi los ophy in A thens , bec ame Caes ar, rul ing from Paris . Unders tandably, he was nervous when the unpredic table emperor s ummoned him . Ins pired by a dream about Zeus , he ac c epted the imperial c rown from his troops . As he marc hedeas twards , Cons tantius died and J ul ian found hims el f ruler of the enti re empire.

J ul ian's rebui lding of the J ewis h Temple was not jus t a mark of his toleranc e but a nul l i fic ation of the Chris tian c laim to have inheri ted the true Is rael , a revers al of the ful fi lment of the prophec ies of Daniel and J es us that the Temple would fal l , and a s ign that he was s erious in the overturning of his unc le'swork. It would als o win the s upport of the Babylonian J ews during his planned Pers ian war. J ul ian s aw no c ontradic tion between Greek paganis m and J ewis h monotheis m, bel ieving that the Greeks wors hipped the J ewis h 'Mos t High God' as Zeus : Yahweh was not unique to the J ews .

J ul ian appointed A lypius , his repres entative in B ri tain, to rebui ld the J ewis h Temple. T he Sanhedrin were nervous : was this too good to be true? To reas s ure them, J ul ian, s etting off for the Pers ian front, wrote 'To the Community of J ews ', repeating his prom is e. In J erus alem, exhi larated J ews 's ought out themos t s ki l led artis ans , c ol lec ted materials , c leared the ground and embarked s o earnes tly on the tas k that even women c arried heaps of earth and brought their nec klac es to defray the expens es '. Bui lding materials were s tored in the s o-c al led S tables of Solomon. 'W hen they had removed the remains of the formerbui lding, they c leared the foundation.'

As the J ews took c ontrol of J erus alem, J ul ian invaded Pers ia wi th 65,000 troops . But on 27 May 363 J erus alem was s truc k by an earthquake that s omehow igni ted the bui lding materials .T he Chris tians were del ighted by this 'wonderful phenomenon', though they may wel l have helped i t along with ars on. A lypius c ould have c ontinued the work, but J ul ian had c ros s ed the T igris into Iraq. In tens e J erus alem, A lypius dec ided to await J ul ian's return. T he emperor, however, was already in retreat. On

26 J une in a c onfus ed s kirm is h near Samara, an A rab s oldier (pos s ibly a Chris tian) s tabbed him in the s ide with a s pear. P ierc ed in the l iver, J ul ian tried to pul l i t out, s hredding the s inews of his hand. Chris tian wri ters c laimed that he died s aying, 'V ic is ti , Gal i laee! ', 'T hou has c onquered, Gal i lean! '. He wass uc c eeded by the c ommander of his guard, who res tored Chris tiani ty, revers ed al l J ul ian's ac ts and again banned the J ews from J erus alem: henc eforth there would again be one rel igion, one truth. In 391-2 T heodos ius I made Chris tiani ty the empire's offic ial rel igion and s tarted to enforc e i t.*3

JEROME AND PAULA: SAINTHOOD, SEX AND THE CITY

In 384, a s plenetic Roman s c holar named J erome arrived in J erus alem with an entourage of weal thy Chris tian women. Obs es s ively pious , they nonetheles s travel led under a c loud of s exual s c andal .Now in his late thi rties , the Il lyrian J erome had l ived as a herm it in the Syrian des ert, always tormented with s exual longings : 'A l though my only c ompanions were s c orpions , I was m ingl ing wi th the danc es of gi rls , my m ind throbbing with des ires .' J erome then s erved as the s ec retary to Damas us I, the B is hop of

Rome, where the nobi l i ty had embrac ed Chris tiani ty. Damas us fel t c onfident enough to dec lare that the bis hops of Rome s erved with divine bles s ing in direc t apos tol ic s uc c es s ion from S t Peter, a big s tep in their development into the s upreme, infal l ible popes of later times . But now the Churc h had s uc h patric ians upport, Damas us and J erome found thems elves entangled in s ome very worldly s c andals : Damas us was ac c us ed of adul tery, dubbed 'the tic kler of the ears of m iddle-aged women', whi le J erome was s aid to be having an affai r wi th the ric h widow Paula, one of the many s uc h ladies who had embrac ed Chris tiani ty.J erome and Paula were exonerated - but they had to leave Rome and s o they s et out for J erus alem, ac c ompanied by her daughter Eus toc hium.

T he very pres enc e of this teenaged virgin s eemed to inflame J erome who s mel led s ex everywhere and s pent muc h of the trip wri ting trac ts warning of i ts dangers . 'Lus t', he wrote, 'tic kles the s ens es and the s oft fi re of s ens ual pleas ure s heds i ts pleas ing glow.' Onc e in J erus alem, J erome and his piousmil l ionaires s es found a new c i ty that was an entrepot of s anc ti ty, trade, networking and s ex. T he piety was intens e and the ric hes t of thes e ladies , Melania (who enjoyed an annual inc ome of 120,000 pounds of gold), founded her own monas tery on the Mount of Ol ives . But J erome was horri fied by the s exualopportuni ties offered by the m ixing of s o many s trange men and women c rowded together in this theme park of rel igious pas s ion and s ens ory exc i tement: 'al l temptation is c ol lec ted here', he wrote, and al l humanity - 'pros ti tutes , ac tors and c lowns '. Indeed 'there is no s ort of s hameful prac tic es in whic h they don'tindulge', obs erved another s aintly but s harp-eyed pi lgrim , Gregory of Nys s a. 'Cheating, adul tery, theft, idolatry, pois oning, quarrels and murder are everyday oc c urrenc es .'

Imperial patronage, monumental bui lding and the s tream of pi lgrims now c reated a new c alendar of fes tivals and ri tuals around the c i ty, c l imaxing with Eas ter, and a new s piri tual geography of J erus alem, bas ed on the s i tes of J es us ' Pas s ion. Names were c hanged, * tradi tions muddled, but al l that matters inJ erus alem is what is bel ieved to be true. Another female pioneer, Egeria, a Spanis h nun, who vis i ted in the 380s , des c ribed the ever-expanding panoply of rel ic s in the Holy Sepulc hre+ that now inc luded K ing Solomon's ring and the horn of oi l that had anointed David. T hes e joined J es us ' c rown of thorns and thelanc e that pierc ed his s ide.

T he theatre and s anc ti ty drove s ome pi lgrims into a del i rium s pec ial to J erus alem: the T rue Cros s had to be s pec ial ly guarded bec aus e pi lgrims tried to bi te off c hunks when they kis s ed i t. T hat c urmudgeon J erome c ould not bear al l this theatric al s c reaming - henc e he s ettled in Bethlehem to work on hismas terpiec e, trans lating the Hebrew B ible into Latin. But he vis i ted frequently and was never s hy about expres s ing his views . 'It's as eas y to find the way to Heaven in B ri tain as in J erus alem,' he s narled in referenc e to the vulgar c rowds of B ri tis h pi lgrims . W hen he watc hed his friend Paula's emotive prayers beforethe Cros s in the Holy Garden, he c atti ly c laimed that s he looked 'as though s he s aw the Lord hanging upon i t' and kis s ed the tomb 'l ike a thi rs ty man who had waited long and at las t c omes to water'. Her 'tears and lamentations ' were s o loud that they 'were known to al l J erus alem or to the Lord hims el f whom s hec al led upon'.

Yet one drama that he did apprec iate took plac e on the Temple Mount, kept in des olation to c onfi rm J es us ' prophec ies . On eac h 9th of Ab J erome gleeful ly watc hed the J ews c ommemorating the des truc tion of the Temple: 'T hos e fai thles s people who ki l led the s ervant of God - that mob of wretc hesc ongregates and, whi le the Churc h of Res urrec tion glows and the banner of His Cros s s hines forth from the Mount of Ol ives , thos e m is erable people groan over the ruins of the Temple. A s oldier as ks for money to al low them to weep a l i ttle longer.' Des pi te his fluent Hebrew, J erome hated the J ews , who rais edc hi ldren 'jus t l ike worms ', and rel is hed this grati fying freak s how that c onfi rmed Chris t's vic torious truth: 'Can anyone harbour doubts when he looks upon this s c ene about the Day of T ribulation and Suffering?' T he very tragedy of the J ews ' pl ight redoubled their love for J erus alem. For Rabbi Berekhah this s c ene wasa ri tual as s ac red as i t was poignant: 'T hey c ome s i lently and go s i lently, they c ome weeping and go weeping, they c ome in darknes s of the night and depart in darknes s .'

Yet now J ewis h hopes were to be rais ed again by the Empres s who c ame to rule J erus alem.4

BARSOMA AND THE PARAMILITARY MONKS

Empres s es tended to be des c ribed by c hauvinis tic his torians as hideous , vic ious whores or s erene s aints , but unus ual ly Empres s Eudoc ia was es pec ial ly prais ed for her exquis i te looks and artis tic nature. In 438, this beauti ful wi fe of the Emperor T heodos ius II c ame to J erus alem and relaxed the rules agains t theJ ews . A t the s ame time, a s ynagogue-burning as c etic , Bars oma of Nis ibis , arrived on one of his regular pi lgrimages with a thuggis h retinue of parami l i tary monks .

Eudoc ia was a protec tor of pagans and J ews bec aus e s he had been pagan hers el f. T he s triking daughter of an A thenian s ophis t, educ ated in rhetoric and l i terature, s he c ame to Cons tantinople to appeal to the emperor after her brothers s tole her inheri tanc e. T heodos ius II was a mal leable boy, ruled by hispious and grac eles s s is ter, Pulc heria. She introduc ed Eudoc ia to her brother, who was ins tantly s m itten and married her. Pulc heria dominated her brother's government, intens i fying the pers ec ution of the J ews , who were now exc luded from the army and publ ic l i fe, and c ondemned to be s ec ond-c las s c i tizens . In425, T heodos ius ordered the exec ution of Gamal iel V I, the las t J ewis h patriarc h, to punis h him for bui lding more s ynagogues , and abol is hed the offic e for ever. Gradual ly, Eudoc ia bec ame powerful and T heodos ius promoted her to Augus ta, equal in rank to his s is ter. A c oloured s tone inlay of her in aCons tantinople c hurc h s hows her regal s tyle, blac k hair, s l im eleganc e and del ic ate nos e.

In J erus alem, the J ews , fac ing intens i fying repres s ion from Cons tantinople, begged Eudoc ia for more ac c es s to the Holy Ci ty, and s he agreed that they c ould openly vis i t the Temple Mount for their c hief fes tivals . T his was wonderful news , and the J ews dec lared that they s hould al l 'has ten to J erus alem for theFeas t of T abernac les for our kingdom wi l l be es tabl is hed'.

However, J ewis h joy dis gus ted that other vis i tor to J erus alem, Bars oma of Nis ibis , a Syrian monk who was one of the new breed of m i l i tant monas tic leaders . During the fourth c entury, c ertain as c etic s s tarted to reac t agains t the worldly values of s oc iety and the s plendour of the c leric al hierarc hs and foundedmonas teries in the des ert in order to return to the values of the earl ies t Chris tians . T he herm its - from the Greek word for 'wi ldernes s ' - bel ieved i t was not enough to know the right formula for Chris t's nature, i t was als o nec es s ary to l ive righteous ly, s o they exis ted in hair-s hirted, c el ibate s impl ic i ty in the des erts ofEgypt and Syria.* T heir s el f-flagel lating feats of os tentatious hol ines s were c elebrated, their biographies were wri tten (the fi rs t hagiographies ), their herm itages were vis i ted and their dis c omforts bec ame s ourc es of wonder. T he two S t S imeons l ived for dec ades , thi rty feet up, atop c olumns and were known as thes tyl i tes (from s ty los meaning 'c olumn'). One s tyl i te, Daniel , was as ked how he defec ated: dri ly, l ike a s heep, he repl ied. Indeed, J erome thought they were more interes ted in fi l th than in hol ines s . But thes e monks were far from peac eful . J erus alem, whic h was now s urrounded by new monas teries and c ontainedmany of i ts own, was at the merc y of thes e s quadrons of s treet-fighting fanatic s .

Bars oma, who was s aid to be s o holy that he never s at or lay down, was offended by the s urvival of J ewis h and Samari tan 'idolators ' and determ ined to c leans e Palaes tina of them. He and his monks ki l led J ews and burned s ynagogues . T he emperor banned the violenc e for reas ons of order, but Bars omaignored him . Now, in J erus alem, Bars oma's c oenobi te s hoc k-troopers , armed with s words and c lubs under monks ' robes , ambus hed the J ews on the Temple Mount, s toning and ki l l ing many of them, tos s ing their bodies into water c is terns and c ourtyards . T he J ews fought bac k, arres ted eighteen attac kers andhanded them over to the Byzantine governor who c harged them with murder. 'T hes e brigands in the res pec table habi ts of monks ' were brought to Eudoc ia, the pi lgrim empres s . T hey were gui l ty of murder but when they impl ic ated Bars oma, he s pread rumours that noble Chris tians were to be burned al ive. T he mobturned in Bars oma's favour, es pec ial ly when he c i ted a timely earthquake as a s ign of divine approval .

If the empres s planned to exec ute Chris tians , Bars oma's fol lowers c ried, then 'we wi l l burn the empres s and al l thos e with her'. Bars oma terrorized offic ials into tes ti fying that the J ewis h vic tims had no wounds : they had died of natural c aus es . Another earthquake added to the wides pread fear. T he c i ty wass l ipping out of c ontrol . Eudoc ia had l i ttle c hoic e but to ac quies c e. 'Five hundred groups ' of parami l i tary monks patrol led the s treets and Bars oma announc ed that 'T he Cros s has triumphed', a c ry repeated ac ros s the c i ty 'l ike the roar of a wave' as his fol lowers anointed him with expens ive perfumes , and themurderers were freed.

Des pi te this violenc e, Eudoc ia c heris hed J erus alem, c ommis s ioning an array of newc hurc hes , and s he returned to Cons tantinople laden with newrel ic s . But her s is ter-in-law Pulc heria was plotting to des troy her.EUDOCIA: EMPRESS OF JERUSALEM

T heodos ius s ent Eudoc ia a Phrygian apple. She gave i t to her protege, Paul inus , Mas ter of the Offic es , who then s ent i t as a pres ent to the emperor. T heodos ius , hurt by this , c onfronted his wi fe who l ied and ins is ted that s he had not given his pres ent away to anyone but had eaten i t. A t that, the emperor produc edthe apple. T his whi te l ie s ugges ted to T heodos ius that what his s is ter had been whis pering was true: Eudoc ia was having an affai r wi th Paul inus . T he s tory is mythic al - apples s ymbol ize l i fe and c has ti ty - but in i ts very human detai ls i t c hronic les jus t the s ort of ac c idental c hain of events that c an end badly in thehothous e c ourts of fraught autoc rac ies . Paul inus was exec uted in 440, but the imperial c ouple negotiated a way for Eudoc ia to reti re from the c api tal wi th honour. T hree years later, s he arrived in J erus alem to rule Palaes tina in her own right.

Even then Pulc heria tried to des troy her, des patc hing Saturnius , Count of the Imperial Bodyguard, to exec ute two of her entourage. Eudoc ia quic kly had Saturnius murdered. Onc e this imperial s kulduggery had died down, s he was left to her own devic es : s he bui l t palac es for hers el f and the c i ty's bis hop and ahos pic e next to the Sepulc hre that s urvived for c enturies . She bui l t the fi rs t wal ls s inc e T i tus , enc los ing Mount Zion and the City of David - her s ec tions of wal l c an be s een today in both plac es . T he pi l lars of her multi -level led c hurc h around the S i loam Pool s ti l l s tand in the waters there.*

T he empire was now dis turbed by the reigni ted Chris tologic al dis pute. If J es us and the Father were 'of one s ubs tanc e', how c ould Chris t c ombine both divine and human natures ? In 428, Nes torius , the new Patriarc h of Cons tantinople, tac tles s ly s tres s ed J es us ' human s ide and dual nature, c laim ing that theV irgin Mary s hould be c ons idered not T heotokos , Bearer of God, but merely Chris tokos , Bearer of Chris t. His enemies , the Monophys i tes , ins is ted that Chris t had one nature whic h was s imultaneous ly human and divine. Dyophys i tes fought their Monophys i te protagonis ts in the imperial palac es and in thebac ks treets of J erus alem and Cons tantinople wi th al l the violenc e and hatred of Chris tologic al footbal l hool igans . Everyone, notic ed Gregory of Nys s a, had an opinion: 'You as k a man for c hange, he'l l give you a piec e of phi los ophy c onc erning the Begotten and the Unbegotten; i f you enquire the pric e of a loaf, herepl ies "T he Father is greater and the Son inferior"; or i f you as k whether the bath is ready, the ans wer you rec eive is that the Son was made out of nothing.'

W hen T heodos ius died, his two empres s es fac ed eac h other ac ros s the Chris tologic al divide. Pulc heria, who had s eized power in Cons tantinople, bac ked the Dyophys i tes , but Eudoc ia, l ike mos t Eas tern Chris tians , was a Monophys i te. Pulc heria duly expel led her from the Churc h. W hen J uvenal , the B is hop ofJ erus alem, bac ked Pulc heria, the Monophys i te J erus alem ites mobi l ized their monkis h s hoc k-troopers who drove him out of the c i ty, a predic ament he exploi ted. Chris tiani ty had long been ruled by the four great metropol i tan bis hopric s - Rome and the eas tern patriarc hates . But J erus alem 's bis hops had alwaysc ampaigned for promotion to patriarc h. Now J uvenal won this promotion as the prize for the loyal ty that almos t c os t him his l i fe. Final ly in 451, at the Counc i l of Chalc edon, Pulc heria enforc ed a c ompromis e: in the Union of T wo Natures , J es us was 'perfec t in divini ty, and perfec t in humanity'. Eudoc ia agreed andbec ame rec onc i led wi th Pulc heria. T his c ompromis e has las ted to this day in the Orthodox, Cathol ic and P rotes tant Churc hes , but i t was flawed: the Monophys i tes and Nes torians , for prec is ely oppos i te reas ons , rejec ted i t and s pl i t off from Orthodoxy for ever.*

A t a time when the W es tern Roman empire was being terrorized by A tti la the Hun and hurtl ing toward i ts fatal c ol laps e, the ageing Eudoc ia was wri ting Greek poetry and bui lding her S t S tephen's bas i l ic a, now vanis hed, but jus t north of the Damas c us Gate, where in 460 s he was buried alongs ide the rel ic s ofthe fi rs t martyr.5

SUNSET OF THE BYZANTINES: PERSIAN INVASION

518-630

JUSTINIAN AND THE SHOW GIRL EMPRESS: BYZANTINE JERUSALEM

In 518, aged thirty-five, J us tinian found hims el f the real ruler of the eas tern empire when his unc le J us tin was rais ed to the throne. T he elderly new emperor was an i l l i terate T hrac ian peas ant and depended on his c lever nephew Peter, who adopted the name J us tinian.* He did not c ome to power alone: his m is tres sT heodora was the daughter of the B lue c hariot-rac ing team 's bear-trainer, rais ed among the s weaty c harioteers , louc he bathhous es and bloody bearpi ts of the Cons tantinople hippodrome. S tarting as a pre-pubes c ent burles que s howgirl , s he was s aid to be a gymnas tic al ly gi fted orgias t whos e s pec ial i ty was to offeral l three ori fic es to her c l ients s imultaneous ly. Her nymphomaniac al party piec e was to s pread-eagle hers el f on s tage whi le gees e pec ked grains of barley from 'the c alyx of this pas s ion flower'. T he s exual detai ls were no doubt exaggerated by their c ourt his torian, who mus t s ec retly have res ented the s yc ophanc y ofhis day job. W hatever the truth, J us tinian found her l i fe-forc e i rres is tible and c hanged the law s o that he c ould marry her. T hough her intrigues c ompl ic ated J us tinian's l i fe, T heodora often provided the wi l l he lac ked. W hen he had almos t los t Cons tantinople during the Nika riots and was ready to flee, s he s aid s hewould prefer to die in imperial purple than l ive wi thout i t and des patc hed his generals to mas s ac re the rebels .

T hanks to their real is tic portrai ts in the San V i tale Churc h at Ravenna, we know that J us tinian was thin-fac ed and unprepos s es s ing with a reddis h c omplexion, whi le T heodora, del ic ate, pale and glac ial , wi th dazzl ing eyes and purs ed l ips , s tares at us wi theringly as ropes of pearls bedec k her head and breas t.T hey were a s upreme pol i tic al double-ac t. W hatever their origins , both were humourles s ly, merc i les s ly s erious about empire and rel igion.

J us tinian, the las t Latin-s peaking emperor of the eas t, bel ieved that his l i fe's m is s ion was to res tore the Roman empire and reuni te Chris tendom: s hortly before he was born, the las t emperor of Rome had been driven from the c i ty by a Germanic c hieftain. Ironic al ly, this enhanc ed the pres tige of the bis hops ofRome, s oon to be known as popes , and the di fferenc es between eas t and wes t. J us tinian ac hieved as tounding s uc c es s in promoting his univers al Chris tian empire by war, fai th and art. He rec onquered Italy, north A fric a and s outhern Spain, though he fac ed repeated invas ions by the Pers ians who at times almos toverran the Eas t. T he imperial c ouple promoted their Chris tian empire as 'the fi rs t and greates t bles s ing of al l mankind', s uppres s ing homos exuals , pagans , heretic s , Samari tans and J ews . J us tinian demoted J udais m from a perm itted rel igion and banned Pas s over i f i t fel l before Eas ter, c onverted s ynagogues intoc hurc hes , forc ibly baptized J ews , and c ommandeered J ewis h his tory: in 537, when J us tinian dedic ated his breathtaking domed Churc h of Hagia Sofia ('Holy W is dom ') in Cons tantinople, he is s aid to have reflec ted, 'Solomon, I have s urpas s ed thee.' T hen he turned to J erus alem to trump Solomon's T emple.

In 543, J us tinian and T heodora s tarted to bui ld a bas i l ic a, the Nea (New) Churc h of S t Mary Mother of God,* almos t 400 feet long and 187 feet high, wi th wal ls 16 feet thic k, fac ing away from the Temple Mount and des igned to overpower Solomon's s i te. W hen J us tinian's general Bel is arius c onquered theVandal c api tal of Carthage, he found there the c andelabra, pi l laged from the T emple by T i tus . A fter being paraded through Cons tantinople in Bel is arius ' T riumph, i t was s ent to J erus alem, probably to embel l is h J us tinian's Nea Churc h.

T he Holy Ci ty was ruled by the ri tuals of Orthodox Chris tiani ty. * P i lgrims entered through Hadrian's gateway in the north and walked down the Cardo, a paved and c olonnaded s treet, 40 feet wide, enough for two wagons to pas s , l ined with c overed s hops , extending down to the Nea Churc h. T he wel l -to-do l iveds outh and s outh-wes t of the Temple Mount in two-s toreyed mans ions s et around c ourtyards . 'Happy are thos e who l ive in this hous e' was wri tten in one of them. T he hous es , c hurc hes , even the s hops , were dec orated glorious ly wi th mos aic s : the A rmenian kings probably c ommis s ioned the inc andes c ent mos aic ofherons , doves and eagles (dedic ated 'For the memory and s alvation of al l the A rmenians whos e names only God knows '). More mys terious is the vivid s emi-Chris tian mos aic of a puc kis h Orpheus playing his lyre found at the turn of the c entury north of the Damas c us Gate. Ric h Byzantine women wore long Greekrobes bordered in gold, red and green, red s hoes , s trings of pearls , nec klac es and earrings . A gold ring has been unearthed in J erus alem dec orated with a gold model of the Churc h of the Holy Sepulc hre.

T he c i ty was s et up to hos t thous ands of pi lgrims : the grandees s tayed with the patriarc h; poor pi lgrims in the dorm itories of J us tinian's hos pic es whic h had beds for 3,000; and as c etic s , in c aves , often old J ewis h tombs , in the s urrounding hi l ls . W hen the ric h died, they were buried in s arc ophagi ; the s ides ofwhic h were dec orated with fres c oes and equipped with bel ls for the dead to ward off demons . T he c adavers of the poor were pus hed into the anonymous mas s tomb of the Field of B lood. T he temptations that had outraged J erome were always avai lable: there was c hariot-rac ing in the hippodrome, s upported by therumbus tious B lue and Green fac tions of s upporters . 'Fortune of the B lues wins ! ' c ries an ins c ription found in J erus alem. 'Live long! '

T heodora died of c anc er s oon after the Nea was finis hed, but J us tinian l ived on into his eighties unti l 565, having ruled for almos t fi fty years . He had expanded the empire more than anyone exc ept Augus tus and T rajan, but by the end of the c entury i t was overs tretc hed and vulnerable. In 602, a general s eizedthe throne and tried to hold on to i t by unleas hing the B lue c hariot-rac ing fac tion agains t his enemies , who were s upported by the Greens , and ordering the forc ible c onvers ion of the J ews . T he B lues and Greens , always a dangerous c ombination of s porting fans and pol i tic al bul lyboys , fought for J erus alem: 'evi l ,mal ic ious men fi l led the c i ty wi th c rime and murder.' T he Greens won, but Byzantine troops retook the c i ty and c rus hed their rebel l ion.

T his turbulenc e was i rres is tibly tempting to Khus rau II, the Pers ian s hah. As a boy he had been helped bac k on to his throne by the Byzantine emperor Mauric e, but when the latter was murdered, Khus rau had his pretext to invade the Eas t, hoping to des troy Cons tantinople onc e and for al l . J erus alem was aboutto s uffer a rol lerc oas ter epoc h that would s ee her ruled by four di fferent rel igions in twenty-five years : Chris tian, Zoroas trian, J ewis h and Mus l im .6

THE SHAH AND THE ROYAL BOAR: THE FURY OF MAD DOGS

T he Pers ians , s pearheaded by the mai led fi rs t of their heavy c avalry, c onquered Roman Iraq and then s wooped into Syria. T he J ews of Antioc h, s o long pers ec uted by the Byzantines , rebel led and, as the bri l l iant Pers ian c ommander, who gloried in the name Shahrbaraz - the Royal Boar - marc hed s outh, 20,000J ews from Antioc h and T iberias joined him to bes iege J erus alem. Ins ide, the patriarc h Zac harias tried to negotiate, but the c hariot-rac ing bul lyboys ruled the s treets and refus ed. Somehow the Pers ians and J ews broke into the c i ty.

J erus alem, and virtual ly the enti re Roman Eas t, now belonged to the young Pers ian K ing of K ings , the Shah-in-Shah Khus rau II, whos e new empire extended from A fghanis tan to the Mediterranean. T his s hah was the grands on of the greates t of the Sas s anid rulers who had burned Antioc h during J us tinian'sreign. But he had s pent a humil iating boyhood as the helples s pawn of rival noble fam i l ies and had grown up into a paranoid megalomaniac who impos ed his power wi th extravagant gigantis m: his tiger-s kin banner was 130 feet long, 20 feet wide; he held c ourt on the K ing's Spring, a c arpet of 1,000 s quare feet,inlaid in gold and broc ade and depic ting an imaginary royal garden; his s habes tan - the c ool underground apartments where the s hahs kept their women - c ontained 3,000 c onc ubines ; and i t was pos s ibly he who bui l t the c olos s al palac e at his c api tal Ctes iphon (c los e to pres ent-day Baghdad) wi th the world'slarges t audienc e-hal l . Riding his blac k hors e, Midnight, his robes were woven in gold, enc rus ted in jewels , his armour gold-trimmed.

T he s hah, whos e polyglot s ubjec ts inc luded many J ews and Chris tians , was Zoroas trian, but he had married a lovely Nes torian Chris tian, Shirin, whom he had won, ac c ording to legend, by s ending his rival to perform the impos s ible tas k of c arving s tairs out of the Behus tan mountains .Onc e J erus alem had been taken, the s hah's general , the Royal Boar, moved on to c onquer Egypt, but no s ooner was he gone than the J erus alem ites rebel led agains t the Pers ians and J ews . T he Royal Boar gal loped bac k and bes ieged J erus alem for twenty days , des troying the c hurc hes on the Mount of Ol ives

and Geths emane. T he Pers ians and J ews m ined under the north-eas tern wal l , always the mos t vulnerable plac e, and on the twenty-fi rs t day, in early May 614, they s tormed J erus alem 'in great fury, l ike infuriated wi ld beas ts ', ac c ording to the eyewitnes s S trategos , a monk. 'T he people hid in c hurc hes and there theydes troyed them in great wrath, gnas hing their teeth and s lew al l they found l ike mad dogs .'

In three days , thous ands of Chris tians were mas s ac red. T he patriarc h and 37,000 Chris tians were deported to Pers ia. As the s urvivors s tood on the Mount of Ol ives 'and gazed upon J erus alem, a flame, as out of a furnac e, reac hed up to the c louds and they fel l to s obbing and lamenting', dropping as hes in theirhair for they s aw the Churc h of the Holy Sepulc hre, the Nea, the Mother of Churc hes on Mount Zion and the A rmenian c athedral of S t J ames es , c ons umed by the inferno. T he Chris tian rel ic s - the Lanc e, the Sponge and the T rue Cros s - were s ent to Khus rau, who gave them to his queen Shirin. She pres erved themin her c hurc h in Ctes iphon.

T hen, 600 years after T i tus had des troyed the T emple, the Royal Boar gave J erus alem to the J ews .NEHEMIAH II: THE JEW ISH TERROR

After c enturies of repres s ion, the J ews , led by a s hadowy figure named Nehemiah, were keen to avenge thems elves on the Chris tians who unti l weeks earl ier had been pers ec uting them. T he Pers ians impris oned thous ands of les s valuable pris oners in the Mamil la Pool , a large res ervoir, where, ac c ording toChris tian s ourc es , they were offered the s ame c hoic e rec ently offered to the J ews : c onvert or die. Some monks c onverted to J udais m; others were martyred.* T he joyous J ews may have s tarted to rec ons ec rate the Temple Mount, for the J ews now 'made s ac ri fic es ' * and mes s ianic fervour vibrated through the J ewis hworld, ins piring the enthus ias m of the Book of Zerubbabel.

T he Pers ian s hah had c onquered Egypt, Syria, Iraq and As ia Minor al l the way to Cons tantinople. Only the c i ty of T yre s ti l l held out agains t the Pers ians , who ordered the J ewis h c ommander Nehemiah to c apture i t. T he J ewis h army fai led in this m is s ion and fled from T yre, but the Pers ians s urely alreadyreal ized that the more numerous Chris tians were more us eful . In 617, after three years of J ewis h rule, the Royal Boar expel led the J ews from J erus alem. Nehemiah res is ted but was defeated and exec uted at Emmaus near J erus alem.

T he c i ty was returned to the Chris tians . Onc e again i t was the J ewis h turn to s uffer. T he J ews left the c i ty by an eas tern gate l ike the Chris tians before them, marc hing away towards J eric ho. T he Chris tians found the Holy Ci ty ravaged: Modes tos , the pries t in c harge during the abs enc e of the patriarc h,energetic al ly res tored the s hattered Holy Sepulc hre, but the c i ty never regained the magnific enc e of Cons tantine and J us tinian.

T hree times s inc e T i tus the J ews had gras ped moments of free prayer among the roc k heaps of the Temple - probably under bar Koc hba, c ertainly under J ul ian and Khus rau - but J ews would not c ontrol the Temple again for 1,350 years . As for the triumphant Pers ians , they now fac ed a dynamic youngByzantine emperor who s eemed to meri t the name of Herc ules .7

HERACLIUS: THE FIRST CRUSADER

B lond and tal l , he looked the part of imperial s aviour. T he s on of the governor of A fric a and of A rmenian des c ent, Herac l ius had s eized power in 610 when muc h of the eas t was already in Pers ian hands and i t s eemed that things c ould s c arc ely get wors e - but they did. W hen Herac l ius c ounterattac ked, he wasdefeated by the Royal Boar who then c onquered Syria and Egypt before attac king Cons tantinople i ts el f. Herac l ius s ued for a humil iating peac e that gave him time to rebui ld Byzantine s trength and plan his vengeanc e.

OnEas terMonday622,Herac l ius s ai ledwithanarmy, not(as expec ted) through the B lac k Sea to the Cauc as us , but around the Ionian c oas t of the Mediterranean to the Bay of Is s us whenc e he marc hed inland and defeated the Royal Boar. Even as the Pers ians threatened Cons tantinople, Herac l ius was taking thewar into their homeland. T he next year, he repeated the tric k, marc hing through A rmenia and Azerbai jan towards Khus rau's palac e at Ganzak. T he s hah retreated. Herac l ius wintered in A rmenia and then in 625, in a Herc ulean dis play of m i l i tary vi rtuos i ty, prevented three Pers ian arm ies uni ting, before defeating eac hin turn.

In this war of wi ld gambles and global ambition, the s hah turned the tables onc e again, des patc hing one general to s eize Iraq and the Boar to l ink up with the Avars , a marauding, nomadic tribe, and take Cons tantinople. T he s hah, c al l ing hims el f 'Nobles t of the Gods , K ing and Mas ter of the W hole Earth', wroteto Herac l ius : 'You s ay you trus t in God; why then has He not del ivered out of my hand Caes area, J erus alem, A lexandria? Could I not als o des troy Cons tantinople? Have I not des troyed you Greeks ?' Herac l ius des patc hed one army to fight in Iraq, another to defend the c api tal , whi le he hims el f hi red 40,000 nomadicT urkic hors emen, the Khazars , to form a thi rd.

Cons tantinople was bes ieged by the Pers ians and Avars on ei ther s ide of the Bos phorus , but the s hah was jealous of the Royal Boar. T he over-weening arroganc e and c reative c ruel ties of the Mas ter of the W hole Earth were already al ienating his own noblemen. T he s hah s ent a letter to the Royal Boar's deputyordering him to ki l l the general and take c ommand. Herac l ius interc epted i t. Invi ting the Boar to a meeting, he s howed him the letter; they made a s ec ret al l ianc e. Cons tantinople was s aved.

T he Royal Boar wi thdrew to A lexandria to rule Syria, Pales tine and Egypt. Herac l ius s ai led his army to the Cauc as us via the B lac k Sea, and with his Khazar hors emen invaded Pers ia. He outmanoeuvred the Pers ian forc es , c hal lenged and ki l led three Pers ian c hampions in duels , then defeated their main army,s topping jus t outs ide the s hah's c api tal . Khus rau's deluded intrans igenc e des troyed him . He was arres ted and plac ed in the dungeon, the Hous e of Darknes s , where his favouri te s on was butc hered in front of him before he was hims el f tortured to death. T he Pers ians agreed to res tore the s tatus quo ante bel lum.T he Royal Boar agreed to marry Herac l ius ' niec e and revealed the hiding-plac e of the T rue Cros s . A fter tortuous intrigues , the Royal Boar s eized the Pers ian throne - but was s oon as s as s inated.

In 629, Herac l ius s et out from Cons tantinople wi th his wi fe (als o his niec e) to return the T rue Cros s to J erus alem. He pardoned the J ews of T iberias , where he s tayed in the mans ion of a ric h J ew, Benjam in, who ac c ompanied him to J erus alem, c onverting to Chris tiani ty on the way. T he J ews were prom is edthat there would be no vengeanc e and that they c ould res ide in J erus alem.

On 21 Marc h 630, Herac l ius , now s ixty, exhaus ted and grey, rode up to the Golden Gate, whic h he had bui l t for this s pec ial oc c as ion. T his exquis i te gate bec ame, for al l three Abrahamic rel igions , J erus alem 's mos t potently mys tic al gateway for the arrival of the Mes s iah on the Day of J udgement. * T here theemperor dis mounted to c arry the T rue Cros s into J erus alem. It was s aid that when Herac l ius tried to enter in his Byzantine robes the gate bec ame a s ol id wal l , but when he humbled hims el f i t opened for his imperial proc es s ion. Carpets and aromatic herbs were s pread as Herac l ius del ivered the T rue Cros s to theHoly Sepulc hre, now c leaned up by the patriarc h Modes tos . T he c atas trophe that had befal len the empire and the emperor's return played into a new variant of the ever mal leable vis ion of the Apoc alyps e in whic h a mes s ianic Las t Emperor would s mas h the enemies of Chris tiani ty and then hand power to J es uswho would rule unti l J udgement Day.

T he Chris tians demanded vengeanc e on the J ews , but Herac l ius refus ed unti l the monks took the s in of his broken oath to the J ews upon thems elves as a fas t of atonement. Herac l ius then expel led any remaining J ews ; many were mas s ac red; he later ordered the forc ible c onvers ion of al l J ews .Far away to the s outh, the A rabians had notic ed not s o muc h Herac l ius ' vic tory as his weaknes s . 'T he Romans have been defeated,' dec lared Muhammad, the leader who had jus t uni ted the A rabian tribes , in what bec ame the s ac red text of his new revelation, the Koran. W hi le Herac l ius was in J erus alem,

Muhammad des patc hed a raid up the K ing's Highway to probe Byzantine defenc es . T he A rabs enc ountered a Byzantine detac hment - but they would s oon return.Herac l ius would not have been too alarmed: the divided A rab tribes had been raiding Palaes tina for c enturies . T he Byzantines and Pers ians had both hired A rab tribes as buffer s tates between the empires , and Herac l ius had fielded large s quadrons of A rab c avalry in his arm ies .T he next year, Muhammad s ent another s mal l detac hment to attac k Byzantine terri tory. But he was now old and his s pec tac ular l i fe was near i ts end. Herac l ius left J erus alem and headed bac k to Cons tantinople.

T here s eemed l i ttle to fear.8

PART FOUR

ISLAM

Glory to Him who made His s ervant travel by night from the s ac red plac e of wors hip to the furthes t plac e of wors hip.T he Koran,17.1

T he Apos tle of A l lah, ac c ompanied by Gabriel , was trans ported to J erus alem where he found Abraham and Mos es and the other P rophets .Ibn Is haq, S irat Ras ul A l lah

A ruler was not c ons idered a c al iph unles s he reigned over both the Holy Mos que [Mec c a] and the J erus alem Mos que.S ibani , Fadai l

One day in J erus alem is l ike a thous and days , one month l ike a thous and months , and one year l ike a thous and years . Dying there is l ike dying in the fi rs t s phere of heaven.Kaab al-Ahbar, Fadai l

A s in c ommitted [in J erus alem] is equal to a thous and s ins and a good deed there to a thous and good deeds .Khal id bin Madan al-Kalai , Fadai l

A llah, may he be prais ed, s aid of J erus alem. You are my Garden of Eden, my hal lowed and c hos en land.Kaab al-Ahbar, Fadai l

O J erus alem,I s hal l s end you my s ervant Abd al-Mal ik to rebui ld and adorn you.Kaab al-Ahbar, Fadai l

THE ARAB CONQUEST

630-60

MUHAMMAD: THE NIGHT JOURNEY

Muhammad's father died before he was born and his mother died when he was jus t s ix. But he was adopted by his unc le, who took him on trading trips to Bos ra in Syria. T here he was taught about Chris tiani ty by a monk, s tudied the J ewis h and Chris tian s c riptures , c oming to venerate J erus alem as one of thenobles t of s anc tuaries . In his twenties , a weal thy widow named Khadi ja, muc h older than he, employed him to manage her c aravan trading and then married him . T hey l ived in Mec c a, the home of the Kaaba and i ts blac k s tone, the s anc tuary of a pagan god. T he c i ty thrived on the pi lgrims attrac ted by this c ul t andby c aravan trading. Muhammad was a member of the Qurays h tribe, who provided i ts leading merc hants and c us todians of the s anc tuary, but his Has hemite c lan was not one of the more powerful .

Muhammad, des c ribed as hands ome with c urly hair and beard, pos s es s ed both an al l -c onquering genial i ty - i t was s aid that when he s hook s omeone's hand he never l iked to be the one to let go fi rs t - and a c haris matic s piri tual i ty. He was admired for his integri ty and intel l igenc e - as his warriors later put i t, 'Hewas the bes t among us ' - and he was known as al-Amin, the Rel iable.

As with Mos es , David or J es us , i t is impos s ible now for us to divine the pers onal es s enc e of his s uc c es s , but l ike them, he c ame at the time he was needed. In the J ahi l iya, the T ime of Ignoranc e before his revelation, 'there was nobody more des ti tute than we were,' wrote one of his s oldiers later. 'Our rel igionwas to ki l l one another and raid. T here were thos e among us who would bury their daughters al ive not wanting them to eat our food. T hen God s ent us a wel l -known man.'

Outs ide Mec c a was the Cave of Hira where Muhammad l iked to meditate. In 610, ac c ording to tradi tion, the A rc hangel Gabriel vis i ted him there wi th his fi rs t revelation from the one God who had c hos en him to be his Mes s enger and P rophet. W hen the P rophet rec eived God's revelations , his fac e was s aid tobec ome flus hed, he fel l s i lent, his body lying l imp on the ground, s weat poured down his fac e; he was engul fed by humming s ounds and vis ions - and then he would rec i te his poetic al , divine revelations . Ini tial ly he was terri fied by this , but Khadi ja bel ieved in his voc ation and he s tarted to preac h.

In this rough m i l i tary s oc iety where every boy and man bore arms , the l i terary tradi tion was not wri tten but c ons is ted of a ric h s poken poetry that c elebrated the deeds of honourable warriors , pas s ionate lovers , fearles s hunters . T he P rophet was to harnes s this poetic al tradi tion: his 114 s ura - c hapters - wereini tial ly rec i ted before they were c ol lated into the Koran, 'T he Rec i tation', a c ompendium of exquis i te poetry, s ac red obs c uri ty, c lear ins truc tion and bewi ldering c ontradic tion.

Muhammad was an ins pirational vis ionary who preac hed s ubmis s ion - Is lam - to the one God in return for univers al s alvation, the values of equal i ty and jus tic e, and the vi rtues of pure l iving, wi th eas i ly learned ri tuals and rules for l i fe and death. He welc omed c onverts . He revered the B ible, and regarded Davidand Solomon, Mos es and J es us as prophets , but his revelation s upers eded the earl ier ones . Importantly for the fate of J erus alem, the P rophet s tres s ed the c oming of the Apoc alyps e that he c al led the J udgement, the Las t Day or jus t the Hour, and this urgenc y ins pired the dynamis m of early Is lam. 'T he knowledgeof i t is only wi th God,' s ays the Koran, 'but what wi l l make you real ize the Hour is near?' A l l the J udaeo-Chris tian s c riptures s tres s ed that this c ould take plac e only in J erus alem.

One night, his fol lowers bel ieved that, as he s lept bes ide the Kaaba, Muhammad had a vis ion. T he A rc hangel Gabriel awoke him and together they embarked on a Night J ourney mounted on Buraq, a winged s teed with a human fac e, to the unnamed 'Furthes t Sanc tuary'. T here Muhammad met his 'fathers ' (Adamand Abraham) and his 'brothers ' Mos es , J os eph and J es us , before as c ending by a ladder to heaven. Unl ike J es us , he jus t c al led hims el f the Mes s enger or Apos tle of God, c laim ing no magic al powers . Indeed the Is ra - Night J ourney - and the Miraj - As c ens ion - were his only m irac ulous exploi ts . J erus alem and theT emple are never ac tual ly mentioned but Mus l ims c ame to bel ieve that the Furthes t Sanc tuary was the T emple Mount.

W hen his wi fe and unc le died, Muhammad was expos ed to the dis approval of the ric her fam i l ies of Mec c a, who depended on the Kaaba s tone for their l ivel ihoods . T he Mec c ans tried to ki l l him . But he was c ontac ted by a group from Yathrib, a date-palm oas is to the north founded by J ewis h tribes but als o thehome of pagan artis ans and farmers . T hey as ked him to make peac e between i ts feuding c lans . He and his inner c i rc le of bel ievers departed on the Migration - Hi j ra - to Yathrib, whic h bec ame Madinat un-Nabi, the c i ty of the P rophet - Medina. T here he fus ed his fi rs t devotees , the Emigrants , and new fol lowers , theHelpers , and their J ewis h al l ies , into a new c ommunity, the umma . It was 622, the beginning of the Is lam ic c alendar.

Muhammad was a s ki l led c onc i l iator of men and c o-opter of ideas . Now in Medina, wi th i ts J ewis h c lans , he c reated the fi rs t mos que, * adopting the J erus alem T emple as the fi rs t qibla , the direc tion of prayer. He prayed at Friday s undown - the J ewis h Sabbath - fas ted on the Day of A tonement, banned pork andprac tis ed c irc umc is ion. T he onenes s of Muhammad's God rejec ted the Chris tian T rini ty but other ri tuals - the pros tration on prayer mats - owed muc h to Chris tian monas teries ; his m inarets were perhaps ins pired by the pi l lars of the s tyl i tes ; the fes tival of Ramadan res embled Lent. Yet Is lam was very muc h his own.

Muhammad c reated a s mal l s tate wi th i ts own laws , but he fac ed res is tanc e from Medina and his old home Mec c a. His new s tate needed to defend i ts el f and to c onquer: j ihad - s truggle - was both internal mas tery of s el f and holy war of c onques t. T he Koran promoted not only the des truc tion of infidels but als otoleranc e i f they s ubmitted. T his was relevant bec aus e the J ewis h tribes res is ted Muhammad's revelations and his c ontrol . Henc e he c hanged the qibla to Mec c a and rejec ted the J ewis h way: God had des troyed the J ewis h T emple bec aus e the J ews had s inned s o 'they wi l l not fol low your qibla , J erus alem '.

W hen he fought the Mec c ans , he c ould not afford dis loyal ty in Medina s o he expel led the J ews and made an example of one J ewis h c lan: i ts 700 men were beheaded, i ts women and c hi ldren ens laved. In 630, Muhammad final ly took Mec c a, s preading his monotheis m ac ros s A rabia by c onvers ion and forc e.Muhammad's fol lowers bec ame ever more m i l i tant as they s trove to l ive righteous ly to prepare for the Las t J udgement. Now, having c onquered A rabia, they enc ountered the s inful empires beyond. T he P rophet's early fol lowers , the Emigrants and Helpers , formed his entourage - but he als o welc omed former enemiesand talented opportunis ts wi th equal enthus ias m. Meanwhi le Mus l im tradi tion rec ounts his pers onal l i fe: he had many wives - A is ha, daughter of his al ly Abu Bakr was his favouri te - and took numerous c onc ubines , inc luding beauti ful J ewes s es and Chris tians ; and he had c hi ldren, mos t importantly a daughternamed Fatima.1

In 632 Muhammad, aged about s ixty-two, died and was s uc c eeded by his father-in-law, Abu Bakr, who was ac c laimed Amir al-Muminin, Commander of the Bel ievers .* Muhammad's realm tottered after his death, but Abu Bakr managed to pac i fy A rabia. T hen he turned to the Byzantine and Pers ian empires , whic hthe Mus l ims regarded as evanes c ent, s inful and c orrupt. T he Commander des patc hed c ontingents of warriors on c amels to raid Iraq and Pales tine.

KHALID IBN W ALID: SW ORD OF ISLAM

Somewhere near Gaza, 'there was a battle between the Romans and the nomads of Muhammad', wri tes T homas the P res byter, a Chris tian who in 640 was the fi rs t independent his torian to mention the P rophet.+ 'T he Romans fled.' T he Emperor Herac l ius , s ti l l in Syria, prepared to s mas h thes e A rab arm ies who inturn as ked Abu Bakr for reinforc ements . He c al led for his bes t general , Khal id bin W al id, who was raiding Iraq. Riding s ix days ac ros s the waterles s des ert, Khal id arrived in Pales tine jus t in time.

Khal id was one of the Mec c an aris toc rats who had fought agains t Muhammad but when he final ly c onverted, the P rophet welc omed this dynamic c ommander and c al led him the Sword of Is lam. Khal id was one of thos e s waggering generals who pay l i ttle attention to the orders of their pol i tic al mas ters . T hes equenc e of events is unc lear but he joined up with the other A rab warlords , as s umed c ommand and then defeated a Byzantine detac hment s outh-wes t of J erus alem before s torm ing Damas c us . Far to the s outh in Mec c a, Abu Bakr died and was s uc c eeded by Omar, one of the P rophet's fi rs t c onverts and c los es tc onfidants . T he new Commander of the Bel ievers dis trus ted Khal id, who was amas s ing a fortune, and a legend, and rec al led him to Mec c a: 'Khal id,' he s aid, 'take your property out of our ars e.'

Herac l ius des patc hed an army to s top the A rabs . Omar appointed a new c ommander, Abu Ubayda, and Khal id rejoined the arm ies as his s ubordinate. A fter months of s kirm is hing, the A rabs final ly lured the Byzantines to battle am ids t the impenetrable gorges of the Yarmuk river between today's J ordan, Syriaand Is rael i Golan. 'T his is one of God's battles ,' Khal id told his men - and on 20 Augus t 636, God del ivered a dus ts torm that bl inded the Chris tians who panic ked and bol ted hel ters kel ter over the c l i ffs of the Yarmuk. Khal id c ut off their retreat and by the end of the battle, the Chris tians were s o exhaus ted that theA rabs found them lying down in their c loaks , ripe for the s laughter. Even the emperor's brother was ki l led and Herac l ius hims el f never rec overed from this defeat, one of the dec is ive battles of his tory, that los t Syria and Pales tine. Byzantine rule, weakened by the Pers ian war, s eems to have c ol laps ed l ike a hous e ofc ards and i t is unc lear whether the A rab c onques t was more a triumphant s eries of raids . However intens e the c onques t real ly was , i t was an as tonis hing ac hievement that thes e tiny c ontingents of A rabian c ameleers , s ome of them as s mal l as 1, 000 men, had s mas hed the legions of the Eas tern Rome. But theCommander of the Bel ievers did not res t; he s ent another army northwards to c onquer Pers ia whic h als o fel l to the A rabs .2

In Pales tine, J erus alem alone held out under Patriarc h Sophronius , a Greek intel lec tual who prais ed her in his poetry as 'Zion, radiant Zion of the Univers e'. He c ould s c arc ely bel ieve the dis as ter that had befal len the Chris tians . P reac hing in the Churc h of the Sepulc hre, he denounc ed the s ins of the Chris tiansand the atroc i ties of the A rabs , whom he c al led Sarakenoi in Greek - Sarac ens : 'W henc e c ome thes e wars agains t us ? W henc e multiply barbarian invas ions ? T he s l ime of the godles s Sarac ens has c aptured Bethlehem. T he Sarac ens have ris en up agains t us wi th a beas tly impuls e bec aus e of our s ins . Let usc orrec t ours elves .'

It was too late for that. T he A rabs c onverged on the c i ty whic h they c al led Ilya (Ael ia, the Roman name). T he fi rs t of their c ommanders to bes iege J erus alem was Amr ibn al-As , who after Khaled was their bes t general and another i rrepres s ibly larger-than-l i fe adventurer from the Mec c an nobi l i ty. Amr, l ike theother A rab leaders , knew the area very wel l : he even owned land nearby and had vis i ted J erus alem in his youth. But this was not jus t a ques t for booty.

'T he Hour has drawn nigh,' s ays the Koran. T he early Mus l im Bel ievers ' m i l i tant fanatic is m was s toked by their bel ief in the Las t J udgement. T he Koran did not s tate this s pec i fic al ly but they knew from the J ewis h-Chris tian prophets that i t had to take plac e in J erus alem. If the Hour was upon them, they neededJ erus alem.

Khaled and the other generals joined Amr around the wal ls but the A rab arm ies were probably too s mal l to s torm the c i ty and there does not s eem to have been muc h fighting. Sophronius s imply refus ed to s urrender wi thout a guarantee of toleranc e from the Commander of the Bel ievers hims el f. Amr s ugges teds olving this problem by pas s ing off Khaled as the Commander but he was rec ognized s o Omar was s ummoned from Mec c a.

T he Commander ins pec ted the res t of the A rab arm ies at J abiya in the Golan and J erus alem ites probably met him there to negotiate their s urrender. T he Monophys i te Chris tians , who were the majori ty in Pales tine, hated the Byzantines and i t s eems the early Mos lem Bel ievers were happy to al low freedom ofwors hip to their fel low monotheis ts .* Fol lowing the Koran, Omar offered J erus alem a Covenant -dhimma - of Surrender that prom is ed rel igious toleranc e to the Chris tians in return for payment of the j iz y a tax of s ubmis s ion. Onc e this was agreed, Omar s et out for J erus alem, a giant in ragged, patc hed robes riding amule, wi th jus t one s ervant.

OMAR THE JUST: TEMPLE REGAINED

W hen he s aw J erus alem from Mount Sc opus , Omar ordered his muezzin to give the c al l to prayer. A fter praying, he donned the white robes of the pi lgrim , mounted a whi te c amel and rode down to meet Sophronius . T he Byzantine hierarc hs awaited the c onqueror, their bejewel led robes c ontras ting wi th hispuri tanic al s impl ic i ty. Omar, the hulking Commander of the Bel ievers , a wres tler in his youth, was an implac able as c etic who always c arried a whip. It was s aid that when Muhammad entered a room, women and c hi ldren would c ontinue to laugh and c hat, but when they s aw Omar they fel l s i lent. It was he whos tarted to c ol late the Koran, c reated the Mus l im c alendar and muc h Is lam ic law. He enforc ed far more s evere rules on women than the P rophet hims el f. W hen his own s on got drunk, Omar had him s c ourged with eighty las hes whic h ki l led him .

Sophronius pres ented Omar wi th the keys of the Holy Ci ty. W hen the patriarc h s aw Omar and his ragged hordes of A rab c ameleers and hors emen, he muttered that this was 'the abomination of des olation'. Mos t of them were tribes man from the Hejaz or the Yemen; they travel led l ight and fas t, draped in turbansand c loaks , l iving on i lhiz ( ground c amel hair m ixed with blood and then c ooked). A far c ry from the heavi ly armoured Pers ian and Byzantine c ataphrac t c avalry, only the c ommanders wore c hain-mai l or helmets . T he res t 'rode s haggy s tumpy hors es , their s words highly pol is hed but c overed in a s habby c loths c abbard'. T hey c arried bows and s pears that were bound with c amel s inews , and red c owhide s hields res embl ing 'a thic k red loaf of bread'. T hey c heris hed their broads words , their s ay f, gave them names and s ang poems about them.

P riding thems elves on their unc outhnes s , they wore 'four loc ks of hair' s tuc k up l ike 'the horns of a goat'. W hen they enc ountered ric h c arpets , they rode on to them and c ut them up to make s pear c overings , enjoying the booty - human and material - l ike any other c onquerors . 'Suddenly, I s ens ed the pres enc e of ahuman form hidden under s ome c overs ,' wrote one of them. 'I tear them away and what do I find? A woman l ike a gazel le, radiant l ike the s un. I took her and her c lothes and s urrendered the latter as booty but put in a reques t that the girl s hould be alotted to me. I took her as a c onc ubine.'* T he A rab arm ies had notec hnic al advantages , but they were fanatic al ly motivated.

Sophronius , s ay the tradi tional Mus l im s ourc es , dating from muc h later, es c orted the Sarac en Commander to the Holy Sepulc hre, hoping his vis i tor would admire or even embrac e the perfec t s anc ti ty of Chris tiani ty. W hen Omar's muezzin c al led his s oldiers to prayer, Sophronius invi ted the Commander to praythere, but he is s aid to have refus ed, warning that this would make i t a plac e of Is lam ic wors hip. Omar knew that Muhammad had revered David and Solomon. 'Take me to the s anc tuary of David,' he ordered Sophronius . He and his warriors entered the Temple Mount, probably through the P rophets ' Gate in the s outh,and found i t c ontam inated by 'a dungheap whic h the Chris tians had put there to offend the J ews .'

Omar as ked to be s hown the Holy of Hol ies . A J ewis h c onvert, Kaab al-Ahbar, known as the Rabbi, repl ied that, i f the Commander pres erved 'the wal l ' (perhaps referring to the las t Herodian remains , inc luding the W es tern W al l ), 'I wi l l reveal to him where are the ruins of the Temple.' Kaab s howed Omar thefoundation-s tone of the T emple, the roc k whic h the A rabs c al led the Sakhra.

A ided by his troops , Omar began to c lear the debris to c reate s omewhere to pray. Kaab s ugges ted he plac e this north of the foundation-s tone 's o you wi l l make two qiblas , that of Mos es and that of Muhammad.' 'You s ti l l lean towards the J ews ,' Omar s uppos edly told Kaab, plac ing his fi rs t prayer hous e s outh ofthe roc k, roughly where al-Aqs a Mos que s tands today, s o that i t c learly fac ed Mec c a. Omar had fol lowed Muhammad's wis h to reac h pas t Chris tiani ty to res tore and c o-opt this plac e of anc ient hol ines s , to make the Mus l ims the legi timate heirs of J ewis h s anc ti ty and outflank the Chris tians .

T he s tories of Omar in J erus alem date from over a c entury later when Is lam had formal ized i ts ri tuals in ways that were very dis tinc t from thos e of Chris tiani ty and J udais m. Yet the s tory of Kaab and other J ews , whic h later formed the Is lam ic l i terary tradi tion of Is rai l iy y at, muc h of i t about J erus alem 's greatnes s ,proves that many J ews and probably Chris tians joined Is lam. W e wi l l never know exac tly what happened in thos e early dec ades but the relaxed arrangements in J erus alem and els ewhere s ugges t that there may have been a s urpris ing amount of m ingl ing and s haring amongs t the Peoples of the Book.*

T he Mus l im c onquerors were ini tial ly happy to s hare s hrines with the Chris tians . In Damas c us , they s hared the Churc h of S t J ohn for many years and the Umayyad Mos que there s ti l l c ontains the tomb of S t J ohn the Baptis t. In J erus alem, there are als o ac c ounts of them s haring c hurc hes . T he Cathis maChurc h outs ide the c i ty was ac tual ly equipped with a Mus l im prayer-nic he. Contrary to the Omar legend, i t s eems that the early Mus l ims fi rs t prayed in or bes ide the Churc h of the Holy Sepulc hre before arrangements c ould be made on the T emple Mount.

T he J ews too welc omed the A rabs after c enturies of Byzantine repres s ion. It is s aid that J ews , as wel l as Chris tians , rode in the Mus l im arm ies . Omar's interes t in the Temple Mount unders tandably exc i ted J ewis h hopes , bec aus e the Commander of the Bel ievers not only invi ted the J ews to maintain theTemple Mount but als o al lowed them to pray there wi th the Mus l ims . A wel l -informed A rmenian bis hop, Sebeos , who wrote thi rty years later, c laims that 'the J ews planned to bui ld the Temple of Solomon and, loc ating the Holy of Hol ies , they bui l t (the Temple) wi thout a pedes tal ' - and adds that Omar's fi rs t governorof J erus alem was J ewis h. Omar c ertainly invi ted the leader of T iberias ' J ewis h c ommunity, the Gaon, and s eventy J ewis h fam i l ies to return to J erus alem where they s ettled in the area s outh of the T emple Mount.*

J erus alem was s ti l l impoveris hed and plague-ridden after the Pers ian depredations and i t remained overwhelm ingly Chris tian for many years . Omar als o s ettled A rabs here, es pec ial ly the more s ophis tic ated Qurays h who l iked Pales tine and Syria, whic h they c al led B i lad al-Shams . Some of the P rophet'sc los es t fol lowers , known as the Companions , c ame to J erus alem and were buried in the fi rs t Mus l im c emetery jus t outs ide the Golden Gate, ready for the Day of J udgement. T wo of the famous J erus alem Famil ies , who play s uc h a prom inent role in this s tory right into the twenty-fi rs t c entury, trac e their des c ent fromthes e earl ies t A rab grandees .+3

In J erus alem, Omar was ac c ompanied not only by his generals Khal id and Amr but als o by a pleas ure-loving but c ompetent young man who c ould not have been more di fferent from the whip-wielding Commander. Muawiya ibn Abi Sufyan was a s on of Abu Sufyan, the Mec c an aris toc rat who had led theoppos i tion to Muhammad. Muawiya's mother ate the l iver of the P rophet's unc le Hamza after the Battle of Uhuh. W hen Mec c a s urrendered to Is lam, Muhammad appointed Muawiya as his s ec retary and married his s is ter. A fter Muhammad's death, Omar appointed Muawiya as governor of Syria. T he Commander gavehim a bac khanded c ompl iment: Muawiya, he s aid, was the 'Caes ar of the A rabs '.

THE UMAYYADS: THE TEMPLE RESTORED

660-750

MUAW IYA: ARAB CAESAR

Muawiya ruled J erus alem for forty years , fi rs t as governor of Syria and then as the monarc h of the vas t A rab empire whic h was expanding eas twards and wes twards with as tounding s peed. But in the m ids t of al l of this s uc c es s , a c ivi l war about the s uc c es s ion almos t des troyed Is lam and i t c reated a s c his m thats ti l l divides i t today.

In644, Omar was as s as s inated and his s uc c es s or was Othman, a c ous in of Muawiya. A fter more than ten years , Othman was hated for his nepotis m. W hen he too was as s as s inated, the P rophet's fi rs t c ous in, A l i , who was als o married to his daughter Fatima, was c hos en as Commander of the Bel ievers .Muawiya demanded that A l i punis h the as s as s ins - but the new Commander refus ed. Muawiya feared that he would los e his domain in Syria. He won the ens uing c ivi l war, A l i was ki l led in Iraq, and there ended the reign of the las t of the s o-c al led Righteous Cal iphs .

In J uly 661, the grandees of the A rab empire gathered on the Temple Mount in J erus alem to ac c laim Muawiya as Commander of the Bel ievers and pledge al legianc e in the tradi tional A rab way - the bay ah .* A fterwards the new Commander vis i ted the Holy Sepulc hre and the V irgin Mary's Tomb, not as a pi lgrimbut to s how the c ontinui ty of rel igions and his imperial role as protec tor of the holy plac es . He ruled from Damas c us , but he adored J erus alem whic h he advertis ed on his c oins as 'Il iya Fi las tin' - Ael ia Pales tina. He was tempted to make her his c api tal and i t is l ikely that he often res ided here in one of the luxuriouspalac es jus t s outh of the Temple whic h he may have bui l t. Muawiya borrowed J ewis h tradi tions about the Temple Mount to dec lare that J erus alem was the 'land of ingathering and res urrec tion on J udgement Day', and he added, 'T he area between the two wal ls of this mos que are dearer to God than the res t of theearth.'

Chris tian wri ters hai led his reign as jus t, peac eful and tolerant; J ews c al led him a 'lover of Is rael '. His arm ies c ontained Chris tians ; indeed he c emented his al l ianc e with Chris tian A rab tribes by marrying Mays un, the daughter of their s heikh, and s he was al lowed to remain Chris tian. Moreover, he ruled throughMans ur ibn Sanjun (the A rab for Sergius ), a Chris tian bureauc rat inheri ted from Herac l ius . Muawiya had grown up bes ide the J ews of A rabia, and i t is s aid that when he was vis i ted by one of their delegations he fi rs t as ked them i f they c ould c ook the del ic ious haris dis h whic h he had s o s avoured bac k home.Muawiya s ettled more J ews in J erus alem, perm itting them to pray there on the s i te of the Holy of Hol ies ; the trac es of a menorah on the T emple Mount, dating from the s eventh c entury, may be evidenc e of this .

Muawiya was probably the real c reator of today's Is lam ic Temple Mount. It was he who ac tual ly bui l t the fi rs t mos que there, flattening the roc k of the old Antonia Fortres s , extending the es planade and adding an open-s ided hexagon, the Dome of the Chain: no one knows what i t was for but s inc e i t is in theprec is e m iddle of the Temple Mount, i t may c elebrate the c entre of the world. Muawiya, wri tes a c ontemporary, 'hews Mount Moriah and makes i t s traight and bui lds a mos que there on the holy roc k'. W hen a Gal l ic bis hop named A rc ul f vis i ted J erus alem, he s aw that 'in the former plac e where the Temple s tood, theSarac ens now frequent an oblong hous e of prayer piec ed together wi th upright planks and large beams over s ome ruined remains , s aid to hold 3, 000 people.' It was s c arc ely yet rec ognizable as a mos que but i t probably s tood where al-Aqs a s tands today.*

Muawiya pers oni fied hi lm, the wis dom and patienc e of the A rab s heikh: 'I apply not my s word when my las h s uffic es nor my las h when my tongue s uffic es . And even i f but one hair is binding me to my fel low men, I don't let i t break. W hen they pul l , I loos en, i f they loos en I pul l .' T his is almos t a defini tion ofs tates mans hip and Muawiya, the c reator of A rab monarc hy and the fi rs t of the Umayyad dynas ty, is a muc h-neglec ted paragon of how abs olute power does not have to c orrupt abs olutely. He expanded his realm into eas tern Pers ia, Central As ia and north A fric a and he took Cyprus and Rhodes , making the A rabs amari time power wi th his new navy. He launc hed annual as s aul ts on Cons tantinople, and on one oc c as ion bes ieged i t by land and s ea for three years .

Yet Muawiya never los t the abi l i ty to laugh at hims el f, a qual i ty that is rare amongs t pol i tic ians , let alone c onquerors . He bec ame very fat (perhaps for this reas on he bec ame the fi rs t A rab monarc h to rec l ine on a throne ins tead of s i tting on c us hions ) and teas ed another fat old grandee: 'I'd l ike a s lavegirl wi thlegs l ike yours .'

'And a bottom l ike yours , Commander of the Bel ievers ,' retorted the old man.'Fair enough,' laughed Muawiya. 'If you s tart s omething, you have to take the c ons equenc es .' He never los t his pride in his legendary s exual prowes s but even there he c ould take s ome moc kery: he was c avorting wi th a Khuras ani gi rl in his harem when he was pres ented with another whom he took without further

ado. W hen s he had left, he turned bac k to the Khuras ani gi rl , proud of his leonine performanc e: 'How do you s ay "l ion" in Pers ian?' he as ked her.'Kaftar,' s he repl ied.'I'm a k aftar,' the Commander boas ted to his c ourtiers unti l s omeone as ked him i f he knew what a k aftar was .'A l ion?''No, a lame hyena! ''W el l done,' Muawiya c huc kled, 'that Khuras ani gi rl knew how to get her own bac k.'W hen he died in his eighties , his heir Yazid, a debauc hee always ac c ompanied by a pet monkey, was ac c laimed Commander on the Temple Mount but s oon fac ed two rebel l ions in A rabia and Iraq, the s tart of Is lam 's s ec ond c ivi l war. His enemies taunted him : 'Yazid of l iquors , Yazid of whoring, Yazid of dogs ,

Yazid of monkeys , Yazid of wine-s woons .'

T he P rophet's grands on Hus s ein rebel led to avenge his father A l i 's death, but was beheaded at Karbala in Iraq, his martyrdom c reating Is lam 's great s c his m between the majori ty of Sunni and the Shia, 'the party of A l i '.* But in 683 Yazid died young, at whic h the Syrian arm ies s ummoned his s hrewd old kins manMarwan to bec ome the Commander. W hen Marwan died in Apri l 685, his s on Abd al-Mal ik was ac c laimed as Commander in Damas c us and J erus alem. But his empire was fragi le: Mec c a, Iraq and Pers ia were c ontrol led by rebels . Yet i t was Abd al-Mal ik who gave Is lam ic J erus alem the jewel in her c rown.4

ABD AL-MALIK: THE DOME OF THE ROCK

Abd al-Mal ik did not s uffer fools gladly. W hen a s yc ophant c ompl imented him , he s napped, 'Don't flatter me. I know mys el f better than you.' Ac c ording to the image on his rare c oins , he was s evere, thin and hook-nos ed. His hair was c urly, s houlder length, and he wore long broc aded robes with a s word at his bel t,but his c ri tic s later c laimed that he had big eyes , eyebrows grown together, a protruding nos e and a c left l ip. Yet here was another royal lover who l iked to mus e on erotic is m: 'He who wis hes to take a s lave girl for pleas ure, let him take a Berber; to produc e a c hi ld, take a Pers ian; as a domes tic s ervant, a Byzantine.'Abd al-Mal ik grew up in a rough s c hool . A t s ixteen, he was c ommanding an army agains t the Byzantines ; he witnes s ed the murder of his c ous in, Commander of the Bel ievers Othman; and matured into a s ac red monarc h never afraid to get his hands dirty. He s tarted by rec onquering Iraq and Iran. W hen he c aptureda leading rebel , he publ ic ly tortured him in front of the Damas c ene c rowds , plac ed a s i lver c ol lar around his nec k and led him around l ike a dog before 's traddl ing his c hes t, butc hering him and tos s ing his head out to his s upporters '.

Mec c a remained for the moment beyond his c ontrol , but he pos s es s ed J erus alem, whic h he revered as muc h as Muawiya had. Abd al-Mal ik envis aged the c reation of a uni ted Is lam ic empire out of a s ec ond c ivi l war, wi th B i lad al-Shams - Syria-Pales tine - as i ts heart: he planned a highway between J erus alemand Damas c us .* Muawiya had planned to bui ld over the Roc k: now Abd al-Mal ik as s igned s even years ' worth of his Egyptian revenues to c reate the Dome of the Roc k.

T he plan was exquis i tely s imple: a dome, 65 feet in diameter s upported by a drum, al l res ting on oc tagonal wal ls . T he Dome's beauty, power and s impl ic i ty are equal led by i ts mys tery: we do not know exac tly why Abd al-Mal ik bui l t i t - he never s aid. It is not ac tual ly a mos que but a s hrine. Its oc tagonal s haperes embles a Chris tian martyrium, indeed i ts dome ec hoes thos e of the Holy Sepulc hre and Hagia Sofia in Cons tantinople yet i ts c i rc ular walkways des igned for c i rc umambulation rec al l the Kaaba of Mec c a.

T he Roc k was the s i te of Adam 's paradis e, Abraham 's al tar, the plac e where David and Solomon planned their T emple later vis i ted by Muhammad on his Night J ourney. Abd al-Mal ik was rebui lding the J ewis h T emple for the true revelation of God, Is lam.T he bui lding has no c entral axis but is enc irc led thric e - fi rs t by the outs ide wal ls , next by the oc tagonal arc ade and then right under the dome, bathed in s unl ight, the arc ade around the Roc k i ts el f: this dec lared that this plac e was the c entre of the world. T he dome i ts el f was heaven, the l ink to God in human

arc hi tec ture. T he golden dome and the lus h dec orations and gleaming white marble dec lared this was the new Eden, and the plac e for the Las t J udgement when Abd al-Mal ik and his Umayyad dynas ty, would s urrender their kingdom to God at the Hour of the Las t Days . Its weal th of images - jewels , trees , frui t,flowers and c rowns - make i t a joyful bui lding even for non-Mus l ims - i ts imagery c ombined the s ens ual i ty of Eden with the majes ty of David and Solomon.

T he Dome's mes s age was therefore als o imperial : s inc e he had not regained Mec c a from his rebels , he was dec laring the grandeur and permanenc e of his dynas ty to the Is lam ic world - and pos s ibly, i f he had not retaken the Kaaba, he m ight have made this his new Mec c a. T he gold dome projec ted his gloryas an Is lam ic emperor. But i t had a wider audienc e: jus t as J us tinian's Hagia Sofia in Cons tantinople had s urpas s ed Solomon, s o Abd al-Mal ik was s urpas s ing J us tinian, and Cons tantine the Great too, a rebuke of the Chris tian c laim to be the new Is rael . Ironic al ly, the mos aic s were probably the work of Byzantinec rafts men, lent to the Commander by J us tinian II during a rare peac e between the empires .

A fter i t was finis hed in 691/2, J erus alem was never the s ame again: Abd al-Mal ik's as tonis hing vis ion s eized the s kyl ine of J erus alem for Is lam by bui lding on the mountain, dis dained by the Byzantines , whic h ruled the c i ty. Phys ic al ly the Dome dominated J erus alem and overs hadowed the Churc h of the HolySepulc hre - and that was Abd al-Mal ik's purpos e, bel ieved later J erus alem ites s uc h as the wri ter al -Muqaddas i . It worked: henc eforth right up into the twenty-fi rs t c entury, the Mus l ims moc ked the Churc h of the Holy Sepulc hre - the Kay amah in A rabic - c al l ing i t the Kumamah - the Dungheap. T he Dome bothc omplemented and vanquis hed the rival yet related c laims of J ews and Chris tians , s o Abd al-Mal ik c onfronted both wi th the s uperior novel ty of Is lam. Circ l ing the bui lding, he plac ed 800 feet of ins c riptions that denounc e the idea of the divini ty of J es us with a direc tnes s that hints at the c los e relations hip betweenthe two fai ths of monotheis ts : they s hared muc h but not the T rini ty. T he ins c riptions are fas c inating bec aus e they are our fi rs t gl imps e at the text of the Koran whic h Abd al-Mal ik was having c ol lated into i ts final form.

T he J ews were les s important imperial ly but more important theologic al ly. T he Dome was maintained by 300 blac k s laves as s is ted by twenty J ews and ten Chris tians . T he J ews c ould not help but s ee the Dome with hope: was i t their new Temple? T hey were s ti l l al lowed to pray there and the Umayyadsc reated an Is lam ic vers ion of the T emple ri tuals of puri fic ation, anointment and c irc umambulation of the s tone.*

T he Dome has a power beyond al l this : i t ranks as one of the mos t timeles s mas terpiec es of arc hi tec tural art; i ts radianc e is the c ynos ure of al l eyes wherever one s tands in J erus alem. It s himmers l ike a mys tic al palac e ris ing out of the airy and s erene s pac e of the es planade whic h immediately bec ame anenormous open-air mos que, s anc ti fying al l the s pac e around i t. T he Temple Mount bec ame ins tantly - and s ti l l remains - a plac e for rec reation and relaxation. Indeed the Dome c reated an earthly paradis e that c ombined the tranqui l l i ty and s ens ual i ty of this world wi th the s anc ti ty of the hereafter, and that was i tsgenius . Even in i ts earl ies t years , there was , wrote Ibn As akir, no greater pleas ure than 'eating a banana in the s hade of the Dome of the Roc k'. It ranks with the Temples of Solomon and Herod as one of the mos t s uc es s ful s ac red-imperial edi fic es ever bui l t and, in the twenty-fi rs t c entury, i t has bec ome the ul timates ec ular touris tic s ymbol, the s hrine of res urgent Is lam and the totem of Pales tinian national is m: i t s ti l l defines J erus alem today.

Soon after the Dome was bui l t, Abd al-Mal ik's arm ies rec aptured Mec c a and res umed the j ihad to s pread God's kingdom agains t the Byzantines . He expanded this c olos s al empire wes tward ac ros s northern A fric a and eas tward into S ind (today's Pakis tan). But wi thin his realm , he needed to uni fy the Hous e ofIs lam as a s ingle Mus l im rel igion with an emphas is on Muhammad, expres s ed in the double s hahada that now appeared on many ins c riptions : 'T here is no God but God, and Muhammad is the apos tle of God.' T he P rophet's s ayings -hadith - were c ol lec ted and Abd al-Mal ik's ful l edi tion of the Koran bec ame theinvinc ible s ourc e of legi timac y and hol ines s . Ri tuals bec ame more rigidly defined; graven images banned - he s topped m inting c oins bearing his own image. Abd al-Mal ik now c al led hims el f Khal i fat A l lah, God's Deputy, and henc eforth Is lam ic rulers bec ame the c al iphs . T he offic ial vers ions of Muhammad'searl ies t biography and the Mus l im Conques t exc luded the Chris tians and J ews from Is lam. T he adminis tration was A rabized. Like Cons tantine, J os iah and S t Paul rol led into one, Abd al-Mal ik bel ieved in a univers al empire of one monarc h, one God, and i t was he more than anyone who overs aw the evolution ofMuhammad's c ommunity into today's Is lam.

W ALID: APOCALYPSE AND LUXURY

J erus alem had a s hrine in the Dome but not an imperial mos que, s o Abd al-Mal ik and his s on W al id, who s uc c eeded him , next bui l t the Further Mos que, al-Aqs a, J erus alem 's mos que for ordinary Friday prayers , at the s outhern boundary of the T emple Mount. T he c al iphs s aw the T emple Mount as the c entrepiec e ofJ erus alem jus t as Herod had. For the fi rs t time s inc e ad 70, they bui l t a new Great B ridge ac ros s the val ley for pi lgrims to enter the T emple Mount from the wes t, over W i ls on's A rc h, today's Gate of the Chain. T o enter from the s outh, they c reated the domed Double Gates , whic h matc hed the Golden Gate in s tyle andbeauty.*

T his was a vibrant moment in J erus alem. In the s pac e of a few years , the c al iphs had turned the Temple Mount into a holy Is lam ic s hrine and J erus alem into an imperial -Umayyad c i ty and this onc e again unleas hed the infec tious c ompeti tion for s hrines and s tories that c harac terizes J erus alem even today.T he Chris tians had c ommandeered many of the J ewis h myths whic h were gradual ly plac ed at their c entral s hrine, the Sepulc hre. But now the rais ing of the Dome and al-Aqs a reinvigorated the old myths al l over again: a footprint on the Roc k that had onc e been s hown to Chris tian pi lgrims as the mark of J es usbec ame the footprint of Muhammad. T he Umayyads c overed the Temple Mount wi th new domes al l l inked to B ibl ic al tradi tions from Adam and Abraham via David and Solomon to J es us . T heir s c enario of the Las t J udgement took plac e on the Temple Mount when the Kaaba would c ome to J erus alem. * And i t wasnot jus t the Temple Mount: the Mus l ims c ame to revere anything as s oc iated with David, s o now they regarded the Citadel , whic h the Chris tians c al led David's Tower, as David's Mihrab (prayer-nic he): they were not the las t to m is take Herod's grandeur for David's . T he Umayyads did not jus t bui ld for God but als o forthems elves .

T hes e c al iphs were pleas ure-loving and c ul tured: this was the apogee of their A rab empire - even Spain was now theirs - and though Damas c us was their c api tal , they s pent muc h time in J erus alem. J us t s outh of the Temple Mount, W al id I and his s on bui l t a c omplex of palac es , unknown unti l they wereunc overed in the late 1960s : they s tood three or four s toreys high around c ool c ourtyards and the c al iphs even had a s pec ial royal entranc e to al-Aqs a via a rooftop bridge. T he remains reveal nothing more than the s ize of the palac es , but the s urvival of their des ert palac es reveal how opulently they would have l ivedhere.5

T he mos t luxurious des ert palac e or qas r s urvives at Amra, in today's J ordan, where the c al iphs relaxed in private quarters and bathhous es dec orated with mos aic floors and graphic paintings depic ting hunting s c enes , nude or hal f-dres s ed women, athletes , c upids , s atyrs and a bear playing the lute. W al id Iappears in the c olourful fres c o of S ix K ings s howing monarc hs defeated by the Umayyads s uc h as the emperors of Cons tantinople and China. T hes e dec adent, Hel lenis tic paintings s eem dis tinc tly unIs lam ic , but, l ike the Herods , they perhaps l ived di fferently in publ ic . W al id I ended the s haring arrangement wi ththe Chris tians in Damas c us , c reating the glorious Umayyad Mos que there, and the language of government now c hanged from Greek to A rabic . Yet J erus alem remained overwhelm ingly Chris tian. Mus l ims and Chris tians m ixed freely: both c elebrated the feas t of the Dedic ation of the Holy Sepulc hre in September,attrac ting 'a great c rowd to J erus alem ', the s treets fi l l ing wi th 'c amels and hors es , as s es and oxen'. Chris tian pi lgrims , now more A rmenian and Georgian than Greek, s c arc ely notic ed the Mus l im s i tes , whi le J ews hardly mention the Chris tians . Henc eforth vis i tors tended to be inc reas ingly bl inkered and unc uriouspi lgrims who s aw no more than their own rel igion.

In 715, W al id's brother, Suleiman, rec eived the ac c lamation on the Temple Mount: 'Never had one s een s uc h ric hnes s that greeted the new Cal iph. Seated under one of the domes that ornament the platform, he held an audienc e' on a s ea of c arpets and c us hions with his treas ury pi led around him to pay hiss oldiers . Suleiman, who made the las t ful l -s c ale A rab as s aul t on Cons tantinople (and almos t c aptured i t), 'c onc eived the plan of l iving in J erus alem and making i t his c api tal and bringing together there great weal th and a c ons iderable population'. He founded the c i ty of Ramla as an adminis trative c entre, but diedbefore he c ould move to J erus alem.

J ews , many of them from Iran and Iraq, s ettled in the Holy Ci ty, l iving together s outh of the Temple Mount, retaining the privi lege of praying on (and maintaining) the Temple Mount. But in about 720, after almos t a c entury of freedom to pray there, the new Cal iph Omar II, who was , unus ual ly in this dec adentdynas ty, an as c etic s tic kler for Is lam ic orthodoxy, banned J ewis h wors hip - and this prohibi tion would s tand for the res t of Is lam ic rule. Ins tead the J ews s tarted to pray around the four wal ls of the Temple Mount and in a s ubterranean s ynagogue c al led ha-Meara - the Cave - at W arren's Gate, almos t beneath theT emple Mount near the Holy of Hol ies .

W hi le the Umayyad c al iphs enjoyed their Hel lenis tic palac es and danc ing girls , the empire reac hed i ts l im i ts for the fi rs t time. Is lam ic forc es in Spain were already probing Franc e, but in 732, a Frankis h nobleman, Charles , Mayor of the Palac e of the Merovingian kings , defeated a Mus l im raid at Tours . Hai ledas a Mac c abee, he bec ame Charles Martel - the Hammer.

'Dynas ties ,' wri tes the A rab his torian Ibn Khaldun, 'have a natural l i fes pan l ike individuals ' and now the dec adent, worldly Umayyads had reac hed the end of theirs . In a vi l lage eas t of the J ordan l ived the des c endants of Abbas , the P rophet's unc le who had long s ec retly oppos ed the hedonis tic rule of theUmayyads , who were total ly unrelated to Muhammad. 'W oe to the Hous e of Umayya,' dec lared their leader Abu al-Abbas , 'they preferred the ephemeral to the eternal ; c rime obs es s ed them; they pos s es s ed forbidden women.' T he dis c ontent s pread fas t. Even the tribes of the loyal Syrian heartland rebel led - evenJ erus alem. T he las t c al iph had to s torm the c i ty and raze her wal ls . An earthquake s hook J erus alem damaging al-Aqs a and the palac es as i f God was angry wi th the Umayyads . Chris tians and J ews dreamed that this was the Apoc alyps e. But s o did Mus l ims , and the real threat to the Umayyads c ame from far awayto the eas t.

In 748, in Khoras an, today's eas tern Iran and A fghanis tan, a c haris matic mys tic named Abu Mus l im demanded a s terner Is lam and the rule by one of Muhammad's des c endants . T he new Mus l ims of the borderlands joined his puri tanic al army, whic h dres s ed al l in blac k and marc hed under blac k banners andhai led the c oming of the imam, prec urs or of the Mahdi, * to redeem Is lam. Abu Mus l im led his triumphant arm ies wes twards but he had not yet dec ided whether to bac k the fam i ly of A l i or the fam i ly of Abbas - and there were s ti l l many Umayyad princ es around too. But i t was Abu al-Abbas who defeated the las tUmayyad ruler and s olved this problem in a way that earned him his nic kname.6

THE ABBASIDS: DISTANT MASTERS

750-969

CALIPH SAFFAH: THE SLAUGHTERER

Abu al-Abbas dec lared hims el f c al iph and invi ted the Umayyads to a banquet to dec lare his peac eful intentions . In the m ids t of the feas t, the waiters drew out c lubs and s words and butc hered the enti re fam i ly, tos s ing the bodies into the lamb s tew. T he S laughterer hims el f died s oon afterwards but his brotherMans ur, the V ic torious , s ys tematic al ly murdered the A l id fam i ly and then l iquidated the overm ighty Abu Mus l im too. His perfum ier, J amra, later told how Mans ur kept the keys of a s ec ret s toreroom whic h was to be opened only on his death. T here his s on later found a vaul ted c hamber fi l led wi th the bodies , eac hmetic ulous ly label led, of the fam i ly of A l i from old men to infants , whom Mans ur had ki l led, al l pres erved in the hot dry air.

W iry wi th brown, weather-beaten s kin and s affron-dyed hair, Mans ur was the real father of the Abbas id dynas ty that ruled for many c enturies , but his power-bas e was to the eas t: he moved his c api tal to his new Round City, Baghdad.

Soon after s eizing power, Mans ur vis i ted J erus alem. T here he repaired the damaged Aqs a, but paid for this work by melting the gold and s i lver doors of the Dome of the Roc k given by Abd al-Mal ik. Mans ur's s uc c es s ors no longer bothered to vis i t. J us t as the c i ty dim inis hed in the Is lam ic world, * a wes ternemperor revived the Chris tian fas c ination with J erus alem.7

THE EMPEROR AND THE CALIPH: CHARLEMAGNE AND HAROUN AL-RASHID

On Chris tmas Day 800, Charles the Great, known as Charlemagne, the K ing of the Franks , who ruled mos t of modern Franc e, Germany and Italy, was c rowned emperor of the Romans by the pope in Rome. T his c eremony marked the new c onfidenc e of the popes and their wes tern Latin-bas ed Chris tiani ty that wouldbec ome Cathol ic is m - and their growing di fferenc es with the Greek-s peaking Orthodox of Cons tantinople. Charlemagne was a merc i les s warrior-king hac king his way to ever-greater power, yet he was als o fas c inated with his tory, and as devout as he was ambitious : he s aw hims el f as the heir to the m is s ions ofCons tantine and J us tinian to bec ome the univers al holy Roman emperor, and as a latter-day K ing David - and both thes e as pirations led to the Holy Ci ty. So earl ier on the s ame Chris tmas Day, i t was s aid that a delegation s ent by the Patriarc h of J erus alem had pres ented him with the keys of the Holy Sepulc hre.Rome and J erus alem in one day was no mean feat.

T his was not a bid for pos s es s ion bec aus e the patriarc h had the bles s ing of J erus alem 's ruler, Cal iph Haroun al-Ras hid whos e reign, rec ounted in the Thous and and One Nights , was the apogee of the Abbas id empire. Charlemagne and the c al iph had been exc hanging envoys for three years : Haroun wasprobably keen to play off the Franks agains t his enemies in Cons tantinople and J erus alem 's Chris tians needed Charlemagne's help.

T he c al iph s ent Charlemagne an elephant and an as trolabe water c loc k, a s ophis tic ated devic e that s howed off Is lam ic s uperiori ty - and alarmed s ome of the prim itive Chris tians as a c ontraption of diabol ic al s orc ery. T he two emperors did not s ign a formal treaty, but Chris tian property in J erus alem was l is tedand protec ted, whi le Charlemagne paid the enti re pol l tax for the c i ty's Chris tians - 850 dinars . In return Haroun al lowed him to c reate a Chris tian quarter around the Holy Sepulc hre, wi th a c onvent, l ibrary and pi lgrims ' hos tel , s taffed by 150 monks and s eventeen nuns . 'T he Chris tians and pagans ', noted one pi lgrim ,'have this kind of peac e between them.' T his generos i ty generated the s tory that Charlemagne had c overtly vis i ted J erus alem, making him the heir of Herac l ius , and playing into the mys tic al legend of the Las t Emperor whos e reign would herald the End Days . T his was widely bel ieved, partic ularly in the age of theCrus ades , but Charlemagne never did vis i t J erus alem.8

W hen Haroun died, the c ivi l war between his s ons was won by Maamun. T he new c al iph was an enthus ias tic s tudent of s c ienc e, founding the famous l i terary-s c ienti fic ac ademy, the Hous e of W is dom, c ommis s ioning a world map and ordering his s ages to c alc ulate the c i rc umferenc e of the globe. * In 831,arriving in Syria to organize a c ampaign agains t Cons tantinople, Maamun probably vis i ted J erus alem, where he bui l t new gates on the T emple Mount, but he eras ed Abd al-Mal ik's name in the Dome to emphas ize the s uperiori ty of the Abbas ids and had i t replac ed with his own. He did not jus t take his name, he als opurloined his gold from the Dome whic h remained a grey lead c olour for over a thous and years . It got i ts gold bac k in the 1960s - but Abd al-Mal ik never got his name bac k and Maamun's remains there to this day.9

T his s leight of hand did not al ter the s l ippage of Abbas id power. J us t two years later, a peas ant rebel leader was welc omed in J erus alem by al l three rel igions unti l , in 841, he pi l laged the c i ty, at whic h mos t of the inhabi tants fled. T he Sepulc hre was s aved only by a bribe from the patriarc h. But the A rabc al iphs had los t their grip. In 877, Ahmed ibn T ulun, the s on of a T urkis h s lave who had bec ome ruler of Egypt under the nominal aegis of the c al iph, retook J erus alem.10

KAFUR: THE SCENTED EUNUCH

Ibn T ulun was one of the T urks who gradual ly replac ed the A rabs as the power in the Is lam ic empire. Maamun's s uc c es s or Mus tas im had s tarted to rec rui t s lave boys - they were known as ghulam, pageboy - from among the newly Mus l im T urkis h hors e-arc hers of Central As ia. T hes e warriors of As iatic appearanc ebec ame fi rs t the praetorian guard, then the s trongmen of the c al iphate.

A fter Ibn T ulun's s on and heir was as s as s inated by his eunuc hs , 11 a T urkis h s trongman Muhammad ibn T ughj , known by the Central As ian ti tle of princ e - al -Ikhs hid - c ame to rule Egypt and J erus alem. T he pol i tic al ins tabi l i ty intens i fied rel igious c ompeti tion. In 935, an annexe to the Holy Sepulc hre wasforc ibly c onverted into a mos que. T hree years later, Mus l ims attac ked Chris tians c elebrating Palm Sunday, looting and damaging the Churc h. T he J ews were now s pl i t between the tradi tional Rabbanites , led by the s c holar-judges known as the gaons , who l ived by the Talmud, the oral tradi tions , and the Karai tes , anew s ec t who rejec ted any law exc ept the Torah (henc e their name means the 'readers ') and bel ieved in a return to Zion. * T hes e T urkis h rulers favoured the Karai tes , and jus t to c ompl ic ate matters there was als o a new c ommunity of Khazars + with their own s ynagogue in the J ewis h Quarter. W hen the Ikhs hid diedin 946, aged s ixty-four, he was buried in J erus alem and his power pas s ed to a negro eunuc h whos e s oubriquet derived from his tas te for perfume and make-up.

Abul-Mis k Kafur, who was to rule Egypt, Pales tine and Syria for over twenty years , was an E thiopian s lave bought as a c hi ld by the Ikhs hid. Deformed, obes e and malodorous , he s plas hed on s o muc h white c amphor and blac k mus k that his mas ter renamed him after them. His ris e began when s ome exoticanimals arrived for the Ikhs hid. A l l the other s ervants rus hed to admire them, but the A fric an boy never took his eyes off his mas ter, awaiting the s l ightes t c ommand. T he Ikhs hid appointed him tutor to his s ons , then c ommander of the arm ies that c onquered Pales tine and Syria, and final ly regent wi th the ti tle of theMas ter. Onc e in power, the eunuc h c ul tivated Is lam ic piety, res toring the wal ls of the Temple Mount, whi le patronizing the arts . However, to the north, the Byzantines had been reinvigorated by a s uc c es s ion of outs tanding s oldier-emperors who raided s outhwards towards Syria, threatening to take J erus alem, whic hs et off anti -Chris tian riots . In 966, Kafur's governor s tarted to s queeze the Chris tians , demanding ever-greater payments from Patriarc h J ohn, who appealed to Kafur. But when J ohn was c aught c orres ponding with Cons tantinople, the governor, s upported by the J ews (who hated Byzantines ), attac ked the Sepulc hreand burned the patriarc h at the s take.

In Cairo, the fragrant eunuc h was now ai l ing. A fter the death of the las t of the Ikhs hids , Kafur as c ended the throne in his own right. T he fi rs t Mus l im king to be born a s lave - or for that matter to be a eunuc h - employed a J ewis h m inis ter who would bec ome the mas term ind of an Is lam ic revolution and of a newempire over J erus alem.12

THE FATIMIDS: TOLERANCE AND LUNACY

969-1099

IBN KILLIS : THE JEW ISH V IZIER AND THE FATIMID CONQUEST

T he s on of a J ewis h merc hant from Baghdad, Yaqub ben Yus uf, known as Ibn K i l l is , had enjoyed a rol lerc oas ter c areer, from bankrupt mountebank in Syria to financ ial advis er to Kafur in Egypt. 'W ere he a Mus l im ,' s aid Kafur, 'he'd have been the right man for vizier [c hief m inis ter].' Ibn K i l l is took the hint andc onverted, but the eunuc h died, being buried in J erus alem, * and Ibn K i l l is was impris oned. Having bribed his way out of jai l , he s ec retly travel led wes twards to the Shi i te kingdom in modern T unis ia ruled by the Fatim id fam i ly. T he ever-flexible Ibn K i l l is c onverted to Shia and advis ed the Fatim id c al iph Muizz thatthe time was ripe to take Egypt.13 In J une 969, Muizz's general J awhar al-S iqi l l i c onquered Egypt and then advanc ed north to take J erus alem.14

PALTIEL AND THE FATIMIDS: JEW ISH DOCTOR-PRINCES AND THE LIV ING IMAMS

T he mes s ianic Fatim ids , the new mas ters of J erus alem, were unl ike any other Is lam ic dynas ty for they not only dec lared thems elves c al iphs , they were als o s ac red kings , the Living Imams , almos t s us pended between man and heaven. V is i tors to their c ourts were s hown through c ourtyards of inc reas ingly eye-watering luxury before they c ame to a gold-c urtained throne at whic h they pros trated thems elves and the c urtains were drawn to reveal the Living Imam in golden robes . T heir s ec t was s ec retive, their bel iefs mys tic al , redemptionis t and es oteric , and their ris e to power mys terious , c landes tine and fi l led wi thadventure. In 899, a ric h merc hant in Syria, Ubayd A l lah, dec lared hims el f the Living Imam, direc t des c endant of A l i and Fatima, the P rophet's daughter, via the Imam Is mai l , henc e they were known as Is mai l i Shi i tes . His s ec ret agents , the s o-c al led daw a , fanned out ac ros s the eas t, c onquering Yemen andc onverting s ome Berber tribes men in T unis ia; but the Abbas ids tried to ki l l him , s o he vanis hed. Some years later, he or s omeone c laim ing to be him reappeared in T unis ia as al-Mahdi, the Chos en, founding his own c al iphate whic h s tarted to c onquer a new empire wi th a s ac red m is s ion: to overthrow the fals eAbbas ids of Baghdad and redeem the world. In 973, the Cal iph Muizz, now ruler of s wathes of north A fric a, S ic i ly, Egypt, Pales tine and Syria, moved to his new c api tal , al -Qahira al-Muizziyya - the Conques t of Muizz, known today as Cairo.

His s uc c es s or, Aziz, appointed their c ons igl iere, Ibn K i l l is , as grand vizier, c hief m inis ter of the empire whic h he ruled unti l his death almos t twenty years later. Apart from his immens e wealth - he owned 8, 000 female s laves , he was a s c holar who debated rel igion with J ewis h and Chris tian c leric s and hisc areer pers oni fies the toleranc e of the Fatim ids , being s ec tarians thems elves , towards J ews and Chris tians that was immediately fel t in J erus alem.

T he J ews in J erus alem were divided, poor and des perate, whi le their Egyptian brethren flouris hed under the Fatim ids . T hey s tarted to provide the doc tors for the c al iphs of Cairo: thes e were more than jus t royal phys ic ians . T hey tended to be s c holar-merc hants who bec ame influential c ourtiers and were us ual lyappointed c hief of the J ews of the Fatim id empire, a pos t known as the nagid , the princ e. A J ew of mys terious origins named Pal tiel was probably the fi rs t of thes e doc tor-c ourtier-princ es . A protege of J awhar, the Fatim id c onqueror of J erus alem, he immediately intervened to help the J ews in the Holy Ci ty.

A fter years of Abbas id neglec t and the inc ons is tent patronage of T urkis h rulers , J erus alem was dim inis hed and uns table. T he c ons tant wars between the c al iphs of Cairo and Baghdad dis c ouraged pi lgrims ; Bedouin raids s ometimes overran the c i ty for s hort periods ; and in 974, the dynamic Byzantine EmperorJ ohn T zim is kes c aptured Damas c us and gal loped into Gal i lee, prom is ing his 'intent to del iver the Holy Sepulc hre of Chris t our God from the bondage of the Mus l im '. He was c los e; J erus alem waited, but he never c ame.

T he Fatim ids enc ouraged the pi lgrimages of their fel low Is mai l is and Shi i tes to the Mos que of J erus alem but the wars agains t Baghdad c ut off the c i ty from Sunni pi lgrims . T he very is olation of J erus alem s omehow intens i fied her s anc ti ty: Is lam ic wri ters now c ompi led more popular anthologies of J erus alem 's'meri ts ' - the Fadai l - and they gave her new names : s he was s ti l l Il iya and Bayt al-Maqdis , the Holy Hous e, but s he now bec ame al-Balat, the Palac e, too. Yet Chris tian pi lgrims were bec oming ric her and more numerous than the rul ing Mus l ims - Franks s ai led from Europe and ric h c aravans arrived every Eas ter fromEgypt.

T he J ews too looked to their s aviours in Cairo where Pal tiel now pers uaded the Cal iph to pay a s ubs idy to the impoveris hed gaon and Ac ademy of J erus alem. He won the right for J ews there to buy a s ynagogue on the Mount of Ol ives , to gather c los e to Abols om 's P i l lar and als o to pray at the Golden Gate onthe eas tern wal l of the Temple Mount. A t fes tivals the J ews were al lowed to enc irc le the old Temple s even times but their main s ynagogue remained 'the inner al tar of the s anc tuary at the wes tern wal l ': the Cave. T he J ews had been s c arc ely tolerated under the Abbas ids but now, poor as they were, they had morefreedom than they had enjoyed for two c enturies . Sadly, the Rabbanites and Karai tes , who were s pec ial ly favoured by the Fatim ids , fel low s ec tarians , held s eparate s ervic es on the Mount of Ol ives that led to s c uffles and s oon thes e threadbare s c holars were at war wi th eac h other in the dus ty, rams hac kles ynagogues and holy underground c averns of J erus alem. And their freedoms only exac erbated Mus l im frus tration.

W hen Pal tiel died in 1011, his s on brought his body to be buried in J erus alem but the ric h c ortege was attac ked by Mus l im ruffians . Even after Pal tiel , the J ews of Cairo des patc hed c aravans with money to fund the Ac ademy and a mys tic al s ec t c al led the Mourners of Zion who prayed for the res toration of Is rael ,in effec t, rel igious Zionis ts . But the help was never enough: 'the c i ty is widowed, orphaned, des erted and impoveris hed with i ts few s c holars ,' wrote a J ewis h J erus alem ite in a fundrais ing letter. 'Li fe here is extremely hard, food s c arc e. Help us , s ave us , redeem us .'15 Now the J ews were 'a pi ti ful as s embly,c ons tantly haras s ed'.

Yet the Sunni Mus l ims were inc reas ingly s c andal ized by the exc es s es and l iberties of the infidels . 'Everywhere, the Chris tians and J ews have the upper hand,' grumbled Muqaddas i , the travel wri ter whos e very name means 'Born in J erus alem '.MUQADDASI: THE JERUSALEMITE

'A l l the year round, never are her s treets empty of s trangers .' A round 985, at the height of Fatim id rule, Muhammad ibn Ahmed Shams al-Din al-Muqaddas i had c ome home to the c i ty he c al led al-Quds , the Holy. * Now in his forties , he had been travel l ing for twenty years , 's eeking knowledge' through travel that was s omuc h part of the training of every Is lam ic s avant, c ombining piety wi th the s c ienti fic obs ervation prac tis ed in the Hous e of W is dom. In his mas terpiec e The Soundes t Div is ions for Know ledge of the Regions , he reveals his i rrepres s ible c urios i ty and s ens e of adventure:

T here is nothing that befal ls travel lers of whic h I did not have my s hare exc ept begging and grievous s in. A t times I've been pious , at times I've eaten impure foods . I've been c los e to drowning, my c aravans have been waylaid on the highroad. I've s poken to kings and m inis ters , ac c ompanied the l ic entious ,been ac c us ed of being a s py, thrown into jai l , I've eaten porridge with mys tic s , broth wi th monks and pudding with s ai lors . I've s een war in battles hips agains t the Romans [Byzantines ] and the ringing of c hurc h bel ls at night. I've worn the robes of honour of kings and many times I've been des ti tute. I'veowned s laves and c arried bas kets on my head. W hat glory and honour I've been granted. Yet my death was plotted more than onc e.

W herever he was , nothing dimmed his pride in J erus alem:

One day, I s at in the c ounc i l of the judge in Bas ra [in Iraq]. Egypt [Cairo] was mentioned. I was as ked: whic h c i ty is nobler? I s aid: 'Our c i ty.' T hey s aid: W hic h one is s weeter? 'Ours .' T hey s aid: W hic h is better? 'Ours .' T hey s aid: W hic h is more bounti ful? 'Ours .' T he c ounc i l were s urpris ed at this . T hey s aid,'You are a man of c onc ei t. You have c laimed that whic h we c annot ac c ept from you. You are l ike the owner of the c amel during the Haj.

Yet he was hones t about J erus alem 's faul ts : he admitted that 'the meek are moles ted and the ric h are envied. You won't anywhere find baths more fi l thy than thos e in the Holy Ci ty, nor heavier fees for their us e.' But J erus alem produc ed the bes t rais ins , bananas and pinenuts ; s he was the c i ty of many muezzinsc al l ing the fai thful to prayer - and no brothels . 'T here's no plac e in J erus alem where you c annot get water or hear the c al l to prayer.'

Muqaddas i des c ribed the holy plac es on the Temple Mount dedic ated to Mary, J ac ob and the mys tic al s aint, Khidr. * A l-Aqs a was 'even more beauti ful ' than the Churc h of the Holy Sepulc hre but the Dome was peerles s : 'A t the dawn when the l ight of the s un fi rs t s trikes the Dome and the drum c atc hes the rays ,then is this edi fic e a marvel lous s ight and one s uc h that in al l of Is lam I have not s een the equal , nei ther in pagan times .' Muqaddas i was only too aware that he l ived in two J erus alems - the real and the c eles tial - and this was the plac e of the Apoc alyps e: 'Is s he not the one that uni tes the advantages of T hisW orld wi th thos e of the Next? Is this not to be the s ahira - the plain - of mars hal l ing on the Day of J udgement where the Gathering Together and the Appointment wi l l take plac e? T ruly Mec c a and Medina have their s uperiori ty but on the Day of J udgement, they wi l l both c ome to J erus alem and the exc el lenc e of themal l wi l l be uni ted here.'

Yet Muqaddas i s ti l l c omplained about the lac k of Sunnis and the nois y c onfidenc e of J ews and Chris tians : 's c holars are few and Chris tians numerous and rude in publ ic plac es .' T he Fatim ids after al l were s ec tarians and loc al Mus l ims even joined in wi th Chris tians ' fes tivals . But things were about to take aterri fying turn: by the time Muqaddas i died at the age of fi fty in 1000, a c hi ld had s uc c eeded to the throne of the Living Imam who would s eek to des troy Chris tian and J ewis h J erus alem.16

HAKIM: THE ARAB CALIGULA

W hen the Cal iph Aziz lay dying, he kis s ed his s on and then s ent him away to play. Soon afterwards he died, and no one c ould find the eleven-year-old Living Imam. A fter frantic s earc hing, he was dis c overed inaus pic ious ly at the top of a s yc amore tree. 'Come down, my boy,' a c ourtier begged the c hi ld. 'May Godprotec t you and us al l .'

T he gorgeous ly c lad c ourtiers gathered at the bottom of the tree. 'I des c ended,' rec al led the new c al iph, Hakim, and the c ourtier 'plac ed on my head the turban adorned with jewels , kis s ed the ground before me, and s aid: "Hai l to the Commander of the Bel ievers , wi th the merc y of God and his bles s ing." He thenled me out in that atti re and s howed me to al l the people, who kis s ed the ground before me and s aluted me with the ti tle of Cal iph.'

Son of a Chris tian mother whos e brothers were both patriarc hs , Hakim grew into a broad-s houldered youth, his blue eyes s pec kled with gold. A t fi rs t, advis ed by m inis ters , he purs ued his fam i ly's Is mai l i m is s ion, tolerating J ews and Chris tians . He adored poetry and founded his own Hous e of W is dom in Cairofor the s tudy of as tronomy and phi los ophy. He prided hims el f on his as c etic is m, es c hewing the diamond turban for a plain s c arf, and he even traded jokes with poor Cairenes in the s treets . But when he s tarted to rule in his own right, there were s oon s igns that this mys tic al autoc rat was unbalanc ed. He ordered theki l l ing of al l the dogs in Egypt, fol lowed by al l the c ats . He forbade the eating of grapes , waterc res s and fis h wi thout s c ales . He s lept by day and worked at night, ordering al l Cairenes to fol low his s trange hours .

In 1004, he s tarted arres ting and exec uting Chris tians , c los ing c hurc hes in J erus alem and c onverting them into mos ques . He banned Eas ter and the drinking of wine, a meas ure aimed at Chris tians and J ews . He ordered J ews to wear a wooden c ow nec klac e to rem ind them of the Golden Calf, and bel ls to alertMus l ims of their approac h. Chris tians had to wear i ron c ros s es . J ews were forc ed to c hoos e between c onvers ion or leaving the c ountry. Synagogues were des troyed in Egypt and in J erus alem. But i t was the growing populari ty of a Chris tian ri tual that drew Hakim 's attention to J erus alem. Every Eas ter Chris tianpi lgrims from the W es t and Eas t poured into J erus alem to c elebrate the c i ty's own Eas ter m irac le: the Des c ent of the Holy Fire.17

On Holy Saturday, the day after Good Friday, thous ands of Chris tians s pent the night in the Churc h of the Holy Sepulc hre where the Tomb was s ealed and al l lamps extinguis hed unti l , am id emotional s c enes , the patriarc h entered the Tomb in the darknes s . A fter a long interval of s pine-tingl ing antic ipation, as park s eemed to des c end from above, a flame fl ic kered, brightnes s flared and the patriarc h emerged with a mys terious ly l i t lamp. T his s ac red flame was dis tributed from c andle to c andle through the c rowd to s c reams of joy and ac ts of wi ld abandon. T he Chris tians regarded this relatively new ri tual , fi rs t mentionedby a pi lgrim in 870, as divine c onfi rmation of J es us ' Res urrec tion. T he Mus l ims bel ieved this was a s pec tac le of fai rground huc ks teris m ac hieved by tric kery - the s mearing of the wire holding the lamp with res inous oi l . 'T hes e abominations ', wrote a Mus l im J erus alem ite, 'make one s hudder wi th horror.'18

W hen Hakim heard about this and obs erved the s heer weal th of the Chris tian c aravan s etting out for J erus alem, he burned the J ewis h Quarter of Cairo - and ordered the total des truc tion of the Churc h of the Holy Sepulc hre. In September 1009, his henc hmen obl i terated the Churc h 's tone by s tone', 'razed i tc ompletely exc ept thos e parts impos s ible to des troy', and s tarted to demol is h the c i ty's s ynagogues and c hurc hes . J ews and Chris tians pretended to c onvert to Is lam.

T he c al iph's antic s c onvinc ed s ome Is mai l is that 'Hakim had the pers oni fied God within him '. In the frenzy of his own holy revelations Hakim did not dis c ourage this new rel igion, and s tarted to pers ec ute Mus l ims ; he banned Ramadan and terrorized Shi i tes as wel l as Sunnis . He bec ame s o hated by Mus l imsthat he needed the s upport of the Chris tians and J ews in Cairo, whom he al lowed to rebui ld their s ynagogues * and c hurc hes .

By this time, the ps yc hopathic c al iph was wandering in tranc es through the s treets of Cairo, often heavi ly medic ated by doc tors . Hakim purged his c ourt, ordering the ki l l ing of his own tutors , judges , poets , c ooks and c ous ins , and the c utting off of the hands of female s laves , often hims el f playing the butc her.HAKIM: THE VANISHING

Final ly, in the m iddle of one night in February 1021, the demented c al iph, s ti l l only thi rty-s ix years old, rode out of Cairo into the hi l ls and vanis hed s o mys terious ly that his devotees were c onvinc ed 'Hakim was not born of woman and did not die'. S inc e his donkey and s ome bloodied rags were dis c overed, he hadprobably been murdered by his s is ter who arranged the s uc c es s ion of his l i ttle s on, Zahir. Hakim 's devotees were s laughtered by the Fatim id troops , but a few es c aped to found a new s ec t whic h s urvives to this day as the Druze of Lebanon.19

T he s c ars of Hakim 's ins ani ty never healed in J erus alem: the Churc h of Cons tantine was never ful ly rebui l t in i ts original form. As i f Hakim was not bad enough, an earthquake in 1033 devas tated the c i ty, s hattering the Byzantine wal ls and the Umayyad palac es ; the old Umayyad Aqs a c ol laps ed in ruins ; theJ ewis h Cave was damaged.

Cal iph Zahir, who revered J erus alem, res tored the toleranc e of his anc es tors , prom is ing protec tion to both the J ewis h s ec ts , and on the Temple Mount he rebui l t al -Aqs a, the ins c ription on i ts del ic ately dec orated triumphal arc h l inking hims el f, his J erus alem and the Night J ourney of the P rophet, though hismos que was far s mal ler than the original . He rebui l t the c i ty wal ls , but around a s mal ler c i ty, roughly as we s ee i t today, leaving Mount Zion and the ruined Umayyad palac es outs ide.

Zahir and his s uc c es s or welc omed Byzantine help to fund the rebui lding of the Churc h. Emperor Cons tantine IX Monomac hus c reated a new Holy Sepulc hre, finis hed in 1048, wi th i ts entranc e now fac ing s outh: 'a mos t s pac ious bui lding c apable of holding 8, 000 people, bui l t mos t s ki l ful ly of c oloured marblesadorned with Byzantine broc ade working in gold wi th pic tures ,' wrote Nas ir-i -Khus rau, a Pers ian pi lgrim . But i t was muc h s mal ler than the Byzantine bas i l ic a. T he J ews never managed to rebui ld al l their des troyed s ynagogues , even though the J ewis h grand vizier in Cairo, T us tari , * s upported the J erus alemc ommunity.

Hakim 's pers ec utions s eemed to ins pire a fres h pas s ion for J erus alem - now a flouris hing pi lgrim c i ty of 20, 000. 'From the c ountries of the Greeks and other lands ,' noted Nas ir, 'Chris tians and J ews c ome up to J erus alem in great numbers .' T wenty thous and Mus l ims as s embled annual ly on the Temple Mountins tead of making the haj to Mec c a. J ewis h pi lgrims arrived from Franc e and Italy.

It was the c hanges in Chris tendom that helped make J erus alem s o al luring for Franks from the wes t, Greeks from the eas t. T he Chris tiani ty of the Latins under the Cathol ic popes of Rome and the Orthodox Greeks under the emperors and patriarc hs of Cons tantinople were now dramatic al ly di fferent. It was notjus t that they prayed in di fferent languages and bic kered about abs trus e theologic al formulae. Orthodoxy, wi th i ts ic ons and elaborate theatric al i ty, was more mys tic al and pas s ionate; Cathol ic is m, wi th i ts c onc ept of original s in, bel ieved in a greater divide between man and God. On 16 J uly 1054, in the m iddle of as ervic e in Hagia Sofia, a Papal legate exc ommunic ated the Byzantine Patriarc h who furious ly exc ommunic ated the pope. T his Great Sc his m, that s ti l l divides Chris tendom, enc ouraged c ompeti tion between eas t and wes t for J erus alem.

T he Byzantine emperor Cons tantine X Doukas s pons ored the fi rs t real Chris tian Quarter around the Churc h. Indeed there were s o many Byzantine pi lgrims and artis ans in J erus alem that Nas ir heard mys tic al murmurings that the Emperor of Cons tantinople was in J erus alem inc ogni to. But there were als o manywes tern pi lgrims - the Mus l ims c al led them al l 'Franks ' after Charlemagne's people, though they were ac tual ly from al l over Europe - that Amalfi tan merc hants bui l t hos tels and monas teries to hous e them. It was widely bel ieved that the pi lgrimage redeemed the s ins of the baronial wars and as early 1001, Fulk theB lac k, Count of Anjou and founder of the Angevin dynas ty that later ruled England, c ame on pi lgrimage after he had burned his wi fe al ive in her wedding-dres s having found her gui l ty of adul tery wi th a s wineherd. He c ame three times . Later in the c entury, the s adis tic Earl Sweyn Godwins on, brother of K ing Harold ofEngland, s et out barefoot for J erus alem having raped the vi rginal Abbes s Edwiga, whi le Robert, duke of Normandy, the father of W i l l iam the Conqueror, abandoned his duc hy to pray at the Sepulc hre. But al l three of them peris hed on the road: death was never far from the pi lgrimage.

T he Fatim ids , bes et wi th c ourt intrigues , s truggled even to hold Pales tine, let alone J erus alem, and the bandi ts preyed on the pi lgrims . Death was s o c ommon that the A rmenians c reated a ti tle -mahdes i - for pi lgrims who had s een death on the way, their equivalent of the Mus l im haj .In 1064, a ric h c aravan of 7, 000 German and Dutc h pi lgrims led by A rnold B is hop of Bamberg approac hed the c i ty but was attac ked by Bedouin tribes men jus t outs ide the wal ls . Some of the pi lgrims s wal lowed their gold to hide i t from the brigands who evis c erated them to retrieve i t. Five thous and pi lgrims

were s laughtered.20 Even though the Holy Ci ty had now been Mus l im for four c enturies , s uc h atroc i ties s uddenly s eemed to plac e the Churc h of the Holy Sepulc hre in peri l .

In 1071, the new s trongman of the eas t, A lp A rs lan - Heroic Lion -defeated and c aptured the Byzantine emperor at Manzikert.* A lp A rs lan was the leader of the Sel juks , T urkoman hors emen who had c ome to dominate the Baghdad c al iphate and had been granted the new ti tle of s ul tan - meaning 'the power'. NowHeroic Lion, c onquering an empire from Kas hgar to modern T urkey, des patc hed his general A ts iz ibn Awak al-Khwarazmi, to gal lop s outh - towards a terri fied J erus alem.

ATSIZ: THE BEASTLY SACKING

T he Gaon and many of the J ews , who had been wel l treated under the Fatim ids , fled J erus alem to the Fatim id s tronghold of T yre. A ts iz c amped outs ide the new wal ls but, as a pious Sunni Mus l im , he c laimed he would not harm J erus alem. 'It is God's s anc tuary,' he ins is ted. 'I wi l l not fight i t.' Ins tead, in J une 1073,he s tarved J erus alem into s urrender. He then headed s outh to Egypt, where he was defeated. T his enc ouraged the J erus alem ites to rebel . T hey bes ieged the T urkomans (and A ts iz's harem) in the Citadel .

A ts iz returned and when he was ready to attac k, his c onc ubines c rept out of the Ci tadel and opened a gate for him . His Central As ian horde ki l led 3, 000 Mus l ims , even thos e who had hidden in the mos ques . Only thos e who s hel tered on the Temple Mount were s pared. 'T hey robbed and murdered and ravis hedand pi l laged the s torehous es ; they were a s trange and c ruel people, gi rt wi th garments of many c olours , c apped with helmets blac k and red, wi th bow and s pear and ful l quivers ,' reported a J ewis h poet who enc ountered A ts iz's men in Egypt. A ts iz and his hors emen ravaged J erus alem: 'T hey burned the heapedc orn, c ut down the trees and trampled the vineyards , and des poi led the graves and threw out the bones . T hey don't res emble men, they res emble beas ts , and als o harlots and adul terers and they inflame thems elves with males [and] c ut off ears and nos es and s tole the garments , leaving them s tark naked.'

T he Heroic Lion's empire immediately dis integrated as his fam i ly and generals s eized their own fiefdoms . A ts iz was murdered and J erus alem fel l into the hands of another T urkis h warlord, Ortuq bin Aks ab. On arrival , he fi red an arrow into the dome of the Sepulc hre to s how that he was the mas ter. Yet heproved s urpris ingly tolerant, even appointing a J ac obi te Chris tian as governor, and he invi ted Sunni s c holars to return to J erus alem.*

Ortuq's s ons Suqman and Il -Ghazi inheri ted J erus alem. In 1093 's omeone revol ted agains t the governor', wrote Ibn al-A rabi , a Spanis h s c holar, 'and entrenc hed hims el f in the Tower of David. T he governor attempted to as s aul t him us ing his arc hers .' W hi le T urkoman s oldiers fought pi tc hed battles through thes treets , 'no one els e c ared. No market was c los ed, no as c etic left his plac e in al-Aqs a Mos que; no debate was s us pended.'+ But the mons tros i ties of Hakim, the defeat of the Byzantine emperor, the fal l of J erus alem to the T urkomans and the s laughter of pi lgrims s hook Chris tendom: the pi lgrimage was indanger.21

In 1098, the Egyptian vizier was s urpris ed to learn that a powerful army of Chris tian Europeans was advanc ing on the Holy Land. He pres umed they were jus t Byzantine merc enaries , s o he offered them a c arve-up of the Sel juk empire: the Chris tians c ould take Syria; he would regain Pales tine. W hen hedis c overed their objec t was J erus alem, the vizier bes ieged the c i ty 'for forty days with forty c atapul ts ' unti l the two s ons of Ortuq fled to Iraq. Appointing one of his generals as i ftik har aldaw la or governor of J erus alem with a garris on of A rabs and Sudanes e, the vizier returned to Cairo. T he negotiations with theFranks c ontinued into the s ummer of 1099 - the Chris tian envoys c elebrated Eas ter in the Sepulc hre.

T he tim ing of the Frankis h invas ion was fortui tous : the A rabs had los t their empire to the Sel juks . T he glory of the Abbas id Cal iphate was now a dis tant memory. T he Is lam ic world had fragmented into s mal l warring baronies ruled by princ el ings dominated by T urkis h generals - am irs - and regents known asatabegs . Even as the Chris tian arm ies marc hed s outh, a Sel juk princ el ing attac ked J erus alem but was repel led. Meanwhi le the great c i ty of Antioc h had fal len to the Franks , who marc hed down the c oas t. On 3 J une 1099, the Franks took Ramla and c los ed in on J erus alem. T hous ands of Mus l ims and J ews tookrefuge within the wal ls of the Holy Ci ty. On the morning of T ues day 7 J une, the Frankis h knights reac hed the tomb of Nabi (the P rophet) Samuel, four m i les north of J erus alem. Having travel led al l the way from wes tern Europe, they now gazed down from Montjoie - the Mount of J oy - on the City of the K ing of al l K ings .By nightfal l , they were c amped around J erus alem.

PART FIVE

CRUSADE

Enter on the road to the Holy Sepulc hre; wres t that land from the wic ked rac e and s ubjec t i t to ours elves .Pope Urban II, Addres s at Clermont

J erus alem is for us an objec t of wors hip that we c ould not give up even i f there were only one of us left.Ric hard the Lionheart, Letter to Saladin

J erus alem is ours as muc h as yours - indeed i t's even more s ac red to us .Saladin, Letter to Ric hard the Lionheart

Have we any heri tage s ave the s anc tuaries of God?T hen how s hould we forget His Holy Mount?Have we ei ther in the Eas t or the W es tA plac e of hope wherein we may trus tExc ept the land that is ful l of gatesT owards whic h the gates of Heaven open.

J udah HaleviW hen I took up my theme and s aidW hen I to Zion from Spanis h exi le wentMy s oul from depths to heaven made as c entGreatly rejoic ing that day, God's hi l l to s eeT he day for whic h I longed s inc e I had c ome to be.

J udah al-Harizi

THE SLAUGHTER

1099

DUKE GODFREY: THE S IEGE

It was the high s ummer of 1099 in the arid J udaean hi l ls ; the Holy Ci ty was wel l defended by Egyptian troops bac ked by a m i l i tia of J erus alem ite J ews and Mus l ims . T hey were wel l s toc ked with provis ions and the c is terns were ful l of water, whereas the wel ls of the parc hed c ountrys ide had been pos ioned.J erus alem 's Chris tians were expel led. T he c i tizens , 30,000 at the mos t, c ould c omfort thems elves that the Egyptian vizier was marc hing north to res c ue them, and they were wel l armed: they even pos s es s ed the s ec ret flame-throwing weapon, Greek Fire.* Behind J erus alem 's form idable wal ls , they mus t havedis dained their attac kers .

T he Frankis h army was too s mal l , jus t 1,200 knights and 12,000 s oldiers , to s urround the wal ls . In open battle, the l ightly armoured A rab and T urkis h c aval iers c ould not wi ths tand the awes ome c harges of the Frankis h knights , who formed a fis t of thundering s teel mounted on hulking des trier warhors es . T heknights eac h wore a helmet, a c uiras s and hauberk c hain-mai l over a gambes on (a padded qui l t undergarment) and were armed with lanc e, broads word, mac e and s hield.

Yet their W es tern hors es had long s inc e peris hed or been eaten by the hungry army. In the bl is tered gorges around J erus alem, c harges were impos s ible, hors es us eles s and armour too hot: this exhaus ted forc e of Franks had to fight on foot, whi le their leaders feuded c ons tantly. T here was no s upremec ommander. P re-eminent among them, and als o the ric hes t, was Raymond, Count of T oulous e. A c ourageous but unins piring leader, noted for obs tinac y and lac k of tac t, Raymond ini tial ly s et up c amp in the wes t oppos i te the Citadel but after a few days moved s outh to bes iege the Zion Gate.

J erus alem 's weak s pot was always in the north: the young, c apable Duke Robert of Flanders , the s on of a veteran J erus alem pi lgrim , c amped oppos i te what is now Damas c us Gate; Duke Robert of Normandy (s on of W i l l iam the Conqueror), brave but ineffec tual and nic knamed Curthos e (s hort-s hanks ) or jus tFatlegs , c overed Herod's Gate. But the driving s piri t was Godfrey of Boui l lon, the s trapping, blond Duke of Lower Lorraine, aged thirty-nine, 'the ideal pic ture of a northern knight', admired for his piety and c has ti ty (he never married.) He took up pos i tions around today's J affa Gate. Meanwhi le the twenty-five-year-oldNorman T anc red de Hautevi l le, eager to c onquer a princ ipal i ty of his own, gal loped off to s eize Bethlehem. W hen he had returned, he joined Godfrey's forc es at the north-wes tern c orner of the c i ty.

T he Franks had los t legions of men and travel led thous ands of m i les ac ros s Europe and As ia to reac h the Holy Ci ty. A l l real ized that this would ei ther be the apogee or the apotheos is of the Firs t Crus ade.POPE URBAN II: GOD W ILLS IT

T he Crus ade had been the idea of one man. On 27 November 1095, Pope Urban II had addres s ed a gathering of grandees and ordinary folk at Clermont to demand the c onques t of J erus alem and the l iberation of the Churc h of the Holy Sepulc hre.Urban s aw his l i fe's m is s ion as the res toration of the power and reputation of the Cathol ic Churc h. He devis ed a new theory of holy war to reinvigorate Chris tendom and the papac y, jus ti fying the c leans ing l iquidation of the infidel in return for the rem is s ion of s ins . T his was an unprec edented indulgenc e that

c reated a Chris tian vers ion of Mus l im j ihad, but i t dovetai led wi th the popular reverenc e for J erus alem. In an age of rel igious fervour, a time of holy s igns , J erus alem was Chris t's c i ty, s een as both s upreme s hrine and c eles tial kingdom, yet fam i l iar to every Chris tian, evoked in s ermons , in tales of pi lgrimages , inpas s ion plays , paintings and rel ic s . But Urban als o pas s ionately s toked the ris ing anxiety about the s ec uri ty of the Holy Sepulc hre, c i ting the mas s ac re of pi lgrims and the T urkoman atroc i ties .

T he moment was ripe for thous ands of people, high and low, to ans wer Urban's c al l : 'violenc e held s way among the nations , fraud, treac hery and c hic anery overs hadowed al l things ,' obs erved the J erus alem ite his torian W i l l iam of T yre. 'A l l vi rtue had departed, every kind of fornic ation was prac tis ed openly,luxury, drunkennes s and games of c hanc e.' T he Crus ade offered pers onal adventure, the removal of thous ands of troublemaking knights and freebooters , and es c ape from home. But the modern idea, promoted in Hol lywood movies and in the bac klas h after the dis as ter of the 2003 Iraqi war, that c rus ading was jus tan opportuni ty for enric hment wi th s adis tic dividends , is wrong. A handful of princ es c reated new fiefdoms and a few Crus aders made their c areers , whereas the c os ts were punis hing and many l ives and fortunes were los t in this quixotic and ris ky but pious enterpris e. A s piri t was abroad that is hard for modernpeople to gras p: Chris tians were being offered the opportuni ty to earn the forgivenes s of al l s ins . In s hort, thes e warrior-pi lgrims were overwhelm ingly bel ievers s eeking s alvation on the battlements of J erus alem.

T he c rowds at Clermont ans wered the pope: 'Deus le vol t! God wi l ls i t! ' Raymond of Toulous e was one of the fi rs t to take the Cros s . E ighty thous and people, s ome in dis c ipl ined c ontingents led by princ es , s ome in rampaging gangs led by adventurers , and others in pious c rowds of peas ants under holyherm its , took the Cros s . As the fi rs t wave c ros s ed Europe heading for Cons tantinople, they forc ed the c onvers ion or mas s ac red thous ands of J ews in vengeanc e for the ki l l ing of Chris t.

T he Byzantine Emperor A lexios , hal f-horri fied by thes e Latin ruffians , welc omed them - and hurried them on towards J erus alem. Onc e in Anatol ia, hordes of European peas ants were ki l led by the T urks , but the organized, c ommitted and experienc ed knights of the main arm ies routed the Sel juks . T he enterpris ewas a triumph of fai th over experienc e and reas on: from the beginning but wi th ris ing intens i ty as they neared the Holy Land, the m i l i tary c ampaign was guided and enc ouraged by divine vis ions , angel ic vis i tations and the dis c overy of s ac red s igns that were jus t as important as m i l i tary tac tic s . But fortunately theEuropeans were attac king a region that was fatal ly divided between warring c al iphs , s ul tans and am irs , T urks and A rabs , who plac ed their own rivalries above any c onc ept of Is lam ic s ol idari ty.

T he fal l of Antioc h was the Crus aders ' fi rs t real s uc c es s , but they were then bes ieged ins ide the c i ty. Fac ed with s tarvation and s talemate, the Crus ade almos t ended there. A t the height of the c ris is at Antioc h, Peter Bartholomew, one of Count Raymond's men, dreamed that the Holy Lanc e lay under a c hurc h:they dug down and duly found the Lanc e. Its dis c overy boos ted morale. W hen Bartholomew was ac c us ed of being a fraud, he underwent an ordeal by fi re. He s urvived his walk ac ros s what was us ual ly nine feet of red hot i rons and c laimed no i l l effec ts . But he died twelve days later.

T he Crus aders s urvived Antioc h and, as they marc hed s outhwards , the T urkis h and Fatim id am irs of T ripol i , Caes area and Ac re made deals wi th them. T he Fatim ids abandoned J affa, and the Crus aders c ut inland towards J erus alem. W hen the c ontingents were es tabl is hing thems elves around the wal ls , aherm it on the Mount of Ol ives , ins pired by a vis ion, told the Crus ader warlords to attac k immediately. On 13 J une, they attempted to s torm the wal ls but were eas i ly repuls ed, s uffering heavy los s es . T he princ es real ized that s uc c es s required better planning, more ladders , c atapul ts and s iege-engines , but there wasnot enough wood to bui ld them. T hey got luc ky. On the 17th, Genoes e s ai lors doc ked at J affa and hauled the timbers of their dis mantled s hips to J erus alem to bui ld wheeled s iege-mac hines equipped with c atapul ts .

T he princ es were already bic kering over the s poi ls . T he two ables t had grabbed their own princ ipal i ties : Bohemond of Taranto had been left to hold Antioc h whi le Godfrey's dynamic brother Baldwin had s eized Edes s a, far away on the Euphrates . Now the rapac ious Tanc red demanded Bethlehem for hims el f,but the Churc h laid c laim to the s i te of the Nativi ty. T he heat was unforgiving, the s i roc c o blew, water was s hort, men too few, morale low, and the Egyptians were approac hing. T here was no time to los e.

A divine mes s age s aved the day. On 6 J uly, a vis ionary pries t announc ed that he had (not for the fi rs t time) been vis i ted by Adhemar of Le Puy, a revered bis hop who had died at Antioc h, but whos e s piri t now urged the Franks to hold a proc es s ion around the wal ls as J os hua had around J eric ho. T he army fas tedfor three days then on 8 J uly, led by pries ts bearing holy rel ic s , they marc hed barefoot around the wal ls of J erus alem, 'wi th trumpets , banners and arms ', as the J erus alem ites moc ked them from the battlements , hurl ing ins ul ts at the c ruc i fixes . T he J os huan c irc ui t c ompleted, they as s embled on the Mount of Ol ivesto be addres s ed by their c haplains and to wi tnes s the rec onc i l iations of their leaders . Ladders , s iege-engines , mangonels , m is s i les , arrows , fas c ines - everything had to be ready, and everyone worked day and night. W omen and old men joined the effort by s ewing the animal hides for the s iege-engines . T hec hoic e was s tark: death or vic tory on the ramparts of the Holy Ci ty.

TANCRED: CARNAGE ON THE TEMPLE MOUNT

By night on 13 J uly, the Crus aders were ready. T heir pries ts preac hed them into a ferment of feroc ious and s anc timonious determ ination. T heir mangonels c atapul ted c annonbal ls and m is s i les at the wal ls , from whic h the defenders had s us pended s ac ks of c otton and hay to s often the blows unti l the rampartsres embled giant was hing l ines . T he Mus l ims fi red their own mangonels . W hen the Chris tians dis c overed a s py in their m ids t, they c atapul ted him al ive over the wal ls .

T he Crus aders worked al l night to fi l l the di tc hes with fas c ines . T hree s iege-mac hines were brought forward in parts , then as s embled l ike giant flatpac ks , one for Raymond on Mount Zion, the other two in the north. Raymond was the fi rs t to pos i tion his s iege-mac hine agains t the wal ls , but the Egyptian governor,c ommanding the s outhern s ec tor, put up determ ined res is tanc e. A t almos t the las t moment, Godfrey of Boui l lon identi fied the weakes t point in the defenc es (eas t of today's Herod's Gate, oppos i te the Roc kefel ler Mus eum). T he Dukes of Normandy and Flanders , along with Tanc red, s wiftly moved their forc es to thenortheas tern c orner. Godfrey hims el f as c ended his s iege-tower as i t was pus hed forward at the ideal s pot: he emerged at the top wielding a c ros s bow as the arm ies traded s alvoes of arrows and bol ts , and the mangonels rained m is s i les on the wal ls .

As the s un ros e, the princ es us ed flas hing m irrors on the Mount of Ol ives to c o-ordinate their moves . S imultaneous ly Raymond attac ked to the s outh and the Normans in the north. A t dawn on Friday the 15th, they renewed their attac ks . Godfrey rode the ric kety wooden tower, s hooting bol ts over the wal ls whi lethe defenders unleas hed their Greek Fire - but not enough to s top the Franks .

A t m idday, Godfrey's engine final ly c los ed on the wal ls . T he Franks threw planks ac ros s and two brothers c l imbed into the c i ty, wi th Godfrey fol lowing them. T hey c laimed to have s een the late B is hop Adhemar fighting among them: 'Many tes ti fied he was the fi rs t to s c ale the wal l ! ' T he dead bis hop orderedthem to open the Gate of the Column (Damas c us Gate). Tanc red and his Normans burs t into the narrow s treets . To the s outh, on Mount Zion, the Count of Toulous e heard the c heering. 'W hy do you loi ter,' Raymond s c olded his men. 'Lo, the Franks are even now within the c i ty! ' Raymond's men broke into J erus alemand purs ued the governor and garris on to the Citadel . T he governor agreed to s urrender to Raymond in return for the l ives of his garris on. Ci tizens and s oldiers fled to the Temple Mount, purs ued by Tanc red and his men. In the fray, the J erus alem ites s lammed s hut the gates of the Temple Mount and fought bac k,but T anc red's warriors s mas hed their way on to the s ac red es planade, c rowded with des perate people.

T he fighting raged there for hours ; the Franks went bers erk, and ki l led anyone they enc ountered in the s treets and al leyways . T hey c ut off not only heads but hands and feet, glorying in the s purting fountains of c leans ing infidel blood. A l though c arrying out a mas s ac re in a s tormed c i ty was not unprec edented,the s anc timonious pride with whic h the perpetrators rec orded i t pos s ibly was . 'W onderful s ights were to be s een,' enthus ed one eyewitnes s , Raymond of Agui lers , the Count of Toulous e's c haplain: 'Our men c ut off the heads of their enemies , others s hot them with arrows s o that they fel l from the towers , otherstortured them longer by c as ting them into the flames . P i les of heads , hands and feet were to be s een on the s treets . It was nec es s ary to pic k one's way over the bodies of men and hors es .'

Babies were s eized from their mothers , their heads das hed agains t the wal ls . As the barbari ty es c alated, 'Sarac ens , A rabs and E thiopians ' - meaning the blac k Sudanes e troops of the Fatim id army - took refuge on the roofs of the Dome of the Roc k and al-Aqs a. But, as they fought their way towards the Dome,the knights hac ked a path ac ros s the c rowded es planade, ki l l ing and dic ing through human fles h unti l 'in the Temple [of Solomon, as the Crus aders c al led al-Aqs a], they rode in blood up to their bridles . Indeed i t was a jus t and s plendid judgement of God that this plac e s hould be fi l led wi th the blood ofunbel ievers .'

T en thous and people, inc luding many Mus l im c lergy and Sufi as c etic s , were ki l led on the T emple Mount, inc luding 3,000 pac ked into al-Aqs a. 'Our gladiators ', wrote the c hronic ler Fulc her of Chartres , s tarted s hooting down the Mus l ims on the roof of al -Aqs a with their bows . 'W hat more s hal l I relate? None wereleft al ive, nei ther women nor c hi ldren were s pared.' But Tanc red s ent his banner to the remaining three hundred people on the roof of al -Aqs a, s igni fying protec tion. He hal ted the ki l l ing, took s ome valuable pris oners and was s hown the treas ures of the Temple Mount. He then plundered the huge golden lanternsthat hung in the s hrines there. T he J ews s ought refuge in their s ynagogues , but the Crus aders s et them on fi re. T he J ews were burned al ive, almos t a c l imac tic burnt offering in Chris t's name. Godfrey of Boui l lon took off his s word and with a s mal l entourage c irc led the c i ty and prayed, before making his way to theHoly Sepulc hre.

Next morning, to Tanc red's fury, Raymond's men nervous ly c l imbed onto the roof of al -Aqs a, s urpris ed the huddled Mus l ims and beheaded the men and women in another s pas m of ki l l ing. Some of the Mus l ims leaped to their deaths . A res pec ted female s c holar from Shiraz in Pers ia took refuge with a c rowd ofwomen in the Dome of the Chain - they too were s laughtered. A ghoul is h del ight was taken in the dis memberment of the vic tims , whic h was treated almos t as a s ac rament. 'Everywhere lay fragments of human bodies , headles s bodies and muti lated l imbs , s trewn in al l di rec tions .' T here was s omething even moredreadful in the wi ld-eyed, gore-s pattered Crus aders thems elves , 'dripping with blood from head to foot, an om inous s ight that brought terror to al l who met them '. T hey s earc hed the s treets of the bazaars , dragging out more vic tims to be 's lain l ike s heep'.

Eac h Crus ader had been promis ed pos s es s ion of any hous e marked by his 's hield and arms ': 'c ons equently the pi lgrims s earc hed the c i ty mos t c areful ly and boldly ki l led the c i tizens ', c ul l ing 'wives , c hi ldren, whole hous eholds ,' many of them 'das hed headlong to the ground' from high windows .*

On the 17th, the pi lgrims (as thes e s laughterers c al led thems elves ) were final ly s ated with butc hery and 'refres hed thems elves with the res t and food they greatly needed'. T he princ es and pries ts made their way to the Holy Sepulc hre where they s ang in prais e of Chris t, c lapping joyous ly and bathing the al tar intears of joy, before parading through the s treets to the Temple of the Lord (the Dome of the Roc k) and the Temple of Solomon. T hos e s treets were s trewn with body parts , dec aying in the s ummer heat. T he princ es forc ed the s urviving J ews and Mus l ims to c lear the remains away and burn them in pyres , after whic hthey were thems elves butc hered and pres umably joined their brethren on the fi res . T he Crus aders who died were buried in the Cemetery of the Lion at Mamil la or in the s ac red earth jus t outs ide the Golden Gate, al ready a Mus l im c emetery, ready to aris e at the Las t Day.

J erus alem was s o ful l of treas ures , 'gems , raiments , gold and s i lver' and valuable pris oners that the Franks held s lave-auc tions for two days . Some res pec ted Mus l ims had been s aved for rans om: a thous and dinars was demanded for the Shafi i s c holar Sheikh Abd al-Salam al-Ans ari , but when no one paid hewas ki l led. Surviving J ews and 300 Hebrew books (inc luding the A leppo Codex, one of the earl ies t Hebrew B ibles that partial ly s urvives today) were rans omed to Egyptian J ews . T he rans oming of pris oners was to be one of the mos t luc rative indus tries of the K ingdom of J erus alem. But not al l the human gibletsc ould be c ol lec ted, and J erus alem l i teral ly s tank for long afterwards - even s ix months later, when Fulc her of Chartres returned: 'Oh what a s tenc h there was around the wal ls , wi thin and without, from the rotting bodies of the Sarac ens , lying wherever they had been hunted down.' J erus alem was not yet s ec ure: theEgyptian army was approac hing. T he Crus aders urgently needed a c ommander-in-c hief - the fi rs t K ing of J erus alem.

GODFREY: ADVOCATE OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE

T he higher nobles and c lergy made inquiries into the morals of the c andidates for the c rown. T hey fel t they had to offer the throne to the s enior princ e, the unpopular Raymond, but did s o grudgingly. Raymond obl igingly turned i t down, ins is ting he c ould not be a king in J es us ' c i ty. T hey then offered i t to their realc hoic e, the c has te and worthy Duke Godfrey, who ac c epted a newly c oined ti tle: Advoc ate of the Holy Sepulc hre.

T his outraged Raymond who, real izing he had been tric ked, refus ed to give up the Tower of David unti l the bis hops mediated. T riumphant as their arms were, thes e warrior-pi lgrims did not find i t eas y to enforc e the moral i ty expec ted in a c i ty ruled by J es us hims el f. T hey elec ted the Norman c haplain, A rnul f, aspatriarc h but he s oon had to defend hims el f for adul tery and fathering a c hi ld by an A rab woman.

A rnul f plac ed bel ls in the c hurc hes (the ringing of c hurc h bel ls had always been banned by the Mus l ims ). T his was to be a Latin, Cathol ic J erus alem. Now he demons trated how vic ious the s c his m was : he plac ed the Latin pries ts in c harge of the Holy Sepulc hre, banis hing the Greek patriarc h and c lergy. Hethereby s tarted the uns eemly c onfl ic t among Chris tian s ec ts that c ontinues to s c andal ize and amus e vis i tors to this day. Yet A rnul f c ould not find the main s ec tion of the T rue Cros s and the Orthodox pries ts refus ed to reveal i ts hiding-plac e. T he patriarc h tortured them; a Chris tian torturing Chris tians to proc ure theLi fe-Giving T ree of the Lamb of God. T hey final ly c onc eded.

On 12 Augus t, leaving J erus alem almos t undefended, Advoc ate Godfrey led the enti re Crus ader army out towards As hkelon where he defeated the Egyptians . W hen As hkelon offered to s urrender to Raymond, Godfrey refus ed to ac c ept unles s i t was c eded to him : As hkelon was los t - only the fi rs t of many s el f-infl ic ted wounds c aus ed by the feuding of J erus alem 's leaders . But J erus alem was s ec ure - i f empty.

T he Dukes of Normandy and Flanders and many of the Crus aders now returned home, leaving Godfrey wi th a putrid, devas tated c i ty peopled by jus t 300 knights and 2,000 infantry, and s c arc ely enough c i tizens to fi l l a quarter. Raymond of Toulous e rec overed from his s ulk and s et about reduc ing the Lebanes ec oas t, final ly founding his own dynas ty as Count of T ripol i . T here were four Crus ader s tates - the P rinc ipal i ty of Antioc h, the Counties of Edes s a and T ripol i , and the K ingdom of J erus alem. T his idios ync ratic patc hwork of interrelated fiefdoms bec ame known as the land of Outremer, 'Ac ros s the Sea'.

Yet the reac tion of the Is lam ic world - divided between the weakened c al iphs of Sunni Baghdad and Shi i te Cairo - was s urpris ingly muted. Only a few preac hers c al led for j ihad to l iberate J erus alem, and there was l i ttle reac tion among the al l -powerful T urkis h am irs , who remained preoc c upied with theirpers onal feuds .

On 21 Dec ember, Baldwin, Godfrey's brother, who was Count of Edes s a, and the flaxen-haired P rinc e Bohemond of Antioc h arrived to s pend Chris tmas in J erus alem. But Godfrey s truggled to defend hims el f agains t the Churc h. T he pope's repres entative, an overweening P is an named Daimbert, was nowappointed patriarc h (to replac e the s inful A rnul f). Determ ined to es tabl is h a theoc rac y to be ruled by hims el f, he forc ed Godfrey to c ede the c i ty and J affa to the Churc h. In J une 1100, Godfrey c ol laps ed in J affa, probably wi th typhoid. Borne home to J erus alem, he died on 18 J uly and was buried five days later, l ikeal l his s uc c es s ors , at the foot of Calvary in the Churc h of the Holy Sepulc hre.1

Daimbert took c ontrol of the c i ty, but Godfrey's knights refus ed to s urrender the Citadel , and ins tead s ummoned the late advoc ate's brother, Baldwin. T he Count of Edes s a was fighting to defend northern Syria, however, and rec eived no mes s age unti l late Augus t. On 2 Oc tober Baldwin s et out wi th 200 knightsand 700 troops , and found that he had to fight al l the way to J erus alem, fac ing repeated Is lam ic ambus hes . On 9 November, wi th les s than hal f his original forc e, he at las t entered the Holy Ci ty.

THE RISE OF OUTREMER

1100-1131

BALDW IN THE BIG: THE F IRST KING

T wo days later, Baldwin was ac c laimed king and Daimbert was forc ed to rec ognize his ac c es s ion. A lmos t at onc e Baldwin s et off to raid Egypt. On his return, he was c rowned 'K ing of the Latins in J erus alem ' in the Churc h of the Nativi ty in Bethlehem by Patriarc h Daimbert.T he fi rs t K ing of J erus alem was not as s aintly as his brother but he was far more able. Baldwin had an aqui l ine nos e, l ight s kin, dark beard and hair, a prom inent upper l ip and a s l ightly rec eding c hin. He had s tudied for holy orders as a boy and never los t the c ontemplative air of a c lergyman, always wearing a

c leric al c loak around his s houlders . He married out of pol i tic al nec es s i ty, ris king bigamy for the s ake of expedienc y, left no c hi ldren and may not have c ons ummated any of his marriages . However, he 's truggled in vain agains t the lus tful s ins of the fles h yet s o c i rc ums pec tly did he c onduc t hims el f in the indulgenc eof thes e vic es ' that he offended no one. Some have c laimed he was gay, but the nature of his pec c adi l loes remains mys terious .

Relentles s war was his urgent duty and true pas s ion. His c haplain c al led him 'the arm of his people, the terror of his enemies '. T his wi ly warrior of almos t s uperhuman energy devoted hims el f to s ec uring and expanding the kingdom, repeatedly fighting the Egyptians outs ide Ramal lah. Onc e they defeated him ,but he es c aped on his hors e, Gazala, to the c oas t and, hi tc hing a l i ft wi th a pas s ing Engl is h pirate, s ai led to J affa where he landed, mus tered his knights and vanquis hed the Egyptians again. His forc es were s o s mal l , probably no more than 1,000 knights and 5,000 infantry, that he rec rui ted loc al auxi l iaries (s omepos s ibly Mus l im) who were known as T urc opoles . A flexible diplomat, he played on the rivalries of the Mus l im c hieftains , and al l ied hims el f wi th Genoes e, Venetian and Engl is h fleets to c onquer the Pales tinian c oas t from Caes area to Ac re and Beirut.

In J erus alem, Baldwin managed to depos e the overm ighty Daimbert as patriarc h, defeating the main c hal lenge to his authori ty. T he Crus aders had des troyed the people of J erus alem but merc i ful ly they c ommandeered the s ac red plac es of al -Quds rather than razing them - probably bec aus e they bel ieved theywere the bibl ic al originals . Baldwin forti fied the Citadel , long known to Chris tians as the Tower of David, whic h bec ame palac e, treas ury, pris on, and garris on: i ts Crus ader arc hes are s ti l l vis ible. W hen in 1110 and again in 1113 Egyptian raids threatened the c i ty, the trumpets blared from the Tower of David to c al lthe c i tizens to arms . In 1104, Baldwin made al-Aqs a Mos que into the royal palac e.

Many Crus aders bel ieved that the Dome and al-Aqs a real ly had been bui l t by K ing Solomon or at leas t by Cons tantine the Great, though s ome knew perfec tly wel l that they were Is lam ic . A c ros s was plac ed atop the Dome of the Roc k whic h was now known as T emplum Domini , the T emple of the Lord. Like everyc onqueror of J erus alem, the Franks us ed the s pol ia of other bui lders to c reate their own monuments : Baldwin s tripped the lead roof of his Aqs a palac e to refi t the Holy Sepulc hre.

In 1110, S igurd, the teenage K ing of Norway, who had fought his way around the Mediterranean mas s ac ring infidels , landed at Ac re wi th his 60-s hip fleet. Baldwin es c orted S igurd, the fi rs t king to vis i t, into what the Nors emen c al led J ors alaborg on roads c overed with c arpets and palms . Baldwin offered S igurda s pl inter of the T rue Cros s i f he would help him s torm S idon with his fleet. S idon fel l - and the Norwegians s pent the winter in J erus alem.

Baldwin repel led invas ions by the atabegs of Damas c us and Mos ul : i t was a l i fe of unending warfare and wheeler-deal ing for whic h this king was wel l s ui ted. Early in the Crus ade, he had married A rda, daughter of an A rmenian potentate, an al l ianc e that had helped him s eize Edes s a as his own c ounty. ButA rda was exc es s to requirements in J erus alem. He c onfined her to S t Anne's monas tery jus t north of the Temple Mount, unc hivalrous ly c laim ing that s he had s educ ed (or been raped by) A rab pirates on the way to Antioc h. She dec amped to Cons tantinople, where her s ubs equent pleas ures s ugges t i t was theformer rather than the latter that was the true ac c ount.

Baldwin negotiated a profi table marriage with the ric h Adelaide, widow of the Norman Count of S ic i ly: s he arrived at Ac re ac c ompanied by three tri remes of elegant c ourtiers , A rab bodyguards - and treas ure. Outremer had never s een anything as magnific ent as her c avalc ade. T he s treets were bannered andc arpeted as Baldwin es c orted this ageing Cleopatra into a rejoic ing J erus alem. However, her haughtines s proved inc onvenient, her c harm ins uffic ient and her weal th al l too exhaus tible. She dis l iked provinc ial J erus alem, m is s ing the luxuries of Palermo. W hen Baldwin fel l dangerous ly i l l , his bigamy began totrouble him and he des patc hed the Queen bac k to S ic i ly.

Meanwhi le the king found a s olution to the emptines s of J erus alem. In 1115, he raided ac ros s the J ordan, bui lding c as tles there but als o enc ountering the poverty-s tric ken Syrian and A rmenian Chris tians , whom he invi ted to s ettle in J erus alem, anc es tors of today's Pales tinian Chris tians .T he Crus aders of J erus alem fac ed a s trategic di lemma: s hould they expand northwards into Syria and Iraq or s outhwards into the fraying c al iphate of Egypt? To s ec ure the kingdom, Baldwin and his s uc c es s ors knew they had to c onquer one of thes e terri tories . T heir s trategic nightmare was a union of Syria

and Egypt. So in 1118 Baldwin raided Egypt, but, hal ting to c atc h fis h in the Ni le, he fel l i l l again. Carried bac k in a l i tter, he died at the border town of E l-A ris h, where the Bardawi l lagoons are named after him . He was a gi fted adventurer who had bec ome a Levantine king, now s urpris ingly mourned by 'Franks ,Syrians and even the Sarac ens '.

On Palm Sunday, the J erus alem ites were s olemnly parading their palms in the K idron Val ley when they were heartened to s ee from the north the arrival of the Count of Edes s a. Only then did they obs erve, approac hing from the s outh, the c atafalque of their dead king, weaving c los ely through the J udaean hi l lsguarded by his mourning army.2

BALDW IN II THE LITTLE

Onc e Baldwin was laid in the Churc h, the barons reviewed the c andidates for the throne. But one fac tion s imply elec ted the Count of Edes s a and s eized J erus alem. T he kingdom was fortunate in i ts c hoic e. Baldwin II, the dead king's c ous in, known as the Li ttle, in c ontras t to his lanky predec es s or, had ruledEdes s a through eighteen years of c ons tant warfare and even s urvived four years of pris on after being c aptured by the T urks . W earing a long beard down to his c hes t, blond now s treaked with s i lver, he was wholes omely married to an A rmenian heires s , Morphia, wi th four daughters , and was s o s aintly that his kneeswere c al lous ed from prayer. Baldwin was , even more than his predec es s or, a Levantine as wel l as a Frankis h king: he was at home in the Middle Eas t, holding c ourt in robes , s eated c ros s -legged on c us hions . T he Mus l ims regarded him as 'ric h in experienc e' wi th 'good s ens e and the gi ft of kings hip' - high prais efor an infidel .

In J erus alem, Baldwin the Li ttle lent his Temple of Solomon to a new m i l i tary order of 'God-fearing' knights , 'profes s ing the wis h to l ive perpetual ly in poverty, c has ti ty and obedienc e', who would take their name from their new home. T he Templars s tarted as nine guardians of the pi lgrim route from J affa but grewinto a c rac k m i l i tary-rel igious order of 300 knights , wearing the red c ros s , granted them by the pope, and c ommanding hundreds of s ergeants and thous ands of infantry. T he T emplars c onverted the Is lam ic Haram al-Shari f into a Chris tian c omplex of s hrine, ars enal and ac c ommodation:* al -Aqs a was already dividedup into rooms and apartments but they added a c apac ious Templar Hal l (of whic h trac es s ti l l exis t) around the s outh wal l . Near the Roc k, the Dome of the Chain bec ame S t J ames 's Chapel. T he underground Mos que of J es us ' Cradle bec ame the Chris tian S t Mary's . Herod's s ubterranean hal ls , whic h they c al led theS tables of Solomon, hous ed the Order's 2,000 hors es and 1,500 pac k c amels , ac c es s ed through a new s ingle gate in the s outhern wal l , al l this protec ted to the s outh by a forti fied barbic an. North of the Dome, they bui l t a c anons ' c lois ter, their own bathhous e and a c rafts works hop. On top of al -Aqs a, they c reated,s ays the German monk T heodoric h who vis i ted in 1172, 'an abundanc e of gardens , c ourtyards , antec hambers , ves tibules and rain-water c is terns '.

A l i ttle earl ier in 1113, Pope Pas c hal II granted the area jus t s outh of the Holy Sepulc hre to another new order, the Hos pi tal lers , who later bec ame a holy army even ric her than the Templars . A t fi rs t they wore blac k tunic s wi th whi te c ros s es ; later the pope granted them the red s urc oat wi th a whi te c ros s . T heybui l t their own quarter inc luding a hos tel wi th a thous and beds and the huge Hos pi tal , where four doc tors ins pec ted the s ic k twic e a day, c hec ked their urine and let their blood. New mothers eac h rec eived a c ot. But there were l im i ts to i ts c omforts , s o eac h patient rec eived a s heeps kin c oat and boots to wear to thelatrine. J erus alem ec hoed with many languages inc luding Frenc h, German and Ital ian - Baldwin granted the Venetians trading privi leges - but i t was s ti l l a Chris tian res erve: he al lowed Mus l im traders into the c i ty, but they were not perm itted to s pend the night in Chris t's c api tal .

Soon afterwards , Il -Ghazi , onc e ruler of J erus alem, now mas ter of A leppo, attac ked Antioc h and ki l led i ts princ e. K ing Baldwin rac ed north, bearing the T rue Cros s * wi th his army, and defeated him . But in 1123 the king was c aptured by Il -Ghazi 's nephew Balak.

W hi le Baldwin remained a pris oner of the Ortuq fam i ly and the Crus ader arm ies bes ieged T yre, the Egyptians advanc ed from As hkelon hoping to s eize a J erus alem bereft of king and defenders .3

THE GOLDEN AGE OF OUTREMER

1131-42

MELISENDE AND FULK: A ROYAL W EDDING

T he J erus alem ites , c ommanded by the c ons table, Eus tac e of Grenier, twic e s aw off the Egyptians . To univers al joy, Baldwin was rans omed: on 2 Apri l 1125, the enti re c i ty turned out to welc ome the king home. Baldwin's impris onment had c onc entrated his m ind on the s uc c es s ion. His heires s was his daughterMel is ende, whom he now married to the c apable and experienc ed Fulk, Count of Anjou, des c endant of the depraved s erial -pi lgrim Fulk the B lac k and s on of the del ightful ly named Fulk the Repuls ive, and hims el f al ready a veteran Crus ader.

In 1131, Baldwin fel l i l l in J erus alem, and, wi thdrawing to die in the Patriarc h's Palac e as a humble s uppl ic ant, he abdic ated in favour of Fulk, Mel is ende and their baby s on, the future Baldwin III. J erus alem had evolved i ts own c oronation ri tual . As s embl ing at the Temple of Solomon, wearing embroidereddalmatic s , s toles and the c rown jewels , Fulk and Mel is ende mounted gorgeous ly c aparis oned hors es . Led by the c hamberlain brandis hing the king's s word, fol lowed by the s enes c hal wi th the s c eptre and the c ons table wi th the royal s tandard, they rode through the c heering c i ty - the fi rs t J erus alem ite monarc hs tobe c rowned in the rotunda of the Holy Sepulc hre, al ready being rebui l t.

T he patriarc h adminis tered the royal oath then as ked the c ongregation thric e to c onfi rm that thes e were the lawful heirs : Oil l ! Yes ! s houted the c rowd.* T he two c rowns were borne towards the al tar. T he royal c ouple were anointed from a horn of oi l before Fulk was given the ring of loyal ty, the orb of dominion andthe s c eptre for punis hment of s inners , and girded with the s word of war and jus tic e. T hey were then both c rowned and kis s ed by the patriarc h. Outs ide the Sepulc hre, the mars hal helped K ing Fulk mount his hors e and they rode bac k to the Temple Mount. A t the banquet in Templum Domini , the king offered to returnthe c rown and then retrieved i t, a tradi tion bas ed on the s tory of J es us ' c i rc umc is ion when i t was s aid that Mary brought him to the Temple, offered him to God and bought him bac k for a lamb or two pigeons . Final ly the burges s es brought the food and wine, s erved to the royals by the s enes c hal and c hamberlain asthe mars hal held the banner over them. A fter muc h s inging, mus ic and danc ing, the c ons table es c orted the king and queen to their s ui te.

Mel is ende was the queen regnant but at fi rs t Fulk expec ted to rule in his own name. He was a s quat forty-year-old s oldier wi th red hair, 'l ike K ing David' as W i l l iam of T yre put i t, and a poor memory, always a flaw in kings . Ac c us tomed to rul ing his own realm , he found i t hard to manage, let alone c harm, hisimperious queen. Mel is ende, s l im , dark and intel l igent, was s oon s pending too muc h time with her hands ome c ous in and c hi ldhood playmate Count Hugh of J affa, the ric hes t magnate in J erus alem. Fulk ac c us ed them of having an affai r.

QUEEN MELISENDE: THE SCANDAL

Melis ende's fl i rtation s tarted as gos s ip but rapidly bec ame a pol i tic al c ris is . As queen s he was unl ikely to be punis hed; but, by Frankis h law, i f a c ouple were found gui l ty of adul tery, the woman s uffered rhinotomy (nos e-s l i tting), the man c as tration. One way to prove innoc enc e was s ingle c ombat: now a knightc hal lenged Count Hugh to prove his innoc enc e by duel . But Hugh fled to Egyptian terri tory, where he s tayed unti l the Churc h negotiated a c ompromis e by whic h he would go into exi le for three years .

On his return to J erus alem, Hugh was s i tting playing dic e in a tavern on Furriers S treet one day when a B reton knight s tabbed him . Somehow he s urvived, but J erus alem was 's haken at the outrage; a great c rowd as s embled' and the rumour s pread that Fulk had ordered his rival 's murder. Now i t was the king whoneeded to prove his innoc enc e: the B reton was tried and s entenc ed to be dis membered and have his tongue c ut out. But Fulk ordered that his tongue remain intac t to s how he was not being s i lenc ed. Even when the B reton had been total ly dis membered with only head, tors o (and tongue) left, he s ti l l as s erted Fulk'sinnoc enc e.

It is not s urpris ing that the evident s leazines s of Outremer pol i tic s bec ame notorious in Europe. Rul ing J erus alem was a c hal lenge: the kings were real ly fi rs t among equals , c ontending with Crus ader princ el ings , ambitious magnates , thuggis h adventurers , ignorant new arrivals from Europe, independentm i l i tary-rel igious orders of knights and intriguing c hurc hmen, before they were even able to fac e their Is lam ic enemies .

T he royal marriage bec ame extremely fros ty, but i f Mel is ende had los t her love, s he had regained her power. T o thaw the queen, Fulk gave her a s pec ial pres ent - the s umptuous Ps al ter that bears her name.* But as the kingdom enjoyed i ts golden age, Is lam was mobi l izing.ZANGI THE BLOODY: THE FALCON PRINCE

In 1137, Zangi , A tabeg of Mos ul and A leppo (in today's Iraq and Syria), attac ked fi rs t the Crus ader c i ty of Antioc h and then Mus l im Damas c us : the fal l of ei ther of thes e c i ties would be a blow for J erus alem. For nearly four dec ades , the los s of J erus alem had made s urpris ingly l i ttle impres s ion on the divided anddis trac ted Is lam ic world. As s o often in J erus alem 's his tory, rel igious fervour was ins pired by pol i tic al nec es s i ty. Zangi now s tarted to harnes s a ris ing fury, rel igious and pol i tic al , at J erus alem 's los s , c al l ing hims el f 'Fighter of J ihad, tamer of atheis ts , des troyer of heretic s '.

T he c al iph awarded this T urkis h atabeg the ti tle 'K ing of Amirs ' for res toring Is lam ic pride. For the A rabs he c al led hims el f the P i l lar of the Fai th; for fel low-T urks , the Falc on P rinc e. Poets , vi tal ornaments for every ruler in that poetry-loving s oc iety, floc ked to his c ourt to s ing of his glories , but the feral Zangi wasa hars h mas ter. He s kinned and s c alped important enemies , hanged m inor ones , and c ruc i fied any of his troops who trampled on c rops . He c as trated his boy lovers to pres erve their beauty. W hen he exi led his generals , he rem inded them of his power by c as trating their s ons . Demented with drink, he divorc ed oneof his wives and then had her gang-raped by his grooms in the s tables - whi le he watc hed. If one of his s oldiers des erted, remembered one of his offic ers , Us amah bin Munqidh, Zangi would order the two neighbouring men to be c ut in hal f. His c ruel ties are rec orded by Mus l im s ourc es . As for the Crus aders , they (ina pun worthy of a tabloid-news paper headl ine) nic knamed him Zangi the Sanguine.

Fulk hurried to c onfront him but Zangi defeated the J erus alem ites , trapping the king in a nearby fortres s . W i l l iam, the Patriarc h of J erus alem, led the army to his res c ue, brandis hing the T rue Cros s . Zangi , real izing that rel ief was on i ts way, offered to free Fulk in return for the fortres s . A fter this c los e es c ape, Fulkand Mel is ende were rec onc i led, but Zangi , now in his early s ixties , kept up the pres s ure, threatening not only the Crus ader c i ties of Antioc h and Edes s a but renewing his attac k on Damas c us , whic h was s o alarmed that i ts ruler, Unur, al l ied hims el f wi th infidel J erus alem.4

In 1140, Unur, the A tabeg of Damas c us , s et off for J erus alem ac c ompanied by his worldly advis er, a Syrian aris toc rat and the c entury's fines t Mus l im wri ter.USAMAH BIN MUNQIDH: GREAT EVENTS AND CALAMITIES

Us amah bin Munqidh was one of thos e ubiqui tous players who know everyone who matters at a c ertain time or plac e in his tory and always find thems elves at the c entre of events . During his long c areer, this Zel iges que c ourtier, warrior and wri ter managed to s erve al l the great Is lam ic leaders of his c entury, fromZangi and the Fatim id c al iphs to Saladin, and to know at leas t two of the kings of J erus alem.

A member of the dynas ty that ruled the Syrian fortres s of Shaizar, Us amah los t the s uc c es s ion, and his fam i ly was then wiped out in an earthquake. A fter thes e blows , he bec ame a c aval ier - a faris - ready to s erve whic hever ruler offered him the bes t opportuni ties , and, now aged forty-five, he was s erving Unur ofDamas c us . Us amah l ived for fighting, hunting and l i terature. His ac c ident-prone purs ui t of power, weal th and glory was both bloody and farc ic al : the phras e 'yet another dis as ter' appears frequently in his memoirs , whic h are enti tled Great Ev ents and Calamities . But he was als o a natural c hronic ler: one s ens es that,even as his s c hemes c ol laps ed, this aes thetic A rab Quixote knew the s tories would make great material for his wi tty, s harp, melanc hol ic wri tings . Us amah was a mas ter adib - the refined A rab bel le-lettris t par exc el lenc e - wri ting books and poems on the del ights of women, male manners (The Kernels ofRefinement), erotic is m and warfare. In his hands , a his tory of walking s tic ks was real ly an es s ay on ageing.

A tabeg Unur now arrived in J erus alem with his exuberant c ourtier, Us amah: 'I us ed to travel frequently to vis i t the K ing of the Franks during the truc e,' wrote Us amah, whos e relations with Fulk were s urpris ingly c ourteous .* K ing and c aval ier bantered about the nature of knighthood. 'T hey told me you were a greatknight,' s aid Fulk, 'but I hadn't real ly bel ieved i t.' 'My lord, I am a knight of my rac e and people,' ans wered Us amah. W e do not know anything about Us amah's appearanc e, but i t s eems that the Franks were impres s ed with his phys ique.

During his trips to J erus alem, Us amah enjoyed s tudying the inferiori ty of the Crus aders , whom he regarded as 'mere beas ts , pos s es s ing no other vi rtues but c ourage and fighting' - even though his works reveal that many Mus l im tradi tions were jus t as s avage and prim itive. Like every good reporter, he rec ordedoppos i tes - good and bad things about both s ides . W hen he looked bac k as an old man at the c ourt of Saladin, he mus t have reflec ted that he s aw J erus alem at the height of the Crus ader kingdom 's glory.

MELISENDE'S JERUSALEM: HIGH LIFE AND LOW LIFE

Melis ende's J erus alem was regarded by many Chris tians as the true c entre of the world, very di fferent from the empty, s tinking Frankis h c onques t of forty years before. Indeed, in the maps of the c i ty from this time, J erus alem is s hown as a c i rc le wi th the two main s treets s erving as the arms of the c ros s wi th i tsc entre on the Churc h of the Holy Sepulc hre, emphas izing the Holy Ci ty as the navel of the world.

T he king and queen held c ourt in the Tower of David and i ts neighbouring palac e, whi le the Patriarc h's Palac e was the c entre of Churc h affai rs . Li fe for ordinary barons in Outremer J erus alem was probably better than for kings in Europe, where even potentates wore unlaundered wool and l ived in bare-s tonedraughty keeps with rough furni ture. If few Crus ader barons c ould l ive as grandly as J ohn of Ibel in, later in the c entury, his palac e in Beirut reveals the s tyle: mos aic floors , marble wal ls , painted c ei l ings , fountains and gardens . Even bourgeois townhous es boas ted ric h c arpets , damas k wal l -hangings , del ic atefaienc e, c arved, inlaid tables and porc elain dis hes .

J erus alem c ombined the rough edges of the frontier town with the luxurious vani ties of a royal c api tal . Even in J erus alem the les s reputable women, s uc h as the patriarc h's m is tres s , flaunted their jewels and s i lks to the dis approval of the more res pec table. W ith her 30,000 inhabi tants and s treams of pi lgrims ,s he was Holy Ci ty, Chris tian melting-pot and a m i l i tary headquarters - dominated by war and God. T he Franks , men and women, now bathed regularly - there were publ ic baths on Furriers S treet; the Roman s ewerage was s ti l l working and i t is l ikely mos t hous es had lavatories . Even the mos t Is lamophobic ofCrus aders had to adapt to the eas t. A t war, the knights wore l inen robes and A rab k effiy eh over their armour to prevent the s teel heating up in the s un. A t home, the knights dres s ed l ike the loc als , in s i lk burnous and even turbans . J erus alem ite ladies wore long underrobes with a s hort tunic or long robe-c oatsembroidered with gold thread; their fac es were heavi ly painted; and they were us ual ly vei led in publ ic . Both s exes wore furs in winter, though this luxury was s pec i fic al ly banned for the aus tere Templars , who pers oni fied this c api tal of Chris tian holy war. T he Knights of the Orders s et the tone: the Templars in theirbel ted and hooded red-c ros s ed mantles , Hos pi tal lers in their blac k mantles wi th whi te c ros s es on the breas t. Every day, the 300 T emplars c lattered out of the S tables of Solomon to train outs ide the c i ty. In the Val ley of K idron, the infantry prac tis ed their arc hery.

T he c i ty thronged not only wi th Frenc h, Norwegian, German and Ital ian s oldiers and pi lgrims , but als o wi th eas tern Chris tians - s hort-bearded Syrians and Greeks , A rmenians and Georgians with long beards and high hats , who s tayed in the dorm itories of hos tels or the many s mal l taverns . S treet l i fe wasc entred around the Roman Cardo, leading from S t S tephen's (now Damas c us ) Gate, pas s ing the Sepulc hre and Patriarc h's Quarter on the right and then entering the three paral lel c overed market s treets , joined by c ris s c ros s ing al leyways , s mel l ing of s pic es and c ooked food. P i lgrims bought takeaways and s herbetdrinks from the S treet of Bad Cooking, Malc uis inat; c hanged money on Syrian Moneyc hangers S treet c los e to the Sepulc hre; bought trinkets from the Latin Golds miths , furs on Furriers S treet.

Even before the Crus ades i t was s aid that 'No travel lers are as evi l as pi lgrims to J erus alem.' Outremer was the medieval vers ion of the W i ld W es t: murderers , adventurers and whores c ame out to make their fortunes , but the prim c hronic lers tel l us l i ttle about J erus alem 's night l i fe. However, the loc al hal f-c as tes oldiers , the T urc opoles , s ec ond-generation poor and oriental ized Latins known as poulains , Venetian and Genoes e merc hants and newly arrived knights needed the taverns and pleas ures of any m i l i tary town. Eac h tavern had a c lunking c hain ac ros s the entranc e to s top bois terous knights riding into the bar.Soldiers c ould be s een gambl ing and rol l ing dic e in the doorways of s hops . European harlots were s hipped out to s ervic e the s oldiers of Outremer. Later the s ec retary of the s ul tan Saladin would gleeful ly des c ribe one s uc h boatload from the Mus l im point of view:

Lovely Frankis h women, foul fles hed and s inful , appearing proudly in publ ic , ripped open and patc hed up, lac erated and mended, making love and s el l ing thems elves for gold, c al l ipygian and grac eful , l ike tips y adoles c ents , they dedic ated as a holy offering what they kept between their thighs , eac h trai ledthe train of her robe behind her, bewitc hed with her effulgenc e, s wayed l ike a s apl ing, and longed to los e her robe.

Mos t of them ended up in the ports of Ac re and T yre, wi th their s treets fi l led wi th Ital ian s ai lors , and J erus alem would have been pol ic ed by offic ials keen to enforc e Chris tian morals , but al l humanity was there.W hen pi lgrims fel l i l l , the Hos pi tal lers nurs ed them in the Hos pi tal , whic h c ould hold 2,000 patients . Surpris ingly, they als o nurs ed Mus l ims and J ews and even had a kos her/halal ki tc hen s o that they c ould eat meat. But death was always on their m inds : J erus alem was a nec ropol is where old or s ic k pi lgrims

were c ontent to die and be buried unti l the Res urrec tion. For the poor, there were free c harnel-pi ts in the Mamil la graveyard and the Akeldama in the Val ley of Hel l . During one epidemic later in the c entury, fi fty pi lgrims died eac h day and c arts c ol lec ted bodies eac h night after ves pers .*

Li fe revolved phys ic al ly around the two temples - the Holy Sepulc hre and the Temple of the Lord - and c hronologic al ly around a c alendar of ri tuals . In this 'intens ely theatric al age in whic h every tec hnique was us ed to heighten publ ic feel ings through dis play,' wri tes the his torian J onathan Ri ley-Smith,J erus alem 's s hrines res embled s tage-s ets and were c ons tantly remodel led and improved to intens i fy the effec t. T he c apture of the c i ty was c elebrated every 15 J uly when the patriarc h led vi rtual ly the enti re c i ty from the Sepulc hre to the Temple Mount where he prayed outs ide the Temple of Solomon and then ledhis proc es s ion through the Golden Gate - through whic h that fi rs t Crus ader, Emperor Herac l ius , had borne the T rue Cros s in 630 - to the plac e on the northern wal l , c rowned with a huge c ros s , where Godfrey had broken into the c i ty. Eas ter was the mos t exc i ting s et piec e. Before s unris e on Palm Sunday, thepatriarc h and c lergy, holding the T rue Cros s , walked from Bethany towards the c i ty, whi le another proc es s ion bearing palms c ame from the Temple Mount to meet the patriarc h in the Val ley of J ehos haphat. Together they then opened the Golden Gate + and proc es s ed around the s ac red es planade before praying inthe T emple of the Lord.

On Holy Saturday, J erus alem ites gathered at the Churc h for the Holy Fire. A Rus s ian pi lgrim watc hed 'the c rowd rus h in, jos tl ing and elbowing', weeping, wai l ing and s houting, 'W i l l my s ins prevent the Holy Fire from des c ending?' T he king walked from the Temple Mount but, when he arrived, the c rowd was s otightly pac ked, overflowing even the c ourtyard, that his s oldiers had to c lear a path for him . Onc e ins ide, the king, s hedding 'torrents of tears ', took his plac e on a ros trum before the Tomb, s urrounded by his weeping c ourtiers , wai ting for the Holy Fire. As the pries t c hanted ves pers , the ec s tas y intens i fied in thedarkening c hurc h, unti l s uddenly 'the Holy Light i l lum ined the Sepulc hre, s tunningly bright and s plendid'. T he patriarc h emerged brandis hing the fi re, wi th whic h he kindled the royal lamp. T he fi re s pread ac ros s the c rowd, lantern to lantern - and was then borne ac ros s town l ike an Olympic flame ac ros s the GreatB ridge to the T emple of the Lord.

Mel is ende embel l is hed J erus alem as both Temple s hrine and pol i tic al c api tal , c reating muc h that we s ee today. T he Crus aders had developed their own s tyle, a s ynthes is of Romanes que, Byzantine and Levantine with round-headed arc hes , mas s ive c api tals , al l c arved with del ic ate, often floral moti fs . T hequeen bui l t the monumental S t Anne's Churc h, north of the Temple Mount, on the s i te of the Bethes da Pool - i t s tands today as the s imples t and s tarkes t example of Crus ader arc hi tec ture. A lready us ed as a repos i tory for dis c arded royal wives and more rec ently the home of Mel is ende's s is ter P rinc es s Yvette, i tsc onvent bec ame the mos t ric hly endowed in J erus alem. A few of the s hops in the marketplac es are s ti l l marked 'ANNA ' to s how where their profi ts went; other s hops , perhaps T emplar-owned, are marked 'T ' for the T emple.

A s mal l c hapel , S t Gi les , was bui l t on the Great B ridge into the Temple Mount. Outs ide the wal ls , Mel is ende added to the Churc h of Our Lady of J ehos haphat, the V irgin Mary's tomb where s he was later buried (her grave s urvives today), and bui l t the Bethany Monas tery, appointing P rinc es s Yvette as abbes s . Inthe T emple of the Lord, s he added an ornate metal gri l le to protec t the Roc k (now mos tly in the Haram Mus eum though a s mal l s ec tion, s ti l l in s i tu, may have held a portion of J es us ' fores kin,* and later enc los ed hair from Muhammad's beard).

On their s tate vis i t to s ee Fulk and Mel is ende, Us amah bin Munqidh and his mas ter, the A tabeg of Damas c us , were al lowed to pray on the T emple Mount, where they enc ountered both the ins ulari ty and c os mopol i tanis m of their Frankis h hos ts .USAMAH BIN MUNQIDH AND JUDAH HALEVI: MUSLIMS, JEW S AND FRANKS

Us amah had bec ome friends with s ome of the T emplars whom he had met in war and peac e. Now they es c orted him and A tabeg Unur on to the s ac red es planade, the thoroughly Chris tianized headquarters of the T emplars .Some Crus aders now s poke A rabic and bui l t hous es with c ourtyards and fountains l ike Mus l im potentates ; s ome even ate A rabic food. Us amah met Franks who did not eat pork and 'pres ented a very fine table, extremely c lean and del ic ious '. Mos t Franks dis approved of anyone going too native: 'God has

trans formed the Oc c ident into the Orient', wrote Fulc her. 'He who was a Roman or a Frank has in this land been made into a Gal i lean or a Pales tinian.' S im i larly, there were l im i ts to Us amah's friends hip wi th the Templars and to their open-m indednes s . W hen one Templar was returning home, he c heerful ly invi tedUs amah to s end his s on to be educ ated in Europe s o that 'when he returns he wi l l be a truly rational man'. Us amah c ould s c arc ely c ontain his dis dain.

As they prayed in the Dome of the Roc k, one of the Franks approac hed the atabeg to as k: 'W ould you l ike to s ee God when he was young?''W hy yes ,' s aid Unur, at whic h the Frank led him and Us amah to an ic on of Mary and the boy J es us .'T his is God when he was young,' s aid the Frank, muc h to Us amah's amus ed c ontempt.Us amah then walked over to pray in the Temple of Solomon, formerly al-Aqs a, welc omed by his Templar friends , even though he was openly rec i ting 'A l lahu Akhbar - God is Greates t'. But then there was an uns ettl ing inc ident when 'a Frank rus hed up to me and grabbed me and turned my fac e towards the eas t,

"P ray l ike this ! "' T he 'Templars hurried towards him and took him away from me. "T his man is a s tranger," the Templars explained, apologetic al ly, "and has jus t arrived from the Frankis h lands ."' Us amah real ized that 'anyone rec ently arrived' is 'rougher in c harac ter than thos e who have bec ome ac c l imatized andfrequented the c ompany of Mus l ims '. T hes e new arrivals remained 'an ac c urs ed rac e that wi l l not bec ome ac c us tomed to anyone not of their own rac e'.

It was not only Mus l im leaders who vis i ted Mel is ende's J erus alem. Mus l im peas ants c ame into town dai ly to s el l their frui t and left in the evening. By the 1140s , the rules banning Mus l ims and J ews from Chris t's c i ty had been relaxed - henc e the travel wri ter A l i al -Harawi s aid, 'I l ived long enough in J erus alemat the time of the Franks to know how the tric k of the Holy Fire was ac hieved.' T here were already a few J ews in J erus alem, but pi lgrimage was s ti l l dangerous .

J us t at this time, in 1141, J udah Halevi , a Spanis h poet, phi los opher and doc tor, is s aid to have arrived from Spain. In his love s ongs and rel igious poetry, he c raved 'Zion perfec t in beauty' whi le s uffering bec aus e 'Edom [Is lam] and Is hmael [Chris tiani ty] riot in the Holy Ci ty'. T he J ew in exi le was 'the dove in as trange land.' A l l his l i fe, Halevi , who wrote poetry in Hebrew but s poke A rabic , bel ieved in the return of the J ews to Zion:

O c i ty of the world, mos t c has tely fai r,In the far W es t, behold I s igh for thee.Oh! had I eagles ' wings , I'd fly to thee,And with my fal l ing tears make mois t thine earth.

Halevi , whos e poems are s ti l l part of the s ynagogue l i turgy, wrote as poignantly as anyone has ever wri tten about J erus alem: 'W hen I dream of the return of thy c aptivi ty, I am a harp for thy s ongs .' It is not c lear i f he ac tual ly made i t to J erus alem, but ac c ording to legend, as he walked through the gates , he wasridden down by a hors eman, probably a Frank, and ki l led, a fate perhaps fores een in his words : 'I would fal l wi th my fac e upon thine earth, and take del ight in thy s tones and be tender to thy dus t. '

T his death would not have s urpris ed Us amah, who s tudied the violenc e of Frankis h laws . On his way to J erus alem he had watc hed two Franks s olving a legal ques tion by c ombat - one s mas hed in the s kul l of another. 'T hat was but a tas te of their juris prudenc e and their legal proc edure.' W hen a man wasac c us ed of murdering pi lgrims , his trial was to be trus s ed up and dipped in a pool of water. If he s ank he was innoc ent, but s inc e he floated he was found gui l ty and, as Us amah put i t, 'they appl ied s ome kohl to his eyes ' - he was bl inded.

As for their s exual c us toms , Us amah gleeful ly rec ounted how one Frank found another in bed with his wi fe but let him off wi th a mere warning, and how another ordered his male barber to s have off his wi fe's pubic hair. In medic ine Us amah des c ribed how whi le an Eas tern doc tor was treating a Frank's legabs c es s with a poul tic e, a Frankis h doc tor burs t in wi th an axe and hac ked off the leg, wi th the immortal ques tion - would he prefer to l ive wi th one leg or die wi th two? But he died with one. W hen the Eas tern doc tor pres c ribed a s pec ial diet to a woman s uffering 'drynes s of humours ', the s ame Frankis h doc tor,diagnos ing a 'demon ins ide her head', c arved a c ros s into her s kul l , ki l l ing her too. T he bes t doc tors were A rab-s peaking Chris tians and J ews : even the kings of J erus alem now preferred Eas tern doc tors . Yet Us amah was never s impl is tic - he c i tes two c as es where Frankis h medic ine m irac ulous ly worked.

T he Mus l ims regarded the Crus aders as brutis h plunderers . But the c l ic he that the Crus aders were barbarians and the Mus l ims aes thetes c an be taken too far. A fter al l , Us amah had s erved the s adis t Zangi and, i f read in ful l , his ac c ount pres ents a pic ture of Is lam ic violenc e no les s s hoc king to moderns ens ibi l i ties : the c ol lec ting of Chris tian heads , the c ruc i fying and bis ec tions of their own s oldiers and heretic s , the s evere punis hments of Is lam ic s haria - and the s tory of how his father, in a rage, lopped off the arm of his page. V iolenc e and s im i larly brutal laws ruled on both s ides . T he Frankis h knight and theIs lam ic faris had muc h in c ommon: they were both led by s el f-made adventurers s uc h as the Baldwins and Zangi , who founded warrior dynas ties . Both s ys tems depended on the granting of fiefs of property or inc ome-s treams to leading warriors . T he A rabs us ed poetry to s how off, to entertain and to s preadpropaganda. W hen Us amah s erved the Damas c ene atabeg, he negotiated with the Egyptians in vers e, whi le Crus ader knights s pun the poems of c ourtly love. Both knight and faris l ived by s im i lar c odes of noble behaviour and s hared the s ame obs es s ions - rel igion, war, hors es - and the s ame s ports .

Few s oldiers , few novel is ts have c aptured the exc i tement and fun of war l ike Us amah. To read him is to ride in the s kirm is hes of Holy W ar in the K ingdom of J erus alem. He gloried in his battlefield anec dotes of derring-do, devi l -may-c are c aval iers , m irac ulous es c apes , terrible deaths , and the exhi laration ofwi ld c harges , flas hing s teel , s weating hors es and s purting blood. But he was als o a phi los opher of Fate and God's merc y: 'Even the s mal les t and mos t ins igni fic ant of things c an lead to des truc tion. ' Above al l , both s ides bel ieved that, in Us amah's words , 'vic tory in war is from God alone.' Rel igion was everything.Us amah's highes t prais e for a friend was : 'a genuine s c holar, a real c aval ier and a truly devout Mus l im '.

Now the tranqui l l i ty of Mel is ende's J erus alem was s uddenly s hattered by an ac c ident c aus ed by the s port s hared by both Mus l im and Frank grandees .

STALEMATE

1142-1174

ZANGI: HUBRIS AND NEMESIS

W hen he was not fighting or reading, Us amah hunted deer, l ions , wolves , hyenas with c heetahs , hawks and dogs - and in this , he was no di fferent from Zangi or K ing Fulk, who hunted as often as they c ould. W hen Us amah and the A tabeg of Damas c us vis i ted Fulk, they admired a gos hawk, s o the king gave i t tothem as a pres ent.

On 10 November 1142, s oon after Us amah's vis i t to J erus alem, K ing Fulk was riding near Ac re when he s potted a hare and, s purring his hors e, gave c has e. His s addle girth s uddenly s napped and he was thrown. T he s addle flew over his head and frac tured his s kul l . He died three days later. T he J erus alem itesmarc hed out to es c ort Fulk's c ortege to burial in the Sepulc hre. On Chris tmas Day, Mel is ende had her twelve-year-old s on c rowned as Baldwin III, but s he was the real ruler. In an age dominated by men, s he was a 'woman of great wis dom ' who, wri tes W i l l iam of T yre, 'had ris en s o far above the normal s tatus ofwomen that s he dared undertake important meas ures , and ruled the kingdom with as muc h s ki l l as her anc es tors '.*

A t this bi tters weet moment, dis as ter s truc k. In 1144, Zangi the B loody c aptured Edes s a, s laughtering Frankis h men, ens laving Frankis h women (though protec ting A rmenian Chris tians ), and thereby des troying the fi rs t Crus ader s tate and the c radle of the J erus alem dynas ty. T he Is lam ic world was exul tant. T heFranks were not invinc ible and s urely J erus alem was next. 'If Edes s a is the high s ea,' wrote Ibn al-Qays arani , 'J erus alem is the s hore.' T he Abbas id c al iph awarded Zangi the ti tles Ornament of Is lam, Auxi l iary of the Commander of the Bel ievers , Divinely A ided K ing. Yet Zangi 's hard-drinking pervers i ty c aught upwith him in his own boudoir.

A t a s iege in Iraq, a humil iated eunuc h, perhaps one of thos e c as trated for Zangi 's pleas ure, c rept into his heavi ly guarded tent and s tabbed the drunken potentate in his bed, leaving him s c arc ely al ive. A c ourtier found him bleeding, helples s ly begging for his l i fe: 'He thought I was intending to ki l l him . Heges tured to me with his index finger, appeal ing to me. I hal ted in awe of him and s aid, "My Lord, who's done this to you?"' T here died the Falc on P rinc e.

His s taff pi l laged his belongings around the s ti l l -warm c orps e and his two s ons divided his lands : the younger of them, the twenty-eight-year-old Nur al-Din, tugged his father's s ignet ring off his finger and s eized the Syrian terri tories . Talented but les s feroc ious than his father, Nur al-Din intens i fied the j ihadagains t the Franks . Shoc ked by the fal l of Edes s a, Mel is ende appealed to Pope Eugenius II, who c al led the Sec ond Crus ade.5

ELEANOR OF AQUITAINE AND KING LOUIS : SCANDAL AND DEFEAT

Louis V II, the s aintly young K ing of Franc e, ac c ompanied by his wi fe E leanor, Duc hes s of Aqui taine, and Conrad III, K ing of Germany, a veteran pi lgrim , ans wered the pope's c al l . But their German and Frenc h arm ies were mauled by the T urks as they c ros s ed Anatol ia. Louis V II only jus t made i t to Antioc h after adis as trous fighting marc h that mus t have been terri fying for Queen E leanor, who los t muc h of her baggage - and any res pec t for her s anc timonious , inept hus band.

P rinc e Raymond of Antioc h urged Louis to help him to c apture A leppo but Louis was determ ined to make his pi lgrimage to J erus alem fi rs t. T he worldly Raymond was E leanor's unc le and 'the hands omes t of princ es '. A fter the m is erable journey, E leanor 'dis regarded her marriage vows and was unfai thful to herhus band', ac c ording to W i l l iam of T yre. Her hus band was puppyis hly bes otted with her, but regarded s ex, even in marriage, as indulgent. No wonder E leanor c al led him 'more monk than man'. Yet E leanor, ac utely intel l igent, dark-haired, dark-eyed and c urvac eous , was the ric hes t heires s in Europe, brought up at thes ens ual Aqui tanian c ourt. P ries tly c hronic lers c laimed that the blood of s in c ours ed through her veins bec aus e her grandfather was W il l iam the T roubadour, a prom is c uous warrior-poet, whi le her grandmother on the other s ide was her grandfather's m is tres s , nic knamed La Dangereus e. T his c ame about bec aus ethe T roubadour had fac i l i tated his ac c es s to La Dangereus e by marrying her daughter to his s on.

W hether E leanor and Raymond c ommitted adul tery or not, their behaviour was provoc ative enough to humil iate the hus band and launc h an international s c andal . T he K ing of Franc e s olved his mari tal problem by kidnapping E leanor and heading off to join the German king who had arrived in J erus alem. W henLouis and E leanor approac hed the c i ty, 'al l the c lergy and people went out to meet him ' and es c ort him to the Sepulc hre 'to the ac c ompaniment of hymns and c hants '. T he Frenc h c ouple s tayed along with Conrad in the Temple of Solomon, but E leanor mus t have been c areful ly watc hed by the Frenc h c ourtiers . Shewas s tranded there for months .

On 24 J une 1148, Mel is ende and her s on Baldwin III c al led a c ounc i l at Ac re that approved the target of the Crus ade: Damas c us . T he c i ty had rec ently been J erus alem 's al ly, but i t was s ti l l a s ens ible target bec aus e i t would only be a matter of time before i t fel l to Nur al-Din. On 23 J uly, the kings of J erus alem,Franc e and Germany fought their way into the orc hards on the wes t s ide of Damas c us but two days later mys terious ly moved c amp to the eas t. Four days after that, the Crus ade fel l apart and the three kings ignominious ly retreated.

Unur, A tabeg of Damas c us , may have bribed the J erus alem ite barons , c onvinc ing them that the W es tern Crus aders wanted the prize for thems elves . Suc h dupl ic i tous venal i ty was al l too c redible but, more l ikely, the Crus aders s imply learned that Nur al-Din, Zangi 's s on, was advanc ing with a rel ief army. NowJ erus alem wi l ted under the s train of this dis as ter. Conrad s ai led home; Louis , bathing in as c etic peni tenc e, s tayed to c elebrate Eas ter in the Holy Ci ty. T hey c ould not leave fas t enough for E leanor: the marriage was annul led on their return.*6

W hen they had gone, Queen Mel is ende c elebrated her greates t triumph and s uffered her greates t humil iation. On 15 J uly 1149, s he and her s on rec ons ec rated their new Churc h of the Holy Sepulc hre, then - and now - the mas terpiec e and dazzl ing holy s tage-s et of Crus ader J erus alem. T he arc hi tec ts , finding ac luttered labyrinth of c hapels and s hrines in the c omplex bui l t in 1048 and res tored in 1119, s olved this c hal lenge with as tonis hing boldnes s . T hey roofed over the c ompound with a s oaring rotunda and uni ted al l i ts s i tes in one magnific ent Romanes que bui lding, expanding into the old Holy Garden in the eas t.T hey opened up the eas tern wal l of the Rotunda to add c hapels and a huge ambulatory. On the s i te of Cons tantine's Bas i l ic a, they plac ed a large c lois ter. T hey kept the 1048 s outhern entranc e, c reating a Romanes que fac ade with two portals (one is now bric ked up) topped with s c ulpted l intels (now in theRoc kefel ler Mus eum). T he peerles s c arvings of the s tairc as e leading up to the Chapel of the Hi l l of Calvary are perhaps the mos t exquis i te of al l Crus ader art.

Mel is ende's s on res ented her and demanded his ful l powers . Now twenty years old and ac c laimed for his brains and flaxen-haired brawn, Baldwin III was s aid to be the perfec t Frankis h king - wi th a few vic es . He was als o known as a gambler and s educ er of married women. But a northern c ris is s howed thatJ erus alem needed an ac tive warrior-king in the s addle: Zangi 's s on, Nur al-Din, defeated the Antioc henes and ki l led E leanor's unc le Raymond.

Baldwin rac ed northwards in time to s ave Antioc h but when he returned his mother Mel is ende, now forty-s even, res is ted his demand that he be c rowned at Eas ter. T he king dec ided to fight.MOTHER VERSUS SON: MELISENDE VERSUS BALDW IN III

Melis ende offered him the ric h ports of T yre and Ac re, but kept J erus alem for hers el f. T he 's ti l l s mouldering fi re was rekindled' when Baldwin rais ed his own forc es to s eize the kingdom. Mel is ende s ped from Nablus to J erus alem with Baldwin in purs ui t. J erus alem opened i ts gates to the king. Mel is ende retreatedinto the T ower of David where Baldwin bes ieged her. He 's et up his engines for as s aul t', fi ring bol ts and bal l is ta s tones at her for s everal days . Final ly the queen res igned power - and J erus alem.

Baldwin had s c arc ely s eized his birthright when Antioc h was again attac ked by Nur al-Din. W hi le the king was onc e more in the north, the Ortuq fam i ly that had ruled J erus alem from 1086 to 1098 marc hed from their Iraq fiefdom to s eize the Holy Ci ty, mas s ing on the Mount of Ol ives , but the J erus alem itess ortied out and mas s ac red them on the J eric ho road. Morale boos ted, Baldwin led his army and the T rue Cros s to As hkelon, whic h fel l after a long s iege. But in the north, Damas c us final ly s uc c umbed to Nur al-Din, who bec ame the mas ter of Syria and eas tern Iraq.

Nur al-Din, 'a tal l s warthy man with a beard, no mous tac he, a fine forehead and pleas ant appearanc e enhanc ed by melting eyes ', c ould be as c ruel as Zangi , but he was more meas ured, more s ubtle. Even the Crus aders c al led him 'val iant and wis e'. He was beloved by his c ourtiers who now inc luded thatpol i tic al weathervane Us amah bin Munqidh. Nur al-Din s o enjoyed polo that he played at night by the l ight of c andles . But i t was he who c hannel led the Is lam ic fury at the Frankis h c onques t into a Sunni res urgenc e and a new m i l i tary c onfidenc e. A fres h s tream of fadai l works extol l ing J erus alem promoted Nur al-Din's j ihad to 'puri fy J erus alem from the pol lution of the Cros s ' - i ronic al ly s inc e the Crus aders had onc e c al led the Mus l ims 'pol luters of the Holy Sepulc hre'. He c ommis s ioned an elaborately c arved minbar or pulpi t to s tand in al-Aqs a when he c onquered the c i ty.

Baldwin was loc ked in s talemate with Nur al-Din. T hey agreed a temporary truc e whi le the king s ought Byzantine help: he married the emperor Manuel 's niec e, T heodora. A t the marriage and c rowning in the Churc h, 'the bridal outfi t of the maiden in gold and gems , garments and pearls ' brought the exotics plendour of Cons tantinople to J erus alem. T he marriage was s ti l l c hi ldles s when Baldwin fel l i l l in Beirut and died on 10 May 1162, probably of dys entery.

T he funeral c ortege travel led from Beirut to J erus alem amid unprec edented s c enes of 'deep and poignant s orrow'. T he kings of J erus alem, l ike the other veteran Crus ader fam i l ies , had bec ome Levantine grandees s o that now, obs erved W il l iam of T yre, 'there c ame down from the mountains a multi tude ofinfidels who fol lowed the c ortege with wai l ing'. Even Nur al-Din s aid that the 'Franks have los t s uc h a princ e that the world has not known his l ike'.7

AMAURY AND AGNES: 'NO QUEEN FOR A CITY AS HOLY AS JERUSALEM'

T he dis reputable reputation of a woman now almos t derai led the s uc c es s ion of J erus alem. Baldwin's brother Amaury, Count of J affa and As hkelon, was the heir, but the patriarc h refus ed to c rown him unles s he annul led his marriage to Agnes , c laim ing that they were too c los ely related - even though they alreadyhad a s on together. T he real problem was that 's he was no queen for a c i ty as holy as J erus alem ', noted one pris s y c hronic ler. Agnes had a bad reputation for prom is c ui ty, but i t is impos s ible to know i f s he des erved i t s inc e the his torians were al l s o prejudic ed agains t her. Nonetheles s , s he was c learly a muc h-des ired trophy and, at various times , her lovers were s aid to inc lude the s enes c hal , the patriarc h and four hus bands .

Amaury duti ful ly divorc ed her and was c rowned at the age of twenty-s even. A lready awkward in manner - he s tammered and had a gurgl ing laugh - he s oon bec ame 'exc es s ively fat wi th breas ts l ike thos e of a woman hanging down to his wais t'. J erus alem ites moc ked him in the s treets , whic h he ignored 'as i f hehad not heard the things s aid'. Des pi te the man-breas ts , he was both an intel lec tual and a warrior who now fac ed the mos t daunting s trategic c hal lenge s inc e the founding of the kingdom. Syria was los t to Nur al-Din, but Baldwin III's c onques t of As hkelon had opened the gateway to Egypt. Amaury would need al lhis energy and manpower to fight Nur al-Din for that s upreme prize.

T his was one reas on why he welc omed to J erus alem the mos t notorious rogue of the day, Andronikos Komnenos , a Byzantine princ e 'attended by a large retinue of knights ', us eful reinforc ements . A t fi rs t his knights were 'a s ourc e of muc h c omfort' in J erus alem. A c ous in of the Emperor Manuel, Andronikos hads educ ed the emperor's niec e, was almos t murdered by her furious brothers and s pent twelve years in jai l before being forgiven and appointed Governor of Ci l ic ia. He was then s ac ked for inc ompetenc e and dis loyal ty, and fled to Antioc h where he s educ ed Phi l ippa, the daughter of the rul ing princ e, and had to fleeagain - to J erus alem. 'But l ike a s nake in the bos om or a mous e in the wardrobe,' rec al led Amaury's c ourtier, W i l l iam of T yre, 'he proved the truth of the s aying, "I fear the Greeks even when bearing gi fts ."'

Amaury gave him Beirut as his lords hip, but Andronikos , now almos t s ixty, dumped P rinc es s Phi l ippa and s educ ed Baldwin III's l is s om widow, T heodora, the Dowager Queen of J erus alem, who was only twenty-three. J erus alem was outraged: Andronikos had to es c ape yet again. Abduc ting T heodora, hedefec ted with her to Nur al-Din in Damas c us .* No one was s orry to s ee this 's nake' go, leas t of al l Amaury's favouri te c lergyman, W i l l iam of T yre, who had been born in J erus alem. A fter s tudying in Paris , Orleans and Bologna, W i l l iam returned to bec ome Amaury's mos t trus ted advis er. Over twenty years , asA rc hbis hop of T yre and later Chanc el lor, W i l l iam was the intimate wi tnes s of the unbearable royal tragedy that now c oinc ided with J erus alem 's mos t grievous c ris is .8

W ILLIAM OF TYRE: THE BATTLE FOR EGYPT

K ing Amaury c ommis s ioned W il l iam to wri te the his tories of the Crus ader and the Is lam ic kingdoms , qui te a projec t. W i l l iam had no problem wri ting the his tory of Outremer but, though he knew s ome A rabic , how was he to wri te about Is lam?By now, Fatim id Egypt was fal l ing apart. T here were ric h pic kings for the s harp opportunis t - s o natural ly Us amah bin Munqidh was in Cairo. T here, the power games were lethal but luc rative. Us amah made his fortune and bui l t up a l ibrary; inevi tably, however, i t went wrong and he had to flee for his l i fe. But he

s ent his fam i ly, his gold and his c heris hed l ibrary by s hip. W hen i t was s hipwrec ked off Ac re, his treas ure was los t and his l ibrary c onfis c ated by the K ing of J erus alem: 'T he news that my c hi ldren and our women were s afe made i t eas ier to take the news about al l the wealth los t. Exc ept the books : 4,000 volumes .A heartac he that las ted al l my l i fe.' Us amah's los s proved to be W il l iam 's gain for he inheri ted Us amah's books and made good us e of them to wri te his Is lam ic his tory.

Meanwhi le Amaury plunged into the battle for Egypt, launc hing no fewer than five invas ions . T he s takes were high. In the s ec ond invas ion, Amaury s eemed to have c onquered Egypt. If he had s uc c eeded in keeping the ric hes and res ourc es of that c ountry, the Chris tian K ingdom of J erus alem would probablyhave endured and the enti re his tory of the region would have been di fferent. Ins tead the depos ed Egyptian vizier fled to Nur al-Din, who s ent his Kurdis h general , the vigorous yet rotund Shirkuh, to c onquer Egypt. Amaury defeated Shirkuh, taking A lexandria, but ins tead of c ons ol idating he ac c epted tribute andreturned to J erus alem.

T hanks to his Egyptian booty, Amaury's c api tal flouris hed. T he elegant Gothic room in the Cenac le on Mount Zion was bui l t at this time and the king rais ed a new royal palac e, portic oed with a gabled roof, a s mal l domed tower and a large c irc ular one, s outh of the Tower of David. * But Egypt was far fromc owed.

Mired in this expens ive c onfl ic t, Amaury s ought help from the emperor Manuel in Cons tantinople, marrying his great-niec e Maria and des patc hing his his torian W i l l iam to negotiate m i l i tary c o-operation -but the tim ing of war and aid never dovetai led. In Egypt, Amaury and his Egyptian al l ies were about to takeCairo when Nur al-Din's c ommander Shirkuh returned. T he king retreated on the prom is e of further payments .

W hen Amaury s ic kened in Gaza, he as ked his Egyptian al l ies to s end him their bes t doc tor - the king was an admirer of Eas tern medic ine. T he Egyptians offered this job to one of the c al iph's J ewis h doc tors , who by c hanc e had jus t returned from J erus alem.9

MOSES MAIMONIDES: THE GUIDE FOR THE PERPLEXED

Maimonides refus ed to treat the Crus ader king, probably a s hrewd move s inc e he had only rec ently arrived in Fatim id Egypt, where the al l ianc e with J erus alem was s hort-l ived. Maimonides was a refugee from Mus l im pers ec ution in Spain, where the golden age of J ewis h-Mus l im c ivi l ization was very muc h over. Itwas now s pl i t between aggres s ive Chris tian kingdoms in the north, and the Mus l im s outh, whic h had been c onquered by fanatic al Berber tribes men, the A lmohads . T hey had offered J ews the c hoic e of c onvers ion or death. Young Maimonides pretended to c onvert but in 1165, he es c aped and s et off on pi lgrimageto J erus alem. On 14 Oc tober, during T is hri , the month of the J ewis h New Year and the Day of A tonement, a favouri te s eas on for pi lgrimages to J erus alem, Maimonides s tood on the Mount of Ol ives wi th his brother and father. T here he fi rs t s et eyes on the mountain of the J ewis h Temple, and ri tual ly rent hisgarments - he later s pec i fied exac tly how muc h tearing (and later res ti tc hing) s hould be prac tis ed by the J ewis h pi lgrim and when i t s hould be done.

Entering the c i ty through the eas tern J ehos haphat Gate, he found a Chris tian J erus alem from whic h J ews were s ti l l offic ial ly banned - though there were ac tual ly four J ewis h dyers l iving near the Tower of David, under royal protec tion. * ruins , i ts s anc ti ty endures '. T hen 'I entered the great and holy temple andprayed.' It s ounds as i f he was al lowed to pray at the Roc k in the T emple* of the Lord (jus t as Mus l ims s uc h as Us amah bin Munqidh had been), though he later forbade any vis i t to the T emple Mount, a rule s ti l l obeyed by s ome Orthodox J ews .

A fterwards , he s ettled in Egypt where, known to the A rabs as Mus a ibn Maymun, he won fame as a polymathic s c holar, produc ing works on s ubjec ts varying from medic ine to J ewis h law, among them the mas terpiec e The Guide for the Perplex ed , whic h wove together phi los ophy, rel igion and s c ienc e; he als os erved as royal doc tor. But Egypt was in c haos as Amaury and Nur al-Din fought for s upremac y over the beleaguered Fatim id c al iphate. Amaury was ti reles s - but unluc ky.

In 1169, the mas ter of Syria, Nur al-Din c ompleted the enc irc lement of J erus alem when his am ir Shirkuh won the Battle of Egypt. Shirkuh was aided by his young nephew: Saladin. W hen the obes e Shirkuh died in 1171, Saladin took over Egypt for hims el f, appointing Maimonides as Rais al-Yahud, Chief of theJ ews - and his pers onal phys ic ian. Bac k in J erus alem, the pl ight of the royal heir plac ed medic ine c entre-s tage.10

THE LEPER-KING

1174-87

W ILLIAM OF TYRE: THE ROYAL TUTOR

K ing Amaury appointed W il l iam of T yre as tutor to his s on, Baldwin. W i l l iam adored the princ e:

T he boy, then about nine, was c ommitted to my c are to be ins truc ted in l iberal s tudies . I devoted mys el f to my royal pupi l . He was c omely of appearanc e and c ontinued to make progres s in purs ui t of letters and gave ever-inc reas ing prom is e of developing a loveable dis pos i tion. He was an exc el lenthors eman. His intel lec t was keen. He had a retentive memory.

'Like his father,' added W il l iam, 'he eagerly l is tened to his tory and was wel l -dis pos ed to fol low good advic e' - W i l l iam 's advic e no doubt. T he boy was playful and that was how his tutor dis c overed his pl ight.

He was playing with his c ompanions when they began, as playful boys often do, to pinc h eac h other's arms and hands with their nai ls . But Baldwin endured i t al together too patiently as i f he fel t nothing. A fter this had oc c urred s everal times , i t was reported to me. W hen I c al led him , I dis c overed that hisright arm and hand were partic ularly numb. I began to be uneas y. T he lad's father [the king] was informed, phys ic ians c ons ul ted. In the proc es s of time, we rec ognized the early s ymptoms . It is impos s ible to refrain from tears .11

THE DISEASE OF BALDW IN IV

W il l iam 's del ightful pupi l was a leper* - and the heir to an embattled kingdom. On 15 May 1174, the s trongman of Syria and Egypt, mas ter-m ind of the new j ihad, Nur al-Din, died. Even W il l iam admired him as a 'jus t princ e and a rel igious man'.K ing Amaury s ped north to exploi t Nur al-Din's death, but on 11 J uly, he c aught dys entery. He was jus t thi rty-eight but, as A rab and Frankis h doc tors argued about remedies , he died in J erus alem. T he 'loveable' new king Baldwin IV exc el led at his s tudies wi th W i l l iam, but he had to endure a variety of treatments

- blood-lettings , oi l -rubs in 's arac enic ointment' and enemas . His heal th was s upervis ed by an A rab doc tor, Abu Sulayman Dawud, whos e brother taught Baldwin to ride wi th one hand as the dis eas e advanc ed.It is hard to find a c as e of nobler c ourage and grac e under fi re than this doomed young king who was c los ely watc hed by his devoted tutor: 'Day by day, his c ondi tion bec ame wors e, the extrem ities of his fac e were es pec ial ly attac ked s o that his fai thful fol lowers were moved with c ompas s ion when they looked at

him .' He had been brought up apart from his mother but now the louc he Agnes returned to s upport her s on, always ac c ompanying him on c ampaign. She unwis ely plac ed the king in the hands of an arrogant m inis ter who s erved as s enes c hal . W hen he was as s as s inated in Ac re, J erus alem pol i tic s began toas s ume the menac e of a Mafia fam i ly in dec l ine.

T he king's c ous in Count Raymond III of T ripol i demanded the regenc y and res tored s tabi l i ty, appointing the royal tutor, W i l l iam, as c hanc el lor. But the s trategic nightmare that had always haunted J erus alem now material ized: Saladin, s trongman of Cairo, s eized Damas c us , gradual ly but s teadi ly uni ting Syria,Egypt, Yemen and muc h of Iraq into one powerful s ul tanate, enc irc l ing J erus alem. Raymond of T ripol i , one of thos e urbane Levantine dynas ts who s poke A rabic , bought time by agreeing a truc e with Saladin. But i t bought time for Saladin too.

Baldwin s howed his mettle by raiding up into Syria and Lebanon, but during his frequent i l lnes s es the magnates feuded around the s ic kbed. T he Mas ter of the Templars was inc reas ingly ins ubordinate, whi le the Hos pi tal lers were waging a private war agains t the patriarc h, even fi ring arrows ins ide theSepulc hre. Meanwhi le a new arrival , the veteran knight Reynald of Chati l lon, Lord of Kerak and Outrejourdain, ac ros s the J ordan, was both as s et and l iabi l i ty, radiating aggres s ive c onfidenc e and rec kles s s wagger.

Saladin s tarted to probe the kingdom, attac king As hkelon and riding towards J erus alem, whos e c i tizens panic ked and fled into the Tower of David. As hkelon was about to fal l when in late November 1177 the leper-king, Reynald and a few hundred knights attac ked Saladin's 26,000 troops at Montgis ard, north-wes t of J erus alem. Ins pired by the pres enc e of the T rue Cros s and s ightings of S t George on the battlefield, Baldwin won a famous vic tory.

GRACE UNDER PRESSURE: V ICTORY OF THE LEPER-KING

T he leper-king returned in triumph whi le Saladin only jus t es c aped on a c amel. But the s ul tan was s ti l l mas ter of Egypt and Syria, and he s oon rais ed new arm ies .In 1179, during a raid into Saladin's Syria, Baldwin was ambus hed, his hors e bol ted and he es c aped thanks only to the c ourage of the old Cons table of the K ingdom who gave his l i fe to s ave the boy. Rec overing with c harac teris tic pluc k, he again led his forc es agains t Saladin's raiders . Clos e to the Li tani river,

he was unhors ed and horribly expos ed: his s preading paralys is prevented him mounting again. A knight had to c arry him off the battlefield on his bac k. T he young king c ould never marry - i t was thought that lepros y c ould be pas s ed s exual ly and now he c ould s c arc ely lead his arm ies . He expres s ed his pers onaldis tres s - and the need for a s trong new king from Europe - to Louis V II of Franc e: 'To be deprived of the us e of one's l imbs is l i ttle help to one in c arrying out the work of government. If only I c ould be c ured of the dis eas e of Naaman but I have found no E l is ha to heal me. It's not fi tting that a hand s o weak s houldhold power when A rab aggres s ion pres s es upon the Holy Ci ty.' T he s ic ker the king, the hotter the fight for power. T he king's dec l ine matc hed the pol i tic al and moral rot. W hen Count Raymond of T ripol i and P rinc e Bohemond of Antioc h rode towards the c i ty wi th a c avalry s quadron, the king angri ly s us pec ted a c oupd'etat, again buying time with a truc e with Saladin.

W hen the patriarc h died, the queen mother Agnes pas s ed over W i l l iam, A rc hbis hop of T yre, and appointed Herac l ius of Caes area, s aid to be her lover. Favouring ric h s i lks , gl i ttering wi th jewel lery and wafting on a c loud of expens ive s c ent, this ec c les ias tic al gigolo kept a Nablus i te draper's wi fe, Pas c hia deRiveri , as his m is tres s . She now moved to J erus alem, and even bore him a daughter: J erus alem ites c al led her Madame la Patriarc hes s e.

T he K ing would s oon die. Agnes had to s ettle the s uc c es s ion.GUY: FLAW ED HE IR

Agnes therefore arranged a marriage between the king's s is ter-heires s S ibyl la and Guy of Lus ignan, the attrac tive twenty-s even-year-old brother of her lates t lover, the Cons table of the K ingdom. P rinc es s S ibyl la, a young widow who had a s on by her fi rs t marriage, was the only pers on who was del ighted with thematc h. T o mos t of the barons , her new hus band s eemed nei ther experienc ed nor high born enough to handle J erus alem 's exis tential c ris is . Guy, now Count of J affa and As hkelon, was a wel l -born Poi tevin baron, but he c ertainly lac ked authori ty. He divided the kingdom jus t as i t mos t needed to be uni ted.

Reynald of Kerak broke the truc e by attac king the c aravans of pi lgrims en route to Mec c a. T here was no duty more s ac red for a Mus l im ruler than the protec tion of the haj . Saladin was inc andes c ent. But Reynald next outfi tted a fleet and raided down the Red Sea, landing on the c oas t neares t to Mec c a andMedina. Taking the war to the enemy was an impres s ive but als o dangerous game. Reynald was defeated on land and s ea and Saladin ordered the throats of c aptured Frankis h s ai lors to be c ut in publ ic outs ide Mec c a. He then rais ed another army from his ever-expanding empire. As for Reynald, Saladin s wore, inhis own words , 'to s hed the blood of the tyrant of Kerak'.

Baldwin, his 'extrem ities dis eas ed and damaged, unable to us e hands and feet', fel l i l l wi th a fever: he appointed Guy as regent, keeping J erus alem as his royal fief.* Guy c ould not but glory in his ris e, unti l in September 1183, Saladin invaded Gal i lee. Guy mus tered 1,300 knights and 15,000 infantry near thefountain of Sephoria but ei ther feared - or was unable - to attac k Saladin, who final ly marc hed way to attac k the fortres s of Kerak ac ros s the J ordan. Baldwin ordered the beac on l i t on the Tower of David to s ignal Kerak that help was on i ts way. Val iantly, heartbreakingly, the leper-king - borne on a l i tter, bl ind,grotes que and dec aying - led out his army to res c ue Kerak.

On his return, the king s ac ked Guy, appointed Raymond as regent and had his eight-year-old nephew, s on of Sybi l la, c rowned as Baldwin V. A fter the c oronation, the c hi ld was c arried from the Sepulc hre to the Temple on the s houlders of the tal les t magnate, Bal ian of Ibel in. On 16 May 1186, Baldwin IV diedaged twenty-three. But the new c hi ld-king Baldwin V reigned jus t a year, buried in an ornate s arc ophagus depic ting Chris t flanked by angels and dec orated with wetleaf ac anthus .12

J erus alem needed an adul t c ommander-in-c hief. In Nablus , Raymond of T ripol i and the barons gathered to prevent Guy's return, but in J erus alem the throne belonged to S ibyl la, now queen regnant - and s he was married to the des pis ed Guy. S ibyl la pers uaded Patriarc h Herac l ius to c rown her, prom is ing todivorc e Guy and nominate another king. But during the c oronation, s he s ummoned Guy to be c rowned as king bes ide her. She had outwitted everyone, but the new king and queen were unable to res train Reynald of Kerak and the Mas ter of the Templars , who were both s poi l ing for a fight wi th Saladin. Des pi te thetruc e, Reynald ambus hed a haj c aravan from Damas c us , c apturing Saladin's own s is ter, moc king Muhammad and torturing his pris oners . Saladin appealed for c ompens ation to K ing Guy, but Reynald refus ed to pay i t.

In May, Saladin's s on raided Gal i lee. T he T emplars and the Hos pi tal lers rec kles s ly attac ked him , but they were s laughtered at the s prings of Cres s on, the Mas ter of the T emplars and three knights being the only ones to es c ape. T his dis as ter brought temporary uni ty.KING GUY: TAKING THE BAIT

On 27 J une 1187, Saladin, at the head of an army of 30,000, marc hed on T iberias , hoping to lure the Franks out and s trike 'a tremendous blow in the j ihad'.K ing Guy mus tered 12,000 knights and 15,000 infantry at Sephoria in Gal i lee, but, at a c ounc i l in the red tent of the kings of J erus alem, he agonized over the unpalatable al ternatives fac ing him . Raymond of T ripol i urged res traint even though his wi fe was bes ieged in T iberias . Reynald and the Mas ter of the

Templars res ponded by c al l ing Raymond a trai tor and demanded battle. Final ly Guy took the bai t. He led the army ac ros s the baking-hot Gal i lean hi l ls for a day unti l , haras s ed by Saladin's troops , overwhelmed by s c orc hing heat and paralys ed by thi rs t, he pi tc hed c amp on the volc anic plateau of the twin-peakedHorns of Hattin. T hey then went looking for water - but the wel l there was dry. 'Ah Lord God,' s aid Raymond, 'the war is over; we are dead men; the kingdom is finis hed.'

W hen the Crus aders awoke on the morning of Saturday 4 J uly, they c ould hear prayers in the Mus l im c amp below. T hey were already thirs ty in the s ummer heat. T he Mus l ims l i t the s c rubland. Soon i t was burning al l around them.13

SALADIN

1187-1189

SALADIN: THE BATTLE

Saladin did not s leep, but s pent the night organizing his forc es and s uppl ies , pos i tioning his two wings . He had s urrounded the Franks . T he Sul tan of Egypt and Syria was determ ined not to was te this opportuni ty. His multinational army, wi th i ts c ontingents of Kurds , A rabs , T urks , A rmenians and Sudanes e, wasan awes ome s ight, rel is hed by Saladin's exc i table s ec retary, Imad al-Din:

A s wel l ing oc ean of whinnying c hargers , s words and c uiras s es , i ron-tipped lanc es l ike s tars , c res c ent s words , Yemenite blades , yel low banners , s tandards red as anemones and c oats of mai l gl i ttering l ike pools , s words pol is hed white as s treams of water, feathered bows blue as birds , helmets gleamingover s l im c urvetting c hargers .

A t dawn, Saladin, c ommanding the c entre on hors ebac k, ac c ompanied by his young s on A fdal , and protec ted as always by his bodyguard of devoted T urkis h mamluks (s lave-s oldiers ), s tarted his attac k, s howering the Franks with arrows and direc ting the c harges of his c aval iers and hors e-arc hers to keep theheavi ly armoured Franks at bay. For Guy, everything depended on maintaining the s hield of infantry around his mounted knights ; for Saladin, everything depended on s eparating them.

As the B is hop of Ac re rais ed the T rue Cros s before the king, Guy's army repel led the fi rs t c harges , but s oon the thi rs ty Frankis h s oldiers fled to higher ground, leaving the knights expos ed. Guy's knights launc hed their c harges . As Raymond of T ripol i and Bal ian of Ibel in gal loped towards the s ul tan's forc es ,Saladin s imply ordered his nephew Taki al -Din, c ommanding the right wing, to open his ranks : the Crus aders gal loped through. But the Mus l im ranks c los ed again, tightening the net. T heir arc hers , mos tly A rmenians , pic ked off the Frankis h hors es with 'c louds of arrows l ike loc us ts ', s tranding the knights , and 'theirl ions bec ame hedgehogs '. On that 'burningly hot day', unhors ed and expos ed, s wol len-mouthed with thi rs t, tormented by the infernal brus hwood, uns ure of their leaders hip, Guy's s oldiers peris hed, fled or s urrendered as his order of battle dis integrated.

He retreated to one of the Horns and there pi tc hed his red tent. His knights s urrounded him for a las t s tand. 'W hen the Frankis h king had withdrawn to the hi l l top,' rec al led Saladin's s on A fdal , 'his knights made a val iant c harge and drove the Mus l ims bac k upon my father.' For a moment, i t s eemed as i f Frankis hc ourage would threaten Saladin hims el f. A fdal s aw his father's dis may: 'He c hanged c olour and pul led at his beard then rus hed forward c rying, "Give the devi l the l ie! "' at whic h the Mus l ims c harged again, breaking the Crus aders , 'who retreated up the hi l l . W hen I s aw the Franks fleeing, I c ried out wi th glee, "W e'verouted them! "' But 'tortured by thi rs t', they 'c harged again and drove our men bac k to where my father s tood'. Saladin ral l ied his men, who broke Guy's c harge. 'W e've routed them,' c ried A fdal again.

'Be quiet,' s napped Saladin, pointing at the red tent. 'W e haven't beaten them s o long as that tent s tands there! ' A t that moment, A fdal s aw the tent overturned. T he B is hop of Ac re was ki l led, the T rue Cros s was c aptured. A round the royal tent, Guy and his knights were s o exhaus ted that they lay in their armourhelples s on the ground. 'T hen my father dis mounted,' s aid A fdal , 'and bowed to the ground, giving thanks to God with tears of joy.'

Saladin held c ourt in the lobby of his res plendent tent, whic h was s ti l l being pi tc hed as his am irs del ivered their pris oners . Onc e the tent was up, he rec eived the K ing of J erus alem and Reynald of Kerak. Guy was s o des ic c ated that Saladin offered him a glas s of s herbet ic ed with the s nows of Mount Hermon.T he king s laked his thi rs t then handed i t to Reynald at whic h Saladin s aid: 'You're the one who gave him the drink. I give him no drink.' Reynald was not offered the protec tion of A rab hos pi tal i ty.

Saladin rode out to c ongratulate his men and ins pec t the battlefield, wi th the 'l imbs of the fal len, naked on the field, s c attered in piec es , lac erated and dis jointed, dis membered, eyes gouged out, s tomac hs dis -embowel led, bodies c ut in hal f,' the c arnage of medieval battle. On his return, the s ul tan rec al led Guyand Reynald. T he king was left in the ves tibule; Reynald taken ins ide: 'God has given me vic tory over you,' s aid Saladin. 'How often have you broken your oaths ?'

'T his is how princ es have always behaved,' repl ied the defiant Reynald.Saladin offered him Is lam. Reynald refus ed dis dainful ly, at whic h the s ul tan s prang up, drew a s c im itar and s l ic ed off his arm at the s houlder. T he guards finis hed him off. T he headles s Reynald was dragged feet fi rs t pas t Guy and thrown out at the tent door.T he K ing of J erus alem was led ins ide. 'It's not c us tomary for kings to ki l l kings ,' s aid Saladin, 'but this man c ros s ed the l im i ts s o he s uffered what he s uffered.'In the morning, Saladin bought al l the 200 Templars and Hos pi tal ler knights from his men, for fi fty dinars eac h. T he Chris tian warriors were offered c onvers ion to Is lam, but few ac c epted. Saladin c al led for volunteers from the Sufi mys tic s and Is lam ic s c holars , to whom he gave the order to ki l l al l the knights .

Mos t begged for the privi lege, though s ome appointed s ubs ti tutes out of fear that they would be moc ked for bungl ing the job. As Saladin watc hed from his dais , this mes s y and amateuris h butc hery now des troyed what remained of the m ight of J erus alem. T he bodies were left where they fel l . Even a year later, thebattlefield remained 'c overed with their bones '.

Saladin s ent the K ing of J erus alem to Damas c us along with the T rue Cros s , hung impotently ups ide down on a lanc e, along with pris oners s o plenti ful that one of Saladin's retainers s aw 'a s ingle pers on holding a tent-rope pul l ing by hims el f thi rty pris oners '. Frankis h s laves c os t jus t three dinars and one wasbought for a s hoe.14

T he s ul tan hims el f advanc ed to c onquer the res t of Outremer, c apturing the c oas tal c i ties of S idon, J affa, Ac re and As hkelon but fai l ing to take T yre when the c ourageous Conrad, Marquis of Montferrat (whos e brother had been briefly married to Sybi l la) arrived jus t in time to res c ue this key fortres s -port. Ins tead,Saladin's Egyptian vic eroy, his brother, Safadin, advis ed him to go pos t-has te towards J erus alem in c as e he fel l i l l before taking the Holy Ci ty: 'If you die of a c ol ic tonight, J erus alem wi l l s tay in the hands of the Franks .'

SALADIN'S S IEGE: SLAUGHTER OR SURRENDER?

On Sunday 20 September 1187, Saladin s urrounded J erus alem, fi rs t s etting up c amp on the wes t outs ide the T ower of David then moving to the north-eas t, where Godfrey had s tormed the wal ls .T he c i ty was c rowded with refugees but there were only two knights left to fight under the patriarc h and the two queens of J erus alem, S ibyl la and K ing Amaury's widow Maria, now married to the magnate Bal ian of Ibel in. Herac l ius c ould s c arc ely find fi fty men to guard the wal ls . Fortunately Bal ian of Ibel in

arrived, under Saladin's s afe-c onduc t, to res c ue his wi fe Queen Maria and their c hi ldren. Bal ian had prom is ed Saladin not to fight, but now the J erus alem ites begged him to take c ommand. Bal ian c ould not refus e and wri ting as one knight to another, he apologized to Saladin, who forgave this bad fai th. T he s ul taneven arranged an es c ort for Maria and the c hi ldren. Giving them bejewel led robes and treating them to feas ts , the s ul tan s at the c hi ldren on his knees and began to weep, knowing they were s eeing J erus alem for the las t time. 'T he things of this world are merely lent to us ,' he mus ed.

Bal ian* knighted every noble boy over s ixteen and thirty bourgeois , armed every man, launc hing s orties . As Saladin s tarted to attac k, the women prayed at the Sepulc hre, s having their heads in penanc e, and monks and nuns paraded barefoot under the wal ls . By 29 September, Saladin's s appers wereunderm ining the wal l . T he Franks prepared to die as holy martyrs , but Herac l ius dis c ouraged them, s aying that this would leave the women to be harem s laves . Syrian Chris tians , who res ented the Latins , agreed to open the gates for Saladin. On the 30th, as the Mus l im forc es attac ked the c i ty, Bal ian vis i tedSaladin to negotiate. T he s ul tan's flag was even rais ed on the wal ls , but his troops were repuls ed.

'W e s hal l deal wi th you jus t as you deal t wi th the population of J erus alem [in 1099] wi th murder and ens lavement and other s avageries ,' Saladin told Bal ian.'Sul tan,' repl ied Bal ian, 'there are very many of us in the c i ty. If we s ee death is inevi table, we s hal l ki l l our c hi ldren and our wives , and pul l down the Sanc tuary of the Roc k and al-Aqs a Mos que.'

A t this , Saladin agreed on terms . He grac ious ly freed Queen S ibyl la and even the widow of Reynald, but the res t of the J erus alem ites had to be ei ther rans omed or s old into s lavery.15

SALADIN: THE MAN

Saladin was never qui te the l iberal gentleman, s uperior in manners to the brutis h Franks , portrayed by W es tern wri ters in the nineteenth c entury. But by the s tandards of medieval empire-bui lders he des erves his attrac tive reputation. W hen he gave one of his s ons advic e about how he had bui l t an empire, he toldhim : 'I have only ac hieved what I have by c oaxing people. Hold no grudge agains t anyone for Death s pares nobody. Take c are in your relations with people.' Saladin did not look impres s ive and lac ked vani ty. W hen his s i lken robes were s pattered by a c ourtier riding through a puddle in J erus alem, Saladin jus t burs tout laughing. He never forgot that the twis ts of fate that had brought him s uc h s uc c es s c ould jus t as eas i ly be revers ed. W hi le his ris e had been bloody, he dis l iked violenc e, advis ing his favouri te s on Zahir: 'I warn you agains t s hedding blood, indulging in i t and making a habi t of i t, for blood never s leeps .' W henMus l im raiders s tole a baby from a Frankis h woman, s he c ros s ed the l ines to appeal to Saladin who, moved to tears , immediately had the baby found and returned i t to i ts mother. On another oc c as ion, when one of his s ons as ked to be al lowed to ki l l s ome Frankis h pris oners , he reprimanded him and refus ed, les the get a tas te for ki l l ing.

Yus uf ibn Ayyub, s on of a Kurdis h s oldier of fortune, was born in 1138 in T ikri t (today's Iraq - Saddam Hus s ein was als o born there). His father and his unc le, Shirkuh, s erved Zangi and his s on Nur al-Din. T he boy grew up in Damas c us , enjoying the l i fe of wine, c ards and girls . He played noc turnal polo byc andlel ight wi th Nur al-Din, who made him pol ic e c hief of Damas c us . He s tudied the Koran but als o the pedigrees of hors efles h. In the s truggle for Egypt, Nur al-Din des patc hed Shirkuh, who took along his nephew, Yus uf, now aged twenty-s ix.

Together, leading a mere 2,000 foreign hors emen and overc oming des perate odds , this Kurdis h unc le and nephew managed to s teal Egypt from the arm ies of the Fatim ids and J erus alem. In J anuary 1169, Yus uf, who took the honori fic name Saladin, * as s as s inated the vizier whom his unc le then s uc c eeded.But Shirkuh died of a heart attac k. A t thi rty-one, Saladin bec ame the las t Fatim id vizier. In 1071, when the las t c al iph died, Saladin dis mantled the Shi i te c al iphate in Egypt (whic h has remained Sunni ever s inc e), and mas s ac red the overm ighty Sudanes e guards in Cairo, whi le adding Mec c a, Medina, T unis ia andYemen to his growing realm .

W hen Nur al-Din died in 1174, Saladin headed north and took Damas c us , gradual ly expanding his empire to embrac e muc h of Iraq and Syria as wel l as Egypt, but the l ink between the two terri tories was today's J ordan, whic h was partly c ontrol led by the Crus aders . W ar wi th J erus alem was not jus t goodtheology, but good imperial pol i tic s too. Saladin preferred Damas c us , regarding Egypt as his c as h-c ow: 'Egypt was a whore,' he joked, 'who'd tried to part me from my fai thful wi fe [Damas c us ].'

Saladin was no dic tator.* His empire was a patc hwork of greedy am irs , rebel l ious princ el ings and ambitious brothers , s ons and nephews , to whom he doled out fiefdoms in return for loyal ty, taxes and warriors . He was always s hort of c as h and s oldiers . Only his c haris ma held i t al l together. Frequently defeatedby the Crus aders , he was not an outs tanding general , but 's hunning his womenfolk and al l his pleas ures ', he was tenac ious . He s pent mos t of his l i fe fighting other Mus l ims but now his pers onal m is s ion, the Holy W ar to win bac k J erus alem, bec ame his rul ing pas s ion. 'I've given up earthly pleas ures ,' he s aid. 'I'vehad my fi l l of them.'

Onc e when walking by the s ea during the war, he told his m inis ter Ibn Shaddad, 'I have i t in my m ind that, when God has al lowed me to c onquer the res t of the c oas t, I s hal l divide my lands , make my tes tament and s et s ai l on this s ea to purs ue them there unti l there no longer remain on the fac e of the earth anywho deny God - or die in the attempt.' But he enforc ed Is lam more s tric tly than the Fatim ids . W hen he heard of a young Is lam ic heretic preac hing in his lands , he had him c ruc i fied and left hanging for days .

He was happies t s i tting up at night wi th his entourage of generals and intel lec tuals , rec eiving mes s engers whi le c hatting. He admired s c holars and poets , and his c ourt was not c omplete wi thout Us amah bin Munqidh, now ninety, who rec al led how 'he s ought me out ac ros s the land. By his goodwi l l , frommis fortune's fangs was I s natc hed. He treats me l ike fam i ly.' Saladin was lame and often i l l , c ared for by twenty-one doc tors - eight Mus l im , eight J ewis h (inc luding Maimonides ) and five Chris tian. W hen the s ul tan ros e for prayer or ordered the c andles , his c ourtiers rec ognized the s ign that the evening was over. Ifhe hims el f was above reproac h, his hedonis tic and ambitious relatives more than made up for his res traint.

DANCING-GIRLS AND APHRODIS IACS: THE COURT OF SALADIN

T he young princ es , ac c ording to the s ati ris t al -W ahrani , held orgies where the hos ts ran naked on al l fours howl ing l ike dogs and s ipped wine from the navels of s inging girls whi le c obwebs took over in the mos ques . In Damas c us , the A rabs grumbled about Saladin's rule. T he wri ter Ibn Unain moc ked Saladin'sEgyptian offic ials , partic ularly the blac k Sudanes e: 'If I were blac k wi th a head l ike an elephant, bulky forearms and a huge penis , then you would s ee to my needs .' Saladin exi led him for this impertinenc e.

Saladin's nephew Taki al -Din was his mos t talented general , but als o the mos t ambitious and debauc hed of the princ es . His hobbies were s o notorious that i t was s aid his words were 's weeter than a beating with a pros ti tute's s l ipper'. T he s ati ris t W ahrani s ugges ted i ronic al ly, 'If you res ign from thegovernment, you c ould turn away from repentanc e and c ol lec t the pros ti tutes of Mos ul , the panders of A leppo and the s inging-girls of Iraq.'

Suc h was Taki 's priapic over-indulgenc e that he s tarted los ing weight, energy and erec tion. He c ons ul ted his J ewis h doc tor Maimonides , who advis ed his own c ommunity agains t exc es s ive 'eating, drinking and c opulation' but treated his princ ely patients di fferently. T he royal doc tor wrote Saladin's nephew as pec ial work enti tled On Sex ual Interc ours e , pres c ribing moderation, l im i ted alc ohol , women not too old nor too young, a c oc ktai l of oxtongue plant and wine and, final ly, a 'wondrous s ec ret' of medieval V iagra: mas s age the royal penis for two hours before interc ours e with oi ls m ixed with s affron-c oloured ants .Maimonides prom is ed the erec tion would las t long after the ac t.

Saladin loved T aki , whom he promoted to vic eroy of Egypt, but was then exas perated by his nephew's attempt to c reate his own fiefdom. He moved him to rule s wathes of Iraq ins tead. Now this exuberant nephew and mos t of Saladin's fam i ly arrived to enjoy the l iberation of J erus alem.16

SALADIN'S CITY

Saladin watc hed the Latin Chris tians leave J erus alem for ever: the J erus alem ites had to pay a rans om of ten dinars per man, five per woman, one per c hi ld. No one c ould leave without a rec eipt of payment, but Saladin's offic ials made fortunes as bribes were paid and Chris tians were lowered from the wal ls inbas kets or es c aped in dis guis e. Saladin hims el f had no interes t in money and, though he rec eived 220,000 dinars , muc h of the c as h went as tray.

T hous ands of J erus alem ites c ould not afford their rans om. T hey were led away into s lavery and the harem. Bal ian paid 30,000 dinars to rans om 7,000 poor J erus alem ites , whi le the Sul tan's brother Safadin as ked for a thous and unfortunates and freed them. Saladin gave five hundred eac h to Bal ian and toPatriarc h Herac l ius . T he Mus l ims were s hoc ked to s ee the latter pay his ten dinars and leave the c i ty laden with c arts of gold and c arpets . 'How many wel l -guarded women were profaned, nubi le girls married, vi rgins dis honoured, proud women deflowered, lovely women's red l ips kis s ed, untamed ones tamed,'rec al led Saladin's s ec retary Imad al-Din wi th a rather c reepy glee. 'How many noblemen took them as c onc ubines , how many great ladies s old at low pric es ! '

Under the eyes of the s ul tan, the two c olumns of Chris tians looked bac k one las t time and wept at the los s of J erus alem, reflec ting, 'She who was named the m is tres s of other c i ties had bec ome a s lave and handmaid.'On Friday 2 Oc tober, Saladin entered J erus alem and ordered the Temple Mount, known to Mus l ims as the Haram al-Shari f, to be c leans ed of the infidel . T he Cros s over the Dome of the Roc k was thrown down to c ries of 'A l lahu Akhbar', dragged through the c i ty and s mas hed, the J es us paintings torn out, the

c lois ters north of the Dome demol is hed, the c ubic les and apartments wi thin the Aqs a removed. Saladin's s is ter arrived from Damas c us with a c amel c aravan of ros ewater. T he s ul tan hims el f and his nephew Taki pers onal ly s c rubbed the c ourts of the Haram with ros ewater, ac c ompanied by a c leaning-party ofprinc es and am irs . Saladin brought Nur al-Din's c arved wooden minbar from A leppo and s et i t up in al-Aqs a Mos que where i t remained for s even c enturies .

T he s ul tan did not s o muc h des troy and rebui ld as adapt and embroider, reus ing the gorgeous s pol ia of the Crus aders wi th their fol iate patterns , c api tals and wetleaf ac anthus ; his own arc hi tec ture is thus c ons truc ted with the very s ymbols of his enemies , whic h makes i t hard to dis tinguis h between thebui ldings of the Crus aders and Saladin.

Every res pec ted member of the ulema , Mus l im c lergy and s c holars , from Cairo to Baghdad, wanted to preac h at Friday prayers , but Saladin c hos e the Qadi of A leppo, giving him a blac k robe to wear: his s ermon in al-Aqs a prais ed the fadai l - the meri ts - of Is lam ic J erus alem. Saladin hims el f had bec ome the'l ight that s hines in every dawn that brings darknes s to the bel ievers ' by 'l iberating the brother s hrine of Mec c a'. Saladin then walked to the Dome to pray in what he c al led 'the jewel of the s ignet-ring of Is lam '. Saladin's love for J erus alem was 'as great as mountains '. His m is s ion was to c reate an Is lam ic J erus alemand he c ons idered whether to des troy the Dungheap - the Holy Sepulc hre. Some of his grandees c al led for i ts demol i tion, but he mus ed that the plac e would s ti l l remain holy whether or not the Churc h s tood there. Ci ting Omar the J us t, he c los ed the Churc h for only three days and then gave i t to the Greek Orthodox.Overal l , he tolerated mos t c hurc hes , but aimed to dim inis h the Chris tian Quarter's non-Is lam ic c harac ter. Churc h bel ls were again banned. Ins tead, for hundreds of years right up unti l the nineteenth c entury, the muezzin held the monopoly of s ound and the Chris tians announc ed prayers wi th the c lac k of woodenc lappers and the c las h of c ymbals . He des troyed s ome c hurc hes outs ide the wal ls and c ommandeered many prom inent Chris tian bui ldings for his own Salahiyya endowments - whic h s ti l l exis t today.*

Saladin brought many Mus l im s c holars and mys tic s to the c i ty; but Mus l ims alone c ould not repopulate J erus alem, s o he invi ted bac k many A rmenians , who bec ame a s pec ial c ommunity that endures today (they c al l thems elves the Kaghakats i); and many J ews - 'the enti re rac e of Ephraim ' - from As hkelon,Yemen and Moroc c o.17

Saladin was exhaus ted but he reluc tantly left J erus alem to mop up the las t Crus ader fortres s es . He took the great s ea bas e of Ac re. Yet he never finis hed off the Crus aders : he c hivalrous ly releas ed K ing Guy and fai led to c onquer T yre, whic h left the Chris tians with a vi tal s eaport from whic h to plan a c ounter-attac k. Perhaps he underes timated the reac tion of Chris tendom but the news of J erus alem 's fal l had s hoc ked Europe, from kings and popes to knights and peas ants , and mobi l ized a powerful new Crus ade, the T hird.

Saladin's m is takes would c os t him dear. In Augus t 1189, K ing Guy appeared before Ac re wi th a s mal l forc e and proc eeded to bes iege the c i ty. Saladin did not take Guy's brave exploi t too s erious ly but s ent a c ontingent to s wat his l i ttle army. Ins tead Guy fought Saladin's men to a s tands ti l l and ral l ied theCrus ader fightbac k. Saladin bes ieged Guy but Guy bes ieged Ac re. W hen Saladin's Egyptian fleet was defeated, Guy was joined by s hiploads of German, Engl is h and Ital ian Crus aders . In Europe, the kings of England and Franc e and the German Emperor took the Cros s ; fleets were being c ol lec ted; arm iesmus tered to join the battle for Ac re. T his was the s tart of a grindingly bloody two-year s truggle, s oon joined by the greates t kings of Europe who were determ ined to win bac k J erus alem.

Firs t c ame the Germans . W hen Saladin heard that the red-bearded Emperor Frederic k Barbaros s a was already marc hing to the Holy Land with a German army, he final ly s ummoned his forc es and c al led for a j ihad. But then c ame better news .In J une 1190, Barbaros s a drowned in a Ci l ic ian river; his s on, Duke Frederic k of Swabia, boi led the body and pic kled i t in vinegar, burying the fles h in Antioc h. But he then marc hed to Ac re wi th his army and his father's bones whic h he planned to bury in J erus alem. Barbaros s a's death played into the

es c hatalogic al legend, that the Emperor of the Las t Days was as leep, one day to ris e again. T he Duke of Swabia hims el f died of the plague outs ide Ac re and the German Crus ade was broken. But after many months of des perate fighting wi th thous ands ki l led by the plague (inc luding Herac l ius the patriarc h andS ibyl la, Queen of J erus alem),* Saladin rec eived the bad news that the outs tanding warrior of Chris tendom was on his way.

THE THIRD CRUSADE: SALADIN AND RICHARD

1189-93

LIONHEART: CHIVALRY AND SLAUGHTER

On 4 J uly 1190, Ric hard the Lionheart, K ing of England, and Phi l ip II Augus tus , K ing of Franc e, s et out on the T hird Crus ade to l iberate J erus alem. T he thirty-three-year-old Ric hard had jus t inheri ted his father Henry II's Angevin empire - England and hal f of Franc e. Pos s es s ed of abundant vi tal i ty, red-haired andathletic , he was as bras h and extrovert as Saladin was patient and s ubtle. He was a man of his time, both a wri ter of s auc y troubadour s ongs and a pious Chris tian who, overc ome with his s infulnes s , threw hims el f naked before his c lergy and s c ourged hims el f wi th whips .

E leanor of Aqui taine's favouri te s on s howed l i ttle interes t in women, but the nineteenth-c entury c laim that he was homos exual has been dis c redi ted. W ar was his real love and he ruthles s ly s queezed the Engl is h to pay for his Crus ade, joking, 'I'd have s old London i f there'd been a buyer.' As England vibratedwith Crus ader revival is m,* the J ews were targeted in the c ul l that c ulm inated in the mas s -s uic ide of York, the Engl is h Mas ada. By then, Ric hard had departed. He s ai led for J erus alem and wherever he landed he pres ented hims el f as the pers oni fic ation of the royal warrior. He always wore s c arlet, the c olour of war,and brandis hed a s word that he c laimed was Exc al ibur. In S ic i ly, he res c ued his s is ter, the widowed Queen J oanna, from the new king, and s ac ked Mes s ina. W hen he reac hed Cyprus , ruled by a Byzantine princ e, he s imply c onquered the is land and then s ai led for Ac re wi th twenty-five gal leys .

On 8 J une 1191, Ric hard landed and joined the K ing of Franc e at the s iege, where bouts of fighting al ternated with interludes of fraternizing between the c amps . Saladin and his c ourtiers watc hed his arrival and were impres s ed with the 'great pomp' of 'this m ighty warrior' and with his 'pas s ion for war'.T he battlefield had bec ome a plague-ridden s hanty enc ampment of royal marquees , fi l thy huts , s oup ki tc hens , markets , bathhous es and brothels . T hat the pros ti tutes fas c inated the Mus l ims is evident from the ac c ount of Imad, Saladin's s ec retary, who vis i ted Ric hard's c amp and exhaus ted even his res ervoir of

pornographic metaphors as he ogled thes e 's ingers and c oquettes , tinted and painted, blue-eyed with fles hy thighs ', who ' pl ied a bris k trade, brought their s i lver anklets up to touc h their golden earrings , invi ted s words to s heath, made javel ins ris e toward s hields , gave birds a plac e to pec k with their beaks , c aughtl izard after l izard in their holes , [and] guided pens to inkwel ls '.

If even Imad admitted that 'a few fool is h mamluks s l ipped away' to s ample thes e Frankis h c oquettes , many mus t have done s o. Ric hard's energy c hanged the nature of the war. Saladin was already i l l ; s oon both the European kings fel l s ic k too, but even on his s ic kbed Ric hard brandis hed a c ros s bow, fi ringbol ts at the enemy c amp whi le fleet after fleet del ivered the c ream of European knighthood.

Saladin, l ike 'a bereft mother, on hors ebac k urging people to perform their j ihad duty' was outmanned and outfought. A fter the early departure of the jealous Phi l ip Augus tus , Ric hard took c ommand - 'I rule and nobody rules me' - but his forc es too were s uffering. He opened negotiations , Saladin s ending hisworldly but more aloof brother Safadin as his envoy, though thes e pragmatis ts were s ti l l s hadow-boxing with everything to play for. T hey were evenly matc hed, eac h fielding 20,000 men, both s truggl ing to impos e their wi l l on their ins ubordinate, troubles ome grandees and polyglot arm ies .

Meanwhi le Ac re c ould hold out no longer and i ts governor s tarted to negotiate s urrender. 'More affec ted than a dis trac ted loves ic k girl ', Saladin had l i ttle c hoic e but to ac quies c e in Ac re's c api tulation, prom is ing the return of the T rue Cros s and the releas e of 1,500 pris oners . But his priori ty was to defendJ erus alem. He dragged his feet on the terms in order to enc ourage divis ions among the Crus aders , s ave money and delay their c ampaign. But Lionheart meant bus ines s and c al led Saladin's bluff.

On 20 Augus t, he s hepherded 3,000 bound Mus l im pris oners on to the plain in view of Saladin's army and then butc hered the men, women and c hi ldren. So muc h for the legend of c hivalry. T he horri fied Saladin s ent in his c avalry, but i t was too late. A fterwards , he beheaded al l Frankis h pris oners who fel l intohis hands .

Five days later, Ric hard marc hed down the c oas t towards J affa, the port of J erus alem, his army c hanting 'Sanc tum Sepulc hrum adjuv a! Help us , Holy Sepulc hre! ' On 7 September, Lionheart found Saladin and his army bloc king the way at A rs uf. Ric hard's c hal lenge was to us e mas s ed infantry to exhaus tSaladin's waves of c harging, c urveting c aval iers and hors e-arc hers unti l he c ould unleas h the thundering power of his knights . Ric hard held bac k unti l a Hos pi tal ler gal loped forward. T hen he led the ful l c harge that s mas hed into the Mus l ims . Saladin des perately threw in his royal guard of mamluks - known as theRing. Fac ed with a 'c omplete rout', the s ul tan withdrew jus t in time, his army 'c ons erved for the protec tion of J erus alem '. A t one point, he was guarded by jus t s eventeen men. A fterwards he was wrung out and too downhearted even to eat.

Saladin rode to J erus alem to c elebrate Ramadan and prepare her defenc es . Ric hard knew that whi le Saladin's army and empire were intac t, the Crus aders c ould not hold J erus alem even i f they c aptured her - whic h made i t s ens ible to negotiate. 'T he Mus l ims and the Franks are done for,' Ric hard wrote toSaladin, 'the land is ruined at the hands of both s ides . A l l we have to talk about is J erus alem, the T rue Cros s and thes e lands . J erus alem is the c entre of our wors hip whic h we s hal l never renounc e.' Saladin explained what al-Quds meant to the Mus l ims : 'J erus alem is ours jus t as muc h as yours . Indeed for us i t isgreater than i t is for you, for i t is where Our P rophet c ame on his Night J ourney and the gathering plac e of the angels .'

Ric hard was wi l l ing to learn. Flexible and imaginative, he now propos ed a c ompromis e: his s is ter J oanna would marry Safadin. T he Chris tians would get the c oas t and ac c es s to J erus alem; the Mus l ims the hinterland, wi th J erus alem the c api tal of K ing Safadin and Queen J oanna under Saladin's s overeignty.Saladin agreed to this in order to draw out Ric hard but J oanna was indignant: 'How c ould s he pos s ibly al low a Mus l im to have c arnal knowledge of her?' Ric hard c laimed i t was a joke, and then told Safadin: 'I s hal l marry you to my niec e.' Saladin was bemus ed: 'Our bes t c ours e is to fight on with the j ihad - or dieours elves .'

On 31 Oc tober, Ric hard s et off s lowly towards J erus alem whi le c ontinuing to negotiate wi th the urbane Safadin. T hey met in magnific ent tents , exc hanged gi fts and attended eac h other's feas ts . 'W e mus t have a foothold in J erus alem,' ins is ted Ric hard. W hen he was c ri tic ized for the negotiations by his Frenc hknights , he beheaded s ome T urkis h pris oners and ghoul is hly pos ed their heads around the c amp.

A t this fraught moment, Saladin rec eived bad news : his dis s olute nephew, Taki al -Din, who had been trying to bui ld his own private empire, was dead. Saladin hid the letter, ordered his tent c leared, then 'wept bi tterly, c hoked by his tears ', before was hing his fac e with ros ewater and returning to the c ommand: i twas no time to s how weaknes s . He ins pec ted J erus alem and her new Egyptian garris on.

On 23 Dec ember, Ric hard advanc ed to Le T horon des Cheval iers (Latrun) where he, his wi fe and his s is ter c elebrated Chris tmas in s plendour. On 6 J anuary 1192, am id rain, c old and mud, Ric hard had reac hed Bayt Nuba, 12 m i les from the c i ty. T he Frenc h and Engl is h barons wanted J erus alem at any c os t butRic hard tried to c onvinc e them that he did not have the men for a s iege. Saladin wai ted in J erus alem hoping that the rain and s now would dis c ourage the Crus aders . On 13 J anuary, Ric hard retreated.*

It was s talemate. Saladin us ed fi fty s tonemas ons and 2,000 Frankis h pris oners to reforti fy J erus alem, demol is hing the higher floors of Our Mary of J ehos haphat at the foot of the Mount of Ol ives and the Coenac ulum on Mount Zion to provide the s tones . Saladin, Safadin and their s ons thems elves worked on thewal ls .

Ric hard meanwhi le c aptured and forti fied As hkelon, the gateway to Egypt, offering Saladin a parti tion of J erus alem, wi th Mus l ims keeping the Haram and Tower of David. But thes e talks , almos t c omparable in c omplexi ty to thos e between Is rael is and Pales tinians in the twenty-fi rs t c entury, were in vain: boths ti l l hoped to pos s es s J erus alem total ly. On 20 Marc h, Safadin and his s on Kamil vis i ted Ric hard wi th an offer of ac c es s to the Sepulc hre and the return of the T rue Cros s : in the c las s ic beau ges te of c hivalry, Lionheart dubbed young Kamil , gi rding him with the bel t of knighthood.

Yet this theatre of c hivalry was unpopular wi th the mutinous Frenc h knights , who demanded the immediate s torm ing of J erus alem. On 10 J une Ric hard led them bac k to Bayt Nuba, where they proc eeded to s et up c amp in the parc hing heat and for three weeks argued about what to do next. Ric hard rel ieved thetens ion by riding out on rec onnais s anc e, at s ome point reac hing Montjoie, where he dis mounted to s ay his prayers but held up his s hield to hide the glory of J erus alem, s uppos edly s aying, 'Lord God, I pray thee not to let me s ee thy Holy Ci ty that I c ould not del iver from thine enemies ! '

Lionheart employed s pies in the s ul tan's army who now informed him that one of Saladin's princ es was leading a c aravan of reinforc ements from Egypt. Ric hard, s porting Bedouin dres s , led out 500 knights and 1,000 l ight c avalry, to ambus h the Egyptians . He dis pers ed the troops , c aptured the c aravan,bagging 3,000 c amels and ample pac khors es of s uppl ies - enough perhaps to marc h on J erus alem or Egypt. 'T his was grievous to Saladin's heart,' s aid his m inis ter Ibn Shaddad, 'but I tried to c alm him .' W ithin a fraught J erus alem, Saladin was c los e to panic , his s tres s unbearable. He pois oned the wel ls aroundthe c i ty and pos i tioned his meagre c ontingents under the c ommand of his s ons . His arm ies were inadequate and he anxious ly rec al led Safadin from Iraq.

On 2 J uly, he c onvened a c ounc i l of war, but his am irs were jus t as unrel iable as Ric hard's barons . 'T he bes t thing we c an do,' s aid Ibn Shaddad, opening the meeting, 'is as s emble at the Dome of the Roc k to prepare ours elves for death.' T hen there was s i lenc e, the am irs s i tting s o s ti l l i t was 'as though therewere birds on their heads '. T he c ounc i l debated whether the leader s hould make a las t s tand within the c i ty or avoid being trapped in a s iege. T he s ul tan hims el f knew that wi thout his own pres enc e his henc hmen would s oon s urrender. Final ly Saladin s aid, 'You're the army of Is lam. T urn your reins away and they'l lrol l up thes e lands l ike a s c rol l . It's your res pons ibi l i ty - that's why you've been funded by the treas ury al l thes e years .' T he am irs agreed to fight, but the next day they returned to s ay they feared a s iege l ike that of Ac re. W as i t not better to fight outs ide the wal ls and at wors t, temporari ly los e J erus alem? T he generalsins is ted that Saladin or one of his s ons had to s tay in J erus alem or els e his T urks would fight his Kurds .

Saladin s tayed - and his s pies kept him wel l informed about Ric hard's problems . As 15 J uly, the annivers ary of the c apture of J erus alem in 1099, approac hed, the Crus aders dis c overed yet another fragment of the T rue Cros s , a timely m irac le whic h elated the ranks . But the Frenc h under the Duke of Burgundyand the Anglo-Angevins under Ric hard were almos t at daggers drawn, taunting eac h other wi th s i l ly s logans and fi l thy di tties . Ric hard, the troubadour, penned a j ingle of his own.

Saladin was almos t s ic k wi th the tens ion: on the night of T hurs day 3 J uly, Ibn Shaddad was s o worried that he pres c ribed the c omfort of prayer: 'W e are in the mos t bles s ed plac e we c ould be on this day.' A t Friday prayers the s ul tan s hould make two ri tual rak as , bows from the wais t then two ful l pros trations .Saladin performed thes e ri tuals and openly wept. By nightfal l , his s pies reported that the Franks were pac king up. On 4 J uly, Ric hard led the retreat.

Saladin was exuberant, riding out to meet his favouri te s on Zahir, kis s ing him between the eyes and es c orting him into J erus alem, where the princ e s tayed with his father in the palac e of the Mas ter of the Hos pi tal lers . But both s ides were exhaus ted: Ric hard was rec eiving reports that bac k in England hisbrother J ohn was c los e to open rebel l ion. If he wis hed to s ave his lands , he needed to return home s oon.

Enc ouraged by Ric hard's problems , on 28 J uly Saladin s prang a s urpris e attac k on J affa, whic h he s wiftly c aptured after a bombardment by his mangonels . W hi le Ibn Shaddad was negotiating the s urrender, his s on Zahir fel l as leep on watc h. Suddenly Ric hard the Lionheart appeared offs hore in a s c arlet-flagged gal ley. He had arrived jus t in time: s ome Franks were s ti l l holding out. Firing an arbales t c ros s bow, he waded on to the beac h - 'red haired, his tunic red, his banner red.' W ithout even time to take off his waders and don his armour, wielding a Danis h battleaxe, ac c ompanied by jus t s eventeen knights and afew hundred infantry, Ric hard managed to retake the town in a s tupendous dis play of flamboyant s hoc k-fighting.

A fterwards , he teas ed Saladin's m inis ter: 'T his s ul tan of yours is a great man [yet] how is i t he departed merely bec aus e I arrived? I only had my s eaboots on and not even my breas tplate! ' Saladin and Safadin were s aid to have s ent A rabian hors es to Lionheart as a gi ft, but s uc h c hivalry was often a delayingtac tic for they s oon c ounter-attac ked. Ric hard repuls ed them and then c hal lenged the Sarac ens to s ingle c ombat. He gal loped with his lanc e up and down the ranks - but there were no takers .

Saladin ordered another attac k, but his am irs refus ed. He was s o enraged that he c ons idered a Zangi-s tyle c ruc i fixion of his mutinous generals . However, he c almed hims el f and then invi ted them to s hare s ome juic y apric ots that had jus t arrived from Damas c us .T he king and the s ul tan had fought thems elves to a s tands ti l l . 'You and we together are ruined,' Ric hard c onfided to Saladin. As they negotiated, both the warlords c ol laps ed, des perately i l l , their res ourc es and wi l ls utterly exhaus ted.

THE SALADIN DYNASTY

1193-1250

THE DEATH OF THE SULTAN

On 2 September 1192, s ul tan and king agreed the T reaty of J affa, the fi rs t parti tion of Pales tine: the Chris tian kingdom rec eived a new leas e of l i fe wi th Ac re as i ts c api tal , whi le Saladin kept J erus alem, granting ful l Chris tian ac c es s to the Sepulc hre.On the way bac k to J erus alem, Saladin met his brother Safadin who kis s ed the ground to thank God, and they prayed together at the Dome of the Roc k. T hough Ric hard refus ed to vis i t Is lam ic J erus alem, his knights floc ked there to make their pi lgrimages and were rec eived by Saladin. T he s ul tan s howed them

the T rue Cros s , but afterwards that ul timate rel ic was los t - and vanis hed for ever. W hen the king's advis er Hubert W alter was in J erus alem, he dis c us s ed Ric hard with Saladin who offered the view that Lionheart lac ked wis dom and moderation. T hanks to W alter, Saladin al lowed Latin pries ts bac k into theSepulc hre. W hen the Byzantine emperor Is aac Angelus demanded i t for the Orthodox, Saladin dec ided that they mus t s hare i t under his s upervis ion and appointed Sheikh Ghanim al-Khazraj i as Cus todian of the Churc h, a role s ti l l performed today by his des c endants , the Nus s eibeh fam i ly.

T he two protagonis ts never met. On 9 Oc tober, Ric hard s ai led for Europe.* 'Saladin appointed Ibn Shaddad, whos e memoirs have been s uc h a vivid s ourc e, to overs ee his plans in J erus alem. P res ently Saladin left for Damas c us .18

T here, the joys of fam i ly l i fe awaited him - he had s eventeen s ons - but he was now fi fty-four and worn out. His s on Zahir c ould not bear to leave his father, perhaps s ens ing they would never meet again: touc hingly, he kept s aying goodbye, then riding bac k to kis s Saladin again. A t the palac e, Ibn Shaddad foundthe Sul tan playing with one of his baby s ons in a portic o am id his gardens whi le Frankis h barons and T urkis h am irs awaited an audienc e.

A few days later, after welc oming the haj c aravan from Mec c a, he was s truc k down by a fever, probably typhoid. His doc tors bled him , but he grew wors e. W hen he as ked for warm water, i t was too c old. 'Heavens above! ' he exc laimed. 'Is nobody able to get the water jus t right! ' A t dawn on 3 Marc h 1193, he diedl is tening to rec i tations of the Koran. 'I and others would have given our l ives for him ,' s aid Ibn Shaddad who reflec ted:T hen thes e years and their players pas s ed awayAs though they al l had been merely dreams .

MUAZZAM ISA: THE OTHER JESUS

Saladin's s ons s pent the next s ix years fighting among thems elves in ever-c hanging c ombinations , mediated by their s hrewd unc le Safadin. T he three eldes t s ons , A fdal , Zahir and Aziz rec eived Damas c us , A leppo and Egypt, whi le Safadin ruled Outrejourdain and Edes s a.A fdal , now twenty-two, inheri ted J erus alem, whic h he c heris hed. He bui l t the Mos que of Omar right next to the Churc h and s ettled north A fric ans in a Maghrebi quarter where he bui l t the A fdal iyya Madras s a within a few metres of the W es tern W al l .A fdal , drunk and inept, found i t hard to ins pire loyal ty and J erus alem was tos s ed between the warring brothers . J us t when Aziz had won the war and emerged as s ul tan, he was ki l led out hunting. T he s urviving brothers A fdal and Zahir ganged up on their unc le, but Safadin defeated both and s eized the empire,

rul ing as s ul tan for twenty years . Cold, elegant and dour, Safadin was no Saladin: not one c ontemporary des c ribes him with affec tion, but everyone res pec ted him . He was 'bri l l iantly s uc c es s ful , probably the ables t of his l ine'. In J erus alem, Safadin c ommis s ioned the double-gate - the Gate of the Chain and theGate of Divine P res enc e, probably the s i te of the Crus aders ' Beauti ful Gate - us ing exquis i te Frankis h s pol ia from the Templar c lois ter and featuring a twin-domed porc h and c api tals wi th c arvings of animals and l ions : this s ti l l forms the main wes tern entranc e to the Temple Mount. But even before he bec ames ultan, in 1198, his s ec ond s on, Muazzam Is a (Is a being the A rabic for J es us ), was given Syria.

In 1204, Muazzam made J erus alem his c api tal , and Amaury's palac e his home. T he mos t popular member of the fam i ly s inc e his unc le Saladin, Muazzam was eas y-going and open-m inded. W hen he vis i ted s c holars to s tudy phi los ophy and s c ienc e, he s imply walked to their hous es l ike an ordinary s tudent. 'Is aw him in J erus alem,' rec al led the his torian Ibn W as i l . 'Men, women and boys were jos tl ing him and no one pus hed them away. In s pi te of his boldnes s and high s ens e of honour, he had l i ttle tas te for os tentation. He rode without being ac c ompanied by the royal s tandards , wi th only a s mal l es c ort. On his head hewore a yel low c ap and made his way through the markets and s treets wi thout a pathway being c leared for him .'

One of J erus alem 's mos t prol i fic bui lders , Muazzam res tored the wal ls , bui l t s even hulking towers and c onverted the Crus ader s truc tures on the Temple Mount into Mus l im s hrines . * In 1209, he s ettled 300 J ewis h fam i l ies from Franc e and England in J erus alem. W hen the J ewis h poet of Spain, J udah al-Harizi ,made his pi lgrimage, he prais ed the dynas ty of Muazzam and Saladin even as he mourned the Temple: 'W e went out every day to weep for Zion, we grieved her des troyed palac es , we as c ended the Mount of Ol ives to pros trate ours elves before the E ternal One. W hat torment to s ee our holy c ourts c onverted into anal ien temple.' Suddenly, in 1218, Muazzam 's ac hievements were thrown into peri l when J ohn of B rienne, ti tular K ing of J erus alem, + led the Fi fth Crus ade to attac k Egypt. T he Crus aders bes ieged the port of Damietta. Safadin, now s eventy-four years old, led out his arm ies but died when he heard that the ChainTower of Damietta had fal len. Muazzam has tened from J erus alem to Egypt to help his elder brother Kamil , the new Sultan of Egypt. But the brothers panic ked and twic e offered J erus alem to the Crus aders i f they would leave Egypt. In the s pring of 1219, wi th the fam i ly empire in jeopardy, Muazzam took theheartbreaking dec is ion to des troy al l his forti fic ations in J erus alem, arguing that 'i f the Franks took i t, they would ki l l everyone there and dominate Syria'.

J erus alem was left defenc eles s and hal f-empty - her inhabi tants fled in droves . 'W omen, girls and old men gathered on the Haram, tore their hair and c lothes and s c attered in al l di rec tions ' as i f i t were 'the Day of J udgement'. Yet the Crus aders fool is hly refus ed the brothers ' offers of J erus alem - and the Crus adei ts el f fel l apart.

Onc e the Crus aders had departed, Kamil and Muazzam, who had c ooperated s o wel l during the ul timate c ris is , embarked on a vic ious fraternal war for s upremac y. J erus alem did not real ly rec over unti l the nineteenth c entury. Fabled before and afterwards for her wal ls , s he was to be without them for threec enturies . Yet the c i ty was about to c hange hands again in a mos t unl ikely peac e deal .19

EMPEROR FREDERICK II:W ONDER OF THE W ORLD, BEAST OF THE APOCALYPSE

On 9 November 1225, at the c athedral in B rindis i , Frederic k II, Holy Roman Emperor and K ing of S ic i ly, married Yolande, fi fteen-year-old Queen of J erus alem. As s oon as the wedding was over, Frederic k as s umed the ti tle of king of J erus alem ready to s et off on his Crus ade. His enemies c laimed that he proc eededto s educ e his new wife's ladies -in-waiting whi le c avorting wi th his harem of Sarac en odal is ques . T his appal led his father-in-law J ohn of B rienne and ups et the pope. But Frederic k was already the mos t powerful monarc h in Europe - he was later to be known as S tupor Mundi, the W onder of the W orld - and he dideverything in his own way.

Frederic k of Hohens taufen, green-eyed and ginger-haired, hal f-German and hal f-Norman, had been rais ed in S ic i ly and there was nowhere els e in Europe qui te l ike his c ourt in Palermo, whic h c ombined Norman, A rab and Greek c ul tures in a unique blend of the Chris tian and the Is lam ic . It was this upbringingthat made Frederic k s o unus ual and he c ertainly flaunted his ec c entric i ties . His entourage us ual ly featured a s ul tanic harem, a zoo, fi fty falc oners (he wrote a book c al led The A rt of Hunting w ith B irds ), an A rab bodyguard, J ewis h and Mus l im s c holars and often a Sc ottis h magic ian and hierophant. He was c ertainlymore Levantine in c ul ture than any other king in Chris tendom but that did not s top him ruthles s ly s uppres s ing A rab rebels in S ic i ly - he us ed his own s pur to rip open the bel ly of their c aptured leader. He deported the A rabs from S ic i ly but bui l t them a new A rab town in Luc era with i ts own mos ques and a palac ewhic h bec ame his favouri te res idenc e. S im i larly he enforc ed anti -J ewis h laws whi le he patronis ed J ewis h s avants , welc omed J ewis h s ettlers and ins is ted they be fairly treated.

Yet i t was power not exotic a that c ons umed Frederic k, who devoted his l i fe to defending his vas t inheri tanc e, s tretc hing from the Bal tic to the Mediterranean, agains t envious popes who exc ommunic ated him twic e, denounc ed him as the Anti -Chris t and blac kened him with the mos t outlandis h c alumnies . Hewas al leged to be a s ec ret atheis t or Mus l im who s aid Mos es , J es us and Muhammad were frauds . He was portrayed as a medieval Dr Frankens tein who had s ealed a dying man in a barrel to s ee i f his s oul c ould es c ape; who had dis -embowel led a man to s tudy his diges tion; and loc ked c hi ldren in is olation-c el ls tos ee how they developed language.

Frederic k took hims el f and his fam i ly's rights very s erious ly: he was ac tual ly a c onventional Chris tian who was c onvinc ed that as emperor he s hould be a univers al holy monarc h on the Byzantine model and that as the des c endant of generations of Crus aders and the heir to Charlemagne, he mus t l iberateJ erus alem. He had already taken the Cros s twic e but kept delaying his departure.

Now that he was king of J erus alem, he planned his expedi tion in earnes t - but of c ours e after his own fas hion. He depos i ted his pregnant queen of J erus alem in his Palermo harem, prom is ing the pope that he was departing on Crus ade - but Yolande, aged s ixteen, died after giving birth to a s on. S inc e Frederic kwas king of J erus alem by marriage, his s on now as s umed the ti tle. But he was not going to let that detai l interfere wi th his new approac h to c rus ading.

T he Emperor hoped to win J erus alem by exploi ting the rivalries of the Hous e of Saladin. Indeed Sul tan Kamil offered him J erus alem in return for help agains t Muazzam who held the c i ty. Frederic k final ly s et off in 1227, only to fal l i l l and return - at whic h Pope Gregory IX exc ommunic ated him , whic h was morethan an inc onvenienc e for a Crus ader. He s ent his T eutonic Knights and infantry on ahead and by the time he joined them in Ac re in September 1228, Muazzam was dead and Kamil had oc c upied Pales tine - and withdrawn his offer.

However, Kamil was now having to fight Muazzam 's s ons as wel l as Frederic k and his army. He c ould not handle both threats . Emperor and s ul tan were too weak to fight for J erus alem s o they opened s ec ret negotiations .Kamil was as unc onventional as Frederic k. As a boy, Safadin's s on had been knighted by the Lionheart hims el f. W hi le emperor and s ul tan negotiated the s haring of J erus alem, they debated A ris totel ian phi los ophy and A rab geometry. 'I've no real ambition to hold J erus alem,' Frederic k told Kamil 's envoy, 'I

s imply want to s afeguard my reputation wi th the Chris tians .' T he Mus l ims wondered i f Chris tiani ty was 'a game to him '. T he s ul tan s ent the emperor 'danc ing girls ' whi le the latter entertained his Mus l im gues ts wi th Chris tian danc ers . Patriarc h Gerold denounc ed Frederic k's s inging girls and jugglers as 'pers ons notonly of i l l -repute but unworthy to be mentioned by Chris tians ', whic h of c ours e he then proc eeded to do. Between negotiating s es s ions , Frederic k hunted with his falc ons and s educ ed new m is tres s es , playing the troubadour to wri te to one of them: 'A las I didn't think that s eparation from my lady would be s o hardremembering her s weet c ompanions hip. Happy s ong, go to the flower of Syria, to her who holds my heart in pris on. As k that mos t loving lady to remember her s ervant who s hal l s uffer from love of her unti l he has done al l s he wi l ls him to do.'

W hen the negotiations wavered, Frederic k marc hed his troops down the c oas t to J affa in the foots teps of Ric hard, threatening J erus alem. T his did the tric k and on 11 February 1229, he ac hieved the undreamable: in return for ten years ' peac e, Kamil c eded J erus alem and Bethlehem with a c orridor to the s ea. InJ erus alem, the Mus l ims kept the T emple Mount wi th freedom of entry and wors hip under their qadi . T he deal ignored the J ews (who had mos tly fled the c i ty), but this treaty of s hared s overeignty remains the mos t daring peac e deal in J erus alem 's his tory.

Yet both worlds were horri fied. In Damas c us , Muazzam 's s on Nas ir Daud ordered publ ic mourning. T he throng s obbed at the news . Kamil ins is ted, 'we've only c onc eded s ome c hurc hes and ruined hous es . T he s ac red prec inc ts and venerated Roc k remain ours .' But the deal worked for him - he was able toreuni te Saladin's empire under his c rown. As for Frederic k, Patriarc h Gerold banned the exc ommunic ate from vis i ting J erus alem, and the T emplars denounc ed him for not gaining the T emple Mount.

On Saturday 17 Marc h, Frederic k, es c orted by his A rab bodyguards and pages , his German and Ital ian troops , the T eutonic Knights , and two Engl is h bis hops , was met at the J affa Gate by the s ul tan's repres entative, Shams al-Din, the Qadi of Nablus , who handed him the keys of J erus alem.

T he s treets were empty, many Mus l ims had left, the Orthodox Syrians were s ul len at this Latin res urgenc e - and Frederic k's time was s hort: the B is hop of Caes area was on his way to enforc e the patriarc h's ban and plac e the c i ty under interdic t.20

THE CROW NING OF FREDERICK II: GERMAN JERUSALEM

After s pending the night in the palac e of the Mas ter of the Hos pi tal lers , Frederic k held a s pec ial Mas s in the Holy Sepulc hre, empty of pries ts but fi l led wi th his German s oldiery. He res ted his imperial c rown on the al tar of Calvary then plac ed i t on his own head, a c rown-wearing c eremony des igned to projec thims el f as the univers al and paramount monarc h of Chris tendom. He explained to Henry III of England: 'W e being a Cathol ic Emperor wore the c rown whic h A lm ighty God provided for us from the throne of His Majes ty when of His es pec ial grac e He exal ted us on high among the princ es of the world in the hous e ofHis s ervant David.' Frederic k was not one to underes timate his own importanc e: his eerie, magnific ent m is e-en-s c ene was the c rowning of a s ac red king, a mys tic al Emperor of the Las t Days , in the Churc h that he s aw as K ing David's temple.

A fterwards , the emperor toured the Temple Mount, admiring the Dome and al-Aqs a, prais ing i ts beauti ful mihrab , c l imbing on to Nur al-Din's minbar. W hen he s potted a pries t holding a New Tes tament trying to enter al-Aqs a, he knoc ked him over, s houting 'Swine! By God i f one of you c omes here again wi thoutperm is s ion, I s hal l have his eyes ! '

T he Mus l im c us todians did not know what to make of this ginger-haired maveric k: 'Had he been a s lave, he wouldn't have been worth 200 dirhams ,' mus ed one of them tac tles s ly. T hat night Frederic k notic ed the s i lenc e of the muezzins : 'O Qadi,' he s aid to the s ul tan's repres entative, 'why didn't the muezzins givethe c al l to prayer las t night?'

'I rec ommended the muezzins not to give the c al l out of res pec t for the king,' s aid the qadi .'You did wrong,' repl ied Frederic k. 'My c hief aim in pas s ing the night in J erus alem was to hear the muezzins and their c ries of prais e to God during the night.' If his enemies s aw this as Is lamophi l ia, Frederic k was probably more interes ted in making s ure his unique deal worked. W hen the muezzins c al led the

midday prayer, 'al l his valets and pages as wel l as his tutor' pros trated thems elves to pray.T hat morning, the B is hop of Caes area arrived with his interdic t. T he emperor left his garris on in the Tower of David and headed bac k to Ac re where he was fac ed with the ungrateful hos ti l i ty of barons and Templars . Now under papal attac k in Italy, the emperor planned a s ec ret departure, but at dawn on 1 May

the Ac re mob, c ol lec ting the offal of Butc hers S treet, bombarded him with entrai ls and giblets . On his s hip home to B rindis i , Frederic k pined for his 'flower of Syria': 'Ever s inc e I went away, I've never endured s uc h anguis h as I did on board the s hip. And now I bel ieve I s hal l s urely die i f I don't return to her s oon.'21

He had not s tayed long and he never returned, but Frederic k remained offic ial ly the mas ter of J erus alem for ten years . Frederic k gave the Tower of David and Royal Palac e to the Teutonic Knights . He ordered their mas ter, Hermann of Salza and B is hop Peter of W inc hes ter, to repair the Tower (s ome of this works urvives today) and forti fy S t S tephen's (today's Damas c us ) Gate. Franks rec laimed 'their c hurc hes and had their old pos s es s ions res tored to them '. T he J ews were again banned. W ithout wal ls , J erus alem was ins ec ure: weeks later, the imams of Hebron and Nablus led 15,000 peas ants into the c i ty whi le theChris tians c owered in the T ower. Ac re s ent an army to ejec t the Mus l im invaders and J erus alem remained Chris tian.*

In 1238, Sul tan Kamil died, throwing the Saladin dynas ty into further internec ine wars , exac erbated by a new c rus ade under Count T hibaul t of Champagne. W hen the Crus aders were defeated, Muazzam 's s on, Nas ir Daud, gal loped into J erus alem and bes ieged the Tower of David for twenty-one days unti l i t fel lon 7 Dec ember 1239. He then des troyed the new forti fic ations , and the warring princ es of the Saladin fam i ly took an oath of peac e on the Temple Mount. But fam i l ial s tri fe and the arrival of an Engl is h Crus ade under Henry III's brother, Ric hard, Earl of Cornwal l , again forc ed the s urrender of J erus alem to the Franks .T his time the Templars expel led the Mus l ims and regained the Temple Mount: the Dome and al-Aqs a bec ame c hurc hes again. 'I s aw monks in c harge of the Sac red Roc k,' rec al led Ibn W as i l . 'I s aw on i t bottles of wine for mas s .' 22 T he Templars s tarted to forti fy the Holy Ci ty - but not fas t enough: in order to fighthis fam i ly rivals , the new s ul tan Sal ih Ayyub had hired a horde of freebooting T artars , nomadic Central As ian hors emen dis plac ed by the new Mongol empire. But he c ould now c ontrol them. T o the horror of the Chris tians of Ac re, 10,000 Khwarizm ian T artars rode towards J erus alem.

BARKA KHAN AND THE TARTARS: CATASTROPHE

On 11 J uly 1244, the Tartar hors emen led by Barka Khan c lattered into J erus alem, fighting and hac king their way through the s treets , s mas hing into the A rmenian c onvent and murdering the monks and nuns . T hey des troyed c hurc hes and hous es , plundering the Holy Sepulc hre and s etting i t on fi re. Coming uponthe pries ts as they c elebrated Mas s the Tartars beheaded and dis embowel led them at the al tar. T he bodies of the kings of J erus alem were dis interred, their elaborate s arc ophagi s mas hed; the s tone at the door of J es us ' tomb was s hattered. T he Franks , bes ieged in the Tower, appealed to Nas ir Daud, whopers uaded Barka to al low the garris on to leave in s afety.

S ix thous and Chris tians left for J affa but, s eeing Frankis h flags on the battlements and bel ieving help had arrived, many turned bac k. T he Tartars mas s ac red 2,000 of them. Only 300 Chris tians reac hed J affa. W hen they had thoroughly des troyed J erus alem, the Tartars gal loped away. * Smouldering ands mas hed, J erus alem would not be Chris tian again unti l 1917.23

In 1248, K ing Louis X I led the las t effec tive Crus ade and onc e again, the Crus aders hoped to win J erus alem by c onquering Egypt. In November 1249 the Crus aders advanc ed on Cairo, where Sul tan Sal ih Ayyub was already dying. His widow, the s ul tana, Shajar al-Durr, took c ontrol , s ummoning her s teps onT urans hah bac k from Syria. T he Crus aders overreac hed thems elves and were routed by the mamluks , the c rac k regiments of m i l i tary s laves . Louis was c aptured. But the new s ul tan T urans hah neglec ted his own s oldiers : on 2 May 1250, he was holding a banquet to c elebrate the vic tory, attended by many of theCrus ader pris oners , when mamluks , led by a blond giant named Baibars , then aged twenty-s even, burs t in, s words drawn.

Baibars s las hed at the s ul tan who fled bleeding down to the Ni le as the mamluks fi red arrows into him . He s tood wounded in the river begging for his l i fe unti l a mamluk waded in, c ut off his head and s l ic ed open his c hes t. His heart was c ut out and s hown to K ing Louis of Franc e at a banquet; no doubt he los this appeti te.

T here ended the dynas ty of Saladin in Egypt, a downfal l that c ondemned J erus alem, now hal f-des erted, hal f-ruined, to ten c haotic years tos s ed between di fferent warlords and princ el ings as they fought for power* whi le a fears ome s hadow fel l ac ros s the Middle Eas t. In 1258, the Mongols , the s hamanis t hordesfrom the Far Eas t who had already c onquered the larges t empire the world had ever known, s ac ked Baghdad, mas s ac ring 80,000 people and ki l l ing the c al iph. T hey took Damas c us and gal loped as far as Gaza, raiding J erus alem on the way. Is lam would need a feroc ious c hampion to defeat them. T he man whoros e to the c hal lenge was Baibars .24

PART S IX

MAMLUK

Before the end of the world, al l prophec ies have to be ful fi l led - and the Holy Ci ty has to be given bac k to the Chris tian Churc h.Chris topher Columbus , Letter to K ing Ferdinand and

Queen Is abel la of SpainAnd s he [the W ife of Bath] had thric e been to J erus alem.

Geoffrey Chauc er, The Canterbury TalesIn J erus alem, there is not a plac e one c al ls truly s ac red.

Ibn T aymiyya, In Support of P ious V is i ts to J erus alemT he prac tic e [of the Holy Fire] is s ti l l going on. T here oc c ur under the eyes of Mus l ims a number of hateful things .

Muj i r al -Din, His tory of J erus alem and HebronT he Greeks [are] our wors t and atroc ious enemies , the Georgians are the wors t heretic s , l ike the Greeks and equal in mal ic e; the A rmenians are very beauti ful , ric h and generous , [and] the deadly enemies of the Greeks and Georgians .

Franc es c o Suriano, Treatis e on the Holy LandW e beheld the famous c i ty of our del ight and we rent our garments . J erus alem is mos tly des olate and in ruins and without wal ls . As for the J ews , the poores t have remained [l iving] in heaps of rubbis h, for the law is that a J ew may not rebui ld his ruined hous e.

Rabbi Obadiah of Bertinoro, Letters

SLAVE TO SULTAN

1250-1339

BAIBARS: THE PANTHER

Baibars was a fai r-haired and blue-eyed T urk from Central As ia s old as a c hi ld to a Syrian princ e. But, des pi te his towering barrel-c hes ted phys ique, he had an uns ettl ing defec t: a whi te c atarac t on the i ris of one of his eyes whic h led his owner to s el l him on to the s ul tan in Cairo. Sal ih Ayyub, Saladin's great-nephew, bought T urkis h s laves 'in batc hes l ike s andgrous e' to form his mamluk regiments . He c ould not trus t his own fam i ly but thought 'one s lave is more loyal than 300 s ons '. Baibars , l ike al l thes e pagan s laveboys , was c onverted to Is lam and trained as a s lave-s oldier, a mamluk. He exc el led wi th the arbales ts teel c ros s bow, winning the nic kname the A rbales tier and joined the Bahriyya regiment, the c rac k s oldiers who defeated the Crus aders and bec ame known as the T urkis h Lions and the Is lam ic T emplars .

W hen Baibars had won the trus t of his mas ter, he was manumitted - releas ed from s lavery - and c l imbed the ranks . T he mamluks were loyal to their mas ters and even more loyal to eac h other - but ul timately eac h of thes e orphan-warriors owed nothing to anyone exc ept hims el f and A l lah. A fter his role in theki l l ing of the s ul tan, Baibars los t out in the power s truggle and fled to Syria where he offered his c ros s bow to the highes t bidder in the c ivi l wars raging between the loc al princ el ings . A t one point, he s eized and plundered J erus alem. But the power was in Egypt and Baibars was final ly rec al led there by the lates tgeneral to s eize the c rown, Qutuz.

W hen the Mongols raided Syria in forc e, Baibars c ommanded the vanguard that hurried north to s top them. On 3 September 1260, Baibars defeated the Mongol army at Gol iath's Spring (A in J alut) near Nazareth. T he Mongols would return and even reac h J erus alem again, but they had been hal ted for the fi rs ttime. Muc h of Syria fel l under Cairo's rule and Baibars was hai led as the Father of V ic tory and the Lion of Egypt. He expec ted a reward - the governors hip of A leppo - but Sul tan Qutuz refus ed. One day, whi le the s ul tan was hunting, Baibars (l i teral ly) s tabbed him in the bac k. T he junta of mamluk am irs granted himthe c rown as the man who had ki l led the monarc h.

As s oon as he took power, Baibars s et about the des truc tion of the rump Crus ader kingdom s urviving on the Pales tinian c oas t. In 1263, on his way to war, he arrived in J erus alem. T he Mamluks revered the c i ty and Baibars began the Mamluk m is s ion to res anc ti fy and embel l is h the Temple Mount and the areaaround i t, today's Mus l im Quarter. He ordered the Dome and al-Aqs a to be renovated and in order to c ompete wi th Chris tian Eas ter, he promoted a new fes tival , pos s ibly s tarted under Saladin, by bui lding a dome over the tomb of the P rophet Mos es near J eric ho. For the next eight c enturies , J erus alem ites c elebratedNabi Mus a with a proc es s ion from the Dome of the Roc k to Baibars ' s hrine where they would gather for prayers , pic nic s and parties .

J us t north-wes t of the wal ls , the Sul tan bui l t a lodge for his favouri te order of Sufis . Like many of the Mamluks , he was a patron of the popul is t mys tic is m of the Sufis who bel ieved that pas s ion, c hants , s aintly c ul ts , danc es and s el f-morti fic ation c ould bring Mus l ims c los er to God than rigid tradi tional prayer.Baibars ' c los es t advis er was a Sufi s heikh with whom he would rec i te and danc e the Sufi z ik r. Baibars impl ic i tly trus ted the s heikh and did nothing without his approval whi le al lowing him to organize the looting of c hurc hes and s ynagogues and the lync hing of J ews and Chris tians .* It was a new era: Baibars andhis Mamluk s uc c es s ors , who were to rule J erus alem for the next 300 years , were hars h, intolerant m i l i tary dic tators or juntas . T he old age of Is lam ic c hivalry, pers oni fied by Saladin, was gone. T he Mamluks were a T urkis h mas ter-c as te who forc ed J ews to wear yel low turbans , whi le the Chris tians had to wear blue.For both, but es pec ial ly the J ews , their days as protec ted dhimmi were pas t. T he T urkis h-s peaking Mamluks dis dained A rabs too and only Mamluks were al lowed to wear furs or armour or ride a hors e in towns . A t their gaudy c ourt, the s ul tans awarded their c ourtiers c olourful ti tles s uc h as Bearer of the Royal PoloS tic k and Amir-to-be-Serenadedby-Mus ic - the game of pol i tic s there was as often lethal as i t was luc rative.

Baibar's s ymbol was a prowl ing panther whic h he us ed to mark his vic tories - eighty of them have been found on ins c riptions between Egypt and T urkey and in J erus alem, and they s ti l l prowl the Lions ' Gate. No s ymbol was more appropriate for this terri fying predator wi th the white eye who now embarked on as pree of c onques ts .

W hen he had ins pec ted J erus alem, he attac ked Ac re whic h withs tood the attac k but he was to return often. Meanwhi le, one by one, he s tormed the other Crus ader c i ties , ki l l ing wi th deranged, s adis tic rapture. He rec eived Frankis h ambas s adors s urrounded by Chris tian heads , c ruc i fied, bis ec ted and s c alpedhis enemies , and bui l t heads into the wal ls of fal len towns . He enjoyed taking ris ks l ike s c outing inc ogni to into enemy c i ties , negotiating wi th his enemies in dis guis e, and even when he was in Cairo he ins pec ted his offic es in the m iddle of the night, s o res tles s and paranoid that he s uffered ins omnia ands tomac h-ac hes .

Ac re alone defied him* but he marc hed north to c onquer Antioc h, whenc e he c hi l l ingly wrote to i ts princ e 'to tel l you what we've jus t done. T he dead were heaped up, you s hould have s een your Mus l im enemy trample on the plac e you c elebrate mas s , c utting the throats of the monks on the al tar, the fi re runningthrough your palac es . If you'd been there to s ee i t, you'd have wis hed you'd never been al ive! ' He marc hed into Anatol ia and c rowned hims el f Sul tan of Rum. But the Mongols had returned and Baibars rus hed bac k to defend Syria.

On 1 J une 1277, he fel l vic tim to his own mac abre ingenui ty, when he prepared a drink of pois oned qumiz - fermented mare's m i lk, rel is hed by T urks and Mongols - for a gues t, but then forgetful ly drank i t hims el f.1 His s uc c es s ors finis hed his work.On 18 May 1291, the Mamluks s tormed the Frankis h c api tal Ac re and s laughtered mos t of the defenders , ens laving the res t (gi rls were s old for jus t one drac hma eac h). T he ti tle K ing of J erus alem was now uni ted with that of K ing of Cyprus . But i t s urvived only as a pic tures que ornament -and i t remains s o today.

T here ended the K ingdom of J erus alem.* Even the real J erus alem only jus t s urvived - les s a c i ty, more of a s enes c ent vi l lage, unwal led and hal f-des erted, raided at wi l l by Mongol hors emen.In 1267, a pi lgrim , the old Spanis h rabbi known as Ramban, mourned her ec l ips e:

I c ompare you, my mother, to the woman whos e s on died in her lap and painful ly there is m i lk in her breas ts and s he s uc kles the pups of dogs . And des pi te al l that, your lovers abandoned you and your enemies des olated you, but faraway they remember and glori fy the Holy Ci ty.2

RAMBAN

Rabbi Mos es ben Nac hman, known by his Hebrew ac ronym RAMBAN or jus t Nahmanides , was amazed to find that there were only 2,000 inhabi tants left in J erus alem, jus t 300 Chris tians and only two J ews , brothers , who were dyers l ike the J ews under the Crus ades . T he s adder J erus alem s eemed to the J ews , themore s ac red i t bec ame, the more poetic al : 'W hatever is more holy', thought Ramban, 'is more ruined.'

T he Ramban was one of the mos t ins piring intel lec tuals of his time, a doc tor, phi los opher, mys tic and Torah s c holar. In 1263, he had defended Barc elona's J ews s o adeptly agains t Dominic an ac c us ations of blas phemy that K ing J ames of A ragon remarked, 'I've never s een a man defend a wrong c aus e s owel l ,' and gave Ramban 300 gold piec es . But the Dominic ans then tried to have Ramban exec uted. As a c ompromis e, the s eptuagenarian was banis hed - and s et out on his pi lgrimage.

He bel ieved that J ews s hould not jus t mourn J erus alem but return, s ettle and rebui ld before the c oming of the Mes s iah - what we m ight c al l rel igious Zionis m. Only J erus alem c ould s oothe his homes ic knes s :

I left my fam i ly, I fors ook my home, my s ons and daughters . I left my s oul wi th the s weet and dear c hi ldren whom I've brought up on my knee. But the los s of al l els e is c ompens ated for by the joy of a day in thy c ourts , O J erus alem! I wept bi tterly but I found joy in my tears .

T he Ramban c ommandeered 'a broken-down hous e bui l t wi th marble c olumns and a hands ome dome.* W e took i t for a prayer hous e bec aus e the c i ty is a s hambles and whoever wants to appropriate ruins does s o.' He als o retrieved the Torah s c rol ls hidden from the Mongols , but s oon after his death, the raiderswere bac k.3

But this time there was a di fferenc e: s ome of them were Chris tians . In Oc tober 1299, the Chris tian K ing of A rmenia, Hethoum II, gal loped into J erus alem with 10,000 Mongols . T he c i ty quaked before yet another barbaric s ac king and the few Chris tians 'hid in c averns out of fright.' T he Mongol Il -Khan had rec entlyc onverted to Is lam yet the Mongols had l i ttle interes t in J erus alem for they left her to Hethoum who res c ued the Chris tians , held 'fes tivi ties in the Holy Sepulc hre' and ordered the A rmenian S t J ames es and the V irgin's Tomb to be repaired - and then, s trangely, after jus t two weeks , he headed bac k to s ee his Mongolmas ter in Damas c us . However the c entury-long duel between Mamluks and Mongols was over and onc e again the magnetic is m of J erus alem 's s anc ti ty drew the world bac k. In Cairo, a new s ul tan c ame to the throne who revered J erus alem - amongs t other things , he c al led hims el f 'Sul tan al-Quds .' Nas ir Muhammaddubbed hims el f T he Eagle; his people c al led him T he Exquis i te - and as the leading his torian of this period wri tes , 'he was perhaps the greates t Mamluk s ul tan' but als o 'the nas ties t.'

NASIR MUHAMMAD: THE EXQUIS ITE EAGLE

Ever s inc e he was eight, he had been humil iatingly tos s ed l ike a royal dol l between the warlords of the Mamluk junta. T wic e he had been rais ed to the throne and twic e dis c arded. He was the younger s on of a s lave who had ris en to bec ome a great s ul tan and his elder brother, the c onqueror of Ac re, had beenas s as s inated, s o when Nas ir Muhammad s eized the throne for the thi rd time at the age of twenty-s ix, he was determ ined to keep i t. His s ul tanic eagle s ui ted his s tyle - aes thetic s plendour, aqui l ine paranoia and the s woop of s udden death. His c ompanions were promoted and enric hed - but then s trangled,bis ec ted, pois oned without warning and he s eemed to prefer hors es to people: the l imping s ul tan c ould s uppos edly c i te the bloodl ines of al l his 7,800 rac ehors es and often paid more for a hors e than for the mos t gorgeous s laveboy. Yet everything T he Exquis i te did - his marriage to a des c endant of Genghis Khan,his twenty-five c hi ldren, his 1,200 c onc ubines - he did wi th the metic ulous magnific enc e he brought to J erus alem.

In 1317, he hims el f arrived on pi lgrimage and proc eeded to demons trate to his generals that their s ac red duty was to embel l is h the Temple Mount and the s treets around i t. As s is ted by his bes t friend and Syrian vic eroy, Tankiz, the s ul tan reforti fied the Tower of David, adding a Friday mos que for the garris on,and rais ed monumental c olonnades and madras s as on the T emple Mount, reroofing the Dome and al-Aqs a, adding the m inaret at the Gate of the Chain, and the Gate of the Cotton-s el lers and Cotton-Sel lers Market - al l of whic h c an be s een today.

Nas ir favoured the Sufi route to reac h God and bui l t five c onvents for his orders of mys tic s . In their gleaming new lodges , they res tored s ome of the holy magic to J erus alem with their danc ing, s inging, tranc es and s ometimes even s el f-muti lation, al l to ac hieve the s oaring emotion nec es s ary to reac h up towardsGod.

T he s ul tan's men got the mes s age: he and his s uc c es s ors exi led outof-favour am irs to J erus alem where they were expec ted to s pend their i l l -gotten wealth on s umptuous c omplexes that c ontained palac es , madras s as and tombs . T he c los er to the Temple Mount, the s ooner they would aris e on J udgementDay. T hey c ons truc ted enormous arc hed s ubs truc tures and then bui l t on top of them. T hes e bui ldings * were ingenious ly s queezed onto the roofs of earl ier ones around the gates of the Noble Sanc tuary.+

Nas ir found J erus alem - or at leas t the Mus l im Quarter - in dus t and c obwebs and left her in marble, s o when Ibn Battutah vis i ted, he found a c i ty that was 'large and impos ing'. Is lam ic pi lgrims poured into al-Quds , exploring from the hel l of Gehenna to the paradis e of the Dome and reading the books of fadai lthat told them 'a s in c ommitted in J erus alem is the equivalent of a thous and s ins and a good work there equal to a thous and'. He who l ived there 'is l ike a warrior in the j ihad' whi le to die there 'is l ike dying in heaven'. J erus alem 's mys tic is m blos s omed to s uc h an extent that Mus l ims s tarted to c i rc umambulate, kis sand anoint the Roc k as they had not done s inc e the s eventh c entury. T he fundamental is t s c holar Ibn T aymiyya rai led agains t Nas ir and thes e Sufi s upers ti tions , warning that J erus alem ranked only as a pious vis i t - a z iy ara - not the equivalent of the haj to Mec c a. T he s ul tan impris oned this puri tanic al dis s ident s ixtimes but to no avai l and Ibn T aymiyya provided the ins piration for the hars h W ahabi is m of Saudi A rabia and today's J ihadis ts .

T he Exquis i te s ul tan no longer trus ted the T urkis h Mamluks who had bec ome the el i te s o he s tarted to buy Georgian or Circ as s ian s laveboys from the Cauc as us to provide his bodyguard and they influenc ed his dec is ions in J erus alem: he granted the Churc h of the Holy Sepulc hre to the Georgians . But theLatins had not forgotten her ei ther: in 1333, he al lowed K ing Robert of Naples (and J erus alem) to repair parts of the Churc h and take pos s es s ion of the Cenac le on Mount Zion where he s tarted a Franc is c an monas tery.

T he ai l ing tiger is the mos t dangerous . T he s ul tan fel l i l l but he had made his friend Tankiz 's o powerful he bec ame afraid of him '. In 1340, Tankiz was arres ted and pois oned. Nas ir hims el f died a year later, s uc c eeded by his many s ons . But ul timately, the new Cauc as ian s laves overthrew the dynas ty, foundinga new l ine of s ul tans who favoured the Georgians in J erus alem. On the other hand, the Cathol ic Latins - the heirs of the hated Crus aders - were there on s ufferanc e under the repres s ive Mamluks whos e paroxys ms of violenc e terrorized Chris tians and J ews al ike. W hen the Cypriot king attac ked A lexandria in 1365,the Churc h was c los ed down and the Franc is c ans dragged off to be publ ic ly exec uted in Damas c us . T he Franc is c an order was al lowed to return but the Mamluks bui l t m inarets overs hadowing the Churc h and the Ramban Synagogue to emphas ize the s upremac y of Is lam.

In 1399, the dread Central As ian c onqueror T amurlane c aptured Baghdad and s mas hed into Syria jus t as a Mamluk boy-s ul tan and his tutor s et out on their pi lgrimage to J erus alem.4

DECLINE OF THE MAMLUKS

1399-1517

TAMURLANE AND THE TUTOR: P ILGRIM CITY

T he royal tutor was the mos t c elebrated s c holar in the Is lam ic world. Now aged around s eventy, Ibn Khaldun had s erved the monarc hs of Moroc c o, then (after a s pel l in pris on) Granada, T unis ia and final ly (after another s pel l in pris on) the Mamluk s ul tan. In between s pel ls in power and in pris on, he wrote hismas terpiec e, the Muqaddimah , a world his tory that s ti l l s parkles today. T he s ul tan therefore appointed him tutor to his s on, Faraj , who s uc c eeded to the throne as a c hi ld.

Now, as the peppery his torian s howed J erus alem to the ten-year-old s ul tan, Tamurlane bes ieged Mamluk Damas c us . T imur the Lame - known as Tamurlane - had ris en to power in 1170 as a loc al warlord in Central As ia. In thi rty-five years of inc es s ant warfare, this hars h genius , of T urkic des c ent, hadc onquered muc h of the Near Eas t, whic h he ruled from the s addle, promoting hims el f as the heir to Genghis Khan. In Delhi , he s laughtered 100,000; at Is fahan, he ki l led 70,000, bui lding twenty-eight towers of 1,500 heads eac h, and he had never been defeated.

Yet T amurlane was not jus t a warrior. His palac es and gardens in Samarkand dis played his s ophis tic ated tas te; he was an ac e c hes s player and a his tory-buff who enjoyed debates wi th phi los ophers . Not s urpris ingly, he had always wanted to meet Ibn Khaldun.Yet the Mamluks were in a s tate of panic : i f Damas c us fel l , s o would Pales tine and perhaps Cairo too. T he old pedagogue and the boy-s ul tan hurried bac k to Cairo but the Mamluks dec ided to s end the pair into Syria to negotiate wi th Tamurlane - and s ave the empire. A t the s ame time, the J erus alem ites were

debating what to do: how to s ave the Holy Ci ty from the invinc ible predator known as the Sc ourge of God?In J anuary 1401, Tamurlane, enc amped around Damas c us , heard that Sul tan Faraj and Ibn Khaldun awaited his pleas ure. He had no interes t in the boy but he was fas c inated by Ibn Khaldun whom he immediately s ummoned. As a pol i tic ian, Ibn Khaldun repres ented the s ul tan, but as a his torian, he natural ly

longed to meet the s upreme man of the era - even i f he was not s ure i f he would emerge dead or al ive. T he two were almos t the s ame age: the grizzled c onqueror rec eived the venerable his torian in his palatial tent.Ibn Khaldun was awed by this 'greates t and m ighties t of kings ' whom he found 'highly intel l igent and pers pic ac ious , addic ted to debate and argumentation about what he knows and als o what he does not know'. Ibn Khaldun pers uaded Tamurlane to releas e s ome Mamluk pris oners , but the Sc ourge of God

would not negotiate: Damas c us was s tormed and s ac ked in what Ibn Khaldun c al led 'an abs olutely das tardly and abominable deed'. T he road to J erus alem was now open. T he c i ty's ulema dec ided to s urrender the c i ty to Tamurlane and des patc hed a delegation with the keys of the Dome of the Roc k. But when theJ erus alem ites arrived in Damas c us , the c onqueror had ins tead ridden north to rout the ris ing power in Anatol ia, the Ottoman T urks . T hen, in February 1405, en route to c onquer China, Tamurlane died and J erus alem remained Mamluk. Ibn Khaldun, who had made i t home to Cairo from his meeting with Tamurlane,died in his bed a year later. His pupi l Sul tan Faraj never forgot his eventful c ul tural tour: he frequently returned to J erus alem, holding c ourt on the T emple Mount, beneath the royal paras ol , am id the yel low banners of the s ul tanate, handing out gold to the poor.

T here were only 6,000 J erus alem ites , wi th jus t 200 J ewis h and 100 Chris tian fam i l ies , in a s mal l c i ty wi th outs ized pas s ions . T he c i ty was dangerous and uns table: in 1405 J erus alem ites rioted agains t exorbi tant taxes and c has ed the Mamluk governor out of town. T he arc hives of the Haram give us a feel forJ erus alem 's dynas ties of rel igious judges and Sufi s heikhs , exi led Mamluk am irs , and wealthy merc hants in a world of Koran s tudy, book-c ol lec ting, trade in ol ive oi l and s oap, and c ros s bow and s word prac tic e. But now that Crus ades were no longer a threat, Chris tian pi lgrims were m i lked as the c hief s ourc e ofinc ome. However, they were s c arc ely welc omed: they were frequently arres ted on trumped-up c harges unti l they paid arbi trary fines . 'You wi l l have ei ther have to pay,' one interpreter explained to his impris oned Chris tian c harges , 'or be beaten to death.'5

It was hard to s ay who was the more dangerous - the venal Mamluks , the dis reputable pi lgrims , the feuding Chris tians or the greedy J erus alem ites . Many pi lgrims were s o vi l lainous that the loc als and travel lers were warned, 'P rotec t yours el f from anyone travel l ing to J erus alem ', whi le even Mus l ims l iked to s ay'no one is s o c orrupt as the res idents of holy c i ties '.

Meanwhi le Mamluk s ul tans s ometimes s wept down on the c i ty to repres s Chris tians and J ews who already fac ed periodic lync hings by the J erus alem ite c rowds .T he c orruption and dis order s tarted at c ourt in Cairo: the empire was s ti l l ruled by Cauc as ian s ul tans s o, even though the Cathol ic Franc is c ans enjoyed European s upport, Chris tian J erus alem was dominated by the A rmenians and the Georgians who hated one another - and of c ours e the Cathol ic s . T he

Armenians , who were aggres s ively expanding their Quarter around S t J ames es , managed to bribe the Mamluks to wres t Calvary from the Georgians , who then outbid them and won i t bac k. But not for long. In the c ours e of thi rty years , Calvary c hanged hands five times .T he bribes and profi ts were enormous bec aus e the pi lgrimage had bec ome wi ldly popular in Europe. Europeans did not feel that the Crus ades were over - after al l , the Cathol ic rec onques t of Is lam ic Spain was a Crus ade - but whi le there were no expedi tions to l iberate J erus alem, al l Chris tians fel t they knew

J erus alem even i f they had never been. J erus alem appeared in s ermons , paintings and tapes tries . Many towns featured J erus alem Chapels , founded by J erus alem B rotherhoods made up of ex-pi lgrims or people who c ould not make the trip. T he Palac e of W es tm ins ter had i ts J erus alem Chamber and from Paris inthe wes t to P rus s ia and Livonia in the eas t, many plac es now boas ted thes e loc al J erus alems . T he only J erus alem in England, a tiny vi l lage in Linc olns hire, dates from this revived enthus ias m. But thous ands did travel there every year* and many of them were notorious ly uns aintly: Chauc er's s auc y W ife of Bathhad been to J erus alem three times .

P i lgrims had to pay repeated fines and tol ls jus t to enter J erus alem and then the Churc h where the Mamluks als o c ontrol led the Sepulc hre ins ide. T hey s ealed the Churc h every night s o pi lgrims , for a pric e, c ould be loc ked ins ide for days and nights i f they wis hed. T he pi lgrims found that the Churc h res embleda bazaar-c um-barbers hop with s tal ls , s hops , beds and large quanti ties of human hair: many bel ieved that i l lnes s would be c ured i f they s haved thems elves and plac ed the hair in the Sepulc hre. Many of the pi lgrims s pent muc h time c arving their ini tials into every s hrine they vis i ted whi le artful Mus l ims s ervic ed therel ic indus try: pi lgrims c laimed that s ti l lborn Mus l im babies were embalmed and then s old to ric h Europeans as the vic tims of the Mas s ac re of the Innoc ents .

Some pi lgrims were c onvinc ed that c hi ldren c onc eived within the Churc h were s pec ial ly bles s ed, and of c ours e there was alc ohol , s o that the dark hours often bec ame a c andlel i t, hard-drinking orgy in whic h good-natured hymn s inging gave way to ugly brawls . T he Sepulc hre, s aid one dis gus ted pi lgrim , was 'ac omplete brothel .' Another pi lgrim , A rnold von Harff, a m is c hievous German knight, s pent his time learning phras es in A rabic and Hebrew that give s ome c lues to his preoc c upations :

How muc h wi l l you give me?I wi l l give you a gulden.A re you a J ew?W oman, let me s leep with you tonight.Good madam, I am ALREADY in your bed.

T he Franc is c ans guided and welc omed Cathol ic vis i tors : their i tinerary, retrac ing the foots teps of Chris t, s tarted at what they bel ieved was P i late's P raetorium, on the s i te of the Mamluk governor's mans ion. T his bec ame the fi rs t s tation of T he Lord's W ay, later the V ia Doloros a. P i lgrims were s hoc ked to findChris tian s i tes had been Is lam ic ized, s uc h as S t Anne's Churc h - the birthplac e of the V irgin Mary's mother - oc c upied by Saladin's madras s a. T he German friar Fel ix Fabri s neaked into this s hrine, whi le Harff ris ked his l i fe by penetrating the Temple Mount in dis guis e - and both rec orded their adventures . T heirentertaining travelogues revealed a new tone of inquis i tive l ightheartednes s as wel l as reverenc e.

However, Chris tians and J ews were never qui te s afe from the c apric ious Mamluk repres s ion - and s anc ti ty in J erus alem was s o infec tious that when the two older rel igions s tarted to fight for David's T omb on Mount Zion, the s ul tans c laimed i t for the Mus l ims .T here was now a s ettled J ewis h c ommunity of about 1,000 in what bec ame the J ewis h Quarter. T hey prayed in their Ramban s ynagogue, as wel l as around the gates of the Temple Mount (partic ularly at their s tudy hous e by the W es tern W al l ) and on the Mount of Ol ives , where they began to bury their dead ready

for J udgement Day. But they had c ome to revere the Chris tian s hrine of David's Tomb (whic h had nothing to do with the real David but dated from the Crus ades ), part of the Cenac le, c ontrol led by the Franc is c ans . T he Chris tians tried to res tric t their ac c es s , s o the J ews c omplained to Cairo - wi th unfortunatec ons equenc es for both. T he s ul tan of the day, Bars bay, outraged to dis c over that the Chris tians held s uc h a s i te, travel led up to J erus alem, des troyed the Franc is c an c hapel and ins tead bui l t a mos que ins ide David's Tomb. A few years later, one of his s uc c es s ors , Sul tan J aqmaq, s eized the whole of Mount Zionfor Is lam. And i t got wors e: old res tric tions were enforc ed, new ones devis ed. T he s ize of Chris tian and J ewis h turbans was l im i ted; in the baths men had to wear metal nec k-rings l ike c attle; J ewis h and Chris tian women were banned from the baths al together; J aqmaq forbade J ewis h doc tors to treat Mus l ims .*A fter the c ol laps e of the Ramban Synagogue in a s torm, the qadi banned i ts rebui lding, c laim ing i t belonged to the neighbouring mos que. W hen J ewis h bribes overturned the dec is ion, the loc al ulema demol is hed i t.

On 10 J uly 1452, the J erus alem ites launc hed an anti -Chris tian pogrom, digging up the bones of Chris tian monks and tearing down a new balus trade in the Sepulc hre whic h was borne in triumph to al-Aqs a. Chris tians were s ometimes ins anely provoc ative. In 1391, four Franc is c an monks s houted in al-Aqs athat 'Muhammad was a l ibertine, murderer, glutton' who bel ieved 'in whoring'! T he qadi offered them the c hanc e to rec ant. W hen they refus ed, they were tortured and beaten almos t to death. A bonfi re was bui l t in the c ourtyard of the Churc h where, 'almos t drunk with rage', the mob hac ked them into piec es 's o that noteven a human s hape remained', and then kebabbed them.6

However, del iveranc e was at hand and, when a more tolerant s ul tan c ame to power, i t was a dis h of Frenc h c uis ine that would c hange the des tiny of Chris tian J erus alem.THE SULTAN AND THE CHRISTIAN OMELETTES

Qaitbay, a Circ as s ian s laveboy who bec ame a Mamluk general , had s pent years of exi le in J erus alem. S inc e he was banned from entering a Mus l im hous ehold, he befriended the Franc is c ans who introduc ed him to a Frenc h dis h: i t s eems he remained nos talgic about their vegetable omelettes when he as c endedthe Mamluk throne in 1486, for he welc omed the friars to Cairo and al lowed them to bui ld in the Churc h - and gave them bac k Mount Zion. T hey wanted vengeanc e on the J ews , whom Qaitbay therefore banned from ever approac hing the Churc h or the c onvent on Mount Zion: J ews were routinely lync hed and oftenki l led even for abs entm indedly pas s ing the Churc h, a s i tuation that las ted unti l 1917. But the s ul tan als o al lowed the J ews to rebui ld their Ramban Synagogue. And he did not neglec t the Temple Mount ei ther: when he vis i ted in 1475, he c ommis s ioned his As hrafiyya madras s a that was s o beauti ful i t wasdes c ribed as 'the thi rd jewel of J erus alem ' whi le his fountain there, a bel ls haped dome res plendent in red and c ream ablaq , remains the mos t gorgeous in the whole c i ty.

But for al l Qai tbay's interes t, the Mamluks were los ing their grip. W hen the qadi of the c i ty, Muj i r al -Din, watc hed the dai ly s uns et parade at the Tower of David, 'i t was c ompletely neglec ted and dis organized'. In 1480, Bedouin attac ked J erus alem, almos t c apturing the governor who had to gal lop ac ros s theTemple Mount and out through the J affa Gate to es c ape. 'J erus alem is mos tly des olate', obs erved Rabbi Obadiah of Bertinoro, jus t after the Bedouin attac k. From the dis tanc e, 'I s aw a ruined c i ty', agreed one of his dis c iples , wi th jac kals and l ions loping ac ros s the hi l ls . Yet J erus alem was s ti l l breathtaking. W henObadiah's fol lower viewed i t from the Ol ivet, 'my s piri t overflowed, my heart mourned and I s at down and wept and rent my garments '. Muj i r al -Din, who loved his c i ty, thought i t was 'fi l led wi th bri l l ianc e and beauty - one of the famous wonders .'*

In 1453, the Ottomans final ly c onquered Cons tantinople, inheri ting the s plendour and ideology of the univers al Roman empire. For generation after generation, the Ottomans were bedevi l led by wars of s uc c es s ion and the c hal lenge of a res urgent Pers ia. In 1481, Qaitbay welc omed the fugi tive Ottoman princ e,J em Sultan. Hoping that a dis s ident Ottoman kingdom would divide the dynas ty, Qai tbay offered J em the kingdom of J erus alem. T he gambit led to ten years of was teful warfare. Meanwhi le both empires were threatened by ris ing powers - the Mamluks by Portugues e advanc es in the Indian Oc ean, the Ottomans bythe new Pers ian s hah, Is mai l , who uni ted his c ountry by impos ing the T welver Shi is m that is s ti l l revered there. T his pus hed the Ottomans and Mamluks together in a s hort-l ived, pragmatic embrac e: i t was to prove the kis s of death.7

PART SEVEN

OTTOMAN

T his noble J erus alem has been the objec t of des ire of the kings of al l nations , es pec ial ly the Chris tians who, ever s inc e J es us was born in the c i ty, have waged al l their wars over J erus alem ... J erus alem was the plac e of prayer of the tribes of dj inn ... It c ontains the s hrines of 124,000 prophets .Evl iya Celebi , Book of Trav els

Suleiman s aw the P rophet in his dream: 'O Suleiman, you s hould embel l is h the Dome of the Roc k and rebui ld J erus alem.'Evl iya Celebi , Book of Trav els

T he great prize c ontended by s everal s ec ts is the Holy Sepulc hre, a privi lege c ontes ted with s o muc h fury and animos i ty that they have s ometimes proc eeded to blows and wounds , at the door of the Sepulc hre m ingl ing their own blood with their 's ac ri fic es '.Henry Maundrel l , J ourney

So part we s adly in this troublous worldT o meet wi th joy in s weet J erus alem.

W il l iam Shakes peare, Henry V I, Part ThreeRather than walk about holy plac es we c an thus paus e at our thoughts , examine our heart, and vis i t the real prom is ed land.

Martin Luther, Table TalkW e s hal l find that the God of Is rael is among us ... for we mus t c ons ider that we s hal l be as a Ci ty upon a Hi l l , the eyes of al l people upon us .

J ohn W inthrop, A Model l of Chris tian Chari ty

THE MAGNIFICENCE OF SULEIMAN

1517-1550

THE SECOND SOLOMON AND HIS ROXELANA

On 24 Augus t 1516, the Ottoman s ul tan, Sel im the Grim , routed the Mamluk army not far from A leppo, the battle that dec ided J erus alem 's des tiny: mos t of the Middle Eas t would remain Ottoman for the next four c enturies . On 20 Marc h 1517, Sel im arrived to take pos s es s ion of J erus alem. T he ulema handed him thekeys of al -Aqs a and the Dome at whic h he pros trated hims el f and exc laimed, 'I am the pos s es s or of the fi rs t qibla .' Sel im c onfi rmed the tradi tional toleranc e of the Chris tians and J ews and prayed on the Temple Mount. T hen he rode on to s ubjugate Egypt. Sel im had defeated Pers ia, c onquered the Mamluks andc lari fied any s uc c es s ion di lemmas by ki l l ing his brothers , his nephews and probably s ome of his own s ons . So when he died in September 1520, he was s urvived by jus t one s on.1

Suleiman was 'only twenty-five years old, tal l and s lender but tough with a thin and bony fac e' and he found hims el f the mas ter of an empire that s tretc hed from the Balkans to the borders of Pers ia, from Egypt to the B lac k Sea. 'In Baghdad, I am the Shah, in Byzantine realms , the Caes ar; and in Egypt, theSultan,' he dec lared and to thes e ti tles he added that of c al iph. No wonder Ottoman c ourtiers addres s ed their monarc hs as the Padis hah - emperor - who was , one of them wrote, 'the mos t honoured and res pec ted s overeign the world over.' It was s aid that Suleiman dreamed he was vis i ted by the P rophet who toldhim that 'to repuls e the Infidels ,' he mus t embel l is h the Sanc tuary (T emple Mount) and rebui ld J erus alem ', but ac tual ly he needed no prompting. He was only too aware of hims el f as the Is lam ic emperor and, as his S lavic wi fe Roxelana would repeatedly hai l him , 'the Solomon of his age.'

Roxelana s hared in Suleiman's projec ts - and that inc luded J erus alem. She was probably a pries t's daughter kidnapped from Poland and s old into the s ul tanic harem where s he c aught Suleiman's eye, bearing him five s ons and a daughter. 'Young but not beauti ful , al though grac eful and peti te,' a c ontemporaryportrai t s ugges ts s he was large-eyed, ros e-l ipped and round-fac ed. Her letters to Suleiman on c ampaign c atc h s omething of her playful yet indomitable s piri t: 'My Sul tan, there's no l im i t to the burning anguis h of s eparation. Nows pare this m is erable one and don't wi thhold your noble letters . W hen your letters areread, your s ervant and s on Mir Mehmed and your s lave and daughter Mihrimah weep and wai l from m is s ing you. T heir weeping has driven me mad.' Suleiman renamed her Hurrem al-Sul tan, the J oy of the Sul tan, whom he des c ribed in poems attributed to him as 'my love, my moonl ight, my s pringtime, my woman ofthe beauti ful hair, my love of the s lanted brow, my love of eyes ful l of m is c hief' and offic ial ly as 'the quintes s enc e of queens , the l ight of the eye of the res plendent c al iphate'. She bec ame a wi ly pol i tic ian, intriguing s uc c es s ful ly to ens ure Suleiman's s on by another woman did not s uc c eed to the throne: the s on wass trangled in Suleiman's pres enc e.

Suleiman inheri ted J erus alem and Mec c a and bel ieved that his Is lam ic pres tige demanded that he beauti fy the s anc tuaries of Is lam: everything about him was on a grand s c ale, his ambitions boundles s , his reign almos t hal f a c entury long, his horizons vas t - he fought almos t c ontinental wars from Europe andnorth A fric a to Iraq and the Indian Oc ean, from the gates of V ienna to Baghdad. His ac hievements in J erus alem were s o s uc c es s ful that the Old Ci ty today belongs more to him than anyone els e: the wal ls look anc ient and to many people they define the c i ty as muc h as Dome, W al l or Churc h - but they and mos t ofthe gates were the c reation of this c ontemporary of Henry V III, both to s ec ure the c i ty and add to his own pres tige. T he s ul tan added a mos que, an entranc e and a tower to the Citadel ; he bui l t an aqueduc t to bring water into the c i ty and nine fountains from whic h to drink i t - inc luding three on the Temple Mount; andfinal ly he replac ed the worn mos aic s on the Dome of the Roc k with glazed ti les dec orated with l i l ies and lotus in turquois e, c obal t, whi te and yel low as they are today.*

Roxelana l iked to endowc hari table foundations c los e to her hus band's projec ts , s he c ommandeered a Mamluk palac e to es tabl is h her al-Imara al-Amira al-Khas aki al -Sul tan, a foundation known as the Flouris hing Edi fic e that inc luded a mos que, bakery, fi fty-five-room hos tel and s oup-ki tc hen for the poor. T husthey made the T emple Mount and J erus alem their own.

In 1553 Suleiman, s oi-dis ant 'Sec ond Solomon and K ing of the W orld', dec ided to ins pec t J erus alem, but his far-flung wars intervened and, l ike Cons tantine before him , the man who had trans formed the c i ty never got to s ee his ac hievement. T he Sul tan's enterpris e was on an imperial s c ale but he c learlys upervis ed i t from afar. As the wal ls aros e, the vic eroy of Syria pres ided, Suleiman's imperial arc hi tec t S inan probably ins pec ted the work on his way home from Mec c a: thous ands of workers laboured, new s tones were quarried, old s tones purloined from ruined c hurc hes and Herodian palac es , and the ramparts andgates c areful ly fus ed with the Herodian and Umayyad wal ls around the Temple Mount. T he reti l ing of the Dome required 450,000 ti les , s o Suleiman's men c reated a ti le fac tory next to al-Aqs a to make them, and s ome of his c ontrac tors bui l t mans ions in the c i ty and s tayed. T he loc al arc hi tec t founded a dynas ty ofheredi tary arc hi tec ts that reigned for the next two c enturies . T he c i ty mus t have res ounded with the unfam i l iar s ounds of hammering mas ons and the c l ink of money. T he population almos t tripled to 16,000 and the number of J ews doubled to 2,000, boos ted by the c ons tant arrival of refugees from the wes t. A vas t,anguis hed movement of the J ews was in progres s , and s ome of thes e new arrivals c ontributed direc tly to Suleiman's enterpris e.2

MYSTICS AND MESSIAHS

1550-1705

THE SULTAN'S JEW ISH DUKE:PROTESTANTS, FRANCISCANS AND THE W ALL

Suleiman as s igned the taxes of Egypt to pay for his remodel led J erus alem, and the man in c harge of thes e revenues was Abraham de Cas tro, the Mas ter of the Mint and tax-farmer who had proven his loyal ty by warning the s ul tan when the loc al vic eroy planned a rebel l ion. As his name s ugges ts , Cas tro was aJ ewis h refugee from Portugal and his role did not c ome c los e to that of the s uper-ric h Portugues e J ew who bec ame Suleiman's advis er and ul timately protec tor of Pales tine and J erus alem.

T he J ewis h m igration marked the lates t c hapter in the rel igious wars . In 1492, K ing Ferdinand of A ragon and Queen Is abel la of Cas ti le had c onquered Granada, the las t Is lam ic princ ipal i ty in Spain, and c elebrated their s uc c es s ful Crus ade* by purging Spain of Mos lems and J ews . Obs es s ed with the danger ofs ec ret J ewis h blood s eeping into the pure s tream of Chris tendom, and advis ed by Tomas Torquemada's Inquis i tion, they expel led between 100,000 and 200,000 J ews , and in the next fi fty years , muc h of wes tern Europe fol lowed s ui t. For s even c enturies , Spain had been the home of a blos s oming A rab-J ewis hc ul ture and the c entre of the Dias pora, the J ews dis pers ed outs ide Zion.

Now, in the mos t s earing J ewis h trauma between the fal l of the Temple and the Final Solution, thes e Sephardic J ews ( Sapharad being Hebrew for Spain) fled eas twards to the more tolerant Hol land, Poland-Li thuania and the Ottoman empire where they were welc omed by Suleiman, both to boos t his ec onomyand to expos e how Chris tiani ty had denied i ts J ewis h heri tage. T he Dias pora moved eas t. From now unti l the early twentieth c entury, the s treets of Is tanbul , Salonic a and J erus alem would ring wi th the lyric al tones of their new J udaeo-Spanis h language, Ladino.

In 1553, Suleiman's J ewis h doc tor introduc ed him to J os eph Nas i , whos e fam i ly had been forc ed into a fake c onvers ion to Chris tiani ty before they fled via Hol land and Italy to Is tanbul . T here, he won the s ul tan's trus t and bec ame the c onfidential agent of his s on and heir. J os eph, known to European diplomatsas the Great J ew, ran a c omplex bus ines s empire, and s erved as a s ul tanic envoy and international man of mys tery, an arbi ter of war and financ e, a mediator between eas t and wes t. J os eph bel ieved in the return of the J ews to the P romis ed Land, and Suleiman granted him the lords hip of T iberias in Gal i lee wherehe s ettled Ital ian J ews , rebui l t the town and planted mulberry trees to fos ter a s i lk indus try, the fi rs t J ew to s ettle J ews in the Holy Land. He would bui ld his J erus alem in Gal i lee bec aus e that ul tra-s ens i tive c onnois s eur of power knew that the real J erus alem was the res erve of Suleiman.

Nonetheles s J os eph patronized the J ewis h s c holars in J erus alem where Suleiman promoted the s uperiori ty of Is lam and dim inis hed the s tatus of the other two rel igions with a metic ulous c are that s ti l l guides the c i ty now. Suleiman was fighting Emperor Charles V s o that his atti tude to the Chris tians wass omewhat tempered by the c ynic al requirements of European diplomac y. T he J ews , on the other hand, mattered l i ttle.

T hey s ti l l prayed around the wal ls of the Temple Mount and on the s lopes of the Mount of Ol ives as wel l as in their main s ynagogue, the Ramban, but the s ul tan favoured order in al l things . Dis c ouraging anything that dim inis hed the Is lam ic monopoly on the Temple Mount, he as s igned the J ews a 9-foot s treetalong the s upporting wal l of K ing Herod's Temple for their prayers . T his made s ome s ens e, bec aus e i t was adjac ent to their old Cave s ynagogue and next to the J ewis h Quarter where the J ews had s tarted to s ettle in the fourteenth c entury, today's J ewis h Quarter. But the s i te was overs hadowed by the Is lam icMaghrebi neighbourhood; J ewis h wors hip there was c areful ly regulated; and J ews were later required to have a perm it to pray there at al l . T he J ews s oon c al led this plac e ha-Kotel , the W al l , outs iders c al led i t the W es tern or W ai l ing W al l and henc eforth i ts golden, as hlar s tones bec ame the s ymbol of J erus alemand the foc us of hol ines s .

Suleiman brought the Chris tians down to s ize by expel l ing the Franc is c ans from David's Tomb where his ins c ription dec lares : 'T he Emperor Suleiman ordered this plac e to be purged of infidels and c ons truc ted i t as a mos que.' Sac red to al l three rel igions , this Byzantine-Crus ader s i te, an early J ewis hs ynagogue and the Chris tian Coenac ulum, now bec ame the Is lam ic s hrine of Nabi Daoud, the P rophet David, where Suleiman appointed a fam i ly of Sufi s heikhs c al led the Dajanis as heredi tary guardians , a pos i tion they held unti l 1948.

T he pol i tic s of the outs ide world would always reflec t bac k onto the rel igious l i fe of J erus alem: Suleiman s oon had reas on to favour the Franc is c ans . In the battle for c entral Europe, he found that he needed Chris tian al l ies - the Frenc h - to fight the Habs burgs , and the Franc is c ans were bac ked by the kings ofFranc e. In 1535, the s ul tan granted Franc e trading privi leges and rec ognized the Franc is c ans as the c us todians of the Chris tian s hrines . T his was the fi rs t of the s o-c al led c api tulations - c onc es s ions to European powers - that later underm ined the Ottoman empire.

T he Franc is c ans s et up headquarters in S t Saviour's , c los e to the Churc h whic h ul timately would bec ome a c olos s al Cathol ic c i ty-wi thin-a-c i ty, but their ris e dis turbed the Orthodox. T he hatred between Cathol ic s and Orthodox was already venomous but both c laimed the paramount c us todians hip of the HolyP lac es : the praedominium. T he Churc h of the Holy Sepulc hre was now s hared between eight s ec ts in a Darwinian s truggle in whic h only the s tronges t c ould s urvive. Some were going up, s ome were going down: the A rmenians remained powerful bec aus e they were wel l repres ented in Is tanbul , the Serbs andMaroni tes were in dec l ine - but the Georgians , who had los t their Mamluk patrons , went into total ec l ips e.*

T he epic c onfl ic t between the emperors of Is lam and Chris tendom, the aggres s ive Cathol ic is m of the Spanis h, and the expuls ion of the J ews ins pired an uns ettl ing feel ing that s omething was not right in the fi rmament: people ques tioned their fai th, s earc hed for new mys tic al ways to get c los er to God, and theyexpec ted the End Days . In 1517, Martin Luther, a theology profes s or in W ittenberg, protes ted agains t the Churc h's s ale of 'indulgenc es ' to l im i t people's time in purgatory, and ins is ted God exis ted only in the B ible, not via the ri tuals of pries ts or popes . His brave protes t tapped into the wides pread res entment of theChurc h whic h many bel ieved had los t touc h with J es us ' teac hing. T hes e P rotes tants wanted a raw, unmediated fai th and, free of the Churc h, they c ould find their own way. P rotes tantis m was s o flexible that a variety of new s ec ts - Lutherans , the Reform Churc h, P res byterians , Calvinis ts , Anabaptis ts - s oon thrived,whi le for Henry V III, Engl is h P rotes tantis m was a way to as s ert his pol i tic al independenc e. But one thing uni ted al l of them: their reverenc e for the B ible, whic h res tored J erus alem to the very c entre of their fai th.*

W hen after forty-five years on the throne Suleiman died on c ampaign with his army, his m inis ters propped him up l ike a waxwork in his c arriage and s howed him to his s oldiers unti l the s uc c es s ion was s afe for Sel im , one of his s ons by Roxelana. Sel im II, known as the Drunkard, owed muc h to the intrigues ofhis friend, J os eph Nas i , the Great J ew, who, now l iving in s plendour in his Belvedere Palac e, ric h from his monopol ies of Pol is h bees wax and Moldavian wine, was promoted to Duke of Naxos . He almos t bec ame K ing of Cyprus . Suc h was his c hampioning of pers ec uted or penurious J ews in Europe and J erus alemthat there were whis perings s hortly before his death that this duc al J ewis h Croes us mus t be the Mes s iah. But l i ttle c ame of his plans . Under Sel im and his s uc c es s ors , the Ottoman empire was s ti l l expanding and, thanks to vas t res ourc es and s uperb bureauc rac y, i t remained awes omely powerful for anotherc entury - but i ts emperors s oon s truggled to c ontrol dis tant provinc es ruled by overm ighty governors and J erus alem 's tranqui l l i ty was periodic al ly s hattered by bouts of violenc e.

In 1590, a loc al A rab rebel broke into J erus alem and s eized the c i ty, ki l l ing the governor. T he rebels were defeated and expel led. J erus alem fel l under the s way of two Balkan brothers , Ridwan and Bairam Pas ha, Chris tian s laveboys c onverted to Is lam and trained at the c ourt of Suleiman, and their Circ as s ianhenc hman, Farrukh. T heir fam i l ies dominated - and abus ed - Pales tine for almos t a c entury. W hen Farrukh's s on, Muhammad, found hims el f loc ked out of J erus alem in 1625, he s tormed the wal ls wi th 300 merc enaries then, c los ing the gates , he proc eeded to torture J ews , Chris tians and A rabs al ike to extortmoney.

Suc h outrages only enc ouraged the s tronges t of the Chris tian s ec ts , the A rmenians , to c anvas s and bribe the s ul tans and brawl in the c hurc hes of J erus alem, al l part of their c ampaign to vanquis h the Cathol ic s and win the praedominium. In the fi rs t twenty years of the c entury, the s ul tans is s ued thirty-threedec rees to defend the embattled Cathol ic s and in jus t s even years , the praedominium c hanged hands s ix times . However, the Chris tians had bec ome the mos t luc rative s ourc e of bus ines s in Pales tine: every day, the Cus todian of the Churc h, the c hief of the Nus s eibeh fam i ly, s at on a throne in the c ourtyard wi thhis armed henc hmen c harging for ac c es s - and the inc ome from the thous ands of pi lgrims was enormous . A t Eas ter, whic h Mus l ims c al led the Fes tival of the Red Egg, the governor of J erus alem s et up his throne, and, ac c ompanied by the qadi , the c us todian and the enti re ful ly-armed garris on, he c harged eac h ofthe 20,000 'hel l -des tined infidels ' ten gold piec es that was s hared out among the Ottomans and the ulema .

Meanwhi le s omething was afoot amongs t the J ews . 'J erus alem ', wrote a J ewis h pi lgrim , 'was more greatly populated than at any time s inc e the fi rs t exi le' and as J erus alem 's 'fame s pread, i t bec ame known we l ived in peac e. Sc holars floc ked to the gates .' A c aravan of Egyptian J ews arrived every Pas s over.Mos t of the J ews were Ladino-s peaking Sephardis who were s ec ure enough to bui ld the 'four s ynagogues ' that bec ame the c entre of l i fe in the J ewis h Quarter, but s ome of the pi lgrims were eas tern Europeans from the Commonwealth of Poland-Li thuania, known as As hkenazis (named for As hkenaz, a des c endantof Noah in Genes is , s aid to be the progeni tor of the northern peoples ). T he turbulenc e of the world outs ide enc ouraged their mys tic is m: a rabbi named Is aac Luri was teac hing the Kabbala, the s tudy of the Torah's s ec ret c odes that would bring them c los er to the Godhead. Luri was born in J erus alem but he madehis bas e in the magic al mountain c i ty of Safed in Gal i lee. T he trauma of the Spanis h pers ec utions had forc ed many J ews to fake c onvers ion to Chris tiani ty and l ive c landes tine l ives - indeed Kabbala's holy text, the Book of Zohar, was wri tten in thi rteenth-c entury Cas ti le. T he Kabbal is ts s ought Majes ty, Fear andT rembl ing - 'the ec s tatic experienc e, the tremendous uprus h and s oaring of the s oul to i ts highes t plane, union with God'. On Fridays , the Kabbal is ts , wearing white robes , would greet the 'bride of God', the Shekinah, outs ide the c i ty and then es c ort the divine pres enc e bac k to their homes . But inevi tably theKabbal is ts s pec ulated that the J ewis h trauma along with their s ec ret c odes and inc antations c ontained the key to redemption: s urely the Mes s iah would s oon c ome to J erus alem?

Notwiths tanding oc c as ional anti -Chris tian riots , Bedouin ambus hes and the extortion of Ottoman governors , the c i ty was left to her own ri tuals . Yet the feuding of the Orthodox, A rmenians and Cathol ic s in this Ottoman bac kwater only s erved to c onfi rm the prejudic es of a new breed of vis i tor, part-pi lgrim , part-merc hant-adventurer: the P rotes tants had arrived. T hey tended to be Engl is h traders , burning with hos ti l i ty towards the Cathol ic s , and often with l inks to the new c olonies in Americ a.3

W hen the Engl is h s ea c aptain and merc hant Henry T imberlake arrived, the Ottoman governors had never heard of P rotes tantis m or his Queen E l izabeth and he was thrown into jai l next to the Holy Sepulc hre, releas ed only on payment of a fine. T he exuberant memoir of his adventures , A True and S trangeDis c ours e , bec ame a bes ts el ler in J ac obean London. Another of thes e audac ious Engl is hmen, J ohn Sanders on, fac tor of the Levant Company, paid his fee to the T urks to enter the Churc h but was attac ked by the Franc is c an monks , whos e padre 'ac c us ed me to be a J ew'. T he T urks then arres ted him , tried toc onvert him to Is lam and took him before the qadi , who s earc hed him and then releas ed him as a Chris tian.

Ac ts of fanatic is m, both Chris tian and Mus l im , unleas hed violenc e that reveals the real l im i ts of the muc h-vaunted Ottoman toleranc e: the Ottoman governor forc ibly c los ed down the beloved Ramban s ynagogue at the reques t of the ulema : J ews were forbidden to pray there and i t was c onverted into awarehous e. W hen the Franc is c ans quietly extended their Mount Zion property, rumours s pread that they were burrowing to Malta to let in the Chris tian arm ies : they were attac ked by the qadi and the mob and only res c ued by the Ottoman garris on. A Portugues e nun who baptized Mus l im c hi ldren and denounc ed Is lamwas burned on a pyre in the c ourtyard of the Churc h.*4

A t Eas ter 1610, a young Engl is hman arrived who repres ented not only the new P rotes tantis m but the New W orld too.GEORGE SANDYS: THE FIRST ANGLO-AMERICAN

George Sandys , s on of the A rc hbis hop of York and a s c holar who trans lated V irgi l into Engl is h, was appal led by the dec ay of J erus alem - 'muc h of whic h l ies was te, old bui ldings al l ruined, the new, c ontemptible.' Sandys was hal f-repuls ed, hal f-amus ed by the Ladino-s peaking Sephardic J ews he s aw at theW es tern W al l : 'their fantas tic al ges tures exc eed al l barbari ty wi th ridic ulous nodding', and he thought i t 'impos s ible not to laugh'. T he God-fearing P rotes tant was even more dis gus ted by what he regarded as the vulgar huc ks teris m of the Orthodox and Cathol ic s . T he c i ty was 'onc e s ac red and glorious , elec ted byGod for his s eat', but s he was now merely a 'theatre of mys teries and m irac les '.

T hat Eas ter, Sandys was horri fied by Chris tians and Mus l ims al ike: he s aw the pas ha of J erus alem on his throne outs ide the Churc h of the Holy Sepulc hre. Sandys watc hed as thous ands of pi lgrims , eac h c arrying pi l low and c arpet, floc ked to s pend the night in the Churc h. On Good Friday, he fol lowed theproc es s ion of the padre of the Franc is c ans , who c arried a l i fe-s ized waxen model of J es us on a s heet along the V ia Doloros a before fixing i t to a c ros s . As thous ands fi l led the Churc h and c amped in i ts c ourtyard, he watc hed the c eremony of the Holy Fire, 'the s avage c lamours ', the c las h of c ymbals , the 'womenwhis tl ing' - c onduc t 'befi tting better the s olemnities of Bac c hus '. W hen the Fire emerged, the pi lgrims ran around 'l ike madmen thrus ting the flame among their c lothes and into their bos oms , pers uading s trangers i t wi l l not burn them '.

Yet this c ompos er of hymns was a pas s ionate P rotes tant who revered J erus alem jus t as muc h as the Cathol ic s and Orthodox. Returning to the fundamentals of the B ible i ts el f, he prayed pas s ionately at the tomb of Chris t and the graves of the Crus ader kings . On his return, he dedic ated his book, A Relation ofa J ourney begun ad 1610 , to the young Charles , P rinc e of W ales , whos e father J ames I had rec ently c ommis s ioned fi fty-four s c holars to c reate an Engl is h B ible that was enti rely ac c es s ible to al l . In 1611, the s c holars del ivered their Authorized Vers ion, whic h, fus ing earl ier trans lations by W i l l iam T yndale andothers , brought the divine s c riptures to l i fe in a mas terpiec e of trans lation and of poetic al Engl is h. T his B ible bec ame the s piri tual and l i terary heartland of Angl ic anis m, England's s ingular P rotes tantis m. T he B ible bec ame what one wri ter c al led 'the national epic of B ri tain,' a s tory that plac ed the J ews andJ erus alem at the very heart of B ri tis h and, later, Americ an l i fe.

Sandys was one l ink between the real c i ty and the J erus alem of the New W orld. In 1621, he s et off for Americ a as treas urer of the V irginia Company. During his ten years in J ames town, he led the raid agains t the A lgonquin native Americ ans during whic h he s laughtered a c ons iderable number: P rotes tantswere no les s c apable of ki l l ing defiant infidels than any other s eventeenth-c entury fai th. Sandys was not the only J erus alem pi lgrim-adventurer to be there: Henry T imberlake was in V irginia at the s ame time. T heir pi lgrimages to the new P romis ed Land of Americ a were at leas t partly ins pired by the P rotes tant vis ionof the heavenly J erus alem.

Sandys ' and T imberlake's V irginians were c ons ervative Angl ic ans of the s ort favoured by J ames I and his s on, Charles . However, the kings c ould not keep a l id on the expec tations of a new fervent, radic al P rotes tantis m: the Puri tans embrac ed the fundamental truth of the B ible but wi th immediate mes s ianicexpec tations . T he T hirty Years W ar between Cathol ic s and P rotes tants only intens i fied the feel ing that J udgement Day was near. T hes e were s trange times whic h enc ouraged wi ld mys tic al exc i tement in al l three rel igions . Harves ts fai led. T he grim reaper, in the guis e of epidemic s , s tarvation and rel igious war,s c ythed through Europe, ki l l ing m i l l ions .

T hous ands of Puri tans es c aped Charles I's Churc h to found new c olonies in Americ a. As they s ai led ac ros s the A tlantic to s eek rel igious freedom, they read of J erus alem and the Is rael i tes in their B ibles and s aw thems elves as the Chos en People bles s ed by God to bui ld a new Zion in the wi ldernes s ofCanaan. 'Come let us dec lare in Zion the word of God,' prayed W il l iam B radford as he dis embarked from the May flow er. T he fi rs t governor of the Mas s ac hus etts Bay Colony, J ohn W inthrop, bel ieved 'the God of Is rael is amongs t us ' and paraphras ed J eremiah and Matthew to hai l his s ettlement as 'a c i ty on a hi l l ' -Americ a as the new J erus alem. Soon there would be eighteen J ordans , twelve Canaans , thi rty-five Bethels and s ixty-s ix J erus alems or Salems .

T he fear of c atas trophe and the antic ipation of redemption ros e together: c ivi l wars s c arred Franc e and England whi le s imultaneous ly in eas tern Europe, the J ews of Poland and Ukraine were s laughtered in tens of thous ands by the Cos s ac ks of the marauding Hetman Khmelnyts ky. In 1649, Charles I wasbeheaded and Ol iver Cromwel l emerged as Lord P rotec tor, a m i l lenarian s oldier c onvinc ed that his Puri tans , l ike their brethren in New England, were the new Chos en People:

'T ruly you are c al led by God as J udah was , to rule wi th Him and for Him,' he s aid. 'You are at the edge of P romis es and P rophec ies .' Cromwel l was a Hebrais t who bel ieved that Chris t c ould not c ome again unles s the J ews returned to Zion and then c onverted to Chris tiani ty. E ffec tively, the Puri tans were the fi rs tChris tian Zionis ts . J oanna and Ebenezer Cartwright even s ugges ted the Royal Navy s hould 'trans port Izrael 's s ons and daughters in their s hips to the Land promis ed by their forefathers for an everlas ting Inheri tanc e'.

Many J ews earnes tly s tudied the Kabbala, dreaming that the Mes s iah would trans form their Ukrainian tragedy into redemption. A Dutc h rabbi , Menas s eh ben Is rael , peti tioned the Lord P rotec tor, pointing out that the B ible s tated J ews had to be s c attered to al l c orners of the world before their Return to Zion woulds et off the Sec ond Coming - yet they were s ti l l banned from England. T herefore Cromwel l c onvened a s pec ial W hitehal l Conferenc e that ruled i t was wrong to exc lude 'this mean and des pis ed people from the l ight and leave them among fals e teac hers , Papis ts and idolators .' Cromwel l al lowed the J ews to return.A fter his death, the monarc hy was res tored and his Puri tanic mes s ianis m los t i ts power but i ts mes s age endured in the Americ an Colonies and amongs t the Engl is h Nonc onform is ts ready to blos s om again in the evangel ic al awakening two hundred years later. J us t after the Res toration, manic exc i tementc onvuls ed the J ewis h world: the Mes s iah was in J erus alem - or was he?5

THE MESSIAH: SABBATAI ZEV I

He was Mordec ai , the unbalanc ed s on of a Smyrnan poul try-dealer who s tudied the Kabbala. In 1648 he dec lared hims el f the Mes s iah by uttering the Tetragrammaton. T his was the uns peakable name of God bas ed on the Hebrew letters YHW H, only s poken onc e a year on the Day of A tonement by the high pries t inthe Temple i ts el f. Now he c hanged his named to Sabbatai Zevi and proc laimed that J udgement Day would c ome in 1666. He was expel led from Smyrna but gradual ly as he worked as a trader around the Mediterranean, he won the devotion of a network of weal thy bac kers . In 1660, he moved fi rs t to Cairo and thentravel led on to J erus alem where he fas ted, s ang s ongs , handed s weets to c hi ldren, and performed s trange and uns ettl ing ac ts .

Sabbatai radiated a rec kles s but deranged magnetis m - he was c learly a manic depres s ive who s wung between bouts of infec tious s el f-bel ief, des perate melanc hol ia and euphoric exal tation that led him to perform demonic , s ometimes s hameles s ly erotic antic s . A t any other time, he would have beenc ondemned as an obs c ene and s inful madman but in thos e c atas trophic days , many J ews were already in a s tate of Kabbal is t antic ipation. His c razines s was s urely the true mark of the s ac red.

T he J erus alem ite J ews were impoveris hed by Ottoman taxes s o they as ked Sabbatai to rais e funds from his Cairene patrons , whic h he did. He s uc c eeded in his m is s ion, but not everyone was c onvinc ed as he prepared to dec lare hims el f Mes s iah in J erus alem. A fter muc h debate, the rabbis plac ed him under aban. Furious , he moved to Gaza whic h he c hos e as his s ac red c i ty ins tead of J erus alem and then launc hed his mes s ianic m inis try in A leppo.

If his revelation had s tarted as a s low burn, his fame now exploded and s pread l ike quic kfi re. J ews ac ros s the Dias pora, from Is tanbul to Ams terdam, c elebrated the arrival of the Mes s iah. In Ukraine, a pretty J ewis h girl named Sarah was orphaned by the Cos s ac k mas s ac res but res c ued by Chris tians and takento Livorno. T here s he worked as a pros ti tute whic h did not s hake her c onvic tion that s he was des tined to marry the Mes s iah. W hen Sabbatai heard about her, he married her and the two toured the Mediterranean together whi le J ews ac ros s Europe were divided between s c eptic s and frenzied fans who pac ked theirbelongings for the journey to greet the Mes s iah in J erus alem, whipped thems elves , fas ted, and rol led naked in mud and s now. In late 1666, the mes s ianic c ouple rol led into Is tanbul where J ews hai led them, but Sabbatai 's ambition to wear the s ul tan's c rown led to his arres t and forc ed c onvers ion to Is lam.

For mos t, this apos tas y* marked the death of the dream even before Sabbatai died in Montenegrin exi le - and J erus alem 's J ews were happy to s ee the bac k of this dis ruptive c harlatan.6 T he era of Cromwel l and Sabbatai was als o the golden age of Is lam ic mys tic is m in J erus alem where the Ottoman s ul tanswere patrons of al l the leading orders of Sufis whom the T urks c al led Dervis hes . W e have s een how Chris tians and J ews s aw the c i ty. Now a mos t unc onventional Ottoman c ourtier, Dervis h s c holar, rac onteur and bon vivant named Evl iya lovingly des c ribes the c i ty's idios ync rac ies from the Is lam ic angle wi th theoften hi larious flai r that makes him probably the greates t of al l Is lam ic travel-wri ters .

EVLIYA: THE OTTOMAN PEPYS AND FALSTAFF

Even then, Evl iya mus t have been utterly unique: this weal thy travel ler, wri ter, s inger, s c holar, and warrior was the s on of the s ul tan's golds m ith, born in Is tanbul , rais ed at c ourt, educ ated by the imperial ulema , who was advis ed by Muhammad in a dream to travel the world. He bec ame, in his own words , 'T he W orldT ravel ler and Boon Companion to Mankind' and travel led not only the length of the vas t Ottoman realm but into Chris tendom too, obs es s ively c hronic l ing his adventures in an as tonis hing ten volumes . J us t as Samuel Pepys was wri ting his diaries in London, Evl iya, whether in Is tanbul , Cairo or J erus alem, wasc ompi l ing his Book of Trav els , 'the longes t and ful les t travel ac c ount in Is lam ic l i terature, perhaps in world l i terature'. No Is lam ic wri ter wrote as poetic al ly about J erus alem, or as wi tti ly about l i fe.

Evl iya l ived l i teral ly on his wi ts for he won the favour of Mehmet IV with his i rres is tible jokes , rhym ing c ouplets , m is c hievous s ongs and wres tl ing and he was able to travel by joining the entourages of Ottoman grandees who rec rui ted him for his rel igious knowledge and for his exuberant entertainment. His booksare partly almanac s of amas s ed fac ts , partly anthologies of amazing s tories : Evl iya Celebi (a ti tle that jus t means 'gentleman') both fought the Habs burgs and met the Holy Roman Emperor in V ienna, impres s ing him with his pers onal knowledge of J erus alem 's Holy Sepulc hre. In battle, he s el f-deprec atinglyrec orded his own Fals taffian fl ight - 'fleeing is als o an ac t of c ourage' - and probably the mos t 's trange and c omic ' s c atologic al s c ene in m i l i tary his tory.*

He never married, and refus ed to take any job in the imperial s ervic e that interfered with his free-s piri ted travel l ing. He was often given s lave-girls and was as wi tty about s ex as he was about everything els e: he c al led i t 'the s weet c alam ity,' and the 'nic e wres tl ing-matc h,' c heerful ly rec ording his bout ofimpotenc e whic h was final ly c ured by an Egyptian s nakebroth. He daringly joked that s ex was the 'greater j ihad', and the mos t s triking thing about him to the modern reader is that here was a devout Mus l im who c ons tantly made jokes about Is lam that would be unthinkable today.

T hough this s c holar c ould rec i te the enti re Koran in eight hours and ac t as muezzin, unus ual ly he was c lean-s haven, i rreverent, open-m inded and an enemy of fanatic is m, whether Is lam ic , J ewis h or Chris tian. As a 'wandering Dervis h,' he was fas c inated by J erus alem 'the anc ient qibla ' whic h 'is at pres ent theKaaba of the poor (or of the dervis hes )' - the c api tal , the very Mec c a of Sufis m: he c ounted s eventy Dervis h c onvents , wi th the larges t near the Damas c us Gate, varying in origin from India to the Crimea, and des c ribed how a c ontingent from eac h order performed ec s tatic s ongs and danc es of the z ik r al l night unti ldawn.

Evl iya wrote that the c i ty, whic h boas ted 240 prayer-nic hes and forty madras s as , was 'the objec t of des ire of the kings of al l nations ' but he was mos t dazzled by the breathtaking beauty and s anc ti ty of the Dome: 'T his humble one has travel led for thi rty-eight years through s eventeen empires and viewedc ountles s bui ldings but I've never s een one that s o res embled paradis e. W hen a pers on enters , one s tands dumbfounded and amazed with finger to mouth.' In al-Aqs a, where the preac her mounted the pulpi t every Friday brandis hing the s word of Cal iph Omar and the ri tuals were s ervic ed by a s taff of 800, Evl iyaobs erved how the mos aic s reflec ted the rays of the s un s o that 'the mos que bec omes l ight upon l ight and the c ongregants ' eyes s hine with reverenc e as they pray'.

In the Dome 'al l pi lgrims c irc umabulate the Roc k outs ide the rai l ing', whi le the Temple Mount had bec ome a 'promenading plac e embel l is hed with ros es , hyac inths , myrtle fi l led wi th the intoxic ating twi tter of nightingales ' and he happi ly embrac ed mos t of i ts legends - that K ing David had s tarted bui lding al-Aqs a whi le Solomon 'being Sul tan of al l c reatures ordered the demons to c omplete the c ons truc tion'. Nonetheles s , when he was s hown ropes that Solomon had s uppos edly woven 3,000 years earl ier, he c ould not res is t exc laim ing to the ulema : 'Do you mean to tel l me that the ropes us ed to bind the demonshaven't rotted?'

Natural ly he vis i ted the Churc h at Eas ter where his reac tion res embled that of the Engl is h P rotes tants . He worked out the s ec ret of the Holy Fire, c laim ing that a hidden zinc jar of naphtha was dripped down a c hain by a hidden monk to del iver the annual m irac le. T he fes tival i ts el f was jus t 'pandemonium ' andthe Churc h ' lac ks s piri tual i ty, more l ike a touris t attrac tion' but he c hatted to a P rotes tant there who blamed i t on the Orthodox Greeks , 'a s tupid and c redulous people'.

Evl iya returned s everal times before he reti red to finis h his books in Cairo but he never s aw anything to c ompare with the Dome of the Roc k - 'veri ly a repl ic a of a pavi l ion in paradis e'. Not everyone agreed: c ons ervative Mus l ims were horri fied by al l the Sufi danc ing, m irac le-working and the s aintly c ul ts that Evl iyas o enjoyed. 'Some of the women unvei l their fac es , dis playing their beauty, their ornaments and perfumes . By God, they were s i tting c heek-to-jowl among men! ' obs erved Qas has hi , denounc ing 'exc i ted c lamours and danc ing', the playing of tambourines and merc hants s el l ing s weets . 'T hes e are the days of thewedding-feas t of Satan.'

T he Ottomans were now in ful l dec l ine, the s ul tans s hoved bac k and forth between the demands of European powers , eac h of them bac king their own Chris tian s ec t. W hen the Cathol ic Aus trians and Frenc h won the praedominium for the Franc is c ans , the Rus s ians , a bras h new power in Europe and inJ erus alem, lobbied and bribed the Ottomans unti l they had regained i t for the Orthodox. T he Franc is c ans s oon got i t bac k again, but three times ac tual fighting broke out in the Churc h.* In 1699, the Ottomans , defeated on the battlefield, s igned the T reaty of Karlowitz, whic h al lowed the Great Powers to protec t theirbrethren in J erus alem - a dis as trous c onc es s ion.7

Meanwhi le Is tanbul 's governors had s o repres s ed Pales tine that the peas ants rebel led. In 1702, the new Governor of J erus alem c rus hed the rebel l ion and dec orated the wal ls wi th the heads of his vic tims . But when he des troyed a vi l lage owned by the rel igious leader - the mufti - of J erus alem, the c i ty's qadidenounc ed him at Friday prayers in al-Aqs a and opened the gates to the rebels .

THE FAMILIES

1705-1799

THE HUSSEINIS : THE REVOLT OF THE NAQIB AL-ASHRAFAND THE CANINE POGROM

Armed peas ants marauded through the s treets . T he qadi - the c hief judge - bac ked by the garris on, s tormed the pris on and took c ommand of J erus alem. In one of her s tranger moments , the c i ty found hers el f independent: the qadi , in return for bribes , appointed Muhammad ibn Mus tafa al-Hus s eini as head of thec i ty.

Hus s eini was the c hief of J erus alem 's pre-em inent c lan who had ris en on the c oat-tai ls of the Farrukhs a c entury earl ier, but he was als o the Naqib al-As hraf, the leader of the fam i l ies des c ended from the P rophet, via his grands on Hus s ein: only the As hraf c ould wear the green turban and be addres s ed asSayyid.

T he Ottomans des patc hed troops to s uppres s the revol t who c amped outs ide the wal ls . Hus s eini s howed that he was ready for a s iege, and the troops retreated to Gaza. Ins ide J erus alem the rebel l ion had replac ed one tyranny with another. J ews were forbidden to wear whi te on the Sabbath or Mus l im headgearor to have nai ls in their s hoes ; Chris tians s uffered s im i lar s artorial res tric tions ; and both had to make way for Mus l ims in the s treets . Outrageous fines were c ol lec ted with violenc e. A mes s ianic s ec t of 500 Pol is h J ews from Grodno, led by J udah the P ious , had jus t arrived. But their rabbi died, and they s poke onlyPol is h or Y iddis h, leaving them partic ularly helples s . T hey were s oon impoveris hed.

W hen a s tray dog wandered on to the T emple Mount, the qadi ordered the ki l l ing of every c anine in J erus alem. As a s pec ial humi l iation, every J ew and Chris tian had to del iver dead dogs to a c ol lec tion point outs ide the Zion Gate. Gangs of c hi ldren ki l led dogs and then gave the c arc as s es to the neares t infidel .W hen a s tronger Ottoman army approac hed, the garris on and the Sufi mys tic s turned agains t the rebel l ion and s eized the Tower of David. Hus s eini forti fied hims el f in his mans ion, and they fi red arrows at eac h other for three days . In the ens uing battle, the northern s treets of the Old Ci ty were s trewn with

c orps es - and Hus s eini los t more s upport. Outs ide, the Ottomans bombarded the Temple Mount. In the m iddle of the night on 28 November 1705, Hus s eini real ized his game was up and es c aped, purs ued by the Ottomans . T he reign of extortion c ontinued under the new governor. Many J ews , robbed again, s implyleft, and the Pol is h As hkenazis were broken, final ly in 1720 fac ing impris onment, banis hment and bankruptc y, their s ynagogue in the J ewis h Quarter burned down.* T he Sephardis - the s mal l , old J ewis h c ommunity at home in the A rab and Ottoman world - s urvived.

Hus s eini was c aptured and beheaded. A fter muc h dynas tic rivalry, the Hus s einis were later s uc c eeded as naqib by Abd al-Lati f al -Ghudayya whos e fam i ly c hanged i ts name s ometime in the c entury and purloined that of the pres tigious Hus s einis . T he Ghudayyas bec ame the new Hus s einis , the mos t powerfulof J erus alem 's rul ing fam i l ies - right up into the twenty-fi rs t c entury.8

THE HUSSEINIS : RISE OF THE FAMILIES

Anyone important who c ame to J erus alem during the eighteenth c entury wis hed to s tay wi th the c hief of this c lan, who held open hous e for peas ants , s c holars and Ottoman offic ials al ike; i t was s aid he had eighty gues ts for dinner every night. 'Everyone vis i ts him from near and afar,' wrote one s uc h gues t to the'palac e' of Abd al-Lati f al -Ghudayya who dominated J erus alem. 'S trangers find refuge in his home, res iding there as they l ike.' Abd al-Lati f's vis i tors left J erus alem es c orted by a s quadron of his hors emen.

T he res urgenc e of the Hus s einis marked the ris e of the great J erus alem Famil ies . V irtual ly every pos i tion of honour in J erus alem was heredi tary. Mos t of the Famil ies were des c ended from Sufi s heikhs who had been favoured by one c onqueror or another. Mos t c hanged their names , invented grandios egenealogies and al ternately feuded and intermarried - not unl ike their W es tern equivalents . Eac h fierc ely defended and s trived to expand i ts own luc rative power-bas e.+

But weal th would have been vulgar wi thout s c holars hip; pedigree powerles s wi thout weal th, and pos i tion impos s ible wi thout Ottoman patronage. Sometimes the Famil ies fought i t out: two Nus s eibehs were ambus hed and ki l led by a Hus s eini pos s e near Abu Ghos h, but, typic al ly, the fam i l ies made peac e bymarrying the s urviving Nus s eibeh brother of the vic tims to the s is ter of the Mufti of J erus alem.

Yet even the Famil ies c ould not ens ure pros peri ty in a J erus alem s c arred by interm ittent fighting between the 500-s trong Ottoman garris on notorious for i ts debauc hery, raiding Bedouin, rioting J erus alem ites and venal governors . T he population s hrank to 8,000, preyed upon by the Governor of Damas c us whodes c ended on the c i ty annual ly wi th a s mal l army to c ol lec t the taxes .*

T he J ews , wi thout any European bac king, s uffered bi tterly. 'T he A rabs ', wrote Gedal iah, an As hkenazi from Poland, 'often wrong the J ews publ ic ly. If one of them gives a J ew a blow, the J ew goes away c owering. W hi le an angry T urk would beat a J ew s hameful ly and dreadful ly wi th his s hoes and not one woulddel iver the J ew.' T hey l ived in s qualor, banned from repairing their hous es . T wo hundred J ewis h fam i l ies took fl ight: wi th 'the pers ec utions and extortions inc reas ing every day', wrote a J ewis h pi lgrim in 1766, 'I had to flee from the c i ty at night. Every day s omebody was flung into pris on.'

T he Chris tians hated eac h other muc h more than they hated the infidels - indeed Father E lzear Horn, a Franc is c an, s imply c al led the Greeks 'T he Vomit'. Eac h of the s ec ts rel is hed every s qual id dis c omfort and penurious humil iation s uffered by their rivals in the Churc h. Ottoman c ontrol and Chris tianc ompeti tion meant the 300 permanent res idents were loc ked ins ide eac h night; 'more l ike pris oners ' than pries ts in Evl iya's view, l iving in a s tate of permanent s iege. Food was pas s ed through a hole in the door or winc hed up via a s ys tem of pul leys , to the windows . T hes e monks - mos t of them Orthodox, Cathol icor A rmenian - c amped in c ramped, humid tens ion, s uffering from 'headac hes , fevers , tumours , diarrhoea, dys entery.' T he latrines of the Sepulc hre provided a s pec ial s ourc e of bi tternes s - and s tenc h: every s ec t had i ts own lavatorial arrangements , but the Franc is c ans , c laimed Father Horn, 's uffer muc h from thes mel l '. T he Greeks did not have lavatories at al l . Meanwhi le the poverty-s tric ken s mal ler s ec ts , the Copts , E thiopians and Syriac s , c ould afford their food only by perform ing s ervi le tas ks s uc h as emptying the Greek s lop-buc kets . No wonder the Frenc h wri ter Cons tantin Volney heard J erus alem ites 'have ac quired anddes erved the reputation of the mos t evi l people in Syria'.

W hen Franc e again won the praedominium for the Franc is c ans , the Greek Orthodox hi t bac k. On the night before Palm Sunday 1757, the Greek Orthodox ambus hed the Franc is c ans in the Rotunda of the Sepulc hre, 'wi th c lubs , mac es , hooks , poniards , and s words ' that had been hidden behind pi l lars and undertheir habi ts , s mas hing lamps and ripping tapes tries . T he Franc is c ans fled to S t Saviour's , where they were bes ieged. T hes e Mafia tac tic s worked: the s ul tan s witc hed bac k to the Greeks , giving them the dominant pos i tion in the Churc h whic h they s ti l l hold today. 9 Now Ottoman power c ol laps ed in Pales tine.S tarting in Gal i lee in the 1730s , a Bedouin s heikh, Zahir al -Umar al-Zaydani , c arved out a northern fiefdom, whic h he ruled from Ac re - the only time, exc ept for s hort-l ived rebel l ions , when a native Pales tinian A rab ruled an extended part of Pales tine.

THE RISE AND FALL OF THE 'KING OF PALESTINE '

In 1770, A l i Bey, an Egyptian general who gloried in the nic kname the Clouds natc her (whic h he had won by defeating Bedouin, whom the Ottomans bel ieved were as hard to c atc h as c louds ), al l ied hims el f wi th Sheikh Zahir. T ogether they c onquered mos t of Pales tine, even taking Damas c us , but the s ul tan's pas haheld out in J erus alem. T he Rus s ian empres s , Catherine the Great, was at war wi th the Ottomans and now s he des patc hed a fleet to the Mediterranean, where i t defeated the s ul tan's navy. T he Clouds natc her needed Rus s ian help and Rus s ia was only interes ted in one prize: J erus alem. T he Rus s ian s hipsbombarded J affa then s ai led up to attac k Beirut. Zahir oc c upied J affa - but c ould he and the Clouds natc her del iver J erus alem?

Sheikh Zahir s ent his troops to inves t the c i ty but they were unable to make any impres s ion on the wal ls . T he Ottomans , defeated on al l fronts , s ued for peac e with the Rus s ians . In the peac e treaty in 1774, Catherine and her partner P rinc e Potemkin forc ed the Ottomans to rec ognize Rus s ian protec tion of theOrthodox - and ul timately the growing Rus s ian obs es s ion with J erus alem would lead to a European war.* T he Ottomans c ould now retake their los t provinc es : the Clouds natc her was as s as s inated and Sheikh Zahir, aged eighty-s ix, had to es c ape from Ac re. As he rode away, he notic ed that his favouri te c onc ubinewas m is s ing - 'this is no time to leave a pers on behind,' he s aid - and gal loped bac k. As he s c ooped her up, the girl dragged her anc ient lover from his hors e and as s as s ins s tabbed and beheaded him . T he pic kled head of the 'fi rs t K ing of Pales tine' was s ent to Is tanbul .10 T he anarc hy now attrac ted the ris ing heroof Revolutionary Franc e.

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE: 'A KORAN I COMPOSED MYSELF'

On 19 May 1798, Napoleon Bonaparte, twenty-eight years old, pale and gaunt, wi th long lank hair, s et off wi th 335 s hips , 35,000 troops and an ac ademy of 167 s c ientis ts to c onquer Egypt. 'I would found a rel igion', he reflec ted with megalomaniac al arroganc e, 'I s aw mys el f marc hing on the way to As ia, mounted onan elephant, a turban on my head, in one hand a new Koran I would have c ompos ed mys el f.'

His adventure was ins pired by revolutionary s c ienc e, c old pol i tic s and c rus ading romanc e. Everyone in Paris had read the bes ts el l ing travelogue by the phi losophe , Cons tantin Volney, who des c ribed the 'battered ruins of J erus alem ' and the dec ay of the Ottoman Levant as ripe for c onques t by the c ivi l izingreas on of the Enl ightenment. T he Frenc h Revolution had tried to des troy the Churc h and replac e Chris tiani ty wi th reas on, l iberty and even a new c ul t of the Supreme Being. However, Cathol ic is m had endured and Napoleon as pired to heal the wounds of Revolution by fus ing together monarc hy, fai th and s c ienc e -henc e the many s c ientis ts on board. Yet i t was als o about empire: Franc e was at war wi th England T he expedi tion was the brainc hi ld of the louc he, lame ex-bis hop and foreign m inis ter, Charles -Mauric e de Tal leyrand, who hoped i t would win c ontrol of the Mediterranean and c ut off B ri tis h India. If Bonapartes uc c eeded, al l wel l and good but i f he fai led, T al leyrand would des troy a rival . As would happen s o often in the Middle Eas t, the Europeans expec ted the orientals to be grateful for their wel l -intentioned c onques t.

Napoleon landed s uc c es s ful ly in Egypt, whic h was s ti l l ruled by a c as te of hybrid mamluk-Ottoman offic ers . He s wiftly defeated them at the Battle of the Pyramids , but the Engl is h admiral Horatio Nels on obl i terated the Frenc h fleet at Aboukir Bay. Bonaparte had won Egypt, but Nels on had trapped his army inthe Eas t and this enc ouraged the Ottomans to defy him in Syria. If Napoleon was to s urvive in Egypt, he had to marc h north and s ec ure Syria.

In February 1799, he invaded Pales tine wi th 13,000 men and 800 c amels . On 2 Marc h, as he advanc ed on J affa, his c avalry under General Damas c arried out a raid jus t three m i les from J erus alem. General Bonaparte fantas ized about the c onques t of the Holy Ci ty, reporting to the revolutionary Direc torate inParis : 'By the time you read this letter, i t's pos s ible I wi l l be s tanding in the ruins of Solomon's T emple.'

PART E IGHT

EMPIRE

How I s hould l ike to vis i t J erus alem s ome time.Abraham Linc oln, in c onvers ation with his wi fe

T he theatre of the mos t memorable and s tupendous events that have ever oc c urred in the annals of the world.J ames Barc lay, City of the Great K ing

No-where is the arc h of heaven more pure, intens e and c loudles s than above the proud heights of Zion. Yet i f the travel ler c an forget he is treading on the grave of the people from whom his rel igion has s prung, there is c ertainly no c i ty he wi l l s ooner wis h to leave.W . H. Bartlett, W alk s

Yes I am a J ew and when the anc es tors of the Rt. Hon. Gentleman were l iving as s avages in an unknown is land, m ine were pries ts in the T emple of Solomon.Benjam in Dis rael i , s peec h in the Hous e of Commons

See what is done here in the name of rel igion!Harriet Martineau, Eas tern Li fe

NAPOLEON IN THE HOLY LAND

1799-1806

THE BLUEBEARD OF ACRE

T here was nothing between Napoleon and the c onques t of J erus alem - exc ept the Butc her, Ahmet J azzar Pas ha, the warlord of Ottoman Pales tine. He had adopted the name J azzar - Butc her - as a young man and had bui l t his c areer on the princ iple that fear motivated men more than anything els e.T he Butc her terrorized his terri tories by muti lating anyone s us pec ted of the s l ightes t dis loyal ty. An Engl is hman who vis i ted him at his c api tal in Ac re notic ed that he was 's urrounded by pers ons maimed and dis figured. T he pers ons offic iating or s tanding by the doors ' were al l m is s ing a l imb, nos e, ear or eye.

His J ewis h m inis ter, Haim Farhi , 'had been deprived of both an ear and an eye' jus t to be s ure. 'T he number of fac es without nos es and ears s trikes everyone who has vis i ted this part of Syria.' T he Butc her c al led them his 'marked men'. He s ometimes had his vic tims ' feet s hod with hors es hoes . He had wal led ups ome loc al Chris tians al ive pour enc ourager les autres and onc e gathered fi fty c orrupt offic ials , ordered them to s trip naked, and had his troops hac k them into piec es . W hen he s us pec ted his harem of treas on, he ki l led s even of his own wives , bec oming notorious as 'the tyrant of Ac re, the Herod of his time, theterror of al l s urrounding nations , the s tory of B luebeard real ized'.

T he Butc her impres s ed Europeans with his long white beard, his s imple robes , the bejewel led dagger at his bel t and his rather del ic ate habi t of c utting flowers out of paper whic h he l iked to give as pres ents . He radiated a mac abre c harm, tel l ing vis i tors wi th a s l ight s m irk: 'I trus t you found my name res pec ted,even beloved, notwiths tanding my s everi ty.' A t night, he loc ked hims el f in his harem whic h s tarred eighteen S lavic blondes . * T his old man now fac ed Napoleon in his prime. T he Frenc h bes ieged J affa whic h was the port of J erus alem and only 20 m i les away. J erus alem was in panic : the Famil ies armed theJ erus alem ites ; a mob plundered Chris tian monas teries ; the monks had to be impris oned for their own s afety. Outs ide the wal ls , General Damas as ked Bonaparte for perm is s ion to attac k the Holy Ci ty.1

NAPOLEON: 'GENERAL HEADQUARTERS, JERUSALEM'

Napoleon repl ied that he had to c onquer Ac re fi rs t and then 'c ome in pers on and plant the tree of Liberty at the very s pot where Chris t s uffered, and the fi rs t Frenc h s oldier who fel l in the attac k would be buried in the Holy Sepulc hre'. But Bonaparte and his troops c learly regarded their expedi tion agains t the Mus l imsas fal l ing outs ide the rules of c ivi l ized c onduc t. W hen he s tormed J affa, his 's oldiers hac ked to piec es , men and women - the s ights were terrible', wrote one of the Frenc h s c ientis ts , s hoc ked by 'the s ound of s hots , s hrieks of women and fathers , pi les of bodies , a daughter being raped on the c adaver of her mother,the s mel l of blood, the groans of the wounded, the s houts of vic tors quarrel l ing about loot'. Final ly the Frenc h thems elves res ted, 's ated by blood and gold, on top of a heap of dead'.

Before he marc hed on towards Ac re, Bonaparte ordered the s laughter in c old blood of at leas t 2,440 but probably more l ike 4,000 of the Butc her's troops , ki l l ing them in batc hes of 600 a day. On 18 Marc h 1799, he laid s iege to Ac re, s ti l l under the c ommand of the Butc her, whom Napoleon s uperc i l ious ly c al led'an old man whom I don't know'. Yet B luebeard and his 4,000 A fghans , A lbanians and Moors res is ted vigorous ly.

On 16 Apri l , Napoleon defeated the Butc her's c avalry and an Ottoman army at the Battle of T abor Mountain. A fterwards , finding hims el f at Ramla, 25 m i les from J erus alem, he is s ued a pro-Zionis t 'P roc lamation to the J ews ', mendac ious ly datel ined, 'General Headquarters , J erus alem,20 Apri l 1799'.

Bonaparte, Commander in Chief of the A rm ies of the Frenc h Republ ic in A fric a and As ia, to the rightful heirs of Pales tine - the unique nation of J ews who have been deprived of the land of your fathers by thous ands of years of lus t for c onques t and tyranny. A ris e then with gladnes s , ye exi led, and take untoyours elves Is rael 's patrimony. T he young army has made J erus alem my headquarters and wi l l wi thin a few days trans fer to Damas c us s o you c an remain there [in J erus alem] as ruler.

T he offic ial Frenc h gazette, Le Moniteur, c laimed that Napoleon had 'al ready armed a great number [of J ews ] to re-es tabl is h anc ient J erus alem ', but Napoleon c ould not s eize Zion unti l Ac re was his 2 and the Butc her was now reinforc ed by two Royal Navy s hips -of-the-l ine under a maveric k Engl is h c ommodore.SIR S IDNEY SMITH - 'MOST BRILLIANT OF CHEVALIERS '

S idney Smith, the s on of an eloping heires s and an adventurer, was 'good looking with tremendous mous tac hes and penetrating blac k eyes '. He had joined the navy at thi rteen, fought the Americ an rebels and then, when he was s ec onded to the Swedis h navy, Catherine the Great's Rus s ians . T he K ing of Swedenknighted him , s o Engl is h rivals moc ked him as the 'Swedis h knight'. A fter the Frenc h Revolution, Smith raided Franc e, but was c aptured and impris oned in the dreaded Temple. Das hingly he es c aped, taunting Bonaparte, whom he partic ularly des pis ed, in a s eries of publ ic letters . Not everyone was c onvinc ed bySmith: he was , wrote one obs erver, an 'enthus ias t, res tles s ly ac tive, extravagantly vain wi th no fixed purpos e s ave that of pers uading mankind that S idney Smith was the mos t bri l l iant of c heval iers '. But i f he was prepos terous in normal l i fe, he was heroic in a c ris is .

Smith and the Butc her s truc k up a rapport. W hen the Engl is hman admired the gleaming Damas c ene s word that the Butc her kept bes ide him at al l times , J azzar boas ted, 'T he one I c arry never fai ls . It's taken off dozens of heads .' Sm ith wanted proof, whereupon the Butc her had an ox brought to him whic h hethen beheaded with a s ingle blow. Smith merged his eighty-eight s ai lors wi th the Butc her's multinational garris on. Bonaparte launc hed three as s aul ts on Ac re but Smith and the Butc her managed to repel al l three. As Ottoman reinforc ements approac hed and the s iege dragged into i ts thi rd month, the Frenc hgenerals bec ame res tles s .

On 21 May 1799, wi th 1,200 troops dead and 2,300 s ic k or wounded, Napoleon led the retreat towards Egypt. However, 800 Frenc h s oldiers lay i l l in J affa. As they would s low the retreat, Napoleon ordered his wounded to be ki l led by his own doc tors . W hen the Frenc h medic s refus ed, a T urkis h doc toradminis tered fatal dos es of laudanum to the patients . No wonder the Frenc h general J ean-Baptis te K leber reflec ted, 'W e have c ommitted in the Holy Land enormous s ins and great s tupidi ties .' T wo thous and mounted J erus alem ites under the c ommand of the c i ty's governor purs ued and haras s ed the retreatingFrenc h. W hen the peas ant fighters of Nablus broke into J affa, Smith managed to prevent a mas s ac re of Chris tians by s ummoning the J erus alem ites to res tore order.

In Egypt, Napoleon, fac ing the real i ty of a dis as trous c ampaign that c ould only be s aved by s hameles s dis tortion of the truth, abandoned his men and s ai led for home. General K leber, left in c ommand of Egypt, c urs ed Napoleon: 'T hat bugger has des erted us wi th his breec hes ful l of s hi t.' But in Franc eNapoleon was hai led as a returning c onqueror, s oon to s eize power from the Direc tory as fi rs t c ons ul ,* and a romantic s ong about his expedi tion - 'Partant pour la Syrie' - bec ame the Bonapartis t anthem.

T he Chris tians of J erus alem, partic ularly the Cathol ic s , were in peri l from Mus l im repris als . Addic ted to grandios e ges tures , Smith dec ided that only a s how of Engl is h s angfroid would s ave his brethren. W ith perm is s ion from the Butc her and the s ul tan, he marc hed his s ai lors in dres s uni form with beatingdrums from J affa to J erus alem. P rogres s ing through the s treets , he hois ted the B ri tis h flag over S t Saviour's Monas tery, whos e Franc is c an s uperior dec lared that 'every Chris tian in J erus alem was under the greates t obl igation to the Engl is h nation and partic ularly Smith by whos e means they have been pres ervedfrom the merc i les s hand of Bonaparte'. In fac t i t was the Mus l ims whom they feared. Smith and his c rew prayed at the Sepulc hre, the fi rs t Frankis h troops to enter J erus alem s inc e 1244.3

Sultan Sel im III s howered honours on the Butc her, who was appointed pas ha of his native Bos nia as wel l as of Egypt and Damas c us . A fter a s hort war wi th the pas ha of Gaza, he again dominated J erus alem and Pales tine. But he had not mel lowed, for he c ut off his prime m inis ter's nos e to s pi te a fac e thatalready lac ked an ear and an eye. On his death in 1804, Pales tine s ank into c haos .

Yet Napoleon and Smith had made the Levant fas hionable. Among the adventurers who now s tarted to explore the Eas t and rec ount their exploi ts in bes ts el l ing books that begui led the W es t, the mos t influential was a Frenc h vic omte who in 1806 found J erus alem bedevi l led by fi re, rebel l ion and rapine, at i tslowes t ebb s inc e the Mongols .4

THE NEW ROMANTICS:CHATEAUBRIAND AND DISRAELI

1806-1830

THE V ICOMTE OF THE ORDER OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE

'J erus alem overawes me' dec lared Franc ois -Rene, V ic omte de Chateaubriand, even though this 'deic idal c i ty' was 'a heapof rubbis h' wi th the 'c onfus ed monuments of a c emetery in the m ids t of a des ert'. T his bouffant-haired Cathol ic royal is t embrac ed the romantic view of a s habby Gothic J erus alem awaitingres c ue by the 'genius of Chris tiani ty'. T o him , the more m is erable J erus alem was , the hol ier and more poetic al s he bec ame - and the c i ty was now des perate.

Rebel pas has and hordes of Pales tinian peas ants repeatedly rebel led and s eized a godfors aken J erus alem whic h had to be s tormed by the governors of Damas c us who marc hed down annual ly wi th an army and treated the c i ty as c onquered enemy terri tory. T he vic omte arrived to find the governor of Damas c usc amped outs ide the J affa Gate whi le his three thous and s oldiers menac ed the inhabi tants . W hen Chateaubriand s ettled in the S t Saviour's Monas tery, i t was oc c upied by thes e ruffians who extorted c as h from the friars . He s trutted the s treets armed with s everal pis tols but in the Monas tery, one of them c aught himunawares and tried to ki l l him : he only s urvived by almos t throttl ing the T urk. In the s treets , 'we met not a c reature! W hat wretc hednes s , what des olation for mos t of the inhabi tants had fled to the mountains . Shops are s hut, people c onc eal thems elves in c el lars or wi thdraw to the mountains .' W hen the pas ha left,the garris on in David's T ower numbered jus t a dozen and the c i ty bec ame even more eerie: 'T he only nois e is the gal loping of a s teed of the des ert - i t's a janis s ary who brings the head of a Bedouin or returns from plundering the unhappy peas ants .'

Now the Frenc hman c ould revel in the s qual id s ac red mys teries of the s hrines . Yet this enthus ias tic gourmand, who gave his name to his rec ipe for s teak, rel is hed the banquets he s hared with his famous ly plump Franc is c an hos ts , feas ting on 'lenti l s oup, veal wi th c uc umbers and onions , broi led kid wi th ric e,pigeons , partridges , game, exc el lent wine'. A rmed with s everal pis tols , he retrac ed every s tep of J es us whi le moc king Ottoman monuments ('not worth notic e') and the J ews who were 'c overed in rags , s ealed in the dus t of Zion, wi th verm in that devoured them '. Chateaubriand was as tonis hed to 'behold thes e rightfulmas ters of J udaea l iving as s laves and s trangers in their own c ountry'.

In the Sepulc hre he prayed on his knees for hal f an hour, his eyes 'riveted to the s tone' of J es us ' tomb, dizzy wi th the inc ens e, the c las h of E thiopian c ymbals and c hanting of the Greeks , before kneel ing at the tombs of Godfrey and Baldwin, thos e Frenc h paladins who had defeated Is lam, 'a rel igion hos ti le toc ivi l ization that s ys tematic al ly favoured ignoranc e, des potis m and s lavery'.

T he Franc is c ans awarded Chateaubriand the Order of the Holy Sepulc hre in a s olemn c eremony. As they enc irc led the kneel ing vic omte, attac hing the s purs of Godfrey to his heels and knighting him with the Crus ader's s word, he experienc ed an almos t ec s tatic joy:

If i t is c ons idered that I was at J erus alem, in the Churc h of Calvary, wi thin a dozen pac es of the tomb of J es us Chris t, and thirty from that of Godfrey de Boui l lon, that I was equipped with the s purs of the Del iverer of the Holy Sepulc hre; and had touc hed that s word, both long and large, whic h s o noble and s oval iant an arm had onc e wielded, I c ouldn't remain unmoved.5

On 12 Oc tober 1808, an A rmenian s ac ris tan fel l a s leep by the s tove in the A rmenian gal lery on the s ec ond floor of the Churc h of the Holy Sepulc hre. T he s tove c aught fi re, burned him to death and then s pread. T he Tomb of J es us was des troyed. In the ens uing c haos , the Chris tians invi ted Has s an al-Hus s eini , the mufti , to c ampin the c ourtyard of the Churc h to prevent looting. T he Greeks ac c us ed the A rmenians of ars on. England and Aus tria were fighting to c ontain the apparently invinc ible Emperor Napoleon s o the Greeks , bac ked by Rus s ia, were able to c ons ol idate their c ontrol over the Churc h. T hey bui l tthe roc oc o aedic ule that s tands around the Tomb today. T hey c elebrated by s mas hing the graves of the Crus ader kings : Chateaubriand, now bac k in Franc e, was the las t outs ider to s ee them. * A Mus l im mob attac ked the bui lders res toring the Churc h; the garris on mutinied, and the Butc her's s uc c es s or and s on-in-law, Suleiman Pas ha - who was known as the J us t (though anyone would have s eemed c lement after his predec es s or) - c aptured the c i ty: forty-s ix rebels were exec uted, their heads dec orating the gates .6

As the real J erus alem dec ayed, the imaginary J erus alem igni ted W es tern dreams , enc ouraged by Napoleon's nas ty l i ttle Middle Eas tern war, the dec l ine of the Ottomans - and the book that Chateaubriand wrote when he got home. His Itinerary from Paris to J erus alem s et the tone of the European atti tude to theOrient wi th i ts c ruel but inept T urks , wai l ing J ews , and prim itive but feroc ious A rabs who tended to c ongregate in pic tures que bibl ic al pos es . It was s uc h a bes ts el ler that i t launc hed a new genre and even his valet, J ul ien, wrote his memoirs of the trip.* In London, S ir S idney Smith's boas ting about his Levantineexploi ts c aught the imagination of his royal m is tres s - and ins pired the mos t abs urd of royal tours .

CAROLINE OF BRUNSW ICK AND HESTER STANHOPE:QUEEN OF ENGLAND AND QUEEN OF THE DESERT

Princ es s Carol ine, es tranged wife of the Engl is h P rinc e Regent (later K ing George IV ), was muc h taken with the das hing Smith, and regularly invi ted his c ous in, Lady Hes ter S tanhope, niec e of P rime Minis ter W i l l iam P itt the Younger, to provide c over for their brazen affai r.Lady Hes ter loathed the c oars e, deluded and lec herous P rinc es s Carol ine, who s howed off to Smith by 'danc ing about, expos ing hers el f, l ike an opera girl ' and even gartering below the knee: 'an impudent woman, a downright whore! So low! So vulgar! ' Carol ine's marriage to the P rinc e Regent had been a

dis as ter and the s o-c al led 'Del ic ate Inves tigation' into her love-l i fe at that time later revealed at leas t five lovers inc luding Smith, Lord Hood, the painter T homas Lawrenc e and various s ervants . But Smith's s tories of Ac re and J erus alem at leas t found their mark: both women qui te s eparately dec ided to travel to theEas t.

Lady Hes ter had her own J erus alem des tiny. Ric hard B rothers , an ex-s ai lor and radic al Calvinis t, had dec lared hims el f a des c endant of K ing David who would be the Ruler of the W orld unti l the Sec ond Coming of Chris t. His book P lan for New J erus alem revealed that God had 'pre-ordained me to be the K ingand Res torer of the J ews ', and B rothers als o as s erted that the B ri tis h people were des c ended from the Los t T ribes : he would lead them bac k to J erus alem. He des igned gardens and palac es for the Temple Mount, and uni forms and flags for his new Is rael i tes , but he was eventual ly impris oned as a lunatic . T hisAnglo-Is rael i te vis ion was an ec c entric one. Yet wi thin thi rty years a bel ief in a s ac red return of the J ews to ac c elerate the Sec ond Coming was almos t B ri tis h government pol ic y.

B rothers expec ted a heavenly lady to as s is t in this enterpris e and s elec ted Lady Hes ter S tanhope to be his 'Queen of the J ews '. W hen s he vis i ted him in Newgate P ris on, he predic ted that 's he would one day go to J erus alem and lead bac k the Chos en People! ' S tanhope did indeed vis i t J erus alem in 1812,dres s ed fetc hingly in Ottoman c os tume, but B rothers ' predic tions did not material ize. She s tayed in the Eas t - and her fame helped to promote European interes t. Mos t s atis fyingly of al l , s he beat the des pis ed Carol ine to J erus alem by three years .

On 9 Augus t 1814, the princ es s , aged forty-s ix, departed on a s c andalous Mediterranean tour. Ins pired by Smith, S tanhope and the pi lgrimages of various c rus ading anc es tors , Carol ine dec lared that 'J erus alem is my great ambition'.In Ac re, the princ es s was greeted by Suleiman the J us t's 'prime m inis ter, a J ew who wants an eye, an ear and a nos e' - for the pas ha had inheri ted not only the Butc her's fiefdom but als o his J ewis h advis er, Haim Farhi . Ten years after the Butc her's death, Carol ine's c ourtiers were amazed how many 'pers ons

one s ees in the s treets wi thout nos es '. But the princ es s rel is hed the 'barbarous pomp of Eas tern mores '. She arrived with an entourage of twenty-s ix inc luding a foundl ing, W i l l ie Aus tin, whom s he had adopted (though he was pos s ibly her own c hi ld), and her lates t lover, an Ital ian s oldier named BartholomeoPergami, s ixteen years her junior. Now a baron and her c hamberlain, he was 'a man s ix feet high with a magnific ent head of blac k hair, pale c omplexion and mous tac hes that reac h from here to London! ' as one lady s wooningly des c ribed him . By the time Carol ine left for J erus alem, her retinue of 200 'pres ented theappearanc e of an army'.

She entered J erus alem on a donkey l ike J es us , but s he was s uffic iently fat to need a s ervant propping her up on eac h s ide. T he Franc is c ans es c orted her on her as s to her s ui te at S t Saviour's . 'It would be impos s ible to paint the s c ene,' remembered one of her c ourtiers . 'Men, women and c hi ldren, J ews andArabs , A rmenians , Greeks , Cathol ic s and infidels al l rec eived us . "Ben venute! " they c ried! ' Il lum inated by burning torc hes , many fingers extended towards the Royal P i lgrim ' wi th s houts of 'T hat's her! ' No wonder: Carol ine often s ported 'a wig (c urled at the s ides nearly as high as the topof the bonnet), arti fic ialeyebrows (nature having denied her any) and fals e teeth', wi th a s c arlet dres s , c ut low at front and bac k and far too s hort, s c arc ely hiding the 'immens e protuberanc e of her ventre'. A c ourtier had to admit that her entry was both 's olemn and c ertainly laughable'.

P roud of being the fi rs t Chris tian princ es s to vis i t for s ix c enturies , Carol ine s inc erely wanted to leave 'a proper feel ing of her elevated s tatus ', s o s he es tabl is hed an Order of S t Carol ine wi th i ts own banner - a red c ros s wi th a riband of l i lac and s i lver. Her lover Pergami was the Order's fi rs t (and las t) 'GrandMas ter'. On her return, s he c ommis s ioned a painting of her pi lgrimage: The Entry Queen Carol ine into J erus alem.

T he future Queen of England handed out generous donations to the Franc is c ans , and on 17 J uly 1815 (three weeks after Napoleon's final defeat at W aterloo) 'qui t J erus alem amid the thanks and regrets of al l ranks and degrees ' - hardly s urpris ing given the s tate of the plac e.

W hen Damas c us trebled the taxes in 1819, the c i ty revol ted again. T his time, Abdul lah Pas ha,* the s trongman of Pales tine, the Butc her's grands on, attac ked J erus alem and when i t was c aptured, the c i ty governor pers onal ly s trangled twenty-eight rebels - the res t were beheaded the next day, al l the bodiesl ined up outs ide J affa Gate. In 1824, the s avage depredations of the Ottoman pas ha known as Mus tafa the Crim inal led to a peas ants revol t. J erus alem ac hieved independenc e for s ome months unti l Abdul lah bombarded i t from the Mount of Ol ives . By the late 1820s , J erus alem was 'fal len, des olate and abjec t',wrote a brave Engl is h travel ler, J udi th Montefiore, vis i ting wi th her weal thy hus band, Mos es . 'Not a s ingle rel ic ', s he s aid, remained of 'the c i ty that was the joy of the whole earth'.

T he Montefiores were the fi rs t of a new breed of powerful and proud European J ews , determ ined to help their benighted brethren in J erus alem. T hey were feted by the c i ty's governor but s tayed with a Moroc c an former s lave-trader wi thin the wal ls and s tarted their phi lanthropic work by res toring Rac hel 's Tombnear Bethlehem, J udais m 's thi rd hol ies t s hrine after the Temple and the Patriarc h's Tombs in Hebron, but, l ike the other two, als o holy to Is lam. T he Montefiores were c hi ldles s and Rac hel 's Tomb was s aid to help women c onc eive. J erus alem 's J ews welc omed them 'almos t l ike the c oming of the Mes s iah', butbegged them not to give too muc h bec aus e the T urks would s imply c ripple them with higher taxes after they had gone.

Mos es Montefiore arrived as an Ital ian-born, s el f-made Engl is h gentleman and international financ ier, brother-in-law of Nathaniel Roths c hi ld, but he was not partic ularly rel igious . T he trip to J erus alem c hanged his l i fe. He left as a reborn J ew, having prayed al l through his las t night there. For him J erus alem wass imply 'the c i ty of our forefathers , the great and long-des ired objec t of our wis hes and journey'. He bel ieved i t was every J ew's duty to make the pi lgrimage: 'I humbly pray to the God of my forefathers that I may henc eforth bec ome a more righteous and better man as wel l as a better J ew.'* He would return to the HolyCity many times and he henc eforth c ontrived to c ombine the l i fe of an Engl is h grandee with that of an Orthodox J ew.7

No s ooner had Montefiore left than a Byronic pos eur rode into town: both men were Engl is h Sephardic J ews of Ital ian des c ent. T hey did not yet know about eac h other - but one day both would promote B ri tain's advanc e into the Middle Eas t.DISRAELI: THE SACRED AND THE ROMANTIC

'You s hould s ee me in the c os tume of a Greek pirate. A blood red s hirt wi th s i lver s tuds as big as s hi l l ings , an immens e s c arf, gi rdle ful l of pis tols and daggers , a red c ap, red s l ippers , blue broad s triped jac ket and trous ers . Exc es s ively wic ked! ' T his was how Benjam in Dis rael i , the twenty-s ix-year-old fas hionablenovel is t (al ready author of The Young Duk e), fai led s pec ulator and as piring pol i tic ian, dres s ed on his Oriental tour. Suc h jaunts were the new vers ion of the eighteenth-c entury Grand Tour, c ombining romantic pos turing, Clas s ic al s ights eeing, the s moking of hookah pipes , avid whoring and vis i ts to Is tanbul andJ erus alem.

Dis rael i had been rais ed as a J ew but was baptized at thi rteen. He regarded hims el f, he later told Queen V ic toria, as 'the blank page between the Old and New Tes taments '. He looked the part. S l im and pale wi th a head of blac k ringleted hair, Dis rael i rode through the J udaean hi l ls , 'wel l mounted and wel larmed'. W hen he s aw the wal ls :

I was thunders truc k. I s aw before me apparently a gorgeous c i ty. In the front is the magnific ent mos que bui l t on the s i te of the T emple wi th i ts beauti ful garden and fantas tic gates - a variety of domes and towers aris e. Nothing c an be c onc eived more wi ld and terrible and barren than the s urrounding s c enery.I never s aw anything more es s ential ly s triking.

Dining on the roof of the A rmenian Monas tery, where he was s taying, Dis rael i was enraptured by the romanc e of J ewis h his tory as he gazed out at 'J ehovah's los t c api tal ' and was intrigued by that of Is lam: he c ould not res is t trying to vis i t the Temple Mount. A Sc ottis h phys ic ian and later an Engl is hwoman hadboth penetrated the es planade - but only in s tric t dis guis e. Dis rael i was les s adept: 'I was detec ted and s urrounded by a c rowd of turbaned fanatic s and es c aped with di ffic ul ty! ' He regarded the J ews and the A rabs as one people - the A rabs were s urely 'J ews on hors ebac k' - and he as ked the Chris tians : 'W here isyour Chris tiani ty i f you don't bel ieve in their J udais m?'

W hi le he was in J erus alem, he s tarted to wri te his next novel , A lroy , about the doomed twel fth-c entury 'Mes s iah' whos e upris ing he c al led a 'gorgeous inc ident in the annals of that s ac red and romantic people from whom I derive my blood and name'.

His J erus alem vis i t helped him refine his unique hybrid mys tique as a Tory aris toc rat and exotic J ewis h panjandrum, * c onvinc ed him that B ri tain had a role in the Middle Eas t - and let him dream of a return to Zion. In his novel , David A lroy's advis er dec lares , 'You as k what I wis h. My ans wer is a nationalexis tenc e. You as k what I wis h. My ans wer is J erus alem.' In 1851, Dis rael i the ris ing pol i tic an reflec ted that 'res toring the J ews to their land, whic h c ould be bought from the Ottomans , was both jus t and feas ible'.

Dis rael i c laimed A lroy's adventure was 'his ideal ambition' but ac tual ly he was far too ambitious to ris k his c areer for anything J ewis h: he wanted to be prime m inis ter of the greates t empire on earth. Over thi rty years later when he had reac hed the 'topof the greas y pole', Dis rael i did guide B ri tis h power into theregion by gaining Cyprus and buying the Suez Canal.8

Not long after Dis rael i had returned to embark on his pol i tic al c areer, an A lbanian warlord who was the ruler of Egypt c onquered J erus alem.

THE ALBANIAN CONQUEST

1830-40

IBRAHIM THE RED

In Dec ember 1831, the Egyptian army marc hed through the c i ty as 'happy and del ighted' J erus alem ites 'c elebrated with i l lum inations , danc ing and mus ic in every s treet. For the five days Mus l ims , Greeks , Franc is c ans , A rmenians and even J ews made merry.' But already the Mus l ims were worried by the s ight of theEgyptian s oldiers in 'tight trous ers , c arrying terrible fi rearms , mus ic ins truments and moving in formation after the European fas hion'.

J erus alem 's new mas ter was the A lbanian s oldier Mehmet A l i , who c reated a dynas ty that s ti l l ruled Egypt when the S tate of Is rael was founded over a c entury later. Now forgotten, he dominated international Near Eas tern diplomac y for fi fteen years and almos t c onquered the enti re Ottoman empire. T he s on of atobac c o trader, he was born in what is now Greec e, in the s ame year as Napoleon, and c ontemporaries s aw him as an Eas tern Bonaparte: 'A l ike dis tinguis hed for m i l i tary genius , the c harac ters of thes e c hieftains are equal ly marked by ins atiable ambition, and unrepos ing ac tivi ty.' T he white-bearded A lbanian, nowin his s ixties , always dres s ed s imply in whi te turban, yel low s l ippers and blue-green gown, ever puffing on a gold and s i lver s even-foot tal l diamond-s tudded pipe, had a 'T artar fac e with high c heekbones ', and a 's trange wi ld fi re' in his 'dark grey eyes [whic h] beam brightly wi th genius and intel l igenc e'. His power wasbas ed on the c urved s c im itar that always res ted by his s ide. He had arrived in Egypt in time to c ommand his A lbanian troops on behal f of the Ottomans agains t Napoleon. W hen the Frenc h departed, he took advantage of the ens uing power vac uum and s eized Egypt. He then s ummoned his able s on (or s ome s ayhis nephew), Ibrahim , who lured the mamluk-Ottoman el i te to a m i l i tary c eremony and s laughtered them. T he A lbanians next plundered and raped their way through Cairo, but the s ul tan appointed Mehmet A l i as val i of Egypt. He needed only four hours ' s leepa night and c laimed to have learned to read at the age offorty-five. Eac h night, his favouri te c onc ubine read him Montes quieu or Mac hiavel l i , and this brutal modernizer s tarted to c reate a European army, 90,000 s trong, and a fleet.

A t fi rs t, the Ottoman s ul tan, Mahmoud II, was glad to exploi t this ris ing power. Embarras s ed that the puri tanic al W ahabi s ec t, led by the Saudi fam i ly, had s eized Mec c a, the s ul tan as ked for Mehmet A l i 's help. T he A lbanians duly retook Mec c a and des patc hed Abdul lah al-Saud's head to Is tanbul . * W hen in1824 the Greeks rebel led agains t the s ul tan, Mehmet A l i s ent his forc es , whic h s avagely repres s ed the Greeks . T his s o alarmed the European Powers that in 1827 the B ri tis h, Frenc h and Rus s ians together des troyed Mehmet A l i 's fleet at the Battle of Navarino and s pons ored Greek independenc e. But this did nots top the A lbanians for long: enc ouraged by that earl ier vis i tor to J erus alem, now Frenc h foreign m inis ter, V ic omte de Chateaubriand, they c oveted their own empire.

In late 1831, Mehmet A l i c onquered pres ent-day Is rael , Syria and mos t of T urkey, defeating every army the s ul tan threw at him . Soon his arm ies were pois ed to take Is tanbul . Final ly the s ul tan rec ognized Mehmet A l i as ruler of Egypt, A rabia and Crete wi th Ibrahim as governor of greater Syria. T his empire nowbelonged to the A lbanians : 'I have now c onquered this c ountry wi th the s word,' dec lared Mehmet A l i , 'and by the s word wi l l I pres erve i t.' His s word was his general is s imo, Ibrahim , who had c ommanded his fi rs t arm ies and organized his fi rs t mas s ac res as a teenager. It was Ibrahim who had defeated the Saudis ,ravaged Greec e, c onquered J erus alem and Damas c us and marc hed vic torious ly almos t to the gates of Is tanbul .

Now in s pring 1834, Ibrahim , known as T he Red, and not jus t for the c olour of his beard, s et up his headquarters in the palatial c ompound of David's Tomb. Shoc king Mus l ims by s i tting on a European throne ins tead of c us hions and openly drinking wine, he s et about reform ing J erus alem. He eas ed therepres s ion of Chris tians and J ews , prom is ing them equal i ty under the law, and ended the fees that had to be paid by al l pi lgrims to the Churc h: they c ould now wear Mus l im c lothes , ride hors es in the s treet and no longer had to pay the j iz aya tax for the fi rs t time in c enturies . Yet as T urkis h-s peaking A lbanians , theydes pis ed A rabs above al l : Ibrahim 's father c al led them 'wi ld beas ts '. On 25 Apri l , Ibrahim met the leaders of J erus alem and Nablus on the Temple Mount to order the c ons c ription of 200 J erus alem ites . 'I want this order c arried out wi thout delay, s tarting here in J erus alem,' s aid Ibrahim . But J erus alem was defiant:'It's better to die than give our c hi ldren to everlas ting s lavery,' retorted the J erus alem ites .

On 3 May, the A lbanian pres ided over Orthodox Eas ter: 17,000 Chris tian pi lgrims fi l led a s eething c i ty on the verge of outright revol t. On Good Friday night, the c rowds pac ked the Churc h of the Holy Sepulc hre ready for the Holy Fire, watc hed by Robert Curzon, an Engl is h travel ler who left a vivid memoir of whathappened next. 'T he behaviour of the pi lgrims was riotous in the extreme. A t one point, they made a rac ec ours e around the Sepulc hre and s ome, almos t in a s tate of nudi ty, danc ed about wi th frantic ges tures , yel l ing and s c reaming as i f pos s es s ed.'

Next morning, Ibrahim entered the Churc h to wi tnes s the Holy Fire but the c rowd was s o dens e that the guards c leared the way 'wi th the butt-ends of their mus kets and whips ' whi le three monks played 'c razy fiddles ' and women s tarted to ululate 'wi th a very pec ul iar s hri l l c ry'.IBRAHIM: HOLY FIRE , HOLY DEATh

Ibrahim was s eated. Darknes s fel l . T he Greek patriarc h, in 'magnific ent proc es s ion', entered the aedic ule. T he c rowd awaited the divine s park. Curzon s aw the fl ic ker then the flame of the Mirac le whic h was pas s ed to the pi lgrim 'who had paid the highes t s um for this honour', but 'a furious battle' broke out for theFire; pi lgrims fel l to the floor in ec s tatic faints ; bl inding s moke fi l led the Churc h; three pi lgrims fel l to their deaths from the higher gal leries ; an old A rmenian lady died in her s eat. Ibrahim tried to leave the Churc h but c ould not move. His guards , attempting to beat a way through the c rowd, s tarted a s tampede. By thetime Curzon 'got as far as the plac e where the V irgin s tood during the Cruc i fixion', the s tones fel t s oft under his feet.

T here was ac tual ly a great heap of bodies on whic h I trod. A l l dead. Many of them qui te blac k wi th s uffoc ation and others al l bloody and c overed with brains and entrai ls , trodden to piec es by the c rowd. Soldiers wi th their bayonets ki l led a number of fainting wretc hes , the wal ls s plattered with the blood andbrains of men who had been fel led l ike oxen.

T he frenzied s tampede bec ame a 'des perate and s avage' fight for s urvival - Curzon s aw people dying al l around him . Ibrahim only jus t es c aped with his own l i fe, fainting s everal times unti l his guards drew their s words and s l ic ed a path through human fles h.Bodies were 'lying in heaps even upon the S tone of Unc tion'. Ibrahim s tood in the c ourtyard 'giving orders for the removal of the c orps es and making his men drag out the bodies of thos e who appeared to be al ive'. Four hundred pi lgrims peris hed. W hen Curzon es c aped, many of the bodies were ac tual ly 's tanding

upright qui te dead'.IBRAHIM: THE PEASANTS REVOLT

As news of this dis as ter s pread throughout a s hoc ked Chris tendom, the Famil ies of J erus alem, Nablus and Hebron rais ed the rebel l ion. On 8 May, 10,000 armed fel lahin attac ked J erus alem, but were repuls ed by Ibrahim 's troops . On 19 May, in a s c ene that rec al led K ing David's taking of J erus alem, the vi l lagers ofS i lwan, below the City of David, s howed the rebels a s ec ret tunnel through whic h they c rawled into the c i ty and opened the Dung Gate s et in the s outhern wal l . T he peas ants pi l laged the bazaars , the troops attac ked them, only to join in the plundering. T he B imbas hi - garris on c ommander - arres ted the leaders ofthe J erus alem ite Famil ies , the Hus s einis and Khal idis . But 20,000 peas ants were now rampaging through the s treets and bes ieging the Tower. T wo young Americ an m is s ionaries , W i l l iam T homs on and his pregnant wi fe E l iza, c owered in their digs : he left her to s eek help in J affa whi le s he loc ked hers el f in theirroom, am id 'the roar of c annon, fal l ing wal ls , s hrieks of the neighbours , terror of the s ervants and the expec tation of mas s ac re'. She gave birth to a boy, but by the time her hus band made i t bac k to J erus alem s he was dying. He s oon left 'this wrec k of a c ountry'.*

Ibrahim , who had retreated to J affa, now fought his way ac ros s the hi l ls , los ing 500 men. On 27 May, enc amped on Mount Zion, he attac ked, ki l l ing 300 rebels . But he was ambus hed near the Pools of Solomon, and bes ieged in David's Tomb. T he rebel l ion flared again led by the Hus s einis and the Abu Ghos h.Ibrahim c al led his father for help.

Mehmet A l i hims el f and 15,000 reinforc ements s ai led into J affa: 'a fine looking old man', bowing regal ly on a 's plendid hors e, natural , digni fied and in perfec t keeping with the c harac ter of a great man'. T he A lbanians c rus hed the rebels and retook J erus alem; the Hus s einis of J erus alem were exi led to Egypt.T he rebels ros e again, but Ibrahim the Red s laughtered them outs ide Nablus , s ac ked Hebron, des poi led the c ountrys ide, beheaded his c aptives - and launc hed a reign of terror in J erus alem. Returning to the c i ty, he appointed the c hieftain J aber Abu Ghos h as a poac her-turned-gamekeeper governor, and beheadedanyone found with a weapon. T he wal ls were bedec ked with s evered heads ; pris oners rotted in the new K is hleh jai l near the J affa Gate, s inc e us ed by the Ottomans , B ri tis h and Is rael is .

T he A lbanians were enthus ias tic modernizers who needed European bac king i f they were to c onquer the Ottoman empire. Ibrahim al lowed the m inori ties to repair their s mas hed bui ldings : the Franc is c ans res tored S t Saviour's ; the Sephardic J ews s tarted to rebui ld the ben Zakkai Synagogue, one of the fours ynagogues of the J ewis h Quarter; the As hkenazis returned to the Hurva Synagogue, des troyed in 1720. A l though the J ewis h Quarter was now poverty-s tric ken, a few Rus s ian J ews , pers ec uted at home, s tarted to s ettle there.

In 1839, Ibrahim made his bid for Is tanbul , s mas hing the Ottoman arm ies . K ing Louis Phi l ippe's Franc e bac ked the A lbanians , but B ri tain feared Frenc h and Rus s ian influenc e i f the Ottomans fel l . T he s ul tan and his enemy Ibrahim both bid for W es tern s upport. T he teenaged Sul tan Abdulmec id is s ued aNoble Res c ript prom is ing equal i ty for m inori ties , whi le Ibrahim invi ted the Europeans to es tabl is h c ons ulates in J erus alem - and, for the fi rs t time s inc e the Crus ades , perm itted the ringing of c hurc h bel ls .

In 1839, the fi rs t B ri tis h vic e-c ons ul , W i l l iam T urner Young, arrived in J erus alem not only to repres ent London's new power but to c onvert the J ews and ac c elerate the Sec ond Coming.

THE EVANGELISTS

1840-1855

PALMERSTON AND SHAFTESBURY: THE IMPERIALIST AND THE EVANGELIST

T he diplomatic pol ic y relating to J erus alem was the work of Lord Palmers ton, the foreign s ec retary, but the Godly m is s ion was the ac hievement of his evangel ic al s teps on-in-law, the Earl of Shaftes bury. * Palmers ton, aged fi fty-five, was not a V ic torian prig or evangel ic al but an unrepentant Regenc y buc k known asLord Cupid for his s exual es c apades (whic h he jovial ly rec orded in his diary), as Lord Pam for his jaunty vigour, and as Lord Pumic es tone for his gunboat diplomac y. Indeed Shaftes bury joked that Palmers ton 'didn't know Mos es from S ir S idney Smith'. His interes t in the J ews was pragmatic : the Frenc h advanc edtheir power by protec ting the Cathol ic s , the Rus s ians by protec ting the Orthodox, but there were few P rotes tants in J erus alem. Palmers ton wanted to dim inis h Frenc h and Rus s ian influenc e, and s aw that B ri tis h power c ould be advanc ed by protec ting the J ews . T he other m is s ion - the c onvers ion of the J ews - wasthe res ul t of his s on-in-law's evangel ic al ardour.

Shaftes bury, thi rty-nine years old, c urly haired and bewhis kered, pers oni fied the new V ic torian B ri tain. A pure-hearted aris toc rat dedic ated to improving the l ives of workers , c hi ldren and lunatic s , he was als o a fundamental is t who bel ieved that the B ible 'is God's word wri tten from the very fi rs t s yl lable down to thevery las t'. He was s ure that dynamic Chris tiani ty would promote a global moral renais s anc e and an improvement of humanity i ts el f. In B ri tain, Puri tan m i l lenarianis m had long s inc e been overwhelmed by the rational is m of the Enl ightenment but i t had s urvived among the Nonc onform is ts . Now i t returned to themains tream: the Frenc h Revolution wi th i ts gui l lotine, and the Indus trial Revolution wi th i ts mobs of workers , had s haped a new B ri tis h m iddle c las s that welc omed the c ertainties of piety, res pec tabi l i ty and the B ible, the antidote to the raging material is m of V ic torian pros peri ty.

T he London Soc iety for P romoting Chris tiani ty Among the J ews , known as the J ews Soc iety, founded in 1808, now flouris hed, thanks in part to Shaftes bury. 'A l l the young people are growing mad about rel igion,' grumbled another elderly Regenc y roue, Lord Melbourne, prime m inis ter at Queen V ic toria'sac c es s ion in 1837. Convinc ed that eternal s alvation was attainable through the pers onal experienc e of J es us and his good news (ev angel ion in Greek), thes e evangel ic als expec ted the Sec ond Coming. Shaftes bury bel ieved, l ike the Puri tans two c enturies before, that the return and c onvers ion of the J ews wouldc reate an Angl ic an J erus alem and the K ingdom of Heaven. He prepared a memorandum for Palmers ton: 'T here's a c ountry wi thout a nation and God in his wis dom and merc y direc ts us to a nation without a c ountry.'*

'It wi l l be part of your duty', Palmers ton ins truc ted J erus alem vic e-c ons ul Young, 'to afford protec tion to the J ews general ly.' A t the s ame time he told his ambas s ador to the Subl ime Porte that he s hould 's trongly rec ommend [the s ul tan] to hold out every jus t enc ouragement to the J ews of Europe to return toPales tine'. In September 1839, Young founded the J erus alem branc h of the London J ews Soc iety. Shaftes bury was exul tant, noting in his diary, 'T he anc ient c i ty of the people of God is about to res ume a plac e among the nations . I s hal l always remember that God put i t into my head to c onc eive the plan for Hishonour, gave me the influenc e to prevai l wi th Palmers ton, and provided a man for the s i tuation, who c an remake J erus alem in her glory.' Shaftes bury's s ignet ring was ins c ribed 'P ray for J erus alem ', whi le (as we have s een) another zealous V ic torian fixated with J erus alem - S ir Mos es Montefiore - added J erus alem tohis new c oat of arms and ins c ribed i t l ike a tal is man on his c arriage, his s ignet ring and even his bed. Now, in J une 1839, Montefiore and his wi fe J udi th returned to J erus alem, armed with pis tols to protec t the c as h they had rais ed in London.

J erus alem was ravaged by the plague, s o Montefiore c amped outs ide on the Mount of Ol ives where he held c ourt, rec eiving over 300 vis i tors . W hen the plague was ebbing, Montefiore entered the c i ty on a whi te hors e, lent him by the governor, and proc eeded to hear peti tions and dis tribute alms to the poverty-s tric ken J ews . He and his wi fe were welc omed by al l three rel igions in J erus alem, but whi le they were vis i ting the Sanc tuary in Hebron to the s outh, a Mus l im mob attac ked them. T hey only es c aped with their l ives thanks to the intervention of Ottoman troops . Montefiore was not dis c ouraged. As he left, this rebornJ ew and dedic ated imperial is t c elebrated a s im i lar though of c ours e di fferent mes s ianic fervour as Shaftes bury: 'O J erus alem,' he wrote in his diary, 'may the c i ty s oon be rebui l t in our days . Amen.'

Shaftes bury and Montefiore both bel ieved in the divine providenc e of the B ri tis h empire and the J ewis h return to Zion. T he righteous nes s of evangel ic al zeal and the reborn pas s ion of J ewis h dreams of J erus alem dovetai led neatly to bec ome one of the V ic torian obs es s ions , and i t happened that the painterDavid Roberts returned from Pales tine in 1840 jus t in time to s how the publ ic his hugely popular romantic images of a flamboyantly Oriental J erus alem ripe for B ri tis h c ivi l ization and J ewis h res toration. T he J ews were in urgent need of B ri tis h protec tion bec aus e the c ompeting prom is es of toleranc e is s ued by thes ul tan and the A lbanians provoked a deadly bac klas h.

JAMES FINN: THE EVANGELICAL CONSUL

In Marc h 1840, s even J ews in Damas c us were ac c us ed of ki l l ing a Chris tian monk and his Mus l im s ervant to us e their blood for a human s ac ri fic e at Pas s over. T his imaginary s c enario was the notorious 'blood l ibel ' that had fi rs t appeared in Oxford at the time of the Sec ond Crus ade in the twel fth c entury. S ixty-threeJ ewis h c hi ldren were arres ted and tortured to forc e their mothers to reveal the 'hiding plac e of the blood'.

Even though he had only jus t returned to London, S ir Mos es Montefiore, bac ked by the Roths c hi lds , led the c ampaign to res c ue the Damas c ene J ews from this medieval pers ec ution. J oining forc es with the Frenc h lawyer Adolphe Cremieux, Montefiore das hed to A lexandria where he c anvas s ed Mehmet A l i tofree the pris oners . But only weeks later, there was another c as e of the 'blood l ibel ' in Rhodes . Montefiore s ai led from A lexandria to Is tanbul where he was rec eived by the s ul tan whom he pers uaded to is s ue a dec ree that c ategoric al ly denied the truth of the 'blood l ibel .' It was Montefiore's fines t hour - but hiss uc c es s was due as muc h to his national i ty as to his often ponderous diplomac y. It was a fine time to be an Engl is hman in the Middle Eas t.

Both the s ul tan and the A lbanians were frantic al ly bidding for B ri tis h favour as the very exis tenc e of the Ottoman empire hung in the balanc e. J erus alem remained under Ibrahim the Red who ruled muc h of the Middle Eas t. W hi le Franc e bac ked the A lbanians , B ri tain tried to s atis fy their appeti te whi le pres ervingthe Ottomans . T hey offered Pales tine as wel l as Egypt i f Ibrahim would wi thdraw from Syria. It was a good offer but Mehmet A l i and Ibrahim c ould not res is t the s upreme prize: Is tanbul . Ibrahim defied B ri tain s o Palmers ton put together an Anglo-Aus trian-Ottoman c oal i tion and des patc hed his gunboats , underCommodore Charles Napier, c annons blazing. Ibrahim c rumbled before B ri tis h m ight.

Ibrahim the Red had opened up J erus alem to the Europeans and c hanged her for ever but now, in return for heredi tary rule in Egypt, he abandoned Syria and the Holy Ci ty. * T he Frenc h, humil iated by Palmers ton's triumph, c ons idered a 'Chris tian Free City at J erus alem ', the fi rs t propos al for an international izedZion, but on 20 Oc tober, 1840, the s ul tan's troops marc hed bac k into J erus alem. W ithin the wal ls , a thi rd of the c i ty was was teland, c overed in thic kets of pric kly-pear c ac ti , and there were only 13,000 inhabi tants , but 5,000 of them were now J ews , their numbers boos ted by Rus s ian immigrants and refugees from anearthquake that had s truc k Safed in Gal i lee.9

Even when Palmers ton los t the Foreign Offic e to Lord Aberdeen, who ordered the vic e-c ons ul to des is t from evangel ic al J ewis h s c hemes , Young c ontinued regardles s . W hen Palmers ton returned to power he ordered the J erus alem c ons ul to 'rec eive under B ri tis h P rotec tion al l Rus s ian J ews who apply to you'.Meanwhi le Shaftes bury had pers uaded the new prime m inis ter, Robert Peel , to bac k the c reation of the fi rs t ever Angl ic an bis hopric and c hurc h in J erus alem. In 1841, P rus s ia (whos e king had propos ed a Chris tian international J erus alem) and B ri tain jointly appointed the fi rs t P rotes tant bis hop, Mic hael

Solomon A lexander, a J ewis h c onvert. B ri tis h m is s ionaries bec ame inc reas ingly aggres s ive in their J ewis h m is s ion. In 1841, at the opening of the very Engl is h Chris t Churc h near the J affa Gate, three J ews were baptized in the pres enc e of Cons ul Young. T he J ewis h pl ight in J erus alem was pi ti ful : the J ews l ived'l ike fl ies who have taken up their abode in a s kul l ', wrote the Americ an novel is t Herman Melvi l le. T he s wel l ing J ewis h c ommunity l ived in almos t theatric al poverty wi thout any medic al c are, but they did have ac c es s to the free doc tors provided by the London J ews Soc iety. T his tempted a few c onverts .

'I c an rejoic e in Zion for a c api tal ,' mus ed Shaftes bury, 'in J erus ale for a c hurc h and in Hebrew for a K ing! ' J erus alem went overnight from a benighted ruin ruled by a s habby pas ha in a tawdry s eragl io to a c i ty wi th a s urfei t of gold-braided and bejewel led digni taries . T here had not been a Latin patriarc h s inc ethe thirteenth c entury and the Orthodox patriarc h had long res ided in Is tanbul , but now the Frenc h and the Rus s ians s pons ored their return to J erus alem. However, i t was the s even European c ons uls , puffed-up m inor offic ials repres enting imperial ambitions , who c ould s c arc ely c ontain their high-handed grandios i ty.Es c orted by towering bodyguards , the kavas s es , wearing bright s c arlet uni forms , wielding s abres and heavy gold wands that they banged on the c obbles to c lear the s treets , the c ons uls paraded s olemnly through the c i ty, c raving any pretext to impos e their wi l l on the beleaguered Ottoman governors . Ottomans oldiers even had to s tand in the pres enc e of the c ons ul 's c hi ldren. T he pretens ions of the Aus trian and Sardinian c ons uls were al l the haughtier bec aus e their monarc hs c laimed to be kings of J erus alem. But none were more arrogant or petty than the B ri tis h and the Frenc h.

In 1845, Young was replac ed by J ames Finn, who for twenty years was almos t as powerful as the Ottoman governors , yet this s anc timonious meddler offended everyone from Engl is h lords and Ottoman pas has to every other foreign diplomat. Regardles s of orders from London, he offered B ri tis h protec tion to theRus s ian J ews but never c eas ed his m is s ion to c onvert them. W hen the Ottomans al lowed foreign purc has e of land, Finn bought and developed his farm at Talbieh and then another at Abraham 's V ineyard, funded by a Mis s Cook of Chel tenham, and aided by a team of dedic ated Engl is h evangel ic al ladies , as ameans to pros elytize more J ews by teac hing them the joys of hones t work.

Finn regarded hims el f as a c ros s between imperial proc ons ul , s aintly m is s ionary and property magnate, uns c rupulous ly buying lands and hous es with s us pic ious ly large amounts of money. He and his wi fe, another fanatic al evangel ic al , learned fluent Hebrew and the widely s poken Ladino. On one hand, theyaggres s ively protec ted the J ews , who were brutal ly oppres s ed in J erus alem. Yet at the s ame time his pus hy m is s ion provoked violent J ewis h res is tanc e. W hen he c onverted a boy c al led Mendel Dignes s , he c aus ed mayhem as 'the J ews c l imbed over the terrac es and made great dis turbanc es '. Finn c al led therabbis 'fanatic s ', but bac k in B ri tain, the powerful Montefiore, hearing that the J ews were being haras s ed, s ent a J ewis h doc tor and pharmac y to J erus alem to foi l the J ews Soc iety, whic h in turn founded a hos pi tal on the edge of the J ewis h Quarter.

In 1847, a Chris tian A rab boy attac ked a J ewis h youth who threw bac k a pebble whic h grazed the A rab boy's foot. T he Greek Orthodox tradi tional ly the mos t anti -Semitic c ommunity, quic kly bac ked by the Mus l im mufti and qadi , ac c us ed the J ews of proc uring Chris tian blood to bake the Pas s over bis c ui ts : theblood l ibel had c ome to J erus alem, but the s ul tan's ban, granted to Montefiore after the Damas c us affai r, proved dec is ive.10

Meanwhi le the c ons uls were joined by perhaps the mos t extraordinary diplomat in Americ an his tory. 'I doubt,' obs erved W il l iam T hac keray, the Engl is h author of Vanity Fair, who was vis i ting J erus alem, 'that any government has rec eived or appointed s o queer an ambas s ador.'W ARDER CRESSON, US CONSUL:THE AMERICAN HOLY STRANGER

On 4 Oc tober 1844, W arder Cres s on arrived in J erus alem as the US c ons ul-general of Syria and J erus alem - his c hief qual i fic ation for the job being his c ertainty that the Sec ond Coming was due in 1847. Cres s on took the c ons ular hauteur of his European c ol leagues to a new level : he gal loped around J erus alemin a 'c loud of dus t' s urrounded by 'a l i ttle Americ an army' who belonged in a 'troop of knights and paladins ' from a W alter Sc ott novel - 'a party of armed and gl i ttering hors emen led by an A rab fol lowed by two J anis s aries wi th s i lver mac es s hining in the s un'.

A t his interview with the pas ha, Cres s on explained that he had arrived for the c oming Apoc alyps e and the return of the J ews . A Phi ladelphian landowner, c hi ld of ric h Quakers , Cres s on had s pent twenty years s pinning from one apoc alyptic c ul t to another: after wri ting his fi rs t manifes to, J erus alem, the Centre ofthe J oy of the W hole W orld , and abandoning his wi fe and s ix c hi ldren, Cres s on pers uaded Sec retary of S tate J ohn Calhoun to appoint him c ons ul : 'I left everything near and dear to me on earth in purs ui t of truth.' T he US pres ident J ohn T yler was s oon informed by his diplomats that his fi rs t J erus alem c ons ul wasa 'rel igious maniac and madman', but Cres s on was already in J erus alem. And he was not alone in his apoc alyptic views : he was an Americ an of his time.

T he Americ an Cons ti tution was s ec ular, c areful ly not mentioning Chris t and s eparating s tate and fai th, yet on the Great Seal , the Founding Fathers , T homas J effers on and Ben Frankl in, had depic ted the Chi ldren of Is rael led by c loud and fi re towards the P romis ed Land. Cres s on pers oni fied how that c loud andfi re were attrac ting many Americ ans to J erus alem. Indeed the s eparation of Churc h and s tate l iberated Americ an fai th and generated a blos s oming of new s ec ts and fres h m i l lennial prophec ies .

T he early Americ ans , inheri ting the Hebrais t fervour of the Engl is h Puri tans , had enjoyed a Great Awakening of rel igious joy. Now, in the fi rs t hal f of the nineteenth c entury, a Sec ond Awakening was driven by the evangel ic al energy of the frontier. In 1776, s ome 10 per c ent of Americ ans were c hurc h-goers ; by1815, i t was a quarter; by 1914, i t was hal f. T heir pas s ionate P rotes tantis m was Americ an in c harac ter - gri tty, exuberant and s was hbuc kl ing. A t i ts heart was the bel ief that a pers on c ould s ave hims el f and ac c elerate the Sec ond Coming by righteous ac tion and heartfel t joy. Americ a was i ts el f a m is s ion dis guis edas a nation, bles s ed by God, not unl ike the way Shaftes bury and the Engl is h evangel ic als s aw the B ri tis h empire.

In l i ttle wooden c hurc hes in one-hors e m ining towns , farms teads on boundles s prairies and gleaming new indus trial c i ties , the preac hers in the New P romis ed Land of Americ a c i ted the l i teral bibl ic al revelations of the Old. 'In no c ountry,' wrote Dr Edward Robins on, an evangel ic al ac ademic who bec ame thefounder of bibl ic al arc haeology in J erus alem, 'are the Sc riptures better known.' T he fi rs t Americ an m is s ionaries bel ieved that the Native Americ ans were the Los t T ribes of Is rael and that every Chris tian mus t perform ac ts of righteous nes s in J erus alem and help the Return and Res toration of the J ews : 'I real ly wis hthe J ews again in J udaea an independent nation,' wrote the s ec ond US pres ident J ohn Adams . In 1819, two young m is s ionaries in Bos ton prepared to put this into ac tion: 'Every eye is fixed on J erus alem,' preac hed Levi Pars ons in Bos ton, 'indeed the c entre of the world.' T heir c ongregation wept as P l iny Fis kannounc ed: 'I go bound in s piri t to J erus alem.' T hey made i t there but their early deaths in the eas t did not dis c ourage others bec aus e 'J erus alem ', ins is ted W il l iam T homs on, the Americ an m is s ionary whos e wife died there during the revol t of 1834, 'is the c ommon property of the whole Chris tian world.'

Cons ul Cres s on had ridden the wave of this flowering of prophec ies : he had been a Shaker, a Mi l leri te, a Mormon and a Campbel l i te before a loc al rabbi in Penns ylvania c onvinc ed him that 's alvation was of the J ews ' whos e return would bring the Sec ond Coming.* One of the fi rs t to arrive in J erus alem wasHarriet Livermore. Daughter and granddaughter of New England c ongres s men, s he s et off in 1837, after years preac hing to the S ioux and Cheyenne tribes that they were the Los t T ribes of Is rael who s hould ac c ompany her bac k to Zion. She rented rooms on Mount Zion to prepare her s ec t, the P i lgrim S trangers , forthe Apoc alyps e that s he expec ted in 1847 - but i t did not c ome and s he ended up begging in J erus alem 's s treets . A t the s ame time, J os eph Smith, prophet of the new revelation of Latter Day Saints - the Mormons - s ent his Apos tle to J erus alem: he bui l t an al tar on the Ol ivet to prepare 'to res tore Is rael wi thJ erus alem as c api tal .'

By the time Cres s on bec ame the US c ons ul , a growing number of Americ an evangel is ts were vis i ting J erus alem to prepare for the End Days . T he US government eventual ly dis m is s ed him , but he c ontinued defiantly to is s ue vis as of protec tion to J ews for s everal years and then, c hanging his name to Mic haelBoaz Is rael , c onverted to J udais m. For his long-abandoned wife this was a revelation too far. She s ued to have Cres s on dec lared ins ane, c i ting his pis tol-waving, s treet-haranguing, financ ial inc ompetenc e, c ul tic ec lec tic is m, plans to rebui ld the J ewis h Temple and s exual devianc e. He s ai led bac k from J erus alemfor the Inquis i tion of Lunac y in Phi ladelphia, a c aus e c elebre, for Mrs Cres s on was c hal lenging the c ons ti tutional right of Americ an c i tizens to bel ieve whatever they wis hed, the es s enc e of J effers onian l iberty.

A t the trial Cres s on was found to be ins ane, but he appealed and was awarded a retrial . Mrs Cres s on had to 'deny ei ther her Saviour or her Hus band' whi le he had to deny 'ei ther the One, Only God or My W ife'. T he wife los t the s ec ond c as e, c onfi rm ing Americ an freedom of wors hip, and Cres s on returned toJ erus alem. He c reated a J ewis h model farm near the c i ty, s tudied the Torah, divorc ed his Americ an wife and married a J ewes s , al l the whi le c ompleting his book The Key of Dav id . He was honoured by loc al J ews as 'the Americ an Holy S tranger'. On his death he was buried in the J ewis h c emetery on the Mount ofOl ives .

J erus alem was now s o overrun by apoc alyptic Americ ans that the Americ an J ournal of Ins ani ty c ompared i ts hys teria to the Cal i fornia Gold Rus h. W hen Herman Melvi l le vis i ted, he was fas c inated yet repuls ed by the 'c ontagion' of Americ an Chris tian m i l lenarianis m - 'this prepos terous J ewmania', he c al led i t,'hal f-melanc holy, hal f-farc ic al '. 'How am I to ac t when any c razy or dis tres s ed c i tizen of the US c omes into the c ountry?' the Americ an c ons ul in Beirut as ked his s ec retary of s tate. 'T here are s everal of late going to J erus alem with s trange ideas in their heads that Our Saviour is c oming this year.' But Melvi l le gras pedthat s uc h majes tic world-s haking hopes were impos s ible to s atis fy: 'No c ountry wi l l more quic kly dis s ipate romantic expec tations than Pales tine partic ularly J erus alem. T o s ome the dis appointment is heart-s ic kening.'11

J erus alem was es s ential to the Americ an and Engl is h evangel ic al vis ion of the Sec ond Coming. Yet even their urgenc y was dwarfed by the obs es s ive Rus s ian pas s ion for J erus alem. Now in the late 1840s , the Rus s ian emperor's aggres s ive ambitions were about to plac e J erus alem at what the Engl is h vis i tor,W i l l iam T hac keray, c al led 'the c entre of the world's pas t and future his tory' and igni te a European war.

THE GENDARME OF EUROPE AND THE SHOOT-OUTIN THE SEPULCHRE: THE RUSSIAN GOD IN JERUSALEM

On Good Friday, 10 Apri l 1846, the Ottoman governor and his s oldiers were on alert at the Churc h. Unus ual ly, that year the Orthodox and Cathol ic Eas ters fel l on the s ame day. T he monks were not jus t prim ing their inc ens e-burners : they s muggled in pis tols and daggers , s ec reting them behind the pi l lars and underrobes . W ho would hold their s ervic e fi rs t? T he Greeks won the rac e to plac e their al tar-c loth on the al tar of Calvary. T he Cathol ic s were jus t behind them - but too late. T hey c hal lenged the Greeks : did they have the s ul tan's authori ty? T he Greeks c hal lenged the Cathol ic s - where was their s ul tanic fi rman giving themthe right to pray fi rs t? T here was a s tand-off. Fingers mus t have hovered over trigger s under c has ubles . Suddenly, the two s ides were fighting wi th every weapon they c ould improvis e from the ec c les ias tic al paraphernal ia at their dis pos al : they wielded c ruc i fixes , c andles tic ks and lamps unti l c old s teel flas hed andthe s hooting s tarted. Ottoman s oldiers waded in to s top the fighting but forty lay dead around the Holy Sepulc hre.

T he ki l l ing res ounded around the world but above al l in S t Peters burg and Paris : the aggres s ive c onfidenc e of the c oenobi te brawlers reflec ted not jus t the rel igions but the empires behind them. New rai lways and s teams hips had eas ed the journey to J erus alem from al l over Europe but partic ularly by s ea fromOdes s a to J affa: the vas t majori ty of the 20,000 pi lgrims were now Rus s ians . A Frenc h monk notic ed that in a typic al year, out of 4,000 Chris tmas pi lgrims , only four were Cathol ic s , the res t being Rus s ian. T his Rus s ian adoration flowed from the devout Orthodoxy to be found from the very bottom of s oc iety, thes haggy peas ants in the s mal les t, remotes t S iberian vi l lages , to the very top, the Emperor-T s ar Nic holas I hims el f. T he Orthodox m is s ion of Holy Rus s ia was s hared by both.

W hen Cons tantinople fel l in 1453, the grand princ es of Mus c ovy had s een thems elves as the heirs of the las t Byzantine emperors , Mos c ow as the T hird Rome. T he princ es adopted the Byzantine double-headed eagle and a new ti tle, Caes ar or Ts ar. In their wars agains t the Is lam ic Crimean khans and then theOttoman s ul tans , the ts ars promoted the Rus s ian empire as a s ac red Orthodox c rus ade. In Rus s ia, Orthodoxy had developed i ts own s ingularly Rus s ian c harac ter, s pread through i ts vas tnes s both by ts ars - and peas ant herm its , al l of whom s pec ial ly revered J erus alem. It was s aid that the dis tinc tive onion-s hapeddomes of Rus s ian c hurc hes were an attempt to c opy thos e in paintings of J erus alem. Rus s ia had even bui l t i ts own m ini-J erus alem* but every Rus s ian bel ieved that the pi lgrimage to J erus alem was an es s ential part of the preparation for death and s alvation.

Nic holas I had imbibed this tradi tion - he was very muc h the grands on of Catherine the Great and heir of Peter the Great, both of whom had promoted thems elves as protec tors of the Orthodox and the Holy P lac es , and the Rus s ian peas ants thems elves l inked the two: when Nic holas ' elder brother A lexander Idied unexpec tedly in 1825, they bel ieved that he had gone to J erus alem as an ordinary herm it, a modern vers ion of the Las t Emperor legend.

Now Nic holas , hars hly c ons ervative, deeply anti -Semitic and s hameles s ly phi l is tine in al l matters artis tic (he had appointed hims el f as Pus hkin's pers onal c ens or), regarded hims el f as ans werable only to what he c al led 'T he Rus s ian God' in the c aus e of 'Our Rus s ia entrus ted to Us by God.' T his martinet, whoprided hims el f on s leeping on a m i l i tary c ot, ruled Rus s ia l ike a s tern dri l lmas ter. As a young man, the s trapping, blue-eyed Nic holas had dazzled B ri tis h s oc iety where one lady des c ribed him as 'devi l is h hands ome, the hands omes t man in Europe! ' By the 1840s , his hair was gone and a paunc h bulged out of hiss ti l l high-wais ted and s kintight m i l i tary breec hes . A fter thi rty years happi ly married to his ai l ing wi fe, he had final ly taken a m is tres s , a young lady-in-waiting - and for al l Rus s ia's vas t power, he feared impotenc e, pers onal ly and pol i tic al ly.

For years he had c autious ly wielded his pers onal c harm to pers uade B ri tain to agree to the parti tion of the Ottoman empire, whic h he c al led 'the s ic k man of Europe,' hoping to l iberate the Orthodox provinc es of the Balkans and overs ee J erus alem. Now the B ri tis h were no longer impres s ed. T wenty-five years ofautoc rac y had des ens i tized him and made him impatient: 'very c lever, I don't think him ,' wrote the s hrewd Queen V ic toria, 'and his m ind is an unc ivi l ized one.'

In J erus alem, the s treets gl i ttered with the gold braid and s houlder-boards of Rus s ian uni forms , worn by princ es and generals , whi le teeming with the s heeps kins and s moc ks of thous ands of peas ant pi lgrims , al l enc ouraged by Nic holas who als o des patc hed an ec c les ias tic al m is s ion to c ompete wi th theother Europeans . T he B ri tis h c ons ul warned London that 'the Rus s ians c ould in one night during Eas ter arm 10,000 pi lgrims within the wal ls of J erus alem ' and s eize the c i ty. Meanwhi le the Frenc h purs ued their own m is s ion to protec t the Cathol ic s . 'J erus alem ', reported Cons ul Finn in 1844, 'is now a c entral pointof interes t to Franc e and Rus s ia.'

GOGOL: THE JERUSALEM SYNDROME

Not al l Rus s ia's pi lgrims were s oldiers or peas ants and not al l found the s alvation they s ought. On 23 February 1848, a Rus s ian pi lgrim entered J erus alem who was both typic al in his s oaring rel igious fever and utterly atypic al in his flawed genius . T he novel is t Nikolai Gogol, famed for his play The Ins pec tor-General and for his novel Dead Souls , arrived by donkey in a ques t for s piri tual eas e and divine ins piration. He had envis aged Dead Souls as a tri logy, yet he was s truggl ing to wri te the s ec ond and third parts . God was s urely bloc king his wri ting to punis h his s ins . As a Rus s ian, only one plac e offered redemption:'unti l I've been to J erus alem,' he wrote, 'I'l l be inc apable of s aying anything c omforting to anyone.'

T he vis i t was dis as trous : he s pent a s ingle night praying bes ide the Sepulc hre, yet he found i t fi l thy and vulgar. 'Before I had time to pul l my wits together, i t was over.' T he gaudines s of the holy s i tes and the barrennes s of the hi l ls c rus hed him : 'I have never been s o l i ttle c ontent wi th the s tate of my heart as inJ erus alem and afterwards .' On his return, he refus ed to talk about J erus alem but fel l under the power of a mys tic pries t who c onvinc ed him that his works were s inful . Gogol manic al ly des troyed his manus c ripts then s tarved hims el f to death - or at leas t into a c oma - for when his c offin was opened in the twentiethc entury, his body was found fac e down.

T he s pec ial madnes s of J erus alem had been c al led 'J erus alem fever' but in the 1930s , i t was rec ognized as J erus alem Syndrome, 'a ps yc hotic dec ompens ation related to rel igious exc i tement induc ed by proxim ity to the holy plac es of J erus alem '. T he Bri tis h J ournal of Ps y c hiatry , in 2000, diagnos ed thisdemented dis appointment as : 'J erus alem Syndrome Subtype T wo: thos e who c ome with magic al ideas of J erus alem 's heal ing powers - s uc h as the wri ter Gogol.'12

In a s ens e, Nic holas was s uffering from his own s train of J erus alem Syndrome. T here was madnes s in his fam i ly: 'as the years have pas s ed,' wrote the Frenc h ambas s ador to Peters burg, 'i t is now the qual i ties of (his father Emperor) Paul whic h c ome more to the fore.' T he mad Paul had been as s as s inated (ashad his grandfather Peter III). If Nic holas was far from ins ane, he s tarted to dis play s ome of his father's obs tinately impuls ive over-c onfidenc e. In 1848, he planned to make the pi lgrimage to J erus alem but he was forc ed to c anc el when revolutions broke out ac ros s Europe. He triumphantly c rus hed the Hungarianrevol t agains t his neighbour, the Habs burg emperor: he enjoyed the pres tige of being the 'Gendarme of Europe' but Nic holas , wrote the Frenc h ambas s ador, bec ame 's poi led by adulation, s uc c es s and the rel igious prejudic es of the Mus c ovi te nation'.

On 31 Oc tober 1847, the s i lver s tar on the marble floor of the Grotto of Bethlehem 's Churc h of the Nativi ty, was c ut out and s tolen. T he s tar had been donated by Franc e in the eighteenth c entury; now i t had obvious ly been s tolen by the Greeks . T he monks fought in Bethlehem. In Is tanbul , the Frenc h c laimed theright to replac e the Bethlehem s tar and to repair the roof of the Churc h in J erus alem; the Rus s ians c laimed i t was their right; eac h c i ted eighteenth-c entury treaties . T he row s immered unti l i t bec ame a duel of two emperors .

In Dec ember 1851, the Frenc h pres ident Louis -Napoleon Bonaparte, the ins c rutably bland yet pol i tic al ly agi le nephew of the great Napoleon, overthrew the Sec ond Republ ic in a c oup d'etat and prepared to c rown hims el f Emperor Napoleon III. T his womanizing adventurer whos e s harply-waxed mous tac hesc ould not dis trac t attention from an overs ized head and an unders ized tors o was in s ome ways the fi rs t modern pol i tic ian and he knew his bras h, fragi le new empire required Cathol ic pres tige and vic tory abroad. Nic holas , on the other hand, s aw the c ris is as the c hanc e to c rown his reign by s aving the Holy P lac esfor 'the Rus s ian God'. For thes e two very di fferent emperors , J erus alem was the key to glory in heaven and on earth.

JAMES FINN AND THE CRIMEAN W AR:MURDERED EVANGELISTS AND MARAUDING BEDOUIN

T he s ul tan, s queezed between the Frenc h and Rus s ians , tried to s ettle the dis pute wi th his dec ree of 8 February 1852, c onfi rm ing the Orthodox paramountc y in the Churc h, wi th s ome c onc es s ions to the Cathol ic s . But the Frenc h were no les s c ommitted than the Rus s ians . T hey trac ed their c laims bac k to the greatNapoleon's invas ion, the al l ianc e with Suleiman the Magnific ent, the Frenc h Crus ader kings of J erus alem, and to Charlemagne. W hen Napoleon III threatened the Ottomans , i t was no c oinc idenc e that he s ent a gunboat c al led the Charlemagne . In November, the s ul tan buc kled and granted the paramountc y to theCathol ic s . Nic holas was outraged. He demanded the res toration of Orthodox rights in J erus alem and an 'al l ianc e' that would reduc e the Ottoman empire to a Rus s ian protec torate.

W hen Nic holas ' bul lying demands were rejec ted, he invaded the Ottoman terri tories on the Danube - today's Rumania - advanc ing towards Is tanbul . Nic holas had c onvinc ed hims el f that he had c harmed the B ri tis h into agreement, denying he wanted to s wal low Is tanbul , let alone J erus alem, but he fatal lym is judged both London and Paris . Fac ed with Rus s ian menac e and Ottoman c ol laps e, B ri tain and Franc e threatened war. Nic holas s tubbornly c al led their bluff bec aus e, he explained, he was 'waging war for a s olely Chris tian purpos e, under the banner of the Holy Cros s '. On 28 Marc h, 1853, the Frenc h and B ri tis hdec lared war on Rus s ia. Even though mos t of the fighting was far away in the Crimea, this war plac ed J erus alem at the c entre of the world s tage where s he has remained ever s inc e.*

As J erus alem 's garris on marc hed off to fight the Rus s ians , J ames Finn watc hed them pres ent arms on the Maidan parade ground outs ide the J affa Gate where the 'Syrian s un gl is tened along the moving s teel for they marc hed with fixed bayonets '. Finn c ould not forget that the 'kernel of i t al l lay wi th us in theHoly P lac es ' and that Nic holas 'aimed s ti l l at an ac tual pos s es s ion of [J erus alem 's ] Sanc tuaries '.

Ins tead of the us ual devout Rus s ians , a new breed of often s c eptic al W es tern vis i tors - 10,000 a year, by 1856 - poured into the c i ty to s ee the Holy P lac es that had s parked a European war. Yet a vis i t to J erus alem was s ti l l an adventure. T here were no c arriages , jus t c overed l i tters . She pos s es s ed virtual ly nohotels or banks : vis i tors s tayed in the monas teries , the mos t c omfortable being the A rmenian with i ts elegant, ai ry c ourtyards . However in 1843, a Rus s ian J ew named Menac hem Mendel founded the fi rs t hotel , the Kamini tz, whic h was s oon fol lowed by the Engl is h Hotel ; and in 1848 a Sephardic fam i ly, theValeros , opened the fi rs t European bank in a room up s ome s tairs off David S treet. T his was a s ti l l a provinc ial Ottoman town, us ual ly governed by a s c ruffy pas ha who res ided in a rams hac kle s eragl io - res idenc e, harem and pris on - jus t north of the Temple Mount. * W es terners were 'as tonis hed at the beggarlymeannes s of that mans ion,' wrote Finn, and repuls ed by the mangy c onc ubines and 'ragamuffin offic ials '. As vis i tors s ipped c offee with the pas ha, they c ould hear the c lank of pris oners ' c hains and groans of the tortured from the dungeons below. During the war, the pas ha tried to ens ure tranqui l l i ty in J erus alem -but the Greek Orthodox monks attac ked the newly appointed Cathol ic patriarc h and herded c amels into his res idenc e, al l to the del ight of the great wri ters who c ame to s ee thos e very s hrines for whic h s o many s oldiers were dying in the grinding battles and putrid hos pi tals of the Crimea. T hey were not impres s ed.

THE W RITERS: MELVILLE , FLAUBERT AND THACKERAY

Herman Melvi l le, then aged thirty-s even, had made his name with three novels bas ed on his own breathtaking whal ing adventures in the Pac i fic but Moby Dic k , publ is hed in 1851, had s old jus t 3,000 c opies . Melanc hol ic and tormented, not unl ike Gogol, he arrived in J erus alem in 1856 to res tore his heal th - and toinves tigate the nature of God. 'My objec t - s aturation of my m ind with the atmos phere of J erus alem, offering mys el f as a pas s ive s ubjec t to i ts weird impres s ions ' - and he was s timulated by the 'wrec k' that was J erus alem, begui led by the 'unleavened nakednes s of des olation'. As we s aw earl ier, he was fas c inated bythe 'fanatic al energy and s piri t' and 'J ewmania' of the many 'c razy' Americ ans . T hey ins pired his epic Clarel - at 18,000 l ines , the longes t Americ an poem, whic h he wrote when he got home as he toi led in the US Cus toms Offic e.

Melvi l le was not the only novel is t looking for res toration and c ons olation for l i terary dis appointment in the Orient: Gus tave Flaubert, ac c ompanied by his weal thy friend Maxime du Camp, and funded by the Frenc h government to report on trade and agric ul ture, was on a c ul tural and s exual tour to rec over from the

rec eption of his fi rs t novel . He s aw J erus alem as a 'c harnelhous e s urrounded by wal ls , the old rel igions rotting in the s un'. As for the Churc h, 'a dog would have been more moved than me. T he A rmenians c urs e the Greeks who detes t the Latins who exec rate the Copts .' Melvi l le agreed that the Churc h was a 'hal f-ruinous pi le of mouldering grottoes that s mel led l ike death' but rec ognized that wars were s tarted in what he c al led the 'thronged news -room and theology exc hange of J erus alem '.*

T he c oenobi te fighting was only one as pec t of the violent theatre of J erus alem. T he tens ions between the new vis i tors - Anglo-Americ an evangel ic als and Rus s ian J ews and Orthodox peas ants on one hand, and the older world of the Ottomans , A rab Famil ies , Sephardic J ews and Bedouin and fel lahin on theother - led to a s eries of murders . One of J ames Finn's evangel ic al ladies , Mathi lda Creas y, was found with her head s mas hed in; and a J ew was found s tabbed down a wel l . T he pois oning of a ric hrabbi , David Hers c hel l , led to a s ens ational c ourt c as e but the s us pec ts , who were his own grands ons , wereac qui tted for lac k of evidenc e. T he B ri tis h c ons ul J ames Finn was the mos t powerful offic ial in J erus alem at a time when the Ottomans were s o indebted to B ri tain, henc e he took i t upon hims el f to intervene wherever he s aw fi t. Cons idering hims el f to be the Sherloc k Holmes of the Holy Ci ty, he s et aboutinves tigating eac h of thes e c rimes , but des pi te his powers of detec tion (and the aid of s ix A fric an nec romanc ers ), no ki l lers were ever found.

Finn was the c ourageous c hampion and pros elytizing i rri tant for the J ews who s ti l l needed his protec tion. T heir pl ight was , i f anything, getting wors e. Mos t of the J ews l ived in the 's tinking ruins of the J ewis h Quarter, venerable in fi l th', wrote T hac keray, and their 'wai l ings and lamentations of the los t glory of theirc i ty' haunted J erus alem on Friday nights . 'None equals the m is ery and s uffering of the J ews at J erus alem,' Karl Marx wrote in the New York Dai ly Tribune in Apri l 1854, 'inhabi ting the mos t fi l thy quarter, c ons tant objec t of Mus ulman oppres s ion and intoleranc e, ins ul ted by the Greeks , pers ec uted by the Latins .' AJ ew who walked pas t the gate leading to the Churc h of the Holy Sepulc hre, was , as Finn reported, 'beaten by a mob of pi lgrims ' bec aus e i t was s ti l l i l legal for a J ew to pas s i t. Another was s tabbed by an Ottoman s oldier. A J ewis h funeral was attac ked by A rabs . In eac h c as e, Finn s wooped on the Ottoman governorand forc ed him to intervene and s ee B ri tis h jus tic e done.

T he pas ha hims el f was more interes ted in c ontrol l ing the Pales tinian A rabs whos e rebel l ions and c lan wars , partly a res pons e to the c entral izing reforms of the Ottoman empire, were often fought out wi th the gal lop of c amels , the s wis h of s pears and the whis tle of bul lets around the wal ls of J erus alem. T hes ethri l l ing s c enes played into the European view of Pales tine as a bibl ic al theatre c ros s ed with a W i ld W es t s tage s et, and they gathered on the wal ls to s pec tate the s kirm is hes whic h to them mus t have res embled s urreal s porting events - wi th the added s pic e of the oc c as ional fatal i ty.

THE W RITERS: DAVID DORR, AN AMERICAN SLAVE ON TOUR

At their Talbieh evangel ic al farm for c onverting J ews , the Finns frequently found thems elves c aught in the c ros s fi re. As bul lets flew, Mrs Finn was often amazed to identi fy women amongs t the warriors . She did her bes t to negotiate peac e between the s heikhs . But the Bedouin were only part of the problem: thes heikhs of Hebron and Abu Ghos h fielded private arm ies of 500 warriors and fought ful l -s c ale wars agains t the Ottomans . W hen one of thes e s heikhs was c aptured and brought to J erus alem in c hains , the das hing warrior managed to es c ape and gal lop away to fight again, l ike an A rab Robin Hood. Final ly HafizPas ha, the aged governor of J erus alem, had to lead an expedi tion wi th 550 troops and two bras s field-guns to s uppres s the warlord of Hebron.

Yet des pi te s uc h melodrama, on s ummer evenings , J erus alem ites of al l c reeds - Mus l im and Chris tian A rabs along with the Sephardic J ews - pic nic ked on the Damas c us road. T he Americ an explorer, Lieutenant W i l l iam Lync h, obs erved a 'pic tures que s c ene - hundreds of J ews enjoying the fres h air, s eatedouts ide the wal ls under enormous ol ive trees , the woman al l in whi te s hrouds , the men in broad-brimmed blac k hats '. J ames Finn and the other c ons uls , prec eded by Ottoman s oldiers and kavas s es with s i lver-mounted batons , promenaded with their wives . 'As the s un s et, everyone hurried ins ide the wal ls that weres ti l l loc ked every night.'

'Ah the s adnes s of J erus alem,' s ighed Finn who had to admit that the c i ty s eemed 'monas tic al ly dul l to a pers on imbued with the gay habi ts of other plac es . Frenc h vis i tors have been known to utter the ejac ulation whic h ever ac c ompanies the s hrug of the s houlders at the c ontras t between J erus alem andParis .' T his was c ertainly not the s ort of ejac ulation whic h the priapic Flaubert expec ted and he expres s ed his frus tration at the J affa Gate, 'I let a fart es c ape as I c ros s ed the thres hold,' even i f 'I was annoyed by the Vol tai reanis m of my anus .' T hat s exual gourmand Flaubert c elebrated es c ape from J erus alem with afive-girl orgy in Beirut: 'I s c rewed three women and c ame four times - three times before lunc h and onc e after des s ert. Young Du Campc ame only onc e, his member s ti l l s ore wi th the remnant of a c hanc re given him by a W al lac hian whore.'

One unique Americ an vis i tor, David Dorr, a young blac k s lave from Louis iana who c al led hims el f a 'quadroon', agreed with Flaubert: on tour wi th his mas ter, he arrived 'wi th s ubmis s ive heart' fi l led wi th awe for J erus alem but s oon c hanged his m ind: 'W hen I heard al l the abs urdi ties of thes e ignorant people, Iwas more inc l ined to ridic ule right over thes e s ac red dead bodies and s pots than pay homage. A fter s eventeen days in J erus alem, I leave never wis hing to return again.'*

Yet for al l their i rreverenc e, the wri ters c ould not help but be awed by J erus alem. Flaubert c ons idered her 'diabol ic al ly grand'. T hac keray s ens ed 'there's not a s pot at whic h you may look but where s ome violent deed has been done, s ome mas s ac re, s ome vis i tors murdered, s ome idol wors hipped with bloodyri tes .' Melvi l le almos t admired the 'plague-s tric ken s plendour' of the plac e. S tanding at the Golden Gate, gazing out at Mus l im and J ewis h c emeteries , Melvi l le s aw a 'c i ty bes ieged by arm ies of the dead' and as ked hims el f: 'is the des olation the res ul t of the fatal embrac e of the Deity?'13

As Rus s ian forc es were repeatedly defeated in the Crimea, Nic holas fel l i l l under the s train and died on 18 February 1855. In September, the Rus s ian naval bas e at Sebas topol fel l to the B ri tis h and Frenc h. Rus s ia had been thoroughly humil iated. A fter s taggering m i l i tary inc ompetenc e on al l s ides in ac ampaign that c os t 750,000 l ives , the new Rus s ian emperor, A lexander II, s ued for peac e, s urrendering his imperial ambitions for J erus alem, but winning at leas t a res toration of the dominant Orthodox rights in the Sepulc hre, the s tatus quo that s ti l l remains in forc e today.

On 14 Apri l 1856, the c annons of the Ci tadel s aluted the s igning of peac e. But twelve days later, J ames Finn, attending the Holy Fire, watc hed 'Greek pi lgrims , provided with s tic ks , s tones and c udgels , c onc ealed beforehand behind the c olumns and dropped from the gal lery,' attac k the A rmenians . 'Dreadfulc onfl ic t ens ued,' he obs erved, 'm is s i les were flung upwards to the gal leries , demol is hing rows of lamps , glas s and oi l pouring down upon heads .' W hen the pas ha rus hed down from his throne in the gal lery, he 'rec eived blows to the head' and had to be c arried out before his s oldiers c harged in wi th fixed bayonets .Minutes later, the Orthodox patriarc h appeared with the Holy Fire to s c reams of exul tation, the beating of c hes ts , and fl ic kering of flames .

T he garris on c elebrated the s ul tan's vic tory wi th a parade on the Maidan whic h was i ronic bec aus e s oon afterwards , A lexander II bought this parade ground, onc e the s i te of As s yrian and Roman c amps , to bui ld a Rus s ian Compound. Henc eforth Rus s ia would purs ue c ul tural dominanc e in J erus alem.T he vic tory was bi tter s weet for the Ottomans , their weak Is lam ic realm s aved by Chris tian s oldiers . T o s how his grati tude and keep the W es t at bay, Sul tan Abdulmec id was forc ed, in meas ures known as T anzimat - reform - to c entral ize his adminis tration, dec ree abs olute equal i ty for al l m inori ties regardles s of

rel igion, and al low the Europeans al l manner of onc e-inc onc eivable l iberties . He pres ented S t Anne's , the Crus ader c hurc h that had bec ome Saladin's madras s a, to Napoleon III. In Marc h 1855, the Duke of B rabant, the future K ing Leopold II of Belgium, exploi ter of the Congo, was the fi rs t European al lowed to vis i tthe Temple Mount: i ts guards - c lub-wielding Sudanes e from Darfur - had to be loc ked in their quarters for fear they would attac k the infidel . In J une, A rc hduke Maxim i l ian, the heir to the Habs burg empire - and i l l -fated future Emperor of Mexic o - arrived with the offic ers of his flags hip. T he Europeans s tarted to bui ldhulking imperial -s tyle Chris tian edi fic es in a J erus alem bui lding boom. Ottoman s tates men were uns ettled and there would be a violent Mus l im bac klas h but, after the Crimean W ar, the W es t had inves ted too muc h to leave J erus alem alone.

In the las t months of the Crimean W ar, S ir Mos es Montefiore had bought the trains and rai ls of the Balac lava Rai lway, bui l t s pec ial ly for B ri tis h troops in the Crimea, to c reate a l ine between J affa and J erus alem. Now, endowed with al l the pres tige and power of a B ri tis h plutoc rat after the Crimean vic tory, hereturned to the c i ty, the harbinger of her future.14

THE NEW CITY

1855-60

MOSES MONTEFIORE: 'THIS CROESUS'

On 18 J uly 1855, Montefiore ri tual ly ripped his c lothes when he s aw the los t Temple and then s et up his c amp outs ide the J affa Gate where he was mobbed by thous ands of J erus alem ites fi ring off guns in the air and c heering. J ames Finn, whos e s c hemes to c onvert J ews he had repeatedly foi led, tried tounderm ine his rec eption but the l iberal-m inded governor, K iam i l Pas ha, s ent an honour guard to pres ent arms . W hen Montefiore bec ame the fi rs t J ew to vis i t the Temple Mount, the pas ha had him es c orted by a hundred s oldiers - and he was borne in a s edan-c hair s o he would not break the law that banned J ewsfrom the holy mountain les t they s tood on the Holy of Hol ies . His l i fe's m is s ion of helping J erus alem 's J ews was never eas y: many of them l ived on c hari ty and were s o infuriated when Montefiore tried to wean them off his handouts that they rioted in his c amp. 'Real ly,' wrote his niec e J emima Sebag, who was in hisentourage, 'If this c ontinues , we'l l s c arc ely be s afe in our tents ! ' Not al l his s c hemes worked ei ther: he never managed to bui ld his Crimean rai lway from J affa, but i t was this trip that c hanged the des tiny of J erus alem. On his way, he had pers uaded the s ul tan to let him rebui ld the Hurva Synagogue, des troyed in1720, and even more important, to buy land in J erus alem to s ettle J ews . He paid for the res toration of the Hurva and s tarted to look for a plac e to buy.

Melvi l le des c ribed S ir Mos es Montefiore as 'this Croes us - a huge man of 75 c arried from J oppa on a l i tter borne by mules '. He was 6 foot 3 and not qui te s eventy-five, but he was old to make s uc h a trip. He had already ris ked his l i fe on three vis i ts to J erus alem and his doc tors had advis ed him not to go again -'his heart was feeble and there was pois on in his blood' - but he and J udi th c ame anyway, ac c ompanied by an entourage of retainers , s ervants and even his own kos her butc her.

To the J ews of J erus alem and ac ros s the Dias pora, Montefiore was already a legend who c ombined the proc ons ular pres tige of a ric h V ic torian baronet at the height of the B ri tis h empire wi th the digni ty of a J ew who always rus hed to the aid of his brethren and had never c ompromis ed his J udais m. It was hisunique pos i tion in B ri tain that gave him his power: he s traddled the old and new s oc ieties , as muc h at home with royal dukes , prime m inis ters and bis hops as he was with rabbis and financ iers . In a London dominated by s taid moral i ty and evangel ic al Hebrais m, Montefiore was the ideal of what V ic torians thoughta J ew s hould be: 'T hat grand old Hebrew', wrote Lord Shaftes bury, 'is better than many Chris tians .'

He had been born in Livorno, Italy but he made his fortune as one of the 'J ew brokers ' on the London S toc k Exc hange, an as c ent helped by his happy marriage to J udi th Cohen, s is ter-in-law of the banker Nathaniel Roths c hi ld. His s oc ial ris e and wealth were only a means to help others . W hen he rec eived aknighthood from Queen V ic toria in 1837, s he des c ribed him in her diary as 'a J ew, an exc el lent man' whi le in his journal , he prayed that the honour 'may prove the harbinger of future good to the J ews general ly. I had bes ides the pleas ure of my banner wi th "J erus alem" floating proudly in the hal l .' Onc e he was ric h,he s c aled down his bus ines s and, often c ampaigning with his brother-in-law or his nephew Lionel de Roths c hi ld, he devoted hims el f to winning pol i tic al rights for B ri tis h J ews .* But he was mos t needed abroad, where he was rec eived l ike a B ri tis h ambas s ador by emperors and s ul tans , dis playing ti reles s c ourageand ingenui ty whi le often in pers onal danger. As we have s een, i t was his Damas c us m is s ion to Muhammad A l i and the s ul tan that made him famous .

Montefiore found hims el f admired even by the mos t em inent anti -Semites : when Nic holas I, in his c rus ade for Orthodoxy and Autoc rac y, was s tarting to repres s the m i l l ions of Rus s ian J ews , Montefiore travel led to S t Peters burg to ins is t that Rus s ian J ews were loyal , brave and honourable. 'If they res embledyou,' repl ied Nic holas wi th om inous c ourtes y. + However he was more than c apable of holding his own with anyone: when he rus hed to Rome to intervene in an anti -Semitic intrigue, a c ardinal as ked him how muc h of Roths c hi ld's gold had paid for the s ul tan's ban on the 'blood l ibel .' 'Not as muc h as I gave yourlac key for hanging up my c oat in your hal l ,' Montefiore repl ied.

His partner in al l his enterpris es was the vivac ious , c urly-haired J udi th who always c al led him 'Monty', but they were not des tined to found a dynas ty: des pi te their prayers at Rac hel 's Tomb, they never had c hi ldren. Yet apart from his J ewis hnes s and the Hebrew letters of J erus alem on his c oat of arms ,Montefiore had the vi rtues and faul ts of a typic al V ic torian grandee. He l ived in s plendour in a Park Lane mans ion and a c renel lated Gothic Revival vi l la in Rams gate where he bui l t his own s ynagogue and a unique i f grandios e maus oleum bas ed exac tly on Rac hel 's Tomb. His tone was ponderous ly orotund, hisrighteous nes s was s c arc ely leavened with humour, there was a c ertain vani ty in his autoc ratic s tyle, and behind the fac ade, there were m is tres s es and i l legi timate c hi ldren. Indeed his modern biographer reveals that whi le in his eighties , he fathered a c hi ld wi th a teenage maid, yet another s ign of his as tonis hingenergy.

Now his s earc h for a plac e to buy in J erus alem was helped by the J erus alem Famil ies whom he had always befriended: even the qadi c al led him 'the pride of the people of Mos es '. Ahmed Duzhdar Aga, whom he had known for twenty years , s old him a plot outs ide the wal ls between the Zion and J affa gates for1,000 gold Engl is h s overeigns . Montefiore immediately moved his tents to his new land where he planned a hos pi tal and a Kentis h windmil l s o that J ews c ould make their own bread. Before he left he as ked the pas ha for a s pec ial favour: the s tenc h of the J ewis h Quarter, c i ted in every W es tern travelogue, wasc aus ed by a Mus l im abattoir, i ts very pres enc e a s ign of the inferior s tatus of the J ews . Montefiore as ked for i t to be moved and the pas ha agreed.

In J une 1857, Montefiore returned for the fi fth time with the materials for his windmil l and in 1859, c ons truc tion s tarted. Ins tead of a hos pi tal , he bui l t the alms hous es for poor J ewis h fam i l ies that bec ame known as the Montefiore Cottages , unmis takably V ic torian l ike a red-bric k, c renel lated, moc k-medievalc lubhous e in Engl is h s uburbia. In Hebrew they were c al led Mis hkenot Shaanim - the Dwel l ings of Del ight - but ini tial ly they were preyed on by bandi ts and their inhabi tants were s o undel ighted they us ed to c reepbac k into the c i ty to s leep. T he windmil l did at fi rs t produc e c heap bread but i t s oon broke down due tothe lac k of J udaean wind and Kentis h maintenanc e.

Chris tian evangel is ts and J ewis h rabbis al ike dreamed of the J ewis h return - and this was Montefiore's c ontribution. T he c olos s al weal th of the new J ewis h plutoc rats , es pec ial ly the Roths c hi lds , enc ouraged the idea that, as Dis rael i put i t at jus t this time, the 'Hebrew c api tal is ts ' would buy Pales tine. T heRoths c hi lds , arbi ters of international pol i tic s and financ e at the height of their power, as influential in Paris and V ienna as they were in London, were unc onvinc ed but they were happy to c ontribute money and helpto Montefiore whos e 'c ons tant dream ' was that 'J erus alem is des tined to bec ome the s eat of a J ewis hempire.' * In 1859, after a s ugges tion from the Ottoman ambas s ador in London, Montefiore dis c us s ed the idea of buying Pales tine but he was s c eptic al , knowing that the ris ing Anglo-J ewis h el i te were bus y buying c ountry es tates to l ive the Engl is h dream and had no interes t in s uc h a s c heme. Ul timately Montefiorebel ieved that his beloved 'national res toration of the Is rael i tes ' was beyond pol i tic s and bes t left to 'Divine Agenc y' - but the opening in 1860 of his l i ttle Montefiore Quarter was the beginning of the new J ewis h c i ty outs ide the wal ls . T his was far from Montefiore's las t vis i t but after the Crimean W ar, J erus alem wasonc e again an international objec t of des ire: Romanovs , Hohenzol lerns , Habs burgs and B ri tis h princ es vied with one another to c ombine the new s c ienc e of arc haeology with the old game of empires .15

THE NEW RELIGION

1860-70

EMPERORS AND ARCHAEOLOGISTS: INNOCENTS ABROAD

In Apri l 1859, Emperor A lexander II's brother Grand Duke Kons tantin Nikolaevic h was the fi rs t of the Romanovs to vis i t J erus alem - 'final ly my triumphant entry', he rec orded in his lac onic diary, 'Crowds and dus t'. W hen he walked to the Holy Sepulc hre: 'Tears and emotions '; and when he left the c i ty, 'we c ouldn't s topc rying'. T he emperor and the grand duke had planned a Rus s ian c ul tural offens ive. 'W e mus t es tabl is h our pres enc e in the Eas t not pol i tic al ly but through the c hurc h,' dec lared a Foreign Minis try report. 'J erus alem is the c entre of the world and our m is s ion mus t be there.' T he grand duke founded a Pales tine Soc ietyand the Rus s ian S teams hip Company to bring Rus s ian pi lgrims from Odes s a. He ins pec ted the 18 ac res of the Rus s ian Compound where the Romanovs were s tarting to bui ld a l i ttle Mus c ovi te town.* Soon there were s o many Rus s ian pi lgrims that tents had to be pi tc hed to hous e them.

T he B ri tis h were every bi t as c ommitted as the Rus s ians . On 1 Apri l 1862, A lbert Edward, the plump, twenty-year-old P rinc e of W ales (the future Edward V II), rode into J erus alem, es c orted by a hundred Ottoman c avalrymen.T he princ e, who s tayed in a grand enc ampment outs ide the wal ls , was very exc i ted about getting a Crus ader tattoo on his arm and his vis i t made an indel ible impres s ion both in J erus alem and bac k home. Not only did his pres enc e ac c elerate the rec al l of J ames Finn, ac c us ed of financ ial improprieties after

twenty years of his domineering pres enc e, but i t intens i fied the feel ing that J erus alem was s omehow a l i ttle piec e of England. T he princ e was guided around the s i tes by the Dean of W es tm ins ter, A rthur S tanley, whos e immens ely influential book of bibl ic al his tory and arc haeologic al s pec ulation c onvinc ed ageneration of B ri tis h readers that J erus alem was 'a land more dear to us from our c hi ldhood even than England'. In the m id-nineteenth c entury, arc haeology s uddenly bec ame not jus t a new his toric al s c ienc e to s tudy the pas t but a way to c ontrol the future. No wonder arc haeology was immediately pol i tic al - not onlya c ul tural fetis h, s oc ial fas hion and royal hobby, but empire-bui lding by other means and an extens ion of m i l i tary es pionage. It bec ame J erus alem 's s ec ular rel igion and als o, in the hands of imperial is t Chris tians s uc h as Dean S tanley, a s c ienc e in the s ervic e of God: i f i t c onfi rmed the truth of the B ible and thePas s ion, Chris tians c ould rec laim the Holy Land i ts el f.

T he Rus s ians and B ri tis h were not alone. T he c ons uls of the Great Powers , many of them rel igious m inis ters , als o fanc ied thems elves as arc haeologis ts , but i t was Americ an Chris tians who real ly c reated modern arc haeology. * T he Frenc h and Germans were not far behind, purs uing arc haeologic als pec tac ulars wi th ruthles s national es pri t, their emperors and prem iers keenly bac king their digs . Like the s pac e rac e in the twentieth c entury wi th i ts heroic as tronauts , arc haeology quic kly bec ame a projec tion of national power wi th c elebri ty arc haeologis ts who res embled s was hbuc kl ing his toric al c onquis tadorsand s c ienti fic treas ure hunters . One German arc haeologis t c al led i t 'the peac eful c rus ade'.

T he P rinc e of W ales ' vis i t enc ouraged the expedi tion of a red-c oated B ri tis h offic er and arc haeologis t, Captain Charles W i ls on, who, in the tunnels c los e to the W es tern W al l under the Gate of the Chain S treet, dis c overed the monumental Herodian arc h of the great bridge reac hing ac ros s the T yropaean Val leyto the T emple. It is s ti l l known as W i ls on's A rc h, and this was jus t the s tart.

In May 1865, an array of patric ians , from Earl Rus s el l the foreign s ec retary to the Duke of A rgyl l , founded the Pales tine Exploration Fund with c ontributions from Queen V ic toria and Montefiore. Shaftes bury would later s erve as i ts pres ident. T he vis i t to Pales tine of the fi rs t heir to the B ri tis h throne s inc e Edward I'opened the whole of Syria to Chris tian res earc h', explained the Soc iety's pros pec tus . A t i ts fi rs t s es s ion, the A rc hbis hop of York, W i l l iam T homps on, dec lared that the B ible had given him 'the laws by whic h I try to l ive' and 'the bes t knowledge I pos s es s '. He went further: 'T his c ountry of Pales tine belongs to youand me. It was given to the Father of Is rael . It's the land whenc e c omes news of our redemption. It's the land where we look with as true a patriotis m as we do this dear old England.'

In February 1867, Lieutenant of Royal Engineers Charles W arren, twenty-s even years old, began the Soc iety's s urvey of Pales tine. However, the J erus alem ites were hos ti le to any exc avations around the Temple Mount s o he hired plots nearby and s ank twenty-s even s hafts deep into the roc k. He unc overed thefi rs t real arc haeologic al artefac ts in J erus alem, the pottery of Hezekiah marked 'Belonging to the K ing'; forty-three c is terns under the Temple Mount; W arren's Shaft in the Ophel hi l l that he bel ieved was K ing David's c ondui t into the c i ty; and his W arren's Gate in the tunnels along the W es tern W al l was one ofHerod's main entranc es to the Temple - and later the J ewis h Cave. T his adventurous arc haeologis t pers oni fied the glamour of the new s c ienc e. In one of his s ubterranean exploi ts he unc overed the anc ient S truthion Pool and s ai led on i t on a raft made of doors . Fas hionable V ic torian ladies were lowered inbas kets down his s hafts , s wooning at the bibl ic al s ights as they loos ened their c ors ets .

W arren s ympathized with the J ews , angered by the booris h European touris ts who moc ked their 'mos t s olemn gathering' at the W al l as i f i t were a 'farc e'. On the c ontrary, the 'c ountry mus t be governed for them ' s o that ul timately 'the J ewis h princ ipal i ty m ight s tand by i ts el f as a s eparate kingdom guaranteed bythe Great Powers '.* T he Frenc h were jus t as aggres s ive in their arc haeologic al as pirations - though their c hief arc haeologis t, Fel ic ien de Saulc y, was a bungler who dec lared that the Tomb of K ings jus t north of the wal ls belonged to K ing David. In fac t i t was the tomb of the Queen of Adiabene dating from athous and years later.

In 1860, Mus l ims mas s ac red Chris tians in Syria and Lebanon, furious at the s ul tan's laws in favour of Chris tians and J ews , but this only attrac ted further W es tern advanc es : Napoleon III s ent troops to s ave the Maroni te Chris tians of the Lebanon, refres hing Frenc h c laims to the area that had s urvived fromCharlemagne, the Crus ades and K ing Franc is in the s ixteenth c entury. In 1869, Egypt, bac ked by Frenc h c api tal , opened the Suez Canal at a c eremony attended by the Frenc h empres s Eugenie, the P rus s ian c rown princ e Frederic k and the Aus trian emperor Franz J os eph. Not to be outdone by the B ri tis h andRus s ians , the P rus s ian Frederic k s ai led up to J affa and rode to J erus alem, where he vigorous ly promoted a P rus s ian pres enc e in the rac e to grab c hurc hes and arc haeologic al prizes : he bought the s i te of the Crus ader S t Mary of the Latins , c los e to the Churc h, and Frederic k (the father of the future Kais er W i lhelmII) bac ked the aggres s ive arc haeologis t T i tus T obler, who dec lared: 'J erus alem mus t be ours .' As Frederic k headed bac k to J affa, he almos t rode into Franz J os eph, the Emperor of Aus tria and ti tular K ing of J erus alem, who had only rec ently been defeated by the P rus s ians at the Battle of Sadowa. T hey greeted oneanother c oldly.

Franz J os eph gal loped into J erus alem es c orted by a thous and Ottoman guards , inc luding Bedouin wi th lanc es , Druze with ri fles , and c ameleers , and ac c ompanied by an enormous s i lver bed, a pres ent from the s ul tan. 'W e dis mounted,' the emperor rec orded, 'and I knel t in the road and kis s ed the earth' as thec annon of David's Tower boomed a s alute. He was overc ome by 'how everything s eemed to be jus t l ike one imagined i t from one's c hi ldhood s tories and the B ible'16 But the Aus trians , l ike al l the Europeans , were buying bui ldings to promote a new Chris tian c i ty: the emperor ins pec ted the huge earth-works to bui ldan Aus trian Hos pic e on the V ia Doloros a.

'I s hal l never c onc ede any road improvements to thes e c razy Chris tians ,' wrote the Ottoman grand vizier Fuad Pas ha, 'as they would then trans form J erus alem into a Chris tian madhous e.' But the Ottomans did bui ld a new J affa road es pec ial ly for Franz J os eph. T he momentum of the 'Chris tian madhous e' wasuns toppable.

MARK TW AIN AND THE 'PAUPER V ILLAGE'

Captain Charles W arren, the young arc haeologis t, was pas s ing the J affa Gate when he was amazed to wi tnes s a beheading. T he exec ution was horribly botc hed by a c lums y headman: 'You're hurting me,' c ried the vic tim as the exec utioner hac ked at his nec k s ixteen times unti l he jus t c l imbed on to theunfortunate's bac k and s awed through his s pinal c olumn as i f he was s ac ri fic ing a s heep. J erus alem had at leas t two fac es and a multiple pers onal i ty dis order: the gleaming, imperial edi fic es , bui l t by the Europeans in pi th helmets and redc oats as they rapidly Chris tianized the Mus l im Quarter, exis ted alongs idethe old Ottoman c i ty where blac k Sudanes e guards protec ted the Haram and guarded c ondemned pris oners whos e heads s ti l l rol led in publ ic exec utions . T he gates were s ti l l c los ed eac h s undown; Bedouin s urrendered their s pears and s words when they c ame into the c i ty. A thi rd of the c i ty was a was teland and aphotograph (taken by the A rmenian Patriarc h no les s ) s howed the Churc h s urrounded by open c ountry in the m ids t of the c i ty. T he two worlds frequently c las hed: when in 1865, the fi rs t telegraph opened between J erus alem and Is tanbul , the A rab hors eman who c harged the telegraph-pole was arres ted and hangedfrom i t.

In Marc h 1866, Montefiore, now a widower of eighty-one, arrived on his s ixth vis i t and c ould not bel ieve the c hanges . Finding that the J ews at the W es tern W al l were expos ed not only to the rain but to oc c as ional pel ting from the Temple Mount above, he rec eived perm is s ion to s et up an awning there - and trieduns uc c es s ful ly to buy the W al l , one of many attempts by the J ews to own their holy s i te. As he left J erus alem, he fel t 'more deeply than ever impres s ed'. It was not his las t trip: when he returned in 1875 aged ninety-one, 'I beheld almos t a new J erus alem s pringing up with bui ldings , s ome of them as fine as any inEurope.' As he left for the las t time, he c ould not help but mus e that 's urely we're approac hing the time to wi tnes s the real ization of God's hal lowed promis es unto Zion.'*

Guidebooks warned agains t 's qual id Pol is h J ews ', and a 'm ias ma of fi l th', but to s ome i t was the P rotes tant pi lgrims who tainted the plac e.17 'Lepers , c ripples , the bl ind and idiotic , as s ai l you on every hand,' obs erved Samuel Clemens , the journal is t from Mis s ouri who wrote as 'Mark T wain'. T ravel l ing theMediterranean aboard the Quak er Ci ty , T wain, c elebrated as the 'W i ld Humoris t', was on a pi lgrim c ruis e c al led the Grand Holy Land P leas ure Exc urs ion whic h he renamed the Grand Holy Land Funeral Expedi tion. He treated pi lgrimage as a farc e, moc king the s inc eri ty of Americ an pi lgrims whom he c al led'innoc ents abroad'. 'It's a rel ief to s teal a walk for a hundred yards ', he wrote, wi thout enc ountering another 's i te'. He was mos t amus ed to find the c olumn in the Churc h that was the c entre of the world made of the dus t from whic h Adam was c onjured: 'No man has been able to prove that the dirt was NOT proc uredhere.' Overal l he hated the Churc h's 'trumpery, geegaws and tawdry ornamentation', and the c i ty: 'Renowned J erus alem, the s tatel ies t name in his tory has bec ome a pauper vi l lage - mournful dreary and l i feles s - I wouldn't want to l ive here.'* Yet even the W ild Humoris t quietly bought his mother a J erus alem B ible ands ometimes reflec ted, 'I am s i tting where a god has s tood.'

T he touris ts , whether rel igious or s ec ular, Chris tian or J ewis h, Chateaubriand, Montefiore or T wain, were good at s eeing where gods had s tood but almos t bl ind when i t c ame to s eeing the ac tual people who l ived there. T hroughout her his tory, J erus alem exis ted in the imagination of devotees who l ived farawayin Americ a or Europe. Now that thes e vis i tors were arriving on s teams hips in their thous ands , they expec ted to find the exotic and dangerous , pic tures que and authentic images they had imagined with the help of their B ibles , their V ic torian s tereotypes of rac e, and, onc e they arrived, their trans lators and guides .T hey s aw only the divers i ty of c os tumes in the s treets and dis m is s ed the images they did not l ike as Oriental fi l th and what Baedeker c al led 'wi ld s upers ti tion and fanatic is m '. Ins tead, they would bui ld the 'authentic ' grand Holy Ci ty they had expec ted to find. It was thes e views that would drive the imperial interes t inJ erus alem. As for the res t - the vibrant, hal f-vei led, anc ient world of the A rabs and Sephardic J ews - they c ould s c arc ely s ee i t. But i t was very muc h there.18

ARAB CITY, IMPERIAL CITY

1870-80

YUSUF KHALIDI: MUSIC, DANCING, DAILY LIFE

T he real J erus alem was l ike a Tower of Babel in fanc y dres s with a hierarc hy of rel igions and languages . Ottoman offic ers wore embroidered jac kets c oupled with European uni forms ; Ottoman J ews , A rmenians and A rab Chris tians and Mus l ims s ported froc k-c oats or whi te s ui ts wi th a new piec e of headgear thats ymbol ized the new reformed Ottoman empire: the tarbus h, or fez; the Mus l im ulema wore turbans and robes that were almos t identic al to thos e worn by many of the Sephardic J ews and Orthodox A rabs ; the growing numbers of penurious Pol is h Has idic J ews * wore gaberdine c oats and fedoras ; the kavas s es - thebodyguards of the Europeans - were often A rmenians who s ti l l wore s c arlet jac kets , whi te pantaloons and pac ked big pis tols . Shoeles s blac k s laves s erved ic e s herbet to their mas ters , the old A rab or Sephardic fam i l ies whos e men often wore a s mattering of al l the above c os tumes - turbans or fezzes but wi th longc oats tied wi th a s as h, wide T urkis h trous ers and a blac k W es tern jac ket on top. T he A rabs s poke T urkis h and A rabic ; the A rmenians A rmenian, T urkis h and A rabic ; Sephardis , Ladino, T urkis h and A rabic ; the Has ids , Y iddis h, that m itteleuropean argot of German and Hebrew whic h s pawned i ts own great l i terature.

If this s eemed c haotic to the outs iders , the s ul tan-c al iph pres ided over a Sunni empire: the Mus l ims were at the top; the T urks ruled; then c ame the A rabs . T he Pol is h J ews , muc h moc ked for their poverty, 'wai l ing' and the tranc e-l ike rhythms of their prayers , were at the bottom; but in between, in a hal f-s ubmerged folk c ul ture, there was muc h blending, des pi te the s tringent rules of eac h rel igion.

A t the end of the Ramadan fas t, al l the rel igions c elebrated with a feas t and a fai r outs ide the wal ls , wi th merry-go-rounds and hors erac es , whi le vendors exhibi ted obs c ene peeps hows and s old A rab s weets , Maidens Hair and T urkis h Del ight. During the J ewis h fes tival of Purim , Mus l im and Chris tian A rabsdres s ed up in the tradi tional J ewis h c os tumes , and al l three rel igions attended the J ewis h P ic nic held at the tomb of S imon the J us t north of the Damas c us Gate. J ews pres ented their A rab neighbours wi th matzah and invi ted them to the Pas s over Seder dinner, whi le the A rabs returned the favour by giving theJ ews newly baked bread when the fes tival ended. J ewis h mohels often c i rc umc is ed Mus l im c hi ldren. J ews held parties to welc ome their Mus l im neighbours bac k from the haj . T he c los es t relations were between A rabs and Sephardic J ews . Indeed the A rabs c al led the Sephardis 'Yahud, aw lad A rab - J ews , s on ofA rabs ', their own J ews and s ome Mus l im women even learned Ladino. During droughts , the ulema as ked the Sephardic rabbis to pray for rain. T he Sephardic , A rab-s peaking Valeros , the c i ty's leading bankers , were bus ines s partners wi th many of the Famil ies . Ironic al ly, the A rab Orthodox Chris tians were the mos thos ti le to J ews , whom they ins ul ted in tradi tional Eas ter s ongs and lync hed as they approac hed the Churc h.

A l though Baedeker warned touris ts that 'there are no plac es of publ ic amus ement in J erus alem ', this was a c i ty of mus ic and danc ing. T he loc als met in the c offee hous es and c el lar bars to s moke narghi leh water pipes , play bac kgammon, watc h wres tl ing matc hes and bel ly danc ing. A t weddings and fes tivals ,there was c irc le-danc ing (dabk ah), whi le s ingers performed s uc h love s ongs as 'My lover, your beauty hurt me'. A rab love s ongs al ternated with the Andalus ian Ladino s ongs of the Sephardis . Dervis hes danc ed their z ik r wi ldly to the maz har drums and c ymbals . In private hous es , mus ic was played by m ixed J ewis hand A rab mus ic ians on the lute (oud), fiddle (rabbaba) double c larinets (z ummara and arghul ) and kettledrum (inaqqara). T hes e ins truments ec hoed through the s ix hammam bathhous es that were c entral to J erus alem l i fe. T he men (who us ed them between 2 a.m. and m idday) enjoyed mas s ages and had theirmous tac hes trimmed; the women dyed their hair wi th henna and drank c offee. T he brides of J erus alem were led by s inging, drumming girl friends to the hammam where al l their body hair was fes tively removed us ing z arnik h , a pi tc h-l ike s yrup. T he wedding night i ts el f s tarted at the baths , then the groom and hisparty c ol lec ted the bride from her home and, i f this was a wedding of the Famil ies , they walked under a c anopy held by s ervants , i l lum inated by torc hes and fol lowed by a drummer and a band of pipers , up to the T emple Mount.

T he Famil ies were the apex of J erus alem s oc iety. T he fi rs t munic ipal leader was a Dajani , and in 1867, Yus uf al-Diya al-Khal idi , aged twenty-five, bec ame the fi rs t mayor of J erus alem. Henc eforth the pos t was always held by the Famil ies - there would be s ix Hus s einis , four A lam is , two Khal idis , three Dajanis .Khal idi , whos e mother was a Hus s eini , had run away as a boy to attend P rotes tant s c hool in Malta. Later he worked for the l iberal grand vizier in Is tanbul . He regarded hims el f fi rs t as an 'Uts i ' - a J erus alem ite (he c al led J erus alem his 'homeland') - s ec ond as an A rab (and a Shami, an inhabi tant of Shams al-B i lad,greater Syria), thi rd as an Ottoman. He was an intel lec tual , one of the s tars of the nahda , the A rab l i terary renais s anc e that s aw the opening of c ul tural c lubs , news papers and publ is hers .* Yet the fi rs t mayor dis c overed his was a fighting as wel l as munic ipal job: the governor des patc hed him with forty hors emen tos uppres s fighting at Kerak, perhaps the only mayor of modern his tory to lead a c avalry expedi tion.

T he Famil ies eac h had their own banners and their own s pec ial role in the c i ty's fes tivals . A t the Holy Fire, the thi rteen leading A rab Chris tian fam i l ies paraded their banners but the Nabi Mus a was the mos t popular fes tival . T hous ands arrived on hors ebac k and foot from al l over Pales tine to be greeted by themufti , us ual ly a Hus s eini , and the Ottoman governor. T here was bois terous danc ing and s inging to c ymbals and drums . Sufi dervis hes whirled - 's ome ate l ive c oals , others forc ed s pikes through their c heeks ' and there were punc h-ups between J erus alem ites and Nablus i tes . J ews and Chris tians were s ometimesbeaten up by over-exc i ted A rab bravos . W hen the c rowds had as s embled on the Temple Mount, they were s aluted by a c annonade and then the Hus s einis on hors ebac k, brandis hing their own green banners , led the c avalc ade towards Baibars ' s hrine near J eric ho. T he Dajanis waved their own purple Banner ofDavid's T omb. Yet the Famil ies , eac h with their own dynas tic domain - the Hus s einis had the T emple Mount, the Khal idis the lawc ourts , and they al l c ompeted for the mayoral ty - were s ti l l s truggl ing for s upremac y and playing the peri lous game of Is tanbul pol i tic s .

T he Orthodox S lavs of the Balkans , bac ked by Rus s ia, wanted independenc e; the Ottoman empire s truggled to s urvive. T he ac c es s ion of a new and more forc eful s ul tan, Abdul-Hamid II, was marked by mas s ac res of Bulgarian Chris tians . Under Rus s ian pres s ure, Abdul-Hamid ac c epted a c ons ti tution and theelec tion of a parl iament: in J erus alem, the Hus s einis bac ked the old autoc rac y and the Khal idis were the new l iberals . Mayor Khal idi was elec ted to repres ent J erus alem and headed off to Is tanbul , yet the c ons ti tution was a feint. Abdul-Hamid c anc el led i t and s tarted to promote a new Ottoman national is mc ombined with an pan-Is lam ic loyal ty to the c al iphate. T his intel l igent but neurotic s ul tan, dim inutive wi th a bleating voic e and a tendenc y to fainting-fi ts , enforc ed his rule wi th the Khafiy a s ec ret pol ic e who murdered his ex-grand vizier and one of his s lavegirls amongs t others . W hi le he enjoyed the tradi tionalprivi leges - his harem c ontained 900 odal is ques - he l ived in fear, c hec king under his bed for as s as s ins eac h night, but he was als o a s ki l led c arpenter, a reader of Sherloc k Holmes , and the impres ario of his own theatre.

His c rac kdown was immediately fel t in J erus alem: Yus uf Khal idi was expel led from Is tanbul , s ac ked as mayor and replac ed by Umar al-Hus s eini . W hen the Khal idis were down, the Hus s einis were up. Meanwhi le, Rus s ia prepared final ly to des troy the Ottomans . T he B ri tis h prime m inis ter, Benjam in Dis rael i ,intervened to s ave them.

JERUSALEM TATTOOS:BRITISH PRINCES AND RUSSIAN GRAND DUKES

He had jus t bought the Suez Canal, borrowing PS4 m i l l ion from Lionel de Roths c hi ld. 'W hat is your s ec uri ty?' as ked Roths c hi ld.'T he B ri tis h government,' repl ied Dis rael i 's s ec retary.'You s hal l have i t.' Now in 1878 at the Congres s of Berl in, Dis rael i guided the c abinets of Europe to c urb Rus s ia and enforc e a s ettlement, in whic h B ri tain was able to oc c upy Cyprus . His performanc e was admired by the German c hanc el lor P rinc e B is marc k, who pointing at Dis rael i remarked, 'T he old J ew -

he's the man.' T he Ottomans had to give up muc h of their European, Chris tian terri tory and were forc ed to c onfi rm the rights of J ews and other m inori ties . In 1882, the B ri tis h took c ontrol of Egypt, whic h remained nominal ly under the A lbanian dynas ty. T wo repres entatives of B ri tain's forward pos i tion in the MiddleEas t vis i ted J erus alem on their world tour: the young heirs to the B ri tis h throne - P rinc e A lbert V ic tor, known as P rinc e Eddy, the future Duke of Clarenc e, aged eighteen, and his brother George, aged s ixteen, the future George V .*

T hey pi tc hed their c amp on the Mount of Ol ives , 'the very s ame that Papa c amped on,' wrote P rinc e George, who thought i t 'a c api tal plac e'. T he c ampboas ted eleven luxurious tents , borne by ninety-five pac k-animals and s erved by s ixty s ervants - al l mars hal led by the king of travel agents , T homas Cook, aGeordie Baptis t m inis ter who in 1869 had s tarted a travel bus ines s c onveying temperanc e c ampaigners from Leic es ter to Loughborough. Now Cook and his s ons - one of whom ac c ompanied the princ es - were pioneers of the new touris m, hiring s mal l arm ies of s ervants , guards and dragomans (trans lator-fixers ) toprotec t agains t any attac k by Bedouin or the Abu Ghos h c lan, who s ti l l dominated the road from J affa and had to be ei ther bribed or c o-opted. T hes e impres arios of travel laid out enc ampments of s umptuous s i lk tents , dec orated in exotic reds and turquois e arabes ques with dining rooms and rec eiving rooms , andeven hot and c old water. T he des ired effec t was to del iver an Oriental fantas y for the wel l -heeled Engl is h travel ler - l ike s omething out of the Thous and and One Nights .

T homas Cook's offic es were at the J affa Gate, whic h was the hub of a new touris t-friendly J erus alem, s ymbol ized by the opening of the Grand New Hotel , jus t over Baths heba's Pool , s uppos edly where Uriah's wi fe was s een bathing by K ing David,+ and J oac him Fas t's hotel jus t outs ide the gate. In 1892, therai lway final ly reac hed J erus alem, truly opening up the c i ty to touris m.

Photography developed alongs ide touris m. It was unexpec ted i f fi tting that the high pries t of J erus alem 's photographic boom was Yes s ayi Garabedian, the A rmenian patriarc h, 'probably the hands omes t potentate in the world', who s tudied the art in Manc hes ter. His two proteges left the A rmenian pries thood andfounded photographic s tudios on the J affa Road that offered touris ts the c hanc e to buy photographs of A rabs in 'bibl ic al pos es ' or to pos e thems elves in bibl ic al c os tume. In a typic al moment, a group of bearded and s heeps kin-c lad Rus s ian peas ants gathered in amazement to watc h 'a blue-eyed fair-haired Engl is hlady' wearing 'an embroidered s c arlet c os tume' wi th a bras s c i rc let on her head and 'tight c ors ets ' fram ing a 'finely-developed bus t,' s triking pos es in front of David's T ower. T he Rus s ians were hal f-horri fied, hal f-dazzled.

T he growing New City was s o arc hi tec tural ly ec lec tic that today J erus alem has hous es and enti re s uburbs that look as i f they belong anywhere other than in the Middle Eas t. T he new Chris tian edi fic es added at the end of the c entury inc luded twenty-s even Frenc h c onvents , ten Ital ian and eight Rus s ian.* A fterB ri tain and P rus s ia ended their s hared Anglo-P rus s ian bis hopric , the Angl ic ans c ons truc ted their own s turdi ly Engl is h S t George's Cathedral , the s ee of an Angl ic an bis hop. But in 1892, the Ottomans were s ti l l bui lding too: Abdul-Hamid had added new fountains , c reated the New Gate to al low ac c es s direc tly tothe Chris tian Quarter and in 1901, c elebrating his twenty-fi fth jubi lee, he added a bel l tower to the J affa Gate that looked as i f i t belonged in a s uburban Engl is h rai lway s tation.

Meanwhi le J ews and A rabs , Greeks and Germans were c olonizing the New City outs ide the wal ls . In 1869, s even J ewis h fam i l ies founded the Nahalat Shiva - Quarter of the Seven - outs ide the J affa Gate; in 1874, ul tra-Orthodox J ews s ettled in Mea Shearim , now a Has s idic quarter. By 1880, the 17,000 J ewsformed a majori ty and there were nine new J ewis h s uburbs whi le the A rab Famil ies bui l t their own Hus s eini and Nas has hibi quarters in Sheikh J arrah, the area north of the Damas c us Gate.+ T he Famil ies ' A rab mans ions boas ted dec orated c ei l ings in hybrid T urkis h-European s tyles . One Hus s eini bui l t the OrientHous e with i ts entry hal l painted in flowers and geometric patterns , whi le another, Rabah E ffendi Hus s eini , c reated a mans ion featuring the Pas ha Room with a high dome painted c eles tial blue, framed by gi lded ac anthus leaves . Orient Hous e bec ame a hotel then the Pales tine Authori ty's J erus alem headquartersin the 1990s and Rabah Hus s eini 's mans ion bec ame the home of J erus alem 's mos t em inent Americ an fam i ly.

THE AMERICAN OVERCOMERS: KEEPING JESUS ' MILK W ARM

On 21 November 1873, Anna Spafford and four of her daughters were c ros s ing the A tlantic on the V il le de Hav re when i t was s truc k by another s hip. As the s hip s ank, al l four c hi ldren were drowned, but Anna s urvived. W hen s he learned, after her res c ue, that they were dead, s he wanted to throw hers el f into thewater after them. Ins tead s he s ent her hus band, Horatio, a pros perous Chic ago attorney, the heartbreaking telegram: 'SAVED ALONE. W HAT SHALL I DO?' W hat the Spaffords did was to give up their c onventional l i fe and c ome to J erus alem. Firs t they fac ed more tragedy: their s on died of s c arlet fever, leaving themone c hi ld, Bertha, out of s ix. Anna Spafford bel ieved hers el f 's pared for a purpos e', but the c ouple was als o outraged by their P res byterian Churc h, whic h regarded their fate as divine punis hment. Form ing their own mes s ianic s ec t, whic h the US pres s c al led the Overc omers , they bel ieved that good works inJ erus alem and the res toration of the J ews to Is rael - fol lowed by their c onvers ion - would has ten the imminent Sec ond Coming.

In 1881, the Overc omers - thi rteen adul ts and three c hi ldren, who bec ame the nuc leus of the Americ an Colony - s ettled in a large hous e jus t ins ide the Damas c us Gate unti l , in 1896, they were joined by the farmers of the Swedis h Evangel ic al Churc h and needed a larger headquarters . T hey then leas ed RabbahHus s eini 's mans ion in Sheikh J arrah on the road to Nablus . Horatio died in 1888, but the s ec t thrived as they preac hed the Sec ond Coming, c onverted J ews and developed their c olony into a phi lanthropic , evangel ic al beehive of hos pi tals , orphanages , s oup-ki tc hens , a s hop, their own photography s tudio and as c hool . T heir s uc c es s attrac ted the hos ti l i ty of the long-s erving Americ an c ons ul-general , Selah Merri l l , an anti -Semitic Mas s ac hus etts Congregational is t c lergyman, Andover profes s or and inept arc haeologis t. For twenty years Merri l l tried to des troy the Colonis ts , ac c us ing them of c harlatanis m, anti -Americ anis m,lewdnes s and c hi ld-kidnapping. He threatened to s end his guards to hors ewhip them.

T he US pres s c laimed that the Colonis ts made tea on the Ol ivet every day ready for the Sec ond Coming: 'T hey keepmilk warm at al l times ', explained the Detroi t New s , 'in c as e the Lord and Mas ter s hould arrive and as s es are kept s addled in c as e J es us appeared and s ome s aid they would never die.' T hey als oplayed a s pec ial part in the c i ty's arc haeology: in 1882, they befriended a B ri tis h imperial hero who s ymbol ized the empire's embrac e of B ible and s word.

A fter helping s uppres s the Boxer Rebel l ion in China and governing the Sudan, General Charles 'Chines e' Gordon s ettled in J ohn the Baptis t's vi l lage, E in Kerem. But he c ame into town to s tudy the B ible and enjoy the view from the roof of the Colony's original hous e. T here he bec ame c onvinc ed that the s kul l -l ike hi l l oppos i te was the true Golgotha, an idea he promoted with s uc h energy that his s o-c al led Garden Tomb bec ame a P rotes tant al ternative to the Sepulc hre. * Meanwhi le the Overc omers were generous to the many mental ly fragi le pi lgrims whom Bertha Spafford c al led 'S imples in the Garden of A l lah'.'J erus alem ', s he wrote in her memoirs , 'attrac ts al l kinds of rel igious fanatic s and c ranks of di fferent degrees of derangement.' T here were fel low Americ ans who regarded thems elves as 'E l i jah, J ohn the Baptis t or another of the prophets [and] there were s everal mes s iahs wandering around J erus alem '. One of theE l i jahs tried to ki l l Horatio Spafford wi th a roc k; a Texan named T i tus thought he was a world-c onqueror but had to be res trained after he groped the maids . T hen there was a ric h Dutc h c ountes s des igning a mans ion to hous e the 144,000 rans omed s ouls of Revelation 7.4. Yet not al l the Americ ans in J erus alemwere Chris tian Hebrais ts . Cons ul-General Merri l l hated the J ews as muc h as he hated the Overc omers , c al l ing them an arrogant, money-obs es s ed 'rac e of weakl ings of whom nei ther s oldiers , c olonis ts nor c i tizens c an be made'.

Gradual ly the Americ an Colony's c heerful hymn-s inging and c hari table deeds made them friends among al l s ec ts and rel igions , and the fi rs t port of c al l for every wel l -c onnec ted wri ter, pi lgrim and potentate. Selma Lagerlof, a Swedis h wri ter who s tayed with the Spaffords , made the Colony famous with her novelJ erus alem, winning the Nobel Li terature P rize. In 1902, Baron P lato von Us tinov (grandfather of the ac tor Peter), who ran a hotel in J affa, as ked i f his gues ts c ould s tay at the Colony, the s tart of i ts trans formation into a hotel . 19 Yet i f the c i ty had been trans formed by W es terners , by the end of the c entury s he wasdominated by Rus s ia, empire of Orthodox peas ants and pers ec uted J ews , both drawn i rres is tibly towards J erus alem - and both travel l ing from Odes s a on the s ame s hips .

RUSSIANS

1880-98

GRAND DUKE SERGEI AND GRAND DUCHESS ELLA

Rus s ian peas ants , many of them women, often walked al l the way from their vi l lages s outhwards to Odes s a for the voyage to Zion. T hey wore 'deeply padded overc oats and furl ined jac kets wi th s heeps kin c aps ', the women adding 'bundles of four or five pettic oats and grey s hawls over their heads '. T hey brought theirdeath s hrouds and fel t, wrote S tephen Graham, an Engl is h journal is t who travel led wi th them dis guis ed by perfec t Rus s ian, s haggy beard and peas ant s moc k, 'that when they have been to J erus alem, the s erious oc c upations of their l i fe are al l ended. For the peas ant goes to J erus alem to die in a c ertain way inRus s ia - jus t as the whole c onc ern of the P rotes tant c entres round l i fe .'

T hey s ai led in the 'dark and fi l thy holds ' of s ubs idized s hips : 'In one s torm, when the mas ts were broken, the hold where the peas ants rol led over one another l ike c orps es , or gras ped at one another l ike madmen, was wors e than any imagined pi t, the s tenc h wors e than any fi re! ' In J erus alem, they werewelc omed 'by a giant Montenegrin guide in the magnific ent uni form of the Rus s ian Pales tine Soc iety - s c arlet and c ream c loak and riding knic kers - and c onduc ted through the J erus alem s treets ' c rowded with 'A rab beggars , almos t naked and ugly beyond words , howl ing for c oppers ', to the Rus s ian Compound.T here they l ived in c apac ious , c rowded dorm itories for 'threepenc e-a-day' and ate k as ha , c abbage s oupand mugs of k v as s root-beer in the refec tories . T here were s o many Rus s ians that the 'A rab boys ran alongs ide s houting in Rus s ian "Mus c ovi tes are good! "'

T hroughout the journey, rumours would s pread: 'T here is a mys terious pas s enger on board.' W hen they arrived, c rying 'Glory be to T hee O God! ', they would s ay, 'T here's a mys terious pi lgrim in J erus alem,' and c laim to have s een J es us at the Golden Gate or by Herod's wal l . 'T hey s pend a night in the Sepulc hreof Chris t,' explained Graham, 'and rec eiving the Holy Fire, extinguis h i t wi th their c aps that they wi l l wear in their c offins .' Yet they were inc reas ingly s hoc ked by 'J erus alem the earthly, a pleas ure-ground for weal thy s ights eers ', and partic ularly by 'the vas t s trange ruined dirty verm inous ' Churc h, 'the womb of death'.T hey would reas s ure thems elves by reflec ting, 'W e find J es us real ly when we c eas e looking at J erus alem and al low the Gos pel to look into us .' Yet their Holy Rus s ia i ts el f was c hanging: A lexander II's l iberation of the s erfs in 1861 unleas hed expec tations of reform that he c ould not s atis fy: anarc his t and s oc ial is tterroris ts hunted him down in his own empire. During one attac k, the emperor hims el f drew his pis tol and fi red at his would-be ki l lers . But in 1881 he was final ly as s as s inated in S t Peters burg, his legs blown off by bomb-throwing radic als .

Rumours quic kly s pread that J ews were impl ic ated (there was a J ewis h woman in the terroris ts ' c i rc le but none of the as s as s ins was J ewis h) and thes e unleas hed bloody attac ks agains t J ews ac ros s Rus s ia, enc ouraged and s ometimes organized by the s tate. T hes e predations gave the wes t a new word:pogrom, from the Rus s ian gromit - to des troy. T he new emperor, A lexander III, a bearded giant wi th bl inkered, c ons ervative views , regarded the J ews as a 's oc ial c anc er' and he blamed them for their own pers ec ution by hones t Orthodox Rus s ians . His May Laws of 1882 effec tively made anti -Semitis m * a s tate pol ic y,enforc ed by s ec ret-pol ic e repres s ion.

T he emperor bel ieved Holy Rus s ia would be s aved by autoc rac y and Orthodoxy enc ouraged by the c ul t of pi lgrimage to J erus alem. He therefore appointed his brother Grand Duke Sergei A lexandrovic h to the pres idenc y of the Imperial Orthodox Pales tine Soc iety 'to s trengthen Orthodoxy in the Holy Land'.On 28 September 1888, Sergei and his twenty-four-year-old wi fe E l la, pretty granddaughter of Queen V ic toria, c ons ec rated their Churc h of Mary Magdalene, wi th whi te l imes tone and s even gl is tening gold onion-domes , on the Mount of Ol ives . Both were moved by J erus alem. 'You c an't imagine what a profound

impres s ion i t makes ', E l la reported to Queen V ic toria, 'when entering the Holy Sepulc hre. It's s uc h an intens e joy being here and my thoughts c ons tantly turn to you.' E l la, born a P rotes tant princ es s of Hes s e-Darms tadt, had pas s ionately embrac ed her c onvers ion to Orthodoxy. 'How happy' i t made her to 's ee al lthes e holy plac es one learns to love from tender infanc y.' Sergei and the emperor had c areful ly overs een the des ign of the c hurc h, wi th E l la c ommis s ioning i ts paintings of Magdalene. 'It's l ike a dream to s ee al l thes e plac es where our Lord s uffered for us ,' E l la told V ic toria, 'and s uc h an intens e c omfort to prayhere.' E l la needed c omfort.

Sergei , thi rty-one years old, was a m i l i tary martinet and domes tic tyrant haunted by rumours of a s ec ret gay l i fe that c las hed with his s evere bel ief in autoc rac y and Orthodoxy. 'W ithout redeeming features , obs tinate, arrogant and dis agreeable, he flaunted his pec ul iari ties ,' c laimed one of his c ous ins . Hismarriage to E l la plac ed him at the c entre of European royal ty: her s is ter A lexandra was about to marry the future ts ar Nic holas II.

Before they left, Sergei 's interes ts - empire, God and arc haeology - merged in his new c hurc h, the S t A lexander Nevs ky, right next to the Churc h of the Sepulc hre. W hen he bought this prime s i te, Sergei and his bui lders had unc overed wal ls dating from Hadrian's Temple and Cons tantine's Bas i l ic a, and when hebui l t his c hurc h, he inc orporated thes e arc haeologic al finds into the bui lding. In the Rus s ian Compound, he c ommis s ioned Sergei 's Hous e, a luxury hos tel wi th turreted neo-Gothic towers for Rus s ian aris toc rats .* T he l ives of Sergei and E l la would be tragic ; yet, apart from thes e bui ldings and the thous ands ofRus s ian pi lgrims they attrac ted, his defining c ontribution was as one of the proponents of the offic ial anti -Semitis m that drove Rus s ia's J ews towards the s anc tuary of Zion.

GRAND DUKE SERGEI: RUSSIAN JEW S AND THE POGROMS

In 1891, A lexander III appointed Sergei governor-general of Mos c ow. T here, he immediately expel led 20,000 J ews from the c i ty, s urrounding their neighbourhood in the m iddle of the fi rs t night of Pas s over wi th Cos s ac ks and pol ic e. 'I c an't bel ieve we won't be judged for this in the future,' E l la wrote, but Sergei'bel ieves this is for our s ec uri ty. I s ee nothing in i t but s hame.'+

T he s ix m i l l ion Rus s ian J ews had always honoured J erus alem, praying towards the eas tern wal ls of their hous es . But now the pogroms pus hed them ei ther towards revolution - many embrac ed s oc ial is m - or towards es c ape. T hus was triggered a vas t exodus , the fi rs t A l iyah, a word that meant fl ight to a higherplac e, the Holy Mountain of J erus alem. T wo m i l l ion J ews left Rus s ia between 1888 and 1914, but 85 per c ent of them headed not for the P romis ed Land but the Golden Land of Americ a. Nonetheles s thous ands looked to J erus alem. By 1890, Rus s ian J ewis h immigration was s tarting to c hange the c i ty: there werenow 25,000 J ews out of 40,000 J erus alem ites . In 1882 the s ul tan banned J ewis h immigration and in 1889 dec reed that J ews were not al lowed to s tay in Pales tine more than three months , meas ures s c arc ely enforc ed. T he A rab Famil ies , led by Yus uf Khal idi , peti tioned Is tanbul agains t J ewis h immigration, butthe J ews kept c oming.

Ever s inc e the wri ters of the B ible c reated their narrative of J erus alem, and ever s inc e that biography of the c i ty had bec ome the univers al s tory, her fate had been dec ided faraway - in Babylon, Sus a, Rome, Mec c a, Is tanbul , London and S t Peters burg. In 1895, an Aus trian journal is t publ is hed the book thatwould define twentieth-c entury J erus alem: The J ew is h S tate .20

PART NINE

ZIONISM

O J erus alem: the one man who has been pres ent al l this whi le, the lovable dreamer of Nazareth, has done nothing but inc reas e the hate.T heodore Herzl , Diary

T he angry fac e of Yahweh is brooding over the hot roc ks whic h have s een more holy murder, rape, and plunder than any other plac e on this earth.A rthur Koes tler

If a land c an have a s oul , J erus alem is the s oul of the land of Is rael .David Ben-Gurion, pres s interview

No two c i ties have c ounted more with mankind than A thens and J erus alem.W ins ton Churc hi l l , The Sec ond W orld W ar, vol 6: Triumph and TragedyIt's not eas y to be a J erus alem ite. A thorny path runs alongs ide i ts joys . T he great are s mal l ins ide the Old Ci ty. Popes , patriarc hs , kings al l remove their c rowns . It is the c i ty of the K ing of K ings ; and earthly kings and lords are not i ts mas ters . No human c an ever pos s es s J erus alem.

J ohn T leel , 'I am J erus alem ', J erus alem QuarterlyAnd burthened Genti les

o'er the mainMus t bear the weight

of Is rael 's hateBec aus e he is not

brought againIn triumph to J erus alem.

Rudyard K ipl ing, 'T he Burden of J erus alem '

THE KAISER

1898-1905

HERZL

T heodor Herzl , a l i terary c ri tic in V ienna, was s aid to be 'extraordinari ly hands ome', his eyes were 'almond-s haped with heavy, blac k melanc holy las hes ', his profi le that of 'an As s yrian Emperor'. An unhappi ly married father of three, he was a thoroughly as s im i lated J ew who wore winged c ol lars and froc k-c oats ; 'hewas not of the people', and had l i ttle c onnec tion to the s habby, ringletted J ews of the s htetls . He was a lawyer by training, s poke no Hebrew or Y iddis h, put up Chris tmas trees at home and did not bother to c i rc umc is e his s on. But the Rus s ian pogroms of 1881 fundamental ly s hoc ked him . W hen, in 1895, V iennaelec ted the anti -Semitic rabble-rous er Karl Lueger as mayor, Herzl wrote: 'T he mood among the J ews is one of des pair.' T wo years later, he was in Paris c overing the Dreyfus A ffair, in whic h an innoc ent J ewis h army offic er was framed as a German s py, and he watc hed Paris ian mobs s hrieking 'Mort aux J ui fs ' in thec ountry that had emanc ipated J ews . T his reinforc ed his c onvic tion that as s im i lation had not only fai led but was provoking more anti -Semitis m. He even predic ted that anti -Semitis m would one day be legal ized in Germany.

Herzl c onc luded that J ews c ould never be s afe wi thout their own homeland. A t fi rs t, this hal f-pragmatis t, hal f-utopian dreamed of a Germanic aris toc ratic republ ic , a J ewis h Venic e ruled by a s enate wi th a Roths c hi ld as princ ely doge and hims el f as c hanc el lor. His vis ion was s ec ular: the high pries ts 'wi l l wearimpres s ive robes '; the Herzl army would boas t c uiras s iers wi th s i lver breas tplates ; his modern J ewis h c i tizens would play c ric ket and tennis in a modern J erus alem. T he Roths c hi lds , ini tial ly s c eptic al of any J ewis h s tate, rejec ted Herzl 's approac hes , but thes e early notes s oon matured into s omething moreprac tic al . 'Pales tine is our ever-memorable his toric home,' he proc laimed in The J ew is h S tate in February 1896. 'T he Mac c abees wi l l ris e again. W e s hal l l ive at las t as free men on our own s oi l and die peac eful ly in our own homes .'

T here was nothing new about Zionis m - even the word had already been c oined in 1890 - but Herzl gave pol i tic al expres s ion and organization to a very anc ient s entiment. J ews had envis aged their very exis tenc e in terms of their relations hip to J erus alem s inc e K ing David and partic ularly s inc e the BabylonianExi le. J ews prayed towards J erus alem, wis hed eac h other 'Next Year in J erus alem ' eac h year at Pas s over, and c ommemorated the fal len Temple by s mas hing a glas s at their weddings and keeping a c orner of their hous es undec orated. T hey went on pi lgrimage there, wis hed to be buried there and prayed wheneverpos s ible around the T emple wal ls . Even when they were grievous ly pers ec uted, J ews c ontinued to l ive in J erus alem and were abs ent only when they were banned on pain of death.

T he new European national is m inevi tably provoked rac ial hos ti l i ty towards this s upranational and c os mopol i tan people - but s imultaneous ly the s ame national is m, along with the l iberty won by the Frenc h Revolution, was bound to ins pire the J ews too. P rinc e Potemkin, Emperor Napoleon and US P res identJ ohn Adams al l bel ieved in the return of the J ews to J erus alem as had Pol is h and Ital ian national is ts , and of c ours e the Chris tian Zionis ts in Americ a and B ri tain. Yet the Zionis t pioneers were Orthodox rabbis who s aw the Return in the l ight of mes s ianic expec tation. In 1836, an As hkenazi rabbi in P rus s ia, ZviHirs c h Kal is c her, approac hed the Roths c hi lds and Montefiores to fund a J ewis h nation, and later wrote his book Seek ing Zion . A fter the Damas c us 'blood-l ibel ', Rabbi Yehuda Hai A lc helai , a Sephardic rabbi in Sarajevo, s ugges ted J ews in the Is lam ic world s hould elec t leaders and buy land in Pales tine. In 1862,Mos es Hes s , a c omrade of Karl Marx, predic ted that national is m would lead to rac ial anti -Semitis m, in Rome and J erus alem: the Las t National Ques tion , whic h propos ed a s oc ial is t J ewis h s oc iety in Pales tine. Yet i t was the Rus s ian pogroms that were dec is ive.

'W e mus t re-es tabl is h ours elves as a l iving nation,' wrote Leo P ins ker, an Odes s an phys ic ian, in his book, Auto-Emanc ipation , wri ting at the s ame time as Herzl . He ins pired a new movement of Rus s ian J ews , 'T he Lovers of Zion', Hov ev ei Zion , to develop agric ul tural s ettlements in Pales tine. Even thoughmany of them were s ec ular, 'our J ewis hnes s and our Zionis m,' explained a young bel iever, Chaim W eizmann, 'were interc hangeable'. In 1878, Pales tinian J ews had founded Petah T ikvah (Gateway of Hope) on the c oas t but now even the Roths c hi lds , in the pers on of the Frenc h Baron Edmond, s tarted to fundagric ul tural vi l lages s uc h as Ris hon-le-Zion (Firs t in Zion) for Rus s ian immigrants - al together he would donate the princ ely s um of PS6.6 m i l l ion. Like Montefiore, he tried to buy the W al l in J erus alem. In 1887, the mufti , Mus tafa al-Hus s eini , agreed a deal but i t fel l through. W hen Roths c hi ld tried again in 1897, theHus s eini Sheikh al-Haram bloc ked i t.

In 1883, long before Herzl 's book, 25,000 J ews s tarted to arrive in Pales tine in the fi rs t wave - A l iyah - of immigration. Mos t but not al l were from Rus s ia. But J erus alem als o attrac ted Pers ians in the 1870s , Yemenites in the 1880s . T hey tended to l ive together in their own c ommunities : J ews from Bokhara,inc luding the Mous s aieff fam i ly of jewel lers who had c ut diamonds for Genghis Khan, s ettled their own Bokharan Quarter that was c areful ly laid out in a grid, i ts grand often neo-Gothic , neo-Renais s anc e, s ometimes Mooris h mans ions des igned to res emble thos e of Central As ian c i ties .*

In Augus t 1897, Herzl pres ided over the fi rs t Zionis t Congres s in Bas le and afterwards he boas ted to his diary: 'L'etat c 'es t moi. A t Bas le, I founded the J ewis h s tate. If I s aid this out loud today, I would be greeted by univers al laughter. Perhaps in five years and c ertainly in fi fty, everyone wi l l know i t.' T hey did -and he was only five years out. Herzl bec ame a new s pec ies of pol i tic ian and publ ic is t, riding the new rai lways of Europe to c anvas s kings , m inis ters and pres s barons . His relentles s energy aggravated, and defied, a weak heart, l iable to ki l l him at any moment.

Herzl bel ieved in a Zionis m, not bui l t from the bottom by s ettlers , but granted by emperors and financ ed by plutoc rats . T he Roths c hi lds and Montefiores ini tial ly dis dained Zionis m but the earl ies t Zionis t Congres s es were ornamented by S ir Franc is Montefiore, Mos es ' nephew, 'a rather footl ing Engl is h gentleman'who 'wore white gloves in the heat of the Swis s s ummer bec aus e he had to s hake s o many hands '. However, Herzl needed a potentate to intervene with the s ul tan. He dec ided that his J ewis h s tate s hould be German-s peaking - and s o he turned to the very model of a modern monarc h, the German Kais er.

W i lhelm II was planning an Oriental tour to meet the s ul tan and then proc eed to J erus alem for the dedic ation of a new c hurc h bui l t c los e to the Sepulc hre on the land granted to his father, Kais er Frederic k. But there was more to the Kais er's plan: he prided hims el f on his diplomac y with the s ul tan and s awhims elf as a P rotes tant pi lgrim to the Holy P lac es . Above al l he hoped to offer German protec tion to the Ottomans , promote his new Germany and c ounter B ri tis h influenc e.

'I s hal l go to the German Kais er [to s ay] "Let our people go"', dec ided Herzl , and res olved to bas e his s tate on 'this great, s trong, moral , s plendidly governed, tightly organized Germany. T hrough Zionis m, i t wi l l again bec ome pos s ible for J ews to love this Germany.'W ILHELM: THE PARASITES OF MY EMPIRE

T he Kais er was an unl ikely J ewis h c hampion. W hen he heard that J ews were s ettl ing in A rgentina, he s aid, 'Oh i f only we c ould s end ours there too,' and hearing about Herzl 's Zionis m, he wrote, 'I'm very muc h in favour of the Maus c hels going to Pales tine. T he s ooner they c lear off the better! ' A l though he regularlymet J ewis h indus trial is ts in Germany, and bec ame friends with the J ewis h s hipowner A lbert Bal l in, he was at heart an anti -Semite who ranted agains t the pois onous hydra of J ewis h c api tal is m. J ews were the 'paras i tes of my empire' who he bel ieved were 'twis ting and c orrupting' Germany. Years later, as adepos ed monarc h, he would propos e mas s exterm ination of the J ews us ing gas . Yet Herzl s ens ed that 'the anti -Semites are bec oming our mos t rel iable friends '.

Herzl had to penetrate the Kais er's c ourt. Firs t he managed to meet the Kais er's influential unc le, Grand Duke Friedric h of Baden, who was interes ted in a s c heme to find the A rk of the Covenant. Baden wrote to his nephew, who in turn as ked Phi l ipp, P rinc e of Eulenburg, to report on the Zionis t plan. Eulenburg,the Kais er's bes t friend, ambas s ador to V ienna and pol i tic al mas term ind, was 'fas c inated' by Herzl 's pi tc h: Zionis m was a way to extend German power. T he Kais er agreed that 'the energy, c reativi ty and effic ienc y of the tribe of Shem would be diverted to worthier goals than the s uc king dry of Chris tians '. W i lhelm ,l ike mos t of the rul ing c las s of that time, bel ieved that the J ews pos s es s ed a mys tic al power over the workings of the world:

Our dear God knows even better than we do that the J ews ki l led Our Saviour and he punis hed them ac c ordingly. It s houldn't be forgotten that, c ons idering the immens e and extremely dangerous power whic h International J ewis h c api tal repres ents , i t would be a huge advantage to Germany i f the Hebrewslooked up to i t in grati tude.

Here was the good news for Herzl : 'Everywhere the hydra of the ghas tl ies t anti -Semitis m is rais ing i ts dreadful head and the terri fied J ews are looking around for a protec tor. W el l then, I s hal l interc ede with the Sul tan.' Herzl was ec s tatic : 'W onderful , wonderful .'On 11 Oc tober 1898, the Kais er and Kais erin embarked on the imperial train wi th a retinue inc luding his foreign m inis ter, twenty c ourtiers , two doc tors and eighty maids , s ervants and bodyguards . Anxious to impres s the world, he had pers onal ly des igned a s pec ial whi te-grey uni form with a ful l -length whi te

Crus ader-s tyle vei l . On 13 Oc tober, Herzl , wi th four Zionis t c ol leagues , s et out from V ienna on the Orient Expres s , pac king a wardrobe that inc luded white tie and tai ls as wel l as pi th-helmet and s afari s ui t.In Is tanbul , W i lhelm final ly rec eived the Zionis t, whom he judged to be 'an ideal is t wi th an aris toc ratic mental i ty, c lever, very intel l igent wi th expres s ive eyes '. T he Kais er s aid he s upported Herzl bec aus e 'there are us urers at work. If thes e people went to s ettle in the c olonies , they c ould be more us eful .' Herzl

protes ted at this c alumny. T he Kais er inquired what he s hould as k the s ul tan for. 'A c hartered c ompany under German protec tion,' repl ied Herzl . T he Kais er invi ted Herzl to meet him in J erus alem.Herzl was impres s ed. T he Hohenzol lern pers oni fied imperial power wi th 'his great s ea blue eyes , his fine s erious fac e, frank, genial and yet bold', but the real i ty was di fferent. W i lhelm was c ertainly intel l igent, knowledgeable and energetic , but he was als o s o res tles s and inc ons is tent that even Eulenburg

feared he was mental ly i l l . A fter s ac king P rinc e B is marc k as c hanc el lor, he took c ontrol of German pol i tic s , but he was too uns table to s us tain i t. His pers onal diplomac y was dis as trous ; his wri tten notes to his m inis ters were s o outrageous that they had to be loc ked in a s afe; his alarm ingly artic ulate s peec hes , inwhic h he enc ouraged his troops to s hoot German workers or to mas s ac re enemies l ike Huns , were embarras s ing.* A lready by 1898, W i lhelm was regarded as hal f-buffoon, hal f-warmonger.

Nonetheles s he propos ed the Zionis t plan to Abdul-Hamid. T he s ul tan rejec ted i t fi rm ly, tel l ing his daughter, 'T he J ews may s pare their m i l l ions . W hen my empire is divided, perhaps they wi l l get Pales tine for nothing. But only our c orps e c an be divided.' Meanwhi le W i lhelm , dazzled by the vigour of Is lam, los tinteres t in Herzl .1

A t 3 p.m. on 29 Oc tober 1898, the Kais er rode through a breac h s pec ial ly opened in the wal l next to the J affa Gate and entered J erus alem on a whi te c harger.THE KAISER AND HERZL:

THE LAST CRUSADER AND THE FIRST ZIONIST

T he Kais er s ported the white uni form with the ful l -length gold-threaded burnous vei l s parkl ing in the s unl ight, flowing from a s piked helmet s urmounted with a burnis hed golden eagle, es c orted by a c avalc ade of giant P rus s ian hus s ars in s teel helmets waving Crus ader-s tyle banners and the Sul tan's lanc ers in redwais tc oats , blue pantaloons and green turbans and armed with lanc es . T he Kais erin, in a patterned s i lk dres s wi th a s as h and a s traw hat, fol lowed on behind him in a c arriage with her two ladies -in-waiting.

Herzl watc hed the Kais er's performanc e from a hotel fi l led wi th German offic ers . T he Kais er had gras ped that J erus alem was the ideal s tage on whic h to advertis e his newly m inted empire, but not everyone was impres s ed: the Dowager Rus s ian Empres s thought his performanc e 'revol ting, perfec tly ridic ulous ,dis gus ting! ' T he Kais er was the fi rs t head of s tate to appoint an offic ial photographer for a s tate vis i t. T he Crus ader uni form and the pac k of photographers revealed what Eulenburg c al led the Kais er's 'two total ly di fferent natures - the knightly, rem inis c ent of the fines t days of the Middle Ages , and the modern'.

T he c rowds , reported the New York Times , were 'dres s ed in hol iday c lothes , the c i ty men in whi te turbans , gai ly s triped tunic s , the wives of T urkis h army offic ers in gorgeous s i lken milay es , the wel l -to-do peas ants in flowing kaftans of flam ing red', whi le Bedouin on fine s teeds 'wore large c lums y red boots , aleather girdle over a tunic fi l led wi th an ars enal of s mal l arms ' and a k effiy eh . T heir s heikhs c arried s pears wi th a burs t of os tric h feathers around the blade.

A t the J ewis h triumphal arc h, the c hief Sephardic rabbi , a bearded nonagenarian in whi te kaftan and blue turban, and his As hkenazi c ounterpart pres ented W ilhelm with a c opy of the Torah, and he was welc omed by the mayor, Yas in al-Khal idi , in a royal purple c loak and a gold-enc irc led turban. W i lhelmdis mounted at David's Tower, and from there he and the empres s walked into the c i ty, the c rowds c leared for fear of anarc his t as s as s ins (Empres s E l is abeth of Aus tria had rec ently been as s as s inated). As the patriarc hs in the effulgenc e of their jewel-enc rus ted regal ia s howed him the Sepulc hre, the Kais er's heartwas beating 'fas ter and more fervently' as he trod in J es us ' foots teps .

W hi le Herzl wai ted for his s ummons and explored the c i ty, the Kais er dedic ated the Churc h of the Redeemer wi th i ts Romanes que tower, a s truc ture that he had pers onal ly des igned 'wi th partic ular c are and love'. W hen he vis i ted the T emple Mount, the Kais er, another enthus ias tic arc haeologis t, as ked the muftito al low exc avations , but the latter pol i tely demurred.

On 2 November, Herzl was final ly s ummoned for his imperial audienc e - the five Zionis ts were s o nervous that one of them s ugges ted taking brom ide. Dres s ing appropriately in whi te tie, tai ls and top hats , they arrived north of the Damas c us Gate at the Kais er's enc ampment. T his was a luxury T homas Cookvi l lage with 230 tents , whic h had been trans ported in 120 c arriages , borne by 1,300 hors es , s erved by 100 c oac hmen, 600 drivers , twelve c ooks and s ixty wai ters , al l guarded by an Ottoman regiment. It was , s aid the tour maes tro J ohn Mas on Cook, 'the larges t party gone to J erus alem s inc e the Crus ades . W e s weptthe c ountry of hors es and c arriages and almos t of food.' Punc h moc ked W ilhelm as 'Cook's Crus ader'.

Herzl found the Kais er pos ing 'in a grey c olonial uni form, vei led helmet, brown gloves and holding - oddly enough - a riding c rop'. T he Zionis t approac hed, 'hal ted and bowed. W i lhelm held out his hand very affably' and then lec tured him , dec laring, 'T he land needs water and s hade. T here is room for al l . T heidea behind your movement is a heal thy one.' W hen Herzl explained that laying on a water s upply was feas ible but expens ive, the Kais er repl ied, 'W el l , you have plenty of money, more money than al l of us .' Herzl propos ed a modern J erus alem, but the Kais er then ended the meeting, s aying 'nei ther yes nor no'.

Ironic al ly, both the Kais er and Herzl loathed J erus alem: 'a dis mal arid heap of s tones ,' wrote W i lhelm , 's poi l t by large qui te modern s uburbs formed by J ewis h c olonies . 60,000 of thes e people are there, greas y and s qual id, c ringing and abjec t, doing nothing but trying to fleec e their neighbours for every farthing -Shyloc ks by the s c ore.'* But he wrote to his c ous in, Rus s ian Emperor Nic holas II, that he des pis ed the 'fetis h adoration' of the Chris tians even more - 'in leaving the Holy Ci ty I fel t profoundly as hamed before the Mus l ims '. Herzl almos t agreed: 'W hen I remember you in days to c ome, O J erus alem, i t won't be wi thdel ight. T he mus ty depos i ts of 2,000 years of inhumanity, intoleranc e and foulnes s l ie in your reeking al leys .' T he W es tern W al l , he thought, was pervaded by 'hideous , m is erable, s c rambl ing beggary'.

Ins tead Herzl dreamed that 'i f J erus alem is ever ours , I'd c lear up everything not s ac red, tear down the fi l thy ratholes ,' pres erving the Old Ci ty as a heri tage s i te l ike Lourdes or Mec c a. 'I'd bui ld an airy c omfortable properly s ewered, brand new c i ty around the Holy P lac es .' Herzl later dec ided that J erus alem s houldbe s hared: 'W e s hal l extra-terri torial ize J erus alem s o that i t wi l l belong to nobody and everybody, i ts Holy P lac es the joint pos s es s ion of al l Bel ievers .'

As the Kais er departed down the road to Damas c us , where he dec lared hims el f the protec tor of Is lam and endowed Saladin wi th a new tomb, Herzl s aw the future in three burly J ewis h porters in kaftans : 'If we c an bring here 300,000 J ews l ike them, al l of Is rael wi l l be ours .'Yet J erus alem was already very muc h the J ewis h c entre in Pales tine: out of 45,300 inhabi tants , 28,000 were now J ewis h, a ris e that was already worrying the A rab leaders hip. 'W ho c an c ontes t the rights of the J ews to Pales tine?' old Yus uf Khal idi told his friend Zadok Kahn, Chief Rabbi of Franc e, in 1899.

'God knows , his toric al ly i t is indeed your c ountry' but 'the brute forc e of real i ty,' was that 'Pales tine is now an integral part of the Ottoman Empire and, what is more s erious , i t is inhabi ted by other than Is rael i tes .' W hi le the letter predates the idea of a Pales tinian nation - Khal idi was a J erus alem ite, an A rab, anOttoman and ul timately a c i tizen of the world - and the nec es s i ty to deny the J ewis h c laim to Zion, he fores aw that J ewis h return, anc ient and legi timate as i t was , would c las h with the anc ient and legi timate pres enc e of the A rabs .

In Apri l 1903, the K is hinev pogrom, bac ked by the ts ar's interior m inis ter V iac hes lav von P lehve, launc hed a s pree of anti -Semitic s laughter and terror ac ros s Rus s ia.* In panic , Herzl travel led to S t Peters burg to negotiate wi th P lehve hims el f, the ul timate anti -Semite, but, getting nowhere with the Kais er and thes ul tan, he s tarted to look for a provis ional terri tory outs ide the Holy Land.

Herzl needed a new bac ker: he propos ed a J ewis h homeland ei ther in Cyprus or around E l A ris h in S inai , part of B ri tis h Egypt, both of them loc ations c los e to Pales tine. In 1903, Natty, the fi rs t Lord Roths c hi ld, who had final ly c ome round to Zionis m, introduc ed Herzl to J os eph Chamberlain, the B ri tis h c olonials ec retary, who ruled out Cyprus but agreed to c ons ider E l A ris h. Herzl hi red a lawyer to draft a c harter for the J ewis h s ettlement. T he lawyer was the forty-year-old Liberal pol i tic ian David Lloyd George, whos e dec is ions would later al ter J erus alem 's fate more than thos e of anyone s inc e Saladin. T he appl ic ation wasturned down, muc h to Herzl 's dis appointment. Chamberlain and P rime Minis ter A rthur Bal four c ame up with another terri tory - they offered Uganda or rather part of Kenya as a J ewis h homeland. Herzl , who was s hort of al ternatives , provis ional ly ac c epted.2

Regardles s of his fai led attempts to win over emperors and s ul tans , Herzl 's Zionis m had ins pired the pers ec uted J ews of Rus s ia, partic ularly a boy in a wel l -off lawyer's fam i ly in . T he eleven-year-old David Grun thought Herzl was the Mes s iah who would lead the J ews bac k to Is rael .

THE OUD- PLAYER OF JERUSALEM

1905-1914

DAVID GRUN BECOMES DAVID BEN-GURION

David Grun's father was already a loc al leader of the Lovers of Zion, forerunner of the Zionis t movement, and a keen Hebrais t, s o the boy was taught Hebrew from an early age. But David, l ike many other Zionis ts , was s hoc ked when he read that Herzl had ac c epted the Ugandan offer. A t the S ixth Zionis t Congres s ,Herzl tried to s el l his s o-c al led Ugandais m but he s uc c eeded only in s pl i tting his movement. His rival , the Engl is h playwright Is rael Zangwi l l , c oiner of the phras e 'melting pot' to des c ribe the as s im i lation of immigrants in Americ a, dec amped to found his J ewis h Terri torial is t Organization and purs ue an array ofquixotic non-Pales tinian Zions . T he Aus trian plutoc rat Baron Mauric e de Hirs c h was financ ing J ewis h c olonies in A rgentina, and the New York financ ier J ac ob Sc hi ff was promoting the Galves ton P lan, a Lone S tar Zion for Rus s ian J ews in Texas . T here was more s upport for E l A ris h bec aus e i t was c los e toPales tine and Zionis m was nothing without Zion, but none of thes e s c hemes * flouris hed and Herzl , exhaus ted by his peripatetic travels , died s oon afterwards , aged jus t forty-four. He had s uc c es s ful ly es tabl is hed Zionis m as one of the s olutions to the J ewis h pl ight, partic ularly in Rus s ia.

Young David Grun mourned his hero Herzl even though 'we c onc luded the mos t effec tive way to c ombat Ugandais m was by s ettl ing in the Land of Is rael '. In 1905, Emperor Nic holas II fac ed a revolution that almos t c os t him the throne. Many of the revolutionaries were J ews - Leon T rots ky being the mos tprominent - yet they were ac tual ly international is ts who des pis ed both rac e and rel igion. Nonetheles s , Nic holas fel t that the forged anti -Semitic trac t, The P rotoc ols of the E lders of Zion , was c oming true: 'How prophetic ! ' he wrote, 'T his year 1905 had been truly dominated by the J ewis h E lders .' Forc ed to ac c ept ac ons ti tution, he tried to res tore his damaged autoc rac y by enc ouraging anti -Semitic mas s ac res by national is tic revanc his ts nic knamed the B lac k Hundreds .

T he pogroms enc ouraged David Grun, a member of the s oc ial is t party Poalei Zion - W orkers of Zion - to board one of the pi lgrim s hips from Odes s a and s et out for the Holy Land. T he boy from was typic al of the Sec ond A l iyah, a wave of s ec ular pioneers , many of them s oc ial is t, who regardedJ erus alem as a nes t of medieval s upers ti tion. In 1909, thes e s ettlers founded T el Aviv on the s and dunes next to the anc ient port of J affa; in 1911, they c reated a new c ol lec tive farm - the fi rs t kibbutz - in the north.

Grun did not vis i t J erus alem for many months after his arrival ; ins tead he worked in the fields of Gal i lee, unti l , in m id-1910 the twenty-four-year-old moved to J erus alem to wri te for a Zionis t news paper. Dim inutive, s kinny, c urly-haired and always c lad in a Rus s ian rubas hk a s moc k to emphas ize his s oc ial is tc redentials , he adopted the nom de plume 'Ben-Gurion', borrowed from one of S imon bar Koc hba's l ieutenants . T he old s hirt and the new name revealed the two s ides of the emerging Zionis t leader.

Ben-Gurion bel ieved, l ike mos t of his fel low Zionis ts at this time, that a s oc ial is t J ewis h s tate would be c reated without violenc e and without dominating or dis plac ing the Pales tinian A rabs ; rather i t would exis t alongs ide them. He was s ure that the J ewis h and A rab working c las s es would c ooperate. A fter al l ,the Ottoman v i lay ets of S idon and Damas c us and the s anjak of J erus alem - as Pales tine was then known - were poverty-s tric ken bac kwaters , s pars ely populated by the 600,000 A rabs . T here was muc h s pac e to be developed. T he Zionis ts hoped the A rabs would s hare the ec onomic benefi ts of J ewis himmigration. But there was l i ttle m ixing between the two and i t did not oc c ur to the Zionis ts that mos t of thes e A rabs had no wis h for the benefi ts of their s ettlement.

In J erus alem, Ben-Gurion rented a windowles s c el lar but he s pent his time in the A rab c afes of the Old Ci ty l is tening to the gramophones that played the lates t A rabic s ongs .3 A t the s ame time, a Chris tian A rab boy, a native J erus alem ite already a c onnois s eur of beauty and pleas ure, was l is tening to the s ames ongs in the s ame c afes and learning to play them on his lute.

THE OUD- PLAYER: W ASIF JAW HARIYYEH

W as if J awhariyyeh s tarted to learn the lute - or oud - as a boy, and s oon he was the bes t oud-player in a town that l ived for mus ic : i t gave him ac c es s to everyone, high and low. Born in 1897, the s on of a res pec ted Greek Orthodox town c ounc i l lor, c los e to the Famil ies , he was too fel inely artis tic to develop into aloc al worthy. He was apprentic ed as a barber but s oon defied his parents to bec ome a mus ic ian. W itnes s ing everything and knowing everybody, from the J erus alem ite grandees and Ottoman pas has to Egyptian c hanteus es , has h-s moking mus ic ians and prom is c uous J ewes s es , us eful to the el i te but not qui te of i t,W as i f J awhariyyeh s tarted to wri te a diary at the age of s even that is one of the mas terpiec es of J erus alem 's l i terature.*

W hen he began his diary, his father s ti l l rode to work on a whi te donkey, but he s aw the fi rs t hors eles s c onveyanc e, a Ford automobi le driven by one of the Americ an Colonis ts on the J affa Road; having been us ed to a l i fe wi thout elec tric i ty, s oon he loved watc hing the new c inematograph in the Rus s ianCompound ('entry fee was one Ottoman bis hl ik paid at the door').

W as i f revel led in the c ul tural m ix. A Chris tian educ ated at the Engl is h publ ic s c hool of S t George's , he s tudied the Koran and enjoyed pic nic s on the Temple Mount. Regarding Sephardic J ews as 'Yahud, awlad A rab' (J ews , s on of A rabs ), he dres s ed up for J ewis h Purim and attended the annual J ewis h P ic nicat S imon the J us t's tomb, where he s ang Andalus ian s ongs to oud and tambourine. A t a typic al gig, he played a J ewis h vers ion of a wel l -known A rab s ong to ac c ompany an As hkenazi c hoir in the hous e of a J ewis h tai lor in the Montefiore Quarter.

In 1908, J erus alem c elebrated the Young T urk Revolution whic h overthrew the tyrannic al Abdul-Hamid and his s ec ret pol ic e. T he Young T urks - the Committee of Union and P rogres s - res tored the 1876 Cons ti tution and c al led parl iamentary elec tions . In the exc i tement, A lbert Antebi , a loc al bus ines s manknown to his fans as the J ewis h Pas ha and to his enemies as Li ttle Herod, threw hundreds of free loaves to the del ighted c rowds at the J affa Gate. Chi ldren ac ted out the Young T urk c oup in s treet plays .

T he A rabs bel ieved that at las t they would be l iberated from Ottoman des potis m. T he early A rab national is ts were uns ure i f they wanted a kingdom c entred in A rabia or a Greater Syria, but al ready the Lebanes e wri ter Naj ib Azouri had notic ed how A rab and J ewis h as pirations were developing s imultaneous ly -and were bound to c ol l ide. J erus alem elec ted the grandees Uthman al-Hus s eini and Yus uf Khal idi 's nephew, Ruhi , a wri ter, pol i tic ian and man of the world, as Members of Parl iament. In Is tanbul , Ruhi Khal idi bec ame deputy s peaker, us ing his pos i tion to c ampaign agains t Zionis m and J ewis h land purc has es .

T he ever-ric her Famil ies thrived. T heir boys were educ ated with W as i f at the Engl is h S t George's , the girls at the Hus s eini gi rls ' s c hool . Now women wore both A rab and W es tern fas hions . T he B ri tis h s c hool brought footbal l to J erus alem: there was a matc h every Saturday afternoon on a pi tc h outs ide Bab al-Sahra: the Hus s eini boys were es pec ial ly keen players - s ome would play in their tarbus hes . Before the Great W ar, W as i f was s ti l l a s c hoolboy, yet he was already l iving a Bohemian double l i fe. He played his oud and s erved as trus ted fixer and party-giver, perhaps even a s ubtle pimp for the Famil ies , who now l ivedouts ide the wal ls in new mans ions in Sheikh J arrah. T he grandees c us tomari ly rented an odah or garc onniere, a s mal l apartment to play c ards and keep their c onc ubines , and they would let him have their s pare keys . W as i f's patron, the mayor's s on Hus s ein E ffendi al -Hus s eini , kept the mos t l is s om of thec onc ubines , Pers ephone, a Greek-A lbanian s eams tres s , in his odah off the J affa Road, whenc e this entrepreneurial temptres s traded in c attle and s old her own brand of medic inal thyme oi l . Pers ephone loved to s ing and s he was ac c ompanied by young W as if on the oud . W hen Hus s eini hims el f bec ame mayor in1909, he married off Pers ephone.

T he m is tres s es of the grandees had tradi tional ly been J ewis h, A rmenian or Greek, but now the thous ands of Rus s ian pi lgrims bec ame the ric hes t res ourc e for J erus alem 's hedonis ts . W as i f rec orded that in the c ompany of the future mayor Ragheb al-Nas has hibi and Is mai l al -Hus s eini he arranged s ec retparties 'for the Rus s ian ladies '. It jus t happened that at this time an unus ual Rus s ian pi lgrim to J erus alem was c omplaining about the as tonis hing dec adenc e and whoring in the c i ty of his fel low c ountrymen.4 A rriving in Marc h 1911, this s ybari tic monk was the s piri tual advis er and c omfort of the Rus s ian emperorand empres s , whos e haemophi l iac s on, A lexei , only he c ould heal .

RASPUTIN: THE RUSSIAN NUNS BEW ARE

'I c an't des c ribe the joyful impres s ions , ink is us eles s as your s oul joyful ly s ings "Let God ris e from the dead",' wrote Grigory Ras putin, a forty-four-year-old S iberian peas ant turned i tinerant holy man. He had fi rs t c ome to J erus alem in 1903 as an unknown pi lgrim and s ti l l remembered the m is ery of the s ea voyagefrom Odes s a, 's tuffed in the hold l ike c attle, as many as 700 people at a time'. But Ras putin had ris en in the world s inc e then. T his time, Nic holas II, who c al led Ras putin 'our friend', had s pons ored his pi lgrimage to remove him from S t Peters burg and deflec t the inc reas ing c ri tic is m of this s ac red s inner, whopartied wi th pros ti tutes , expos ed hims el f and urinated in res taurants . Now Ras putin s tayed in s tyle at the palatial res idenc e of J erus alem 's Orthodox patriarc h, but he c ounted hims el f a c hampion of the ordinary pi lgrim , expres s ing 'the inexpl ic able joy' of Eas ter: 'It is al l as i t was : you s ee the people dres s ed thes ame as in [bibl ic al ] times , wearing the s ame c oats and s trange dres s of the Old T es tament. It makes me melt into tears .' T hen there was the s ex and drink, on whic h Ras putin was an expert.

By 1911, over 10,000 Rus s ians , mos tly unruly peas ants , c ame for Eas ter, s taying in the ever-expanding dorm itories in the Rus s ian Compound, praying in Grand Duke Sergei 's Mary Magdalene and the new A lexander Nevs ky next to the Churc h.* T hes e vis i tors brought their nation into inc reas ing dis repute: even inthe early days their c ons ul had des c ribed B is hop Cyri l Naumov as 'an alc ohol ic and buffoon who s urrounds hims el f wi th A rab c omedians and women'. As for the pi lgrims , 'Many of them l ive in J erus alem in a manner that c orres ponds nei ther to the hol ines s of the plac e nor to the aim of their pi lgrimage, fal l ing preyto various temptations .'

As the numbers grew, the pi lgrims , who indulged in fighting and drinking, bec ame harder to c ontrol , and Ras putin revealed how muc h he hated the Cathol ic s and A rmenians , not to mention the Mus l ims . In 1893, the Rus s ian bodyguard of a ric h pi lgrim s hot and ki l led a Latin s ac ris tan and three others when aCathol ic as ked him to make way in the Churc h. 'T he booze is everywhere and they drink i t bec aus e i t's c heap, mos tly made by A thenian nuns ,' explained Ras putin. W ors e was the prom is c ui ty: as we have s een, Rus s ian pi lgrims were eas i ly proc ured by the grandees of J erus alem for their parties , and s ome s tayedbehind as c onc ubines . Ras putin knew what he was talking about when he warned:

Nuns mus tn't travel there! Mos t of them earn their l iving away from the Holy Ci ty i ts el f. Not to explain further, anyone who has been there unders tands how many m is takes are made by young brothers and s is ters ! It's very hard for the girls , they are forc ed to s tay longer, the temptation is great, the enemy[Cathol ic s ? Mus l ims ?] are tremendous ly envious . Many of them bec ome c onc ubines and women of the markets . It happens that they tel l you 'we have our own s ugar-daddy' and they add you to the l is t! *

T he traffic in pleas ure travel led both ways . S tephen Graham, the Engl is h journal is t who ac c ompanied the peas ant pi lgrims at roughly the s ame time as Ras putin was there, des c ribed how 'A rab women found their way into the hos telry in Holy W eek des pi te the regulations and s old bottles of gin and c ognac tothe peas ants . J erus alem began to overflow with pi lgrims and s ights eers and als o wi th mountebanks , s howmen and hawkers , Montenegrin pol ic emen, mounted T urkis h gendarmes , pi lgrims on as s es , pi lgrims on c arts ,' Engl is hmen and Americ ans , but 'the Holy Ci ty is del ivered into the hand of Rus s ians ,A rmenians , Bulgarians and Chris tian A rabs '.

Rus s ian huc ks ters debauc hed the vis i tors . Phi l ip, 'a tal l peas ant, broad-s houldered but fat, wi th a large dirty blac k-haired uns haven fac e, a bus hy mous tac he that hung in a s ens ual s ort of droop over thic k red s luggis h l ips ' was typic al - 'a pander to the monks , a tout for ec c les ias tic al s hopkeepers , a s muggler ofgoods , an immoral is t and a trader in artic les of rel igion' manufac tured in a s o-c al led J ew Fac tory. Fal len pries ts ended their J erus alem days in 'drunkennes s , rel igious hys teria and c orps e-was hing' - for many Rus s ians died (happi ly) in J erus alem. Meanwhi le, jus t to add to this inc endiary m ix, Marxis t propagandis tspreac hed revolution and atheis m to the Rus s ian peas ants .

On the Palm Sunday of Graham 's vis i t, as T urkis h s oldiers beat bac k the pi lgrims , the c rowds poured out of the Churc h to 'muc h s hrieking and s kirl ing from the Orthodox A rabs , c rying out in rel igious frenzy' unti l s uddenly they were attac ked by 'a band of redc apped T urks and beturbaned Mus l ims who made aloud whoop and s truc k their way with blows , threw thems elves on the bearer of the ol ive branc h and gained pos s es s ion, broke the branc h to bi ts and ran off. An Americ an girl s napped her Kodak. T he Chris tian A rabs s wore vengeanc e.' A fterwards the Rus s ians awaited the Sec ond Coming of 'the great c onqueror' atthe Golden Gate. But the c l imax as ever was the Holy Fire: when the flame emerged, 'exal ted eas terners plunged s heaves of l ighted c andles into their bos oms , and c ried out in joy and ec s tas y. T hey s ang as i f under the influenc e of s ome extraordinary drug' wi th 'one guiding c ry: KYRIE ELE ISON: CHRIST ISRISEN! ' But 'there was a regular s tampede' that had to be s uppres s ed with the whips and ri fle butts .

T hat night Graham rec orded how his c ompanions - 'exc i ted, feveris h, and fluttering l ike s o many c hi ldren' - fi l led their bags with J erus alem earth, J ordan water, palms , death s hrouds , s tereos c opes - 'and we kis s ed eac h other al l over again! '

W hat embrac ing and kis s ing there were this night; s mac king of hearty l ips and tangl ing of beards and whis kers . T here c ommenc ed a day of uproarious fes tivi ty. T he quanti ty of wine, c ognac and arak [anis eed-flavoured l iqueur] c ons umed would appal mos t Engl is h. And the drunken danc ing would be ratherforeign to J es us !

T hat year, Eas ter c oinc ided with Pas s over and Nabi Mus a. W hi le Ras putin pol ic ed the morals of the Orthodox s is terhood whom W as if was bus y debauc hing, an Engl is h aris toc rat unleas hed riots and made headl ines ac ros s the world.5

THE HON. CAPTAIN MONTY PARKERAND THE ARK OF THE COVENANT

Monty Parker, a twenty-nine-year-old nobleman with a plumage of luxuriant mous tac hes and pointed Edward V II beard, expens ive tas tes and m inimal inc ome, was an opportunis tic but c redulous rogue, always on the lookout for an eas y way to make his fortune - or at leas t find s omeone els e to pay for his luxuries . In1908, this Old E tonian s on of a Cabinet m inis ter in Glads tone's las t government, younger brother of the Earl of Morley, ex-Grenadier Guards offic er and veteran of the Boer W ar, enc ountered a Finnis h hierophant who c onvinc ed him that together they c ould dis c over in J erus alem the mos t valuable treas ure of worldhis tory.

T he Finn was Dr Val ter J uvel ius , a teac her, poet and s piri tual is t wi th a tas te for dres s ing up in bibl ic al robes and dec iphering bibl ic al c odes . A fter working for years on the Book of Ezekiel , enc ouraged by s eanc es with a Swedis h ps yc hic , J uvel ius bel ieved he had unc overed what he c al led 'T he Cipher ofEzekiel '. T his revealed that in 586 bc , when Nebuc hadnezzar was about to des troy J erus alem, the J ews had hidden what he dubbed 'the Temple A rc hive' - the A rk of the Covenant - in a tunnel s outh of the Temple Mount. But he needed a man of ac tion who c ould als o help him rais e the funds required to find the A rk.W ho better than a dim but energetic Engl is h aris toc rat wi th the bes t c onnec tions in Edwardian London?

J uvel ius s howed his s ec ret pros pec tus to Parker, who exc i tedly read this revelation:

I now bel ieve I have empiric al ly proved the extremely ingenious deduc tion that the entranc e to the Temple A rc hive is the Akeldama and that Temple A rc hive s tands untouc hed in i ts hiding plac e. It ought to be a s imple matter to produc e the A rc hive of the Temple from i ts 2500 year old hiding-plac e. T heexis tenc e of the Cipher proves the T emple A rc hive remains untouc hed.

Parker was c onvinc ed by this c rank's c los ely argued thes is - even i f i t was s c arc ely more rational than the plot of The Da V inc i Code . A t a time when even the Kais er was attending s eanc es and when many bel ieved in the J ewis h c ons pirac y, J uvel ius had no trouble finding c onverts . As one of his adepts wrote tohim , 'the J ews are a s omewhat s ec retive rac e' - s o natural ly they had hidden the A rk rather wel l .

Parker had J uvel ius ' doc ument trans lated from Finnis h and bound in a glos s y broc hure. T hen he told his pals , a dis reputable c rew of indebted aris toc rats and m i l i tary mountebanks ,* about this as tonis hing opportuni ty to make a fortune: s urely this c ac he would be worth $200 m i l l ion? Parker was a gl ib s ales manwho s oon attrac ted more inves tors than he c ould handle. B ri tis h, Rus s ian and Swedis h aris toc rats threw money at him , as did weal thy Americ ans s uc h as Cons uelo Vanderbi l t, the Duc hes s of Marlborough. Parker's s yndic ate needed free ac c es s to the Temple Mount and the City of David, whic h he was c onvinc edc ould be arranged 'by dint of l iberal baks hees h! ' In s pring 1909, Parker, J uvel ius and their Swedis h bodyguard-c um-fixer Captain Hoffens tahl vis i ted the s i tes in J erus alem, then s ai led for Is tanbul where Monty, offering m inis ters 50 per c ent of the treas ure and c as h up front, managed to c orrupt muc h of the newYoung T urk regime from the grand vizier down, s igning a c ontrac t between Djavid Bey, the financ e m inis ter, and 'Honourable M. Parker of the T urf Club, London'.

T he Subl ime Porte advis ed Parker to hire an A rmenian c al led Mr Mac as adar as his fixer and s ent two c ommis s ioners to s upervis e the dig. In Augus t 1909 Captain Hoffens tahl c ol lec ted the 'Cipher' from J uvel ius then headed to meet Parker and his friends in J erus alem, where they made their headquarters in theKais er's Augus ta V ic toria Fortres s on the Mount of Ol ives and s tayed at the Hotel Fas t (the bes t in town). Monty and his friends behaved l ike a s tag-party of hearty publ ic -s c hoolboys , giving 'gay dinners 'and holding s hooting c ompeti tions us ing oranges for target-prac tic e. 'One morning, we heard unus ual nois es ,'remembered Bertha Spafford, the Americ an Colonis t, 'and s aw the worthy arc haeologis ts playing at being donkeyboys , running alongs ide the donkeys and im itating the yel l ing, us ual ly made by A rab boys who were mounted in the Engl is hmen's plac e.' Parker's gang bribed many of the potentates of J erus alem,s uborned the governor Azmey Pas ha, hired a huge retinue of workers , guides , maids and bodyguards and s tarted to exc avate on the Ophel hi l l . T his was and remains the arc haeologic al fulc rum in the ques t for anc ient J erus alem: here Charles W arren had dug in 1867. Later the Americ an arc haeologis ts Frederic kB l is s and A rc hibald Dic kie found more tunnels whic h together s ugges ted that this was the s i te of K ing David's J erus alem. Parker was guided s piri tual ly from afar by J uvel ius , and by another member of the expedi tion, the Iris h 'thought-reader, Lee'. Even when he found nothing, Parker did not los e his fai th inJ uvel ius .

J erus alem 's J ews , bac ked by Baron Edmond de Roths c hi ld (who was hims el f financ ing a dig for the A rk of the Covenant), c laimed that Parker was abus ing s ac red J ewis h ground. Mus l ims too were anxious , but the Ottomans kept them at arm 's length. To eas e their s us pic ions , Parker hired the arc haeologic als c holar Pere V inc ent of the Ec ole B ibl ique to s upervis e his exc avation - whic h did in fac t find more evidenc e that this was the s i te of a very early s ettlement. V inc ent was obl ivious to the real purpos e of the dig.

In late 1909, the rains hal ted Parker's work, but in 1910 he s ai led bac k into J affa on Clarenc e W ils on's yac ht, the W ater Li ly , and c ontinued his exc avations . T he A rab workers went on s trike s everal times . W hen the c ourts threatened to bac k the A rabs , Monty and his partners dec ided that only a dazzl ing dis playof B ri tis h T rooping of the Colour pageantry would overawe the natives : they dec ided to c onfront the mayor (W as i f the oud-player's patron) 'in ful l uni form '. Captain Duff, wearing helmet, c uiras s and the white gauntlets of the Li fe Guards , and Monty Parker in s c arlet tunic and bears kin were, rec al led Major Foley, 'thes tar turns . W e c reated a s ens ation! '

W hen the s trikers were dis m is s ed, this farc ic al parade headed triumphantly through the Old Ci ty, led, in Foley's words , by 'a troop of T urkis h lanc ers , then the Mayor and Commandant, s ome holy men, then Duff, Parker, me, W i ls on, Mac as adar and T urkis h gendarmes in the rear.' Suddenly Duff's mule bol tedthrough the bazaars wi th the c aptain hanging on unti l he was thrown into a s hop and buried in peanuts , muc h to the hi lari ty of his friends . 'An old J ew', s aid Foley, 'thought i t was the end of the world and s tarted to wai l in Y iddis h.'

T his dis play - or more l ikely 'l iberal baks hees h' - worked for now. Parker metic ulous ly s ent s ec ret reports to the s yndic ate, c overtly named FJ MPW after s ome of i ts members , and ac c ounts for the bribes , whic h on his fi rs t vis i t c os t PS1,900. He s pent PS3,400 in the fi rs t year, and when he had to return in 1910his ac c ounts reveal 'Payments to J erus alem offic ials : PS5,667'. T he mayor, Hus s ein Hus s eini , rec eived PS100 a month. T hes e lavis h bribes mus t have been a bles s ing for the J erus alem grandees , but Parker real ized that the Young T urk government was in flux and that J erus alem was a s ens i tive plac e: 'T heutmos t c aution mus t be us ed for the s mal les t m is take may involve s erious di ffic ul ties ! ' he reported. Yet even he did not real ly unders tand that he was playing on a volc ano. W hen he res umed digging in the s pring of 1911, Parker paid out even more but he was now des perate: he dec ided to dig on the T emple Mount,bribing Sheikh Khal i l al -Ans ari , heredi tary Cus todian of the Haram, and his brother.

Parker and his gang, dis guis ed in pantom ime A rab garb, c rept on to the Temple Mount and, in the prec inc t of the Dome i ts el f, they broke open the pavement to dig into the s ec ret tunnels beneath. However, on the night of 17 Apri l , a Mus l im nightwatc hman, unable to s leep in his c rowded home, dec ided to c ampout on the Haram, where he s urpris ed the Engl is h and ran into the s treets , s houting that dis guis ed Chris tians were digging up the Dome of the Roc k.

T he mufti turned bac k the enti re Nabi Mus a proc es s ion and denounc ed this wic ked Ottoman and B ri tis h c ons pirac y. A mob, reinforc ed by the pi lgrims of Nabi Mus a rac ed to defend the Noble Sanc tuary. Captain Parker and his friends gal loped for their l ives to J affa. T he c rowd, whic h for the one and only timec ombined Mus l ims and J ews , both equal ly outraged, tried to lync h Sheikh Khal i l and Mac as adar whos e l ives were s aved only when the Ottoman garris on intervened and arres ted them. T hey and Parker's pol ic e guards were al l impris oned in Beirut. In J affa, Monty Parker jus t made i t on board the W ater Li ly . But thepol ic e there were alerted that he m ight have the A rk of the Covenant about his pers on. T hey s earc hed him and his baggage, but found no A rk. Parker knew he had to es c ape - s o, bamboozl ing the Ottoman gendarmes by playing the Engl is h gentleman, he i l lum inated the W ater Li ly and announc ed that he was going'to hold a rec eption on board for the J affa offic ials '. He then s ai led away as they were about to board.

Bac k in J erus alem, the c rowds threatened to ki l l the governor and s laughter anyone B ri tis h as rumours s pread that Parker had s tolen the Crown of Solomon, the A rk of the Covenant and the Sword of Muhammad. T he governor was in hiding for fear of his l i fe. By the morning of 19 Apri l , the London Times reported,'there was a tremendous row throughout the c i ty. Shops c los ed, peas ants bol ting out of the plac e and rumours s preading'. T he Chris tians were terri fied that 'Mahomedan pi lgrims from Nabi Mus a' were c oming 'to as s as s inate al l Chris tians '. S imultaneous ly the Mus l ims were petri fied that '8,000 Rus s ian pi lgrimswere armed to mas s ac re the Mahomedans '. A l l s ides bel ieved that 'the Solomonic regal ia' had been 'trans ferred to Captain Parker's yac ht'.

Europeans s tayed indoors and loc ked their gates . 'T he wrath of the people of J erus alem was s o great', remembered Bertha Spafford, 'that patrols were pos ted on every s treet.' T hen on the las t day of the Nabi Mus a, wi th 10,000 J erus alem ites on the Temple Mount, the mob 's tampeded. A fearful panic ens ued,peas ant women and pi lgrims pouring out of the wal ls and running toward the c i ty gates c rying "Mas s ac re! " Every fam i ly armed i ts el f and barric aded i ts home. T he "Parker fias c o",' wrote Spafford, 'c ame nearer to c aus ing anti -Chris tian mas s ac re than anything that happened during our long res idenc e in J erus alem.'T he New York Times informed the world: 'Gone with T reas ure that was Solomon's . Engl is h Party Vanis hes on Yac ht A fter Digging under Mos que of Omar: SA ID T O HAVE FOUND K ING'S CROW N. T urkis h Government Sends High Offic ials to J erus alem to Inves tigate! '

Monty Parker, who never gras ped the gravi ty of al l this , s ai led bac k to J affa that autumn but was advis ed not to land 'or els e there m ight be more trouble'. He told the s yndic ate that he would 'proc eed to Beirut' to vis i t the pris oners . His plan was then to go on: 'To J erus alem to quiet the pres s and get hold of theNotables to s ee a l i ttle bi t of reas on. Onc e al l is quiet, get the Governor to wri te to the Grand V izier and s ay i t's s afe for us to return! ' J erus alem never did 's ee a l i ttle bi t of reas on' but Parker kept trying unti l 1914.*

T here were diplomatic c omplaints between London and Is tanbul , J erus alem 's governor was s ac ked, Parker's ac c ompl ic es were tried but ac qui tted (bec aus e nothing had been s tolen), the money was gone, the treas ure c himeric al , and the 'Parker fias c o' brought down the c urtain on fi fty years of Europeanarc haeology and imperial is m.6

WORLD WAR

1914-1916

JEMAL PASHA: THE TYRANT OF JERUSALEM

Parker's adventure had expos ed the real i ties of the Young T urks ' rule over J erus alem: they were no les s venal and inept than their predec es s ors , but they had rais ed A rab expec tations of autonomy, i f not more. A national is t news paper, Fi las tin , was founded in J affa to expres s this new c ons c ious nes s . But s oon i tbec ame c lear that the Young T urks remained a ruthles s and s ec retive organization wi th only a democ ratic fac ade. T hey were T urkis h national is ts who were determ ined to s uppres s not jus t A rab hopes but even the teac hing of A rabic . A rab national is ts s tarted to found s ec ret c lubs to plot for independenc e and eventhe Hus s einis and other s c ions joined them. Meanwhi le the Zionis t leaders enc ouraged their new immigrants to c reate 'J ewis h towns , partic ularly in J erus alem, the head of the nation', and they now bought the land for the future Hebrew Univers i ty on Mount Sc opus . T his alarmed the Famil ies - even though theHus s einis and other landowners s uc h as the Surs oc ks of Lebanon were al l quietly s el l ing land to the Zionis ts .

Ruhi Khal idi , Frenc h-s peaking intel lec tual and now deputy s peaker of the Parl iament in Is tanbul , was an Ottoman l iberal , not an A rab national is t. But he c areful ly s tudied Zionis m, even wri ting a book about i t, and dec ided that i t was a threat. In Parl iament, he tried to ban any J ewis h land purc has es inPales tine. T he ric hes t s c ion of the Famil ies , Ragheb al-Nas has hibi , an elegant playboy, ran for Parl iament too, prom is ing, 'I'l l dedic ate al l my energies to removing the danger awaiting us from Zionis m.' T he edi tor of Fi las tin warned, 'If this s tate of affai rs c ontinues , the Zionis ts wi l l gain mas tery over our c ountry.'*

On 23 J anuary 1913, a thi rty-one-year-old Young T urk offic er, Is mai l Enver, a veteran of the 1908 Revolution who had made his name fighting the Ital ians in Libya, burs t into the Subl ime Porte, s hot the war m inis ter and s eized power. He and two c omrades , Mehmet T alaat and Ahmet J emal, formed the triumvirateof the T hree Pas has . Enver won a s mal l vic tory in the Sec ond Balkan W ar whic h c onvinc ed him he was the T urkis h Napoleon, des tined to res tore the empire. In 1914, he emerged as Ottoman s trongman and war m inis ter - and even married the s ul tan's niec e. T he T hree Pas has bel ieved that only the T urkization ofthe empire c ould s top the final rot. T heir programme antic ipated Fas c is m and the Holoc aus t in i ts barbari ty, rac is m and warmongering.

On 28 J une 1914, Serbian terroris ts as s as s inated the Aus trian heir A rc hduke Franz Ferdinand and the Great Powers s taggered then s tampeded into the Firs t W orld W ar. Enver Pas ha was eager to fight, pus hing for a German al l ianc e to provide the nec es s ary m i l i tary and financ ial bac king. Kais er W i lhelm ,remembering his trip to the Eas t, bac ked the Ottoman al l ianc e. Enver appointed hims el f vic e-general is s imo under his puppet s ul tan and entered the war by bombarding Rus s ian ports from his newly s uppl ied German battles hips .

On 11 November, Sul tan Mehmet V Ras hid dec lared war on B ri tain, Franc e and Rus s ia - and in J erus alem j ihad was proc laimed in al-Aqs a. A t fi rs t there was s ome enthus ias m for war. W hen the c ommander of the Ottoman troops in Pales tine, the Bavarian general Baron Friedric h K res s von K res s ens tein,arrived, the J ews of J erus alem welc omed his uni ts wi th a triumphal arc h. T he Germans as s umed protec tion of the J ews from the B ri tis h. Meanwhi le J erus alem awaited the arrival of her new mas ter.7

On 18 November W as i f J awhariyyeh, the oud-player, s ti l l only s eventeen years old, watc hed Ahmet J emal, m inis ter of the marine and one of the T hree Pas has , drive into J erus alem as effec tive dic tator of Greater Syria and s upreme c ommander of the Fourth Ottoman A rmy. J emal s et up his headquarters in theAugus ta V ic toria on the Mount of Ol ives . On 20 Dec ember, an elderly s heikh arrived at the Damas c us Gate in a s tately c arriage bearing the P rophet's green banner from Mec c a. His entranc e into the c i ty c aus ed 'indes c ribable c ommotion' as 'an orderly and pic tures que train of s oldiers fol lowed the flag through theOld City' as they s prinkled ros ewater. T he whole population of J erus alem fol lowed in his wake 's inging A l lahu akhbar in the mos t beauti ful parade I ever s aw,' wrote W as if J awhariyyeh. Outs ide the Dome, J emal dec lared j ihad. 'J ubi lation took pos s es s ion,' agreed K res s von K res s ens tein, 'of the enti re population' -unti l the anc ient Mec c an s heikh s uddenly died jus t before Chris tmas , an embarras s ing augur for the Ottoman j ihad.

J emal, forty-five years old, s quat and bearded, always protec ted by a c amel-mounted s quadron of guards , c ombined brutis h, paranoid c ruel ty wi th c harm, intel l igenc e and grotes que buffoonery. A bon vivant wi th 'a weaknes s for pomp and c irc ums tanc e', and for beauti ful J ewes s es , he had a s ens e both of hisown greatnes s and of his own abs urdi ty. W hi le he terrorized J erus alem, he l iked to play poker, rac e hors es through the J udaean hi l ls , drink c hampagne and s moke c igars wi th his friend, Count Antonio de Bal lobar, the Spanis h c ons ul . Bal lobar, an elegant aris toc rat in his late twenties , des c ribed the pas ha as a's ale ty pe ' but 'bon garc on ' - a fi l thy type but a good boy. Bertha Spafford thought J emal 'a s trange man and one to be feared', but als o 'a man of dual pers onal i ty' c apable of c harm and kindnes s . Onc e, wi thout anyone s eeing, he gave a diamond-s tudded medal to a l i ttle girl whos e parents found her wi th i t when theyreturned home. One of his German offic ers , Franz von Papen, s imply judged him 'an extremely intel l igent Oriental des pot'.

J emal ruled his fiefdom almos t independently: 'T hat man of l im i tles s influenc e' rel is hed his power, as king jovial ly: 'W hat are laws ? I make them and unmake them! ' T he T hree Pas has were rightly s us pic ious of A rab loyal ty. Enjoying a c ul tural renais s anc e, a flowering of national is tic as pirations , the A rabshated the new T urkis h c hauvinis m. Yet they formed 40 per c ent of the Ottoman population, and many of the Ottoman regiments were enti rely A rab. J emal 's m is s ion was to hold the A rab provinc es and s uppres s any A rab - or for that matter Zionis t - s ti rrings , us ing fi rs t menac ing c harm and then jus t menac e.

Soon after arriving in the Holy Ci ty, he c al led in a delegation of A rabs s us pec ted of national is t bel iefs . He s tudious ly ignored them as they grew paler and paler. Final ly he as ked, 'Do you apprec iate the gravi ty of your c rimes ?' He c ut off their ans wer: 'S ILENCE! Do you know the punis hment? Exec ution!Exec ution! ' He waited as they quaked, then added quietly: 'But I s hal l c ontent mys el f wi th exi l ing you and your fam i l ies to Anatol ia.' W hen the terri fied A rabs had trooped out, J emal turned laughing to this adjutant: 'W hat c an one do? T hat's how we get things done here.' W hen he needed new roads bui l t, he told theengineer, 'If the road is n't finis hed in time, I s hal l have you exec uted at the point w hen the las t s tones hav e been laid ! ' He would s igh rather proudly: 'Everywhere there are people groaning bec aus e of me.'

As J emal mus tered his forc es , c ommanded mainly by German offic ers , for his offens ive agains t B ri tis h Egypt, he found that Syria was s eething with intrigue, and J erus alem, 'a nes t of s pies '. T he pas ha's pol ic y was s imple: 'For Pales tine, deportation; for Syria, terrorization; for the Hejaz, the army.' In J erus alemhis approac h was to l ine up 'patriarc hs , princ es and s heikhs in rows , and to hang Notables and deputies '. As his s ec ret pol ic e trac ked down trai tors , he deported anyone s us pec ted of national is t agi tation. He c ommandeered Chris tian s i tes s uc h as S t Anne's Churc h and s tarted to expel the Chris tian hierarc hswhi le he prepared to attac k Egypt.

T he pas ha paraded his 20,000 men through J erus alem on the way to the front. 'W e'l l meet on the other s ide of the [Suez] Canal or in Heaven! ' he boas ted, but Count Bal lobar notic ed an Ottoman s oldier pus hing his water rations in a s tolen pram, s urely not the mark of a daunting m i l i tary mac hine. J emal, on theother hand, travel led wi th 'magnific ent tents , hat s tands , c ommodes '. On 1 February 1915, J emal, moved by hearing his men s inging 'T he Red Flag Fl ies over Cairo', attac ked the Canal wi th 12,000 troops ; they were eas i ly repel led. He c laimed that the attac k had only been a rec onnais s anc e in forc e, but he fai ledagain in the s ummer. Mi l i tary defeat, W es tern bloc kade and J emal 's growing repres s ion brought des perate s uffering and wi ld hedonis m to J erus alem. It was not long before the ki l l ing s tarted.8

TERROR AND DEATH: JEMAL THE SLAUGHTERMAN

W ithin a month of J emal 's arrival , W as i f J awhariyyeh s aw the body of an A rab in a whi te c loak hanging from a tree outs ide the J affa Gate. On 30 Marc h 1915, the pas ha exec uted two A rab s oldiers at the Damas c us Gate as 'B ri tis h s pies ', and then exec uted the Mufti of Gaza and his s on, whos e hanging at the J affaGate was watc hed by a ful l c rowd in res pec tful s i lenc e. Hangings were s taged at the Damas c us and J affa Gates after Friday prayers to ens ure the larges t audienc e. Soon the gates s eemed to be permanently fes tooned with s waying c adavers , del iberately left for days on J emal 's orders . On one oc c as ion, W as i f washorri fied by the s adis tic inc ompetenc e:

T he hanging proc es s was not s tudied s c ienti fic al ly or medic al ly enough s o that the vic tim s tayed al ive, s uffering a lot and we watc hed but c ouldn't s ay or do anything. An offic er ordered a s oldier to c l imb up and hang on the vic tim but this extra weight made the vic tim 's eyes bulge out of his fac e. T his wasthe c ruel ty of J emal Pas ha. My heart c ries out from the memory of this s ight.

In Augus t 1915, after unc overing evidenc e of A rab national is t plots , 'I dec ided', wrote J emal, 'to take ruthles s ac tion agains t the trai tors .' He hanged fi fteen prom inent A rabs near Beirut (inc luding a Nas has hibi from J erus alem), and then, in May 1916, another twenty-one in Damas c us and Beirut, winning thes oubriquet the S laughterman. He joked to the Spaniard Bal lobar that he c ould hang him too.

J emal als o s us pec ted the Zionis ts of treas on. Yet Ben-Gurion, s porting a tarbous h, was rec rui ting J ewis h s oldiers for the Ottomans . J emal had not qui te given up on c harm: in Dec ember 1915 he s pons ored two unique meetings between the Hus s einis and Zionis t leaders inc luding Ben-Gurion, to ral ly s upportfor a joint homeland under the Ottomans . But afterwards , J emal deported 500 foreign J ews , arres ted Zionis t leaders and banned their s ymbols . T he deportations provoked uproar in the German and Aus trian news papers , whereupon J emal c al led in the Zionis ts to warn agains t any s abotage: 'You c an c hoos e. I amprepared to deport you as was done with the A rmenians . Anyone who lays a finger on a s ingle orange, I s hal l exec ute. But i f you want the s ec ond option, the enti re V ienna and Berl in pres s mus t be s i lent! ' Later, he ranted: 'I've no trus t in your loyal ty. Had you no c ons piratorial des igns you wouldn't have c ome to l ivehere in this des olate land among A rabs who hate you. W e deem Zionis ts des erving of hanging but I'm ti red of hangings . [Ins tead] we'l l dis pers e you around the T urkis h s tate.'*

Ben-Gurion was deported, s witc hing his hopes to the A l l ies . A rabs were c ons c ripted into the army; J ews and Chris tians were forc ed into labour battal ions to bui ld roads , many of them peris hing from hunger and expos ure. T hen c ame dis eas e, ins ec ts and s tarvation. 'T he loc us ts were thic k as c louds ,'remembered W as if, moc king J emal 's attempts to s olve the plague 'by ordering every pers on over 12 to bring 3 ki los of loc us t eggs ', s inc e this s imply led to an abs urd trade in loc us t eggs .

W as if s aw 's tarvation s pread al l around the c ountry', along with 'typhus , malaria, and many people died'. By 1918, the J ewis h population of J erus alem had fal len, from epidemic , s tarvation and deportation, by 20,000. Yet W as i f's voic e, his oud and his abi l i ty to rus tle up pretty gues ts for wi ld parties , were nevermore valued.

W AR AND SEX IN THE CITY: W ASIF JAW HARIYYEH

J emal, his offic ers and the Family grandees enjoyed a l i fe of feveris h pleas ure whi le the J erus alem ites jus t s truggled to s urvive the c alam ities of war. T he poverty was s uc h that young pros ti tutes , many of them war widows c harging jus t two pias tres a tric k, patrol led the Old Ci ty. In May 1915, s ome teac hers weres ac ked when they were found entertaining pros ti tutes during s c hool hours . W omen even s old their babies . 'Old men and women' - partic ularly the poor Has idic J ews in Mea Shearim - 'were bloated with hunger. On their fac es and al l over their bodies , s l ime, fi l th, dis eas e and s ores .'

W as i f's every night was an adventure: 'I only went home to c hange my c lothes , s leeping in a di fferent hous e every night, my body total ly exhaus ted from drinking and merrymaking. In the morning I'm pic nic king with the J erus alem Notable Famil ies , next I'm holding an orgy wi th thugs and gangs ters in the al leys ofthe Old Ci ty.' One night W as i f J awhariyyeh found hims el f in a c onvoy of four l imous ines , c ontaining the governor, his J ewis h m is tres s from Salonic a, various Ottoman beys and Family grandees inc luding Mayor Hus s ein Hus s eini , being driven out to A rtas near Bethlehem for an 'international pic nic ' at the Latinmonas tery: 'It was a lovely day for everyone during the hard time when hunger and war were making people s uffer. No one hung on c eremony, everyone drank wine, and the ladies were s o beauti ful that night, there was no time to eat and they al l s ang l ike one c hoir.'

T he governor's J ewis h m is tres s 's o adored A rabic mus ic ' that W as i f agreed to teac h her the oud . He s eems to have exis ted in a dizzy parade of orgies wi th his patrons , attended by 'the mos t beauti ful J ewis h women' and s ometimes Rus s ian girls trapped in J erus alem by the war. Onc e, the Fourth A rmyquartermas ter, Raus hen Pas ha, got 's o drunk that the beauti ful J ewis h women made him los e c ons c ious nes s ! '

W as i f did not need to work bec aus e the grandees , fi rs t Hus s ein Hus s eini and later Ragheb Nas has hibi , arranged s inec ures for him in the c i ty adminis tration. Hus s eini was head of the Red Cres c ent c hari ty. As s o often, c hari ty was the s hameles s pretext for extravaganc e and s oc ial c l imbing: the 'attrac tiveladies ' of J erus alem were as ked to dres s up in fetc hingly figure-hugging Ottoman m i l i tary uni forms dec orated with Red Cres c ents , a look that proved i rres is tible for the s upremo J emal: his m is tres s was Leah Tennenbaum, whom W as if c ons idered 'one of the mos t beauti ful women in Pales tine'. S ima al-Magribiyyah,another J ewes s , bec ame m is tres s of the garris on c ommander; an Engl is hwoman, Mis s Cobb, s ervic ed the governor.

Sometimes , the oud-player hims el f enjoyed a tidbi t from high table. W hen he and his band were invi ted to play at a party in a J ewis h hous e, he found a 'huge hal l , and a group of [Ottoman] offic ers prowl ing around the ladies ', who inc luded a c ertain Mis s Rac hel . Suddenly the drunken T urks s tarted to fight,s hooting their pis tols fi rs t at the l ights and then at eac h other. T he demi-mondaines and mus ic ians ran for their l ives . W as i f's beloved lute was broken but the pretty Mis s Rac hel pul led him into a c upboard that led through a hidden doorway into another hous e - 's he s aved my l i fe', and, perhaps jus t as joyous ly, 'Is tayed the night wi th her.'

On 27 Apri l 1915, the annivers ary of Sul tan Mehmet's s uc c es s ion, J emal invi ted Ottoman and German c ommanders and the J erus alem ite grandees to s taff headquarters in the c ommandeered Notre Dame outs ide the New Gate: fi fty 'pros ti tutes ' ac c ompanied the Ottoman offic ers whi le the grandees brought theirwives .

Even as J erus alem deteriorated, Count Bal lobar's dinner parties for J emal remained banquets : the menu for one feas t on 6 J uly 1916 inc luded T urkis h s oup, fis h, s teak, meat pies and s tuffed turkey, fol lowed by ic e c ream, pineapple and frui t. W hi le they ate, J emal talked about girls , power and his newJ erus alem. He fanc ied hims el f a c i ty planner and wanted to knoc k down the wal ls of J erus alem and c ut a boulevard through the Old Ci ty from the J affa Gate to the Temple Mount. T hen he boas ted that he had married the glamorous Leah Tennenbaum. * J emal often turned up c hez Bal lobar wi thout warning - and, asthings got more des perate, the Spaniard us ed his influenc e to res train the S laughterman's des potis m.

W hi le J emal overs aw this evanes c ent J erus alem, his c ol league, V ic e-General is s imo Enver, los t 80,000 men in his inept Rus s ian offens ive. He and Talaat blamed their dis as ters on the Chris tian A rmenians , who were s ys tematic al ly deported and ki l led. A m i l l ion peris hed in a barbaric c rime that would laterenc ourage Hitler to begin the Holoc aus t: 'No one now remembers the A rmenians ,' he reflec ted. J emal c laimed to dis approve of this mas s ac re. Certainly he al lowed refugees to s ettle in J erus alem, and the number of A rmenians there doubled during the war.

T here were s ec ret negotiations with the B ri tis h: J emal told Bal lobar that London wanted him to as s as s inate his c ol league Talaat Pas ha. A t s ome point, J emal s ec retly approac hed the A l l ies , offering to marc h on Is tanbul , overthrow Enver, s ave the A rmenians and bec ome heredi tary s ul tan hims el f: as theA l l ies did not take him s erious ly, J emal fought on. He hanged twelve A rabs in J erus alem, their bodies dis played around the wal ls , whi le Enver toured the eas t to emphas ize his Is lam ic c redentials , intim idate A rab dis s idents and keep an eye on his c ol league. W as i f watc hed the Ottoman s trongman drive intoJ erus alem with J emal. A fter vis i ting the Dome, David's T omb and the Churc h, and opening J emal Pas ha S treet, Enver was entertained at the Fas t Hotel by Mayor Hus s ein Hus s eini , ac c ompanied by J awhariyyeh who as us ual arranged the party.

T he two pas has s et out for Mec c a to s ee off any potential A rab rebel l ion. But Enver's haj c ould not s ave A rabia for the Ottomans .9

ARAB REVOLT, BALFOUR DECLARATION

1916-17

LAW RENCE AND THE SHERIF OF MECCA

J us t before the Great W ar began, a young princ el ing from Mec c a, Abdul lah ibn Hus s ein, on his way bac k from Is tanbul , vis i ted Field Mars hal Lord K i tc hener, the reigning B ri tis h Agent in Cairo, to as k for m i l i tary aid for his father.Abdul lah's father was Hus s ein, the Sheri f of Sheri fs and the Amir of Mec c a, the grandes t potentate in A rabia, a Has hemite in direc t des c ent from the P rophet. T he fam i ly were tradi tional ly am irs of Mec c a but the Ottoman s ul tan Abdul-Hamid had kept him in luxurious l imbo in Is tanbul for over fi fteen years whi le

appointing other members of the fam i ly. T hen in 1908, the Young T urks , fac ed with a lac k of other c andidates , des patc hed him to Mec c a (where his telephone number was Mec c a 1). Fac ed with Enver Pas ha's aggres s ive T urkis h national is m and the rivalry of the Saudis and other A rabian c hieftains , Hus s einwis hed to prepare for ei ther war in A rabia or revol t agains t Is tanbul .

Abdul lah proudly s howed K i tc hener a fles h wound gained fighting a s outhern A rabian s heikh, and K i tc hener revealed his s c ars from the Sudan. 'Your Lords hip', the s quat A rabian told the towering K i tc hener, 'is a target that c annot be m is s ed but, s hort as I am, a Bedouin hi t me.' Des pi te Abdul lah's c harm,K itc hener refus ed to arm the Sheri fians .

A few months later, the s tart of the Great W ar c hanged everything. K i tc hener returned to London to s erve as s ec retary of s tate for war - and to launc h the s teely-eyed rec rui ting pos ter that read 'Your Country Needs You' - but he remained B ri tain's pre-em inent Eas tern expert. W hen the Ottoman s ul tan-c al iphdec lared j ihad agains t the A l l ies , he remembered Hus s ein and propos ed appointing him as B ri tain's own c al iph to launc h an A rab revol t. He ordered Cairo to c ontac t the Sheri f.

A t fi rs t there was no reply. T hen s uddenly, in Augus t 1915, Sheri f Hus s ein offered to lead an A rab revol t - in return for c ertain prom is es . T he B ri tis h, c onfronting the fai lure of their Gal l ipol i expedi tion, des igned to break the W es tern Front s talemate by knoc king the Ottomans out of the war, and the dis as trousenc irc lement of an army at Kut in Iraq, were afraid that J emal Pas ha would c onquer Egypt unles s he was res trained by A rab unres t. London therefore ordered S ir Henry Mc Mahon, high c ommis s ioner in Egypt, to agree whatever nec es s ary to keep the A rabs on s ide without prom is ing anything that c las hed with Frenc hand of c ours e B ri tis h ambitions .

Sheri f Hus s ein, now over s ixty, was des c ribed by no les s an obs erver than Lawrenc e of A rabia as 'c onc ei ted to a degree, greedy and s tupid' and 'pi ti ful ly unfi t' to rule a s tate, but nonetheles s 's uc h an old dear' and at this point the B ri tis h badly needed his help. Guided by his c anny s ec ond s on Abdul lah, he nowdemanded a Has hemite* empire of al l of A rabia, Syria, Pales tine and Iraq, an outrageous ly exorbi tant gambit and an imperium on a s c ale that had not exis ted s inc e the Abbas ids . In return he would lead a revol t agains t the Ottomans not only in his native A rabia but als o in Syria through the network of s ec ret A rabnational is t s oc ieties s uc h as al-Fatat and al-Ahd. None of this was qui te true: he c ommanded only a few thous and warriors and did not even rule al l of the Hejaz. Muc h of A rabia was c ontrol led by rival c hieftains l ike the Saudis and his pos i tion was prec arious . T he s ec ret s oc ieties were tiny, wi th jus t a few hundredac tive members between them, and would s oon be dec imated by J emal.

Mc Mahon was uns ure how muc h to c onc ede to thes e 'tragi-c omic pretens ions ', but, whi le he agonized, Hus s ein s imultaneous ly offered the T hree Pas has the c hanc e to outbid the B ri tis h, as king for heredi tary pos s es s ion of the Hejaz and an end to J emal 's terror. T he s heri f s ent his thi rd s on Fais al to negotiatewith J emal, but the tyrant forc ed him to attend the hangings of A rab national is ts .

T he s heri f had muc h more s uc c es s with the B ri tis h. London's Eas tern experts bas ed in Cairo knew the c ontours of Pales tine intimately through the es pionage arc haeology of the las t c entury and K i tc hener hims el f had photographed J erus alem and mapped the c ountry, s ometimes in ful l A rab dis guis e. Butmany unders tood the c lubs of Cairo better than the s ouks of Damas c us : they were patronizing about the A rabs and prejudic ed agains t the J ews whom they s aw as behind every enemy c ons pirac y. W hi le London ran one pol ic y, negotiating wi th the s heri f, the B ri tis h vic eroy of India ran his own qui te di fferent pol ic y,bac king the s heri f's enemy, the Saudis . B ri tain's often amateuris h experts found thems elves l iving the real vers ion of J ohn Buc han's novel Greenmantle , adri ft on the s ubtle, treac herous c urrents of A rab pol i tic s in the vas t Ottoman s ea.

Fortunately, Mc Mahon had one offic er who real ly did know Syria. T he twenty-eight-year-old T. E . Lawrenc e, des c ribed by his fel low A rabis t Gertrude Bel l as 'exc eedingly intel l igent', was an ec c entric outs ider who hai led from the ambiguous heart of the B ri tis h es tabl is hment and never qui te rec onc i led histormented al legianc es to his two flawed mas ters - the empire and the A rabs . He was i l legi timate: his father was T homas Chapman, heir to a baronetc y who had left his wi fe to rais e a new fam i ly wi th his m is tres s Sarah Lawrenc e and adopted her s urname.

'As a boy, T E always thought he was going to do great things , both ac tive and reflec tive and determ ined to ac hieve both.' He trained hims el f to improve his powers of phys ic al enduranc e whi le wri ting his Oxford thes is on Crus ader fortres s es . A fterwards , he perfec ted his A rabic by travel l ing throughout Syria, andworked as an arc haeologis t at Hi tti te s i tes in Iraq, where his young A rab as s is tant Dahoum bec ame his c ompanion and perhaps the guiding pas s ion of his l i fe. His s exual i ty, l ike s o muc h els e about him , remains mys terious , but he moc ked 'our c omic reproduc tive proc es s es ' and his friend Ronald S torrs s aid, 'Hewas not a m is ogynis t though he'd have kept his c ompos ure i f he'd s uddenly been informed he'd never s ee a woman again.' W hi le in Iraq, he planned a book of 'adventures ' on J erus alem and s ix other A rab c i ties whic h he would c al l The Sev en P i l lars of W is dom after a vers e in P roverbs . He never publ is hed this , buthe later us ed the ti tle for another book.

'A rather s hort, s trongly bui l t man with s andy c omplexion, a typic al Engl is h fac e bronzed by the des ert, remarkable blue eyes ,' as an Americ an later des c ribed him , Lawrenc e s tood 5 foot 5 inc hes - Gertrude Bel l c al led him the Imp. 'My brain', he wrote, 'was quic k and s i lent as a wi ld c at.' Super-s ens i tive to everyhuman nuanc e, s uperb wri ter and keen obs erver, and abruptly rude to thos e he dis l iked, he s uffered from 'a c raving to be famous ', he admitted, 'and a horror of being known to l ike being known'. He did i t al l for 'egotis tic al c urios i ty'. T his bel iever in c hivalry and jus tic e was als o a s erpentine intriguer and s el f-mythologizer wi th what the journal is t Lowel l T homas c al led 'a genius for bac king into the l imel ight'. Vani ty c ompeted with mas oc his m: 'I l ike the things underneath me and took my pleas ures and adventures downwards . T here s eemed a c ertainty in degradation.'

Now in Cairo, Mc Mahon turned to this junior offic er who bec ame 'a moving s piri t in the negotiations with the s heri f'. As Lawrenc e wrote his reports , he always found hims el f 'thinking of Saladin and Abu Ubayda', but he s hared the view of many B ri tis h A rabis ts that the des ert A rabs were pure and noble - unl ikethos e of Pales tine. W hi le he defined Damas c us , A leppo, Homs and Hama as the A rab heartland of Syria, he did not rec ognize J erus alem as real ly A rab - s he was a 's qual id town', whos e people, he wrote, 'were c harac terles s as hotel s ervants , l iving on the c rowd of vis i tors pas s ing through. Ques tions of A rabs andtheir national i ty are as far from them as bimetal l is m from the l i fe of T exas .' Suc h plac es as J erus alem or Beirut were 's hop-s oi led - as repres entative of Syria as Soho of the Home Counties '.

On 24 Oc tober 1915, Mc Mahon repl ied to Hus s ein. Lac ed with del iberate vaguenes s , the reply was des igned to be read di fferently by both parties . Mc Mahon agreed to Hus s ein's empire, eas t of the Syrian c i ties s pec i fied by Lawrenc e, but exc luded the fuzzy area to the wes t. Pales tine was not mentioned and norwas J erus alem. T he s heri f would be unl ikely to ac c ept J erus alem 's exc lus ion but the B ri tis h had their own interes ts there, s o not mentioning the c i ty s ides tepped the problem. Bes ides , Mc Mahon ins is ted that al l Frenc h interes ts were exc luded - and Franc e had anc ient c laims on J erus alem too. In fac t, the highc ommis s ioner planned to plac e J erus alem nominal ly under the A lbanian dynas ty of Egypt s o that the Holy Ci ty would be Mus l im but under B ri tis h c ontrol .

B ri tain needed the A rab Revol t immediately s o i t made the nec es s ary prom is es as unc learly as pos s ible. Yet Mc Mahon's prom is es were not ambiguous enough, for they rais ed A rab expec tations jus t before B ri tain and Franc e began the real negotiation to divide up the Ottoman empire.T he B ri tis h negotiator, S ir Mark Sykes , MP and Yorks hire baronet, was a c reative and i rrepres s ible amateur who had travel led in the Eas t and therefore bec ome a towering expert - though Lawrenc e c al led him 'a bundle of prejudic es , intui tions and hal f-s c ienc es '. His real talent was an ambitious ebul l ienc e that

was s o attrac tive that his s uperiors happi ly al lowed him to dabble in any eas tern pol ic ies he c hos e. Sykes and his Frenc h c ounterpart, Franc ois Georges -P ic ot, who had s erved as c ons ul in Beirut, agreed that Franc e would rec eive Syria and Lebanon, B ri tain, Iraq and s ome of Pales tine. T here would be an A rabc onfederation, under B ri tis h and Frenc h s upervis ion - and J erus alem would be international ized under Franc e, B ri tain and Rus s ia.* T his al l made s ens e to the three empires that had been s triving to c ontrol J erus alem for the las t s eventy years - and i t al lowed for an A rab s tate of s orts . But i t was s oon outdatedbec aus e B ri tain s ec retly c oveted J erus alem and Pales tine for i ts el f.

On 5 J une 1916, Sheri f Hus s ein, obl ivious to the s ec ret of Sykes -P ic ot but aware that the Ottomans were about to overthrow him , rais ed his red banner in Mec c a and launc hed his A rab Revol t. He dec lared hims el f 'K ing of A l l the A rabs ', a ti tle that alarmed the B ri tis h, who pers uaded him to downgrade i t to 'K ingof Hejaz'. T his was jus t the beginning: few fam i l ies in his tory would wear s o many c rowns in s o many kingdoms in s uc h a s hort time. K ing Hus s ein appointed eac h of his s ons to c ommand his s mal l arm ies but the m i l i tary res ul ts were dis appointing and revol ts in Syria never material ized. T he B ri tis h found i t hard towork out whether the Sheri fians c ould ever be effec tive. So, in Oc tober, Ronald S torrs , who would later govern J erus alem, and his s ubordinate, Lawrenc e, arrived in A rabia.

LAW RENCE OF ARABIA:THE SHERIFIANS - ABDULLAH AND FAISAL

Lawrenc e had a good look at the king's four s ons in order to find the ideal A rab ruler, but he quic kly real ized that the s ec ond and third, Abdul lah and Fais al , were the only ones that mattered. He dis m is s ed Abdul lah as 'too c lever' and Abdul lah dis m is s ed Lawrenc e as 'a s trange c reature', but the moment Lawrenc es et eyes upon P rinc e Fais al , he almos t s wooned: 'tal l , grac eful , vigorous , almos t regal . Aged thirty-one, very quic k and res tles s . Is c lears kinned as a pure Circ as s ian, wi th dark hair, vivid blac k eyes . Looks l ike a European and very l ike the monument of Ric hard I at Fontevraud. A popular idol .' Lawrenc e gus hed thathe was 'an abs olute ripper! ' but Fais al was als o 'a brave, weak, ignorant s piri t - I s erved him out of pi ty'.

T he A rab Revol t was fai l ing even in the Sheri fian fiefdom of Hejaz and Lawrenc e s aw that Fais al 's few thous and c ameleers c ould be defeated by 'one c ompany of T urks '. Yet i f they raided outpos ts and s abotaged the rai lways , they c ould tie down an enti re Ottoman army. W hen he was pos ted to Fais al ,Lawrenc e put this into prac tic e and c reated the prototype of the modern ins urgenc y. But i t was Fais al who dres s ed the Lawrenc e of legend, 'fi tting me out in s plendid, whi te s i lk and gold-embroidered wedding garments '. As he wrote in his guide to A rab ins urgenc y - required reading for Americ an offic ers in twenty-fi rs t-c entury Iraq and A fghanis tan - 'If you wear A rab things , wear the bes t. Dres s l ike a s heri f.' Lawrenc e had no m i l i tary training and the s piri t of an as c etic poet, but he unders tood that 'the beginning and end of the s ec ret of handl ing A rabs is unremitting s tudy of them. Get to know their fam i l ies , c lans and tribes ,friends and enemies by l is tening and indirec t inquiry.' He learned to ride c amels and to l ive l ike a Bedouin. But he never forgot that dol ing out vas t s ums of B ri tis h gold was what kept his army together - 'this is the fattes t time the tribes have ever known' - and even fi fty years later they remembered him as 'the manwith the gold'.

T he s laughter and gri t of war both horri fied and exc i ted him . 'I hope this s ounds the fun i t is ,' he wrote feveris hly after one s uc c es s ful raid. 'It's the mos t amateuris h, Buffalo-B i l l s ort of performanc e and the only people who did i t wel l are the Bedouin.' W hen one of his men murdered another, Lawrenc e had toexec ute the murderer hims el f, to avoid a blood feud. A fter a s laughter of T urks , he hoped 'this nightmare ends when I'l l wake up and bec ome al ive again. T his ki l l ing and ki l l ing of T urks is horrible.'

Lawrenc e knew the s ec ret of the Sykes -P ic ot c arve-up of the Middle Eas t and i t s hamed him : 'W e are c al l ing them to fight for us on a l ie and I c an't s tand i t.' T here were times he ris ked his l i fe in a fi t of des pair, 'hoping to get ki l led on the way'. He des c ribed hims el f as 's trongly pro-B ri tis h and pro-A rab', but hedes pis ed imperial c onques t, preferring an independent A rabia as a dominion - but under B ri tis h protec tion. 'I pres umed I would s urvive and be able to defeat not merely the T urk on the battlefield but my own c ountry and i ts al l ies in the c ounc i l -c hamber.'

Lawrenc e c onfided the s ec ret of Sykes -P ic ot to Fais al together wi th his plan to remedy i t. If they were to avoid a Frenc h Syria, they had to l iberate i t thems elves and they had to begin wi th a s pec tac ular piec e of m i l i tary elan that would earn the A rabs the right to Syria: Lawrenc e led Fais al 's forc es on a c i rc ular300-m i le es c apade through the punis hing J ordanian des ert to s eize the port of Aqaba.10

FALKENHAYN TAKES COMMAND: GERMAN JERUSALEM

After J emal 's thi rd offens ive agains t Egypt had fai led, the B ri tis h c ounterattac ked ac ros s S inai . In s pring 1917, they were twic e s everely defeated at Gaza by 16,000 Germans bac ked by Aus tro-Hungarian arti l lery. J emal real ized that they would attac k again. Pales tine now s eethed with anti -Ottoman intrigue. T hepas ha's s ec ret pol ic e unc overed a pro-B ri tis h J ewis h s py-ring, NILI, whos e members were tortured - their nai ls ripped out, their s kul ls s queezed in vic es unti l they c rac ked - and then hanged. In J erus alem, J emal 's pol ic e were hunting down another J ewis h s py, A l ter Levine, a poet, bus ines s man and fixer born inRus s ia, whom they c laimed had s et up a c hain of brothels -c um-s py-nes ts . Levine turned up at the hous e of his friend, Khal i l Sakakini , the res pec ted teac her, in J erus alem, who agreed to protec t him . T he Zionis t s py-rings outraged the S laughterman, who in Apri l s ummoned the foreign c ons uls to a menac ings ol i loquy at the Augus ta V ic toria Fortres s : he threatened to deport the enti re population of J erus alem - and after the dys topic A rmenian 'deportations ', that would mean the death of thous ands .

'W e'l l find ours elves c ompel led to fight for J erus alem,' J emal told Enver. T hey invi ted Field Mars hal E ric h von Falkenhayn, the former German Chief of S taff who had c ommanded the Verdun offens ive, to c ome to J erus alem and advis e on how to defeat the B ri tis h. But Enver went over J emal 's head and plac edthe German in s upreme c ommand. 'Falkenhayn's Verdun was dis as trous for Germany', J emal warned Enver, 'and his Pales tinian offens ive wi l l be dis as trous for us .'

In J une 1917, a c res tfal len J emal met Falkenhayn at J erus alem s tation and they pos ed awkwardly together on the s teps of the Dome of the Roc k. Falkenhayn s et up his headquarters in the kais erine Augus ta V ic toria. T he c afes of the c i ty were fi l led wi th German s oldiers of the As ienkorps and their offic ers tookover the Fas t Hotel . 'W e were in the Holy Land,' wrote a typic al young German s oldier in the c i ty, Rudol f Hoes s . * 'T he old fam i l iar names from rel igious his tory and the s tories of the s aints were al l around us . And how di fferent from my youthful dreams ! ' Aus trian troops marc hed through the c i ty; J ewis h Aus trians oldiers prayed at the W es tern W al l . J emal Pas ha left the c i ty and governed his provinc es from Damas c us . T he Kais er final ly c ontrol led J erus alem - but i t was too late.

On 28 J une, S ir Edmund A l lenby arrived in Cairo as the new B ri tis h c ommander. J us t a week later, Lawrenc e and the Sheri fians s eized Aqaba. It took him jus t four days , riding c amels , trains and s hips , to reac h Cairo and report his triumph to A l lenby, who, des pi te being a bluffly c onventional c avalryman, wasimmediately impres s ed by this gaunt Engl is hman dres s ed in Bedouin robes . A l lenby ordered Lawrenc e and his Sheri fian Camel Corps to s erve as the maveric k right wing of his army.

In J erus alem, B ri tis h aeroplanes bombed the Mount of Ol ives . Falkenhayn's adjutant, Colonel Franz von Papen, arranged the defenc es and planned to c ounter-attac k. T he Germans underes timated A l lenby and they were taken by s urpris e when on 31 Oc tober 1917, he launc hed his offens ive to c aptureJ erus alem.11

LLOYD GEORGE, BALFOUR AND W EIZMANN

As A l lenby mas s ed his 75,000 infantry, 17,000 c avalry and a handful of new tanks , A rthur Bal four, the B ri tis h foreign s ec retary, was negotiating a new pol ic y wi th a Rus s ian-born s c ientis t named Dr Chaim W eizmann. It is a remarkable s tory: a Rus s ian immigrant, wandering around W hitehal l and dropping into theoffic es of the mos t powerful s tates men in the world for romantic c onvers ations on anc ient Is rael and the B ible, managed to win the bac king of the B ri tis h empire for a pol ic y that would c hange J erus alem as radic al ly as any dec is ion by Cons tantine or Saladin and define the Middle Eas t to this day.

T hey had fi rs t met ten years earl ier but their relations hip was an unl ikely one. Bal four was nic knamed Nim iny P im iny and P retty Fanny for his ros y c heeks and wi l lowy l imbs , but als o B loody Bal four for his hars hnes s when c hief s ec retary for Ireland. He was the s c ion of both Sc ottis h merc anti le weal th andEngl is h aris toc rac y - his mother being the s is ter of the V ic torian prime m inis ter, Robert Cec i l , Marques s of Sal is bury. He had ac c ompanied his unc le and Dis rael i to the Congres s of Berl in in 1878 and when he s uc c eeded Sal is bury in 1902, wi ts c oined the expres s ion 'Bob's your unc le! ' A phi los opher, poetas terand enthus ias tic tennis -player, he was a foppis h romantic who never married and a frivolous improvis er whos e favouri te expres s ion was 'nothing matters muc h and very l i ttle matters at al l '. David Lloyd George mus ed s c athingly that his tory would remember Bal four 'l ike the s c ent on a poc ket-handkerc hief' whi le, infac t, he is mos t defini tely remembered for his relations hip wi th W eizmann and the Dec laration that bears his name.

T he two c ould not have c ome from more al ien worlds . W eizmann was a timber merc hant's s on from a tiny J ewis h vi l lage near P ins k who had embrac ed Zionis m as a boy and es c aped Rus s ia to s tudy s c ienc e in Germany and Switzerland. W hen he was thirty, he moved to Manc hes ter to teac h c hemis try at theunivers i ty.

W eizmann was s imultaneous ly 'Bohemian and aris toc ratic , patriarc hal and s ardonic , wi th the c aus tic and s el f-moc king wit of a Rus s ian intel lec tual '. He 'was one of nature's aris toc rats who was at home with kings and prime m inis ters ' and managed to win the res pec t of men as di fferent as Churc hi l l , Lawrenc eand P res ident T ruman. His wi fe Vera, being the daughter of one of the few J ewis h offic ers in the ts aris t army, regarded mos t Rus s ian J ews as plebeian, preferred the c ompany of Engl is h nobi l i ty and made s ure her 'Chaimc hik' dres s ed l ike an Edwardian gentleman. W eizmann, this pas s ionate Zionis t, hater ofts aris t Rus s ia and des pis er of anti -Zionis t J ews , res embled 'a wel l -nouris hed Lenin' and was s ometimes m is taken for him . A 'bri l l iant talker', his perfec t Engl is h was always s pic ed with a Rus s ian ac c ent and his 'almos t fem inine c harm [was ] c ombined with fel ine deadl ines s of attac k, burning enthus ias m andprophetic vis ion'.

T he Old E tonian and the graduate of P ins k c hev er fi rs t met in 1906. T heir c hat was s hort but unforgettable. 'I remember Bal four s at in his us ual pos e, legs s tretc hed out, an imperturbable expres s ion.' It was Bal four, who as prime m inis ter in 1903, had offered Uganda to the Zionis ts , but now he was out ofpower. W eizmann feared that his languid interes t was jus t 'a mas k', s o he explained that i f Mos es had heard about Ugandais m 'he would s urely have broken the tablets again'. Bal four appeared bemus ed.

'Mr Bal four, s uppos ing I were to offer you Paris ins tead of London, would you take i t?''But, Dr W eizmann, we have London,' s aid Bal four.'T rue, but we had J erus alem ', repl ied W eizmann, 'when London was a mars h.''A re there many J ews who think l ike you?''I s peak the m ind of m i l l ions of J ews .'Bal four was impres s ed but added, 'Curious . T he J ews I meet are qui te di fferent.''Mr Bal four,' ans wered W eizmann, who knew that mos t Anglo-J ewis h grandees s c orned Zionis m, 'you meet the wrong kind of J ews .'T his c onvers ation led nowhere, but W eizmann had met his fi rs t imperial s tates man. Bal four los t the general elec tion and s pent years out of power. Meanwhi le, W eizmann c ampaigned to bui ld a Hebrew univers i ty in J erus alem, whic h he vis i ted for the fi rs t time s hortly after meeting Bal four. T he dynamic Zionis t

farms in Pales tine thri l led him , but W eizmann was horri fied by J erus alem, 'a c i ty l iving on c hari ty, a m is erable ghetto', where 'we hadn't a s ingle dec ent bui lding - al l the world had a foothold in J erus alem exc ept the J ews . It depres s ed me and I left the c i ty before nightfal l .' Bac k in Manc hes ter, W eizmann made hisname as a c hemis t and bec ame friends with C. P . Sc ott, edi tor - proprietor of the Manc hes ter Guardian , a pro-Zionis t who hims el f res embled a bibl ic al prophet. 'Now Dr W eizmann,' Sc ott s aid in 1914, 'tel l me what you want me to do for you.'

A t the s tart of the Great W ar, W eizmann was s ummoned to the Admiral ty by the Firs t Lord, 'the bris k, fas c inating, c harm ing and energetic ' W ins ton Churc hi l l , who s aid: 'W el l , Dr W eizmann, we need 30,000 tons of ac etone.' W eizmann had dis c overed a new formula to manufac ture ac etone, the s olvent us ed inthe making of c ordi te explos ives . 'Can you make i t?' as ked Churc hi l l . W eizmann c ould and did.

A few months later, in Dec ember 1914, C. P. Sc ott took W eizmann to a breakfas t wi th Lloyd George, who was then c hanc el lor of the exc hequer, and his c ol league Herbert Samuel. W eizmann noted how the m inis ters dis c us s ed the war wi th a fl ippant humour that c onc ealed their deadly s erious nes s , but 'I wasterribly s hy and s uffered from s uppres s ed exc i tement'. W eizmann was amazed to dis c over that the pol i tic ians were s ympathetic to Zionis m. Lloyd George admitted, 'W hen Dr W eizmann was talking of Pales tine, he kept bringing up plac e-names more fam i l iar to me than thos e on the W es tern Front,' and he offered tointroduc e him to Bal four - not real izing they had already met. W eizmann was wary of Samuel - an Anglo-J ewis h banking s c ion related to the Roths c hi lds and Montefiores , and the fi rs t prac tis ing J ew to s erve in a B ri tis h c abinet - unti l he revealed that he was preparing a memorandum on the J ewis h Return.

In J anuary 1915, Samuel del ivered his memorandum to the prime m inis ter, Herbert As qui th: 'T here is already a s ti rring among the twelve m i l l ion s c attered,' wrote Samuel. '[T here is ] wides pread s ympathy with the idea of res toring the Hebrew people to their land.' As qui th moc ked the idea that the J ews 'c oulds warm bac k' and s neered 'what an attrac tive c ommunity' they would be. As for Samuel, his memorandum 'reads l ike a new edi tion of Tanc red .* I'm not attrac ted by the propos al but i t is a c urious i l lus tration of Dizzy's favouri te maxim that "rac e is everything" to find this almos t lyric al outburs t proc eeding from the wel l -ordered and methodic al brain of HS .' As qui th was even more s urpris ed to dis c over that 'c urious ly enough, the only other partis an of this propos al is Lloyd George and he does n't give a damn for the J ews but thinks i t wi l l be an outrage to let the Holy P lac es pas s into the pos s es s ion of "agnos tic and atheis tic "Franc e.' As qui th was right that Lloyd George wanted J erus alem for B ri tain but wrong about his atti tude to the J ews .

Lloyd George, a blue-eyed W els h Baptis t s c hoolmas ter's s on and rec kles s womanizer whos e s hoc k of raffis hly long white hair made him more res emble an artis t than a s tates man, c ared greatly about the J ews , and had repres ented the Zionis ts as a lawyer ten years earl ier. 'I was taught more in s c hool aboutthe his tory of the J ews than about my own land,' s aid this s i lver-tongued orator and intui tive s howman who had s tarted as a radic al reformer, anti -imperial pac i fis t and pers ec utor of dukes . Onc e the Great W ar had s tarted, he mutated into a vigorous war m inis ter and romantic imperial is t, influenc ed by the Greekc las s ic s and the B ible.

Lloyd George reintroduc ed W eizmann to Bal four. 'W eizmann needs no introduc tion,' s c ribbled Bal four. 'I s ti l l remember our c onvers ation in 1906.' He greeted the Zionis t wi th, 'W el l , you haven't c hanged muc h,' and then mus ed, almos t m is ty-eyed, 'You know, when the guns s top fi ring, you may get your J erus alem.It's a great c aus e you're working for. You mus t c ome again and again.' T hey s tarted to meet regularly, s trol l ing around W hitehal l by night and dis c us s ing how a J ewis h homeland would s erve, by the quirks of fate, the interes ts of his toric al jus tic e and B ri tis h power.

Sc ienc e and Zionis m overlapped even more bec aus e Bal four was now fi rs t lord of the Admiral ty and Lloyd George was m inis ter of munitions , the two portfol ios mos t c onc erned with W eizmann's work on explos ives . He found hims el f 'c aught up in a maze of pers onal relations ' wi th the panjandrums of the world'smos t expans ive empire, prompting him to reflec t on his humble bac kground: 's tarting wi th nothing, I, Chaim W eizmann, a Y id from Motel le and only an almos t profes s or at a provinc ial univers i ty! ' To the panjandrums thems elves , he was what they thought a J ew s hould be: 'J us t l ike an Old Tes tament prophet,'Churc hi l l later remarked, though one dres s ed in a froc k-c oat and top hat. In his memoirs , Lloyd George frivolous ly c laimed that his grati tude for W eizmann's war work led to his s upport for the J ews , but ac tual ly there was s trong Cabinet bac king muc h earl ier.

Onc e again, the B ible, J erus alem 's book, influenc ed the c i ty over two m i l lennia after i t was wri tten. 'B ri tain was a B ibl ic al nation,' wrote W eizmann. 'T hos e B ri tis h s tates men of the old s c hool were genuinely rel igious . T hey unders tood as a real i ty the c onc ept of the Return. It appealed to their tradi tion and theirfai th.' A long with Americ a, 'B ible-reading and B ible-thinking England,' noted one of Lloyd George's aides , 'was the only c ountry where the des ire of the J ews to return to their anc ient homeland' was regarded 'as a natural as piration not to be denied.'

T here was s omething more lurking in their atti tude to the J ews : the B ri tis h leaders were genuinely s ympathetic to the pl ight of the Rus s ian J ews , and ts aris t repres s ion had intens i fied during the war. T he European upper c las s es had been dazzled by the fabulous wealth, exotic power and s umptuous palac es ofJ ewis h plutoc rats s uc h as the Roths c hi lds . However this had c onfus ed them too, for they c ould not dec ide i f the J ews were a noble rac e of pers ec uted bibl ic al heroes , every one of them a K ing David and a Mac c abee, or a s inis ter c ons pirac y of mys tic al ly bri l l iant, hook-nos ed hobbi ts wi th almos t s upernaturalpowers . In an age of uninhibi ted theories of rac ial s uperiori ty, Bal four was c onvinc ed J ews were 'the mos t gi fted rac e mankind has known s inc e fi fth c entury bc Greec e' and Churc hi l l thought them 'the mos t form idable and gi fted rac e', yet s imultaneous ly he c al led them a 'mys tic and mys terious rac e c hos en for thes upreme manifes tations both of the divine and the diabol ic al '. Lloyd George privately c ri tic ized Herbert Samuel for having 'the wors t c harac teris tic s of his rac e'. Yet al l three were genuine phi lo-Semites . W eizmann apprec iated that the l ine between rac is t c ons pirac y-theory and Chris tian Hebrais m was a thin one: 'wehate equal ly anti -Semitis m and phi lo-Semitis m. Both are degrading.'

Yet tim ing is everything in pol i tic s . In Dec ember 1916, As qui th's government fel l , Lloyd George bec ame prime m inis ter, and he appointed Bal four as foreign s ec retary. Lloyd George was des c ribed as the 'greates t warleader s inc e Chatham ' and he and Bal four would do whatever was nec es s ary to win the war. A tthis vi tal moment in a long and terrible s truggle agains t Germany, their pec ul iar atti tudes to the J ews and the s pec ial c onc atenation of c i rc ums tanc es of 1917 merged to c onvinc e Lloyd George and Bal four that Zionis m was es s ential to help B ri tain ac hieve vic tory.

' IT'S A BOY, DR W EIZMANN': THE DECLARATION

In the s pring of 1917, Americ a entered the war and the Rus s ian Revolution overthrew Emperor Nic holas II. 'It's c lear Her Majes ty's Government were mainly c onc erned how Rus s ia was to be kept in the ranks of the A l l ies ,' explained one of the key B ri tis h offic ials , and as for Americ a, 'i t was s uppos ed Americ anopinion m ight be favourably influenc ed i f the return of the J ews to Pales tine bec ame a purpos e of B ri tis h pol ic y'. Bal four, about to vis i t Americ a, told his c ol leagues that 'the vas t majori ty of J ews in Rus s ia and Americ a now appear favourable to Zionis m.' If B ri tain c ould make a pro-Zionis t dec laration, 'we s hould beable to c arry on extremely us eful propaganda both in Rus s ia and Americ a'.

If Rus s ia and Americ a were not urgent enough, the B ri tis h learned that the Germans were c ons idering a Zionis t dec laration of their own: after al l , Zionis m was a German-Aus trian idea and unti l 1914, the Zionis ts had been bas ed in Berl in. W hen J emal Pas ha, the tyrant of J erus alem, vis i ted Berl in in Augus t1917, he met the German Zionis ts , and the Ottoman grand vizier, T alaat Pas ha, reluc tantly agreed to promote 'a J ewis h national home'. Meanwhi le, on the borders of Pales tine, General A l lenby was s ec retly preparing his offens ive.

T hes e, not W eizmann's c harm, were the real reas ons that B ri tain embrac ed Zionis m and now time was of the es s enc e. 'I'm a Zionis t,' dec lared Bal four and i t may be that Zionis m bec ame the only true pas s ion of his c areer. Lloyd George and Churc hi l l , now munitions m inis ter, bec ame Zionis ts too and thatefferves c ent gadfly, S ir Mark Sykes , now in the Cabinet Offic e, was s uddenly c onvinc ed that B ri tain needed 'the friends hip of the J ews of the W orld' bec aus e 'wi th Great J ewry agains t us , there's no pos s ibi l i ty of getting the thing through' - the thing being vic tory in the war.

Not everyone in the Cabinet agreed and battle was joined. 'W hat is to bec ome of the people of the c ountry?' as ked Lord Curzon, former vic eroy of India. Lloyd George argued 'the J ews m ight be able to render us more as s is tanc e than the A rabs '. T he s ec retary of s tate for India, Edwin Montagu, tormented J ew,banking heir and c ous in of Herbert Samuel, argued s trongly that Zionis m was l ikely to arous e more anti -Semitis m. Many of B ri tain's J ewis h magnates agreed: Claude Golds mith Montefiore, S ir Mos es ' great-nephew, bac ked by s ome of the Roths c hi lds , led the c ampaign agains t Zionis m and W eizmann c omplainedhe 'c ons idered national is m beneath the rel igious level of J ews exc ept as Engl is hmen'.

Montagu and Montefiore delayed the Dec laration but W eizmann fought bac k and c onquered the drawing-rooms and c ountry hous es of J ewis h grandees and Engl is h aris toc rats as he had the c abinet-rooms of W hitehal l . He won the s upport of the twenty-year-old Dol ly de Roths c hi ld who introduc ed him to theAs tors and Cec i ls . A t one dinner-party, the Marc hiones s of Crewe was heard tel l ing Lord Robert Cec i l , 'W e al l in this hous e are W eizmannites .' T he s upport of W alter, Lord Roths c hi ld, unc rowned king of B ri tis h J ewry, helped W eizmann to defeat his J ewis h opponents . In Cabinet, Lloyd George and Bal four got theirway. 'I have as ked Ld Roths c hi ld and P rofes s or W eizmann to s ubmit a formula,' m inuted Bal four, putting Sykes in c harge of the negotiations .

T he Frenc h and then the Americ ans gave their approval , making way for the dec is ion at the end of Oc tober: on the very day that General A l lenby c aptured Beers heba, Sykes c ame out and s potted W eizmann waiting nervous ly in the anteroom of the Cabinet Offic e. 'Dr W eizmann,' c ried Sykes , 'i t's a boy.'On 9 November, Bal four is s ued his Dec laration, addres s ed to Lord Roths c hi ld, whic h proc laimed: 'His Majes ty's Government view with favour the es tabl is hment in Pales tine of a national home for the J ewis h people ... i t being c learly unders tood that nothing s hal l be done whic h may prejudic e the c ivi l and

rel igious rights of exis ting non-J ewis h c ommunities .' B ri tain was later ac c us ed by the A rabs of c ynic al betrayal - s imultaneous ly prom is ing Pales tine to the s heri f, the Zionis ts and the Frenc h, perfidy that bec ame part of the mythology of the Great A rab Revol t. It was c ertainly c ynic al but the prom is es to the A rabsand the J ews were both the res ul t of s hort-term, i l l -c ons idered and urgent pol i tic al expedienc y in wartime and neither would have been proffered in other c i rc ums tanc es . Sykes c heerful ly ins is ted 'we're pledged to Zionis m, A rmenian l iberation and A rabian independenc e', yet there were s erious c ontradic tions : Syriawas s pec i fic al ly prom is ed both to the A rabs and the Frenc h. As we s aw, Pales tine and J erus alem had not been mentioned in the letters to the s heri f nor was the c i ty prom is ed to the J ews . Sykes -P ic ot s pec i fied an international c i ty and the Zionis ts agreed: 'we wanted the Holy P lac es international is ed,' wrote

W eizmann.*

T he Dec laration was des igned to detac h Rus s ian J ews from Bols hevis m but the very night before i t was publ is hed, Lenin s eized power in S t Peters burg. Had Lenin moved a few days earl ier, the Bal four Dec laration may never have been is s ued. Ironic al ly, Zionis m, propel led by the energy of Rus s ian J ews - fromW eizmann in W hitehal l to Ben-Gurion in J erus alem - and Chris tian s ympathy for their pl ight, was now c ut off from Rus s ian J ewry unti l the fal l of the Soviet Union in 1991.

T he Dec laration s hould real ly be named for Lloyd George, not Bal four. It was he who had already dec ided that B ri tain had to pos s es s Pales tine - 'oh, we mus t grab that! ' he s aid - and this was the prec ondi tion for any J ewis h homeland. He was not going to s hare i t wi th Franc e or anyone els e but J erus alem washis ul timate prize. As A l lenby broke into Pales tine, Lloyd George flamboyantly demanded the c apture of J erus alem 'as a Chris tmas pres ent for the B ri tis h nation'.12

THE CHRISTMAS PRESENT

1917-1919

THE MAYOR'S ATTEMPT TO SURRENDER

A llenby took Gaza on 7 November 1917; J affa fel l on the 16th. T here were des perate s c enes in J erus alem. J emal the S laughterman, rul ing his provinc es from Damas c us , threatened a Gotterdammerung in J erus alem. Firs t he ordered the deportation of al l Chris tian pries ts . Chris tian bui ldings , inc luding S t Saviour'sMonas tery, were dynamited. T he patriarc hs were s ent to Damas c us but Colonel von Papen, a Cathol ic , res c ued the Latin patriarc h and kept him in Nazareth. J emal hanged two J ewis h s pies in Damas c us , then he announc ed the deportation of al l J erus alem 's J ews : there would no J ews left al ive to welc ome theBri tis h. 'W e're in a time of anti -Semitic mania,' Count Bal lobar noted in his diary before rus hing to Field Mars hal von Falkenhayn to c omplain. T he Germans , now in c ontrol of J erus alem, were dis mayed. J emal 's anti -Semitic threats were 'ins ane', bel ieved General K res s , who intervened at the highes t level to s ave theJ ews . It was J emal 's las t involvement in J erus alem.*

On 25 November, A l lenby took Nabi Samuel jus t outs ide the Holy Ci ty. T he Germans were uns ure what to do. 'I begged Falkenhayn to evac uate J erus alem - the c i ty had no s trategic value', rec al led Papen, 'before i t c ame under direc t attac k for whic h we'd be blamed.' He imagined the headl ines : 'HUNS BLAMEDFOR RAZING HOLY CIT Y ! ' 'I los t Verdun,' c ried Falkenhayn, 'and now you as k me to evac uate the c i ty whic h is the c ynos ure of the world's attention. Impos s ible! ' Papen rang his ambas s ador in Cons tantinople, who promis ed to talk to Enver.

B ri tis h planes bombed German headquarters in the Augus ta V ic toria and A l lenby's intel l igenc e c hief dropped opium c igarettes for the Ottoman troops , hoping that they would be too s toned to defend J erus alem. Refugees poured out of the c i ty. Removing the portrai t of the Kais er from the Augus ta V ic toriaChapel, Falkenhayn final ly left the c i ty hims el f and moved his headquarters to Nablus . B ri tis h and German planes fought a quic k dogfight over J erus alem. Howitzers bombarded enemy pos i tions ; the Ottomans c ounter-attac ked three times at Nabi Samuel; s avage fighting raged for four days . 'T he war was at i tsheight,' wrote the teac her Sakakini , 's hel ls fal l ing al l around, total pandemonium, s oldiers running around, and fear rul ing al l .'* On 4 Dec ember, B ri tis h planes bombed Ottoman headquarters in the Rus s ian Compound. In the Fas t Hotel , German offic ers drank their las t s c hnapps and laughed unti l the final moment,whi le the Ottoman generals debated whether to s urrender or not; the Hus s einis met s ec retly in one of their mans ions . T he T urks s tarted to des ert. Cartloads of wounded s oldiers and s hattered c orps es rumbled through the s treets .

On the evening of 7 Dec ember, the fi rs t B ri tis h troops s aw J erus alem. A heavy fog hung over the c i ty; rain darkened the hi l ls . T he next morning, Governor Izzat Bey s mas hed his telegraph ins truments wi th a hammer, handed over his wri t of s urrender to the mayor, 'borrowed' a c arriage with two hors es from theAmeric an Colony whic h he s wore to return,+ and gal loped away towards J eric ho. A l l night thous ands of Ottoman troops trudged through the c i ty and out of his tory. A t 3 a.m . on the 9th, German forc es withdrew from the c i ty on what Count Bal lobar c al led a day of 'as tounding beauty'. T he las t T urk left S t S tephen'sGate at 7 a.m . By c oinc idenc e, i t was the fi rs t day of J ewis h Hanukkah, the fes tival of l ights that c elebrated the Mac c abean l iberation of J erus alem. Looters raided the s hops on J affa Road. A t 8.45 a.m., B ri tis h s oldiers approac hed the Zion Gate.

Hus s ein Hus s eini , Mayor of J erus alem, the hedonis tic patron of W as i f the oud-player, rus hed to break the glad tidings to the Americ an Colony, where the Holy Colonis ts s ang 'A l leluia'. T he mayor s ought a whi te flag - even though in his s oc iety, i t proc laimed the home of a marriageable vi rgin. A woman offeredhim a white blous e, but this s eemed inappropriate, s o Hus s eini final ly borrowed a beds heet from the Americ an Colony whic h he tied to a broom, and, gathering a delegation that c ontained s everal Hus s einis , he mounted this hors e and s et off through J affa Gate to s urrender, al l the whi le brandis hing this farc ic albanner.

J erus alem proved s urpris ingly hard to s urrender. Firs t the mayor and his fluttering s heet found two Coc kney mes s -c ooks near the northwes tern A rab vi l lage of Li fta, looking for eggs in a c hic ken c oop. He offered to s urrender J erus alem to them. But the Coc kneys refus ed; the s heet and broom looked l ike aLevantine tric k and their major was waiting for his eggs ; they hurried bac k to their l ines .

T he mayor met the teenaged s on of a friend from a res pec ted J ewis h fam i ly, Menac he E lyas har. 'W itnes s a his toric al event you'l l never forget,' he s aid to the boy. Like a s c ene from The W iz ard of Oz , E lyas har too joined the gang, whic h now inc luded Mus l ims , J ews and Chris tians . T hen two s ergeants fromanother London regiment c ried 'Hal t! ' and emerged from behind a wal l wi th guns c oc ked; the mayor waved his s heet. Sergeants J ames Sedgewic k and Fred Hurc ombe refus ed the s urrender, 'Hey, don't any of you J ohnnies s peak Engl is h?' they exc laimed. T he mayor s poke i t fluently but preferred to s ave i t for mores enior Engl is hmen. But they agreed to be photographed by a Swede from the Americ an Colony with the mayor and his merry men and ac c epted s ome c igarettes .

T he J erus alem ites next found two arti l lery offic ers , who als o refus ed the honour but offered to inform headquarters . T he mayor then c ame upon Lieutenant-Colonel Bayley who pas s ed the offer on to B rigadier-General C. F. W ats on, c ommander of the 180th B rigade. He s ummoned Major-General J ohn Shea,General Offic er Commanding the 160th Divis ion, who gal loped up on hors ebac k. 'T hey've c ome! ' c ried the mayor's group, wai ting on the s teps outs ide the Tower of David. * Bertha Spafford, the Americ an Colonis t, kis s ed the general 's s ti rrup. Shea ac c epted the s urrender in the name of General A l lenby, who heardthe news in his tent near J affa where he was talking to Lawrenc e of A rabia. But Mayor Hus s eini had one s urrender left.13

ALLENBY THE BULL: THE SUPREME MOMENT

T he guns were s ti l l booming when General S ir Edmund A l lenby rode down the J affa Road to the J affa Gate. Ins ide his s addlebag, he kept a book enti tled His toric al Geography of the Holy Land by George Adam Smith, a pres ent from Lloyd George. In London, the prime m inis ter was elated. 'T he c apture ofJ erus alem has made a mos t profound impres s ion throughout the whole c ivi l is ed world,' he dec laimed in a rodomontade a few days later. 'T he mos t famous c i ty in the world, after c enturies of s tri fe and vain s truggle, has fal len into the hands of the B ri tis h army, never to be res tored to thos e who s o s uc c es s ful ly heldi t agains t the embattled hos ts of Chris tendom. T he name of every hi l l thri l ls wi th s ac red memories .'

T he Foreign Offic e telegraphed A l lenby to avoid any kais erine grandios i ty or Chris t-l ike pretens ion as he entered the c i ty: 'ST RONGLY SUGGEST DISMOUNT ING! ' T he general walked through the gate, ac c ompanied by Americ an, Frenc h and Ital ian legates and watc hed by al l the patriarc hs , rabbis , muftis andc ons uls , to be greeted by the Mayor of J erus alem who for the s eventh time s urrendered the c i ty as 'many wept for joy' and 's trangers greeted and c ongratulated eac h other'.

A l lenby was ac c ompanied by Lawrenc e of A rabia, who had jus t s urvived the greates t trauma of his l i fe. In late November, on a s ol i tary rec c e behind enemy l ines , he had been c aptured at Deraa in Syria by the s adis tic Ottoman governor Haj im Bey who, wi th his myrm idons , had s ubjec ted the 'abs urdly boyis h'Engl is hman to a homos exual rape. Lawrenc e managed to es c ape and s eemingly rec over but the ps yc hologic al damage was profound and, after the war, he des c ribed feel ing 'maimed, imperfec t, only hal f-mys el f. P robably i t had been the breaking of the s piri t by that frenzied nerves hattering pain whic h degraded meto beas t level and whic h had journeyed with me ever s inc e, a fas c ination and terror and morbid des ire.' W hen he reac hed Aqaba after his es c ape, A l lenby s ummoned him jus t as J erus alem fel l .

Lawrenc e, es c hewing his Bedouin gear, borrowed a c aptain's uni form for the day. 'For me,' he wrote in Sev en P i l lars of W is dom, 'my appointment in the c eremony of the J affa Gate' was 'the s upreme moment of the war, the one whic h for his toric al reas ons made a greater appeal than anything on earth.' He s ti l lregarded J erus alem as 'a s qual id town' of 'hotel s ervants ', but now he bowed to the 'mas tering s piri t of the plac e'. Natural ly, the diaris t W as i f J awhariyyeh was als o watc hing from the c rowd.

A l lenby was nic knamed the B loody Bul l for his forc e, digni ty and s tature - 'the las t of the paladins ' - and even J emal Pas ha admired his 'alertnes s , dis c retion and brains '. An a mateur natural is t, he knew' al l there was to know about birds and beas ts ' and had 'read everything and quoted in ful l at dinner one of theles s er known s onnets of Rupert B rooke'. He had a c umbers ome s ens e of humour - his hors e and his pet s c orpion were both named Hindenburg after the German m i l i tary s upremo - but even the fas tidious Lawrenc e wors hipped the 'gigantic , red and merry' general , who was 'moral ly s o great that the c omprehens ion ofour l i ttlenes s c ame s low to him . W hat an idol that man was .'

A l lenby c l imbed the s teps to the platform to read his proc lamation about 'J erus alem the B les s ed', whic h was then repeated in Frenc h, A rabic , Hebrew, Greek, Rus s ian and Ital ian - c areful ly not mentioning the word that was on everyone's m ind: Crus ade. But when Mayor Hus s eini final ly handed over the c i ty'skeys A l lenby is s uppos ed to have s aid: 'T he Crus ades have now ended.' T he mayor and the mufti , both Hus s einis , s talked off angri ly. However, for the m i l lenarian Americ an Colonis ts , i t was di fferent: 'W e thought we were witnes s ing the triumph of the las t Crus ade,' s aid Bertha Spafford. 'A Chris tian nation hadc onquered Pales tine! ' No one c ould s hare Lawrenc e's thoughts for, as he l is tened to A l lenby, he imagined hims el f a few days earl ier: 'It was s trange to s tand before the T ower wi th the Chief l is tening to his proc lamation and to think how a few days earl ier I had s tood before [his rapis t] Haj im .'

A l lenby then marc hed out of the J affa Gate and remounted Hindenburg.* 'J erus alem c heered us m ighti ly. It was impres s ive,' wrote Lawrenc e, but the Ottomans were c ounter-attac king with, Lawrenc e noted, 'an ac c ompaniment of mac hine-gun fi re wi th aeroplanes c irc l ing over us c ontinual ly. J erus alem has notbeen taken for s o long nor has i t ever fal len s o tamely before.' In s pi te of hims el f, he fel t 's hame-fac ed with triumph'.

A fterwards , rec al led Lawrenc e, there was a lunc heon at General Shea's headquarters , whic h was s poi led when the Frenc h envoy P ic ot made a bid for Franc e to s hare J erus alem. 'And tomorrow, my dear general ,' he told A l lenby in his 'fluting voic e', 'I'l l take the nec es s ary s teps to s et up c ivi l government in thistown.'

A s i lenc e fol lowed. Salad, c hic ken mayonnais e and foie gras s andwic hes hung in our wet mouths unmunc hed whi le we turned to A l lenby and gaped. His fac e grew red, he s wal lowed, his c hin c oming forward (in the way we loved) whi ls t he s aid grim ly: 'T he only authori ty is that of the Commander-in-Chief -MYSELF! '

Lawrenc e flew blac k to join Fais al and the Sheri fian Camel Corps . T he Frenc h and Ital ians were al lowed to s hare guard duties at the Sepulc hre, but the Churc h was , as always , loc ked and unloc ked by i ts heredi tary Nus s eibeh.* A l lenby plac ed Indian Mus l im troops on guard at the T emple Mount.A fter an audienc e with K ing George V in London, the white-s ui ted W eizmann arrived in the Holy Ci ty wi th his Zionis t Commis s ion, as s is ted by V ladim ir J abotins ky, a bombas tic national is t and s ophis tic ated intel lec tual from Odes s a where he had organized a J ewis h m i l i tia to res is t pogroms . A l lenby's advanc e

s tal led jus t north of J erus alem. T he Ottomans were by no means finis hed in Pales tine, and i t took him almos t a year to mus ter his forc es to relaunc h his offens ive, s o J erus alem was a front-l ine c i ty, c rowded with B ri tis h and c olonial troops preparing for the big pus h. J abotins ky and Major J ames de Roths c hi ldhelped rec rui t a J ewis h Legion to s erve with them, whi le the Sheri fians , under Lawrenc e and P rinc e Fais al , keenly awaited the opportuni ty to c apture Damas c us - and s poi l Frenc h ambitions .

J erus alem was tawdry and freezing; i ts population had s hrunk by 30,000 s inc e 1914 to around 55,000; many were s ti l l dying of hunger and malaria, tormented by venereal dis eas es (the c i ty was patrol led by 500 teenaged J ewis h pros ti tutes ); there were 3,000 J ewis h orphans . W eizmann, not unl ike Lawrenc e,was as tonis hed by the s qualor: 'anything done to des ec rate and defi le the s ac red has been done. It's impos s ible to imagine s o muc h fals ehood and blas phemy.' But, l ike Montefiore and Roths c hi ld before him , he now twic e tried to buy the W es tern W al l for PS70,000 from the mufti . T he money would pay for therehous ing of the Maghrebi Quarter. T he Maghrebis were interes ted but the Hus s einis prevented any deal .

J erus alem 's deputy pol ic e c hief, the as s is tant provos t mars hal , newly appointed by A l lenby, was a great-nephew of Montefiore who would have been appointed c hief i f he had not been J ewis h. 'T here is a great prevalenc e of venereal dis eas e in the J erus alem A rea,' reported Major Geoffrey Sebag-Montefiore, whodeployed guards around the Holy P lac es . He raided bawdy hous es , whic h were us ual ly ful l of Aus tral ian s oldiers , and had to was te muc h of his time inves tigating c as es where s oldiers were ac c us ed of s leeping with loc al gi rls . 'T he brothels in J erus alem are s ti l l giving c ons iderable trouble,' he informed A l lenby inJ une 1918. He moved them into an al lotted area, the W azzah, whic h made pol ic ing eas ier. In Oc tober he wrote, 'there's been trouble keeping Aus tral ians out of brothels . A s quadron now provide a pic quet [patrol ] for the W azzah.' Major Sebag-Montefiore's reports us ual ly read: 'Venereal Dis eas e is rampant. Otherwis enothing of note to report.'

Among the c afes at the J affa Gate, A rabs and J ews debated the future of Pales tine: there was a c apac ious breadth of opinions on both s ides . On the J ewis h s ide, this extended from the ul tra-Orthodox who des pis ed s ac ri legious Zionis m, via thos e who envis aged J ewis h c olonies ful ly integrated ac ros s anArab-ruled Middle Eas t, to extreme national is ts who wanted an armed Hebrew s tate rul ing a s ubmis s ive A rab m inori ty. A rab opinion varied from national is ts and Is lam ic is t fundamental is ts who wanted J ewis h immigrants expel led, to democ ratic l iberals who welc omed J ewis h aid in bui lding an A rab s tate. A rabintel lec tuals dis c us s ed whether Pales tine was part of Syria or Egypt. During the war, a young J erus alem ite c al led Ihs an T urjman wrote that 'T he Egyptian Khedive s hould be joint king of Pales tine and the Hejaz,' yet Khal i l Sakakini noted that 'the idea of joining Pales tine to Syria is s preading powerful ly'. RaghebNas has hibi founded the Li terary Soc iety, demanding union with Syria; the Hus s einis s et up the A rab Club. Both were hos ti le to the Bal four Dec laration.

On 20 Dec ember 1917, S ir Ronald S torrs arrived as m i l i tary governor of J erus alem - or, as he put i t, 'the equivalent of Pontius P i late'.14

ORIENTAL STORRS: BENEFICENT DESPOT

In the lobby of the Fas t Hotel , S torrs bumped into his predec es s or, General Barton, in his dres s ing-gown: 'T he only tolerable plac es in J erus alem are bath and bed,' dec lared Barton. S torrs , who favoured white s ui ts and flamboyant buttonholes , found 'J erus alem on s tarvation rations ' and remarked that 'the J ewshave as us ual c ornered the s mal l c hange.' He was enthus ed by his 'great adventure' in J erus alem whic h 's tands alone among the c i ties of the world', yet l ike many P rotes tants he dis l iked the theatric al i ty of the Churc h* and regarded the T emple Mount as a 'glori fied union of the P iazza San Marc o and the Great Courtof T rini ty [Col lege, Cambridge].' S torrs fel t he was born to rule J erus alem: 'T o be able by a word wri tten or even s poken to right wrong, to forbid des ec ration, to promote abi l i ty and goodwi l l is to wield the power of A ris totle's Benefic ent Des pot.'

S torrs was not the average Colonial Offic e bureauc rat. T his imperial peac oc k was a vic ar's s on and Cambridge c las s ic is t wi th 'a s urpris ingly c os mopol i tan outlook - for an Engl is hman'. His friend Lawrenc e, who des pis ed mos t offic ials , des c ribed him as 'the mos t bri l l iant Engl is hman in the Near Eas t, ands ubtly effic ient, des pi te his divers ion of energy in love of mus ic and letters , of s c ulpture, painting, of whatever was beauti ful in the world's frui t'. He remembered hearing S torrs dis c us s the meri ts of W agner and Debus s y in A rabic , German and Frenc h, but his 'intolerant brain rarely s tooped to c onquer'. In Egypt, hisc atty barbs and s erpentine intrigues earned him the nic kname Oriental S torrs after Cairo's mos t dis hones t s hop. T his unus ual m i l i tary governor s et about res toring battered J erus alem, through a motley s taff that inc luded:

a c as hier from a bank in Rangoon, an ac tor-manager, 2 as s is tants from T homas Cook, a pic ture-dealer, an army-c oac h, a c lown, a land-valuer, a bos un from the Niger, a Glas gow dis ti l ler, an organis t, an A lexandria c otton-broker, an arc hi tec t, a junior London pos tal offic ial , a taxi driver from Egypt, 2s c hoolmas ters , and a m is s ionary.

In jus t a few months , S torrs founded the P ro-J erus alem Soc iety, funded by the A rmenian arms -dealer S ir Bas i l Zaharoff and the Americ an m i l l ionaires , Mrs Andrew Carnegie and J . P . Morgan J r. Its aims were to prevent J erus alem bec oming 'a s ec ond-rate Bal timore'.

No one was more del ighted than S torrs by the ti tles , c os tumes and c olours of the c i ty. He ini tial ly bec ame friends not only wi th the Hus s einis * but als o wi th W eizmann and even J abotins ky. S torrs thought there was 'no more gal lant offic er, no one more c harm ing and c ul tivated' than J abotins ky. W eizmannagreed that J abotins ky was 'utterly unJ ewis h in manner and deportment, rather ugly, immens ely attrac tive, wel l s poken, theatric al ly c hivalres que, wi th a c ertain knightl ines s '.

Yet S torrs found Zionis t tac tic s 'a nightmare, reflec ting the T urkis h proverb: "T he non-c rying c hi ld gets no m i lk".' T he Zionis ts s oon s us pec ted that he was uns ympathetic . Many B ri tons des pis ed J abotins ky and the Rus s ian J ews s waggering around J erus alem in parami l i tary khaki bel ts , and c ons idered theBalfour Dec laration unworkable. A s ympathetic B ri tis h general handed W eizmann a book - the Zionis t leader's fi rs t enc ounter wi th the Protoc ols of the E lders of Zion* - 'You'l l find i t in the havers ac k of a great many B ri tis h offic ers here and they bel ieve i t,' warned the general . Not yet expos ed as a forgery, theProtoc ols was at i ts mos t plaus ible, wi th B ri tain bac king Zionis m and Bols hevik Rus s ia apparently dominated by J ewis h c ommis s ars .

S torrs was 'muc h more s ubtle', obs erved W eizmann. 'He was everyone's friend.' But the governor protes ted that he was being 'pogrommed' and that thes e obs treperous 's amovar Zionis ts ' had nothing in c ommon with Dis rael i . W hen the governor told the prime m inis ter about A rab and J ewis h c omplaints , LloydGeorge s napped, 'W el l , i f ei ther one s ide s tops c omplaining, you'l l be dis m is s ed.'

Des pi te A rab alarm about the Bal four Dec laration, J erus alem was quiet for two years . S torrs s upervis ed the res toration of the wal ls and the Dome, the ins tal lation of s treet l ights , the c reation of the J erus alem Ches s Club and the dynamiting of Abdul-Hamid's J affa Gate watc h-tower. He es pec ial ly rel is hed hispower to rename J erus alem: 'W hen the J ews wis hed to rename Fas t's Hotel [as ] K ing Solomon and the A rabs [as ] Sultan Sulaiman [Suleiman the Magnific ent], ei ther of whic h would have exc luded hal f J erus alem, one c ould order i t to be c al led T he A l lenby.' He even es tabl is hed a nuns ' c hoir whic h he c onduc tedhims elf, and tried to mediate the Chris tian brawl ing in the Churc h, adhering to the s ul tan's 1852 divis ion. T his s atis fied the Orthodox but dis pleas ed the Cathol ic s . W hen S torrs vis i ted the Vatic an, the pope ac c us ed him of pol luting J erus alem by introduc ing ungodly c inemas and 500 pros ti tutes . T he B ri tis h nevermanaged to s olve the vic ious ly petty feuds .+

T he ac tual s tatus of Pales tine, to s ay nothing of J erus alem, was far from dec ided. P ic ot again pus hed the Gal l ic c laim on J erus alem. T he B ri tis h had no idea, he ins is ted, how muc h the Frenc h had rejoic ed over the c apture of J erus alem. 'T hink what i t mus t have been l ike for us who took i t! ' retorted S torrs .P ic ot next tried to as s ert Frenc h protec tion of the Cathol ic s by pres iding on a s pec ial throne at a T e Deum in the Churc h, but the s c heme c ol laps ed when the Franc is c ans refus ed to c ooperate.

W hen the mayor died unexpec tedly of pneumonia (perhaps c ontrac ted by s urrendering too often in the pouring rain), S torrs appointed his brother, Mus a Kazem al-Hus s eini . But the impres s ive new mayor, who had s erved as the governor of Ottoman provinc es from Anatol ia to J affa, gradual ly as s umed leaders hipof the c ampaign agains t the Zionis ts . T he A rab J erus alem ites plac ed their hopes in a Greater Syrian kingdom ruled by P rinc e Fais al , Lawrenc e's friend. A t the Firs t Congres s of Mus l im-Chris tian As s oc iations , held in J erus alem, the delegates voted to join Fais al 's Syria. T he Zionis ts , who were s ti l l unreal is tic al lyadamant that mos t A rabs were rec onc i led to their s ettlement, tried to appeas e loc al fears . T he B ri tis h enc ouraged friendly ges tures by both s ides . W eizmann met and reas s ured the grand mufti that the J ews would not threaten A rab interes ts , pres enting him with an anc ient Koran.

In J une 1918, W eizmann travel led ac ros s the des ert to meet Fais al , attended by Lawrenc e, at his enc ampment near Aqaba. It was the s tart of what W eizmann exaggerated as 'a l i felong friends hip'. He explained that the J ews would develop the c ountry under B ri tis h protec tion. P rivately, Fais al s aw a bigdi fferenc e between what Lawrenc e c al led 'the Pales tine J ews and the c olonis t J ews : to Fais al the important point is that the former s peak A rabic and the latter German Y iddis h'. Fais al and Lawrenc e hoped that the Sheri fians and Zionis ts c ould c ooperate to bui ld the kingdom of Syria. Lawrenc e explained: 'I lookupon the J ews as the natural importers of W es tern leaven s o nec es s ary for c ountries in the Near Eas t.' W eizmann rec al led that Lawrenc e's 'relations hip to Zionis m was a very pos i tive one', as he bel ieved that 'the A rabs s tood to gain muc h from a J ewis h Homeland'.

A t their oas is s ummit, Fais al 'ac c epted the pos s ibi l i ty of future J ewis h c laims to terri tory in Pales tine'. Later, when the three men met again in London, Fais al agreed that Pales tine c ould abs orb '4-5 m i l l ion J ews without enc roac hing on the rights of the A rab peas antry. He did not think for a moment there wasany s c arc i ty of land in Pales tine,' and approved a J ewis h majori ty pres enc e in Pales tine wi thin the K ingdom of Syria - providing he rec eived the c rown. Syria was the prize and Fais al was happy to c ompromis e to s ec ure i t.

W eizmann's diplomac y at fi rs t bore frui t. He had joked that 'a J ewis h s tate wi thout a univers i ty is l ike Monac o without the c as ino', s o on 24 J uly 1918 A l lenby drove him in his Rol ls -Royc e up Mount Sc opus . T here the foundation-s tones were laid for the Hebrew Univers i ty by the mufti , the Angl ic an bis hop, twoc hief rabbis and W eizmann hims el f. But obs ervers notic ed that the mufti looked s ic k at heart. In the dis tanc e, the Ottoman arti l lery boomed as the gues ts s ang 'God Save the K ing' and the Zionis t anthem Hatikvah. 'Below us lay J erus alem,' s aid W eizmann, 'gleaming l ike a jewel.'

T he Ottomans were s ti l l fighting powerful ly in Pales tine, whi le on the W es tern Front there was as yet no s ign of vic tory. During thes e months , S torrs was s ometimes told by his mans ervant that 'a Bedouin' was waiting for him . He would find Lawrenc e there, reading his books . T he Engl is h Bedouin thendis appeared jus t as mys terious ly. In J erus alem that May, S torrs introduc ed Lawrenc e to the Americ an journal is t Lowel l T homas , who thought 'he m ight be one of the younger apos tles returned to l i fe'. T homas would later help c reate the legend of Lawrenc e of A rabia.

Only in September 1918 did A l lenby retake the offens ive, defeating the Ottomans at the Battle of Megiddo. T hous ands of German and Ottoman pris oners were marc hed through the s treets of J erus alem. S torrs c elebrated 'by playing upon my S teinway a medley of "V i ttoria" from La Tos c a, Handel 's Marc hes fromJ ephthah and Sc ipio, Parry's "W edding Marc h" from the B irds of A ris tophanes '. On 2 Oc tober, A l lenby al lowed Fais al , K ing-des ignate of Syria, and Colonel Lawrenc e to l iberate Damas c us with their Sheri fians . But, as Lawrenc e s us pec ted, the real dec is ion-making had s tarted far away. Lloyd George was determ inedto keep J erus alem. Lord Curzon later c omplained: 'T he P rime Minis ter talks about J erus alem with almos t the s ame enthus ias m as about his native hi l ls .'

Even as Germany final ly buc kled, the lobbying had already s tarted. On the day the arm is tic e was s igned, 11 November, W eizmann, who had an appointment arranged before this momentous development, found Lloyd George weeping in 10 Downing S treet reading the Ps alms . Lawrenc e c anvas s ed offic ials inLondon to help the A rab c aus e. Fais al was in Paris to put his c as e to the Frenc h. But when the B ri tis h and Frenc h c las hed in Paris over the divis ion of the Eas t, Lloyd George protes ted that i t was B ri tain that had c onquered J erus alem: 'T he other governments had only put a few nigger pol ic emen to s ee we didn'ts teal the Holy Sepulc hre.'

THE VICTORS AND THE SPOILS

1919-20

W OODROW W ILSON AT VERSAILLES

Meeting in London a few weeks later, Lloyd George and the Frenc h P remier Georges Clemenc eau traded c hips in the Middle Eas t. In return for Syria, Clemenc eau was ac c ommodating:

CLEMENCEAU: 'T el l me what you want.'LLOYD GEORGE: 'I want Mos ul .'CLEMENCEAU: 'You s hal l have i t. Anything els e?'LLOYD GEORGE: 'Yes I want J erus alem too! 'CLEMENCEAU: 'You s hal l have i t.'

In J anuary 1919, W oodrow W ils on, the fi rs t US pres ident ever to leave the Americ as whi le in offic e, arrived in Vers ai l les to s ettle the peac e with Lloyd George and Clemenc eau. T he protagonis ts of the Middle Eas t c ame to lobby the vic tors , wi th Fais al , ac c ompanied by Lawrenc e, s triving to prevent Frenc hc ontrol of Syria; and W eizmann hoping to keep B ri tain in Pales tine and win international rec ogni tion for the Bal four Dec laration. T he very pres enc e of Lawrenc e, as Fais al 's advis er, wearing B ri tis h uni form c ombined with A rab headdres s , outraged the Frenc h. T hey tried to get him banned from the c onferenc e.

W ils on, that ideal is tic V irginian profes s or turned Democ ratic pol i tic ian and now international arbi ter, proc laimed that 'every terri torial s ettlement involved in this war mus t be made in the interes ts and for the benefi t of the populations c onc erned'. He refus ed to c ountenanc e an imperial c arve-up of the MiddleEas t. T he three potentates s oon c ame to res ent eac h other. W i ls on regarded Lloyd George as 's l ippery'. T he s eventy-eight-year-old Clemenc eau, s queezed between the s el f-righteous W ils on and the land-grabbing Lloyd George, c omplained, 'I find mys el f between J es us Chris t and Napoleon Bonaparte.' T he playfulW els hman and the buttoned-up Americ an got on bes t: Lloyd George admired the latter's ideal is m - providing B ri tain got what he wanted. In a wood-panel led room in Paris , l ined with books , thes e Olympians would s hape the world, a pros pec t that amus ed the c ynic al Bal four as he s uperc i l ious ly watc hed 'three al l -powerful , al l -ignorant men c arving up c ontinents '.

Clemenc eau's ambitions were as s hameles s as thos e of Lloyd George. W hen Clemenc eau agreed to meet Lawrenc e, he jus ti fied his c laim to Syria by explaining that the Frenc h had ruled Pales tine in the Crus ades : 'Yes ,' ans wered Lawrenc e, 'but the Crus ades fai led.' Bes ides , the Crus aders never tookDamas c us , Clemenc eau's primary target and the heart of A rab national as pirations . T he Frenc h s ti l l hoped to s hare J erus alem under Sykes -P ic ot, but the B ri tis h now rejec ted that enti re treaty.

T he US pres ident, s on of a P res byterian m inis ter, had endors ed the Bal four Dec laration: 'To think that I, the s on of the mans e,' s aid W i ls on, 's hould be able to help res tore the Holy Land to i ts people.' He was influenc ed by both P rotes tant Hebrais m and his advis er, Louis B randeis , a J ew from Kentuc ky whohad been nominated by W i ls on to the Supreme Court. B randeis , known as 'the People's Lawyer', was an inc orruptible paragon of Americ an s c holars hip and publ ic s ervic e but in 1914, only 15,000 of 3 m i l l ion Americ an J ews were members of his US Zionis t Federation. By 1917, hundreds of thous ands of Americ anJ ews had bec ome involved; evangel ic al Chris tians were lobbying for Zionis m; and ex-P res ident T eddy Roos evel t, who had vis i ted the Holy Ci ty wi th his parents as a boy, was bac king 'a Zionis t S tate around J erus alem '.

Nonetheles s W i ls on fac ed a painful c ontradic tion between Zionis m and the s el f-determ ination of the A rabs . T he B ri tis h had at one point s ugges ted an Americ an mandate - a new word to des c ribe s omething between a protec torate and a provinc e. W i ls on ac tual ly c ons idered the pos s ibi l i ty. But, fac ed with theAnglo-Frenc h grab for Pales tine and Syria, he des patc hed an Americ an c ommis s ion to inves tigate A rab as pirations . T he K ing-Crane Commis s ion, led by a Chic ago valve-manufac turer and the pres ident of Oberl in Col lege, reported bac k that mos t Pales tinian and Syrian A rabs wis hed to l ive in Fais al 's K ingdom ofGreater Syria - under Americ an protec tion. But thes e findings proved i rrelevant when W ils on fai led to res train his imperial is t al l ies . It s ti l l took two years for the new League of Nations to c onfi rm that the B ri tis h got Pales tine and the Frenc h, Syria - whic h Lawrenc e c al led 'the mandate s windle'.

On 8 Marc h 1920, Fais al was proc laimed king of Syria (inc luding Lebanon and Pales tine) and appointed J erus alem 's Said al-Hus s eini as his foreign m inis ter, whi le the mufti 's brother Amin had for a s hort time s erved in the royal c ourt. T he exc i tement generated by the c reation of this new kingdom emboldenedthe Pales tinian A rabs to s tand up to the Zionis t threat. W eizmann warned that there c ould be trouble. J abotins ky and the former Rus s ian revolutionary P inkhas Rutenberg,* c reated a J ewis h s el f-defenc e forc e, 600 s trong. But S torrs ignored the alarm bel ls .

STORRS: THE NABI MUSA RIOTS - FIRST SHOTS

On the morning of Sunday 20 Apri l 1920, in a c i ty tens e with J ewis h and Chris tian pi lgrims , 60,000 A rabs gathered for the Nabi Mus a fes tival , led by the Hus s einis . T he diaris t W as i f J awhariyyeh watc hed them s inging s ongs in protes t agains t the Bal four Dec laration. T he mufti 's younger brother, Haj Amin al-Hus s eini , inc i ted the c rowds , holding up a pic ture of Fais al : 'T his is your K ing! ' T he mob s houted, 'Pales tine is our land, the J ews are our dogs ! ' and poured into the Old Ci ty. An old J ew was beaten with s tic ks .

Suddenly, rec al led Khal i l Sakakini , 'the furore turned into madnes s '. Many drew daggers and c lubs , c rying, 'T he rel igion of Muhammad was founded by the s word! ' T he c i ty, obs erved J awhariyyeh, 'bec ame a battlefield'. T he c rowd c hanted 'S laughter the J ews ! ' Both Sakakini and W as if hated violenc e but weres tarting to loathe not jus t the Zionis ts but the B ri tis h too.

S torrs c ame out of the morning s ervic e in the Angl ic an Churc h to find J erus alem out of c ontrol . He rus hed to his headquarters in the Aus trian Hos pic e, feel ing as though s omeone 'had thrus t a s word into my heart'. S torrs had only 188 pol ic emen in J erus alem. As the riot intens i fied in the c ours e of the next day,the J ews feared they would be wiped out. W eizmann burs t into S torrs ' offic e to demand help; J abotins ky and Rutenberg grabbed their pis tols and mus tered 200 men at pol ic e headquarters in the Rus s ian Compound. W hen S torrs banned this , J abotins ky patrol led outs ide the Old Ci ty, exc hanging s hots wi th A rabgunmen - that was the day the s hooting real ly s tarted. In the Old Ci ty, s ome s treets of the J ewis h Quarter were under s iege, and A rab intruders gang-raped s ome J ewis h girls . Meanwhi le the B ri tis h were trying to pol ic e the Holy Fire c eremony but when a Syriac moved a Coptic c hair 'al l hel l broke loos e', and thedoors of the Churc h c aught fi re in the brawl. As a B ri tis h offic ial left the Churc h of the Holy Sepulc hre, a l i ttle A rab girl fel l from a nearby window, hi t by a s tray bul let.

One of J abotins ky's rec rui ts , Nehemia Rubitzov, and a c ol league c overed their pis tols wi th medic al whi te c oats and entered the Old Ci ty in an ambulanc e to organize the defenc e. Rubi tzov, Ukrainian-born, had been rec rui ted by Ben-Gurion into the J ewis h Legion, c hanging his name to Rabin. Now, as he c almedthe terri fied J ews , he enc ountered and res c ued 'Red Ros a' Cohen, a s piri ted ex-Bols hevik newly arrived from Rus s ia: they fel l in love and married. 'I was born in J erus alem ' s aid their s on, Y i tzhak Rabin, who as Is rael i c hief of s taff many years later would c apture J erus alem.15

HERBERT SAMUEL: ONE PALESTINE , COMPLETE

By the time the riots ebbed, five J ews and four A rabs were dead, 216 J ews and 23 A rabs wounded. T hirty-nine J ews and 161 A rabs were tried for their part in what c ame to be known as the Nabi Mus a riots . S torrs ordered raids on W eizmann's and J abotins ky's homes : J abotins ky was found gui l ty of pos s es s ing gunsand s entenc ed to fi fteen years . Young Amin Hus s eini - 'the c hief fomenter' of the riots , in S torrs ' words - was s entenc ed to ten years , but es c aped from J erus alem. S torrs s ac ked Mayor Mus a Kazem Hus s eini , though the B ri tis h naively blamed J ewis h Bols heviks from Rus s ia for the violenc e.

T he l iberal W eizmann and s oc ial is t Ben-Gurion c ontinued to hope for a gradual ly evolving homeland and a modus vivendi wi th the A rabs . Ben-Gurion refus ed to rec ognize A rab national is m: he wanted A rab and J ewis h workers to s hare 'a l i fe of harmony and friends hip', but s ometimes he exc laimed, 'T here's nos olution! W e want the c ountry to be ours . T he A rabs want i t to be theirs .' T he Zionis ts now s tarted to reorganize their old Has homer - the W atc hmen - into a more effic ient m i l i tia, Haganah - the Defenc e.

Eac h ac t of violenc e fed the extrem is ts on both s ides . J abotins ky abs olutely rec ognized that A rab national is m was as real as Zionis m. He argued implac ably that the J ewis h s tate, whic h he bel ieved s hould enc ompas s both banks of the J ordan, would be violently oppos ed and c ould be defended only wi th an'i ron wal l '. In the m id-twenties , J abotins ky s pl i t off to form the Union of Zionis t-Revis ionis ts wi th a youth movement, Betar, that wore uni forms and held parades . He wanted to c reate a new s ort of ac tivis t J ew, no longer dependent on the genteel lobbying of W eizmann. J abotins ky was adamant that his J ewis hc ommonwealth would be bui l t wi th 'abs olute equal i ty' between the two peoples and without any dis plac ement of the A rabs . W hen Beni to Mus s ol ini c ame to power in 1922, J abotins ky moc ked the c ul t of Il Duc e - 'the mos t abs urd of al l Engl is h words - leader. Buffaloes fol low a leader. Civi l is ed men have no"leaders ".' Yet W eizmann c al led J abotins ky 'Fas c is tic ' and Ben-Gurion nic knamed him 'Il Duc e'.

K ing Fais al , the hope of the A rab national is ts - was doomed by Frenc h determ ination to pos s es s Syria. T he Frenc h forc ibly expel led the king and s mas hed his ragtag army, c ompleting the c ol laps e of Lawrenc e's plans . T he end of Greater Syria and the riots helped form a Pales tinian national identi ty.*

On 24 Apri l 1920, at the San Remo Conferenc e, Lloyd George ac c epted the Mandate to rule Pales tine, bas ed on the Bal four Dec laration, and appointed S ir Herbert Samuel as the fi rs t high c ommis s ioner. He arrived at the s tation in J erus alem on 30 J une, res plendent in a whi te uni form, pi th helmet wi thfeathers , and a s word, to the boom of a s eventeen-gun s alute. Samuel may have been J ewis h and a Zionis t but he was no dreamer: Lloyd George found him 'dry and c old'. A journal is t thought he was 'as free from pas s ion as an oys ter' and one of his offic ials noted he was 's ti ffis h - never s eems able to forget hisoffic e'. W hen the m i l i tary governor handed over c ontrol of Pales tine, Samuel managed one of his few rec orded jokes , s igning a c hi t that read 'Rec eived from Major-General S ir Louis J Bols KCB, One Pales tine, c omplete.' He then added 'E and O [E rrors and Omis s ions ] exc epted', but there would be many of both.

Ini tial ly Samuel 's c alm tac t s oothed Pales tine after the s hoc k of Nabi Mus a. Setting up Government Hous e in the Augus ta V ic toria on the Mount of Ol ives , he releas ed J abotins ky, pardoned Amin Hus s eini , temporari ly l im i ted J ewis h immigration and reas s ured the A rabs . B ri tis h interes ts were no longer thes ame as they had been in 1917. Curzon, now foreign s ec retary, was oppos ed to ful l -blown s upport for Zionis m and watered down Bal four's prom is es . T here would be a J ewis h home but no s tate then or later. W eizmann fel t betrayed but the A rabs regarded even this as dis as trous . By 1921, a total of 18,500 J ews hadarrived in Pales tine. During the next eight years , Samuel al lowed in another 70,000.16

In the s pring of 1921, Samuel 's bos s W ins ton Churc hi l l , the s ec retary of s tate for c olonial affai rs , arrived in J erus alem ac c ompanied by his advis er Lawrenc e of A rabia.CHURCHILL CREATES THE MODERN MIDDLE EAST: LAW RENCE'S SHERIFIAN SOLUTION

'I l iked W ins ton s o muc h,' s aid Lawrenc e afterwards , 'and have s uc h res pec t for him .' Churc hi l l had already enjoyed a c areer of s was hbuc kl ing adventure, bumptious s el f-promotion and i rrepres s ible s uc c es s . Now in his late forties , the c olonial s ec retary was c onfronted with the punis hing c os t in blood and treas ureof garris oning a new empire: Iraq was already in the grip of a bloody ins urgenc y agains t B ri tis h rule. Churc hi l l therefore c al led a c onferenc e in Cairo to hand over a c ertain amount of power to A rab rulers under B ri tis h influenc e. Lawrenc e propos ed granting a new kingdom of Iraq to Fais al .

On 12 Marc h 1920, Churc hi l l c onvened his A rab experts in the Semiram is Hotel whi le a pair of Somal ian l ion c ubs played around their feet. Churc hi l l enjoyed the luxury, having no wis h to experienc e 'thankles s des erts ', but Lawrenc e hated i t. 'W e l ived in a marble bronze hotel ,' he wrote. 'Very expens ive, andluxurious - horrible plac e. Makes me Bols hevik. Everybody in the Middle Eas t is here. Day after tomorrow, we go to J erus alem. W e're a very happy fam i ly: agreed upon everything important' - in other words , Churc hi l l had ac c epted the 'Sheri fian s olution': Lawrenc e final ly s aw s ome honour res tored in the wake of thebroken B ri tis h prom is es to the s heri f and his s ons .

T he old s heri f, K ing Hus s ein of Hejaz, was no matc h for the W ahabi warriors led by the Saudi c hieftain Ibn Saud.* W hen his s on Abdul lah tried to repel the Saudis wi th 1,350 fighters , they were routed: Abdul lah had to flee through the bac k of his tent in his underwear, s urviving 'by a m irac le'. T hey had plannedthat Fais al would rule Syria-Pales tine and Abdul lah would be king of Iraq. Now that Fais al was getting Iraq, this left nothing for Abdul lah.

W hi le Churc hi l l 's c onferenc e was proc eeding in Cairo, Abdul lah, led thi rty offic ers and 200 Bedouin into today's J ordan - tec hnic al ly part of the B ri tis h Mandate - to s eize his own meagre fiefdom - even though Lord Curzon thought he was 'muc h too big a c oc k for s o s mal l a dunghi l l '. T he news of this es c apadepres ented Churc hi l l wi th a fai t ac c ompl i . Lawrenc e advis ed Churc hi l l to bac k Abdul lah. Churc hi l l des patc hed Lawrenc e to invi te the princ e to meet him in J erus alem.

A t m idnight on 23 Marc h, Churc hi l l and his wi fe Clementine s et off for J erus alem by train, and were greeted at Gaza by enthus ias tic c rowds c rying 'Cheers for the m inis ter' and 'Down with J ews ! Cut their throats ! ' Churc hi l l , unders tanding nothing, waved bac k with obl ivious bonhomie.In J erus alem he s tayed with Samuel at the Augus ta V ic toria Fortres s where he met four times with 'the moderate and friendly' Abdul lah, hopeful oc c upier of T rans jordan, es c orted by Lawrenc e. Abdul lah, who hoped for a Has hemite empire, thought the bes t way for J ews and A rabs to l ive together would be in

one kingdom under him with Syria added later. Churc hi l l offered him T rans jordan provided he rec ognized Frenc h Syria and B ri tis h Pales tine. Abdul lah reluc tantly agreed, whereupon Churc hi l l c reated a new c ountry: 'Am ir Abdul lah is in T rans jordania,' he remembered, 'where I put him one Sunday afternoon inJ erus alem.' T he m is s ion of Lawrenc e, who had final ly s hepherded Fais al and Abdul lah to two thrones , was c omplete.*

T he Pales tinian A rabs peti tioned Churc hi l l , al leging, in the tradi tion of the forged Protoc ols of the E lders of Zion , that 'the J ew is a J ew the world over', that 'J ews have been among the mos t ac tive advoc ates of des truc tion in many lands ' and the Zionis ts wanted to 'c ontrol the world'. Churc hi l l rec eived theJ erus alem ites under the ex-mayor, Mus a Kazim al-Hus s eini , but ins is ted 'i t's manifes tly right that J ews s hould have a National Home, a great event in the world's des tiny'.

Churc hi l l 's father+ had imbued him with an admiration for J ews and he s aw Zionis m as jus t outc ome after two m i l lennia of s uffering. During the Red s c are after Lenin c reated Soviet Rus s ia, he bel ieved that the Zionis t J ew was 'the antidote' to 'the foul baboonery of Bols hevis m ' whic h was 'a J ewis h movement'led by a diabol ic al bogeyman c al led the 'International J ew'.

Churc hi l l loved J erus alem, where, he dec lared, opening the B ri tis h Mi l i tary Cemetery on Mount Sc opus , 'l ies the dus t of the Cal iphs and Crus aders and Mac c abees ! ' He was drawn to the Temple Mount, whic h he vis i ted whenever pos s ible, begrudging every moment away from i t. Before he returned to England,he was s ti l l holding c ourt on the Mount of Ol ives when the mufti of J erus alem died unexpec tedly. S torrs had already s ac ked the Hus s eini mayor s o i t s eemed ras h to ups et the fam i ly further by als o taking away the pos t of mufti . Bes ides , the B ri tis h were attrac ted to the as c endanc y of the Famil ies who res embledtheir own gentry. Samuel and S torrs therefore arranged that the mayor and the mufti s hould eac h be c hos en from the two pre-em inent Famil ies : their feud would make them the Montagues and Capulets of J erus alem.17

THE BRITISH MANDATE

1920-36

THE MUFTI VERSUS THE MAYOR: AMIN HUSSEINI VERSUS RAGHEB NASHASHIBI

T he man they c hos e as mayor was the very pers oni fic ation of the A rab boulevardier: Ragheb Nas has hibi s moked c igarettes in a holder, c arried a c ane and was the fi rs t J erus alem ite to own an Americ an l imous ine, a green Pac kard, always driven by his A rmenian c hauffeur. T he debonair Nas has hibi , the heir to theorange-groves and mans ions of the mos t rec ent but ric hes t of the Famil ies ,* fluent in Frenc h and Engl is h, had repres ented J erus alem in the Ottoman Parl iament, and had hired W as if to arrange his parties and give oud les s ons to him and his m is tres s . Now that he was mayor, he gave two parties a year, one for hisfriends , and one for the high c ommis s ioner. As a veteran c ampaigner agains t Zionis m, he took his role s erious ly as J erus alem ite s eigneur and Pales tinian leader.

T he man they c hos e as grand mufti was Nas has hibi 's weal thy c ous in, Haj Amin Hus s eini . S torrs introduc ed the young rabble-rous er of the Nabi Mus a riots to the high c ommis s ioner who was impres s ed. Hus s eini was 's oft, intel l igent, wel l -educ ated, wel l -dres s ed with a s hiny s m i le, fai r hair, blue eyes , redbeard and a wry s ens e of humour,' rec al led the mayor's nephew Nas s ereddin Nas has hibi . 'Yet he told his jokes with c old eyes .' Hus s eini as ked Samuel, 'W hic h do you prefer - an avowed opponent or an uns ound friend?' Samuel repl ied, 'An avowed opponent.' W eizmann c ommented dri ly that, 'in s pi te of the proverb,poac hers -turned-gamekeepers are not always a s uc c es s .' Hus s eini turned out be, in the words of the Lebanes e his torian Gi lbert Ac hc ar 'a megalomaniac who pres ented hims el f as the leader of the whole Is lam ic world'.

Inc onveniently, Hus s eini did not win the fi rs t ever elec tion for mufti , whic h was won by a J aral lah. He only c ame fourth s o the B ri tis h, who prided thems elves on their 'total i tarianis m tempered with benevolenc e,' s imply overruled the elec tion and appointed him even though he was only twenty-s ix and had neverfinis hed his rel igious s tudies in Cairo. Samuel then doubled his pol i tic al and financ ial power by s pons oring his elec tion as pres ident of a new Supreme Mus l im Counc i l .

Hus s eini belonged to the Is lam ic tradi tion; Nas has hibi to the Ottoman. Both oppos ed Zionis m but Nas has hibi bel ieved that, fac ed with B ri tis h power, the A rabs s hould negotiate; Hus s eini , in a meandering and c apric ious journey, ended up as an intrans igent national is t oppos ing any c ompromis e. A t fi rs t,Hus s eini played the pas s ive B ri tis h al ly, but he would ul timately reac h far beyond the anti -B ri tis h s tanc e of many A rabs to bec ome a rac ial anti -Semite and embrac e Hitler's Final Solution to the J ewis h problem. T he mos t enduring ac hievement of Samuel was to promote the mos t energetic enemy of Zionis m andBri tain. Yet one c ould argue that no one proved s uc h a divis ive c alam ity for his own people, and s uc h an as s et for the Zionis t s truggle.18

THE MUFTI: THE BATTLE OF THE W ALL

T he fi rs t generation of B ri tis h proc ons uls c ongratulated thems elves that they had tamed J erus alem. In J une 1925, Samuel returned to London, dec laring, wi th Olympian delus ion, that 'the s piri t of lawles s nes s has c eas ed.' A year later, S torrs left a peac eful , muc h embel l is hed c i ty and was promoted to thegovernors hips of Cyprus and then of Northern Rhodes ia - though he s ighed, 'T here's no promotion after J erus alem.' T he new high c ommis s ioner was V is c ount P lumer, a walrus -mous tac hed field mars hal nic knamed the Old P lum or Daddy P lummer. T hanks to c uts in his funding, the Old P lum had to keep order wi thfewer s oldiers than Samuel, but he radiated a reas s uring c alm by c heerful ly walking on his own around J erus alem. W hen his offic ials reported on pol i tic al tens ions , he embrac ed os tric his m. 'T here is no pol i tic al s i tuation,' he repl ied. 'Don't c reate one! '

T he Old P lum reti red due to i l l -heal th but the new c ommis s ioner had not yet arrived when the 'pol i tic al s i tuation' duly material ized. On Kol Nidre, eve of the J ewis h Day of A tonement, in 1928, the J ewis h s hames - beadle - at the W es tern W al l (who gloried in the name W il l iam Ewart Glads tone Noah) put up as mal l s c reen to divide men and women wors hippers in ac c ordanc e with J ewis h law. T he s c reen and c hairs for elderly wors hippers had been al lowed in previous years , but now the mufti protes ted that the J ews were c hanging the s tatus quo.

T he Mus l ims bel ieved that the W al l was the plac e Muhammad tied up his s teed with the human fac e, Buraq, during the Night J ourney, yet in the nineteenth c entury, the Ottomans had us ed the adjac ent tunnel as a donkey s table. Legal ly i t had belonged to the Abu Maidan w aqf dating bac k to Saladin's s onA fdal . T herefore i t was 'purely Mus l im property'. T he Mus l im fear, however, was that J ewis h ac c es s to the W al l would lead to a T hird Temple on the Is lam ic Haram, the J ewis h Har-haBayi t. Yet the W al l - the Kotel - was J udais m 's hol ies t s i te and Pales tinian J ews bel ieved that the B ri tis h res tric tions , and indeedthe c ramped s pac e avai lable for wors hip, were rel ic s of c enturies of Mus l im oppres s ion that demons trated why Zionis m was nec es s ary. T he B ri tis h even banned the blowing of the s hofar - the ram 's horn - on the J ewis h High Holy Days .

T he next day, S torrs ' s uc c es s or as governor, Edward Kei th-Roac h, who l iked to c al l hims el f the Pas ha of J erus alem, ordered his pol ic e to raid the W al l during the Yom K ippur s ervic e, the hol ies t of the J ewis h year. T he pol ic emen beat praying J ews and pul led c hairs from under elderly wors hippers . It was notB ri tain's fines t hour. T he mufti was jubi lant but warned that 'the J ews ' aim is to take pos s es s ion of the Mos que of al -Aqs a gradual ly.' He therefore launc hed a c ampaign agains t J ewis h wors hippers , who were bombarded with s tones , beaten up and haras s ed with loud mus ic . J abotins ky's Betar youths demons tratedfor ac c es s to the W al l .

Both s ides were c hanging the Ottoman s tatus quo, whic h no longer reflec ted real i ty. J ewis h immigration and land purc has es had unders tandably rais ed A rab anxieties . S inc e the Dec laration, s ome 90,000 J ews had arrived in Pales tine. In 1925 alone, J ews had bought 44,000 ac res from the Famil ies . A tinym inori ty of J ewis h rel igious national is ts did dream of a T hird Temple, but the overwhelm ing majori ty s imply wanted to pray at their own holy s i te. T he new high c ommis s ioner, S ir J ohn Chanc el lor, who was s aid to res emble 'a good-looking Shakes pearian ac tor', as ked the mufti to s el l the W al l in order that the J ewsc ould bui l t a c ourtyard there. T he mufti refus ed. T o the J ews , the Kotel was the s ymbol of their freedom to pray and exis t in their own homeland, to the A rabs , the Buraq bec ame the s ymbol of res is tanc e and nationhood.

Foreboding and c laus trophobia hung over the c i ty. 'It is the haughty and des olate beauty of a wal led-in mountain fortres s in the des ert, of tragedy without c athars is ,' obs erved A rthur Koes tler, a young Hungarian Zionis t l iving in J erus alem and wri ting for J abotins ky's news paper. T he 'tragic beauty' and 'inhumanatmos phere' gave him 'J erus alem s adnes s '. Koes tler longed to es c ape to ki ts c h T el Aviv. In J erus alem he fel t 'the angry fac e of Yahweh, brooding over the hot roc ks '.

In the s ummer of 1929, the mufti ordered the opening of a doorway that made the J ewis h W al l an A rab thoroughfare for donkeys and pas s ers -by whi le muezzin c al ls to prayer and Sufi c hanting were ampl i fied over the J ewis h prayers . J ews were attac ked in the nearby al leyways . Ac ros s Pales tine, thous ands ofJ ews demons trated under the s logan 'T he W al l is Ours '. Chanc el lor was away when, on 15 Augus t, a 300-s trong Zionis t demons tration, led by the his torian J os eph K laus ner (the unc le of Amos Oz, the Is rael i wri ter) and inc luding members of Betar, marc hed to the W al l in s i lenc e, guarded by B ri tis h pol ic e, andrais ed a Zionis t flag and s ang s ongs . T he next day, after Friday prayers , 2,000 A rabs des c ended from al-Aqs a and attac ked J ewis h wors hippers , c has ing them from the W al l and beating up any they c aught. On the 17th, a J ewis h boy kic ked a footbal l into an A rab garden and, on going to fetc h i t, was murdered. A this funeral , J ewis h youths tried to attac k the Mus l im Quarter.

A t Friday prayers on 23 Augus t, enc ouraged by the mufti , thous ands of wors hippers s wept out of al -Aqs a to attac k J ews . T he mufti and his Nas has hibi rivals tried various ly to inc i te and to res train the c rowds : s ome brave A rab leaders s tood up to the mob - to no avai l . T hey attac ked the J ewis h Quarter, theMontefiore neighbourhood and the s uburbs , where thi rty-one J ews were ki l led. In one J erus alem hous ehold, five members of the s ame fam i ly were s laughtered; in Hebron, fi fty-nine J ews were mas s ac red. T he Haganah, the Zionis t m i l i tia founded in 1920, fought bac k. T here were only 292 B ri tis h pol ic emen in thewhole of Pales tine, s o troops were flown in from Cairo. A l together, 131 J ews were ki l led by A rabs , whi le the 116 A rabs who died were mainly s hot by B ri tis h troops .

T he riots , whic h the A rabs c al led T hawrat al-Buraq - the Buraq Upris ing - c onfounded the B ri tis h. 'I know of no one who would be a good high c ommis s ioner of Pales tine exc ept God,' Chanc el lor told his s on. T he Bal four pol ic y was unravel l ing. In Oc tober 1930, the W hite Paper of Colonial Sec retary LordPas s field (formerly S idney W ebb, the Fabian s oc ial is t) propos ed res tric ting J ewis h immigration and retreat from a J ewis h national home. T he Zionis ts des paired. T he Buraq Upris ing inflamed extrem is m on both s ides . T he violenc e and Pas s field's W hite Paper dis c redi ted W eizmann's Anglophi le s tyle: theZionis ts c ould no longer depend on the B ri tis h and many turned ins tead to J abotins ky's hars her national is m. A t the Seventeenth Zionis t Congres s , J abotins ky attac ked W eizmann who was c anvas s ing the B ri tis h prime m inis ter Rams ay Mac donald to overturn the W hite Paper. Mac donald wrote him a letter, read outin Parl iament, rec onfi rm ing the Bal four Dec laration and reopening J ewis h immigration. T he A rabs c al led i t 'the B lac k Letter' but i t was too late to s ave W eizmann who was then depos ed as Zionis t pres ident. Immens ely hurt, he returned temporari ly to s c ienc e. T he Haganah s ti l l c onc entrated on guarding the rurals ettlements , but i t s tarted to arm i ts el f. Frus trated with this res traint, m i l i tant national is ts s pl intered off and founded the Irgun Zvai Leumi, National Mi l i tary Organization, ins pired by J abotins ky, though i t remained very s mal l . J abotins ky was expel led from Pales tine for his provoc ative s peec hes , but bec ameinc reas ingly popular among J ewis h youths in Pales tine and eas tern Europe. But i t was not he who replac ed W eizmann: i t was David Ben-Gurion who emerged as the s trongman of the J ewis h c ommunity jus t as the mufti bec ame the s trongman of the A rabs .

In Dec ember 1931, the mufti emerged onto the world s tage when he pres ided as a pan-Is lam ic and unrival led national leader at his W orld Is lam ic Conferenc e on the Temple Mount: i t was his fines t hour and i t went to his head. He remained radic al ly oppos ed to any Zionis t c olony in Pales tine, yet his rivals ,Mayor Nas has hibi , the Dajanis and the Khal idis argued that c onc i l iation would be better for A rabs and J ews . T he mufti would tolerate no oppos i tion and ac c us ed his rivals of being pro-Zionis t trai tors and the Nas has hibis of s ec retly having J ewis h blood. Nas has hibi tried to uns eat him on the Supreme Mus l imCounc i l but fai led and the mufti s tarted to exc lude his opponents from al l the organizations he c ontrol led. T he B ri tis h, weak and uns ure, leant towards the radic als ins tead of the moderates : in 1934, the new high c ommis s ioner, S ir A rthur W auc hope, wi thdrew his bac king from Nas has hibi and bac ked the elec tion ofone of the Khal idis as mayor. T he rivalry between Hus s einis and Nas has hibis bec ame ever more vic ious .

T he world was darkening, the s takes ris ing. T he growth of Fas c is m made c ompromis e s eem weak, and violenc e not jus t ac c eptable but attrac tive. On 30 J anuary 1933, Hi tler was appointed c hanc el lor of Germany. * On 31 Marc h, jus t two months later, the mufti s ec retly vis i ted the German c ons ul in J erus alem,Heinric h W olff, to dec lare that 'Mus l ims ins ide Pales tine welc ome the new regime, hope for the s pread of Fas c is t antidemoc ratic leaders hip'; he added that 'Mus l ims hoped for a boyc ott of the J ews in Germany.'

European J ews were alarmed by Hitler. Immigration, whic h had s lowed down, now ac c elerated in a way that forever c hanged the demographic balanc e. In 1933, 37,000 J ews arrived in Pales tine; 45,000 in 1934. By 1936, there were 100,000 J ews in J erus alem, c ompared to 60,000 Chris tian and Mus l imArabs .19 J us t as Nazi aggres s ion and anti -Semitis m threatened Europe, and the tens ion in Pales tine intens i fied,* S ir A rthur W auc hope pres ided over a new J erus alem, c api tal of the s hort-l ived Golden Age of the B ri tis h Mandate.

W AUCHOPE'S CAPITAL: HUNTS, CAFES, PARTIES AND W HITE SUITS

W auc hope, a weal thy bac helor, loved to entertain. Flanked by two s c arlet-c lad k av as s es brandis hing gi lded wands , the feather-helmeted general welc omed gues ts to the new Government Hous e, a baronial-c um-Mooris h palac e on the Hi l l of Evi l Couns el , s outh of the c i ty, wi th an oc tagonal tower, al l s et am idfountains , and groves of ac ac ia and pine. T he mans ion was a m ini Engl is h world wi th i ts parquet-floored bal l room, c rys tal c handel iers and a gal lery for the pol ic e band, dining hal ls , bi l l iard rooms , s eparate bathrooms for Engl is h and loc als - and J erus alem 's only ever dog c emetery for a nation of dog lovers . T hegues ts wore uni forms or top hat and tai ls . 'Money and c hampagne', rec al led one, 'flowed l ike water.'

W auc hope's res idenc e was the c entrepiec e of a modernis t J erus alem c reated by the B ri tis h at dizzying s peed. T he old Earl of Bal four hims el f had c ome for the opening of the Hebrew Univers i ty on Mount Sc opus , near the new Hadas s ah Hos pi tal . A YMCA in the form of a phal l ic tower was bui l t by the arc hi tec tof the Empire S tate Bui lding. T he Roc kefel lers rais ed a Gothic -Mooris h mus eum jus t north of the wal ls . K ing George V Avenue, wi th i ts 's plendid s hops , c afes wi th high c handel iers , and ric h s tores ', rem inded a young J ewis h J erus alem ite, Amos Oz, later a famous Is rael i wri ter, of 'that wonderful London Town Iknew from fi lms where c ul ture-s eeking J ews and A rabs m ixed with c ul tivated Engl is hmen, where dreamy long-nec ked ladies floated in evening dres s '. T his was the J azz Age in J erus alem, where flappers c ombined fas t c ars wi th m i l lenarian evangel is m. 'HAREM BEAUT IES DRIVE FORDS T HROUGH J ERUSALEM'dec lared the Bos ton Herald , interviewing Bertha Spafford - who, i t reported, was 'introduc ing Fl ivvers [Americ an c ars ] and Vac uum bottles to the T urk and s ays God not Bal four wi l l s end the J ews bac k to Pales tine'.

J erus alem s ti l l lac ked the luxuries of a major c i ty, but in 1930, s he got her fi rs t world-c las s hotel . T he majes tic K ing David Hotel , bac ked by wealthy Egyptian J ews and the Anglo-J ewis h financ ier Frank Golds mith (father of S ir J ames ), whic h ins tantly bec ame the c i ty's s tyl is h hub, noted for i ts 'bibl ic al s tyle' wi thAs s yrian, Hi tti te and Mus l im ornamentation, and i ts 'tal l Sudanes e waiters in whi te pantaloons and red tarbous h'. One Americ an touris t s uppos edly bel ieved that i t was the renovated Temple of Solomon. Ragheb Nas has hibi had his hair c ut there every day. T he hotel helped make J erus alem a luxury res ort for theric h A rabs of Lebanon and Egypt, whos e dec adent royal fam i ly were often in res idenc e. Abdul lah, Amir of T rans jordan, s tayed regularly - the K ing David c ould c ope with his c amels and hors es . In Oc tober 1934, Churc hi l l c ame to s tay wi th his wi fe and his friend Lord Moyne, hims el f later a vic tim of the Pales tinianc onfl ic t. Not to be outdone, the mufti bui l t his own hotel , the Palac e, us ing J ewis h c ontrac tors , on the s i te of the anc ient Mamil la c emetery.

W hen an Americ an J ewes s , a former nurs e, opened the fi rs t beauty parlour, peas ants s tood and s tared, expec ting the mannequins in the window to s peak. T he bes t books hop in town was run by Boulos Said, father of the intel lec tual Edward, and his brother near the J affa Gate, whi le the fines t haute c outureemporium belonged to Kurt May and his wi fe, typic al German J ews fleeing Hitler. W hen he c reated the s hop - the name 'May' was emblazoned above the door in Hebrew, Engl is h and A rab - he imported al l the fixtures from Germany and s oon i t attrac ted the ric h wives of J ewis h bus ines s men and B ri tis h proc ons uls -and of Abdul lah of J ordan. Emperor Hai le Selas s ie and his entourage onc e took over the enti re s hop. T he Mays were more c ul tured Germans than Zionis ts - Kurt had won the Iron Cros s in the Great W ar - and they were total ly i rrel igious . T he Mays l ived over the s hop: when their daughter Miriam was born, s he wasbreas tfed by an A rab wetnurs e but when s he grew up, her parents dis c ouraged her from playing with the Pol is h J ews next door who were 'not s uffic iently c ul tured'. J erus alem was s ti l l s mal l though: s ometimes in s pring, Miriam 's father would take her on walks out of the c i ty to pic k c yc lamen on the bloomingJ udaean hi l ls . Friday nights were the height of their s oc ial week: when the ul tra-Orthodox J ews were praying, the Mays went danc ing at the K ing David Hotel .

T he B ri tis h behaved as i f Pales tine were a real imperial provinc e: B rigadier Angus Mc Nei l founded the Ramle Vale J ac kal Hounds Hunt whic h c has ed the fox and the jac kal wi th a pac k of hounds . A t the Offic ers Club, Zionis t gues ts notic ed that al l c onvers ation was about duc k s hooting, i f not the lates t pologame or rac e meeting. One young offic er flew into town in his own private aeroplane.

T he B ri tis h publ ic s c hoolboys , rais ed on the c omplexi ties of their own aris toc rac y, revel led in the hierarc hies of J erus alem, es pec ial ly the s oc ial etiquette required for dinner parties at Government Hous e, where S ir Harry Luke, J ohn Chanc el lor's deputy, remembered how the toas tmas ter welc omed highc ommis s ioners , c hief rabbis , c hief judges , mayors and patriarc hs : 'Your Exc el lenc y, Your Honour, Your Beati tudes , Your Eminenc es , Your Lord B is hops , Your Paterni ty, Your Reverends , Your W ors hip, Ladies and Gentlemen.'

T his thriving new J erus alem, wi th 132,661 inhabi tants by 1931, proved that B ri tis h rule and Zionis t immigration did help c reate a flouris hing ec onomy - and ris ing A rab immigration: more A rabs immigrated to Pales tine than J ews and the A rab population of Pales tine inc reas ed by 10 per c ent, twic e as fas t ofthat of Syria or Lebanon.* In ten years , J erus alem attrac ted 21,000 new A rabs and 20,000 new J ews - and this was the glamorous heyday of the Famil ies . T he B ri tis h s ympathized with the A rab dynas ties , Nus s eibehs and Nas has hibis , who s ti l l owned 25 per c ent of the land, and who 'fi tted into the s oc ial orderimported by the B ri tis h as i f tai lor-made', wrote Sari Nus s eibeh, later the Pales tinian phi los opher. 'T he men belonged to the s ame gentleman's s oc iety and in private Engl is h offic ers tended to prefer them to the Rus s ian J ewis h ups tarts .'

T he Famil ies had never l ived more luxurious ly: Hazem Nus s eibeh's father owned two 'palatial res idenc es , eac h one with 20-30 rooms .' T he fathers had been educ ated in Cons tantinople, the s ons would attend S t George's publ ic s c hool in Sheikh J arrah and then Oxford. Hazem Nus s eibeh, who was Sari 's unc le,rec al led that 'It was amus ing to watc h the effendi aris toc rac y of A rab J erus alem, atti red during s ummer in wel l -pres s ed white s i lk s ui ts wi th pol is hed s hoes and s i lk ties .' Hazem 's brother, Anwar Nus s eibeh, c ruis ed J erus alem in a gleaming Buic k, the c i ty's fi rs t.

Many of the A rab m iddle c las s , Mus l ims and Orthodox, worked for the Mandate. T hey l ived in pink s tone vi l las in the Ottoman world of Sheikh J arrah, Talbieh, Bakaa and Katamon, the s uburbs of what Amos Oz c al led 'a vei led c i ty, heavy with c ros s es , turrets , mos ques , and mys teries ' and fi l led wi th 'monks andnuns , qadis and muezzins , Notables , vei led women and c owled pries ts '. W hen Oz vis i ted a wel l -off A rab fam i ly, he admired the 'mous tac hioed men, jewel led women' and 'c harm ing young girls , s l im-hipped, red-nai led wi th elegant hair-dos and s porty s kirts '.

'Sumptuous parties , lunc hes , dinners and rec eptions , the year round' were held by the his torian George Antonius , an aes thetic 'Syrian patriot wi th the luc idi ty of a Cambridge don', and his 'c harm ing, beauti ful ' and i rrepres s ible wi fe, Katy, daughter of a Lebanes e proprietor of Egyptian news papers . * T heir SheikhJ arrah vi l la, whic h was owned by the mufti and fi l led wi th 12,000 books , was the s oc ial headquarters for A rab grandees , B ri tis h el i tes and c elebri ty vis i tors , as wel l as a pol i tic al s alon for A rab national is ts . 'P retty women, del ic ious food, c lever c onvers ation: everyone who was anyone was there at the bes t parties inJ erus alem,' remembered Nas s ereddin Nas has hibi , 'and they always had the mos t del ightful ly louc he atmos phere'. T heir marriage was s aid to be open and Katy was notorious ly fl i rtatious , wi th a tas te for Engl is hmen in uni form: 'She was naughty, c urious about everything,' rec al led an old J erus alem ite; 's he woulds tart gos s ip; s he was always matc hing people up.' Antonius later told his daughter about a party wi th a danc e band given by a loc al s oc ial i te where he s hoc ked and thri l led the other gues ts by propos ing a s winging J erus alem party game of his own: he would invi te ten c ouples but eac h pers on would bring amember of the oppos i te s ex who was not their s pous e - and then they would s ee what happened.

T he c ool ing of B ri tis h enthus ias m for Zionis m inc reas ingly al ienated the J ews . Perhaps High Commis s ioner S ir J ohn Chanc el lor was typic al when he c omplained that J ews were 'ungrateful people'. Eac h J ewis h neighbourhood belonged in a di fferent c ountry: Rehavia, home of s ec ular German profes s ors andBri tis h offic ials , was the mos t des irable s uburb, c ivi l ized, c alm and European; the Bokharan Quarter belonged in Central As ia; the Has idic Mea Shearim was s habby, impoveris hed and redolent of s eventeenth-c entury Poland; Zikhron Zion was heady with the 'poor As hkenazi c ooking s mel ls , of bors c ht, garl ic andonion and s auerkraut,' rec al led Amos Oz; T alpiot was 'a J erus alem ite repl ic a of a Berl in garden s uburb', whi le his own home was in Kerem Avraham, bui l t around the old hous e of the B ri tis h c ons ul J ames Finn, whic h was s o Rus s ian 'i t belonged to Chekhov'.

W eizmann had c al led J erus alem 'a modern Babel ' but al l thes e di fferent worlds c ontinued to m ix, des pi te s pas ms of violenc e and c louds of foreboding. T hat c os mopol i tan J erus alem, wrote Hazem Nus s eibeh, was 'one of the mos t exhi larating c i ties in the world to l ive in'. Cafes opened al l the time, enjoyed bya new c las s of intel lec tuals , boulevardiers , and flaneurs , funded by fam i ly orange groves , news paper artic les and c ivi l s ervic e s alaries . T he c afes pres ented res pec table bel ly-danc ing, as wel l as the s auc ier s uz i vers ion, c abaret-s ingers and tradi tional bal ladeers , jazz bands , and Egyptian popular s ingers . Duringearly Mandate years , jus t ins ide the J affa Gate next to the Imperial Hotel , the flamboyant intel lec tual Khal i l Sakakini held c ourt at the Vagabond Cafe, where over puffs of nargi leh water pipes and s hots of Lebanes e arak fi rewater, this s oidis ant 'P rinc e of Idlenes s ' dis c us s ed pol i tic s and expounded his hedonis ticphi los ophy, the Manifes to of Vagabonds - 'Idlenes s is the motto of our party. T he working-day is made up of two hours ' - after whic h he indulged 'in eating, drinks and merriment'. However, his indolenc e was l im i ted when he bec ame Pales tine's ins pec tor of educ ation.

W as if J awhariyyeh, the oud-player wi th the munic ipal s inec ure, had long embrac ed lazines s : his brother opened the Cafe J awhariyyeh on J affa Road by the Rus s ian Compound where a c abaret and band performed. One regular denizen of the nearby Pos tal Cafe rec al led 'the c os mopol i tan c l ientele; a Ts aris toffic er wi th a whi te beard, a young c lerk; an immigrant painter, an elegant lady who kept talking about her properties in Ukraine, and many young men and women immigrants '.

Many of the B ri tis h enjoyed this 'real blend of c ul tures ', not leas t S ir Harry Luke, who pres ided over a typic al J erus alem hous ehold: 'T he nanny was from s outh England, the butler a W hite Rus s ian,* the s ervant a Cypriot T urk, Ahmed the c ook was a ras c al ly blac k Berber, the ki tc hen-boy was an A rmenian whos urpris ed us by turning out to be a girl ; the hous emaid is Rus s ian.' But not everyone was s o c harmed. 'I dis l ike them al l intens ely,' s aid General S ir W alter 'Squib' Congreve. 'Beas tly people. T he whole lot are not worth a s ingle Engl is hman.'

BEN-GURION AND THE MUFTI: THE SHRINKING SOFA

T he mufti was at the height of his pres tige but he s truggled to c ontrol the wide range of A rab views . T here were l iberal W es ternizers l ike George Antonius , there were Marxis ts , there were s ec ular national is ts and there were Is lam ic fundamental is ts . Many A rabs loathed the mufti but the majori ty were bec omingc onvinc ed that only armed s truggle c ould s top Zionis m. In November 1933, the ex-mayor Mus a Kazem Hus s eini , who was no fan of his c ous in the mufti , led demons trations in J erus alem that s parked riots in whic h thi rty A rabs were ki l led. W hen Mus a Kazem died the next year, the A rabs los t an elder s tates manres pec ted by al l : 'people wept a lot over Mus a Kazem,' wrote Ahmed Shuqayri , a later Pales tinian leader, 'whereas Haj Amin (the mufti ) made a lot of people weep.' More than a quarter of a m i l l ion J ews arrived in Pales tine during the s ec ond dec ade of the Mandate, twic e as many as during the fi rs t. T he A rabs ,whether they were the mos t s ophis tic ated of the J erus alem el i te, educ ated at Oxford, or whether they were the Is lam ic is t radic als of the Mus l im B rotherhood, al l now s ens ed that the B ri tis h would never hal t the immigration, nor hold bac k the ever more s ophis tic ated organization of the Y is huv, as the J ewis hc ommunity was known. T hey were running out of time. In 1935, at the height of the immigration, 66,000 J ews arrived. In that morbid age when war was often regarded as a puri fying national ri tual , even the intel lec tual Sakakini and the aes thete J awhariyyeh now bel ieved that only violenc e c ould s ave Pales tine. T heans wer, wrote Hazem Nus s eibeh, was 'armed rebel l ion'.

T his was c onfronted by the ageing W eizmann, again Zionis t pres ident, but the real power lay wi th David Ben-Gurion, rec ently elec ted c hairman of the Exec utive of the J ewis h Agenc y, the highes t authori ty for the Y is huv. Both men were autoc ratic and intel lec tual in s tyle, dedic ated to Zionis m and W es terndemoc rac y. But they were oppos i tes . Ben-Gurion was a gruff working-c las s man of ac tion, equipped to lead in war and peac e. He lac ked al l s mal l talk (exc ept about his tory and phi los ophy) and was humourles s - the only joke the dim inutive Ben-Gurion told was about Napoleon's height. Its punc hl ine was : 'no onewas bigger than Napoleon, jus t tal ler.' Married wi th two c hi ldren, a dis s atis fied hus band, he enjoyed a dis c reet love-affai r wi th a tal l , blue-eyed Engl is hwoman in London. But he was a brooding loner and thoughtful s trategis t, always obs es s ed with the c aus e, who c ol lec ted books , s pending any s pare time ins ec ond-hand books hops . T he Old Man, as he was already known, learned Spanis h to read Cervantes and Greek to s tudy P lato; when he planned s tatehood, he read Greek phi los ophy; when he made war, he read Claus ewitz.

W eizmann was Zionis m 's grand s eigneur, dres s ed in Savi le Row s ui ts , more at home in the s alons of Mayfair than on the s unbeaten farms of Gal i lee and now wel l off from founder-s hares in Marks & Spenc er, donated by his friends , the S ieff fam i ly. 'You're now K ing of Is rael ,' Ben-Gurion told him , but he woulds oon turn agains t 'W eizmann's regime of pers onal fetis his m '. As for W eizmann, he knew that, unl ike Ben-Gurion, he was not c ut out to be a warlord, but he hal f res pec ted, hal f dis dained the younger man's m i l i tanc y. In his 600-page memoirs , he mentioned Ben-Gurion's name jus t twic e. W eizmann was m is taken forLenin in looks but Ben-Gurion emulated the Bols hevik's ruthles s pragmatis m.

He had s tarted as a s oc ial is t, ris en in the labour movement and had not qui te los t his bel ief that a new Pales tine s hould be c reated through the c ooperation of the J ewis h and A rab working c las s es . Ben-Gurion may have dreamed of a J ewis h s tate but that s eemed total ly unl ikely and remote. S inc e heapprec iated that 'the A rab national movement was born at almos t the s ame time as pol i tic al Zionis m,' he bel ieved that an A rab-J ewis h c onfederation was the bes t the J ews c ould hope for at that time. Both he and the mufti probed eac h other wi th plans for a s hared s tate: in retros pec t, a c ompromis e was s ti l lpos s ible. In Augus t 1934, Ben-Gurion s tarted to meet Mus a al-A lam i,* a lawyer working for the B ri tis h, and George Antonius , the wri ter - both moderate advis ers to the mufti . Ben-Gurion propos ed ei ther a J ewis h-A rab s hared government or a J ewis h enti ty wi thin an A rab federation that would inc lude T rans jordan andIraq. Surely, Ben-Gurion argued, Pales tine was l ike a s ofa: there was room for both. T he mufti was impres s ed, but nonc ommittal . Later A lam i reflec ted that the mufti and Ben-Gurion s hared the s ame hars h national is m but the J ewis h leader was muc h more flexible and s ki l ful . He regretted that the A rabs neverproduc ed their own Ben-Gurion. Meanwhi le, the mufti and his fel low aris toc rats were los ing c ontrol of their movement.

In November 1935, a Syrian preac her named Sheikh Izzat al-Din al-Qas s am, who worked as a junior offic ial in the mufti 's s haria c ourt in Hai fa and was c ons tantly urging him to rejec t any pol i tic al c ompromis e, rebel led agains t the B ri tis h. He was far more radic al than the mufti , a puri tan fundamental is t whobel ieved in the s anc ti ty of martyrdom, a prec urs or of al -Qaeda and today's J ihadis ts . Now he led the thi rteen mujahidin of his B lac k Hand c el l into hi l ls where, on 20 November, he was c ornered by 400 B ri tis h pol ic e and ki l led. Qas s am 's martyrdom+ jol ted the mufti c los er to revol t. In Apri l 1936, Qas s am 's s uc c es s orlaunc hed an operation outs ide Nablus that ki l led two J ews - but releas ed a German who c laimed to be a Nazi 'for Hi tler's s ake'. T his l i t the s park. T he Irgun, J ewis h national is ts , ki l led two A rabs in res pons e. As the s hooting s tarted, S ir A rthur W auc hope was total ly unqual i fied to res pond. A young offic er notic edthat he 'does n't know what to do.'20

THE ARAB REVOLT

1936-45

THE MUFTI'S TERROR

One c ool night in J erus alem in early 1936, 's c attered ri fle s hots rang out in the c lear evening s ky' and Hazem Nus s eibeh real ized that 'the armed rebel l ion had begun'. T he revol t es c alated s lowly. In Apri l that year, A rabs ki l led s ixteen J ews in J affa. T he Pales tinian parties formed a Higher A rab Committee under themufti and c al led a national s trike that s wiftly s pun out of anyone's c ontrol . T he mufti dec lared this a s ac red s truggle and c al led his forc es the Holy W ar A rmy as volunteers s tarted to arrive to fight the B ri tis h and J ews from Syria, Iraq and T rans jordan.

On 14 May, two J ews were s hot in the J ewis h Quarter, and the mufti ins is ted, 'T he J ews are trying to expel us from the c ountry, murdering our s ons and burning our hous es .' T wo days later, A rab gunmen ki l led three J ews in the Edis on Cinema.T he Y is huv began to panic , but Ben-Gurion embrac ed a pol ic y of s el f-res traint. Meanwhi le B ri tis h m inis ters now ques tioned the enti re bas is of the Mandate and c ommis s ioned Earl Peel , an ex-Cabinet m inis ter, to report. T he mufti c al led off the s trike in Oc tober 1936, though he refus ed to rec ognize Peel . But

W eizmann c harmed the c ommis s ioners . On Amir Abdul lah's ins is tenc e the mufti tes ti fied that the Pales tinians demanded independenc e, the annulment of the Bal four Dec laration and, om inous ly, the removal of the J ews .In J uly 1937, Peel propos ed a two-s tate s olution, the parti tion of Pales tine into an A rab area (70 per c ent of the c ountry) joined to Amir Abdul lah's T rans jordan and a J ewis h area (20 per c ent). In addi tion, he s ugges ted a population trans fer of the 300,000 A rabs in the J ewis h area. J erus alem would remain a

s pec ial enti ty under B ri tis h c ontrol . T he Zionis ts ac c epted - they had real ized they would never be given J erus alem in a parti tion. W eizmann was not dis appointed by the s mal l s ize of the J ewis h enti ty, mus ing that 'K ing David's [kingdom] was s mal ler.'Peel c omplained that, in c ontras t to the Zionis ts , 'not onc e s inc e 1919 has any A rab leader s aid that c ooperation wi th the J ews was even pos s ible'. Only Abdul lah of T rans jordan enthus ias tic al ly s upported Peel 's plan and, in retros pec t, this would have prevented Is rael in i ts pres ent form but at the time, al l

Pales tinians were inflamed by an Engl is h earl 's idea of c reating a J ewis h s tate: both the mufti and his rival Nas has hibi rejec ted i t.T he Revol t exploded again, but this time, the mufti embrac ed and organized the violenc e; he was s eemingly more interes ted in murdering his Pales tinian rivals than the B ri tis h or J ews . 'It s eems ', wri tes the lates t his torian of the Hus s einis , 'he was pers onal ly res pons ible for es tabl is hing internec ine terror as a

means of c ontrol .' Over his favouri te meal of lenti l s oup, the mufti , always ac c ompanied by his Sudanes e bodyguards des c ended from the Haram 's tradi tional watc hmen, behaved l ike a Mafia bos s as he ordered as s as s inations that in two years of fratric ide wiped out many of his mos t dec ent and moderatec ompatriots . Nine days after Peel , the mufti c al led on the German c ons ul-general in J erus alem to s tate his s ympathy for Nazis m and his wis h to c ooperate. T he next day, the B ri tis h tried to arres t him but he s ought s anc tuary in al-Aqs a.

T he B ri tis h did not dare s torm the Sanc tuary. Ins tead they bes ieged Hus s eini on the Temple Mount, denounc ing him as the organizer of the Revol t. But not al l the A rab gangs were under his c ontrol : the J ihadi fol lowers of Qas s am als o enthus ias tic al ly ki l led any A rabs s us pec ted of c ooperating with theauthori ties . Nothing les s than a brutal c ivi l war broke out among the A rabs thems elves . It was now that i t was s aid that the mufti made many fam i l ies weep.

A fter s upporting the Revol t ini tial ly, Ragheb Nas has hibi oppos ed the mufti both for his terror and his s trategy. Nas has hibi 's vi l la was raked with mac hinegun fi re; a young c ous in was ki l led watc hing a footbal l game. W hen Fakhri Bey Nas has hibi , his nephew, ac c us ed the mufti of des truc tive egotis m, his deathwarrant was publ is hed in the news papers : he was later as s as s inated in Baghdad. Nas has hibi armed his retainers , known as 'the Nas has hibi uni ts ' or 'peac ebands ', and they fought the mufti 's men. A rab headwear bec ame the s hibboleth of the Revol t: Hus s eini s upporters wore the k effiy eh c hec ked s c arf; theNas has hibis , the tarbous h of c ompromis e. T he mufti s et up rebel c ourts to try trai tors and is s ued rebel s tamps .

In J erus alem, the Revol t was c ommanded by Abd al-Kadir Hus s eini , thi rty-year-old c ommander of the Holy W ar A rmy. He was the s on of the late Mus a Kazem Hus s eini (he us ed the nom de guerre Abu Mus a), and rec eived the bes t educ ation at the Angl ic an B is hop Gobat's s c hool on Mount Zion. He had us edhis graduation at Cairo Univers i ty to denounc e B ri tis h perfidy and Zionis t c ons pirac y. A fter being expel led from Egypt, he organized the mufti 's Pales tine A rab Party, edi ted i ts news papers and founded, under c over of the boy s c outs , his own Green Hand m i l i tia that bec ame i ts m i l i tary wing.

A t home he was an elegant grandee with his penc i l mous tac he and Engl is h s ui t but he was in his element on the run, in the field, riding s hotgun, fighting. He often 'humi l iated the c olonial forc es around J erus alem,' noted W as if J awhariyyeh the oud-player. He was wounded in 1936 in a battle agains t B ri tis htanks near Hebron but after his wounds were treated in Germany, he returned to fight on from his bas e in J ohn the Baptis t's vi l lage, E in Kerem. In the c i ty, he organized the as s as s ination of a B ri tis h pol ic e c hief. W ounded again in RAF s trafing, Hus s eini 's admirers regarded him as an A rab knight who es c hewedluxury to fight amongs t A rab peas ants agains t infidel intruders - but his Pales tinian enemies regarded him as one of the wors t of the mufti 's warlords , whos e henc hmen terrorized vi l lages that did not s upport the Hus s einis .

On 26 September 1937, the B ri tis h dis tric t c ommis s ioner in Gal i lee, Lewis Andrews , was as s as s inated. On the 12th, the mufti es c aped from J erus alem dres s ed as woman, an undigni fied exi t that weakened his power in Pales tine. In exi le in Lebanon, he direc ted operations in a war that was s ti l l es c alating. Hemerc i les s ly enforc ed obedienc e to hims el f pers onal ly and his rigidly intrans igent pol ic ies .

T he B ri tis h were s truggl ing to hold Pales tine: Nablus , Hebron, s wathes of Gal i lee were often out of c ontrol - and they even los t the Old Ci ty for s hort periods . T he B ri tis h rec rui ted J ewis h auxi l iaries from the Haganah to join their s o-c al led J ewis h Settlement Pol ic e, but the latter c ould s c arc ely defend their far-flung vi l lages . T he Zionis t national is ts were dis gus ted by Ben-Gurion's pol ic y of res traint. T he Irgun Zvai Leumi, the National Mi l i tary Organization, s ti l l only mus tering about 1,500 men at the beginning of the Revol t, ans wered A rab attac ks wi th atroc i ties agains t A rab c ivi l ians , tos s ing grenades into c afes inJ erus alem. On B lac k Sunday in November 1937, they launc hed c oordinated bombings , muc h to the horror of W eizmann and Ben-Gurion, but rec rui ts poured into the Irgun. J us t as the A rab moderates were being annihi lated by the mufti 's thugs , s o the Revol t des troyed the c redibi l i ty of c onc i l iatory J ews s uc h asJ udah Magnes , the Americ an pres ident of the Hebrew Univers i ty, who wanted a binational s tate wi th a bic ameral c ongres s of J ews and A rabs and no J ewis h enti ty at al l . Ben-Gurion's s el f-res traint was s oon exhaus ted and the B ri tis h now took off their gloves to c rus h the A rabs by al l and any means : theyc ol lec tively punis hed vi l lages and at one point des troyed a whole neighbourhood of J affa. In J une 1937, they brought in the death penal ty for anyone bearing arms . In Oc tober, S ir Charles Tegart, who had s tringently pol ic ed Calc utta for thi rty years , arrived in J erus alem. He bui l t fi fty 'Tegart forts ', erec ted s ec uri tyfenc es around the borders and took c harge of c ounter-ins urgenc y and intel l igenc e, c reating A rab Inves tigation Centres . Tegart ran a s c hool in wes t J erus alem to ins truc t his interrogators how to torture s us pec ts - inc luding the 'water-c an' tec hnique in whic h pris oners had water forc ed down their nos es fromc offeepots , a method now known as 'water-boarding' - unti l the c i ty governor Kei th-Roac h demanded i t be moved. An RAF offic er, A rthur Harris - later famed as the 'Bomber' of Dres den - s upervis ed air attac ks on rebel vi l lages . Yet as the c ris is wi th Hi tler developed in Europe, the B ri tis h c ould not bring in enoughtroops to des troy the Revol t, s o they needed more J ewis h help.

A wel l -c onnec ted young c ounter-ins urgenc y expert named Orde W ingate was pos ted to J erus alem where he was invi ted to s tay by High Commis s ioner W auc hope. W ingate obs erved that W auc hope 'takes everyone's advic e and has los t al l gras p of affai rs '. His rec ommendation was to train J ewis h fighters andtake the ins urgenc y to the ins urgents . He would bec ome the Zionis t vers ion of Lawrenc e - W eizmann c al led him 'Lawrenc e of J udaea'. By c hanc e, thes e two unc onventional Engl is h A rabis ts were c ous ins .21

ORDE W INGATE AND MOSHE DAYAN: THE FALL OF THE OLD CITY

T he s on of a wel l -off c olonial c olonel wi th an evangel ic al m is s ion to c onvert the J ews , rais ed on B ible and empire, W ingate was a fluent A rabic -s peaker, and, l ike Lawrenc e, earned his s purs c ommanding A rab i rregulars - a uni t of the Eas t A rab Corps in Sudan. 'T here was in him ', wrote W eizmann, 'a fus ion of thes tudent and man of ac tion that rem inded me of Lawrenc e.' But on arrival in J erus alem he underwent an almos t Damas c ene c onvers ion, impres s ed by the energy of the Zionis ts , and repuls ed by the mufti 's bul lyboy tac tic s and the anti -Semitis m of B ri tis h offic ers : 'Everyone's agains t the J ews ,' he dec lared, 's o I'm forthem! '

W ingate ins pec ted the beleaguered B ri tis h troops and J ewis h farms . In the depths of the night, they would rec eive vis i ts from an 'extra-ordinary figure' wearing a Bors ol ino hat or a W ols eley topee, a battered Palm Beac h s ui t and a Royal A rti l lery tie, who looked 'l ike the kind of lowl i fe you s aw hanging arounddubious c afes in Tel Aviv'. A lways armed to the teeth, the thi rty-three-year-old Captain W ingate, who had 'very pierc ing blue eyes , aqui l ine features and a faraway as c etic look with a s c holarly air', arrived in a S tudebaker s edan 'fi l led wi th weapons , maps , Lee Enfield ri fles , Mi l ls grenades - and a B ible'. W ingatedec ided that 'the J ews wi l l provide better s oldiery than ours .' In Marc h 1938, the B ri tis h c ommander, S ir A rc hibald W avel l , impres s ed by this 'remarkable pers onal i ty', ordered W ingate to train J ewis h s pec ial forc es and deploy thes e s o-c al led Spec ial Night Squads agains t the rebels . W avel l did not know what hewas deal ing wi th: 'I was n't then aware of the c onnec tion with T . E . Lawrenc e.'

Setting up headquarters in the Fas t Hotel , near the J affa Gate, W ingate learned fluent Hebrew and was s oon known as 'the Friend' by the Zionis ts - but he was regarded as an enemy by the A rabs and a rec kles s freak by many of his B ri tis h brother-offic ers . Moving out of Government Hous e, he s et up home inTalpiot wi th his wi fe Lorna, who was 'very young and very beauti ful l ike a porc elain dol l . People didn't take their eyes off her', rec al led Ruth Dayan. Her hus band Mos he Dayan, the twenty-two-year-old s on of Rus s ian immigrants , born in the fi rs t kibbutz, had (s ec retly) joined the Haganah and was (openly) s erving in theJ ewis h Settlement Pol ic e, when 'one evening, a Haganah man from Haifa turned up ac c ompanied by a s trange vis i tor. W ingate was a s lender man, a heavy revolver at his s ide, c arrying a s mal l B ible. Before going on an ac tion, he'd read the pas s age in the B ible relating to the plac e where we'd be operating.' T hism i l i tary heir of the bibl iolatris t evangel ic als led his Night Squads agains t the A rab gunmen who were 'forc ed to real ize they c ould no longer find any path s ec ure for them: they were l ikely to be c aught in a s urpris e ambus h anywhere.' During the Revol t and later during the Sec ond W orld W ar, the B ri tis h trained 25,000J ewis h auxi l iaries , inc luding other c ommando uni ts led by Y i tzhak Sadeh, a Rus s ian Red A rmy veteran who bec ame Haganah's c hief of s taff. 'You are the s ons of the Mac c abees ,' W ingate told them, 'You are the fi rs t s oldiers of a J ewis h army! ' T heir expertis e and s piri t later formed the bas is of the Is rael Defenc eForc es .

In September 1938, P rime Minis ter Nevi l le Chamberlain's Munic h Agreement, whic h appeas ed Adol f Hi tler's aggres s ion and al lowed him to dis member Czec hos lovakia, freed B ri tis h troops : 25,000 reinforc ements arrived in Pales tine. Yet in J erus alem, the rebels pul led off a daring c oup de main : on 17 Oc tober,they s eized the enti re Old Ci ty, barric ading the gates , driving out B ri tis h troops and even is s uing pos tage s tamps marked al-Quds . W as i f J awhariyyeh, who l ived near the J affa Gate, proudly s aw an A rab flag fluttering from the Tower of David. A beleaguered rabbi at the W es tern W al l was terrorized by A rab gunmen.But on 19 Oc tober, the B ri tis h s tormed the gates and retook the c i ty, ki l l ing nineteen gunmen as W as if watc hed from his home. 'I c an't des c ribe the night of the battle wi th the B ri tis h army and the rebels . W e s aw the explos ions and heard the inc redible s mas hing of bombs and bul lets .'

T hough he was a hero to the J ews , W ingate's operations were inc reas ingly regarded as c ounter-produc tive by B ri tis h offic ers , who heard that he opened his front door to gues ts s tark naked, and was having an affai r wi th a J ewis h opera s inger. Even Dayan had to admit: 'J udged by ordinary s tandards he wouldn'tbe regarded as normal. [A fter operations ] he'd s i t in the c orner s tark naked reading the B ible, and munc hing raw onions .' W ingate's divis ional c ommander, Major-General Bernard Montgomery, dis l iked his m i l i tary rec kles s nes s and Zionis t partis ans hip. W ingate, Montgomery later told Dayan, 'was mental ly uns table'.He was ordered bac k to the B ri tis h headquarters in J erus alem. Now the B ri tis h had the forc es , they no longer needed J ewis h c ommandos .

'I don't c are whether you're J ews or genti les ,' Montgomery told repres entatives of both s ides . 'My duty is to maintain law and order. I intend to do s o.' Montgomery dec lared the Revol t 'defini tely, final ly s mas hed'. Five hundred J ews had been ki l led and 150 B ri tons , but the Revol t had taken the mos t terrible tol l onPales tinian s oc iety whic h has yet to rec over: one-tenth of al l males between 20 and 60 had been ki l led, wounded or exi led. One hundred and forty-s ix were s entenc ed to death, 50,000 arres ted, and 5000 homes des troyed. A round 4,000 were ki l led, many of them by fel low A rabs . It was jus t in time, as B ri tis h forc eswere s oon l ikely to be needed in Europe. 'I s hal l be s orry to leave Pales tine in many ways ,' s aid Montgomery, 'as I have enjoyed the war out here.'*

Nevi l le Chamberlain, whos e father had propos ed a J ewis h homeland in Uganda, dec ided to revers e the Bal four Dec laration. If there was a war, the J ews had no c hoic e but to bac k B ri tain agains t the Nazis . But the A rabs had a real c hoic e. 'If we mus t offend one s ide,' s aid Chamberlain, 'let us offend the J ewsrather than the A rabs .' He therefore invi ted both s ides , and the A rab s tates , to a c onferenc e in London. T he A rabs named the mufti as c hief delegate, but s inc e the B ri tis h would not tolerate his pres enc e, his c ous in J amal al-Hus s eini led one A rab delegation; Nas has hibi led the moderates . T he Hus s einis s tayedat the Dorc hes ter, the Nas has hibis at the Carl ton. W eizmann and Ben-Gurion repres ented the Zionis ts . On 7 February 1939, Chamberlain had to open the c onferenc e in S t J ames 's Palac e twic e, bec aus e A rabs and Zionis ts refus ed to negotiate direc tly.

Chamberlain hoped to pers uade the Zionis ts to agree to a c es s ation in immigration, but to no avai l . On 15 Marc h, the hol lownes s of his appeas ement of Hi tler was expos ed when the Fuhrer invaded the rump of Czec hos lovakia. T wo days later, Malc olm Mac Donald, the c olonial s ec retary, is s ued a W hite Paperthat propos ed l im i ting J ewis h land purc has es and res tric ting immigration to 15,000 people annual ly for five years , after whic h A rabs would have a veto, Pales tinian independenc e within ten years and no J ewis h s tate. T his was the bes t offer the Pales tinians were to rec eive from the B ri tis h or anyone els e during theenti re twentieth c entury, but the mufti , dis playing s pec tac ular pol i tic al inc ompetenc e and megalomaniac al intrans igenc e, rejec ted i t from his Lebanes e exi le.

Ben-Gurion prepared his Haganah m i l i tia for war agains t the B ri tis h. J ews rioted in J erus alem. On 2 J une, the Irgun bombed the market outs ide the J affa Gate, ki l l ing nine A rabs . On the 8th, the las t night of his s tay in J erus alem on an Eas tern tour, a young Americ an vis i tor, J ohn F. Kennedy, s on of the USambas s ador to London, heard fourteen explos ions igni ted by the Irgun, knoc king out elec tric i ty ac ros s the Holy Ci ty. Many now s hared General Montgomery's view that 'T he J ew murders the A rab and the A rabs murder the J ews and i t wi l l go on for the next 50 years in al l probabi l i ty'.22

THE MUFTI AND HITLER: W ORLD W AR IN JERUSALEM

As Adolf Hi tler s eemed to c arry al l before him , the mufti of J erus alem s aw an opportuni ty to s trike at their c ommon enemies , the B ri tis h and the J ews . Franc e had c ol laps ed, the W ehrmac ht was advanc ing towards Mos c ow, and Hitler had s tarted the ki l l ing of 6 m i l l ion J ews in his Final Solution.* T he mufti hadmoved to Iraq to direc t anti -B ri tis h intrigues but, after organizing yet more defeats , had to flee to Iran and then, purs ued by B ri tis h agents , he embarked on an adventurous voyage that final ly brought him to Italy. On 27 Oc tober 1941, Beni to Mus s ol ini rec eived him at the Palazzo Venetia in Rome, bac king the c reationof a Pales tinian s tate: i f the J ews wanted their own c ountry, 'they s hould es tabl is h T el Aviv in Americ a', s aid Il Duc e. 'W e have here in Italy 45,000 J ews and there wi l l be no plac e for them in Europe.' T he mufti - 'very s atis fied by the meeting' - flew to Berl in.

A t 4.30 p.m. on 28 November, the mufti was rec eived by a tens e Adol f Hi tler: the Soviets had hal ted the Germans on the outs kirts of Mos c ow. T he mufti 's interpreter s ugges ted to the Fuhrer that, by A rab tradi tion, c offee s hould be s erved. Hi tler jumpi ly repl ied that he did not drink c offee. T he mufti inquired i f therewas a problem. T he interpreter s oothed the mufti , but explained to the Fuhrer that the gues t s ti l l expec ted c offee. Hi tler repl ied that even the High Command was not al lowed to drink c offee in his pres enc e: he then left the room, returning with an SS guard bearing lemonade.

Hus s eini as ked Hitler to s upport the 'independenc e and uni ty of Pales tine, Syria and Iraq' and the c reation of an A rab Legion to fight wi th the W ehrmac ht. T he mufti , s peaking to the apparent mas ter of the world, was bidding not jus t for Pales tine but for an A rab empire under his own rule.Hi tler was happy that he and the mufti s hared the s ame enemies : 'Germany was engaged in a l i fe-and-death s truggle wi th two c i tadels of J ewis h power - B ri tain and the Soviet Union' - and natural ly there would be no J ewis h s tate in Pales tine. Indeed the Fuhrer hinted at his Final Solution to the J ewis h problem:

'Germany was res olved, s tep by s tep, to as k one European nation after another to s olve i ts J ewis h problem.' As s oon as 'German arm ies reac hed the s outhern exi t of Cauc as ia', Hi tler s aid, 'Germany's objec tive would then s olely be the des truc tion of the J ewis h element res iding in the A rab s phere.'However, unti l Rus s ia and B ri tain were defeated, the mufti 's ambitious bid for the enti re Middle Eas t would have to wai t. Hi tler s aid he 'had to think and s peak c ool ly and del iberately as a rational man', c areful not to offend his V ic hy Frenc h al ly. 'W e were troubled about you,' Hi tler told Hus s eini . 'I know your l i fe

s tory. I fol lowed with interes t your long and dangerous journey. I'm happy that you're wi th us now.' A fterwards , Hi tler admired Hus s eini 's blue eyes and reddis h hair, dec iding he defini tely had A ryan blood.Yet the mufti s hared with Hi tler not jus t a s trategic hos ti l i ty to B ri tain but rac ial anti -Semitis m at i ts mos t lethal - and even in memoirs wri tten long afterwards , he remembered that Reic hfuhrer-SS Heinric h Himmler, whom he l iked greatly, c onfided to him in the s ummer of 1943 that the Nazis had 'al ready

exterm inated more than three m i l l ion J ews .' T he mufti c hi l l ingly boas ted that he s upported the Nazis 'bec aus e I was pers uaded and s ti l l am that i f Germany had c arried the day, no trac e of the Zionis ts would have remained in Pales tine'.*

He had c ome a long way from multi -national J erus alem where, uns urpris ingly, J ews were dis heartened by his pres enc e in Berl in. T he mufti 's views are indefens ible - but i t is wrong to us e them to c laim that A rab national is ts were Hitleri te anti -Semites . W as i f J awhariyyeh, who, as we wi l l s ee, was verys ympathetic to the J ewis h pl ight, was typic al , wri ting in his diary that A rab J erus alem ites , loathing the B ri tis h for 'their injus tic e, dis hones ty and the Bal four Dec laration, hoped Germany would win the war. T hey us ed to s i t, l is tening to the news , wai ting for headl ines of German vic tory, grieving over good news forEngland.'

'S trange as i t may s ound', rec al led Hazem Nus s eibeh, wartime 'J erus alem enjoyed unprec edented peac e and pros peri ty'. T he B ri tis h c lamped down on the J ewis h m i l i tias : Mos he Dayan and his Haganah c omrades were arres ted and impris oned in Ac re Fortres s . But in May 1941, as B ri tis h Pales tine waspotential ly pinc ered between the Axis forc es in North A fric a and V ic hy Frenc h Syria, the B ri tis h c reated the Palmac h, a s mal l J ewis h c ommando forc e, out of W ingate's and Sadeh's fighters , ready to fight the Nazis .

Dayan, releas ed from pris on, was s ent on raids to prepare for the B ri tis h invas ion of V ic hy Syria and Lebanon. During a fi refight in s outhern Lebanon, Dayan was c hec king on Frenc h pos i tions through his binoc ulars 'when a ri fle bul let s mas hed into them s pl intering a lens and the metal c as ing whic h bec ameembedded in the s oc ket of my eye'. He hated the eyepatc h he now had to wear, feel ing l ike 'a c ripple. If only I c ould get rid of my blac k eyepatc h. T he attention i t drew was intolerable to me. I preferred to s hut mys el f up at home, rather than enc ounter the reac tions of people wherever I went.' Dayan and his young wifemoved to J erus alem s o that he c ould rec eive treatment. He 'loved to wander around the Old Ci ty, es pec ial ly to walk the narrow path along the top of i ts enc irc l ing wal ls . T he New City was s omewhat s trange to me. But the Old Ci ty was an enc hantment.' T he Haganah, wi th B ri tis h help, was preparing to gounderground i f the Germans took Pales tine.

J erus alem was a favouri te refuge for exi led kings - George II of Greec e, Peter of Yugos lavia and the E thiopian emperor Hai le Selas s ie al l s tayed at the K ing David. T he emperor walked barefoot through the s treets and plac ed his c rown at the foot of the al tar in the Sepulc hre. Indeed his prayers were ans wered:he was res tored to his throne.*

Day and night, the c orridors and bars of the K ing David were s o c rowded with Egyptian, Lebanes e, Syrian, Serbian, Greek and E thiopian princ el ings , aris toc rats , rac keteers , c ourtiers , loafers , tyc oons , pimps , gigolos , c ourtes ans , fi lm s tars and A l l ied, Axis , Zionis t and A rab s pies , as wel l as offic ers anddiplomats in Frenc h, B ri tis h, Aus tral ian and Americ an uni forms , that vis i tors had to fight their way through i ts c orridors even to reac h i ts bar and get the des ired dry martini . In 1942, a new gues t c hec ked in who was one of the mos t renowned A rab s tars of her time and pers oni fies the dec adenc e of J erus alem asLevantine entrepot. She s ung under the name As mahan; everywhere s he went, this dangerous but i rres is tible woman, who c ontrived to be, among other things , a Druze princ es s , Egyptian fi lm s tar, A rabic popular s inger, grande horiz antale and s py for al l s ides , managed to c reate her own breed of gorgeous havocand mys tery.

T he s c ion of a princ ely but impoveris hed fam i ly, who had fled in 1918 to Egypt, Amal al-A l tras h, born a Druze in Syria, was dis c overed as a s inger aged fourteen and made her fi rs t rec ord at s ixteen, ac hieving ins tant fame on the radio and then in movies , always rec ognizable by the beauty s pot on her c hin. In1933 s he married her c ous in, the am ir of Mount Druze in Syria, for the fi rs t time (s he married and divorc ed him twic e). She ins is ted on l iving as a l iberated, W es tern woman, even in his mountain palac e, though s he s pent muc h time at the K ing David. In May 1941, the princ es s - or am ira - was rec rui ted by B ri tis hintel l igenc e to return to V ic hy Damas c us to c harm and bribe Syrian leaders into bac king the A l l ied powers . W hen the A l l ies retook Syria and Lebanon, s he was pers onal ly thanked by General Charles de Gaul le. W ith her s inging, invinc ible c hic and utterly uninhibi ted l ibido (wi th bis exual tas tes ), As mahan s oonbegui led the Free Frenc h and B ri tis h generals in Beirut, playing them agains t eac h other and being paid by both as an agent of influenc e. Churc hi l l 's envoy, General Louis Spears , was s o s m itten, he s aid 's he was and wi l l always be one the mos t beauti ful women I've ever s een. Her eyes were immens e, green asthe s ea you c ros s to paradis e. She bowled over B ri tis h offic ers wi th the s peed and ac c urac y of a mac hine gun. Natural ly enough s he needed money.' It was s aid that i f you were her lover i t was impos s ible to be lonely in her boudoir, where you were l iable to find one general under the bed, one in the bed, andSpears dangl ing from the c handel ier.

Furious at A l l ied betrayal of the prom is e to grant immediate A rab independenc e, the princ es s s tole m i l i tary s ec rets from a B ri tis h lover and tried to offer them to the Germans ; when s he was s topped at the T urkis h border, s he bi t the offic er who arres ted her. W hen the Free Frenc h broke off her s alary, s he movedto J erus alem. S ti l l only twenty-four, s he bec ame 'the Lady of the Lobbies ' in the K ing David, s taying up al l night drinking her favouri te whis ky-c hampagne c oc ktai l , s educ ing Pales tinian grandees , more B ri tis h offic ers (and their wives ) and P rinc e A ly Khan. A Frenc h friend rec al led: 's he was al l woman. E lle etai tdiabol ique av ec les hommes .' As her s urname was A l tras h, the Engl is h women c al led her P rinc es s T ras h, and s he s o s hoc ked her Druze c ompatriots that they fi red s hots at the s c reen when her fi rs t fi lm was s hown in the c inema - s he was years ahead of her time. She c ould be her own wors t enemy: s he tried tothrow the Egyptian Queen Mother Nazl i out of the bes t s ui te whi le s tarting an affai r wi th the royal c hamberlain. A c ompeti tion wi th an Egyptian danc er for a man c ulm inated in the ri tual muti lation of eac h other's dres s es . She regarded Zionis m as a fas hion opportuni ty: 'T hank God for thes e V iennes e furriers - at leas ti t means you c an get a dec ent fur c oat in J erus alem.' A fter over a year in the c i ty, and marrying a thi rd hus band, an Egyptian playboy, in 1944 s he went to Egypt to s tar in the movie Lov e and Vengeanc e , but before the fi lm was finis hed s he drowned in the Ni le in a mys terious c ar c ras h arranged, i t was s aid, by MI6,the Ges tapo, K ing Farouk (whom s he refus ed) or her rival , Umm Kulthum, the pre-em inent Egyptian s inger. If her brother Farid was the A rab world's S inatra, s he was i ts Monroe. As mahan's angel ic s inging, partic ularly in her hi t s ong 'Magic al Nights in V ienna', is s ti l l muc h loved.

T he s treets teemed c rowded with Americ an and Aus tral ian s oldiers . T he main c hal lenge for the 'Pas ha of J erus alem ', Governor Edward Kei th-Roac h, was to c ontrol the Aus tral ians , who were provided with a brothel under a Madame Zeinab in the old Hens mans Hotel in the c entre of the New City. But themedic al ins pec tions c ompletely fai led to l im i t the s pread of VD, s o Kei th-Roac h s ent 'Zeinab and her motley c rew out of my dis tric t'.

In 1942, the Germans pus hed deep into the Cauc as us , whi le General E rwin Rommel 's A frika Korps advanc ed on Egypt. T he very exis tenc e of the Y is huv in Pales tine was in jeopardy. Ac ros s the Mediterranean, in Greec e, SS E ins atzkommando A frika under SS-Obers turmbannfuhrer W alter Rauff, had beenas s igned to exterm inate the J ews of A fric a and Pales tine. 'T he fac es of the J ews s howed the grief, s adnes s and fear es pec ial ly when the Germans reac hed Tobruk,' rec orded W as if J awhariyyeh. An A rab pedlar loudly hawking s and - ramel in A rabic s ounds l ike Rommel - made J ews fear that the Germans wereapproac hing. 'T hey s tarted c rying and made efforts to flee', rec al led W as if. As his doc tor was J ewis h, W as i f offered to hide him and his fam i ly i f the Nazis arrived. But the doc tor had taken his own prec autions : he s howed his patient two pois on-fi l led s yringes for hims el f and his wi fe.

In Oc tober 1942, General Montgomery s mas hed the Germans at E l A lamein, a m irac le whic h W eizmann c ompared to Sennac herib's mys terious withdrawal from J erus alem. But in November the fi rs t terrible news of the Holoc aus t reac hed J erus alem: 'Mas s Butc hery of Pol is h J ews ! ' reported the Pales tine Pos t.J ewis h J erus alem mourned for three days , c ulm inating in a s ervic e at the W al l .

T he B ri tis h c rac kdown on J ewis h immigration, announc ed in the 1939 W hite Paper, c ould not have been wors e timed: whi le European J ewry was being s laughtered in Nazi Europe, B ri tis h troops were turning bac k s hiploads of des perate refugees . T he A rab Revol t, Hi tler's Final Solution and the W hite Paperc onvinc ed many Zionis ts that violenc e was the only way to forc e B ri tain to grant the prom is ed J ewis h homeland.

T he J ewis h Agenc y c ontrol led the larges t m i l i tia, the Haganah, wi th i ts 2,000-s trong s pec ial forc es , the Palmac h, and i ts 25,000 m i l i tiamen trained by the B ri tis h. Ben-Gurion was now the unrival led Zionis t leader, 'a s hort tubby man with a prophetic s hoc k of s i lvery hair' around his bald patc h, in Amos Oz'swords , 'thic k bus hy eyebrows , a wide c oars e nos e, the prom inent defiant jaw of an anc ient mariner' and the las er-beam wi l lpower of a 'vis ionary peas ant'. But i t was the more bel l igerent Irgun, under an implac able new leader, that now waged war agains t the B ri tis h.

THE DIRTY WAR

1945-7

MENACHEM BEGIN: THE BLACK SABBATH

'I fight; therefore I am,' s aid Menac hem Begin, adapting Des c artes . Born in B res t-Li tovs k, this c hi ld of the s htetl had joined J abotins ky's Betar movement in Poland, but he had c las hed with his hero, throwing out his s ubtleties , to forge his own hars her ideology of m i l i tary Zionis m - a 'war of l iberation agains t thos ewho hold the land of our fathers ', c ombining maximal is t pol i tic s wi th emotional rel igion. A fter the Nazis and Soviets had c arved up Poland at the s tart of the Sec ond W orld W ar, Begin was arres ted by S tal in's NKVD and s entenc ed to the Gulag as a B ri tis h s py: 'W hat bec ame of this B ri tis h agent?' he joked. 'He s oonhad on his head the larges t reward offered by the B ri tis h pol ic e.'

Releas ed after S tal in's 1941 pac t wi th the Pol is h leader General S ikors ki , Begin joined the Pol is h A rmy whic h brought him via Pers ia to Pales tine. Formed in the dark c ontinent of S tal in's meatgrinder and Hitler's s laughterhous e - in whic h his parents and brother peris hed - he c ame from a hars her s c hool thanW eizmann or Ben-Gurion: 'It's not Mas ada,' he s aid, 'but Modin [where the Mac c abees s tarted their rebel l ion] that s ymbol izes the Hebrew revol t.' J abotins ky had died of a heart attac k in 1940 and now in 1944, Begin was appointed c ommander of the Irgun with i ts 600 fighters . T he older Zionis ts regarded Begin as'plebeian or provinc ial '. W ith his rim les s glas s es , 's oft res tles s hands , thinning hair and wet l ips ',* Begin looked more l ike a provinc ial Pol is h s c hoolmas ter than a revolutionary mas term ind. Yet he had 'the patienc e of a hunter in ambus h'.

A l though the Irgun had joined the A l l ied war agains t the Nazis , s ome extrem is ts , led by Abraham S tern, had s pl i t off. S tern was ki l led by the B ri tis h in 1942. But his fac tion, the Lehi , Fighters for the Freedom of Is rael , nic knamed the S tern Gang, now launc hed their own revol t agains t the B ri tis h. As A l l ied vic torybec ame more l ikely, Begin s tarted to tes t B ri tis h res olve in J erus alem: the blowing of the s hofar, the ram 's horn, on T he Day of A tonement, had been banned at the W al l s inc e 1929. But J abotins ky had annual ly c hal lenged the rule. In Oc tober 1943, Begin ordered the blowing of the s hofar: B ri tis h pol ic e immediatelyattac ked the praying J ews but in 1944, the B ri tis h des is ted. Begin took this as a s ign of weaknes s .

T his impres ario of violenc e dec lared war on B ri tain and in September 1944, the Irgun attac ked B ri tis h pol ic e s tations in J erus alem and then as s as s inated a CID offic er as he walked through the c i ty. Begin, nic knamed the Old Man (the s ame nic kname enjoyed by Ben-Gurion), even though he was about thi rty,des c ended into the underground, c ons tantly moving addres s and adopting the dis guis e of a bearded T almudic s c holar. T he B ri tis h plac ed a PS10,000 bounty on his head, dead or al ive.

T he J ewis h Agenc y c ondemned terroris m, but as the A l l ies launc hed the D-Day invas ion of German-oc c upied Europe,* the Lehi twic e tried to as s as s inate the high c ommis s ioner Harold Mac Mic hael in the s treets of J erus alem. In Cairo that November, they ki l led W alter Guinnes s , Lord Moyne, Minis ter Res identin Egypt and friend of Churc hi l l , who had tac tles s ly s ugges ted to Ben-Gurion that the A l l ies s hould es tabl is h a J ewis h s tate in Eas t P rus s ia, ins tead of Zion. Churc hi l l c al led the Zionis t extrem is ts the 'vi les t gangs ters '. Ben-Gurion c ondemned the murders and, during 1944-5, helped the B ri tis h hunt down theJ ewis h 'dis s ident' m i l i tias - 300 ins urgents were arres ted. T he Zionis ts c al led this 'la s ais on ', the hunting s eas on.

On 8 May 1945, V ic tory in Europe Day, the new high c ommis s ioner, Field Mars hal V is c ount Gort, took the s alute outs ide the K ing David Hotel and is s ued an amnes ty for J ewis h and A rab pol i tic al pris oners whi le J erus alem ites partied. However, the real i ty of s ec tarian pol i tic s reared up again the next day: bothJ ews and A rabs demons trated - and both were already effec tively boyc otting the c i ty's mayoral ty.

In B ri tain, Churc hi l l was defeated in the general elec tion. T he new prime m inis ter, Clement A ttlee, had adopted W il l iam B lake's anthem as his Labour Party c ampaign s ong, prom is ing his people a 'New J erus alem ' - though he proved qui te inc apable of governing the old one.T he B ri tis h anxious ly s teeled thems elves for the c oming s truggle. Should the c i ty wi th 100,000 J ews , 34,000 Mus l ims and 30,000 Chris tians be a B ri tis h-run S tate of J erus alem, as s ugges ted by Mac Mic hael , or parti tioned, wi th the holy s i tes run by the B ri tis h, as propos ed by Gort? E i ther way, the B ri tis h were

determ ined to s top J ewis h immigration into Pales tine - even though many of the immigrants were s urvivors of Hi tler's death-c amps . Now c onfined in m is erable Dis plac ed Pers on c amps ac ros s Europe, s hiploads of des perate J ewis h refugees were haras s ed and turned away by B ri tis h forc es . T he Ex odus wass tormed by the B ri tis h, who roughed up i ts refugees , many of them death-c amp s urvivors (three of whom were ki l led), and then, wi th s c arc ely c redible ins ens i tivi ty, s ent them bac k to c amps in Germany. Even the moderate J ewis h Agenc y found this moral ly repugnant.

Ben-Gurion, Begin and the Lehi therefore agreed to form a United Res is tanc e Command to s muggle in J ewis h immigrants from Europe and c oordinate the s truggle agains t the B ri tis h, attac king trains , ai rfields , army bas es and pol ic e s tations ac ros s the c ountry. But the two s mal l fac tions paid only l ip-s ervic e tothe more moderate Haganah. T he Rus s ian Compound, i ts majes tic hos tels now c onverted into a pol ic e s tronghold, was a favoured target of the Irgun. On 27 Dec ember, they des troyed the CID pol ic e headquarters , the former Nikolai pi lgrims hos tel . Begin travel led by bus from Tel Aviv to J erus alem to view hishandiwork. In J anuary 1946, the Irgun attac ked the pris on ins ide the Rus s ian Compound whic h had onc e been the Marians kaya Hos tel for female pi lgrims .*

T he B ri tis h, battered by thes e attac ks , drew Americ a into their di lemmas . T he Americ an J ewis h c ommunity was inc reas ingly pro-Zionis t but P res ident Frankl in D. Roos evel t had never publ ic ly bac ked a J ewis h s tate. A t Yal ta, Roos evel t and S tal in had dis c us s ed the Holoc aus t. 'I'm a Zionis t,' s aid Roos evel t. 'Metoo, in princ iple,' repl ied S tal in, who boas ted that he had 'tried to es tabl is h a national home for the J ews in B irobidzhan but they had s tayed there two or three years and then s c attered'. T he J ews , added that vis c eral anti -Semite, were 'm iddlemen, profi teers and paras i tes ' - but s ec retly he hoped that any J ewis h s tatewould be a Soviet s atel l i te.

FDR died in Apri l 1945. His s uc c es s or, Harry S . T ruman, wanted to s ettle Holoc aus t s urvivors in Pales tine and as ked the B ri tis h to let them in. T ruman, rais ed as a Baptis t, a former farmer, bank-c lerk, Kans as City haberdas her, was a medioc re Mis s ouri s enator wi th a s ympathy for the J ews and a s ens e ofhis tory. W hen the new pres ident toured the dynamited moons c ape of Berl in in 1945, he 'thought of Carthage, Baalbek, J erus alem, Rome, A tlantis '. Now his longs tanding friends hip wi th his J ewis h ex-haberdas hery partner, Eddie J ac obs on, and the influenc e of pro-Zionis t aides , along with 'his own reading ofanc ient his tory and the B ible, made him a s upporter of a J ewis h homeland', rec al led his advis er Clark Cl i fford. Yet T ruman, fac ing the res is tanc e of his own S tate Department, was frequently i rri tated by Zionis t lobbying and was wary of any s ign of the J ewis h underdogs bec oming the bul lying overdogs : 'J es us Chris tc ouldn't pleas e them when he was on earth,' he s napped, 's o how on earth c ould anyone expec t that I would have any luc k?' But he agreed to c reate an Anglo-Americ an c ommis s ion of inquiry.

T he c ommis s ioners s tayed in the K ing David Hotel where one of them, Ric hard Cros s man, a Labour MP, found 'the atmos phere terri fic , wi th private detec tives , Zionis t agents , A rab s heikhs , s pec ial c orres pondents , al l s i tting about dis c reetly overhearing eac h other'. A t night, A rab grandees and B ri tis h generalsgathered at Katy Antonius ' vi l la. She was now alone. T he Antonius es ' dec adent marriage had s tarted to c ol laps e at the s ame time as the A rab Revol t. During the war, Katy had divorc ed her ai l ing hus band - who died unexpec tedly jus t two weeks later. He was buried on Mount Zion: 'A ris e ye A rabs and awake' waswri tten on his heads tone. But Katy's s oirees were s ti l l legendary. Cros s -man, enjoying 'the evening dres s , Syrian food and drink, and danc ing on the marble floor', reported that the A rabs gave the bes t parties : 'It's eas y to s ee why the B ri tis h prefer the A rab upper c las s to the J ews . T his A rab intel l igents ia has aFrenc h c ul ture, amus ing, c ivi l ized, tragic and gay. Compared with them, the J ews s eem tens e, bourgeois , c entral European.'

A ttlee had hoped that T ruman would s upport his pol ic ies agains t J ewis h immigration, but the Anglo-Americ an Commis s ion unhelpful ly rec ommended that the B ri tis h admit 100,000 refugees immediately: T ruman publ ic ly bac ked their rec ommendations . A ttlee furious ly rejec ted Americ an interferenc e. T heJ ewis h Agenc y s tepped up the s ec ret immigration of refugees from the Holoc aus t, bringing in 70,000 in three years whi le i ts Palmac h haras s ed the B ri tis h, c ulm inating in an explos ive s pec tac ular - the Night of the B ridges .

T he B ri tis h had c rus hed the A rabs ; now they would c rus h the J ews . In J une 1946, V is c ount Montgomery of A lamein, now field mars hal and Chief of the Imperial General S taff, returned to J erus alem, c omplaining that 'B ri tis h rule exis ted only in name; the true rulers s eemed to me to be the J ews , whos euns poken s logan was -"You dare not touc h us ".' But Montgomery dared, s ending in reinforc ements .

On Saturday 29 J une, his c ommander, General Evelyn 'Bubbles ' Barker, launc hed Operation Agatha, an attac k on the Zionis t organizations . He arres ted 3,000 J ews - though fai led to pic k up Ben-Gurion who happened to be in Paris . Barker forti fied three 's ec uri ty zones ' in J erus alem, turning the Rus s ianCompound into a fortres s that the J ews nic knamed Bevingrad, after the B ri tis h foreign s ec retary E rnes t Bevin. To the J ews the operation c ame to be known as B lac k Sabbath, and Barker was at onc e the hated s ymbol of B ri tis h oppres s ion. T he general was a regular at Katy Antonius ' parties . Now the hos tes sbec ame his m is tres s : his love letters were pas s ionate, indis c reet and hate-fi l led, featuring B ri tis h m i l i tary s ec rets and foam-flec ked rants agains t J ews : 'W hy s hould we be afraid of s aying we hate them?' Lehi attempted to as s as s inate Barker, us ing a bomb dis guis ed as a baby in a pram. Menac hem Begin of theIrgun, as s is ted by the Lehi , planned a res pons e to Barker's B lac k Sabbath to res ound ac ros s the world. T he Haganah, though not Ben-Gurion and the J ewis h Agenc y, approved.

T he K ing David Hotel was the s ec ular temple of Mandate J erus alem, and one wing had been requis i tioned by the B ri tis h adminis tration and intel l igenc e agenc ies . On 22 J uly 1946, the Irgun, dis guis ed as A rabs and hotel s taff in Nubian c os tumes , s towed m i lkc hurns fi l led wi th 500 pounds of explos ives in thebas ement.23

MONTGOMERY'S CRACKDOW N: THE CASE OF MAJOR FARRAN

T he Irgun made anonymous c al ls to the hotel , to the Pales tine Pos t and to the Frenc h Cons ulate, to warn of the imminent attac k s o that the K ing David c ould be evac uated. But the c al ls were ignored - and they were too late. It is unc lear i f the m is handl ing of thes e warnings was by ac c ident or des ign. Begin wai tednearby: 'eac h m inute s eemed l ike a day. T welve-thirty-one, thi rty-two. Zero hour drew near. T he hal f-hour was almos t up. T welve-thirty-s even. Suddenly the whole town s eemed to s hudder! ' T he bombs s hattered an enti re wing of the K ing David, ki l l ing ninety-one, inc luding B ri tons , J ews and A rabs . * Five MI5operatives were among the dead, but the Sec ret Servic e 'London Ladies ' s urvived, s taggering from the wrec kage, their hair whi te wi th plas ter dus t, 'looking l ike the wrath of God'. Ben-Gurion denounc ed the bombing; he regarded Begin as a threat to the J ewis h c ommunity, and the J ewis h Agenc y qui t the UnitedRes is tanc e Command.

T he K ing David bombing intens i fied the s everi ty of the B ri tis h c ounter-attac k - but i t s uc c eeded in ac c elerating London's retreat from the Mandate. In J erus alem, the m ixing of J ews and A rabs c eas ed. 'It fel t', s ens ed Amos Oz, 'as though an invis ible mus c le was s uddenly flexed. Everyone prophes ied war. Ac urtain had begun to divide J erus alem.' T he J ews were terri fied by rumours of imminent mas s ac re. B ri tis h c ivi l ians were evac uated from J erus alem.

In Oc tober, the Irgun blew up the B ri tis h Embas s y in Rome. In November, Montgomery flew bac k into J erus alem. 'I s aw Monty at one of Katy Antonius ' parties ,' remembers Nas s ereddin Nas has hibi . T he field mars hal planned a hars h res pons e to the Irgun's outrage. A new pol ic e c hief, Colonel Nic ol Gray,rec rui ted hard men, ex-pol ic emen and former members of the s pec ial forc es , to join new c ounter-ins urgenc y Spec ial Squads . Major Roy Farran DSO, MC was a typic al rec rui t, an Iris h SAS c ommando whos e rec ord revealed a his tory of trigger-happy exploi ts .

On arrival in J erus alem, Farran was driven to the Rus s ian Compound for briefing fol lowed by dinner at the K ing David Hotel . Farran and the Spec ial Squads s tarted to drive around J erus alem, looking for s us pec ts to interrogate, i f not s hoot on s ight. T hes e Spec ial Squads had no experienc e in c overt operations ,no loc al languages or knowledge, s o, uns urpris ingly, Farran had been almos t c omic al ly uns uc c es s ful unti l , driving through Rehavia on the 6 May 1947, his team s potted an unarmed s c hoolboy, A lexander Rubowitz, pas ting up Lehi pos ters . Farran kidnapped the boy but, in the s c uffle, dropped his tri lby, marked withhis i l l -s pel t name 'FARAN'. He hoped that the s c ared teenager would betray bigger Lehi fis h. He drove Rubowitz out of J erus alem, down the J eric ho Road into the hi l ls , tied him to a tree, roughed him up for an hour, then he went too far and s mas hed his s kul l wi th a roc k. T he body was s tabbed and s tripped andprobably eaten by jac kals .

W hi le J ewis h J erus alem frantic al ly s earc hed for the m is s ing boy, Major Farran c onfes s ed to his s uperior offic er at the pol ic e mes s in Katamon, then s uddenly dis appeared, fleeing J erus alem. T here was fi rs t a c over-up, then an outc ry ac ros s the world. T he Lehi s tarted to ki l l random B ri tis h s oldiers , unti l Farranreturned to J erus alem and gave hims el f up at the A l lenby Barrac ks . On 1 Oc tober, 1947, he was c ourtmartial led in a forti fied c ourt in Talbieh, but was ac qui tted for lac k of admis s ible evidenc e. Rubowitz's body was never found. Farran was bundled away by two offic ers in an armoured c ar and driven into the nighttowards Gaza. T he Lehi was determ ined to ki l l him . In 1948, a parc el , addres s ed to 'R. FARRAN' but opened by his brother, who s hared the s ame ini tial , exploded: the brother was ki l led.*

T he c as e c onfi rmed everything the Y is huv hated about the B ri tis h. W hen the authori ties c ondemned an Irgun man to death for terroris t offenc es , Begin bombed the B ri tis h Offic ers Club in Golds mid Hous e, J erus alem, ki l l ing fourteen, and pul led off a breakout from Ac re P ris on. W hen his men were flogged, heflogged B ri tis h s oldiers , and when his men were hanged at Ac re P ris on for terroris m, he hanged two random B ri tis h s oldiers for 'anti -Hebrew ac tivi ties '.

Churc hi l l , now leader of the Oppos i tion, denounc ed A ttlee's c onduc t of this 's ens eles s s qual id war wi th the J ews in order to give Pales tine to the A rabs or God knows who'. Even during the war, Churc hi l l had c ons idered a c rac kdown on 'anti -Semites and others in high plac es ' among his adminis trators inPales tine. Now a c ombination of outrage at the violenc e of Irgun and Lehi , tradi tional A rabis m and anti -Semitis m had turned the B ri tis h fi rm ly agains t the J ews . B ri tis h des erters and s ometimes s erving troops aided A rab forc es .

T he new high c ommis s ioner, General S ir A lan Cunningham, privately des c ribed Zionis m as 'national is m ac c ompanied by the ps yc hology of the J ew whic h is s omething qui te abnormal and unres pons ive to rational treatment'. General Barker banned B ri tis h troops from al l J ewis h res taurants , explaining that hewould be 'punis hing the J ews in a way the rac e dis l ikes as muc h as any, by s triking at their poc kets '. Barker was reprimanded by the prime m inis ter, but the hatred was now vis c eral . In Barker's love letters to Katy Antonius , he s aid he hoped the A rabs would ki l l more 'bloody J ews ... loaths ome people .... Katy, I loveyou s o muc h.'

On 14 February 1947, A ttlee, worn down by the bloods hed, agreed in Cabinet to get out of Pales tine. On 2 Apri l , he as ked the newly formed United Nations to c reate a Spec ial Committee on Pales tine (UNSCOP) to dec ide on i ts future. Four months later UNSCOP propos ed the parti tion of Pales tine into twos tates wi th J erus alem as an international trus tees hip under a UN governor. Ben-Gurion ac c epted the plan, des pi te i ts unworkable boundaries . He fel t that J erus alem was 'the heart of the J ewis h people' but los ing her was 'the pric e paid for s tatehood'. T he A rab Higher Committee, bac ked by Iraq, Saudi A rabia andSyria, rejec ted parti tion, demanding 'a uni fied independent Pales tine'. On 29 November the UN voted on the propos al . A fter m idnight, the J erus alem ites gathered around their radios to l is ten in nerve-jangl ing s i lenc e.24

ABD AL-KADIR HUSSEINI: THE JERUSALEM FRONT

T hirty-three c ountries voted in favour of Res olution 181, led by the United S tates and the Soviet Union, thi rteen voted agains t, and ten, inc luding B ri tain, abs tained. 'A fter a c ouple of m inutes of s hoc k, of l ips parted as though in thi rs t and eyes wide open,' rec al led Amos Oz, 'our faraway s treet on the edge of northernJ erus alem roared al l at onc e, not a s hout of joy, more l ike a s c ream of horror, a c atac lys m ic s hout that c ould s hi ft roc ks .' T hen 'roars of joy' and 'everyone was s inging'. J ews even kis s ed 's tartled Engl is h pol ic emen'.

T he A rabs did not ac c ept that the UN had authori ty to c arve up the c ountry. T here were 1.2 m i l l ion Pales tinians who s ti l l owned 94 per c ent of the land; there were 600,000 J ews . Both s ides prepared to fight, whi le J ewis h and A rab extrem is ts c ompeted in a fl int-hearted tournament of mutual s avagery.J erus alem was 'at war wi th i ts el f'.

A rab mobs poured into the c i ty c entre, lync hing J ews , fi ring into their s uburbs , looting their s hops , s hrieking 'Butc her the J ews ! ' Anwar Nus s eibeh, heir to orange groves and mans ions , a Cambridge-educ ated lawyer, s adly watc hed this des c ent into 'dus t, nois e and c haos ' as 'profes s ors , doc tors ands hopkeepers on both s ides traded fi re wi th people who, under di fferent c i rc ums tanc es , would have been hous e gues ts '.

On 2 Dec ember, three J ews were s hot in the Old Ci ty; on the 3rd, A rab gunmen attac ked the Montefiore Quarter, then a week later the J ewis h Quarter, where 1,500 J ews waited nervous ly, outnumbered within the wal ls by 22,000 A rabs . J ews and A rabs moved out of m ixed areas . On 13 Dec ember, the Irguntos s ed bombs into the bus s tation outs ide the Damas c us Gate, ki l l ing five A rabs and wounding many more. Anwar Nus s eibeh's unc le jus t s urvived the Irgun attac k, s eeing a 'torn human l imb s tuc k to the c i ty wal l .' W ithin two weeks , 74 J ews , 71 A rabs and 9 B ri tons had been ki l led.

W hen Ben-Gurion travel led down from Tel Aviv to meet the high c ommis s ioner on 7 Dec ember, his c onvoy was ambus hed on the road. T he Haganah c al led up al l res ervis ts between the ages of s eventeen and twenty-five. T he A rabs prepared for war. Irregulars volunteered to fight in the various m i l i tias : Iraqis ,Lebanes e, Syrians , Bos nians , s ome were national is t veterans of earl ier s truggles ; others were J ihadi fundamental is ts . T he larges t m i l i tia, the A rab Liberation A rmy, boas ted about 5,000 fighters . On paper, the A rab forc es , bac ked by the regular arm ies of s even A rab s tates , were overwhelm ing. General Barker, whohad now left Pales tine, gleeful ly predic ted to Katy Antonius 'as a s oldier' that 'the J ews wi l l be eradic ated'. In fac t, the A rab League, the organization of newly independent A rab s tates formed in 1945, was divided between the terri torial ambitions and dynas tic rivalries of i ts members . Abdul lah, fres hly m intedHas hemite K ing of J ordan, s ti l l wanted Pales tine wi thin his kingdom; Damas c us c oveted a Greater Syria; K ing Farouk of Egypt regarded hims el f as the rightful leader of the A rab world and hated the Has hemites of both J ordan and Iraq, who in turn loathed K ing Ibn Saud who had ejec ted them from A rabia. A l l theA rab leaders dis trus ted the mufti who, returning to Egypt, was determ ined to plac e hims el f at the head of the Pales tinian s tate.

Amid s o muc h c orruption, betrayal and inc ompetenc e, J erus alem s uppl ied the A rab heroes of the war. Anwar Nus s eibeh, dis gus ted by the 's ordid round of intrigues and debac les ', founded the Herod's Gate Committee with other dynas ts , the Khal idis and Dajanis , to buy arms . His c ous in Abd al-Kadir Hus s eini ,who had fought the B ri tis h in Iraq in 1941, then had lain low during the war in Cairo, took c ommand of the A rab headquarters c al led the J erus alem Front.

Hus s eini emerged as the A rab hero pers oni fied, always dres s ed in k effiy eh , khaki tunic and c ros s ed bandol iers , the revolutionary s c ion of J erus alem 's aris toc rac y, s on and grands on of mayors , des c endant of the P rophet, a graduate in c hemis try, amateur poet, news paper edi tor and a warrior of proven c ourage.'As a c hi ld,' s ays his c ous in Said al-Hus s eini , 'I remember s eeing him arrive at a s afe apartment in one of our hous es and I c an s ti l l remember his c haris ma and grac e and that ai r of urgent heroic exc i tement that fol lowed him everywhere. He was admired by everyone high and low.' A teenage s tudent from Gazanamed Yas s er A rafat, who was proud that his mother was related to the Hus s einis , s erved on Abd al-Kadir's s taff.

Zionis t gunmen in the J ewis h Quarter fi red over the Temple Mount; A rabs fi red at J ewis h c ivi l ians from Katamon. On 5 J anuary, the Haganah attac ked Katamon and des troyed the Semiram is Hotel , ki l l ing eleven innoc ent Chris tian A rabs . T his outrage ac c elerated the A rab fl ight from the c i ty. Ben-Gurion s ac kedthe Haganah offic er in c harge. T wo days later, the Irgun bombed an A rab outpos t at the J affa Gate whic h was denying provis ions to the J ewis h Quarter. On 10 February, 150 of Hus s eini 's m i l i tiamen attac ked the Montefiore Quarter; the Haganah fought bac k but c ame under fi re from B ri tis h s nipers in the nearby K ingDavid Hotel , who ki l led a young J ewis h fighter there. T here was s ti l l four months left of B ri tis h rule but J erus alem was already m ired in a ful l -s c ale i f as ymmetric al war. In the previous s ix weeks , 1,060 A rabs , 769 J ews and 123 B ri tons had been ki l led. Eac h atroc i ty had to be avenged twofold.

T he Zionis ts were vulnerable in J erus alem: the road from Tel Aviv pas s ed through 30 m i les of A rab terri tory and Abd al-Kadir Hus s eini , who c ommanded the 1,000-s trong J erus alem brigade of the mufti 's Holy W ar A rmy, attac ked i t c ons tantly. 'T he A rab plan', rec al led Y i tzhak Rabin, the Palmac h offic er born inthe Holy Ci ty, 'was to c hoke J erus alem 's 90,000 J ews into s ubmis s ion' - and i t s oon began to work.

On 1 February, Hus s eini 's m i l i tiamen, aided by two B ri tis h des erters , blew up the offic es of the Pales tine Pos t; on the 10th, he attac ked Montefiore again but was repel led by the Haganah after a s ix-hour gun battle. T he B ri tis h s et up a c ommand pos t below the J affa Gate to defend Montefiore. On 13 February,the B ri tis h arres ted four Haganah fighters and then releas ed them unarmed to an A rab mob, who murdered them. On the 22nd, Hus s eini s ent B ri tis h des erters to blow up Ben Yehuda S treet, an atroc i ty that ki l led fi fty-two J ewis h c ivi l ians . T he Irgun s hot ten B ri tis h s oldiers .

T rying to defend the A rab areas in J erus alem, rec al led Nus s eibeh, 'was l ike a worn-out water hos e repaired in one plac e only to burs t in two more.' T he Haganah blew up the old Nus s eibeh c as tle. T he former A rab mayor Hus s ein Khal idi c omplained, 'Everyone's leaving. I won't be able to hold out muc h longer.J erus alem is los t. No one is left in Katamon. Sheikh J arrah has emptied. Everyone who has a c heque or a l i ttle money is off to Egypt, off to Lebanon, off to Damas c us .' Soon refugees were pouring out of the A rab s uburbs . Katy Antonius left for Egypt; her mans ion was blown up by the Haganah, but only after theyhad found her love-letters from General Barker. Nonetheles s Abd al-Kadir Hus s eini had s uc c es s ful ly c ut off J ewis h wes t J erus alem from the c oas t.

Ironic al ly the J ews , l ike the A rabs , fel t they were los ing J erus alem. By early 1948, the J ewis h Quarter in the Old Ci ty was under s iege and defenc e was made more di ffic ul t by the number of non-c ombatant ul tra-Orthodox J ews . 'W el l , what about J erus alem?' Ben-Gurion as ked his generals on 28 Marc h at hisheadquarters in Tel Aviv. 'T hat's the dec is ive battle. T he fal l of J erus alem c ould be a deathblow to the Y is huv.' T he generals c ould s pare only 500 men. T he J ews had been on the defens ive s inc e the UN vote, but now Ben-Gurion ordered Operation Nac hs hon to c lear the road to J erus alem, the s tart of a wideroffens ive, P lan D, des igned to s ec ure the UN-as s igned J ewis h areas but als o wes t J erus alem. 'T he plan', wri tes the his torian Benny Morris , 'expl ic i tly c al led for the des truc tion of res is ting A rab vi l lages and the expuls ion of their inhabi tants ' but 'nowhere does the doc ument s peak of a pol ic y or des ire to expel "theA rab inhabi tants " of Pales tine.' In s ome plac es , the Pales tinians remained in their homes ; in s ome plac es they were expel led.

T he vi l lage of Kas tel c ontrol led the road from the c oas t to J erus alem. On the night of 2 Apri l , the Haganah s eized the s tronghold, but Hus s eini mas s ed his m i l i tiamen (inc luding Iraqi i rregulars ) to retake i t. He and Anwar Nus s eibeh real ized, however, that they needed reinforc ements . T he two of them hurried toDamas c us to demand arti l lery only to be exas perated by the inc ompetenc e and intrigues of the A rab League generals . 'Kas tel has fal len,' s aid the Iraqi c ommander-in-c hief. 'It's your job to get i t bac k, Abd al-Kadir.'

'Give us the weapons I reques ted and we wi l l rec over i t,' ans wered Hus s eini furious ly.'W hat's this , Abd al-Kadir? No c annon?' s aid the general , who offered nothing.Hus s eini s tormed out: 'You trai tors ! His tory wi l l rec ord that you los t Pales tine. I'l l take Kas tel or die fighting wi th my mujahidin ! ' T hat night he wrote a poem for his s even-year-old s on Fais al who, dec ades later, would bec ome Yas s er A rafat's Pales tinian 'm inis ter' for J erus alem:

T his land of the brave is the land of our forefathersT he J ews have no right to this land.How c an I s leep whi le the enemy rules i t?Something burns in my heart. My homeland bec kons .

T he c ommander reac hed J erus alem next morning and mus tered his fighters .GUN SALUTES ON THE HARAM: ABD AL-KADIR HUSSEINI

On 7 Apri l , Abd al-Kadir led 300 fighters and three B ri tis h des erters up to Kas tel . A t 11 o'c loc k that night, they attac ked the vi l lage but were repel led. A t dawn the next day, Hus s eini moved forward to replac e a wounded offic er, but as he approac hed in the fog, uns ure who held the ac tual vi l lage, a Haganah s entry,thinking the new arrivals were J ewis h reinforc ements , c al led in A rabic s lang: 'Up here, boys ! '

'Hel lo, boys ,' retorted Hus s eini in Engl is h. T he J ews often us ed A rabic - but never Engl is h. T he Haganah s entry s ens ed danger and let s l ip a vol ley that hi t Hus s eini . His c omrades fled, leaving him on the ground, moaning, 'W ater, water.' Des pi te attention from a J ewis h medic , he died. T he gold watc h and theivory-handled pis tol revealed that he was a leader, but who was he?

On the radio, the exhaus ted Haganah defenders eaves dropped on the anxious A rabic talk of regaining the body of the los t c ommander. His brother Khaled as s umed the c ommand. As word s pread, A rab m i l i tiamen s treamed into the area on bus es , donkeys and truc ks and retook the vi l lage, the Palmac h troopsdying in pos i tion. T he A rabs ki l led their fi fty J ewis h pris oners and muti lated the bodies . T he A rabs had retaken the key to J erus alem - wi th Hus s eini 's body.

'W hat a s ad day! His martyrdom depres s ed everyone,' rec orded W as if J awhariyyeh. 'A warrior of patriotis m and A rab nobi l i ty! ' On Friday 9 Apri l , 'no one s tayed in their hous e. Everyone walked in the proc es s ion. I was at the funeral ,' W as i f noted. T hirty thous and mourners - A rab fighters waving their ri fles , A rabLegionaries from J ordan, peas ants , the Famil ies - attended as the fal len Hus s eini was buried on the Temple Mount next to his father and near K ing Hus s ein in J erus alem 's A rab pantheon. T here was an eleven-c annon s alute; gunmen fi red into the air and a wi tnes s c laimed that more mourners were ki l led than haddied in the s torm ing of Kas tel . 'It s ounded as i f a major battle was in progres s . Churc h bel ls rang, voic es c ried for revenge; everyone feared a Zionis t attac k,' remembered Anwar Nus s eibeh, who was 'des pondent'. But the A rab fighters were s o keen to attend Hus s eini 's burial that they left no garris on in Kas tel . T hePalmac h des troyed the s tronghold.

As Hus s eini was being buried, 120 fighters of the Irgun and Lehi jointly attac ked an A rab vi l lage jus t wes t of J erus alem named Deir Yas s in, where they c ommitted the mos t s hameful J ewis h atroc i ty of the war. T hey were under s pec i fic orders not to harm women, c hi ldren or pris oners . As they entered thevi l lage, they c ame under fi re. Four J ewis h fighters were ki l led and s everal dozen wounded. Onc e they were in Deir Yas s in, the J ewis h fighters tos s ed grenades into hous es and s laughtered men, women and c hi ldren. T he number of vic tims is s ti l l debated, but between 100 and 254, inc luding enti re fam i l ies , weremurdered. T he s urvivors were then paraded in truc ks through J erus alem unti l the Haganah releas ed them. T he Irgun and Lehi were undoubtedly aware that a s pec tac ular mas s ac re would terri fy many A rab c ivi l ians and enc ourage fl ight. T he Irgun c ommander, Begin, c ontrived to deny that the atroc i ty had taken plac ewhi le boas ting of i ts uti l i ty: 'T he legend [of Deir Yas s in] was worth hal f a dozen battal ions to the forc es of Is rael . Panic overwhelmed the A rabs .' But Ben-Gurion apologized to K ing Abdul lah, who rejec ted the apology.

A rab vengeanc e was s wift. On 14 Apri l , a c onvoy of ambulanc es and food truc ks s et off for the Hadas s ah Hos pi tal on Mount Sc opus . Bertha Spafford watc hed as 'a hundred and fi fty ins urgents , armed with weapons varying from blunderbus s es and old fl intloc ks to modern S ten and B ren guns , took c over behinda c ac tus patc h in the grounds of the Americ an Colony. T heir fac es were dis torted by hate and lus t for revenge,' s he wrote. 'I went out and fac ed them. I told them, "To fi re from the s hel ter of the Americ an Colony is the s ame as fi ring from a mos que,"' but they ignored her rol lc al l of s ixty years ' phi lanthropy andthreatened to ki l l her i f s he did not wi thdraw. Seventy-s even J ews , mainly doc tors and nurs es , were ki l led and twenty wounded before the B ri tis h intervened. 'Had i t not been for A rmy interferenc e,' dec lared the A rab Higher Committee, 'not a s ingle J ewis h pas s enger would have remained al ive.' T he gunmen muti latedthe dead and photographed eac h other wi th the c orps es s played in mac abre pos es . T he photographs were mas s -produc ed and s old as pos tc ards in J erus alem.

Deir Yas s in was one of the pivotal events of the war: i t bec ame the c entrepiec e of a bloodc urdl ing A rab media c ampaign that ampl i fied J ewis h atroc i ties . T his was des igned to forti fy res is tanc e, but ins tead i t enc ouraged a ps yc hos is of foreboding in a c ountry already at war. By Marc h, before Deir Yas s in,75,000 A rabs had left their homes . T wo months later, 390,000 had gone. W as i f J awhariyyeh, l iving wi th his wi fe and c hi ldren in wes tern J erus alem, c los e to the K ing David Hotel , was probably typic al - and he rec orded his thoughts and ac tions in the diary that is a unique and under-us ed rec ord.

'I was in a very bad way,' he wri tes after thes e events in m id-Apri l , 'depres s ed, phys ic al ly and mental ly', s o muc h s o that he abandoned his job in the Mandate adminis tration and 's tayed at home trying to dec ide what to do'. Final ly, the diaris t rec ords the 'reas ons that made me dec ide to leave my home'. Firs t wasthe 'dangerous pos i tion of our hous e', where he was under fi re from the A rabs at the J affa Gate, the J ews in Montefiore and the B ri tis h Bevingrad s ec uri ty zone: 'there was non-s top s hooting day and night s o i t was hard even to reac h the hous e. T he fighting between A rabs and J ews , the blowing up of bui ldings ,c ontinued day and night around us .' T he B ri tis h fi red on Montefiore, blowing off the top of S ir Mos es ' windmil l , but to no avai l . W as i f wrote that the the J ewis h s nipers in Montefiore, 's hot at anyone walking in the s treets and i t was a m irac le we s urvived.' He c ons idered how to s ave his c ol lec tion of c eramic s , diariesand his beloved oud . His heal th was deteriorating too: 'My body bec ame s o weak I c ouldn't handle the pres s ure and the doc tor told me to leave.' T he fam i ly debated: 'W hat wi l l happen when the Mandate ends ? W il l we be under the A rabs or the J ews ?' W as i f's neighbour, the Frenc h c ons ul-general , prom is ed toprotec t the hous e and the c ol lec tion. 'Even i f we never c ome bac k,' W as i f fel t they s hould pac k their bags 'to s ave ours elves and our c hi ldren': 'W e thought we would not leave the hous e for more than two weeks bec aus e we knew how s oon the s even [s ic ] A rab arm ies wi l l enter the c ountry not to oc c upy i t but to freei t and return i t to i ts people and we are i ts people! ' He left in the las t days of the Mandate, never to return. W as i f's s tory is that of the Pales tinians . Some were expel led by forc e, s ome departed to avoid the war, hoping to return later - and approximately hal f remained s afely in their homes to bec ome Is rael i A rabs ,non-J ewis h c i tizens in the Zionis t democ rac y. But al together 600,000-750,000 Pales tinians left - and los t - their homes . T heir tragedy was the Nakhba - the Catas trophe.

Ben-Gurion s ummoned the c hief of the J erus alem Emergenc y Committee, Bernard J os eph, to Tel Aviv to dec ide how to s upply the now s tarving J erus alem. On 15 Apri l the c onvoys broke through, and food tric kled into the c i ty. On the 20th, Ben-Gurion ins is ted on vis i ting J erus alem to c elebrate Pas s over wi ththe troops : Rabin, c ommander of the Palmac h's Harel B rigade, protes ted at Ben-Gurion's grands tanding. Soon after the c onvoy s et off wi th Ben-Gurion in an armoured bus , the A rabs attac ked. 'I even ordered two s tolen B ri tis h armoured c ars to be brought out of c onc ealment and s ent into ac tion', s aid Rabin. T wenty

were ki l led - but the food and Ben-Gurion reac hed J ewis h J erus alem - whic h he des c ribed, wi th grim humour but ac ute obs ervation, as '20 per c ent normal people; 20 per c ent privi leged (univers i ty etc ), 60 per c ent weird (provinc ial , medieval etc )' - by whic h he meant the Has idim .B ri tis h rule was now in i ts las t days . On 28 Apri l , Rabin c aptured the A rab s uburb Sheikh J arrah, home of the Famil ies , but the B ri tis h forc ed him to rel inquis h i t. As the B ri tis h took the las t s alute, the J ews held the wes tern part of the c i ty, the A rabs the Old Ci ty and the eas t. A t 8 a.m . on Friday 14 May,

Cunningham, the las t high c ommis s ioner, marc hed out of Government Hous e in ful l uni form, reviewed a guard of honour, mounted his armoured Daim ler and drove to ins pec t his troops at the K ing David Hotel .

JEWISH INDEPENDENCE, ARAB CATASTROPHE

1948-51

THE BRITISH DEPART; BEN-GURION: W E DID IT!

General Cunningham headed out of J erus alem through s treets des erted exc ept for a few A rab c hi ldren. B ri tis h troops manned mac hine-gun pos ts on s treet c orners . As the Daim ler s ped pas t, the young onlookers 'c lapped c hi ldis hly and one s aluted. T he s alute was returned.' From Kalandia airport, the highc ommis s ioner flew out of J erus alem to Hai fa whenc e, at m idnight, he s ai led for England.

B ri tis h troops evac uated their Bevingrad fortres s in the Rus s ian Compound: 250 truc ks and tanks rumbled out along K ing George V Avenue, watc hed by s i lent J ewis h c rowds . T he rac e to c ontrol the Rus s ian Compound s tarted ins tantly. T he Irgun s tormed the Nikolai Hos tel . Gunfi re ric oc heted ac ros s the town.Nus s eibeh rus hed to Amman to beg K ing Abdul lah to s ave the c i ty, 'onc e s ac ked in the Crus ades ' and about to be s ac ked again. T he king prom is ed.

A t 4.00 p.m. on 14 May 1948, jus t outs ide J erus alem, Rabin and his Palmac h s oldiers , exhaus ted by their fight to keep the road open, were l is tening to a radio announc ement from David Ben-Gurion, c hairman of the J ewis h Agenc y. S tanding beneath a portrai t of Herzl , before an audienc e of 250 in the Tel AvivMus eum, Ben-Gurion proc laimed, 'I s hal l read from the s c rol l of the Dec laration of the Es tabl is hment of the S tate of ...' He and his aides had debated what the name of the s tate s hould be. Some had s ugges ted J udaea or Zion - but thes e names were as s oc iated with J erus alem and the Zionis ts were s truggl ing tohold even part of the c i ty. Others had propos ed Ivriya or Herzl iya, but Ben-Gurion had argued for Is rael and that was agreed: 'T he Land of Is rael ', he read out, 'was the birthplac e of the J ewis h people.' T hey s ang the national anthem, Hatikvah (T he Hope):

Our hope is not los tT he hope of two thous and years ;T o be a free people in our land,T he land of Zion and J erus alem!

Ben-Gurion beamed at the journal is ts . 'W e did i t! ' he s aid, but he es c hewed jubi lation. He had repeatedly ac c epted two-s tate parti tion, but now the J ews had to res is t an invas ion by the regular A rab arm ies with the openly s tated objec t of annihi lation. T he very s urvival of the S tate of Is rael was in jeopardy. On theother hand, his views had evolved s inc e he had hoped in the 1920s and early 1930s for a s hared s oc ial is t Pales tine or a federated s tate. Now, fac ed with total war, everything was up for grabs .

A t the J erus alem front, Rabin's s oldiers of the Harel B rigade were too weary to l is ten to Ben-Gurion on the radio. 'Hey men, turn i t off,' pleaded one of them. 'I'm dying for s ome s leep. Fine words tomorrow! ''Someone got up and turned the knob, leaving a leaden s i lenc e,' rec al led Rabin. 'I was mute, s ti fl ing my own m ixture of emotions .' Mos t people did not hear the Dec laration anyway, bec aus e A rab forc es had c ut off the elec tric i ty.E leven m inutes later, P res ident T ruman announc ed de fac to rec ogni tion of Is rael . Enc ouraged by Eddie J ac obs on, T ruman had s ec retly reas s ured W eizmann that he bac ked parti tion. Yet he had almos t los t c ontrol of the adminis tration when his UN diplomats tried to s us pend parti tion. His s ec retary of s tate,

George Mars hal l , wartime c hief of s taff and doyen of Americ an publ ic s ervic e, outs pokenly oppos ed rec ogni tion. But T ruman bac ked the new s tate whi le S tal in was the fi rs t to rec ognize Is rael offic ial ly.In New York, W eizmann, now almos t bl ind, wai ted in his room at the W aldorf As toria, del ighted by independenc e yet feel ing abandoned and forgotten, unti l Ben-Gurion and his c ol leagues as ked him to be the fi rs t pres ident. T ruman invi ted W eizmann to make his fi rs t formal vis i t to the W hite Hous e. W hen the

US pres ident was later prais ed by Eddie J ac obs on for having 'helped c reate Is rael ', he retorted: 'W hat do you mean "helped c reate"?' I am Cyrus ! I am Cyrus ! ' W hen the c hief rabbi of Is rael thanked him , T ruman wept.P res ident W eizmann travel led to Is rael , whi le he feared 'the J ewis h s hrines in J erus alem, whic h had s urvived the attac ks of barbarians in medieval times , were now being laid was te.' In J erus alem, Anwar Nus s eibeh and a few i rregulars , mainly ex-pol ic emen, did their bes t to defend the Old Ci ty unti l the real

arm ies arrived. Nus s eibeh was s hot in the thigh, and had to have his leg amputated. But the i rregular war was over.T he real war was now s tarting and Is rael 's pos i tion was dire. T he arm ies of the A rab League s tates , Egypt, J ordan, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, invaded Is rael wi th the s pec i fic m is s ion of l iquidating the J ews . 'T his wi l l be a war of exterm ination and a momentous mas s ac re,' announc ed Azzam Pas ha, s ec retary of

the League, 'whic h wi l l be s poken of l ike the Mongol ian mas s ac res and the Crus ades .' T heir c ommanders were overc onfident. T he J ews had been inferior s ubjec ts of Is lam ic empires , s ometimes tolerated, often pers ec uted, but always s ubmis s ive, for over a thous and years . 'T he A rabs bel ieved thems elves to be agreat m i l i tary people and regarded the J ews as a nation of s hopkeepers ', rec al led General S ir J ohn Glubb, the Engl is h c ommander of K ing Abdul lah's A rab Legion. 'T he Egyptians , Syrians and Iraqis as s umed they'd have no di ffic ul ty defeating the J ews .' Sec ular national is m merged with the fervour of holy war: i twas unthinkable that J ews c ould defeat Is lam ic arm ies , and many of the J ihadis t fac tions that fought bes ide the regular arm ies had long s inc e embrac ed a fanatic al anti -Semitis m. Hal f the Egyptian forc es were mujahidin of the Mus l im B rotherhood, among them young Yas s er A rafat.

Yet the intervention with i ts blood-c urdl ing hopes and pol i tic al c ynic is m would be a dis as ter for the Pales tinians and help forge a muc h larger and s tronger Is rael than would otherwis e have emerged. On paper there were 165,000 troops in the A rab arm ies but s uc h was the dis organization that, during May, theyfielded about 28,000 - roughly the s ame as the Is rael is . S inc e Abdul lah's 9,000-s trong B ri tis h-trained A rab Legion were the bes t of them, he was offic ial ly appointed Supreme Commander of A rab League forc es .

K ing Abdul lah s tood on the A l lenby B ridge and, drawing his pis tol , fi red into the air. 'Forward! ' he s houted.25

ABDULLAH THE HASTY

T he king, rec al led his grands on Hus s ein, 'was a ful l -blooded extrovert'. W hen we las t s aw Abdul lah, he was in J erus alem rec eiving his des ert kingdom from W ins ton Churc hi l l . Lawrenc e had des c ribed him as 's hort, thic k-bui l t, s trong as a hors e, wi th merry, dark brown eyes , a s mooth round fac e, ful l but s hort l ips ,s traight nos e' - and he had led an adventurous l i fe, s hoc king Lawrenc e with his raffis h exploi ts : 'onc e Abdul lah s hot a c offee-pot off his c ourt-fool 's head thric e from twenty yards '. As a Sheri fian, thi rty-s eventh in l ine from the P rophet, he c ould teas e the ulema . 'Is i t wrong to look at a pretty woman?' he as ked a mufti .'A s in, Your Majes ty.' 'But the Holy Koran s ays "If you s ee a woman, avert your eyes " but you c an't avert the gaze unles s you've been looking! ' He was both a proud Bedouin and a c hi ld of the Ottoman s ul tanate, he had c ommanded arm ies as a teenager and been 'the brains ' of the Great A rab Revol t. His ambitionswere as boundles s as they were urgent, henc e his nic kname 'the Has ty'. Yet he had waited a long time for this c hanc e to c onquer J erus alem.

'He was more than a s oldier and diplomat but als o a c las s ic al s c holar', remembered S ir Ronald S torrs , who was impres s ed when 'he intoned for me the Seven Sus pended Odes of P re-Is lam ic Poetry'. T he B ri tis h ambas s ador in Amman, S ir A lec K irkbridge, always c al led him 'the king with a twinkle in his eye'.As a diplomat Abdul lah was witty. As ked when he would ever rec eive a diplomat he dis l iked, he ans wered, 'W hen my mule foals .'

Now that his mule w as foal ing, he was real is tic about the Zionis ts , c i ting the T urkis h proverb: 'If you meet a bear c ros s ing a rotten bridge, c al l her "Dear Auntie".' Over the years , he often talked to W eizmann and J ewis h bus ines s men, offering the J ews a homeland i f they would ac c ept him as king of Pales tine.He had often vis i ted J erus alem, meeting up with his al ly Ragheb Nas has hibi , but he detes ted the mufti , bel ieving that Zionis m flouris hed al l the more thanks to 'thos e partis ans of the A rabs who'l l ac c ept no s olution'.

T he king had s ec retly negotiated a non-aggres s ion pac t wi th the Zionis ts : he would oc c upy the parts of the W es t Bank as s igned to the A rabs in return for not oppos ing the UN borders of the J ewis h s tate: and the B ri tis h had agreed to his annexation. 'I don't want to c reate a new A rab s tate that wi l l al low theA rabs to ride on me', he explained to the Zionis t envoy Golda Myers on (later Meir). 'I want to be the rider not the hors e.' But the hors e had now bol ted: the war, partic ularly, the Deir Yas s in mas s ac re, obl iged him to fight the J ews . Bes ides , the other A rab s tates were as determ ined to l im i t Abdul lah's ambitions as theywere to res c ue Pales tine, and the Egyptians and Syrians planned to annex their own c onques ts . Abdul lah's c ommander Glubb Pas ha, who had devoted his l i fe to providing the Has hemites wi th a dec ent army, was now loath to ris k i t.

His A rab Legion advanc ed c autious ly through the J udaean hi l ls towards J erus alem, where the i rregular A rab Liberation A rmy attac ked the J ewis h s uburbs . By nightfal l on 16 May, the Haganah had c aptured the Mea Shearim pol ic e s tation and Sheikh J arrah to the north and al l the New City s outh of the wal ls aswel l as the former B ri tis h s trongholds in the c entre, the Rus s ian Compound and the YMCA. 'W e have c onquered almos t al l of J erus alem, apart from the Augus ta V ic toria and the Old Ci ty,' c laimed an overwhelmed Ben-Gurion.

'SOS! T he J ews are near the wal ls ! ' Anwar Nus s eibeh rus hed bac k to the king to beg for his intervention. Abdul lah never forgot his plac e in his tory: 'By God I am a Mus l im ruler, a Has hemite king, and my father was king of al l the A rabs .' Now he wrote to his Engl is h c ommander: 'My dear Glubb Pas ha, theimportanc e of J erus alem in the eyes of the A rabs and the Mus l ims and A rab Chris tians is wel l known. Any dis as ter s uffered by the people of the c i ty at the hands of the J ews would have far-reac hing c ons equenc es for us . Everything we hold today mus t be pres erved - the Old Ci ty and the road to J eric ho. I as k you toexec ute this as quic kly as pos s ible my dear.'

ABDULLAH: THE BATTLE OF JERUSALEM

T he king's 'troops were in jubi lation, many of the vehic les dec orated with green branc hes or bunc hes of pink oleander flowers '. T he proc es s ion of the A rab Legion towards J erus alem 's eemed more l ike a c arnival than an army going to war', obs erved Glubb. On 18 May, the fi rs t Legionaries took up pos i tions aroundthe wal ls of the Old Ci ty whenc e, he wrote, 'nearly 1900 years ago the J ews thems elves had c as t their darts at the advanc ing legions of T i tus '. But the king was 'haggard with anxiety les t the J ews enter the Old Ci ty and the Temple where his father the late K ing Hus s ein of the Hejaz was buried.' Glubb's forc ess mas hed through the Is rael i -held Sheikh J arrah to the Damas c us Gate.

W ithin the Old Ci ty, fi rs t i rregulars and then A rab Legionaries s urrounded the J ewis h Quarter, home of s ome of the oldes t J ewis h fam i l ies in Pales tine, many of them aged Has idic s c holars , and al l defended by jus t 190 Haganah and Irgun fighters . Rabin was furious to learn that only meagre forc es c ould bes pared to res c ue the Old Ci ty. W as this , he s houted at the c ommander of J erus alem, David Shal tiel , 'the only forc e the J ewis h people c an mus ter for the l iberation of i ts c api tal?'

Rabin tried uns uc c es s ful ly to s torm the J affa Gate, but s imultaneous ly other troops broke through the Zion Gate into the Old Ci ty. E ighty Palmac hniks joined the defenders before los ing the Zion Gate. But now, the A rab Legion arrived in forc e. T he battle for the Old Ci ty would be des perate; the fighting, notedGlubb, was 'room to room, down dark pas s ages , up and down tiny s tairc as es c ut into c ourtyards and down in c el lars ' through the 'teeming rabbi t-warren of the J ewis h Quarter on top of the s poi ls and rubble of m i l lennia.' Glubb now ordered the s ys tematic reduc tion of the J ewis h Quarter. Its rabbis appealed for help.Ben-Gurion bec ame frantic : 'J erus alem c an fal l at any m inute! A ttac k whatever the c os t! '

On 26 May, the Legionaries took the Hurva Square, and dynamited i ts magnific ent s ynagogues . T wo days later, 'two old rabbis , their bac ks bent wi th age, c ame forward down a narrow lane c arrying a whi te flag', obs erved Glubb. Ac ros s the l ines , and jus t a few hundred feet away in this tiny theatre of war, Rabinwatc hed the s ame 's hattering s c ene' from Mount Zion: 'I was horri fied.' T hirty-nine of the 213 defenders were dead, 134 wounded. 'So the City of David fel l to the enemy,' wrote Begin. 'Mourning des c ended over us .' Glubb was elated: 'I've an intens e love of J erus alem. T he B ible l ives before our eyes .' Yet he al lowedthe rans ac king of the J ewis h Quarter: twenty-two of the twenty-s even s ynagogues were demol is hed. For the fi rs t time s inc e the Mus l im rec onques t in 1187, the J ews los t ac c es s to the W es tern W al l .

Glubb us ed the Latrun Fortres s to c los e the road to wes t J erus alem. Ben-Gurion repeatedly ordered the taking of Latrun, at a punis hing c os t in Is rael i l ives , but the attac ks fai led. J ewis h J erus alem ites , al ready l iving in their c el lars , began to s tarve unti l the Is rael is c reated a new route for provis ions , the s o-c al led Burma Road s outh of Latrun.

On 11 J une, the UN mediator Count Folke Bernadotte, grands on of a Swedis h king who had negotiated with Himmler to res c ue J ews in the las t months of the war, s uc c es s ful ly mediated a truc e and propos ed a new vers ion of the parti tion giving al l of J erus alem to K ing Abdul lah. Is rael rejec ted Bernadotte'splans . Meanwhi le Ben-Gurion defeated a near-mutiny when Menac hem Begin, having already agreed to merge his Irgun forc es with thos e of the S tate, attempted to land his own s hipment of arms : the Is rael i A rmy s ank the s hip. Ins tead of s tarting a c ivi l war, Begin reti red from the underground to enter regularpol i tic s .

W hen Bernadotte's truc e ended; war res umed. T he next day an Egyptian Spi tfi re bombed wes tern J erus alem. T he exc i ted Legionaries attac ked the New City through the Zion Gate and then advanc ed towards Notre Dame: 'By turning their heads , they c ould s ee the Dome of the Roc k and al-Aqs a,' wrote Glubb.'T hey were fighting in the path of God', as the Is rael is again tried to c apture the Old Ci ty.

'Can we hold J erus alem?' Abdul lah as ked Glubb.'T hey'l l never take i t, s i r! ''If you ever think the J ews wi l l take J erus alem, you tel l me,' s aid the king. 'I'l l go there and die on the wal ls of the c i ty.' T he Is rael i c ounterattac k fai led. But Is rael 's m i l i tary s trength was inc reas ing: the new S tate was now fielding 88,000 troops in al l , agains t the A rabs ' 68,000. In the ten days before a s ec ond

truc e, the Is rael is took Lydda and Ramla.Suc h was the Zionis t fury at Bernadotte's propos al that the Swede now s ugges ted that J erus alem s hould be international ized. On 17 September, the Swedis h c ount flew into the Holy Ci ty. But the Lehi extrem is ts , led by Y i tzhak Shamir (a future Is rael i prime m inis ter), dec ided to annihi late both the man and his

plans . As Bernadotte drove from his headquarters in Government Hous e through Katamon to meet the Is rael i governor Dov J os eph in Rehavia, his jeep was waved to a hal t at a c hec kpoint. T hree men dis mounted from another jeep brandis hing S tens ; two s hot out the tyres ; the thi rd mac hine-gunned Bernadotte inthe c hes t before they s ped off. T he c ount died in Hadas s ah Hos pi tal . Ben-Gurion s uppres s ed and dis mantled the Lehi , but the ki l lers were never c aught.

Abdul lah had s ec ured the Old Ci ty. On the W es t Bank, the king held the s outh, the Iraqis held the north. South of J erus alem, the Egyptian vanguard c ould s ee the Old Ci ty and was pounding the s outhern s uburbs . In m id-September, the A rab League rec ognized a Gaza-bas ed Pales tinian 'government' that wasdominated by the mufti and the J erus alem ite Famil ies .* But when the fighting res umed, the Is rael is defeated and enc irc led the Egyptians , c onquering the Negev des ert. Humil iated, the Egyptians s ent the mufti bac k to Cairo, his pol i tic al c areer final ly dis c redi ted. A t the end of November, 1948, Lieutenant-ColonelMos he Dayan, now m i l i tary c ommander of J erus alem, agreed a c eas e fi re wi th the J ordanians . During the fi rs t hal f of 1949, Is rael s igned arm is tic es wi th al l five of the A rab s tates , and in February 1949, the Knes s et, the Is rael i Parl iament, met in the J ewis h Agenc y bui lding on J erus alem 's George V Avenue to elec tW eizmann formal ly to the largely c eremonial pos t of pres ident. W eizmann, aged s eventy-five, found hims el f ignored by P rime Minis ter Ben-Gurion and was frus trated by his non-exec utive role. 'W hy do I have to be a Swis s pres ident?' W eizmann as ked. 'W hy not an Americ an pres ident?' He jokingly c al led hims el f 'theP ris oner of Rehovoth' - referring to the town where he had s et up the W eizmann Ins ti tute of Sc ienc e. Even though he had his offic ial res idenc e in J erus alem, 'I remained prejudic ed agains t the c i ty and even now I feel i l l at eas e in i t.' He died in 1952.

T he A rm is tic e, s igned in Apri l 1949 and s upervis ed by the UN, who were bas ed in the B ri tis h Government Hous e, divided J erus alem: Is rael rec eived the wes t wi th an is land of terri tory on Mount Sc opus , whi le Abdul lah kept the Old Ci ty, eas tern J erus alem and the W es t Bank. T he agreement prom is ed the J ewsac c es s to the W al l , the Mount of Ol ives c emetery and the K idron Val ley tombs but this was never honoured. J ews were not al lowed to pray at the W al l for the next nineteen years ,* and the tombs tones in their c emeteries were vandal ized.

T he Is rael is and Abdul lah both feared los ing their halves of J erus alem. T he UN pers is ted in debating the international ization of the c i ty, s o both s ides oc c upied J erus alem i l legal ly and only two c ountries rec ognized Abdul lah's hold on the Old Ci ty. W eizmann's c hief of s taff, George W eidenfeld, a youngV iennes e who had rec ently founded his own publ is hing hous e in London, launc hed a c ampaign to c onvinc e the world that Is rael s hould keep wes t J erus alem. On 11 Dec ember, J erus alem was dec lared the c api tal of Is rael .

T he A rab vic tor was Abdul lah the Has ty, who, thi rty-two years after the A rab Revol t, had final ly won J erus alem: 'Nobody', he s aid, 'wi l l take over J erus alem from me unles s I'm ki l led.'

DIVIDED

1951-67

KING OF JERUSALEM: BLOOD ON THE TEMPLE MOUNT

'A forti fied s trip of barbed wire, m inefields , fi ring pos i tions and obs ervation pos ts c ros s ed [the c i ty],' wrote Amos Oz. 'A c onc rete c urtain c ame down and divided us from Sheikh J arrah and the A rab neighbourhoods .' T here was often s niper fi re: in 1954, nine people were ki l led in this way and fi fty-four wounded. Evenwhen the two s ides c ooperated, i t was agonizing: in 1950, the UN mediated the feeding of the one tiger, one l ion and two bears of the B ibl ic al Zoo on Is rael i -c ontrol led Mount Sc opus and offic ial ly explained that 'Dec is ions had to be taken whether (a) Is rael i money s hould be us ed to buy A rab donkeys to feed theIs rael i l ion or (b) whether an Is rael i donkey s hould pas s through J ordan-held terri tory to be eaten by the l ion in ques tion.' Eventual ly the animals were es c orted in a UN c onvoy through J ordanian terri tory to wes t J erus alem.

Ac ros s the barbed wire, the Nus s eibehs mourned the Catas trophe: 'I s uffered what amounted to a nervous breakdown,' admitted Hazem Nus s eibeh. His nephew Sari m is s ed 'the Engl is h and A rab aris toc rats , the free-wheel ing parvenus , the m iddle-c las s trades men, the demimonde c atering to s oldiers , the ric hblend of c ul tures , the bis hops , Mus l im c leric s and blac k-bearded rabbis c rowding the s ame s treets '.

In November, Abdul lah was , bizarrely, c rowned king of J erus alem by the Coptic bis hop - the fi rs t king to c ontrol the c i ty s inc e Frederic k II. On 1 Dec ember, he had hims el f dec lared king of Pales tine in J eric ho, renaming his realm the United K ingdom of J ordan. T he Hus s einis and the A rab national is tsdenounc ed Abdul lah for his c ompromis es and c ould not forgive him for being the only A rab to have s uc c eeded in the Pales tinian Catas trophe.

T he king turned to the Famil ies of J erus alem, who now enjoyed a s trange renais s anc e. He offered Ragheb Nas has hibi the prem iers hip of J ordan. Nas has hibi refus ed, but agreed to bec ome a m inis ter. T he king als o appointed him governor of the W es t Bank and Cus todian of the T wo Harams (J erus alem andHebron) as wel l as pres enting him with a S tudebaker c ar and the ti tle 'Ragheb Pas ha'. (T he J ordanians were s ti l l awarding Ottoman ti tles in the 1950s .) His dandyis h nephew, Nas s ereddin Nas has hibi , bec ame royal c hamberlain.* In a s atis fying dis m is s al of the hated mufti , Abdul lah offic ial ly s ac ked him andappointed Sheikh Hus am al-J aral lah, the very man c heated of the ti tle bac k in 1921.

Abdul lah was warned of as s as s ination plots , but he always repl ied, 'Unti l my day c omes , nobody c an harm me; when the day c omes , no one c an guard me.' W hatever the dangers , Abdul lah, now 69, was proud of his pos s es s ion of J erus alem. 'W hen I was a boy,' rec al led his grands on Hus s ein, 'my grandfatherus ed to tel l me that J erus alem was one of the mos t beauti ful c i ties in the world.' As time went on he notic ed that the king 'grew to love J erus alem more and more'. Abdul lah was dis appointed in his eldes t s on Talal , but he adored his grands on whom he educ ated to be king. During s c hool hol idays , they breakfas tedtogether every day. 'I'd bec ome the s on he always wanted,' wrote Hus s ein.

On Friday 20 J uly 1951, Abdul lah drove to J erus alem with Hus s ein, a s ixteen-year-old Harrow s c hoolboy, whom he ordered to wear his m i l i tary uni form with medals . Before they left, the king told him , 'My s on, one day you I'l l have to as s ume res pons ibi l i ty,' adding 'W hen I have to die, I'd l ike to be s hot in the headby a nobody. T hat's the s imples t way.' T hey s topped in Nablus to meet the mufti 's c ous in, Dr Mus a al-Hus s eini , who had s erved the mufti in Nazi Berl in: he bowed and expres s ed loyal ty.

J us t before m idday, Abdul lah arrived in J erus alem for Friday prayers wi th his grands on, Glubb Pas ha, Royal Chamberlain Nas s ereddin Nas h-as hibi and the unc tuous Mus a Hus s eini . T he c rowd was s ulky and s us pic ious ; his nervous A rab Legion bodyguard was s o numerous that Hus s ein joked 'W hat is this , afuneral proc es s ion?' Abdul lah vis i ted his father's tomb, then walked to al-Aqs a and told the guards to pul l bac k, but Mus a Hus s eini s tayed very c los e. As Abdul lah s tepped into the portic o, the s heikh of the mos que kis s ed the royal hand, and s imultaneous ly a young man emerged from behind the door. Rais ing apis tol , the youth pres s ed the barrel agains t the king's ear and fi red, ki l l ing him ins tantly. T he bul let exi ted through the eye, and Abdul lah c ol laps ed, his whi te turban rol l ing away. Everyone threw thems elves to the ground, 'doubled up l ike bent old terri fied women,' obs erved Hus s ein 'but I mus t have los t my head for atthat moment, I lunged towards the as s as s in', who turned on Hus s ein: 'I s aw his bared teeth, his dazed eyes . He had the gun and I watc hed him point i t at me then s aw the s moke, heard the bang and fel t the s hot on my c hes t. Is this what death is l ike? His bul let hi t metal .' Abdul lah had s aved his grands on's l i fe byordering him to wear the medals .

T he bodyguards , fi ring haphazardly, ki l led the as s as s in. Holding the dead king in his arms as blood gus hed from his nos e, Nas has hibi kis s ed his hand repeatedly. T he Legionaries s tarted to rampage through the s treets , and Glubb s truggled to res train them. Kneel ing by the king, Hus s ein undid his robe, andthen walked with the body as i t was borne to the Aus trian Hos pic e. T here Hus s ein hims el f was s edated before being hurriedly flown bac k to Amman.26

HUSSEIN OF JORDAN: LAST KING OF JERUSALEM

T he mufti and K ing Farouk of Egypt were s aid to be behind the as s as s ination. Mus a Hus s eini was arres ted and tortured before he and three others were exec uted. T he as s as s ination was jus t one of the ki l l ings and c oups prec ipi tated by the A rab defeat. In 1952, K ing Farouk, las t of Mehmet A l i 's A lbanians , wasoverthrown by a junta of Free Offic ers , led by General Muhammad Neguib and Colonel Gamal Abdul Nas s er.

Abdul lah of J ordan was s uc c eeded by his s on, K ing Talal , who s uffered violent attac ks of s c hizophrenia that led to his almos t ki l l ing his wi fe. On 12 Augus t 1952, young Hus s ein was hol idaying at a hotel in Geneva when a waiter entered with an envelope on a s i lver platter: i t was addres s ed to 'His Majes tyK ing Hus s ein'. His father had abdic ated. S ti l l jus t s eventeen, Hus s ein l iked fas t c ars and motorc yc les , planes and hel ic opters , whic h he flew hims el f, and beauti ful women - he married five. W hi le his grandfather had never los t the dream of a greater Has h-emite kingdom, ris king everything to win J erus alem,Hus s ein real ized gradual ly that i t would be an ac hievement even to s urvive as king of J ordan.

A Sandhurs t-trained offic er, this debonair monarc h was pro-W es tern, his regime funded fi rs t by B ri tain then by Americ a, yet he s urvived only by trimming between the forc es at play in the A rab world. A t times he had to endure the s uffoc ating embrac e of hos ti le radic al tyrants s uc h as Nas s er of Egypt andSaddam Hus s ein of Iraq. Like his grandfather, he was able to work wi th the Is rael is ; muc h later, he c ame to l ike Rabin es pec ial ly.

T he oc togenarian Churc hi l l , who had returned to offic e as prime m inis ter in 1951, muttered to one of his offic ials , 'You ought to let the J ews have J erus alem - i t was they who made i t famous .' But the c i ty remained divided between eas t and wes t, 'a jarring s eries of ad hoc fenc es , wal ls and bai ls of barbed wire'wi th 's igns in Hebrew, Engl is h and A rabic reading STOP! DANGER! FRONTIER AHEAD '. T he nights c rac kled with mac hine-gun fi re, the only gateway was the Mandelbaum Gate, whic h bec ame as famous as Berl in's Chec kpoint Charl ie. Yet i t was nei ther a gate nor the hous e of the Mandelbaums . T he long-departed S imc hah and Es ther Mandelbaum had been Belorus s ian-born manufac turers of s toc kings whos e s turdy home had bec ome a Haganah s tronghold that was blown up by the A rab Legion in 1948. T he Mandelbaum c hec kpoint s tood on i ts ruins .

T hrough thes e m ined and barbed barriers the J ewis h teenager Amos Oz and the Pales tinian c hi ld Sari Nus s eibeh, the s on of Anwar, were l iving c los e to eac h other. Later Oz and Nus s eibeh, both fine wri ters and opponents of fanatac is m, bec ame friends . 'Is lam ', wrote Nus s eibeh, 'was no di fferent for fam i l iesl ike ours than I would learn later that J udais m was for Amos Oz a c ouple of hundred feet away, jus t beyond No-Man's -Land.' T he boys watc hed as a new influx of immigrants c hanged J erus alem yet again. T he A rabs , partic ularly Iraq, had avenged thems elves on their own J ewis h c ommunities : 600,000 of them nowmigrated to Is rael . But i t was the s urvivors of the ul tra-Orthodox s ec ts known as the Haredim (Awes truc k) who c hanged the look of J erus alem, bringing with them the c ul ture and c lothes of s eventeenth-c entury Mitteleuropa and a fai th in mys tic al and joyous prayer. 'Hardly a day would go by', rec al led Sari Nus s eibeh,'when I didn't s py into the s treets beyond No-Man's -Land' and there in Mea Shearim , 'I s aw blac kc lad men. Sometimes the bearded c reatures looked bac k at me.' W ho were they, he wondered?

T he Haredim were s pl i t between thos e who embrac ed Zionis m and the many, s uc h as the Toldot Haron of Mea Shearim , who were devoutly anti -Zionis t. T hey bel ieved that only God c ould res tore the Temple. T hes e intros pec tive, rigid and ri tual is tic s ec ts were divided between Has idic s and Li thuanians , al ls peaking Y iddis h. T he Has idim are in turn divided into many s ec ts originating from s even princ ipal 'c ourts ', eac h ruled by a dynas ty des c ended from a m irac le-working rabbi known as the admor (an ac ronym deriving from 'Our Mas ter Teac her and Rabbi '). T heir c os tumes and the arc ane di fferenc es between s ec tsc ontributed to the c omplexi ty of Is rael i J erus alem.*

T he Is rael is bui l t a modern c api tal in W es tern J erus alem,* whic h was an uneas y blend of s ec ular and rel igious . 'Is rael was s oc ial is t and s ec ular,' rec al ls George W eidenfeld, 'high s oc iety was in Tel Aviv but J erus alem revolved around the old J erus alem of the rabbis , the German intel lec tuals of Rehavia whodis c us s ed art and pol i tic s after dinner in the ki tc hen and the Is rael i el i te of s enior c ivi l s ervants and generals l ike Mos he Dayan.' W hi le the Haredim l ived their s eparate l ives , s ec ular J ews l ike W eidenfeld dined out at the s martes t res taurant in J erus alem - Fink's , wi th i ts non-kos her goulas h and s aus ages . Amos Ozfel t uneas y in this kaleidos c opic c i ty, wi th i ts pec ul iar m ix of res tored antiqui ties and modern ruins . 'Can one ever feel at home in J erus alem, I wonder, even i f one l ives here for a c entury?' he as ked in his novel My M ic hael . 'If you turn your head you c an s ee in the m ids t of al l this bui lding a roc ky field. Ol ive trees . Abarren wi ldernes s . Herds grazing around the newly bui l t prime m inis ter's offic e.' Oz left J erus alem, but Sari Nus s eibeh s tayed.

On 23 May 1961, Ben-Gurion s ummoned one of his young aides , Y i tzhak Yaac ovy, into his offic e. T he prime m inis ter looked up at Yaac ovy: 'Do you know who Adol f E ic hmann is ?''No,' repl ied Yaac ovy.'He is the man who organized the Holoc aus t, ki l led your fam i ly and deported you to Aus c hwitz,' repl ied Ben-Gurion, who knew that Yaac ovy, c hi ld of Orthodox Hungarian parents , had been s ent to the death-c amp by SS-Obers turmbannfuhrer E ic hmann in 1944. T here he had s urvived the s elec tion of thos e al lowed

to l ive as s lave labourers and thos e to be gas s ed at onc e by SS Dr J os ef Mengele hims el f, perhaps bec aus e of his blond hair and blue eyes . A fterwards he em igrated to Is rael , fought and was wounded in the W ar of Independenc e and s ettled in J erus alem where he worked in the prime m inis ter's offic e.'T oday,' Ben-Gurion went on, 'you wi l l take a c ar to the Knes s et and you wi l l s i t as my gues t and watc h me announc e that we have brought E ic hmann to s tand trial in J erus alem.'T he Is rael i s ec ret s ervic e Mos s ad had kidnapped E ic hmann from his hiding-plac e in A rgentina, and in Apri l his trial s tarted in a c ourthous e in downtown J erus alem. He was hanged in Ramla pris on.On the other s ide of the border, K ing Hus s ein c al led the c i ty his 's ec ond c api tal ', but his regime was too prec arious to ris k moving the real c api tal from Amman. T he Holy Ci ty was effec tively demoted to a 'provinc ial town with barbed-wire in the c entre'. Nonetheles s , Has h-emite J erus alem regained s ome of i ts

old c harm. T he king's brother, P rinc e Muhammad, governed the W es t Bank. He had jus t married the beauti ful s ixteen-year-old Pales tinian: Firyal al -Ras hid, 'W e s pent s ix months of the year in J erus alem,' remembers P rinc es s Firyal , 'in the mos t del ightful s mal l vi l la that had belonged to the Dajanis , but my hus bands pent mos t of his time negotiating wi th the Chris tians , trying to make peac e between the warring Orthodox, Cathol ic s and A rmenians ! '

K ing Hus s ein appointed Anwar Nus s eibeh as governor and c us todian of the Sanc tuaries . T he Nus s eibehs were more prom inent than they had been for many c enturies : Anwar at times s erved as J ordanian defenc e m inis ter, his brother Hazem as foreign m inis ter. A l l of the Famil ies had los t their money and theirol ive groves , but many c ontinued to l ive in their vi l las in Sheikh J arrah. Anwar Nus s eibeh now l ived oppos i te the Americ an Colony in an old-s tyle vi l la wi th 'Pers ian c arpets , gold-embos s ed ac ademic degrees , c rys tal dec anters for after-dinner drinks and dozens of tennis trophies '. Nus s eibeh had to prac tis e 'atolerant ec umenic al is m ', praying at al -Aqs a every Friday and every Eas ter leading his whole fam i ly to join 'the high c lergy in robes holding golden c ros s es to c i rc le the Holy Sepulc hre three times ', as his s on Sari rec al led. 'My brothers and I l iked this [Eas ter c elebration] the mos t bec aus e the Chris tian girls were thepretties t in town.' But the T emple Mount i ts el f was quiet. 'T here were few Mus l im vis i tors to the Haram,' notic ed Oleg Grabar, the pre-em inent s c holar of J erus alem, who s tarted to explore the c i ty during thos e years .

Sari Nus s eibeh inves tigated the Old Ci ty, 'ful l of s mug s hopkeepers wi th their golden poc ketwatc hes , old women hawking wares , whirl ing dervis hes ' and c afes res onating 'wi th the bubbl ing s ound of people s moking water pipes '. J ordanian J erus alem was , obs erved Eugene B ird, the US vic e-c ons ul , a tiny world:'I've never s een s uc h a s mal l big town before. T he el igible s oc iety res tric ted i t to about 150 people.' Some of the Famil ies embrac ed touris m: the Hus s einis opened Orient Hous e as a hotel . T he white-haired Bertha Spafford c onverted her Americ an Colony into a luxury hotel and the brooc h-wearing grande damehers el f bec ame one of the s ights of the c i ty, having known everybody from J emal Pas ha to Lawrenc e of A rabia: s he even featured twic e on the B ri tis h televis ion s how This is Your Li fe . Katy Antonius had returned and s et up an orphanage in the Old Ci ty and, in her home, 'an ups c ale res taurant-c um-s alon' namedKatakeet after a loc al gos s ip c olumn. She was 's omething out E l iot's Coc k tai l Party ', wrote the US vic e-c ons ul ; 's he's gos s ipy and thoroughly affec ted'. A lways in 'the lates t fas hions and a s tring of pearls , blac k hair c ut fai rly s hort' wi th 'a dis tinc tive whi te s treak', s he was , thought the vic e-c ons ul 's s on, the wri ter KaiB ird, 'part dragon-lady and part-fl i rt'. But s he had not los t her pol i tic al anger, remarking: 'Before the J ewis h S tate, I knew many J ews in J erus alem. Now I wi l l s lap the fac e of any A rab friend who tries to trade with a J ew. W e los t the fi rs t round; we haven't los t the war.'

T he Great Powers had always bac ked their own s ec ts s o i t was no s urpris e that the Cold W ar was waged furtively beneath the robes and behind the al tars of J erus alem 'as ardently as in the bac k al leys of Berl in', that other divided c i ty. US V ic e-Cons ul B ird advis ed the CIA to c ontribute $80,000 to repair thegolden onion-domes of Grand Duke Sergei 's Churc h of Mary Magdalene. If the CIA did not pay, the KGB jus t m ight. Rus s ian Orthodoxy was divided between the CIA -bac ked Churc h bas ed in New York and the KGB-bac ked Soviet vers ion in Mos c ow. T he J ordanians , s taunc h Americ an al l ies , gave their Rus s ianc hurc hes to the anti -Communis t Churc h, whi le the Is rael is , remembering that S tal in had been the fi rs t to rec ognize their new s tate, granted their Rus s ian properties to the Soviets , who s et up a m is s ion in wes t J erus alem led by a 'pries t', ac tual ly a KGB c olonel who had formerly been an advis er to North Korea.

In a bac kwater s ti l l dom inated by 'Hus s einis , Nas has hibis , Is lam ic s c holars and Chris tian bis hops , i f you c ould ignore No-Man's -Land and the refugee c amps ,' wrote Sari Nus s eibeh, 'i t was as i f nothing had ever happened'. Yet nothing was the s ame - and even this hybrid J erus alem was now under threat. T heris e of Nas s er, P res ident of Egypt, c hanged everything, imperi l l ing K ing Hus s ein and ris king his very pos s es s ion of J erus alem.

SIX DAYS

1967

NASSER AND HUSSEIN: COUNTDOW N TO W AR

Born in obs c uri ty, Nas s er was the beau ideal of the A rab s tates man - a young offic er wounded in the Is rael i enc irc lement of 1948 and determ ined to res tore A rab pride. He bec ame the mos t popular A rab leader for c enturies , yet he als o ruled as a dic tator, s upported by the s ec ret pol ic e. Known as E l Rais - the Bos s- ac ros s the A rab world, Nas s er promulgated a s oc ial is t pan-A rabis m that ins pired his people to defy W es tern domination and Zionis t vic tory and rais ed s oaring hopes that their defeats c ould be avenged.

Nas s er s upported Pales tinian raids agains t Is rael , whic h res ponded with inc reas ing violenc e. His leaders hip of the mos t powerful A rab nation, Egypt, alarmed Is rael . In 1956, he c hal lenged the ves tiges of the Anglo-Frenc h empires by national izing the Suez Canal and bac king the A lgerian rebels agains tFranc e. London and Paris , determ ined to des troy him , made a s ec ret al l ianc e with Ben-Gurion. T he s uc c es s ful Is rael i attac k on S inai , planned by Chief of S taff Dayan, provided the Anglo-Frenc h pretext to invade Egypt, os tens ibly to s eparate the two neighbours . However, B ri tain and Franc e lac ked the power tos us tain this las t imperial adventure: the United S tates forc ed them to wi thdraw. Soon afterwards , K ing Hus s ein dis m is s ed Glubb as c ommander of his army. Nineteen-fi fty-s ix was the twi l ight of B ri tis h Middle Eas tern imperium and the dawn of Americ an as c endanc y.

Nas s er targeted the two Has hemite kingdoms , where his pan-A rabis t radic al is m was inc reas ingly popular on the s treets and in the offic er c orps . In 1958, Hus s ein's c ous in and s c hool friend Fais al II of Iraq was murdered in a m i l i tary c oup. T he fam i ly had been kings of the A rabs , Hejaz, Syria, Pales tine, Iraq -and Hus s ein was now the las t royal Has hemite. Nas s er offic ial ly merged Egypt wi th Syria in the United A rab Republ ic , enc irc l ing Is rael and dominating J ordan, but his UAR, whic h twic e fel l apart and was twic e put together again, remained fragi le.

'Growing up in J erus alem was l ike being in a fai ry tale invaded by Detroi t and modern arm ies , though i ts magic al qual i ty remained, and the dangers merely added to the mys teries ,' wrote Sari Nus s eibeh. Gradual ly 'J erus alem rec overed muc h of the l i fe i t had los t in 1948,' again bec oming the 'world c api tal ofpi lgrimage'. In 1964, K ing Hus s ein regi lded the lead of the Dome of the Roc k that had been a dul l grey for c enturies in preparation for the pi lgrimage of Pope Paul V I. T he s upreme ponti ff was met by P rinc e Muhammad and P rinc es s Firyal , who ac c ompanied him into the c i ty where he was welc omed by the governorAnwar Nus s eibeh. But the pope had to c ros s the l ines at the Mandelbaum Gate l ike everyone els e. W hen he as ked perm is s ion to pray in the Greek c hapel of Calvary, the Orthodox patriarc h ordered him to make the reques t in wri ting and then turned i t down. 'T he pope's vis i t', wrote Sari Nus s eibeh, 's parked a boom ':the Hus s einis and Nus s eibehs knoc ked down their elegant vi l las and bui l t hideous hotels .

Yet K ing Hus s ein was now s truggl ing for s urvival , c rus hed between radic al Nas s eri te Egypt and Syria, between the A rabs and the Is rael is , and between his own dynas tic ambitions and the pas s ionate bi tternes s of the Pales tinians who fel t he had betrayed them. As Nas s er plotted to overthrow the king,J erus alem and the W es t Bank repeatedly rioted agains t the Has hemites .

In 1959, Yas s er A rafat, a veteran of the 1948 war,* founded a m i l i tant l iberation movement c al led Fatah - Conques t. In 1964, Nas s er held a s ummit in Cairo that c reated a Uni ted A rab Command for the c oming war agains t Is rael and founded the Pales tine Liberation Organization under Ahmed al-Shuqayri . T hatMay in J erus alem, K ing Hus s ein reluc tantly opened the Pales tinian Congres s , whic h launc hed the PLO. T he fol lowing J anuary, A rafat's Fatah c arried out a s mal l raid into Is rael from J ordan. It was a dis as ter and the only c as ual ty was a Pales tinian guerri l la s hot dead by the J ordanians . But Fatah's exploi t c aughtthe A rab imagination and marked the beginning of A rafat's c ampaign to plac e the Pales tinian c aus e at the c entre of the global s tage. T he ris e of the pis tol-pac king, khaki-c lad, keffiy eh-wearing radic als of Fatah had ec l ips ed the haughty Famil ies , dis c redi ted by the mufti and by 1948. In a s ign of the times , AnwarNus s eibeh's s on Sari joined Fatah.

T he Pales tinians were los ing patienc e with Hus s ein. W hen Governor Nus s eibeh refus ed a royal order, the king s ac ked him and appointed a J ordanian in his plac e. In September 1965, fol lowing in his grandfather's foots teps , Hus s ein s ec retly met the Is rael i foreign m inis ter, Golda Meir, who s ugges ted that oneday 'we c ould put as ide arms and c reate a monument in J erus alem that would s igni fy peac e between us '.27

W hen Ben-Gurion reti red as prime m inis ter in 1963, his s uc c es s or was the s ixty-eight-year-old Levi Es hkol , born near K iev, a bes pec tac led plodder whos e c hief ac hievement had been founding the Is rael i water uti l i ty: he was no Ben-Gurion. In early 1967, Syrian attac ks on northern Is rael led to a dogfight inwhic h the Syrian air forc e was dec imated over Damas c us . Syria bac ked more Pales tinian raids into Is rael .*

T he Soviet Union warned Nas s er - wrongly as i t turned out - that Is rael planned to attac k Syria. It is s ti l l unc lear why Mos c ow pus hed this fals e intel l igenc e and why Nas s er c hos e to bel ieve i t when he had weeks to veri fy or dis prove i t. For al l the s trength of Egypt, his own c haris ma and the populari ty of pan-A rabis m, Nas s er had been humil iated by Is rael i repris al raids and expos ed by Syrian brinkmans hip. He moved his troops into the penins ula to s how that he would not tolerate an attac k on Syria.

On 15 May, an anxious Es hkol and his c hief of s taff, General Rabin, met at the K ing David in J erus alem before the Independenc e Day parade: how s hould they reac t to Nas s er's threats ? T he next day, Egypt as ked the UN to remove i ts peac ekeepers from S inai . Nas s er probably hoped to es c alate the c ris is whi leyet avoiding war. If s o, his ac tions were ei ther hopeles s ly c lums y or rec kles s . As the A rab leaders hip and the c rowds on the s treet hai led the c oming exterm ination of the J ewis h s tate, Es hkol di thered nervous ly. A c ris is of foreboding and exis tential fear s wept over Is rael , whic h had los t the ini tiative to Nas s er.Surviving on c offee, c hain-s moking s eventy c igarettes a day, aware that the s urvival of Is rael res ted on his s houlders , General Rabin s tarted to c rac k up.

RABIN: THE BREAKDOW N BEFORE BATTLE

Nas s er c al led the odds as he c onvened his Cabinet and c los ely ques tioned his vic e-pres ident and m i l i tary s upremo, Field-Mars hal Abdel-Hakim al-Amer, a deluded, drug-taking bon vivant, who remained the pres ident's oldes t friend.NASSER: 'Now with our c onc entrations in S inai the c hanc es of war are 50-50. If we c los e the S trai t of T iran, war wi l l be 100 per c ent. A re the armed forc es ready, Abdel Hakim (Amer)?'AMER: 'On my own head be i t, Bos s ! Everything's in tiptop s hape.'On 23 May, Nas s er c los ed the S trai ts of T iran, the s eaway to Is rael 's key port of E i lat. Syria mobi l ized for war. K ing Hus s ein reviewed his forc es . Rabin and the generals advis ed Es hkol to launc h a pre-emptive s trike agains t Egypt or fac e annihi lation. But Es hkol refus ed unti l he had exhaus ted al l pol i tic al

options : his foreign m inis ter Abba Eban c arried out pains taking diplomac y to prevent war - or win s upport i f i t c ame. Yet Rabin was tormented by gui l t that he had not done enough to s ave Is rael : 'I had the feel ing, rightly or wrongly, that I had to c arry everything on my own. I had s unk into a profound c ris is . I had eatenalmos t nothing for almos t nine days , hadn't s lept, was s moking nons top and was phys ic al ly exhaus ted.'

W ith i ts dri fting prime m inis ter, i ts c hief of s taff under s edation, i ts generals on the verge of mutiny and the nation i ts el f in panic , there was nothing fake about Is rael 's trauma. In W as hington, P res ident L. B . J ohns on refus ed to bac k any Is rael i s trike; in Mos c ow, P remier A lexei Kos ygin s trongly advis ed Nas s erto pul l bac k from war. In Cairo, Field Mars hal Amer, boas ting that 'T his time we'l l be the ones to s tart the war,' prepared to attac k the Negev. J us t in time, Nas s er ordered Amer to hold bac k.

In Amman, K ing Hus s ein fel t he had l i ttle c hoic e but to join Nas s er: i f Egypt attac ked, he had to s upport his A rab brother; otherwis e, i f Egypt los t, he would be regarded as a trai tor. On 30 May, Hus s ein, wearing a field mars hal 's uni form and pac king a .357 Magnum, pi loted his own plane to Cairo where he wasmet by Nas s er. 'S inc e your vis i t is a s ec ret,' s aid Nas s er, towering over the dim inutive king, 'what would happen i f we arres ted you?' 'T he pos s ibi l i ty never c ros s ed my m ind,' repl ied Hus s ein, who agreed to plac e his 56,000-s trong army under the Egyptian General Riyad. 'A l l the A rab arm ies now s urround Is rael ,'dec lared the king. Is rael fac ed war on three fronts . On 28 May, Es hkol had given a rambl ing radio addres s that only intens i fied Is rael i anxiety. In J erus alem, bomb s hel ters were dug, air-raid dri l ls prac tis ed. T he Is rael is feared annihi lation, another Holoc aus t. Eban had exhaus ted diplomac y and the generals , thepol i tic ians and the publ ic had los t c onfidenc e in Es hkol . He was forc ed to c al l in Is rael 's mos t res pec ted s oldier.

DAYAN TAKES COMMAND

On 1 J une, Mos he Dayan was s worn in as defenc e m inis ter and Menac hem Begin als o joined the new National Government as m inis ter wi thout portfol io. Dayan, who always wore his trademark blac k eyepatc h, was a dis c iple of Ben-Gurion and des pis ed Es hkol , who privately nic knamed him Abu J i ldi after a s l ipperyone-eyed A rab bandi t.

W ingate's pupi l , c hief of s taff during the Suez war and now an MP, Dayan was a c ontradic tion - an arc haeologis t and looter of artefac ts , an avenging wielder of m i l i tary m ight and a bel iever in tolerant c oexis tenc e, a vanquis her of the A rabs and a lover of A rab c ul ture. He was 's upremely intel l igent,' rec al ls hisfriend Shimon Peres , 'his m ind was bri l l iant and he never s aid a fool is h thing'. His fel low general A riel Sharon thought Dayan 'would wake up with a hundred ideas . Of them ninety-five were dangerous ; three more were bad; the remaining two however were bri l l iant.' He 'depis ed mos t people', rec al led Sharon, 'andtook no pains to c onc eal i t'. His c ri tic s c al led him 'a partis an and adventurer' and Dayan onc e admitted to Peres , 'Remember one thing: I am unrel iable.'

Dayan radiated the c haris ma of the new das hing J ew 'not bec aus e he fol lowed rules ,' s ays Peres , 'but bec aus e he dis c arded them with abi l i ty and c harm.' A c las s mate des c ribed him as 'a l iar, a braggart, a s c hemer, and a prima donna and in s pi te of that, the objec t of deep admiration'. He was a loner wi thoutfriends , an ins c rutable s howman and a priapic womanizer, whic h Ben-Gurion exc us ed bec aus e Dayan was 'c as t from bibl ic al material ' l ike K ing David - or Admiral Nels on: 'You have to get us ed to i t', he told Dayan's heartbroken wife, Ruth. 'Great men's private and publ ic l ives are often c onduc ted on paral lel planesthat never meet.'

As Eban reported that Americ a did not approve m i l i tary ac tion, but nor would i t move to prevent i t, Dayan s howed his c ool gras p of s trategy. He s tres s ed that Is rael had to s trike the Egyptians at onc e whi le avoiding any c onfrontation wi th J ordan. His J erus alem c ommander Uzi Narkis s c hal lenged him : what i fJ ordan attac ked Mount Sc opus ? 'In that c as e,' repl ied Dayan dri ly, 'bi te your l ip and hold the l ine! '

Nas s er already bel ieved he had won a bloodles s vic tory but the Egyptians c ontinued to plan their attac k in S inai . T he J ordanians , bac ked by an Iraqi brigade, drew up Operation Tariq to enc irc le J ewis h wes t J erus alem. T he A rab world, now fielding 500,000 men, 5,000 tanks and 900 planes , had never been s ouni ted. 'Our bas ic aim wi l l be the des truc tion of Is rael ,' s aid Nas s er. 'Our goal ', explained P res ident A ref of Iraq, 'is to wipe Is rael off the fac e of the map.' T he Is rael is fielded 275,000 men, 1,100 tanks and 200 planes .

A t 7.10 a.m. on 5 J une, Is rael i pi lots s urpris ed and wiped out the Egyptian air forc e. A t 8.15, Dayan ordered the Is rael i Defenc e Forc es into S inai . In J erus alem, General Narkis s wai ted nervous ly, fearful that the J ordanians would take the vulnerable Mount Sc opus and enc irc le the 197,000 J ews in wes tJ erus alem, but he was hoping that the J ordanians would make only a s ymbol ic c ontribution to the Egyptian war. J us t after 8 a.m ., the air-raid s i rens rang. T he Dead Sea Sc rol ls were s ec urely s tored. Res ervis ts were c al led up. T hree times , Is rael warned K ing Hus s ein, through the US S tate Department, the UN inJ erus alem and the B ri tis h Foreign Offic e, that 'Is rael wi l l not, repeat not, attac k J ordan i f J ordan maintains the quiet. But i f J ordan opens hos ti l i ties , Is rael wi l l res pond with al l i ts m ight.'

'Your Majes ty, the Is rael i offens ive has begun in Egypt,' K ing Hus s ein's aide-de-c amp informed him at 8.50 a.m. Telephoning headquarters , Hus s ein learned that Field Mars hal Amer had s mas hed Is rael i forc es and was s uc c es s ful ly c ounter-attac king. A t 9 a.m ., Hus s ein entered the headquarters to find that hisEgyptian general Riyad had ordered attac ks on Is rael i targets and the s eizure of Government Hous e in s outh J erus alem. Nas s er c al led to c onfi rm Egyptian vic tories and the des truc tion of the Is rael i ai r forc e.

A t 9.30, the s ombre king told his people: 'T he hour of revenge has c ome.'5-7 JUNE 1967: HUSSEIN, DAYAN AND RABIN

At 11.15 a.m., J ordanian arti l lery launc hed a 6,000-s hel l barrage agains t J ewis h J erus alem, hi tting the Knes s et and the prime m inis ter's hous e as wel l as the Hadas s ah Hos pi tal and the Churc h of Dorm ition on Mount Zion. Fol lowing Dayan's orders , the Is rael is res ponded only wi th s mal l arms . A t 11.30, Dayanordered a s trike agains t the J ordanian air forc e. W atc hing from the roof his palac e with his eldes t s on, the future K ing Abdul lah II, Hus s ein s aw his planes des troyed.

In J erus alem, Is rael offered a c eas efi re but the J ordanians were not interes ted. T he muezzin louds peakers on the Dome of the Roc k c ried, 'Take up your weapons and take bac k your c ountry s tolen by the J ews .' A t 12.45, the J ordanians oc c upied Government Hous e: i t happened to be the UN headquarters but i tdominated J erus alem. Dayan immediately ordered i t to be s tormed, and i t fel l after four hours ' fighting. T o the north, Is rael i mortars and arti l lery fi red on the J ordanians .

Dayan revered J erus alem, but he unders tood that i ts pol i tic al c omplexi ties c ould threaten Is rael 's very exis tenc e. W hen the Is rael i Cabinet debated whether to attac k the Old Ci ty or s imply s i lenc e the J ordanian guns , Dayan argued agains t the c onques t, anxious about the res pons ibi l i ties of governing theT emple Mount, but he was overruled. He delayed any ac tion unti l S inai was c onquered.

'T hat night was hel l ,' wrote Hus s ein. 'It was c lear as day. T he s ky and earth glowed with the l ight of roc kets and the explos ions of bombs pouring from Is rael i planes .' A t 2.10 a.m. on 6 J une, Is rael i paratroopers mus tered in three s quads , enc ouraged by General Narkis s to 'atone for the s in of '48' when he hims el fhad fought for the c i ty. T he fi rs t s quad c ros s ed no-man's -land towards Mandelbaum Gate to take Ammunition Hi l l - where A l lenby had s tored his ars enal - in a fierc e battle in whic h s eventy-one J ordanians and thirty-five Is rael is were ki l led. T he paratroopers advanc ed s wiftly through Sheikh J arrah pas t the Americ anColony towards the Roc kefel ler Mus eum, whic h fel l at 7.27.

T he king s ti l l held the c ommanding Augus ta V ic toria Hos pi tal between Mount Sc opus and the Mount of Ol ives , and he des perately tried to s ave the Old Ci ty by offering a c eas efi re, but i t was too late. Nas s er c al led to tel l Hus s ein that they s hould c laim that the US and B ri tain had defeated the A rabs , not jus tIs rael on i ts own.

Hus s ein s ped in a jeep down into the J ordan Val ley, where he enc ountered his troops retreating from the north. W ithin the Old Ci ty, the J ordanians , who had had their headquarters in the A rmenian Monas tery s inc e 1948, pos ted fi fty men at eac h of the gates and waited. T he Is rael is planned to c apture theAugus ta V ic toria, but their Sherman tanks took a wrong turn down into the K idron Val ley and were fierc ely attac ked from the Lions ' Gate, los ing five men and four tanks c los e to the Garden of Geths emane. T he Is rael is s hel tered in the s unken c ourtyard of the V irgin's T omb. T he Old Ci ty was s ti l l not s urrounded.

Dayan joined Narkis s on Mount Sc opus overlooking the Old Ci ty: 'W hat a divine view! ' s aid Dayan, but he refus ed to al low any attac k. However, at dawn on 7 J une, the UN Sec uri ty Counc i l prepared to order a c eas efi re. Menac hem Begin c al led Es hkol to enc ourage an urgent as s aul t on the Old Ci ty. Dayan wass uddenly in danger of running out of time. In the W ar Room, he ordered Rabin to take 'the mos t di ffic ul t and c oveted target of the war'.

Firs t the Is rael is bombarded the Augus ta V ic toria ridge, us ing napalm; the J ordanians fled. T hen Is rael i paratroopers took the Mount of Ol ives and moved down towards the Garden of Geths emane. 'W e oc c upy the heights overlooking the Old Ci ty,' the paratroop c ommander Colonel Motta Gur told his men. 'In al i ttle whi le we wi l l enter i t. T he anc ient c i ty of J erus alem whic h for generations we have dreamed of and s triven for - we'l l be the fi rs t to enter i t. T he J ewis h nation is awaiting our vic tory. Be proud. Good luc k! '

A t 9.45 a.m., the Is rael i Sherman tanks fi red at the Lions ' Gate, s mas hing the bus that was bloc king i t, and blew open the doors . Under raking J ordanian fi re, the Is rael is c harged the gate.28 T he paratroopers broke into the V ia Doloros a, and Colonel Gur led a group on to the Temple Mount. 'T here you are on ahal f-trac k after 2 days of fighting wi th s hots s ti l l fi l l ing the air, and s uddenly you enter this wide open s pac e that everyone has s een before in pic tures ,' wrote intel l igenc e offic er A rik Akhmon, 'and though I'm not rel igious , I don't think there was a man who was n't overwhelmed with emotion. Something s pec ial hadhappened.' T here was a s kirm is h with J ordanian troops before Gur announc ed over the radio: 'T he T emple Mount is in our hands ! '

Meanwhi le on Mount Zion, a c ompany of the J erus alem B rigade burs t through a portal in the Zion Gate into the A rmenian Quarter, hurtl ing down the s teep hi l l into the J ewis h Quarter, jus t as s oldiers of the s ame uni t broke through the Dung Gate. A l l headed for the W al l . Bac k on the Temple Mount, Gur and hisparatroopers did not know how to reac h i t, but an old A rab s howed them the Maghrebi Gate and al l three c ompanies c onverged s imultaneous ly on the holy plac e. Holding his shofar and a Torah, the bearded Rabbi Shlomo Goren, c hief c haplain of the Is rael i A rmy, s trode to the W al l and began to rec i te the Kaddis hmourning prayer as the s oldiers prayed, wept, applauded, danc ed and s ome s ang the c i ty's new anthem 'J erus alem of Gold'.

A t 2.30 p.m., Dayan, flanked by Rabin and Narkis s , entered the c i ty, pas s ing 's mouldering tanks ', and walking through 'al leys total ly des erted, an eerie s i lenc e broken by s niper fi re. I remembered my c hi ldhood,' s aid Rabin, and reported feel ing 's heer exc i tement as we got c los er' to the Kotel . As they proc eededac ros s the T emple Mount, Dayan s aw an Is rael i flag atop the Dome of the Roc k and 'I ordered i t removed immediately.' Rabin was 'breathles s ' as he watc hed the 'tangle of rugged battle-weary men, eyes mois t wi th tears ', but 'i t was no time for weeping - a moment of redemption, of hope'.

Rabbi Goren wanted to ac c elerate the mes s ianic era by dynamiting the mos ques on the T emple Mount, but General Narkis s repl ied: 'S top i t! ''You'l l enter the his tory books ,' s aid Rabbi Goren.'I've already rec orded my name in the his tory of J erus alem,' ans wered Narkis s .'T his was the peak of my l i fe,' rec al led Rabin. 'For years I had s ec retly harboured the dream that I m ight play a role in res toring the W es tern W al l to the J ewis h people. Now that dream had c ome true and s uddenly I wondered why I of al l men s hould be privi leged.' Rabin was granted the honour of naming the war:

always modes t and digni fied, gruff and lac onic , he c hos e the s imples t name: the S ix Day W ar. Nas s er had another name for i t - al -Naks a, the Revers al .Dayan wrote a note on a piec e of the paper - i t read 'May peac e des c end on the whole hous e of Is rael ' - whic h he plac ed between Herod's as hlars . He then dec lared, 'W e've reuni ted the c i ty, the c api tal of Is rael , never to part i t again.' But Dayan - always the Is rael i who mos t res pec ted, and was mos t res pec ted

by, the A rabs , who c al led him Abu Mus a (s on of Mos es ) - c ontinued, 'To our A rab neighbours , Is rael extends the hand of peac e and to al l peoples of al l fai ths , we guarantee ful l freedom of wors hip. W e've not c ome to c onquer the holy plac es of others but to l ive wi th others in harmony.' As he left he pluc ked 's omewi ld c yc lamen of a del ic ate pink mauve s prouting between the W al l and the Maghrebi Gate' to give to his long-s uffering wi fe.

Dayan thought hard about J erus alem and c reated his own pol ic y. Ten days later, he returned to al-Aqs a where, s i tting in his s oc ks with the s heikh of the Haram and the ulema , he explained that J erus alem now belonged to Is rael but the Waqf would c ontrol the Temple Mount. Even though, after 2,000 years ,J ews c ould now final ly vis i t the Har ha-Bayi t, he ruled that they were forbidden to pray there. Dayan's s tates manl ike dec is ion s tands today.

P res ident Nas s er res igned temporari ly but never rel inquis hed power and even forgave his friend Field Mars hal Amer. But the latter planned a c oup d'etat and, after his arres t, died mys terious ly in pris on. Nas s er ins is ted that 'A l-Quds c an never be rel inquis hed,' but he never rec overed from the defeat, dying of aheart attac k three years later. K ing Hus s ein later admitted that 5-10 J une 'were the wors t days of my l i fe'. He had los t hal f his terri tory - and the prize of J erus alem. P rivately, he wept for al -Quds : 'I c annot ac c ept that J erus alem is los t in my time.'29

EPILOGUE

Everybody has two c i ties , his own and J erus alem.T eddy Kol lek, interview

T hrough a his toric al c atas trophe, the des truc tion of J erus alem by the emperor of Rome - I was born in one of the c i ties of the Dias pora. But I always deemed mys el f a c hi ld of J erus alem.S . Y . Agnon, Nobel P rize ac c eptanc e s peec h 1966

T he J erus alem I was rais ed to love was the terres trial gateway to the divine world where J ewis h, Chris tian and Mus l im prophets , men of vis ion and a s ens e of humanity, met - i f only in the imagination.Sari Nus s eibeh, Onc e Upon a Country

O J erus alem, fragrant wi th prophetsT he s hortes t path between heaven and earth ...A beauti ful c hi ld wi th burned fingers and downc as t eyes ...O J erus alem, c i ty of s orrow,A tear l ingering in your eye ...W ho wi l l was h your bloody wal ls ?O J erus alem, my belovedT omorrow the lemon-trees wi l l blos s om; the ol ive-trees rejoic e; your eyes wi l l danc e; and the doves fly bac k to your s ac red towers .

Nizar Qabbani, J erus alemT he J ewis h people were bui ldingin J erus alem 3,000 years ago and the J ewis h people are bui ldingin J erus alem today. J erus alem 's not a s ettlement. It is our c api tal .

B inyamin Netanyahu, s peec h, 2010Onc e again the c entre of international s torms . Nei ther A thens nor Rome arous ed s o many pas s ions . W hen a J ew vis i ts J erus alem for the fi rs t time, i t's not the fi rs t time, i t's a homec oming.

E l ie W ies el , open letter to Barac k Obama, 2010MORNING IN JERUSALEM: FROM THEN UNTIL NOW

T he c onques t trans formed, elevated and c ompl ic ated J erus alem in a flas h of revelation that was s imultaneous ly mes s ianic and apoc alyptic , s trategic and national is tic . And this new vis ion i ts el f al tered Is rael , the Pales tinians and the Middle Eas t. A dec is ion that had been taken in panic , a c onques t that wasnever planned, a m i l i tary vic tory s tolen from the edge of c atas trophe, c hanged thos e who bel ieved, thos e who bel ieved nothing and thos e who c raved to bel ieve in s omething.

A t the time none of this was c lear but, in retros pec t, the pos s es s ion of J erus alem gradual ly c hanged Is rael 's rul ing s piri t, whic h was tradi tional ly s ec ular, s oc ial is t, modern, and i f the s tate had a rel igion i t was as muc h the his toric al s c ienc e of J udaean arc haeology as Orthodox J udais m.T he c apture of J erus alem elated even the mos t s ec ular J ews . T he c raving for Zion was s o deep, s o anc ient, s o ingrained in s ong, prayer and myth, the exc lus ion from the W al l s o longs tanding and s o painful , and the aura of hol ines s s o powerful that even the mos t i rrel igious J ews , ac ros s the world,

experienc ed a s ens ation of exhi laration that approac hed a rel igious experienc e and in the modern world was as c los e as they would ever c ome to one.For the rel igious J ews , the heirs of thos e who for thous ands of years , from Babylon to Cordoba and V i lna, had, as we have s een, expec ted imminent mes s ianic del ivery, this was a s ign, a del iveranc e, a redemption and the ful fi lment of the bibl ic al prophec ies , and the end of the Exi le and Return to the gates and

c ourts of the Temple in David's res tored c i ty. For the many Is rael is who embrac ed national is tic , m i l i tary Zionis m, the heirs of J abotins ky, this m i l i tary vic tory was pol i tic al and s trategic - the s ingular, God-given c hanc e to s ec ure a Greater Is rael wi th s afe borders . Rel igious and national is tic J ews al ike s hared thec onvic tion that they mus t energetic al ly embrac e the exc i ting m is s ion to rebui ld and forever keep the J ewis h J erus alem. During the 1970s , thes e battal ions of the mes s ianic and the maximal is t bec ame every bi t as dynamic as the majori ty of Is rael is , who remained s ec ular and l iberal and whos e c entre of l i fe wasT el Aviv, not the Holy Ci ty. But the national is t-redemptionis t programme was God's urgent work and this divine imperative would s oon al ter the phys iognomy and bloods tream of J erus alem.

It was not only J ews who were affec ted: the muc h more numerous and powerful Chris tian evangel ic als , es pec ial ly thos e of Americ a, als o experienc ed this ins tant of almos t apoc alyptic ec s tas y. Evangel ic als bel ieved that two of the prec ondi tions had been met for J udgement Day: Is rael was res tored andJ erus alem was J ewis h. A l l that remained was the rebui lding of the T hird Temple and s even years of tribulation, fol lowed by the battle of A rmageddon when S t Mic hael would appear on the Mount of Ol ives to fight the Anti -Chris t on the Temple Mount. T his would c ulm inate in the c onvers ion or des truc tion of theJ ews and the Sec ond Coming and T hous and Year Reign of J es us Chris t.

T he vic tory of the s mal l J ewis h democ rac y agains t the Soviet-armed legions of A rab des potis m c onvinc ed the United S tates that Is rael was i ts s pec ial friend in the mos t dangerous of neighbourhoods , i ts al ly in the s truggle agains t Communis t Rus s ia, Nas s eri te radic al is m and Is lam ic is t fundamental is m.Americ a and Is rael s hared more than that, for they were c ountries bui l t on an ideal of freedom touc hed by the divine: one was the new Zion, the 'c i ty on a hi l l ', the other the old Zion res tored. Americ an J ews were already avid s upporters but now Americ an evangel is ts bel ieved that Is rael had been bles s ed byP rovidenc e. Pol ls c ons is tently c laim that over 40 per c ent of Americ ans s ometime expec t the Sec ond Coming in J erus alem. However exaggerated this may be, Americ an Chris tian Zionis ts threw their weight behind J ewis h J erus alem, and Is rael was grateful even though the role of the J ews in their dooms days c enario was a tragic one.

Is rael is from wes t J erus alem, from al l Is rael and the breadth of the Dias pora, c rowded into the Old Ci ty to touc h the W al l and pray there. T he pos s es s ion of the c i ty was s o in toxic ating that giving her up bec ame henc eforth unbearable and unthinkable - and vas t res ourc es were now mobi l ized to make s uc h athing very di ffic ul t indeed. Even the pragmatic Ben-Gurion propos ed from his reti rement that Is rael s hould give up the W es t Bank and Gaza in return for peac e - but never J erus alem.

Is rael offic ial ly uni ted the c i ty's two halves , expanding the munic ipal borders to enc ompas s 267,800 c i tizens - 196,800 J ews and 71,000 A rabs . J erus alem bec ame larger than i t had ever been in i ts his tory. Sc arc ely before the gunbarrels had c ooled, the inhabi tants of the Maghrebi Quarter, founded by Saladin'ss on A fdal , were evac uated to new homes , their hous es demol is hed to open the s pac e before the W al l for the fi rs t time. A fter c enturies of c ramped, c onfined, haras s ed wors hip in a 9-foot-longal leyway, the airy, l ight s pac e of the new plaza at the paramount J ewis h s hrine was i ts el f a l iberation; J ews floc ked to praythere. T he di lapidated J ewis h Quarter was res tored, i ts dynamited s ynagogues rebui l t and res anc ti fied, i ts ravaged s quares and al leys repaved and embel l is hed, Orthodox rel igious s c hools - yes hivas - were c reated or repaired, al l in gleaming golden s tone.

Sc ienc e was c elebrated too: Is rael i arc haeologis ts s tarted to exc avate the uni ted c i ty. T he long W es tern W al l was divided between the rabbis , who c ontrol led the praying area to north of the Maghrebi Gate, and the arc haeologis ts , who c ould dig to the s outh. A round the W al l , in the Mus l im and J ewis h Quarters ,and in the City of David, they unc overed s uc h as tounding treas ures - Canaanite forti fic ations , J udaean s eals , Herodian foundations , Mac c abean and Byzantine wal ls , Roman s treets , Umayyad palac es , Ayyubid gates , Crus ader c hurc hes - that their s c ienti fic finds s eemed to fus e with the pol i tic al-rel igiousenthus ias m. T he s tones they unc overed - from the wal l of Hezekiah and Herod's as hlars tos s ed down by the Roman s oldiers to the pavingof Hadrian's Cardo - bec ame permanent dis plays in the res tored Old Ci ty.

T eddy Kol lek, the mayor of wes t J erus alem who was re-elec ted to run the uni ted c i ty for twenty-eight years , worked hard to reas s ure the A rabs , bec oming the fac e of the l iberal Is rael i ins tinc t to uni fy the c i ty under J ewis h rule but als o to res pec t A rab J erus alem.* As under the Mandate, the pros perous J erus alemattrac ted A rabs from the W es t Bank - their population doubled in ten years . Now the c onques t enc ouraged Is rael is of al l parties , but es pec ial ly national is ts and redemptionis t Zionis ts , to s ec ure the c onques t by c reating 'fac ts on the ground'; the bui lding of new J ewis h s uburbs around A rab eas t J erus alem beganimmediately.

A t fi rs t, A rab oppos i tion was muted; many Pales tinians worked in Is rael or wi th Is rael is , and, as a young boy vis i ting J erus alem, I remember days s pent wi th Pales tinian and Is rael i friends in their hous es in J erus alem and the W es t Bank, never real izing that this period of goodwi l l and m ixing would very s oonbec ome the exc eption to the rule. Abroad, things were di fferent. Yas s er A rafat and his Fatah took over the PLO in 1969. Fatah intens i fied i ts guerri l la attac ks on Is rael whi le another fac tion, the Marxis t-Leninis t Popular Front for the Liberation of Pales tine, pioneered the new s pec tac le of hi jac king aeroplanes as wel las embrac ing the more tradi tional ki l l ing of c ivi l ians .

T he Temple Mount, as Dayan had unders tood, brought wi th i t an awes ome res pons ibi l i ty. On 21 Augus t 1969, an Aus tral ian Chris tian, David Rohan, who s eems to have s uffered from the J erus alem Syndrome,* s et fi re to al-Aqs a Mos que to ac c elerate the Sec ond Coming. T he blaze des troyed Nur al-Din'sminbar plac ed there by Saladin, and kindled rumours of a J ewis h c ons pirac y to s eize the T emple Mount, whic h in turn unleas hed A rab riots .

In 'B lac k September' 1970, K ing Hus s ein defeated and expel led A rafat and the PLO, who had c hal lenged his c ontrol of J ordan. A rafat moved his headquarters to Lebanon and Fatah embarked on an international c ampaign of hi jac king and ki l l ing of c ivi l ians to bring the Pales tinian c aus e to the attention of theworld - this was c arnage as pol i tic al theatre. In 1972, Fatah gunmen, us ing 'B lac k September' as a front, murdered eleven Is rael i athletes at the Munic h Olympic s . In res pons e, Mos s ad, Is rael 's s ec ret s ervic e, hunted down the perpetrators ac ros s Europe.

On the Day of A tonement in Oc tober 1973, Nas s er's s uc c es s or, P res ident Anwar Sadat of Egypt, launc hed a s uc c es s ful s urpris e attac k, in c ol lus ion with Syria, agains t an overc onfident Is rael . T he A rabs s c ored early s uc c es s es , dis c redi tingdefenc e m inis ter Mos he Dayan who almos t los t his nerve after twodays of revers es . However, the Is rael is , s uppl ied by an Americ an airl i ft, ral l ied and the war made the name of General A riel Sharon who led the Is rael i c ounter-attac k ac ros s the Suez Canal. Soon afterwards , the A rab League pers uaded K ing Hus s ein to rec ognize the PLO as the s ole repres entative of thePales tinians .

In 1977, thi rty years after the bombing of the K ing David, Menac hem Begin and his Likud final ly s wept as ide the Labour party that had ruled s inc e 1948 and c ame to power wi th a national is t-mes s ianic programme for a Greater Is rael wi th J erus alem as i ts c api tal . Yet i t was Begin who, on 19 November,welc omed P res ident Sadat on his c ourageous fl ight to J erus alem. Sadat s tayed in the K ing David Hotel , prayed at al -Aqs a, vis i ted Yad Vas hem and offered peac e to the Knes s et. Hopes s oared. W ith the help of Mos he Dayan whom he had appointed foreign m inis ter, Begin res tored S inai to Egypt in return for apeac e treaty. Yet, unl ike Dayan who s oon res igned, Begin knew l i ttle of the A rab world, remaining the s on of the Pol is h s htetl , a hars h national is t wi th a Manic hean view of the J ewis h s truggle, an emotional attac hment to J udais m and a vis ion of bibl ic al Is rael . Negotiating wi th Sadat under the aegis of P res identJ immy Carter, Begin ins is ted 'J erus alem wi l l remain the eternal uni ted c api tal of Is rael and that is that', and the Knes s et voted a s im i lar formula into Is rael i law. Driven by the bul ldozer-l ike energy of his agric ul ture m inis ter, A riel Sharon, and determ ined 'to s ec ure J erus alem as permanent c api tal of the J ewis hpeople', Begin ac c elerated the bui lding of what Sharon c al led 'an outer ring of development around the A rab neighbourhoods ' to 'develop a greater J erus alem '.

In Apri l 1982, an Is rael i res ervis t named A lan Goodman s hot two A rabs in a rampage ac ros s the Temple Mount. T he mufti had c ons tantly warned that the J ews wanted to rebui ld the Temple on the s i te of al -Aqs a s o now A rabs wondered i f there real ly was s uc h a s ec ret plan. T he vas t majori ty of Is rael is andJ ews utterly rejec t any s uc h thing and mos t ul tra-Orthodox bel ieve that men s hould not meddle wi th God's work. T here are only about a thous and J ewis h fundamental is ts in groups , s uc h as the Temple Mount Fai thful , who demand the right to pray on the Temple Mount, or the Movement for the Es tabl is hment of theTemple, whic h c laims to be training a pries tly c as te for the T hird Temple. Only the tinies t fac tions within the mos t extreme c el ls of fanatic s have c ons pired to des troy the mos ques , but s o far, Is rael i pol ic e have foi led al l their plots . Suc h an outrage would be a c atas trophe not jus t for Mus l ims but for the S tate ofIs rael i ts el f.

In 1982, Begin res ponded to PLO attac ks on Is rael i diplomats and c ivi l ians by invadingLebanon where A rafat had bui l t up a fiefdom. A rafat and his forc es were forc ed out of Beirut, moving to T unis . T he war, mas term inded by defenc e m inis ter Sharon, bec ame a quagmire whic h c ulm inated in Chris tian m i l i tiasmas s ac ring between 300 and 700 Pales tinian c ivi l ians in the Sabra and Shati la c amps . Sharon, bearing in-direc t res pons ibi l i ty for the atroc i ty, was forc ed to res ign and Begin's c areer ended in depres s ion, res ignation and is olation.

T he rais ed hopes of 1977 were das hed by the intrans igenc e of both s ides , the ki l l ing of c ivi l ians , and the expans ion of J ewis h s ettlements in J erus alem and the W es t Bank. In 1981, the as s as s ination of Sadat, punis hment for his fl ight to J erus alem, by fundamental is ts , was an early s ign of a new power ris ingin Is lam. In Dec ember 1987 a s pontaneous Pales tinian revol t - the Inti fada, the Upris ing - broke out in Gaza and s pread to J erus alem. Is rael i pol ic e fought protes ters in pi tc hed battles on the Temple Mount. T he youths in the s treets of J erus alem s l inging s tones at uni formed Is rael i s oldiers replac ed the murderoushi jac kers of the PLO as the image of the pers ec uted but defiant Pales tinians .

T he energy of the Inti fada c reated a power vac uum that was fi l led by new leaders and ideas : the PLO el i te was out of touc h with the Pales tinian s treet, and fundamental is t Is lam was replac ing Nas s er's obs olete pan-A rabis m. In 1988, Is lam ic is t radic als founded the Is lam ic Res is tanc e Movement, Hamas , abranc h of the Egyptian Mus l im B rotherhood, whic h was dedic ated to the j ihad to des troy Is rael .

T he Inti fada als o al tered J ewis h J erus alem, admitted Kol lek, 'in a fundamental way' - i t des troyed the dream of a uni ted c i ty. Is rael is and A rabs c eas ed to work together; they no longer walked through eac h other's s uburbs . T he tens ion s pread not only between Mus l im and J ew but als o amongthe J ewsthems elves : the ul tra-Orthodox rioted agains t s ec ular J ews , who began to move out of J erus alem. T he old world of Chris tian J erus alem was s hrinking fas t: by 1995 there were only 14,100 Chris tians left. Yet the Is rael i national is ts did not deviate from their plan to J udaize J erus alem. Sharon provoc atively moved intoan apartment in the Mus l im Quarter and in 1991, rel igious ul tra-national is ts s tarted to s ettle in A rab S i lwan, next to the original Ci ty of David. Kol lek, who s aw his l i fe's work overwhelmed by aggres s ive redemptionis ts , denounc ed Sharon and thes e s ettlers for their 'mes s ianis m whic h has always been extremelyharmful to us in his tory'.

T he Inti fada led indirec tly to the Os lo peac e talks . In 1988, A rafat ac c epted the idea of a two-s tate s olution and renounc ed the armed s truggle to des troy Is rael . K ing Hus s ein gave up his c laim on J erus alem and the W es t Bank where A rafat planned to bui ld a Pales tinian s tate wi th al-Quds as i ts c api tal . In1992, Y i tzhak Rabin bec ame prime m inis ter and c rus hed the Inti fada; wi th his plains poken toughnes s , he pos s es s ed the only qual i ties Is rael is would trus t in a peac emaker. T he Americ ans had pres ided over abortive talks in Madrid but, unbeknown to mos t of the major players , there was another, s ec ret proc es sthat would bear frui t.

T his began with informal talks between Is rael i and Pales tinian ac ademic s . T here were meetings at the Americ an Colony whic h was regarded as neutral terri tory, in London and then in Os lo. T he talks were ini tial ly run without Rabin's knowledge by the foreign m inis ter Shimon Peres and his deputy Yos s i Bei l in.It was only in 1993 that they informed Rabin, who bac ked the talks . On 13 September, Rabin and Peres s igned the treaty wi th A rafat at the W hite Hous e, genial ly s upervis ed by P res ident Cl inton. T he W es t Bank and Gaza were partly handed over to a Pales tinian Authori ty whic h took over the old Hus s eini mans ion,Orient Hous e, as i ts J erus alem headquarters , run by the mos t res pec ted Pales tinian in the c i ty, Fais al al -Hus s eini , s on of the hero of 1948.* Rabin s igned a peac e treaty wi th K ing Hus s ein of J ordan and c onfi rmed his s pec ial Has hemite role as c us todian of the Is lam ic Sanc tuary in J erus alem whic h c ontinuestoday. Is rael i and Pales tinian arc haeologis ts negotiated their own ac ademic vers ion of the peac e and enthus ias tic al ly s tarted to work together for the fi rs t time.

T he c onundrum of J erus alem was s et as ide unti l later in the negotiations and Rabin intens i fied the bui ldingof s ettlements in J erus alem before any agreement. Bei l in and A rafat's deputy Mahmoud Abbas negotiated to divide J erus alem between A rab and J ewis h areas under a uni ted munic ipal i ty and to give theOld Ci ty a 's pec ial s tatus ,' almos t l ike a Middle Eas tern Vatic an City - but nothing was s igned.

T he Os lo Ac c ords perhaps left too muc h detai l undec ided and were violently oppos ed on both s ides . Mayor Kol lek, aged eighty-two, was defeated in elec tions by the more hardl ine Ehud Olmert, bac ked by national is ts and ul tra-Orthodox. On 4 November, 1995, jus t four days after Bei l in and Abbas had c ome toan informal unders tandingon J erus alem, Rabin was as s as s inated by a J ewis h fanatic . Born in J erus alem, Rabin returned there to be buried on Mount Herzl . K ing Hus s ein del ivered a eulogy; the Americ an pres ident and two of his predec es s ors attended. P res ident Mubarak of Egypt vis i ted for the fi rs t time, and theP rinc e of W ales made the only formal royal vis i t to J erus alem s inc e the foundation of Is rael .

T he peac e began to fal l apart. T he Is lam ic fundamental is ts of Hamas launc hed a c ampaign of s uic ide bombings that wrought random c arnage on Is rael i c ivi l ians : an A rab s uic ide bomber ki l led twenty-five people on a J erus alem bus . A week later another s uic ide bomber ki l led eighteen on the s ame bus route.Is rael i voters punis hed P rime Minis ter Peres for the Pales tinian violenc e, ins tead elec ting B inyamin Netanyahu, leader of Likud, on the s logan: 'Peres wi l l divide J erus alem.' Netanyahu ques tioned the princ iple of land-for-peac e, oppos ed any divis ion of J erus alem and c ommis s ioned more s ettlements .

In September 1996, Netanyahu opened a tunnel that ran from the W al l alongs ide the Temple Mount to emerge in the Mus l im Quarter. + W hen s ome Is rael i radic als tried to exc avate upwards towards the Temple Mount, the Is lam ic authori ties of the W aqf quic kly c emented up the hole. Rumours s pread that thetunnels were an attempt to underm ine the Is lam ic Sanc tuary and s eventy-five were ki l led and 1,500 wounded in riots that proved that arc haeology is worth dying for in J erus alem. It was not only the Is rael is who pol i tic ized their arc haeology: his tory was paramount. T he PLO banned Pales tinian his torians fromadmitting there had ever been a J ewis h Temple in J erus alem - and this order c ame from A rafat hims el f: he was a s ec ular guerri l la leader but as wi th the Is rael is , even the s ec ular national narrative was underpinned by the rel igious one. In 1948, A rafat had fought wi th the Mus l im B rotherhood - their forc es werec al led the A l-J ihad al-Muqadas , J erus alem Holy W ar - and he embrac ed the Is lam ic s igni fic anc e of the c i ty: he c al led Fatah's armed wing the Aqs a Martyrs B rigade. A rafat's aides admitted J erus alem was his 'pers onal obs es s ion'. He identi fied hims el f wi th Saladin and Omar the Great, and denied any J ewis hc onnec tion to J erus alem. 'T he greater the J ewis h pres s ure on the T emple Mount,' s ays Pales tinian his torian Dr Nazmi J ubeh, 'the greater the denial of the Firs t and Sec ond T emples .'

In the tens e days after the T unnel riots and am id rumours of plans to open a s ynagogue in the S tables of Solomon, the Is rael is al lowed the W aqf to c lear the anc ient hal ls under al-Aqs a and then us e bul ldozers to diga s tairway and bui ld a new, c apac ious s ubterranean mos que, the Marwan, in the hal lways ofHerod. T he debris was s imply thrown away. Is rael i arc haeologis ts were aghas t at the c rude bul ldozing of the mos t del ic ate s i te on earth: arc haeology was the los er in the battle of rel igions and pol i tic s .*

Is rael is had not qui te los t their fai th in peac e. A t the pres idential retreat of Camp David, Cl inton brought together the new prime m inis ter Ehud Barak and A rafat in J uly 2000. Barak boldly offered a 'final ' deal : 91 per c ent of the W es t Bank with the Pales tinian c api tal in Abu Dis and al l the A rab s uburbs of eas tJ erus alem. T he Old Ci ty would remain under Is rael i s overeignty but the Mus l im and Chris tian Quarters and the Temple Mount would be under Pales tinian 's overeign c us todians hip'. T he earth and tunnels beneath the Sanc tuary - above al l the Foundation S tone of the Temple - would remain Is rael i and for the fi rs ttime, J ews would be al lowed to pray in l im i ted numbers s omewhere on the Temple Mount. T he Old Ci ty would be jointly patrol led but demil i tarized and open to al l . A lready offered hal f the Old Ci ty's quarters , A rafat demanded the A rmenian Quarter. Is rael agreed, effec tively offering three-quarters of the Old Ci ty.Des pi te Saudi pres s ure to ac c ept, A rafat fel t he c ould nei ther negotiate a final s ettlement of the Pales tinians ' right of return nor approve Is rael i s overeignty over the Dome whic h belonged to al l Is lam.

'Do you want to attend my funeral?' he exc laimed to Cl inton. 'I won't rel inquis h J erus alem and the Holy P lac es .' But his rejec tion was muc h more fundamental : during the talks , A rafat s hoc ked the Americ ans and Is rael is when he ins is ted that J erus alem had never been the s i te of the J ewis h Temple, whic h hadin fac t exis ted only on the Samari tan Mount Gerizim . T he c i ty's hol ines s for J ews was a modern invention. In talks later that year in the las t weeks of Cl inton's pres idenc y, Is rael offered ful l s overeignty on the T emple Mount keeping only a s ymbol ic l ink to the Holy of Hol ies beneath, but A rafat rejec ted this .

On 28 September 2000, Sharon, leader of the Likud oppos i tion, added to Barak's problems by s waggering on to the Temple Mount, guarded by phalanxes of Is rael i pol ic e, wi th a 'mes s age of peac e' that c learly menac ed Is lam 's beloved Aqs a and Dome. T he res ul ting riots es c alated into the Aqs a Inti fada, partlyanother s tone-throwing ins urgenc y and partly a pre-planned c ampaign of s uic ide bombings aimed by Fatah and Hamas at Is rael i c ivi l ians . If the fi rs t Inti fada had helped the Pales tinians , this one des troyed Is rael i trus t in the peac e proc es s , led to the elec tion of Sharon, and fatal ly s pl i t the Pales tinians thems elves .

Sharon s uppres s ed the Inti fada by s mas hing the Pales tinian Authori ty, bes ieging and humil iating A rafat. He died in 2004 and the Is rael is refus ed to al low his burial on the Temple Mount. His s uc c es s or Abbas los t the 2006 elec tions to Hamas . A fter a s hort c onfl ic t, Hamas s eized Gaza whi le Abbas 's Fatahc ontinued to rule the W es t Bank. Sharon bui l t a s ec uri ty wal l through J erus alem, a depres s ing c onc rete eyes ore whic h did, however, s uc c eed in s topping the s uic ide bombings .

T he s eeds of peac e not only fel l on s tony ground but pois oned i t too; the peac e dis c redi ted i ts makers . J erus alem today l ives in a s tate of s c hizophrenic anxiety. J ews and A rabs dare not venture into eac h other's neighbourhoods ; s ec ular J ews avoid ul tra-Orthodox who s tone them for not res ting on the Sabbathor for wearing dis res pec tful c lothing; mes s ianic J ews tes t pol ic e res olve and teas e Mus l im anxiety by attempting to pray on the Temple Mount; and the Chris tian s ec ts keep brawl ing. T he fac es of J erus alem ites are tens e, their voic es are angry and one feels that everyone, even thos e of al l three fai ths who arec onvinc ed that they are ful fi l l ing a divine plan, is uns ure of what tomorrow wi l l bring.

TOMORROW

Here, more than anywhere els e on earth, we c rave, we hope and we s earc h for any drop of the el ixi r of toleranc e, s haring and generos i ty to ac t as the antidote to the ars enic of prejudic e, exc lus ivi ty and pos s es ivenes s . It is not always eas y to find. In 2010, J erus alem has not been s o large, s o embel l is hed, nor hass he been s o overwhelm ingly J ewis h for two m i l lennia. Yet s he is als o the mos t populous Pales tinian c i ty.* Sometimes her very J ewis hnes s is pres ented as s omehow s ynthetic and agains t the grain of J erus alem, but this is a dis tortion of the c i ty's pas t and pres ent.

J erus alem 's his tory is a c hronic le of s ettlers , c olonis ts and pi lgrims , who have inc luded A rabs , J ews and many others , in a plac e that has grown and c ontrac ted many times . During more than a m i l lennium of Is lam ic rule, J erus alem was repeatedly c olonized by Is lam ic s ettlers , s c holars , Sufis and pi lgrimswho were A rabs , T urks , Indians , Sudanes e, Iranians , Kurds , Iraqis and Maghrebis , as wel l as Chris tian A rmenians Serbs , Georgians and Rus s ians - not s o di fferent from the Sephardic and Rus s ian J ews who later s ettled there for s im i lar reas ons . It was this c harac ter that c onvinc ed Lawrenc e of A rabia thatJ erus alem was more a Levantine c i ty than an A rab one, and this is utterly intrins ic to the c i ty's c harac ter.

It is often forgotten that al l the s uburbs of J erus alem outs ide the wal ls were new s ettlements bui l t between 1860 and 1948 by A rabs as wel l as J ews and Europeans . T he A rab areas , s uc h as Sheikh J arrah, are no older than the J ewis h ones , and no more, or les s , legi timate.Both Mus l ims and J ews have unimpeac hable his toric al c laims . J ews have the s ame right to l ive in, and s ettle around, an equi table J erus alem as A rabs do. T here are times when even the mos t harm les s J ewis h res toration is pres ented as i l legi timate: in 2010, the Is rael is final ly c ons ec rated the res tored Hurva

Synagogue in the J ewis h Quarter, whic h had been demol is hed by the J ordanians in 1948, yet this provoked European media c ri tic is m and m inor riots in eas tern J erus alem.However, i t is a very di fferent matter when the exis ting A rab inhabi tants find thems elves removed, c oerc ed and haras s ed, their property expropriated with dubious legal rul ings to make way for new J ewis h s ettlements , bac ked by the ful l power of s tate and mayoral ty, and fierc ely promoted by people wi th the urgent

determ ination of thos e on a divine m is s ion. T he aggres s ive bui lding of s ettlements , des igned to c olonize A rab neighbourhoods and s abotage any peac e deal to s hare the c i ty, and the s ys tematic neglec t of s ervic es and new hous ing in A rab areas , have given even the mos t innoc ent J ewis h projec ts a bad name.Is rael fac es two paths - the J erus alem ite, rel igious -national is t s tate vers us a l iberal , wes ternized Tel Aviv whic h is nic knamed 'the Bubble'. T here is a danger that the national is tic projec t in J erus alem, and the obs es s ive s ettlement-bui lding on the W es t Bank, may s o dis tort Is rael 's own interes ts that they do

more harm to Is rael i ts el f than any benefi t they may bring to J ewis h J erus alem.* T hey c ertainly underm ine Is rael 's role, uniquely impres s ive by his toric al s tandards , as guardian of a J erus alem for al l fai ths . 'Today for the fi rs t time in his tory, J ews , Chris tians and Mus l ims al l may freely wors hip at their s hrines ,' thewri ter E l ie W ies el wrote in an open letter to US P res ident Obama in 2010 and, under Is rael 's democ rac y, this is theoretic al ly true.

It is c ertainly the fi rs t time J ews have been able to wors hip freely there s inc e AD 70. Under Chris tian rule, J ews were forbidden even to approac h the c i ty. During the Is lam ic c enturies , Chris tians and J ews were tolerated as dhimmi but frequently repres s ed. T he J ews , who lac ked the protec tion of the Europeanpowers enjoyed by the Chris tians , were often treated badly - though never as badly as they were treated in Chris tian Europe at i ts wors t. J ews c ould be ki l led for approac hing the Is lam ic or Chris tian holy plac es - but anyone c ould drive a donkey through the pas s ageway next to the W al l , whic h tec hnic al ly they c ouldonly attend with a perm it. Even in the twentieth c entury, J ewis h ac c es s to the W al l was s everely res tric ted by the B ri tis h and total ly banned by the J ordanians . However, thanks to what Is rael is c al led 'the S i tuation', W ies el 's c laim about freedom of wors hip is s c arc ely true for non-J ews who endure a multi tude ofbureauc ratic haras s ments s uc h as a regime of obs truc tive res idenc e perm its . Is rael i pol ic e are c ons tantly tightening their c ontrol of the gates of the T emple Mount whi le the s ec uri ty wal l makes i t harder for W es t Bank Pales tinians to reac h J erus alem to pray at the Churc h or Aqs a.

W hen they are not in c onfl ic t, J ews , Mus l ims and Chris tians return to the anc ient J erus alem tradi tion of os tric his m - burying their heads in the s and and pretending T he Others do not exis t. In September 2008, the overlapping of J ewis h Holy Days and Ramadan c reated a 'monotheis tic traffic jam ' in theal leyways as J ews and A rabs c ame to pray at Sanc tuary and W al l but 'i t would be wrongto c al l thes e tens e enc ounters bec aus e there are es s ential ly no enc ounters at al l ,' reported E than B ronner in the New York Times . 'W ords are not exc hanged; [they] look pas t one another. Like paral lel univers es with di fferentnames for every plac e and monument they both c laim as their own, the groups pas s in the night.'

By the bi le-s pattered s tandards of J erus alem, this os tric his m is a s ign of normal i ty - partic ularly s inc e the c i ty has never been s o global ly important. Today J erus alem is the c oc kpi t of the Middle Eas t, the battlefield of W es tern s ec ularis m vers us Is lam ic fundamental is m, not to s peak of the s truggle betweenIs rael and Pales tine. New Yorkers , Londoners and Paris ians feel they l ive in an atheis tic , s ec ular world in whic h organized rel igion, and i ts bel ievers , are at bes t gently moc ked, yet the numbers of fundamental is t m i l lenarian Abrahamic bel ievers - Chris tian, J ewis h and Mus l im - are inc reas ing.

J erus alem 's apoc alyptic and pol i tic al roles bec ome ever more fraught. Americ a's exuberant democ rac y is rauc ous ly divers e and s ec ular yet i t is s imultaneous ly the las t and the probably the greates t ever Chris tian power - and i ts evangel ic als c ontinue to look to the End Days in J erus alem, jus t as USgovernments s ee a c alm J erus alem as key to any Middle Eas tern peac e and s trategic al ly vi tal for relations with their A rab al l ies . Meanwhi le Is rael 's rule over al-Quds has intens i fied Mus l im reverenc e: on Iran's annual J erus alem Day, inaugurated by Ayatol lah Khomeini in 1979, the c i ty is pres ented as more than anIs lam ic s hrine and Pales tinian c api tal . In Tehran's bid for regional hegemony bac ked by nuc lear weapons , and i ts c old war wi th Americ a, J erus alem is a c aus e that c onveniently uni tes Iranian Shi i tes wi th Sunni A rabs s c eptic al of the ambitions of the Is lam ic Republ ic . W hether for Shi i te Hezbol lah in Lebanon orSunni Hamas in Gaza, the c i ty now s erves as the ral lying totem of anti -Zionis m, anti -Americ anis m and Iranian leaders hip. 'T he Oc c upation Regime over J erus alem,' s ays P res ident Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, 's hould vanis h from the page of his tory.' And Ahmadinejad too is a m i l lenarian who bel ieves that theimminent return of the 'righteous , perfec t human A l-Madhi the Chos en', the 'oc c ul ted' T welth Imam, wi l l l iberate J erus alem, the s etting for what the Koran c al ls 'T he Hour'.

T his es c hatologic al-pol i tic al intens i ty plac es twenty-fi rs t-c entury J erus alem, Chos en City of the three fai ths , in the c ros s hairs of al l thes e c onfl ic ts and vis ions . J erus alem 's apoc alyptic role may be exaggerated but this unique c ombination of power, fai th and fas hion, al l played out under the hothous e glare oftwenty-four-hour T V news , heaps the pres s ure on to the del ic ate s tones of the Univers al Ci ty, again, in s ome ways , the c entre of the world.

'J erus alem is a tinderbox that c ould go off at any time,' warned K ing Abdul lah II of J ordan, great-grands on of Abdul lah the Has ty, in 2010. 'A l l roads in our part of the world, al l the c onfl ic ts , lead to J erus alem.' T his is the reas on that Americ an pres idents need to bring the s ides together even at the mos tinaus pic ious moments . T he peac e-party in Is rael i democ rac y is in ec l ips e, i ts fragi le governments dominated by overm ighty rel igious -national is t parties whi le there is no s ingle Pales tinian enti ty, no s table, democ ratic interloc utor. If Fatah's W es t Bank is inc reas ingly pros perous , the mos t dynamic Pales tinianorganization is the fundamental is t Hamas , whic h rules Gaza and remains dedic ated to Is rael 's annihi lation. It embrac es s uic ide bombings as i ts weapon of c hoic e and periodic al ly fi res m is s i les onto s outhern Is rael , provoking Is rael i inc urs ions . Europeans and Americ ans regard i t as a terroris t organization and s ofar c onc i l iatory s ignals of a wi l l ingnes s to s upport a s ettlement bas ed on 1967 borders have been m ixed.

T he his tory of the negotiations s inc e 1993, and the di fferenc e in s piri t between noble words and dis trus tful , violent ac ts , s ugges t unwi l l ingnes s on both s ides to make the nec es s ary c ompromis es to s hare J erus alem permanently. A t the bes t of times , the rec onc i l iation of the c eles tial , national and emotional inJ erus alem is a labyrinthine puzzle: during the twentieth c entury, there were over forty plans for J erus alem whic h al l fai led, and today there are at leas t thi rteen di fferent models jus t for s haring the T emple Mount.

In 2010, P res ident Obama forc ed Netanyahu, bac k in power in c oal i tion wi th Barak, to freeze J erus alem s ettlement-bui lding temporari ly. A t the c os t of the bi tteres t moment in US-Is rael i relations , Obama at leas t got the two s ides to talk again, though progres s was glac ial and s hort-l ived.Is rael has often been diplomatic al ly rigid and ris ked i ts own s ec uri ty and reputation by bui lding s ettlements , but the latter are negotiable. T he problem on the other s ide s eems equal ly fundamental . Under Rabin, Barak and Olmert, Is rael offered to s hare J erus alem, inc luding the Old Ci ty. Des pi te exas perating

negotiations during two dec ades of peac e talks up to 2010, the Pales tinians have never yet agreed to s hare the c i ty.J erus alem may c ontinue for dec ades in i ts pres ent s tate, but whenever, i f ever, a peac e is s igned, there wi l l be two s tates , whic h is es s ential for the s urvival of Is rael and jus tic e for the Pales tinians . T he s hape of a Pales tinian s tate and a s hared J erus alem is known to both s ides . 'J erus alem wi l l be the c api tal

for both s tates , A rab s uburbs wi l l be Pales tinian, J ewis h s uburbs wi l l be Is rael i ,' s aid Is rael i P res ident Shimon Peres , arc hi tec t of the Os lo Ac c ords , who knows the pic ture as wel l as anyone. T he Is rael is wi l l get their twelve or s o s ettlements in eas tern J erus alem, fol lowing the parameters s et by Cl inton, but thePales tinians wi l l be c ompens ated with Is rael i land els ewhere, and Is rael i s ettlements wi l l be removed from mos t of the W es t Bank. So far s o s imple, 'but the c hal lenge,' explains Peres , 'is the Old Ci ty. W e mus t dis tinguis h between s overeignty and rel igion. Everyone would c ontrol their own s hrines but one c anhardly s l ic e the Old Ci ty into piec es .'

T he Old Ci ty would be a demil i tarized Vatic an, pol ic ed by joint A rab-Is rael i patrols or an international trus tee, perhaps even a J erus alem ite vers ion of the Vatic an's Swis s Guards . T he A rabs m ight not ac c ept Americ a, the Is rael is dis trus t the UN and the EU, s o perhaps the job c ould be done by NAT O withRus s ia, whic h is onc e again keen to play a role in J erus alem.* It is hard to international ize the Temple Mount i ts el f bec aus e no Is rael i pol i tic ian c ould total ly s urrender any c laim to the Foundation S tone of the Temple and l ive to tel l the tale, whi le no Is lam ic potentate c ould ac knowledge ful l Is rael i s overeignty overthe Noble Sanc tuary and s urvive. Bes ides , international or free c i ties , from Danzigto T ries te, have us ual ly ended badly.

T he Temple Mount is hard to divide. T he Haram and the Kotel , the Dome, the Aqs a and the W al l are al l part of the s ame s truc ture: 'no one c an monopol ize hol ines s ,' added Peres . 'J erus alem is more a flame than a c i ty and no one c an divide a flame.' Flame or not, s omeone has to hold the s overeignty, s o thevarious plans give the s urfac e to the Mus l ims and the tunnels and c is terns beneath (and therefore the Foundation S tone) to Is rael . T he m inute c omplexi ties of the twi l ight world of s ubterranean c averns , pipes and waterways there are breathtaking, i f pec ul iarly J erus alem ite: who owns the earth, who owns the land,who owns the heavens ?

No deal c an be agreed nor wi l l i t endure without s omething els e. Pol i tic al s overeignty c an be drawn on a map, expres s ed in legal agreements , enforc ed with M-16s but i t wi l l be futi le and meaningles s wi thout the his toric , mys tic al and emotional . 'T wo thirds of the A rab-Is rael i c onfl ic t is ps yc hology,' s aid Sadat.T he real c ondi tions for peac e are not jus t the detai ls of whic h Herodian c is tern wi l l be Pales tinian or Is rael i but the heartfel t intangibles of mutual trus t and res pec t. On both s ides , s ome elements deny the his tory of the Other. If this book has any m is s ion, I pas s ionately hope that i t m ight enc ourage eac h s ide torec ognize and res pec t the anc ient heri tage of the Other: A rafat's denial of J ewis h his tory in J erus alem was regarded as abs urd by his own his torians (who al l happi ly ac c ept that his tory in private), but none would ris k c ontradic ting him . Even in 2010, only the phi los opher Sari Nus s eibeh has had the c ourage to admitthat the Haram al-Shari f was the s i te of the J ewis h Temple. Is rael i s ettlement-bui lding underm ines A rab c onfidenc e and the prac tic al i ty a Pales tinian s tate. Yet Pales tinian denial of the anc ient J ewis h c laim is jus t as dis as trous to peac e-making. And this is before we reac h an even greater c hal lenge: eac h mus trec ognize the Other's s ac red modern narratives of tragedy and herois m. T his is a lot to as k s inc e both of thes e s tories s tars the Other as arc h-vi l lain - yet this too is pos s ible.

T his being J erus alem, one c ould eas i ly imagine the unthinkable: wi l l J erus alem even exis t five or forty years on? T here is always the pos s ibi l i ty that extrem is ts c ould des troy the Temple Mount at any moment, break the heart of the world and c onvinc e fundamental is ts of every pers uas ion that J udgement Day isnigh and the war of Chris t and Anti -Chris t is beginning.

Amos Oz, the J erus alem ite wri ter who now l ives in the Negev, offers this drol l s olution: 'W e s hould remove every s tone of the Holy S i tes and trans port them to Sc andinavia for a hundred years and not return them unti l everyone has learned to l ive together in J erus alem.' Sadly this is s l ightly imprac tic al .For 1,000 years , J erus alem was exc lus ively J ewis h; for about 400 years , Chris tian; for 1,300 years , Is lam ic ; and not one of the three fai ths ever gained J erus alem without the s word, the mangonel or the howitzer. T heir national is tic his tories tel l a rigid s tory of inevi table progres s ions to heroic triumphs and abrupt

dis as ters , but in this his tory I have tried to s how that nothing was inevi table, there were always c hoic es . T he fates and identi ties of J erus alem ites were rarely c lear c ut. Li fe in Herodian, Crus ader, or B ri tis h J erus alem was always jus t as c omplex and nuanc ed as l i fe is for us today.T here were quiet evolutions as wel l as dramatic revolutions . Sometimes i t was dynamite, s teel and blood that c hanged J erus alem, s ometimes i t was more the s low des c ent of generations , of s ongs s ung and pas s ed down, s tories told, poems rec i ted, s c ulptures c arved, and the blurred hal f-c ons c ious routines

of fam i l ies over many c enturies taking s mal l s teps down winding s tairways , quic k leaps over Neighbouring thres holds and the s moothing of rough s tones unti l they s hone.1

J erus alem, s o loveable in many ways , s o hate-fi l led in others , always bris tl ing wi th the hal lowed and the bras h, the prepos terous ly vulgar and the aes thetic al ly exquis i te, s eems to l ive more intens ely than anywhere els e; everything s tays the s ame yet nothing s tays s ti l l . A t dawn eac h day, the three s hrines of thethree fai ths c ome to l i fe in their own way.

THIS MORNING

At 4.30 a.m., Shmuel Rabinowitz, rabbi of the W es tern W al l and the Holy S i tes , wakes up to begin his dai ly ri tual of prayer, reading the Torah. He walks through the J ewis h Quarter to the W al l whic h never c los es , i ts c olos s al layers of Herodian as hlar s tones glowing in the darknes s . J ews pray there al l day and al lnight.

T he rabbi , forty years old and des c ended from Rus s ian immigrants who arrived in J erus alem s even generations ago, c omes from fam i l ies in the Gerer and Lubavi tc her c ourts . T he father of s even c hi ldren, bes pec tac led, bearded and blue-eyed, in blac k s ui t and s kul lc ap, proc eeds down through the J ewis hQuarter, whether i t is c old or hot, raining or s nowing, unti l he s ees Herod the Great's W al l ris ing up before him . Eac h time 'his heart s kips a beat' as he gets c los er to 'the bigges t s ynagogue in the world. T here's no earthly way to des c ribe the pers onal c onnec tion to thes e s tones . T hat is s piri tual .'

High above Herod's s tones is the Dome of the Roc k and al-Aqs a Mos que on what J ews c al l the Mountain of the Hous e of God, but 'there is room for al l of us ,' s ays the rabbi who fi rm ly rejec ts any enc roac hment on the Temple Mount. 'One day God may rebui ld the Temple - but i t is not for men to interfere. T his isonly a matter for God.'

As rabbi , he is in c harge of keeping the W al l c lean: the c rac ks between the s tones are fi l led wi th notes wri tten by wors hippers . T wic e a year - before Pas s over and Ros h Has hanah - the notes are c leared out; they are c ons idered s o s ac red, he buries them on the Mount of Ol ives .W hen he reac hes the W al l , the s un is ris ing and there are already around 700 J ews praying there, but he always finds the s ame prayer group -miny an - who s tand at the s ame s pot bes ide the W al l : 'It's important to have a ri tual s o that one c an c onc entrate on the prayers .' But he does not greet this miny an , he

may nod but there is no talking - 'the fi rs t words wi l l be for God' - whi le he wraps the tefi l l in around his arm. He rec i tes the morning prayers , the s hac hari t, whic h finis h: 'God bles s the nation with peac e.' Only then does he greet his friends properly. T he day at the W al l has s tarted.Shortly before 4 a.m., jus t as Rabbi Rabinowitz is ris ing in the J ewis h Quarter, a pebble s kims ac ros s the window of W ajeeh al-Nus s eibeh in Sheikh J arrah. W hen he opens his door, Aded al-J udeh, aged eighty, hands Nus s eibeh a heavy, medieval 12-inc h key. Nus s eibeh, now s ixty, s c ion of one of the

grandes t J erus alem Famil ies ,* al ready dres s ed in s ui t and tie, s ets off bris kly through the Damas c us Gate, down to the Churc h of the Holy Sepulc hre.Nus s eibeh, who has been the Cus todian of the Holy Sepulc hre for more than twenty-five years , arrives at 4.00 a.m. prec is ely and knoc ks on the towering anc ient doors s et in Mel is ende's Romanes que fac ade. Ins ide the Churc h, whic h he loc ked at 8 p.m . the night before, the s extons of the Greeks , Latins and

Armenians have already negotiated who is to open the doors that partic ular day. T he pries ts of the three reigning s ec ts have s pent the night in jovial c ompanions hip and ri tual prayer. A t 2 a.m . the dominant Orthodox, who are fi rs t in al l things , s tart their Mas s , wi th eight pries ts c hanting in Greek, around the Tomb,before they hand over to the A rmenians , for their badarak s ervic e in A rmenian whic h is jus t s tarting as the gates are opened; the Cathol ic s get their c hanc e at about 6 a.m . Meanwhi le al l the s ec ts are s inging their Matins s ervic es . Only one Copt is al lowed to s tay the night but he prays alone in anc ient CopticEgyptian.

As the gate opens , the E thiopians , in their rooftop monas tery and S t Mic hael 's Chapel, i ts entranc e jus t to the right of the main portal , s tart to c hant in Amharic , their s ervic es s o longthat they lean on the s hepherd's c rooks that are pi led up in their c hurc hes ready to s upport their weary wors hippers . By night, theChurc h res ounds to a euphonic hum of many languages and c hants l ike a s tone fores t in whic h many s pec ies of bi rd are s inging their own c horus es . T his is J erus alem and Nus s eibeh never knows what is going to happen: 'I know thous ands depend on me and I worry i f the key won't open or s omething goes wrong.I fi rs t opened i t when I was fi fteen and thought i t was fun but now I real ize i t's a s erious matter.' W hether there is war or peac e, he mus t open the door and s ays his father often s lept in the lobby of the Churc h jus t to be s ure.

Yet Nus s eibeh knows there is l ikely to be a pries tly brawl s everal times a year. Even in the twenty-fi rs t c entury, the pries ts veer between ac c idental c ourtes y, born of good manners and the tedium of long s epulc hral nights , and vis c eral his toric al res entment that c an explode any time but us ual ly at Eas ter. T heGreeks , who c ontrol mos t of the Churc h and are the mos t numerous , fight the Cathol ic s and A rmenians and us ual ly win the battles . T he Copts and E thiopians , des pi te their s hared Monophys i tis m, are es pec ial ly venomous : after the S ix Day W ar, the Is rael is in a rare intervention gave the Coptic S t Mic hael 's Chapelto the E thiopians , to punis h Nas s er's Egypt and s upport Hai le Selas s ie's E thiopia. In peac e negotiations , s upport for the Copts us ual ly features in Egyptian demands . T he Is rael i High Court dec ided that S t Mic hael 's belongs to the Copts though i t remains in the pos s es s ion of the E thiopians , a very J erus alem ites i tuation. In J uly 2002, when a Coptic pries t s unned hims el f near the E thiopians ' di lapidated rooftop eyrie, he was beaten with i ron bars as punis hment for the Copts ' mean treatment of their A fric an brethren. T he Copts rus hed to their pries t's aid: four Copts and s even E thiopians (who s eem to los e every brawl here)were hos pi tal ized.

In September 2004, at the Feas t of the Holy Cros s , the Greek patriarc h Ireneos as ked the Franc is c ans to c los e the door of the Chapel of the Appari tion. W hen they refus ed, he led his bodyguards and pries ts agains t the Latins . T he Is rael i pol ic e intervened but were attac ked by the pries ts who as advers aries areoften jus t as tough as Pales tinian s tone throwers . A t the Holy Fire in 2005, there was a punc h-up when the A rmenian s uperior almos t emerged with the flame ins tead of the Greeks .* T he pugi l is tic patriarc h Ireneos was final ly depos ed for s el l ing the Imperial Hotel at the J affa Gate to Is rael i s ettlers . Nus s eibehs hrugs weari ly: 'W el l , as brothers , they have their ups ets and I help s ettle them. W e're neutral l ike the United Nations keeping the peac e in this holy plac e.' Nus s eibeh and J udeh play c omplex roles at eac h Chris tian fes tival . A t the feveris h and c rowded Holy Fire, Nus s eibeh is the offic ial wi tnes s .

Now the s exton opens a s mal l hatc h in the right-hand door and hands through a ladder. Nus s eibeh takes the ladder and leans i t agains t the left-hand door. He unloc ks the lower loc k of the right door wi th his giant key before c l imbing the ladder and unloc king the top one. W hen he has c l imbed down, the pries tss wing open the immens e door before they open the left leaf thems elves . Ins ide, Nus s eibeh greets the pries ts : 'Peac e! '

'Peac e! ' they reply optim is tic al ly. T he Nus s eibehs and J udehs have been opening the Sepulc hre doors at leas t s inc e 1192 when Saladin appointed the J udehs as 'Cus todian of the Key' and the Nus s eibehs as 'Cus todian and Doorkeeper of the Churc h of the Holy Sepulc hre' (as s pec i fied on W ajeeh'sbus ines s -c ard). T he Nus s eibehs , who were als o appointed heredi tary c leaners of the Sakhra (the Roc k) in the Dome, c laim that Saladin was s imply res toring them to a pos i tion they had been granted by Cal iph Omar in 638. Unti l the A lbanian c onques t in the 1830s , they were extremely ric h but now they earn as c anty l iving as tour guides .

Yet the two fam i l ies exis t in vigi lant rivalry. 'T he Nus s eibehs have nothing to do with us ,' s ays the oc togenarian J udeh, who has held the key for twenty-two years , 'they are merely, jus t doorkeepers ! ' Nus s eibeh ins is ts 'the J udehs aren't al lowed to touc h the door or the loc k,' s ugges ting that Is lam ic rivalries arejus t as vivid as thos e among the Chris tians . W ajeeh's s on, Obadah, a pers onal trainer, is his heir.

Nus s eibeh and J udeh s pend s ome of the day s i tting in the lobby as their anc es tors have for eight c enturies - but they are never there at the s ame time. 'I know every s tone here, i t's l ike home,' mus es Nus s eibeh. He reveres the Churc h: 'W e Mus l ims bel ieve Muhammad, J es us and Mos es are prophets and Mary isvery holy s o this is a s pec ial plac e for us too.' If he wis hes to pray, he c an pop next door to the neighbouring mos que, bui l t to overawe the Chris tians , or walk the five m inutes to al-Aqs a.

A t prec is ely the s ame time as the Rabbi of the W al l is waking up and Cus todian Nus s eibeh hears the pebble on the window announc ing the del ivery of the Sepulc hre key, Adeb al-Ans ari , forty-two years old, a father of five in a blac k leather jac ket, is c oming out of his Mamluk hous e, owned by his fam i ly w aqf, inthe Mus l im Quarter and s tarting the five-m inute walk down the s treet, up to the north-eas tern Bab al-Ghawanmeh. He pas s es through the c hec kpoint of blue-c lad Is rael i pol ic e, i ronic al ly often Druze or Gal i lean A rabs c harged with keeping out J ews , to enter the Haram al-Shari f.

T he s ac red es planade is already elec tric al ly i l lum inated but i t us ed to take his father two hours to l ight al l the lanterns . Ans ari greets the Haram s ec uri ty and begins to open the four main gates of the Dome of the Roc k and the ten gates of al -Aqs a. T his takes an hour.T he Ans aris , who trac e their fam i ly bac k to the Ans aris who emigrated with Muhammad to Medina, c laim that they were appointed Cus todians of the Haram by Omar but they were c ertainly c onfi rmed in the pos t by Saladin. (T he blac k s heep of the fam i ly was the Sheikh of the Haram, bribed by Monty Parker.)T he mos que is open one hour before the dawn prayer. Ans ari does not open the gates every dawn - he has a team now - but before he s uc c eeded as heredi tary Cus todian, he ful fi l led this duty every morning and with pride: 'It's fi rs tly jus t a job, then i t's a fam i ly profes s ion, and an enormous res pons ibi l i ty, but

above al l , i t's noble and s ac red work. But i t is not paid wel l . I als o work on the front des k of a hotel on the Mount of Ol ives .'T he heredi tary pos ts are gradual ly dis appearing on the Haram. T he Shihabis , another one of the Famil ies , des c ended from Lebanes e princ es , who l ive in their own fam i ly w aqf c los e to the Li ttle W al l , us ed to be Cus todians of the P rophet's Beard. T he beard and job have dis appeared yet the pul l of this plac e

is magnetic : the Shihabis s ti l l work on the Haram.J us t as the rabbi walks down to the W al l , jus t as Nus s eibeh is tapping on the doors of the Churc h, jus t as Ans ari opens the gates of the Haram, Naj i Qazaz is leaving the hous e on Bab al-Hadid S treet that his fam i ly have owned for 225 years , to walk the few yards alongthe old Mamluk s treets up the s teps

through the Iron Gate and on to the Haram. He proc eeds direc tly into al-Aqs a, where he enters a s mal l room equipped with a m ic rophone and bottles of m ineral water. Unti l 1960, the Qazaz fam i ly us ed the m inaret but now they us e this room to prepare l ike athletes for the c al l . For twenty m inutes , Qazaz s i ts ands tretc hes , an athlete of hol ines s , he then breathes and gargles the water. He c hec ks that the m ic rophone is on and when the c loc k on the wal l s hows i t is time, he fac es the qibla and s tarts to c hant the adhan that reverberates ac ros s the Old Ci ty.

T he Qazaz have been the muezzins at al -Aqs a for 500 years s inc e the reign of Mamluk Sul tan Qaitbay. Naj i , who has been muezzin for thi rty years , s hares his duties wi th his s on Firaz and two c ous ins .It is now one hour before dawn on a day in J erus alem. T he Dome of the Roc k is open: Mus l ims are praying. T he W al l is always open: the J ews are praying. T he Churc h of the Holy Sepulc hre is open: the Chris tians are praying in s everal languages . T he s un is ris ing over J erus alem, i ts rays making the l ight

Herodian s tones of the W al l almos t s nowy - jus t as J os ephus des c ribed i t two thous and years ago - and then c atc hing the glorious gold of the Dome of the Roc k that gl ints bac k at the s un. T he divine es planade where Heaven and Earth meet, where God meets man, is s ti l l in a realm beyond human c artography.Only the rays of the s un c an do i t and final ly the l ight fal ls on the mos t exquis i te and mys terious edi fic e in J erus alem. Bathing and glowing in the s unl ight, i t earns i ts auric name. But T he Golden Gate remains loc ked, unti l the c oming of the Las t Days .2

THE MACCABEES: KINGS AND HIGH PRIESTS 160 BC-37 BC

Rulers are in c api tals ; dates refer to the dates of their reigns

THE HERODS 37 BC-AD 100

Rulers are in c api tals ; dates refer to the dates of their reigns .T his fam i ly tree s hows only the Herodian rulers . T he Herodians frequently

intermarried making a ful l fam i ly tree extremely c omplex.

THE PROPHET MUHAMMAD AND THE ISLAMIC CALIPHS AND DYNASTIES

Rul ing c al iphs are in c api tals .T his fam i ly tree is not c omplete but is des igned to s how

the c onnec tions of the P rophet and the dynas ties of Is lam.A l i and Fatima's des c endants are known as the Sheri fs (As hraf)

and as s ayyids .

CRUSADER KINGS OF JERUSALEM 1099-1291

Rul ing kings and queens are in bold c api tals ; c ons ort ti tular kings are in roman c api tals

THE HASHEMITE (SHERIFIAN) DYNASTY 1916-

Rulers are in c api tals ; dates refer to the dates of their reigns

Notes

PREFACE

1 A ldous Huxley quoted in A . E lon, J erus alem 62. G. Flaubert, Les Oeuv res c ompletes 1.290. Flaubert on J erus alem: Frederic k B rown, Flaubert 231-9, 247, 256-61. Melvi l le on J erus alem: H. Melvi l le, J ournals 84-94. Bulos Said quoted in Edward W . Said, Out of P lac e 7. Nazmi J ubeh: interview with author. DavidLloyd George in Ronald S torrs , Orientations 394 (henc eforth S torrs ). For my introduc tion I am indebted to the s uperb dis c us s ions of identi ty, c oexis tenc e and c ul ture in Levantine c i ties in the fol lowing books : Sylvia Auld and Robert Hi l lenbrand, Ottoman J erus alem: Liv ing City 1517-1917 ; Phi l ip Mans el ,Lev ant: Splendour and Catas trophe on the Mediterranean ; Mark Mazower, Salonic a: Ci ty of Ghos ts ; Adam LeBor, City of Oranges : J ew s and A rabs in J affa .

PROLOGUE

1 J os ephus , The New Complete W ork s , 'T he J ewis h W ar' (henc eforth J W ) 5.446-52. T his ac c ount is bas ed on J os ephus ; the Roman s ourc es ; Martin Goodman, Rome and J erus alem: the Clas h of Anc ient Civ i l is ations (henc eforth Goodman), and als o the lates t arc haeology.2 J W 5.458-62, 4.324.3 J W 4.559-65.4 J W 5.429-44.5 J W 6.201-14. A l l bibl ic al quotations from the Authorized Vers ion: Matthew 8.22.6 J W 6.249-315.7 J W 9. Tac i tus , His tories 13. T his ac c ount of the arc haeology is bas ed on: Ronny Reic h, 'Roman Des truc tion of J erus alem in 70 CE : Flavius J os ephus ' Ac c ount and A rc haeologic al Rec ord', in G. T heis s en et al . (eds ), J erus alem und die Lander. Ci ty pec ul iar, bigotry: Tac i tus 2.4-5. J ews and

J erus alem/Syrians /death agony of a famous c i ty/J ewis h s upers ti tions /600,000 ins ide: Tac i tus 5.1-13. J erus alem before s iege: J W 4.84-5.128. T i tus and s iege: J W 5.136-6.357. Demol i tion and fal l : J W 6.358-7.62. T i tus ' prowes s : Suetonius , Tw elv e Caes ars 5. P ris oners and death: Goodman 454-5.J os ephus s aved c ruc i fied and friends : J os ephus , 'Li fe'419 and J W 6.418-20. One-third of population dead: Peter Sc hafer, His tory of the J ew s in the Grec o-Roman W orld (henc eforth Sc hafer) 131. A rm of woman/burnt hous e: Shanks 102. Es c ape of Chris tians : Eus ebius , Churc h His tory 3.5. Es c ape of benZakkai : F. E . Peters , J erus alem: The Holy Ci ty in the Ey es of Chronic lers , V is i tors , P i lgrims and P rophet from the Day s of Abraham to the Beginning of Modern Times (henc eforth Peters ) 111-20. Ronny Reic h, Gideon Avni , T amar W inter, J erus alem A rc haeologic al Park (henc eforth Arc haeologic al Park ) 15 and96 (T omb of Zec hariah). Oleg Grabar, B . Z. Kedar (eds ), W here Heav en and Earth Meet: J erus alem's Sac red Es planade (henc eforth Sac red Es planade): Patric h, in Sac red Es planade 37-73.

PART ONE: JUDAISM

1 Ronny Reic h, E l i Shukron and Omri Lernau, 'Rec ent Dis c overies in the City of David, J erus alem: Findings from the Iron Age II in the Roc k-Cut Pool near the Spring', Is rael Ex ploration J ournal 57 (2007) 153-69. A ls o c onvers ations with Ronny Reic h and E l i Shukron. On population and s hrine-c as tles overs prings : c onvers ations with Rafi Greenberg. Ric hard Mi les , Anc ient W orlds 1-7.

2 T el A rmarna: I. Finkels tein and N.A . S i lberman, The B ible Unearthed: A rc haeology 's New V is ion of Anc ient Is rael and the Origin of i ts Sac red Tex t (henc eforth Finkels tein/S i lberman) 238-41. Peters 6-14.3 Egypt, Mos es and Exodus : Exodus 1. 'I am who I am ': Exodus 3.14. Abraham c ovenant: Genes is 17.8-10. Melc hizedek K ing of Salem: Genes is 14.18. Is aac : Genes is 22.2. Ramas es II and Exodus : Toby W ilkins on, The Ris e and Fal l of Anc ient Egy pt (henc eforth Egy pt) 324-45; Merneptah 343-5; Is rael , Sea

Peoples , Phi l is tines 343-53. Nature of God and the two bibl ic al wri ters : Les ter L. Grabbe, Anc ient Is rael 150-65. Finkels tein/S iblerman 110. Robin Lane Fox, Unauthoriz ed Vers ion 49-57, 57-70, 92, 182, 198-202. W ayne T. P i tard, 'Before Is rael : Syria-Pales tine in the B ronze Age', in M. Coogan (ed.), Ox fordHis tory of the B ibl ic al W orld (henc eforth Ox ford His tory ) 25-9. Edward F. Campbel l , 'A Land Divided: J udah and Is rael from Death of Solomon to the Fal l of Samaria', in Ox ford His tory 209. T wo s ets of Ten Commandments : s ee Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5. T wo s ac kings of Shec hem: Genes is 34 andJ udges 9. Gol iath two vers ions : 1 Samuel (henc eforth S ) 17 and 2 S 21.19. T. C. Mitc hel l , The B ible in the B ri tis h Mus eum (henc eforth BM ), 14 Merneptah S tela. V ic tor Avigdor Hurowitz, 'Tenth Century to 586 BC: Hous e of the Lord (Beyt YHW H)', in Sac red Es planade 15-35. H. J . Franken, 'J erus alem in theB ronze Age', in K . J . As al i (ed.), J erus alem in His tory (henc eforth As al i ) 11-32.

4 Saul and David: 1 S 8-2 S 5. David and Gol iath 1 S 17 and 2 S 21.19. Saul 's armour-bearer and lyre-player: 1 S 16.14-23. Anointed by Samuel: 1 S 16.1-13. Marries Saul 's daughter: 1 S 18.17-27. Ziklag: 1 S 27.6. Rule in Hebron: 2 S 5.5. Lament: 2 S 1.19-27; K ing of J udah: 2 S 2.4. David's Phi l is tine andCretan guards : 2 S 8.18 and 1 Chronic les (henc eforth C) 18.17. Ronald de Vaux, Anc ient Is rael : Its Li fe and Ins ti tutions (henc eforth de Vaux) 91-7. S l ings : J ames K . Hoffmeier, Arc haeology of the B ible (henc eforth Hoffmeier) 84-5. Reic h, Shukron and Lernau, 'Findings from the Iron Age II in the Roc k-Cut Poolnear the Spring', Is rael Ex ploration J ournal 57 (2007) 153-69.

5 2 S 6, 2 S 7.2-13. Takes J erus alem: 2 S 5, 2 S 24.25, 2 S 5.6-9, 2 S 7.2-3, 2 S 6.13-18. Renames J erus alem: 2 S 5.7-9 and 1 C 11.5-7. Bui lds wal l : 2 S 5.9. Hurowitz, Sac red Es planade 15-35. David's palac e and terrac ed s truc ture: Dan Bahat, Il lus trated A tlas of J erus alem (henc eforth Bahat) 24. God and theA rk: de Vaux 294-300 and 308-10. Hurowitz, Sac red Es planade 15-35.

6 2 S 6.20.7 Baths heba: 2 S 11-12.8 Abs alom and c ourt pol i tic s : 2 S 13-24.9 2 S 24.6 and 1 C 21.15. Abraham: Genes is 22, 1 K ings (henc eforth K ) 5.3. T hres hing-floor and al tar: 2 S 24.19-24, 1 C 21.28-22.5, 1 K 1. David bloods hedder: 1 C 22.8 and 28.3.10 Death and Solomon anointment:1 K 1 and 2, 1 C 28-9. Burial : 1 K 2.10. Hurowitz, Sac red Es planade 15-35. J ohn Hyrc anus plunders David's tomb: J os ephus , 'J ewis h Antiqui ties ' (henc eforth J A ) V II.15.3.11 Seizure of power: 1 K 1-2.12 Solomon, c hariots /hors e-gate: 1 K 9-10, 2 K 11.16. Hors e-deal ing/c hariots : 1 K 10.28-9. Gold: 1 K 10.14. Megiddo, Hazor, Gezer: 1 K 9.15. A rk ins tal led and Temple inaugurated: 1 K 8 and 2 C 7. David's s pears in Temple: 2 K 11.10. Lane Fox, Unauthoriz ed Vers ion 134-40 and 191-5. 1 K 2-7 and 1 K 10.

Hors es , c hariots , magnific enc e: 1 K 10.14-19. Gateways : 1 K 9.15-27. Fleet: 1 K 9: 26-8 and 1 K 10.11-13. Empire and adminis tration: 1 K 4.17-19. W ives : 1 K 11.3. 3,000 proverbs and 1,005 s ongs : 1 K 4.32. W ith whips : 1 K 12.11. Temple and palac e: 1 K 6-7, 2 C 2-4. Ezekiel 40-4. 1 C 28.11-19. T he Roc ktomb: Shanks 165-74. Carol Meyers , 'K ins hip and K ings hip: T he Early Monarc hy', in Ox ford His tory 197-203. T radi tions of the roc k: Rivka Gonen, 'W as the S i te of the J erus alem T emple Original ly a Cemetery?', B ibl ic al A rc haeology Rev iew May-J une 1985, 44-55. BM , lavers 45; Phoenic ian s tyle 61. T rade withHiram and Phoenic ians /c rafts men/origin of Phoenic ians /Temple des igns and as 'c orporations ' wi th barbers , pros ti tutes : Ric hard Mi les , Carthage Mus t be Des troy ed 30-5. Is rael i tes and Phoenic ians , purple, alphabet: Mi les , Anc ient W orlds , 57-68. Temple as 's i te par exc el lenc e for divine-humanc ommunic ation': A . Neuwirth, 'J erus alem in Is lam: T he T hree Honorary Names of the Ci ty', in Sylvia Auld and Robert Hi l lenbrand (eds ), Ottoman J erus alem: The Liv ing City, 1517-1917 (henc eforth OJ ) 219. Hurowitz, Sac red Es planade 15-35. Graeme Auld and Margreet S teiner, J erus alem 1 54. Solomon andPharaoh, s poi ls and daughter: 1 K 9.16. Pharaoh S iamun raid; daughter marriage: W i lkins on, Egy pt 404. T el Qas i le pots herd on gold in Lane Fox, Unauthoriz ed Vers ion 235-40. De Vaux 31-7, 108-14, 223-4, 274-94. Grabbe, Anc ient Is rael 113-18. Ivory in Sargon's Palac e in As s yria and K ing Ahab in Samaria:1 K 22.39. Phoenic ian/Syrian paral lels : Shanks 123-34 and 165-74. Hurowitz, Sac red Es planade 15-35. On arc haeology: author c onvers ations with Dan Bahat and Ronny Reic h. New dating of Megiddo, Hazor, Gezer: Finkels tein/S i lberman 134-41; Omrid bui lding in Megiddo vs Solomon: Finkels tein/S i lberman180-5. Nic ola Sc hreiber, Cy pro-Phoenic ian Pottery of the Iron Age , on the c hronology of B lac k-on-Red and i ts impl ic ations 83-213, es pec ial ly Sec tion I '10th Century and the P roblem of Shis hak' 85-113. Ayelet Gi lboa and Ilan Sharon, 'An A rc haeologic al Contribution to the Early Iron Age Chronologic alDebate: A l ternative Chronologies for Phoenic ia and their E ffec ts on the Levant, Cyprus and Greec e', Bul letin of the Americ an Sc hools of Oriental Res earc h 332, November 2003, 7-80.

13 Is rael breakaway: 1 K 11-14 Rehoboam. K ings of Is rael As a to Omri : 1 K 15-17 - Zimri 's mas s ac re - pis s eth agains t wal l 1 K 16.11. Shes honq (Shis hak), attac k on J erus alem: W i lkins on, Egy pt 405-9. Os orkon: Hoffmeier 107. Grabbe, Anc ient Is rael 81. Campbel l , Ox ford His tory 212-15. Meyers , Ox ford His tory175. De Vaux 230. Lane Fox, Unauthoriz ed Vers ion 260. Omrid vs Solomonic s truc tures : Finkels tein/S i lberman 180-5.

14 Ahab/J ehos haphat: 1 K 15-18, 2 K 1-8. J ehos haphat: I K 15-24 and 2 C 17-20. Finkels tein/S i lberman 231-4. J ehu: 2 K 10.1-35. Tel Dan s tele: Hoffmeier 87. Ahab vs As s yria/Shalmanes er Monol i th ins c ription: Campbel l , Ox ford His tory 220-3. B lac k Obel is k of Shalmanes er III: BM 49-54. Moabite S tone: BM56.

15 J ehu: 2 K 9-11, 2 C 22. BM 49-56. Tel Dan ins c ription: Campbel l , Ox ford His tory 212. A thal iah: 2 K 11-12. Campbel l , Ox ford His tory 228-31. Reic h, Shukron and Lernau, 'Findings from the Iron Age II in the Roc k-Cut Pool near the Spring', Is rael Ex ploration J ournal 57 (2007) 153-69: Hurowitz, Sac redEs planade 15-35. Uzziah/J otham: 2 K 13-16. Expanding J erus alem: 2 C 26.9. Fal l of Is rael /J erus alem trans formed: Finkels tein/S i lberman 211-21, 243-8.

16 Ahaz and Is aiah - al l referenc es from Book of Is aiah: vis ion of J erus alem as s inful nation 1.4; J erus alem as woman-harlot 1.21 and mount of the daughter of Zion, the hi l l of J erus alem 10.32; J erus alem as guide to nations 2.1-5; Zion in every plac e 4.5; God in temple 6.1-2; Ahaz 7; Emmanuel 8.8 and a c hi ldborn 9.6-7; judgement and jus tic e/wol f and lamb, guidanc e to genti les 11.4-11; judgement day 26.1-2 and 14-19. Fal l of Is rael : 2 K 15-17. Finkels tein/S i lberman 211-21, 243-8. J ews of Iran: K . Farrokh, Shadow s in the Des ert: Anc ient Pers ia at W ar (henc eforth Farrokh) 25-7. M. Cogan, 'Into Exi le: From theAs s yrian Conques t of Is rael to the Fal l of Babylon', in Ox ford His tory 242-3. Campbel l , Ox ford His tory 236-9. Lates t findings on J ewis h genetic s : 'S tudies Show J ews ' Genetic S im i l iari ty', New York Times 9 J une 2010.

17 Hezekiah: 2 K 18-20, 2 C 29-31. New wal ls , hous es : Is aiah 22.9-11. New J erus alem: s words into ploughs hares : Is aiah 2.4; jus tic e 5.8-25, 1.12-17. Sennac herib and Hezekiah: Is aiah 36-8. New ri tes : 2 C 30. J eremiah 41.5. Hezekiah's tunnel and bui lding: 2 K 20.20 and 2 C 32.30. New quarters : 2 C 32.5.S i loam Ins c ription: Bahat, Atlas 26-7. J ar-handles belonging to the king: BM 62. Lmlk : for the king - Hoffmeier 108. Reic h, Shukron and Lernau, 'Findings from the Iron Age II in the Roc k-Cut Pool near the Spring', Is rael Ex ploration J ournal 57 (2007) 153-69. Royal S teward ins c ription: BM 65 - c onfi rm ing Is aiah22. 15-25. J udaean headdres s : BM 72. Grabbe, Anc ient Is rael 169-70. Arc haeology 66; the wal l , 137, pos s ibly Nehemiah 3.8. Finkels tein/S i lberman 234-43 and 251-64. Hurowitz, Ox ford His tory 15-35.

18 Sennac herib and As s yria: this s ec tion is bas ed on J . E . Curtis and J . E . Reade (eds ), Art and Empire: Treas ures from As s y ria in the B ri tis h Mus eum, inc luding: the dres s of a J udaean s oldier 71; the dres s of Sennac herib on c ampaign is bas ed on the rel iefs of various As s yrian kings on c ampaign; the s iegeof J erus alem is bas ed on the Lac his h rel iefs of Nineveh. As s yria: Mi les , Anc ient W orlds 68-77. Grabbe, Anc ient Is rael 167; As s yrian texts 185. Egyptian rule: W i lkins on, Egy pt 430-35. Dis as ter of war: Nahum 3.1-3. Mic ah 1.10-13. Is aiah 1o: 28-32 and c hapters 36-8. Cogan, Ox ford His tory 244-51.

19 Manas s eh: 2 K 21. Chi ld s ac ri fic e: Exodus 22.29. K ings of J erus alem c hi ld s ac ri fic e: 2 K 16.3 and 21.6. See als o: 2 C 28.3, Levi tic us 18.21, 2 K 17.31, 2 K 17.17, J eremiah 7.31 (s ee Ras hi c ommentary) and J eremiah 32.35. Phoenic ian/Carthaginian c hi ld s ac ri fic e and dis c overy of tophet in T unis ia: Mi les ,Carthage Mus t be Des troy ed 68-73. On Manas s eh: Finkels tein/S i lberman 263-77. Mi les , Anc ient W orlds , Grabbe, Anc ient Is rael 169. Cogan, Ox ford His tory 252-7. Hurowitz, Sac red Es planade 15-35.

20 Is aiah 8.1; 9.6-7; 11.4-11; 26.1-2, 14-19. J os iah: 2 K 22 and 23, 2 C 35.20-5. De Vaux 336-9. Hurowitz, Sac red Es planade 15-35.21 Fal l : 2 K 24-5. J eremiah 34.1-7, 37-9, 52. Depravi ty, hunger, c ruel ty, c annibal is m, mens truous lamentation 1.17; c ruel ty of women 4.3; c hi ldren meat 4.10. Ps alms 74 and 137. Daniel 1.4 and 5; Des olation, Daniel 11.31. Lac his h os trac on: BM 87-8. Iron arrowheads , Bahat, Atlas 28. Lavatory/s ewer: Auld and

S te iner, J erus alem 44. Hous e of the Bul lae: Arc haeologic al Park 52-4. Gemariah s on of Shephan: J eremiah 36.9-12. Ivory s c eptre: Hoffmeier 98. T he s ec tion on Babylon is bas ed on I. L. Finkel and M. J . Seymour, Baby lon: My th and Real i ty ; D. J . W is eman, Nebuc hadnez z ar and Baby lon ;Finkels tein/S i lberman 296-309; W i lkins on, Egy pt 441-4; T om Hol land, Pers ian Fire 46-7. Lane Fox, Unauthoriz ed Vers ion 69-71. Cogan, Ox ford His tory 262-8. Grabbe, Anc ient Is rael 170-84. De Vaux 98. Hurowitz, Sac red Es planade 15-35.

22 Cyrus and the Pers ians : A . T. Olms tead, His tory of the Pers ian Empire (henc eforth Olms tead) 34-66. Farrokh 37-51. Lane Fox, Unauthoriz ed Vers ion 269-71. M. J . W . Lei th, 'Is rael among the Nations : T he Pers ian Period', in Ox ford His tory 287-9. E . S tern, 'P rovinc e of Yehud: V is ion and Real i ty' in Lee I.Levine (ed.) J erus alem Cathedra (henc eforth Cathedra) 1.9-21. Cogan, Ox ford His tory 274. Mythic al s tories of Cyrus and his ris e: Herodotus , His tories 84-96. Hol land, Pers ian Fire 8-22. On Cyrus Cyl inder: BM 92. Cyrus and P res ident T ruman: Mic hael B . Oren, Pow er, Fai th, and Fantas y : Americ a in the M iddleEas t 501. Return: Is aiah 44.21-8, 45.1 and 52.1-2. Ezra 1.1-11 and 3-4. J os ephus , 'Agains t Apion' 1.154. Lei th, Ox ford His tory 276-302. Firs t mention of J ew: Es ther 2.5. Arc haeologic al Park 138.

23 Darius the Great: Ezra 4-6. Haggai 1-2. Zec hariah 1.7-6.15. Is aiah 9.2-7. Olms tead, 86-93, 107-18, 135-43; Zerubabbel/Darius pos s ibly in J erus alem 136-144. T he des c ription of Darius is bas ed c los ely on that of Olms tead 117. Mythic al s tories of Darius ' ris e/the mare's vagina: Herodotus 229-42. Farrokh 52-74. Lane Fox, Unauthoriz ed Vers ion 78-85 and 271. Lei th, Ox ford His tory 303-5. Hol land, Pers ian Fire 20-62. J os eph Patric h, '538 BCE-70 CE : T he T emple (Beyt ha-Miqdas h) and i ts Mount', in Sac red Es planade 37-73. Mi les , Anc ient W orlds 115-19.

24 Nehemiah 1-4, 6-7, 13. Arc heologic al Park 137. Lei th, Ox ford His tory 276-311. Lane Fox, Unauthoriz ed Vers ion 85 and 277-81. J A 11.159-82.25 Fal l of Darius III and ris e of A lexander: Olms tead 486-508. Farrokh 96-111. J A 11.304-46. Sc hafer 5-7. Gunther Holbl , His tory of the P tolemaic Empire (henc eforth Holbl) 10-46. Mauric e Sartre, The M iddle Eas t under Rome (henc eforth Sartre) 5-6, 20.26 P tolemy Soter and W ars of Suc c es s ors : J A 2. J os ephus , 'Agains t Apion' 1.183-92. P tolem ies , s tyle, fes tival in 274, W i lkins on, Egy pt 469-30. Mi les , Anc ient W orlds 158-70. Adrian Golds worthy, Antony and Cleopatra (henc eforth Golds worthy) 37-41. On A ris teas : Goodman 117-19, quoting A ris teas . For ful l

text s ee A ris teas , Letter of A ris teas . Sc hafer 7-18 inc luding Agatharc hides on P tolemy taking J erus alem. Cathedra 1.21. P tolemy II/A ris teas : Holbl 191. Patric h, Sac red Es planade 37-73.27 S imon the J us t: Ec c les ias tic us 50.1-14 and 4. J A 12.2 and 12.154-236. Tobiads : C. C. J i , 'A New Look at the Tobiads in Iraq al-Amir', Liber Annuus 48 (1998) 417-40. M. S tern, 'Soc ial and Pol i tic al Real ignments in Herodian J udinea', in Cathedra 2.40-5. Lei th, Ox ford His tory 290-1. Sc hafer 17-23. Holbl 35-

71. Edwyn Bevan, Hous e of Seleuc us 2.168-9. Patric h, Sac red Es planade 37-73.28 Antioc hus the Great and the Seleuc ids : Bevan, Seleuc us 1.300-18 and 2.32-3 and 51-94. Holbl 127-43 and 136-8. J A 3 and 12.129-54. Seleuc id c ourt/dres s /army: Bevan, Seleuc us 2.269-92. Sc hafer 29-39. New Greek J erus alem: 2 Mac c abees 3.1-4.12.29 Ec c les ias tic us 50. Sc hafer 32-4. Henri Daniel-Rops , Dai ly Li fe in Pales tine at the Time of Chris t - theoc rac y 53-5; c i ty l i fe 95-7; punis hments 175-8. Sabbath: de Vaux - s ac ri fic es /holoc aus t 415-7; Sabbath 3482-3; fes tivals 468-500; high pries t 397. Patric h, Sac red Es planade 37-73.30 Antioc hus IV Epiphanes : 1 Mac c abees 1, 1 Mac c abees 4. J as on/Menelaos / Antioc hus : 2 Mac c abees 1 and 2 Mac c abees 4-6, 2 Mac c abees 8.7. J A 12.237-65. Antioc hus enters temple: 2 Mac c abees 5.15. Debauc hery in the Temple: 2 Mac c abees 6.2. Charac ter: Polybius , His tories 31 and 331; fes tival

31.3. On Antioc hus /fes tival : Diodorus , Library of His tory 31.16. T his ac c ount c los ely fol lows Bevan, Seleuc us 2.126-61; c harac ter 128-32; God manifes t 154; death 161. Sc hafer 34-47. Sartre 26-8. Bui lding the gymnas ium: 2 Mac c abees 4.12. Rel igious edic ts : 1 Mac c abees 1.34-57, 2 Mac c abees 6.6-11.Abomination: Daniel 11.31, 12.11. Sc hafer 32-44. Holbl 190. Shanks 112-15; fac e on c oins : s i lver tetradrac hm in Shanks 113. Sartre 9-14. Martyrs and atroc i ties : 2 Mac c abees 6. Greek c ul ture: Goodman 110. Cruc i fixion: J A 12.256.

31 J udah and Mac c abee Revol t: J A 12.265-433. 1 Mac c abees 2-4. T he Hammer: 2 Mac c abees 5.27. Has idim : origins of Es s enes and apoc alyptic thought: Book of Enoc h 85-90 and 93.1-10 and 91.12-17. J A 12.7. Lys ias : 1 Mac c abees 4, 2 Mac c abees 11. Hanukkah: 1 Mac c abees 4.36-9, 2 Mac c abees 10.1-8.J A 12.316. J udah in J erus alem: 1 Mac c abees 4.69. Conques ts : 1 Mac c abees 4-6. J ewis h rights res tored by Antioc hus V : 1 Mac c abees 6.59. Lys ias vs J erus alem: 2 Mac c abees 11.22-6. A lc imus : 1 Mac c abees 7, 8 and 9, 2 Mac c abees 13.4-8, 14, 15. J A 8, 9, 10. Nic anor threats defeat head, tongue, hand: 1Mac c abees 7.33-9, 2 Mac c abees 14.26, 2 Mac c abees 15.36, 2 Mac c abees 15.28-37, 1 Mac c abees 8.1. Bac c hides /death of J udah: 1 Mac c abees 8-9. Bevan, Seleuc us 2.171-203. J os eph S ievers , The Has moneans and their Supporters : From Mattathias to the Death of J ohn Hy rc anus I (henc eforth S ievers ) 16-72. Mic hael Avi-Yonah, The J ew s of Pales tine: A Pol i tic al His tory from the Bar Koc hba W ar to the A rab Conques t (henc eforth Avi-Yonah) 4-5. Sartre 9-14. Res urrec tion and apoc alyps e: Lane Fox, Unauthoriz ed Vers ion 98-100. Daniel 12.2-44. Is aiah 13.17-27. J eremiah 51.1. Ac ra foundation: Arc heologic alPark 45. Patric h, Sac red Es planade 37-73.

32 J onathan: 1 Mac c abees 9-16 and J A 13.1-217. Phi lometer: 1 Mac c abees 11.6-7. Onias IV : Holbl 190. J A 12.65-71, 14.131. Holbl 191-4. Sc hafer 44-58. Bevan, Seleuc us 2.203-28. S ievers 73-103. S imon: J A 13.187-228. S imon as high pries t, c aptain and leader: 1 Mac c abees 12 and 13, 1 Mac c abees 13.42-51. Ac ra fal ls /purple and gold: 1 Mac c abees 13.51, 14.41-4. Antioc hus V II S idetes : 1 Mac c abees 15.1-16. S imon death: J A 13.228. 1 Mac c abees 16.11. Sc hafer 56-8. Bevan, Seleuc us 2.227-43. S ievers 105-34. Sartre 9-14. Ac ra foundations : Arc heologic al Park 45; wal l 90. Has monean wal ls - Avi-Yonah,221-4. Peters , J erus alem 591. P tolemy V II Euergetes II: J ews and elephants J os ephus , 'Agains t Apion' 2.50-5. Holbl 194-204.

33 Hyrc anus : J A 13.228-300. Sc hafer 65-74. Has monean wal ls : Avi-Yonah, 221-4. Peters , J erus alem 591. W al ls : Arc heologic al Park 90, 138. Bahat, Atlas 37-40. Convers tions with Dan Bahat. Hyrc anus fortres s res idenc e: J A 14.403, 18.91. J W 1.142. Mas s c onvers ions : Goodman 169-74. Convers ions andc onques t: Sartre 14-16. Negotiations with Parthians : Marina Puc c i , 'J ewis h-Parthian Relations in J os ephus ', in Cathedra quoting the Book of J os ippon. Greek c ul ture: Goodman 110. J ewis h c ontributions to Temple wealth: J A 14.110. A ris tobulos : J A 13.301-20. A lexander J annaeus : J A 13.320-404. Sartre 9-14. M. S tern, 'J udaea and her Neighbours in the Days of A lexander J annaeus ', in Cathedra 1.22-46. A lexandra Salome: J A 13.405-30. Hyrc anus II vs A ris tobulos II: J A 14.1-54. Bevan, Seleuc us 2.238-49. S ievers 135-48. Shanks 118. Roman treaty: Sartre 12-14.

34 Pompey: J A 14.1-79, inc luding c apture of c i ty and entering Holy of Hol ies 14.65-77; Sc aurus /Gabinius /Mark Antony: J A 14.80-103. Antipater: J A 14.8-17. Pompey reduc es wal l : J A 14.82. Greek al legations about T emple: s ee Apion and J os ephus , 'Agains t Apion'. T ac i tus , His tories 5.8-9. Cic ero, For Flac c us ,quoted in Goodman 389-455. J ohn Leac h, Pompey the Great 78-101 and 212-14. Golds worthy 73-6. Patric h, Sac red Es planade 37-73.

35 Cras s us : Farrokh 131-40. J A 14.105-23, es pec ial ly 110.36 Caes ar, Antipater, Cleopatra: J A 14.127-294. T his analys is and ac c ount of Cleopatra and Caes ar is bas ed on Golds worthy 87-9; 107; 125-7; 138; 172-81; Holbl 232-9; Sc hafer 81-5; Sartre 44-51; W i lkins on, Egy pt 492-501. Cleopatra, Mark Antony P lutarc h, Mak ers of Rome ; Antipater origins and early c areer:

Niko Kokkinos , Herodian Dy nas ty : Origins , Role in Soc iety and Ec l ips e (henc eforth Kokkinos ) 195-243.37 Antony, Herod, Parthia: J A 14.297-393. Parthian invas ion/Antigonos : Farrokh 141-3. Parthian s oc iety, c avalry: Farrokh 131-5. T his ac c ount of Antony and Cleopatra is bas ed on Holbl 239-42; Golds worthy 87-9, 183, 342-3; Sc hafer 85-6; Sartre 50-3; W i lkins on, Egy pt 501-6. See P lutarc h, Mak ers of Rome .

Mas s ac re of Sanhedrin: M. S tern, 'Soc iety and Pol i tic al Real ignments in Herodian J erus alem ', in Cathedra 2.40-59.38 Herod takes J udaea 41-37 BC: J A 14.390-491. Farrokh 142-3; Antony's Parthian war 145-7. Sc hafer 86-7. Sartre 88-93.39 Antony, Cleopatra, Herod: J A 14-15.160. Holbl 239-42.40 J A 15.39-200. Herod, Ac tium and Augus tus : this ac c ount of Cleopatra inc luding the note on the fate of their c hi ldren is bas ed on Holbl 242-51; Golds worthy 342-8; Ac tium 364-9; death, 378-85; W i lkins on, Egy pt 506-9 Herod and Cleopatra: J A 15.88-103. Herod as bes t friend of Augus tus and Agrippa: J A

15.361. Des c ription of Augus tus : s ee Suetonius . Herod and Augus tus : J A 15.183-200.41 Herod and Mariamme 37-29 BC: marriage J A 14.465. Relations hip: J A 15.21-86 and 15.202-66. Kokkinos 153-63; on Salome 179-86 and 206-16. Herod as king: this ac c ount of Herod is bas ed on J A ; Kokkinos ; P. Ric hards on, Herod the Great: K ing of the J ew s , Friend of the Romans ; S tewart Perowne, Herod

the Great; Mic hael Grant, Herod the Great 117-44. Herod's c ourt: Kokkinos 143-53 and 351 - quote on Herod's c os mopol i tanis m. W ives and c onc ubines : J A 15.321-2. Kokkinos 124-43 and Herod's educ ation 163-73. Sartre 89-93. Sc hafer 87-98. Herod's weal th: Grant, Herod 165. Games and theatres : J A 15.267-89. Fortres s es s /Sebas te/ Caes area: J A 15.292-8; 15.323-41. Famine rel ief: J A 15.299-317. Ci tadel and T emple: J A 15.380-424.

42 Herod's J erus alem. T emple: J A 15.380-424 and J W 5.136-247. Bahat, Atlas 40-51. On s tones /s eam - Ronny Reic h and Dan Bahat, c onvers ations with author. Seam and extens ion of Temple Mount: Arc heologic al Park 90. T he s treet probably paved by Agrippa II: Arc heologic al Park 112-13; on V i truvius andengineering, my explanation is bas ed on Arc heologic al Park 29-31. Phi lo on Augus tus ' s ac ri fic es in Temple: Goodman 394. T rumpeting plac e: J W 4.12. Cathedra 1.46-80. S imon temple-bui lder: Grant, Herod 150. Shanks 92-100. Patric h, Sac red Es planade 37-73. T he Red Heifer: Numbers 19. Hei fer: thismodern res earc h is bas ed on Lawrenc e W right, 'Letter from J erus alem: Forc ing the End', New York er, 20 J uly 1998.

43 Herod, Augus tus /s ons to Rome/many wives : J A 15.342-64; wi th Agrippa/ Crimea/Dias pora J ews etc : J A 16.12-65. Grant, Herod 144-50. Augus tus and Agrippa s ac ri fic es : Goodman 394; Phi lo, W ork s 27.295.44 Herod fam i ly tragedies /Augus tus ' rul ings /exec ution of princ es /four wi l ls /las t mas s ac re and of innoc ents /death: J A 16.1-404 and 17.1-205. Kokkinos 153-74. Grant, Herod 211. Diagnos is of death: Phi l ip A . Mac kowiak, Pos t Mortem 89-100. J es us birth, Bethlehem Mas s ac re, K ing of Is rael /es c ape to Egypt:

Matthew 1, 2 and 3. Sac ri fic e in T emple/tax/Bethlehem/c irc umc is ion: Luke 1-2, Is aiah 7.14. Lane Fox, Unauthoriz ed Vers ion , on tim ing of bi rth: 202. B rothers , s is ters : Mark 6.3, Matthew 13.55, J ohn 2.12, Ac ts 1.14. Spec ulative Cleophas theory: J ames D. T abor, The J es us Dy nas ty (henc eforth T abor) 86-92.45 Varus ' war/A rc helaus before Augus tus and reign and downfal l : J A 17.206-353. Goodman 397-401. Sartre 113-14. A rc helaus : Herod of Luke 1.5. Kokkinos - on c oins /us ing name of Herod, 226. Sc hafer 105-12. Zealots founded by J udas the Gal i lean: J A 18.1-23. Gabriel 's Revelation: E than B ronner, 'Hebrew

tablet s ugges ts tradi tion of res urrec ted mes s iah predates J es us ', New York Times , 6 Augus t 2008.46 J es us the l i fe and m inis try. P innac le of temple: Matthew 5.5. Aged twelve in T emple: Luke 2.39-51. Herod Antipas threat to J es us /Pharis ees /the hens /prophet outs ide J erus alem: Luke 13.31-5. (Matthew's vers ion of the s ame s peec h is s et in the Temple during J es us ' las t vis i t: Matthew 23.37.) Des truc tion of

J erus alem and arm ies fores een: Luke 22.20-4. J es us , J ohn res urrec ted - Herod: Mark 6.14. I beheaded J ohn, but reborn: Luke 9.7-9. V is i t to high mountain and meeting with Mos es and E l ias (s im i lari ty to Muhammad's Night J ourney): Mark 9.1-5. V is ion of K ing of Heaven: Matthew 24.3-25.46. Repent K ingdomof Heaven c oming: Matthew 5.17. B les s ed be the poor: Matthew 5.3. Not des troy law: Matthew 5.17. Exc eed righteous Pharis ees : Matthew 5.20. Let dead bury dead: Matthew 8.22. Apoc alyptic s word and vis ion of J udgement Day: Matthew 10.21-32. Gnas hing of teeth and furnac e: Matthew 13.41-58. Son of Manand glory: Matthew 20.28. Mus t go to J erus alem: Matthew 16.21. Nations judged: Matthew 25.31-4. Li fe eternal for righteous : Matthew 25.41 and 25.46. E l i te fol lowers , J oanna, wi fe of Herod's s teward: Luke 8.3. Ci ty of great king: Matthew 5.35. Earl ier vis i ts to Temple/early vers ion of c leans ing of Temple: J ohn2.13-24.Son of Man: Daniel 7.13. V is ion of K ingdom of Heaven, End of Days , Son of Man, be ready: Matthew 24.2-25.46. Early vis i ts to J erus alem and es c apes from s toning: J ohn 7, 8, 10.22.J es us and J ohn the Baptis t - s ame mes s age, repentanc e/K ingdom of Heaven: Matthew 3.2 and 5.17. J ohn the Baptis t, bi rth: Luke 1.5-80. Mary vis i ts J ohn's parents : Luke 1.39-41. J ohn denounc es Herod and Herodias : Luke 3.15-20.Herod Antipas and J ohn the Baptis t beheading: Mark 6.14-32. J ohn baptizing J es us : Luke 3.21, Matthew 3.16. Herod Antipas : J A 18.109-19 (s tory of Herodias , A retas ' daughter and J ohn the Baptis t). J A 18.116-19. Kokkinos 232-7, inc luding identi ty of Salome. Antipas and Phi l ip's Tetrarc hy and Nabataean

war: J A 18.104-42. Salome: Mark 6.17-19. Matthew 14.3-11. J es us on that fox: Luke 13.32 Diarmaid Mac Cul loc h, A His tory of Chris tiani ty : The Firs t Three Thous and Years (henc eforth Mac Cul loc h) 83-91.47 J es us in J erus alem. K ing of Is rael entranc e: J ohn 12.1-15. Ins urrec tion, P i late, S i loam: Luke 13.1-4. P redic tion of abomination, des truc tion: Mark 13.14. Hens , vis ion of des olation: Matthew 23.37-8. In Temple, vis ion of K ing of Heaven and J udgement Day: Matthew 24.3-25.46. J es us in the Temple/not one

s tone: Mark 13.1-2 and 14.58 and later S tephen quote Is aiah: Ac ts 7.48. Not one s tone: Matthew 24.1-3. J ewis h tradi tions agains t Temple: Is aiah 66.1. T he days in J ers ualem: Mark 11-14 and J ohn 12-19. J A 18.63. Early vers ion of c leans ing of Temple: J ohn 2.13-24. Portrai t of c harac ter is bas ed on GezaVermes , The Changing Fac es of J es us ; Geza Vermes , J es us and the W orld of J udais m; Geza Vermes , 'T he T ruth about the His toric al J es us ', Standpoint, September 2008; Mac Cul loc h; Charles Freeman, A New His tory of Early Chris tiani ty ; A . N. W i ls on, J es us ; F. E . Peters , J es us and Muhammad, Paral leltrac k s , Paral lel Liv es .J erus alem in J es us ' time. Many nations : Ac ts 2.9-11. Daniel-Rops , Dai ly Li fe in Pales tine in the Time of Chris t 80-97. Mac Cul loc h 91-6. Palatial Mans ion and mik v ahs , s ee Arc heologic al Park . Bahat, Atlas 40-53 and 54-8. Adiabene queen and J ewis h kingdom in Iraq: J A 18.310-77. Queen Helena: J A 20.17-

96. Goodman 65. Os s uaries : Tabor 10. Son of Man: Daniel 7.13. Upper Room/Las t Supper/Pentec os t Holy Spiri t: Mark 14.15, Ac ts 1.13-2.2. Patric h, Sac red Es planade 37-73. For J es us ' movements in c i ty: s ee Shimon Gibs on, The Final Day s of J es us , es pec ial ly map fac ing 115; entry into c i ty 46-9; Las tSupper 52-5; Geths emane 53-5; Gibs on's res earc h and exc avations on the pools of Bethes da and S i loam, s howing that they may have been mik v ah puri fic ation pools 59-80; arres t 81-2. Heal ings at the pools : J ohn 5.1-19 and 9.7-11. Caiaphas in J ohn 11.50. Convers ations with Ronny Reic h and E l i Shukron onexc avations of the fi rs t-c entury S i loam Pool.48 P i late: J A 18.55-63; Samari tan dis turbanc es J A 18.85-95. P i late's violenc e: Phi lo quoting Agrippa I in Sartre 114-15; Goodman 403. See als o Daniel R. Sc hwartz, 'J os ephus , Phi lo and Pontius P i late', in Cathedra 3.26-37. (On P i late's ac tions , Phi lo s ays i t was s hields ; J os ephus s ays m i l i tary s tandards .)

Phi lo, W ork s , vol . 10, Embas s y to Gaius 37.301-3. T rial : J ohn 18-19 and Mark 14 and 15. Daughters of J erus alem: Luke 23.28. Powers of Sanhredrin/trial : Goodman 327-31, inc luding J os ephus quotation and other examples s uc h as s entenc ing of J ames brother of J es us in AD 62. Barabbas : Mark 15.7.Ins urrec tion, P i late, S i loam: Luke 13.1-4. Herod and P i late: Luke 23.12. A rres t and trial : Gibs on, Final Day s of J es us 81-106. Mac Cul loc h 83-96.

49 Cruc i fixion: this ac c ount of tec hnique and death is bas ed on J oe Zias , 'Cruc i fixion in Antiqui ty' on www.joezias .c om. Cruc i fixion, nakednes s , burial and new s hroud evidenc e dis c overed by Shimon Gibs on: Final Day s of J es us 107-25 and 141-7; tomb 152-65. T his ac c ount is bas ed on J ohn 19-20, Mark 15,Matthew 28. J W 7.203 and 5.451. Tabor 246-50. Res urrec tion: quotation from Luke 24. Matthew 27-8. Mark 16. Caiaphas : Matthew 27.62-6 and 28.11-15. J udas , s i lver and Potters Field: Matthew 27.5-8 and Ac ts 1.16-20. Removal of body: Matthew 27.62-4, and 28.11-15 for s tory of pries ts offering guards bribesto c laim dis c iples removed the body. Gos pel of Peter (probably dating from early s ec ond c entury) 8.29-13.56 in whic h a c rowd s urrounds the tomb, then two men remove the body: for analys is , s ee Freeman, New His tory of Early Chris tiani ty 20-1 and 31-8. Res urrec tion to As c ens ion: J ohn 20-1 (inc ludingDoubting T homas ).J ames the J us t as leader, early days of s ec t: Ac ts 1-2 and Galatians 1.19, 2.9, 12. Pentec os t and tongues : Ac ts 2. Beauti ful Gate heal ing: Ac ts 3. S tephen: Ac ts 6 and 7; s toning 7.47-60. Saul at death of S tephen/pers ec utor/c onvers ion and ac c eptanc e by Churc h: Ac ts 7.58-60 and 8.1-9.28.Various s ourc es reflec t the J ewis h Chris tiani ty: Gos pel of T homas ; Clement of A lexandria; the As c ents of J ames and the Sec ond Apoc alyps e of J ames - al l quoted and dis c us s ed by Tabor, 280-91. P i late, Samari tans , downfal l : J A 18.85-106. Sartre 114-15. Sc hafer 104-5. Lane Fox, Unauthoriz ed Vers ion

297-9, 283-303. Peters , J erus alem 89-99. Arc heologic al Park 72, 82, 111. J udas , Potter's Field: Matthew 27.3-8. T ac i tus , His tories 15.44. Mac Cul loc h 92-6. Sartre 336-9. Kevin Butc her, Roman Sy ria and the Near Eas t (henc eforth Butc her) 375-80.50 Herod Agrippa I: J A 18.143-309, 19.1-360. Pers ec ution of J ames and Peter: Ac ts 12.20-3. Kokkinos 271-304. T hird W al l : Arc heologic al Park 138. Bahat, Atlas 35. Sartre 78-9 and 98-101. Approved by Mis hnah: Peters , J erus alem 96-7. J ames s on of Zebedee and Peter: Ac ts 11.27-12.1-19. Herod Agrippa

reads Deuteronomy: Goodman 83. On Phi lo, s ee Phi lo, W ork s vol . 10, Embas s y to Cal igula. Goodman 88, 118. Cal igula c harac ter: Suetonius , Cal igula. Claudius expels J ewis h Chris tians /Chres tus : Suetonius , Claudius .51 Herod Agrippa II and s is ters , Claudius , Nero, Poppaea, the proc urators : J W 2. 250-70. J A 20.97-222. Goodman 375-82. Kokkinos 318-30. S tewart Perowne, The Later Herods 160-6. Sartre 79-80.52 Paul : origins Ac ts 9-11 and 22-5; Saul at death of S tephen/c onvers ion and ac c eptanc e by Churc h 7.58--60 and 8.1--9.28; return to J erus alem Ac ts 11. Quotations from Galatians 11--2.20, 6.11; s in offering 2 Corinthians 5.21; J ames , Peter, J ohn as 'pi l lars ' Galatians 2.6 and 9; Paul 's new J erus alem, new

Is rael , Galatians 4.26; on c i rc umc is ion Phi l ippians 3.2--3; later vis i t to J erus alem, arres t, Fel ix, Agrippa Ac ts 21--8. Analys is is bas ed on the fol lowing: A . N. W i ls on, Paul: The M ind of the Apos tle; Mac Cul loc h 97--106; Freeman, New His tory of Early Chris tiani ty 47--63; Tabor 292--306; Goodman on Paul 'svas t ambition 517--27. J ames the J us t: s ee Gos pel of T homas and Clement of A lexandria/Eus ebius , quoting Heges ippus ; the As c ents of J ames in the Ps eudo-Clementine Rec ogni tions ; the Sec ond Apoc alyps e of J ames - quoted in Tabor 287-91. Apos tles in Temple: Ac ts 2.46, 5.21, 3.1-2. 'Chris tian' fi rs t

us ed later in Antioc h: Sartre 298, 336-9; Ac ts 11.26.53 J ames the J us t: death/s uc c es s ion of S imon. J ames as pries t. Paul : l i fe and c onvers ion Ac ts 7-11 and 22-5. Eus ebius of Caes area, Churc h His tory : Li fe of Cons tantine the Great 2.23. Peters , J erus alem 100-7. On J ames as righteous pries t - Heges ippus ; s uc c es s ion of S imon, Heges ippus , Epiphanius ,

Eus ebius , T abor 321-32.54 J os ephus , his l i fe and vis i t to Rome: J os ephus , 'Li fe' 1-17. Book of Revelation: Mac Cul loc h 103-5; Freeman, New His tory of Early Chris tiani ty 107-10: the note on Number of the Beas t c ode is bas ed on Freeman 108. Nero pers ec utions : s ee T ac i tus , His tories . J ewis h Revol t s tarts : J os ephus , 'Li fe' 17-38. J W

2.271-305. J A 20.97-223, 20.252-66. Goodman 404-18. Perowne, Later Herods 98-108 and 117-18. Sartre 113-21. Sc hafer 114-23. Nero: death of Peter and Paul , c i ting Origen, Goodman 531.55 W ar, J os ephus ' defec tion and Ves pas ian as emperor inc luding portents : Suetonius , Ves pas ian 5; Tac i tus , His tories 1.11; T i tus and Berenic e, Tac i tus 2.1-2; emperor/Agrippa II's s upport/Berenic e in bes t years and at height of her beauty: Tac i tus 2.74-82. J W 2.405-3.340, J os ephus defec ts : J W 3.340-408.

W ar, Gamala and after: J W 4.1-83. Suetonius , T i tus 7; was ted a day 8; looks 3. Sc hafer 125-9. Sartre 123-7.PART TW O: PAGANISM

1 T riumph: J W 7.96-162. T his analys is of Roman atti tudes to J udais m from AD 70 owes muc h to Goodman 452-5. Tac i tus 2.4-5, 5.1-13. Mas ada: J W 7.163-406 (quotation on J erus alem is E leazar in J W ). T i tus , Agrippa II and Berenic e after AD 70: Tac i tus 2.2. Suetonius , T i tus 7. Cas s ius Dio quoted inGoodman 459. Agrippa II's pol i tic al c areer: Goodman 458-9; diamond of Berenic e quoting J uvenal in Goodman 378. J os ephus afer AD 70: J os ephus , 'Li fe' 64-76. Las t Herodians : Kokkinos 246-50 and 361. Las t Herodian under Marc us Aurel ius : Avi-Yonah 43.

2 Flavians , Nerva and T rajan. Domitian, J erus alem and Book of Revelation: Mac -Cul loc h 103-5. Nerva relaxes J ewis h tax: Goodman 469. On T rajan and revol ts of 115: Goodman 471-83. S imon, J es us ' c ous in, pers ec ution of Hous e of David, exec ution 106: Tabor 338-42 quoting Eus ebius and Epiphanius ass ourc es on Flavian and T rajan exec utions of Davidians . Synagogues in J erus alem: Eus ebius , Churc h His tory 4.5. Epiphanius quoted in Peters , J erus alem 125. Sartre 126-8. Es c hatologic al hopes in Pales tine: S ibyl l ine Orac les 4-5; Greek Apoc alyps e of Baruc h III and the Syrian Apoc alyps e of Baruc h II.Zakkai : Sc hafer 135-40. J erus alem: Eus ebius quoted in Perowne, Later Herods , hal f c i ty des troyed and s even s ynagogues , 191. J udais m/ben Zakkai and J ews c ould l ive in J erus alem 70-132: Avi-Yonah 12-54. T rajan: Goodman 471-81, inc luding quote of Appian on T rajan des troying J ews in Egypt; and ofA rrian on general des truc tion of J ews . J ewis h revol t: Dio Cas s ius 68.32.1-2. Eus ebius , Churc h His tory 4.2.1-5. Sc hafer 141-2. Sartre 127-8. Butc her 45-50.

3 Hadrian: Dio Cas s ius 69.12.1-13.3. Charac ter both admirable and bad: Anthony R. B irley, Hadrian the Res tles s Emperor 301-7, inc luding His toria Augus ta ' c ruel and merc i ful ' etc . and Epitome de Caes aribus ' divers e, manifold, multi form '. Frank Mc Lynn, Marc us Aurel ius 26-39. Ael ia: Bahat, Atlas 58-67.T hors ten Opper, Hadrian: Empire and Confl ic t - c areer 34-68 and bar Koc hba 89-97 and Antinous 168-91. Goodman 481-5. Arc heologic al Park 140. Yoram T s afri r, '70-638 CE : T he T empleles s Mountain', in Sac red Es planade 73-99.

4 S imon bar Koc hba/Hadrian: this ac c ount is bas ed on Dio Cas s ius 69.12.1-13.3 and 69.14.1-3; Eus ebius , Churc h His tory 4.6 and J us tin. See Opper, Hadrian 89-97, inc luding lates t finds from the Cave of Letters . B irley, Hadrian the Res tles s Emperor: influenc e of Antioc hus Epiphanes 228-9; c oins on vis i t toJ udea 231; foundation of Ael ia 232-4; revol t, bar Koc hba 268-78; Book of Numbers /Akiba/ c orres pondenc e/ J us tin and Eus ebius /fal l of Betar/plan of new J erus alem with Hadrian s tatue on hors ebac k on Holy of Hol ies wi th idol of J upi ter from Eus ebius , and s tatue of pig from J erome, al l quoted in B irley.Mc Lynn, Marc us Aurel ius 26-39. Bahat, Atlas 58-67. Goodman 485-93, inc luding Roman burial of memories of c onfl ic t, even more dis as trous than the triumphal is m of 70, c ontinui ty of Hadrian to Severan dynas ty meant no inc entive to c hal lenge Hadrian's ethos 496. See als o: Y igal Yadin, Bar-Kok hba -c lothes , keys 66; Babatha doc uments 235. Avi-Yonah 13, probably took J erus alem/s eventy-five s ettlements des troyed/ Pales tinian J ewis h population - 1.3 m i l l ion. Did Hadrian des troy T emple?: Shanks 47, quoting Chronic on Pas c hale, J ul ian, rabbinic al referenc es to T hird T emple des troyed by Hadrian. Caveres is tanc e: Amos K lauer, 'Subterranean Hideaways of J udean Foothi l ls ', in Cathedra 3.114-35. A fter 335: Sartre 320-5. Pos t bar Koc hba and S imon bar Yohai : Avi-Yonah 15-39, 66. T s afri r, Sac red Es planade 73-99.

5 Hadrianic c i ty/Roman adminis tration: Butc her 135-300, 240-50, 335-45. Sartre 155, 167-9. A rc haeologic al mys teries , Tenth Legion/Roman finds s outh of Temple Mount, Herodian as hlars in foundations of Hadrianic Temple: Shanks 43-53. S tatues of emperors s ti l l on Temple Mount for vis i t of BordeauxP i lgrim 333: Bordeaux P i lgrim , Itinerary 592-3. Ts afri r, Sac red Es planade 73-99. Del iberate burying of Golgotha: Eus ebius , Life of Cons tantine 3.26-8. Sozomen, Churc h His tory 2.1, quoted in Peters 137-42. Zalatinos /A lexander Churc h/Hos pic e, Hadrianic wal ls and outs ide wal l of Helena's Churc h: authorc onvers ations with Gideon Avni and Dan Bahat. Sync retis m of Ael ia gods : Sartre 303-21. A tti tude to J ews and Roman Ael ia: Goodman 490-5. Relaxation of Antoninus P ius : Sartre 320-5. V is i t of Marc us Aurel ius : Goodman 498. Marc us Aurel ius : Butc her 46-8. Herodian Governor of Pales tina J ul ius Severus :Avi-Yonah 43-5. Marc us Aurel ius in Ael ia quoting Ammianus Marc el l inus : Goodman 498. Today's Old Ci ty is Hadrianic s hape: David K royanker, J erus alem A rc hi tec ture (henc eforth K royanker) 14. J ews : V is i t of Septimus Severus , Carac al la, J udah haNas i : Goodman 496-7, 506-11. Severus : Butc her 48-51.J udais m/J udah haNas i : Sartre 319-35. V is i ts to J erus alem, J udah haNas i : Avi-Yonah 50-6, 140; Tanaim and c ourt of Nas i /patriarc hs up to J udah the P rinc e 39-40, 54-75; J erus alem, rending garments 79-80; Severans and J udah the P rinc e and s mal l group of Rabbi Meir's s tudents of Holy Community s ettlein J erus alem 77-9. Severus and c ivi l war, Carac al la: Sartre 148-9, 157; Butc her 48-51. J ewis h return to J erus alem: Sartre 321-2; Goodman 501-8. J ewis h tradi tions on J erus alem, in Tos efta, Amidah etc . quoted in Goodman 576-7. S imon Goldhi l l , J erus alem: A City of Longing 179. Chris tian bel iefs andpers ec utions : Goodman 512-24. Is aiah Gafni , 'Reinterment in Land of Is rael ', in Cathedra 1.101. Chris tiani ty after 135: Freeman, New His tory of Early Chris tiani ty 132-41; Ebioni tes 133; Gnos tic s 142-54. Early Chris tians , Gnos tic is m: Mac Cul loc h 121-37; relations with Roman s tate 156-88; Chris tianal ternative to Rome 165; Severus , to thi rd-c entury c ris is , Mithrais m, Mani, Dioc letian 166-76. J os eph Patric h, 'T he Early Churc h of the Holy Sepulc hre in the Light of Exc avations and Res toration', in Y. Ts afri r (ed.), Anc ient Churc hes Rev ealed 101-7. Synagogues : s even s ynagogues ; one remained on MountZion in AD 333: Bordeaux P i lgrim , Itinerary 592-3. Epiphanius quoted: Peters , J erus alem 125-7. Sc hafer 168. Chris tiani ty and pers ec utions and dec ay of Roman power: Butc her 86-9; revol ts agains t Romans 65-6. T wenty-five c hanges of emperor in 103 years /Zenobia; Dioc letian vis i ts Pales tina 286: Avi-Yonah 91-127 and 139-49. Mic hael Grant, Cons tantine the Great 126-34. Sartre 339. On Palmyran empire and Zenobia: P . Southern, Empres s Zenobia: Palmy ra's Rebel Queen .

PART THREE: CHRISTIANITY

1 Cons tantine. Ris e and c harac ter: W arren T . T readgold, A His tory of By z antine S tate and Soc iety (henc eforth T readgold) 30-48. Grant, Cons tantine 82-4, 105-15; Sun God 134-5; Mi lvian B ridge vis ion 140-55; Churc h 156-86. J udi th Herrin, By z antium: The Surpris ing Li fe of a Mediev al Empire (henc eforth Herrin)8-11. Patron gods of Caes ar Augus tus and Aurel ian, s mal lnes s of Chris tian rel igion, J ews as detes table mob, J ewis h his tory as Roman his tory: Goodman 539-48. Cris pus /Faus ta s exual offenc e: T readgold 44. Avi-Yonah 159-64. Lane Fox, Unauthoriz ed Vers ion 247. Mac Cul loc h 189-93. Las t years : Grant,Cons tantine 213. J ohn J ul ius Norwic h, By z antium: The Early Centuries (henc eforth Norwic h) 1.31-79. Fred M. Donner, Muhammad and the Bel iev ers : A t the Origins of Is lam 10-11. On Chris tologic al debates and s hoc k-troop monks : Chris W ic kham, The Inheri tanc e of Rome: A His tory of Europe from 400 to1000 (henc eforth W ic kham) 59-67.

2 Helena in J erus alem. Eus ebius , Life of Cons tantine 3.26-43. Sozomen, Churc h His tory 2.1, 2.26. Helena barmaid: Grant, Cons tantine 16-17; vis i t 202-5. Zeev Rubin, 'T he Churc h of Holy Sepulc hre and Confl ic t between the Sees of Caes area and J erus alem ', in Cathedra 2.79-99 on early vis i t of Cons tantine'smother-in-law, Eutropia, in 324. Founding of Churc h: Mac Cul loc h 193-6. Temple Mount, s pac e and hol ines s to J ews /defeat of old revelation and vic tory of new: Oleg Grabar, The Shape of the Holy : Early Is lamic J erus alem 28. Goldhi l l , City of Longing 179. Peters , J erus alem 131-40. New J erus alem: Goodman560-77; J ewis h reverenc e for J erus alem 576-7. J ews : Avi-Yonah 159-63; s mal l J ewis h revol t reported in J ohn Chrys os tom 173. Bas i l ic as and c eremonies of c hurc h: Mac Cul loc h 199; A rianis m 211-15. Bordeaux P i lgrim , Itinerary 589-94; s ee als o Peters , J erus alem 143-4, inc luding new name for Zion.Confus ion about real Zion: 2 Samuel 5.7, Mic ah 3.12. T s afri r, Sac red Es planade 73-99.

3 Cons tantius : Avi-Yonah, 174-205. J ul ian: T readgold 59-63. J ews /Temple: Yohanan Levy, 'J ul ian the Apos tate and the Bui lding of the Temple', in Cathedra 3.70-95. Temple: Sozomen, Churc h His tory 5.22. Is aiah 66.14. Arc heologic al Park 22. Norwic h 339-100. Did J ews remove s tatues ?/Is aiah ins c ription:Shanks 53-5. A rab revol ts of Queen Maria and Sarac en W ar in 375: Butc her 65-6.

4 T he fi rs t pi lgrims fourth/fi fth c entury/Hun invas ion: Zeev Rubin, 'Chris tiani ty in Byzantine Pales tine - Mis s ionary Ac tivi ty and Rel igious Coerc ion', in Cathedra 3.97-113. Cheating, adul tery - Gregory of Nys s a quoted in Peters , J erus alem 153; pros ti tutes , ac tors - Paul inus of Nola quoted 153; J erome on Paulaquoted 152. J erome: Freeman 274-84, inc luding quotes on s ex, vi rgini ty and s wine. Fes tivals evolve, c ros s -bi ting: Egeria, P ilgrimage to the Holy P lac es , 50, 57-8, 67-74; and Bordeaux P i lgrim , Itinerary 589-94. J erome on B ri tons : Barbara W . T uc hman, B ible and Sw ord (henc eforth T uc hman) 23. Byzantineguides to J erus alem: B reviarius and Topography of the Holy Land, quoted in Peters , J erus alem 154-7. T he J ews in J erus alem/Temple Mount wi th s tatues : Bordeaux P i lgrim , Itinerary 589-94. Mob of wretc hes : J erome quoted in Peters , J erus alem 145. J ewis h revol t: T readgold 56. Lane Fox, Unauthoriz edVers ion 213-14. Shanks 57. Peters , J erus alem 143-4. Zion: 2 Samuel 5.7, Mic ah 3.12. T s afri r, Sac red Es planade 73-99. Monas tic is m: W ic kham 59-67.

5 Eudoc ia, Bars oma, Chris tiani ty in Pales tine: Rubin, 'Chris tiani ty in Byzantine Pales tine - Mis s ionary Ac tivi ty and Rel igious Coerc ion', in Cathedra 3.97-113. T readgold 89-94. Bahat, Atlas 68-79. Remains of Eudoc ia's wal ls /S i loam Churc h: Arc heologic al Park 42-4, 137 and 138. Eudoc ia and Bars oma: Peters ,J erus alem 157-62, inc luding P iac enza P i lgrim s eeing her tomb. Chris tology, monas tic s hoc k-troops : W ic kham 59-67. Rel ic s : S tephen Runc iman, A His tory of the Crus ades (henc eforth Runc iman) 1.40 and 49. Grabar, Shape of the Holy 25, 37. Chris tianization and anti -J ewis h laws : T heodos ius I and II: Avi-Yonah 213-21, 240-5; on J erome - J ewis h worms quoted at 222; end of patriarc hate 225-30. Norwic h 139-51. Creed and righteous behaviour: Donner, Muhammad 10-17. Mac Cul loc h on monas tic is m inc luding lol l ipop s tyl i te pi l lar: 200-10; on Nes torius /Monophys i tis m 222-8. End of Hi l lel i te patriarc hs : G.K ramer, A His tory of Pales tine (henc eforth K ramer) 24. A rmenian monks and as c etic is m: Igor Dorfmann-Lazarev, 'His toric al Itinerary of the A rmenian People in Light of i ts B ibl ic al Memory', ms .

6 J us tinian - Byzantine c l imax. J us tin and J us tinian: T readgold 174-217. Donner, Muhammad 5-6; apoc alyptic vis ion of the Las t Emperor 16; Yemenite J ewis h kingdom 31-4; J us tinian's vis ion 4-17. W ic kham 92-5. V is ion and bui lding: Herrin 50-7. Gos s ip: s ee P roc opius , Sec ret Li fe . Bui lding: Bahat, Atlas 68-79. Bui lding and pi lgrims : Peters , J erus alem 162-4: P iac enza P i lgrim ; 'Li fe of Sabas ' by Cyri l of Sc ythopol is ; P roc opius , 'On Bui ldings ', quoted in Peters . Grabar, Shape of the Holy 38-40, inc luding Cyri l quote; l i fe in J erus alem 24-38, inc luding c onc epts of holy s pac e/c hurc hes fac ing or bac king on to TempleMount. J ewis h tragedy: Avi-Yonah 221-4 and 232-7, but c . 520 new Sanhedrin c hief from Babylon to T iberias , rul ing J ews for s even generations unti l move to J erus alem in 638; J us tinian anti -J ewis h legis lation 246-8; J ews in T iberias in c ontac t wi th J ewis h kings of Yemen 246-8. T readgold 177. Butc her 383.Temple menorah - Byzantine triumph then to J erus alem in 534: Perowne, Later Herods 177. Norwic h 212. Byzantine s tyle of dres s : s ee Ravenna mos aic and Herrin on T heodora and ladies -in-waiting 67. Hous es , mos aic s and c hurc hes : on Orpheus s emi-pagan/s emi-Chris tian: As har Ovadius and SoniaMuc znik, 'Orpheus from J erus alem - Pagan or Chris tian Image', in Cathedra 1.152-66. Nea Churc h: Grabar, Shape of the Holy 34-8; Madaba Map 27. M. Avi-Yonah, 'T he Madaba Mos aic Map', Is rael Ex ploration Soc iety . See als o artic le: Martine Meuwes e, 'Repres entations of J erus alem on Medieval Maps andMiniatures ', Eas tern Chris tian A rt 2 (2005) 139-48. H. Donner, The Mos aic Map of Madaba: An Introduc tory Guide . Nea, las t c olumn in Rus s ian Compound: Shanks 86-7. Byzantine ric h hous es s outh and wes t of Temple Mount: Arc heologic al Park 147 and 32-3; extended Cardo 10 and 140; bathhous es nearJ affa Gate 125; Nea 81; monks in Firs t T emple J ewis h tombs 39. Burial wi th bel ls : s ee Roc kefel ler Mus eum. J erus alem c hariot-rac ing: Yaron Dan, 'Circ us Fac tions in Byzantine Pales tine', in Cathedra 1.105-19. T s afri r, Sac red Es planade 73-99.

7 Pers ian invas ion. T he Pers ian general 's ful l name was Razmiozan, known as Farrokhan Shahrbaraz - the Royal Boar. J us tin II to Phoc as - dec l ine: T readgold 218-41. Sas s anian king, s tate and rel igion: Donner, Muhammad 17-27. Avi-Yonah, 241, 254-65, inc luding Midras h of E l i jah and 20,000 J ewis h s oldiersquoting Eutyc hius ; Salvation Midras h/Book of Zerubbabel, Nehemiah s tories 265-8; J ews expel led 269-70. Sebeos , His toire d'Herac l ius 63-71. See als o: A . Courret, La P ris e de J erus alem par les Pers es ; and Norwic h 279-91. A rab tribes : Butc her 66-72. J erus alem c hariot-rac ing: Dan, 'Circ us Fac tions inByzantine Pales tine', in Cathedra 1.105-19.Sas s anids ris e: Farrokh 178-90; Khus rau II 247-61. Sas s anians before the A rab c onques t: Hugh Kennedy, The Great A rab Conques ts 98-111.Des truc tion of J erus alem: F. Conybeare, 'Antioc hus S trategos : Ac c ount of the Sac k of J erus alem ', Engl is h His toric al Rev iew 25 (1910) 502-16. Ci ty des troyed: Bahat, Atlas 78-9. Bones of monks in Monas tery of S t Onufrius : Arc heologic al Park 137. J ewis h role and Lion's Cemetery where martyrs buried in

Mamil la: J . P rawer, His tory of the J ew s in the Latin K ingdom of J erus alem 57 and 241. Dan, 'Circ us Fac tions in Byzantine Pales tine', in Cathedra 1.105-19, ins c ription on B lues . Mas s ac re myths : Grabar, Shape of the Holy 36-43. T rac es of a J ewis h bui lding on Temple Mount, s eventh c entury but dating fromPers ian or early Is lam ic period: T s afri r, Sac red Es planade 99.8 Herac l ius : this is bas ed on W alter E . Kaegi , Herac l ius : Emperor of By z antium. T readgold 287-303. Farrokh 256-61. Butc her 76-8. Herrin 84-6. Norwic h 291-302. Entering J erus alem: Conybeare, 'Antioc hus S trategos ' 502-16. Defeated Romans : Koran (trans . M.A .S . Abdel Haleem) 30.1-5. Golden Gate -

Byzantine or Umayyad: Bahat, Atlas 78-9. Goldhi l l , City of Longing 126. Herac l ius and J ews , Benjam in of T iberias : Avi-Yonah 260-76. Firs t Crus ader: Runc iman 1.10-13. Herac l ius in J erus alem: Abu Sufyan's memory: Kennedy, Conques ts 74; Pales tine in dec l ine 31-2. Ts afri r, Sac red Es planade 73-99.Herac l ius and c ampaigns : Donner, Muhammad 17-27; Las t Emperor 17-18. W ic kham 256-61.

PART FOUR: ISLAM

1 Muhammad: A rabia before P rophet: this is bas ed on the fol lowing: Koran; Ibn Is haq, Life of Muhammad ; A l-T abari , Tarik h: The His tory of al -Tabari . Analys is and narrative - for c onventional approac h: W . Montgomery W att, Muhammad: P rophet and S tates man ; Karen A rms trong, Muhammad: A B iography of theP rophet. For new analys is : Donner, Muhammad ; F. E . Peters , Muhammad and J es us , Paral lel Trac k s , Paral lel Liv es .Apoc alyps e in Koran/Las t Days /T he Hour: Hour is near: Koran 33.63, 47.18. Hour nigh: Koran 54.1. Koran: Introduc tion ix-xxxvi . Is ra and Miraj : Koran 17.1, 17.60, 53.1-18, 81.19 and 25. Change of qibla : Koran 2.142-50; Solomon and dj inns in temple: Koran 34.13. J ewis h s ins and Nebac hadnezzar fal l of

Temple: Koran 17.4-7. J ihad/ki l l ing/s word vers e/People of the Book/ dhimmi : Koran 16.125, 4.72-4, 9.38-9, 9.5, 9.29; no c ompuls ion in rel igion 2.256, 3.3-4, 5.68, 3.64, 29.46. Donner, Muhammad 27-38; l i fe and ris e of Muhammad and l im i ts of his biography 39-50; l im i ts of s ourc es , quotes of T homas theP res byter 50-7; bel iefs of early Is lam, Donner's theory of Bel ievers vs Mus l ims and number of mentions in Koran: 57-61; ri tuals 61-9; ec umenis m of early Bel ievers es pec ial ly atti tude to J ews and the umma doc ument 72-4; P rophet and Apoc alyps e 78-82; m i l i tant j ihad 83-6; ec umenic al opennes s to J ews andChris tians - quotations from Donner 87-9; Abu Sufyan and Mec c an el i te c o-opted 92-7.

Ibn Is haq, Muhammad 200-10. J es us meets Mos es and E l i jah: Mark 9.1-5. Muhammad, mys tery of early Is lam; doubts of s ome s c holars of enti re his tory before 800, ques tion of c onques t, early c al iphs : W ic kham 279-89. A rms trong, Muhammad 94; qibla 107; relations with J ews 102, 111, 161-3.Muhammad in Syria: Kennedy, Conques ts 77. Early Is lam: Chas e F. Robins on, Abd al-Mal ik 13. Herrin 86-8. Muhammad's ris e: Kennedy, Conques ts 45-7; no one more des ti tute than us , among us who would bury our daughters , God s ent us a wel l -known man, the bes t among us , A rabian tribes before

Muhammad, letters of Mus l im s oldiers vs Pers ians , 47. Letters of Mus l im s oldiers on Pers ian c onques t: al -Tabari , Tarik h 1.2269-77, 2411-24; 2442-4; 2457-63. T hes e s ourc es des c ribe the A rab invaders of Pers ia jus t after the Pales tinian c onques t. Sophronius : Peters , J erus alem 175. Relations with theA rabian J ewis h tribes , fi rs t qibla etc ., Is rai l iyat: Is aac Has s an, 'Mus l im Li terature in P rais e of J erus alem ', in Cathedra 1.170-2. Importanc e of advic e of J ewis h c onverts : Ibn Khaldun, The Muqaddimah: An Introduc tion to His tory (henc eforth Ibn Khaldun) 260.2 Abu Bakr to Othman. T he fi rs t s uc c es s ors to P rophet, s ourc es : Donner, Muhammad 91-5; P rophet and Apoc alyps e 78-82 and 97; knowledge of Syria 96; j ihad 83-6; ec umenic al opennes s to J ews and Chris tians - quotations from Donner 87-9; c al iph ti tle us ed only (pos s ibly) by Abu Bakr but more us ual ly

Commander of the Bel ievers and s uc c es s ion 97-106; the nature of Is lam ic expans ion, c hurc hes not des troyed 106-19; early vers ion of s hahada (wi thout 'Muhammad is his prophet/apos tle') 112; B is hop Sebeos and J ewis h governor 114; ec umenic al 114-15; on s haring c hurc hes 114-5; on Cathis ma Churc hwith mihrab and in J erus alem i ts el f 115; Abu Bakr c onques ts 118-33.Apoc alyps e/T he Hour: Koran 33.63, 47.18. Hour nigh: Koran 54.1. Early arm ies at Yarmuk and al-Qadis iyah, only 30,000 men, power of rel igious propaganda and motivation: Ibn Khaldun 126. Development of ti tle khal i fa: Ibn Khaldun 180. Omar takes ti tle Commander of the Fai thful : Kennedy, Conques ts 54-6

and 72-5. Barnaby Rogers on, The Heirs of the P rophet Muhammad and the Roots of the Sunni-Shia Sc his m (henc eforth Rogers on) 83, 128-9, 169.Omar takes Pales tine, Byzantine empire, weaknes s es , plague, poverty: Kennedy, Conques ts , 142-98; s ettlement of Pales tine and Iraq 95-7; Amr al-As 46-51 and 70-3; Khal id bin W al id 70-3. Yaqubi , His tory 2.160-70, and al-Baladhuri , Conques t of the Countries , quoted in Peters , J erus alem 176-7. Defeat of

Byzantines : Runc iman 1.15 Khal id in c ommand at Damas c us and Yarmuk: Kennedy, Conques ts 75-89. Early adminis tration: Rogers on 220.3 Omar enters J erus alem: Koran 17.1, c hange of qibla : Koran 2.142-4. Conc ept of Day of J udgement: Koran 3.185 33.63, 47.18. 54.1.

Covenant - T abari , Annals 1.2405, in Peters , J erus alem 18. Muthir al -Ghiram in Guy Le S trange, Pales tine under the Mos lems 139-44. Eutyc hius quoted in Peters , J erus alem 189-90.Grabar, Shape of the Holy 45-50. Omar looks , c harac ter, s tories : Ibn Khaldun 162. Kennedy, Conques ts 125-30. Rogers on 171-82.Donner, Muhammad : Omar c onques t of J erus alem, 125; J ews 114-15; Apoc alyps e 78-82 and 97; m i l i tanc y 83-6; opennes s to Monotheis ts - quotations from Donner 87-9. Shlomo D. Goitein, 'J erus alem in the A rab Period 638-1099, in Cathedra 2: 168-75.Omar takes s urrender: Kennedy, Conques ts 91-5. Abdul Azis Duri , 'J erus alem in the Early Is lam ic Period', in As al i , 105; early hadith and fadai l : in As al i , 114-16. J erus alem further plac e of prayer: Koran 17.1. On importanc e of Holy Land, J erus alem and Aqs a: Mus tafa Abu Sway, 'T he Holy Land, J erus alem

and the Aqs a Mos que in Is lam ic Sourc es ', in Sac red Es planade 335-43. W ic kham 279-89.J ewis h hopes , move to J erus alem: J . Mann, The J ew s in Egy pt and Pales tine under the Fatimid Cal iphs (henc eforth Mann) 1.44-7. J ewis h tradi tions - Is rai l iyat and Kaab quotations : Has s an, 'Mus l im Li terature in P rais e of J erus alem,' in Cathedra 1.170-2. Meir K is ter, 'A Comment on the Antiqui ty of T radi tions

P rais ing J erus alem ', in Cathedra 1.185-6.T he names of the c i ty: Angel ika Neuwirth, 'J erus alem in Is lam: T he T hree Honori fic Names of the Ci ty', in OJ 77-93. Seventeen Mus l im names /s eventy J ewis h in Midras h/multipl ic i ty is greatnes s , quoted in Goitein, 'J erus alem ' 187. Grabar, Shape of the Holy 112. Omar on Temple Mount: Is aac ben J os eph

quoted in Peters , J erus alem 191-2; on J ews c leans ing Temple Mount and banning: Salman ben Yeruham quoted in Peters , J erus alem 191-4. Fi l th on Temple Mount del iberately plac ed by Helena - Muj i r al -Din, His toire de J erus alem et d'Hebron (henc eforth Muj i r) 56-7, and on J ews c leans ing Temple Mount.Earl ies t mos ques : Kennedy, Conques ts 121 and 134.

Firs t c emetery and early burials of Companions of P rophet: Kamal As al i , 'Cemeteries of Old J erus alem ', in OJ 279-84. Sophronius , abomination: in Peters , J erus alem 190. Firs t s ight of J erus alem from hi l l : Sari Nus s eibeh, Onc e Upon a Country 29. Hus s ein bin Talal , K ing Hus s ein of J ordan, My W ar w i thIs rael 122. A rc ul f in T homas W right, Early Trav els in Pales tine 1-5. J ews in Omar's arm ies - s ee P rofes s or Rood in J Q 32, Autumn 2007. J ewis h as pirations : Sebeos quoted in Goldhi l l , City of Longing 76. Mann 1.44-7. Shared c hurc h and mos ques : Ros s Burns , Damas c us : A His tory 100-5. Donner,Muhammad : s ee earl ier referenc es .

Early names of J erus alem: s ee Sac red Es planade 13. Pales tine/Syria holy land: Koran 5.21. J ewis h wors hip on T emple Mount: Miriam Frenkel , 'T emple Mount in J ewis h T hought', in Sac red Es planade 346-8.T he A rabs and arm ies - el i te, tac tic s , arm ies , motivation, poverty inc luding c amel hair m ixed with blood: Ibn Khaldun 162-3; 126. Kennedy, Conques ts 40-2, 57-65; s tyle of s oldiers and female booty 111-13. A l-Tabari , Tarik h 1.2269-77, 2411-24, 2442-4, 2457-63. T hes e s ourc es des c ribe the A rab invaders of

Pers ia jus t after the Pales tinian c onques t. Duri in As al i , J erus alem 105-9.4 Muawiya: this portrai t is bas ed on R. S tephen Humphreys , Muaw iy a ibn Abi Sufy an: From A rabia to Empire 1-10 and 119-34; fam i ly 38-42; ris e 43-53. Donner, Muhammad : Muawiya admired by J ews and Chris tians 141-3; Apoc alyps e 143-4; fi rs t c ivi l war 145-70; reign of Muawiya 171-7; opennes s 87-9. J ews

plan new Temple: Sebeos quoted in Guy S troums a, 'Chris tian Memories and V is ions of J erus alem in J ewis h and Is lam ic Context', in Sac red Es planade 321-33 es pec ial ly 329-30. Bui lding on Temple Mount, Pers ian or early Is lam ic : Ts afri r, '70-638 CE : T he Templeles s Mountain', Sac red Es planade 99.J ewis h wors hip on Temple Mount ended by Cal iph Omar ibn Abd al-Mal ik 717-20: Frenkel , 'Temple Mount in J ewis h T hought', Sac red Es planade 346-8 Ibn Khaldun: on bay ah 166-7; c hange from theoc ratic to royal authori ty 160-8; Chris tian adminis tration 192; Muawiya - develops the mihrab after attemptedas s as s ination 222; introduc es s eal ing of letters 219; introduc es throne due to fatnes s 216. Caes ar of the A rabs : Rogers on 326. Mos que: A rc ul f, S t Adamnan, P ilgrimage of A rc ul fus in the Holy Land 1.1-23.Lover of Is rael (Muawiya) hews Temple Mount, bui l t mos que - S imon ben Yahati quoted in Peters , J erus alem 199-200; pos s ibi l i ty of Muawiya making J erus alem the c api tal of A rab empire/adapting Herodian platform from s quare to rec tangular and lowering Antonia Fortres s 201. J ewis h A rabian food: S . D.

Goitein, A Mediterranean Soc iety 1.72. Apoc alyptic Midras h and al-Mutahar ibn T ahir attribute bui lding of prayer plac e on T emple Mount to Muawiya: Goitein, 'J erus alem ' 76. Grabar, Shape of the Holy 50.Adminis tration by Chris tians : Mans ur ibn Sargun: Burns , Damas c us 100-15. Adminis tering Pales tine: Rogers on 189-92, inc luding quotation 'I apply not my s word...' Goi tein, 'J erus alem ' 174.Othman: Rogers on 233-87. Muawiya's palac es : Humphreys , Muaw iy a 10-12; pol i tic s of l ineage 26-37.Muawiya on J udgement Day/on Syria/s anc ti fying land/land of ingathering and J udgement: Has s an, 'Mus l im Li terature in P rais e of J erus alem ', in Cathedra 1.170. On J udgement Day: Neuwirth, 'J erus alem in Is lam: T he T hree Honori fic Names of the Ci ty', OJ 77-93. W ar agains t Byzantines : Herrin 91-2. Dome of

the Chain: Grabar, Shape of the Holy 130. Bay ah al legianc e - Tabari quoted in Grabar, Shape of the Holy 111-2. W alks through Chris tian s i tes : Humphreys , Muaw iy a 128-9. Umayyads and J erus alem: As al i , J erus alem 108-10. Patron and s heikh: Chas e F. Robins on, Abd al-Mal ik 65. Yazid and s uc c es s ion:Humphreys , Muaw iy a 96-102. Yazid: Ibn Khaldun 164.5 Abd al-Mal ik and Dome. T his portrai t of the c al iph and imagery and s igni fic anc e of the Dome is bas ed on Andreas Kaplony, 'T he Mos que of J erus alem ', in Sac red Es planade 101-31; Grabar, Shape of the Holy ; and Oleg Grabar, The Dome of the Roc k ; Donner, Muhammad ; and Chas e F. Robins on, Abd al-

Mal ik . Is lam ic tradi tions : al -T abari , Tarik h 1.2405, and Muthir al -Ghiram quoted in Peters , J erus alem 187-9.Donner, Muhammad : c ivi l war 177-89; c ommunity of bel ievers into organized Is lam 194-9; Las t J udgement and Dome of Roc k 199-203; Bel ievers into Is lam and c al iphate, emphas is on c al iph/Koran/double s hahada /hadith /God's deputy 203-12; development of Is lam ic ri tuals 214; development of Is lam ic

origins , his tory 216-18. Pol i tic al m is s ion and rel igious aims : W ic kham 289-95. Abd al-Mal ik looks : Robins on, Abd al-Mal ik 52-61; on c onc ubines 20; on flattery 85; ris e 25-43; Umayyad res idenc es 47-8. On royal authori ty: Ibn Khaldun 198-9. Le S trange, Pales tine under the Mos lems 114-20 and 144-51.Des c ription and aes thetic s of the Dome: Grabar, Shape of the Holy 52-116. On s ervic es bas ed on J ewis h Temple, quote on Temple rebui l t, Koran as Torah: Kaplony, Sac red Es planade 108-112, inc luding Umayyad ri tual from al-W as i ti , Fadai l Bay t al-Muqaddas 112. Bui lding the Dome. Robins on, Abd al-

Mal ik 4-9 and 98-100; c harac ter 76-94; m i les tones around Ilya 113-12. On aim to overs hadow Churc h of Sepulc hre s ee al-Muqaddas i , A Des c ription of Sy ria Inc luding Pales tine (henc eforth Muqaddas i) 22-3.Cal iph Omar ibn Abd al-Mal ik 717-20: Frenkel , Sac red Es planade 346-8. J ews dream of rebui lding Temple and granted ac c c es s - Salman ben Yeruham quoted in Peters , J erus alem 193, and Is aac ben J os eph at 191-2. J ewis h attendants of Dome: Muj i r 55-7. J ews and Temple: Sebeos quoted in S troums a,

Sac red Es planade 321-33 es pec ial ly 329-30. T rac es of bui lding, s eventh c entury, Pers ian or early Is lam ic : T s afri r, Sac red Es planade 99. Mos que: A rc ul f, S t Adamnan, P ilgrimage of A rc ul fus in the Holy Land 1.1-23.Eating a banana; Goitein, 'J erus alem ' 190 quoting Ibn As akir's fadai l . Cal iph Suleiman ibn Abd al-Mal ik in J erus alem/bay ah /plan to make i t imperial c api tal / J ewis h attendants in Dome: Muj i r 56-8. T he Dome: Duri in As al i , J erus alem 109-11. Peters , J erus alem 197. Goitein, 'J erus alem ' 174. J ewis h attendants ,

other bui ldings : Goitein, 'J erus alem ' 175-80. Byzantine influenc es on Dome: Herrin 90. Shanks 9-31.On importanc e of Holy Land, J erus alem and Aqs a: Mus tafa Abu Sway, Sac red Es planade 335-43.

6 Umayyad J erus alem. A l-Aqs a - Grabar, Shape of the Holy 117-22; Aphrodi to papyri 12; Umayyad c al iphs in J erus alem, Sulayman and Umar 111; palac es to s outh of Temple Mount 107-10; the Haram Double and T riple Gates /Gate of P rophet and pos s ibly Golden Gate 122-8 and 152-8; four major domes 158;s c eptic al that the new Umayyad publ ic bui ldings s outh of Temple Mount are nec es s ari ly palac es 128-30; Haram 122-8; Dome of the Chain 130-2; c i ty l i fe, Chris tians and J ews in c i ty 132-5. Goitein, 'J erus alem ' 178. K royanker 32. Umayyad res idenc es Robins on, Abd al-Mal ik 47-8. Herrin 90. Shanks 9-31.Mos he Gi l , A His tory of Pales tine 69-74 and 104. Mann, 1.44-5. Day of J udgement: Koran 3.185. Byzantine wooden beams in Roc kefel ler Mus eum. On apoc alyptic geogyaphy and s i te of Divine-human c ommunic ation: Neuwirth, OJ 77-93. T his ac c ount of Is lam ic End of Days is s ubs tantial ly bas ed on Kaplony,Sac red Es planade 108-31, es pec ial ly 124.Dec l ine of Umayyads and ris e of Abbas ids : Goitein, 'J erus alem ' 178-81. Dynas ties have a natural s pan l ike individuals : Ibn Khaldun 136. On as s oc iations of Apoc alyps e and Divine J udgement wi th J ewis h tradi tions of c reation and Apoc alyps e: Grabar, Shape of the Holy 133. J ewis h wors hip on Temple

Mount 717-20: Frenkel , Sac red Es planade 346-8.On J ewis h l iving areas , on Umayyad palac es : Bahat, Atlas 82-6. J ews banned from Haram and praying at wal ls , gates : Is aac ben J os eph quoted in Peters , J erus alem 191, and Solomon ben Yeruham at 193. Muj i r 56-7. On Chris tian pi lgrims and fes tivals and Sepulc hre: A rc ul f, S t Adamnan, P ilgrimage of

A rc ul fus in the Holy Land 1.1-23. W i l l iband and A rc ul f, quoted in Peters 202-12. Umayyad palac es : Arc heologic al Park 26-7, inc luding old s tones and lavatory. W al id I and the des ert qas rs , Umayyad s inging s tars : The Umay y ads : The Ris e of Is lamic A rt 110-25. W al id II/His ham - Palac e of Khirbet al-Mafjarnear J eric ho - paintings at Roc kefel ler Mus eum. Dec l ine of Umayyads and ris e of Abbas ids : Goitein, 'J erus alem ' 180-1. Abas s id denunc iation of Umayyads : Humphreys quoting T abari . Abbas id revolution: W ic kham 295-7.7 A l-Mans ur. T ake s urname ti tles to s eparate thems elves : Ibn Khaldun 181; Abbas id blac k banners and c hange to green 215. Goitein, 'J erus alem ' 180-1. Kennedy, Conques ts 11-50, inc luding the dead A l ids 16; Baghdad 133; c ourt l i fe 139; Hous e of W is dom/trans lation of Greek texts 252-60. Hous e of W is dom,

6,000 books : W ic kham 324-31. J onathan Lyons , Hous e of W is dom 62-70 and 89-90. A l-Mans ur and al-Mahdi vis i ts to J erus alem: Peters , J erus alem 215-17. Abbas id Haram: Kaplony, Sac red Es planade 101-31. A l-Mans ur and meannes s of res torations : Muj i r 59. Mahdi vis i t: Muqaddas i 41-2. Duri in As al i ,J erus alem 112-13. Dec l ine in J erus alem/quote of T haur ibn Yazid: Neuwirth, OJ 77-93.

8 Haroun al-Ras hid and Charlemagne. Goitein, 'J erus alem ' 181-2. Kennedy, The Court of the Cal iphs : The Ris e and Fal l of Is lam's Greates t Dy nas ty 51-84. Peters , J erus alem 217-23, inc luding Benedic t Chronic le and Memorandum on the Hous es of God and Monas teries in the Holy Ci ty, l is ting s taff and taxes ;and Bernard, Itinerary. Hywel W i l l iams , Emperor of the W es t: Charlemagne and the Carol ingian Empire , 230-3. W i l l iam of T yre, Deeds Done Bey ond the Sea (henc eforth W i l l iam of T yre) 1.64-5. Gift to Charlemagne: Lyons , Hous e of W is dom 45. On legend s ee: Anon., Le Pelerinage de Charlemagne aJ erus alem et a Cons tantinople . Charlemagne as David: W ic kham 381.

9 Maamun. Cl imax of A rab c ul ture - marriage of al -Maamun and Buran: Ibn Khaldun 139. Maamun: Kennedy, Court of the Cal iphs 252-260; Hous e of W is dom, 6,000 books : W ic kham 324-31; Lyons , Hous e of W is dom 62-70 and 89-90. Ins c ription of Maamun on al-Aqs a: Nas ir-i -Khus rau, Diary of a J ourney throughSy ria and Pales tine . Goi tein, 'J erus alem ' 182. Abbas id Haram: Kaplony, Sac red Es planade 101-31. Abbas id c ul ture: Kennedy, Conques ts 84-129; Tahirids and Abd A l lah ibn Tahir l iberates J erus alem 91 and 203; s umptuous marriage 168; s inging girls 173; Maamun in Syria and Egypt 208-9 and death 211-12. Maamun and Hous e of W is dom, 6,000 books : W ic kham 324-31. T rans lation of Greek texts : Kennedy, Court of the Cal iphs 252-60.

10 Des truc tion of dynas ty pres tige and ris e of Pers ian/T urk ghulam: Ibn Khaldun 124; ti tle of s ul tan, Abbas ids los e power 155 and 193; dec ay of Abbas ids 165-6. Goitein, 'J erus alem ' 182-3. A l-Mutas im , peas ant revol ts 840s , T urkis h ghulam: Kennedy, Court of the Cal iphs 213-17; dhimmi forc ed to wear yel lowc lothing by Cal iph al-Mutawwaki l in 850 240. Peas ant revol t 841: Duri in As al i , J erus alem 113; Goitein, 'J erus alem ' 182. Khazar debate: s ee K . A . B rook, The J ew s of Khaz aria ; A . Koes tler, The Thirteenth Tribe ; S . Sand, The Inv ention of the J ew is h People ; on the lates t findings on J ewis h genetic s : 'S tudiesShow J ews ' Genetic S im i l iari ty', New York Times 9 J une 2010.

11 Ibn T ulun and T ulunids : T hierry B ianquis , 'Autonomous Egypt from Ibn T ulun to Kafur 868-969', in Carl F. Petry (ed.), Cambridge His tory of Egy pt, vol 1: Is lamic Egy pt 640-1517 (henc eforth CHE 1) 86-108; the Carmatian rebel l ion 106-8; s pec ial role of J erus alem 103. Karai tes : Norman S ti l lman, 'T he Non-Mus l im Communities : T he J ewis h Community', in CHE 1.200. Ris e of Karai tes : Mann 1.60-5.T he T urkis h am ir Amjur and s on A l i ruled Pales tine for the Abbas ids from 869 and were prais ed by Patriarc h T heodos ius for toleranc e: Goitein, 'J erus alem ' 183. Kennedy, Court of the Cal iphs 84-111. Khazars : B rook, The J ew s of Khaz aria 96-8; Mann, 1.64. Gideon Avni : c onvers ations with author, Khazar

s ynagogue in J ewis h Quarter quoted in Geniza. Khazars res pec t J erus alem Ac ademy: Mann 1.64-5.12 Ikhs hids and Kafur: B ianquis , CHE 1.109-19. Goitein, 'J erus alem ' 183-4. Byzantine advanc e on J erus alem: J ohn T zim is kes text in Peters , J erus alem 243.13 Ibn K i l l is : B ianquis , CHE 1.117. S ti l lman, CHE 1.206. Goitein, 'J erus alem ' 184.14 Fatim ids /J awhar/K i l l is as vizier, Fatim ids : Paul E . W alker, 'T he Is mai l i Dawa and the Fatim id Cal iphate', in CHE 1.120-48. Paula A . Sanders , 'T he Fatim id S tate', in CHE 1.151-4. B ianquis , CHE 1.117. Mes s ianic Fatim ids : W ic kham 336-8. J ewis h potentates : S ti l lman, CHE 1.206-7. Goitein, 'J erus alem ' 184.

On K i l l is , J ewis h Governor of Pales tine-Syria, Chris tian viziers : Goi tein, Mediterranean Soc iety 1.33-4.15 Pal tiel /J ews and Chris tians in J erus alem under the Fatim ids . On Pal tiel and plac es of prayer in J erus alem: Ahima'as , The Chronic le of Ahima'as 64-6, 95-7. Mos es Maimonides , Code of Maimonides Book 8 Temple Serv ic e 12, 17 and 28-30. On Pal tiel and fam i ly: Mann, 1.252. Fatim ids pay J ewis h s ubs idy:

Peters , J erus alem 276 - proved by al-Hakim 's c anc el lation. Grabar, Shape of the Holy : J ews in J erus alem/Paltiel 's funeral attac ked in 1011: 144-50, 162-8. Mourners of Zion/c al l for al iyah by Daniel al Kumis i : Peters , J erus alem 227-9; Karai tes 229-32. Mos he Gi l , 'A l iyah and P i lgrimage in Early A rab Period', inCathedra 3.162-73. J ewis h Ac ademy: Peters , J erus alem 232-3; poverty and begging letters 233-4; plac e of wors hip - Mount of Ol ives - Geniza s ays above Abs alom 's monuments 603. P i lgrimage - aura of dis tinc tion and J ewis h/Chris tian emulation of Mus l ims : Goitein, Mediterranean Soc iety 1.55 S ti l lman,CHE 1.201-9. Chris tian pi lgrimages from Egypt: Ibn al-Qalanis i , Continuation of the Chronic le of Damas c us (henc eforth Qalanis i ) 65-7. Duri in As al i , J erus alem 118-19.

16 A l-Muqaddas i and Is lam ic J erus alem under the Fatim ids : quotations are from Muqaddas i - on beauty of Dome, Haram and al-Aqs a 41-68; on mys tic s and c hees es 67-9; J ews and Chris tians 75-7; on Day of J udgement, fi l thy baths , water 34-7. Day of J udgement and arrival of Mahdi: Ibn Khaldun 257-8.Fatim id Haram: Kaplony, Sac red Es planade 101-31. Duri in As al i , J erus alem 119. A banana at the Dome: Goitein, 'J erus alem ' 190 quotes Ibn As akir.

17 A l-Hakim: Chris tian mother - W i l l iam of T yre 1.65-7. Sanders , CHE 1.152. Goitein, 'J erus alem ' 185. Is lam ic s eeking of knowledge: Goitein, Mediterranean Soc iety 1.51. Runc iman 1.35-6. Mann 1.33-41. On al-Khidr s hrine s ee W il l iam Dalrymple, From Holy Mountain 339-44. J aber el-A trac he, 'Divini ty of al -Hakim ', Lebanon through W ri ters ' Ey es (eds .) T . J . Gorton and A . F. Gorton, 170-1.

18 Holy Fire: Qalanis i 65-7. Martin Gi lbert, Rebirth of a Ci ty 160. Shudder wi th horror - Muj i r 67-8. Holy Fire, des c riptions in Peters , J erus alem 262, inc luding fi rs t mention AD 870 of ri tual in Bernard Itinerary 263. Chris tian pi lgrims , inc luding Fulk: David C. Douglas , W il l iam the Conqueror 35-7. Runc iman 1.43-9.19 Hakim, Holy Sepulc hre and Death: Gi lbert Rebirth of a Ci ty 160. Holy Fire: Muj i r 67-8. Holy Fire, des c riptions in Peters , J erus alem 262, inc luding fi rs t mention AD 870 of ri tual in Bernard Itinerary 263. Chris tian pi lgrims : Runc iman 1.43-9. Fatim id Haram: Kaplony, Sac red Es planade 101-31. Qalanis i 65-7.

Yahya ibn Said quoted in Peters , J erus alem 260; J ewis h pers ec utions , los s of s ubs idy 276. Hiyari in As al i , J erus alem 132. Goitein, 'J erus alem ' 185-6. Goitein, Mediterranean Soc iety 1.1-5, 18, 34, 71. On Sweyn, Duke Robert of Normandy: Douglas , W il l iam Conqueror 35-7: T uc hman 3-4. 'Divini ty of Hakim ',Lebanon 170-1.

20 A l-Zahir and al-Mus tans ir, rebui lding of Holy Sepulc hre, wal ls , Chris tian Quarter: Kaplony, Sac red Es planade 101-31. A l-Zahir: W i l l iam of T yre 1.67-71; wal ls , Amalfi tian hos pic e, Quarter 1.80-1; area of Muris tan rebui l t 2.240-5. Goitein, 'J erus alem ' 188. Rebui lding: Peters , J erus alem 267; wal ls of J erus alemand protec tion of Chris tian Patriarc hs ' Quarter - Yahya quoted in Peters . Hiyari in As al i , J erus alem 132-3.Chris tian pi lgrimage, al-Mus tans ir, J ewis h viziers : S ti l lman, CHE 1.206-7. Norman/Royal /aris toc ratic pi lgrims : Douglas , W il l iam Conqueror 35-7 . German pi lgrimage led by A rnold B is hop of Bamberg and bloodbath outs ide J erus alem 1064: Peters , J erus alem 253. B loodbath: s ee Florenc e of W orc es ter,

Chronic le . Age of pi lgrims : Runc iman 143-9. Chris topher T yerman, God's W ar: A New His tory of the Crus ades (henc eforth T yerman) 43. Dangers and pers ec ution of Chris tian pi lgrims : W i l l iam of T yre 1.71 and 81. Tortures and burs t bowels , Urban II quoted in Peters , J erus alem 251; J ews , al-Zahir s ec uri ty 277.J ewis h pi lgrimage and travel : Goi tein, Mediterranean Soc iety 1.55-61. Mus l im pi lgrimage, Nas ir-i -Khus rau: al l quotations are from Nas ir-i -Khus rau, Diary of a J ourney through Sy ria and Pales tine ; on Nas ir, Grabar, Shape of the Holy 137-8, 145-53. Hol ines s of J erus alem: Has s on, Cathedra 1.177-83. Sanc ti ty:Ibn Khaldun 269. Cons ec ration of haj from J erus alem: Duri in As al i , 118. T us tari grand viziers : Mann 1.74-6. Solomon ben Yehuda, gaon of J erus alem 1025-51 - things 's o bad l ike of whic h didn't oc c ur s inc e the J ews returned'/on fal l of T us tari ; J erus alem threatened by A rab rebels 1024-9; toleranc e of al -Zahirof J ews and Karai tes : Mann 1.134-6. Gaon and Nas i Daniel ben Azarya in J erus alem eleven years 1051-62 s uc c eeded as gaon by E l i jah Hakkohen - but fled J erus alem to T yre: Mann 1.178-80; A rab revol t of Has s an of Banu J arrah 1.158-71. T reaty wi th Byzantines : Runc iman 1.35-7.21 Sel juks : Ibn Khaldun 252. A ts iz takes J erus alem, revol t and s torm ing; T utus h and Ortuqids : Solomon ben J os eph Ha-Kohen, 'T he T urkoman Defeat at Cairo', Americ an J ournal of Semitic Languages and Li teratures J anuary 1906. Hiyari in Azal i , J erus alem 135-7. Goitein, 'J erus alem ' 186. J os hua P rawer,

Latin K ingdom of J erus alem 7-9. T urkis h m i l i tary tac tic s : Norman Hous ley, Fighting for the Cros s : Crus ading to the Holy Land 111-14. Ortuq and arrow: Runc iman 1.76; Sel juks 1.59. Mus l im revival inc luding vis i t of al -Ghazal i and Ibn al-A rabi : Mus tafa A . Hiyari in As al i , J erus alem 130-7. Dangers andpers ec ution of Chris tian pi lgrims : W i l l iam of T yre 1.71. Tortures , Urban II: Peters , J erus alem 251; J ews flee to Hai fa then T yre 277. Ruins of J erus alem s i tes : Halevi , Selec ted Poems of J udah Halev i , ed. H. B rody 3-7. Maimonides , Code 28-30. Peters , J erus alem 276-9. Mus l ims : Ghazal i quoted in Peters ,J erus alem 279-80 and 409; Muj i r 66 and 140; Nus s eibeh, Country 126-7. Popular his tory of the Sel juks : J ohn Freely, Storm on Hors ebac k : Sel juk W arriors of Turk ey 45-64.

PART FIVE: CRUSADE

1 Crus ade, Godfrey, taking of J erus alem. T his ac c ount of the Crus ades is bas ed on the es s ential c las s ic s S teven Runc iman, The Crus ades ; J onathan Ri ley-Smith, The Crus ades : A Short His tory ; J onathan Ri ley-Smith, The Firs t Crus ade ; J os hua P rawer, The Latin K ingdom of J erus alem; Denys P ringle, TheChurc hes of the Crus ader K ingdom of J erus alem: A Corpus (henc eforth P ringle); the works of Benjam in Z. Kedar; and the exc el lent new books Chris topher T yerman, God's W ar; J onathan Phi l l ips , Holy W arriors ; and T homas As bridge, The Crus ades ; along with primary Chris tian s ourc es W il l iam of T yre,Fulc her of Chartres , Ges ta Franc orum and Raymond d'Agui lers , and Mus l im s ourc es Ibn al-A thir, and later Ibn Qalanis i and Us ama bin Munqidh; on warfare, Norman Hous ley, Fighting for the Cros s ; on l i fe in J erus alem, Adrian Boas , J erus alem in the Time of the Crus ades .Raymond and Ges ta are quoted in Augus t C. K rey, The Firs t Crus ade: The Ac c ounts of Ey ew itnes s es and Partic ipants 242-62; al-A thir and al-Qalanis i are quoted, unles s otherwis e s ourc ed, in Franc es c o Gabriel i , Arab His torians of the Crus ades (henc eforth Gabriel i ). S torm ing: al-A thir, Gabriel i 10-11.

T yerman 109-12. 3,000 dead, s mal ler mas s ac re: Benjam in Z. Kedar, 'T he J erus alem Mas s ac re of J uly 1099 in W es tern His toriography of the Crus ades ', in Crus ades 3 (2004) 15-75. Phi l l ips , W arriors 24; As bridge, Crus ades 90-104. 3,000 ki l led on Haram and women ki l led in Dome of Chains : Ibn al-A rabiquoted in Benjam in Z. Kedar and Denys P ringle, '1099-1187: T he Lord's T emple (T emplum Domini) and Solomon's Palac e (Palatium Salomonis )', in Sac red Es planade 133-49. P rawer, Latin K ingdom 15-33. On J erus alem image and Holy W ar: Hous ley, Fighting for the Cros s 26 and 35-8; mas s ac re 217-19. T hePrinc es of the Crus ade: T yerman 116-25; Crus ader ps yc hopaths 87. Fragmentation of A rabs and Is lam ic c i ty s tates - s ee W il l iam of T yre and al-A thir quoted in T yerman 343 and Grabar, Shape of the Holy 18. Runc iman 1.280-5. Hiyari in As al i , J erus alem 137-40.

On Crus ader bui ldings of J erus alem, thanks to P rofes s or Dan Bahat who gave the author a Crus ader tour. On A rnul f morals : B . Z. Kedar, 'Herac l ius ', in B . Z. Kedar, H. E . Mayer and R. C. Smai l (eds ), Outremer: S tudies in the His tory of the Crus ading K ingdom of J erus alem 182. B . Z. Kedar, 'A Commentary onthe Book of Is aiah Rans omed from the Crus aders ', in Cathedra 2.320. OJ 281. S torm ing and rans oming of J ews : P rawer, J ew s in the Latin K ingdom 19-40. On J ews : Mann 198-201. W i l l iam of T yre 1.379-413. T he c ampaign: T yerman 124-153; s torm ing 155-64; few knights 178. Mas s ac re: al -A thir in Gabriel i 10-11. S torm ing: Ges ta Franc orum 86-91. Fulc her of Chartres , A His tory of the Ex pedi tion to J erus alem 1.xxiv and xxxi i i and 2.vi . up to bridle reins in blood - quoted in Peters , J erus alem 285. Ci ty population s tatis tic s : T yerman 2-3. T urkis h tac tic s : Hous ley, Fighting for the Cros s 111-14; Frankis h tac tic s 118-22.2 Baldwin I. T his portrai t is bas ed on W il l iam of T yre 1.416-17; Fulc her, His tory ; T yerman 200-7; Runc iman 1.314-15 and 2.104, inc luding Baldwin's wives and Adelaide's arrival in J erus alem and S igurd vis i t 92-3. 'Saga of S igurd' quoted in W right, Early Trav el lers 50-62.

Bui lding - us e of Ci tadel , s pol ia from al-Aqs a for Sepulc hre: Boas , J erus alem 73-80. T he Crus ader Haram: Kedar and P ringle, '1099-1187: T he Lord's Temple (Templum Domini) and Solomon's Palac e (Palatium Salomonis )', Sac red Es planade 133-49. Holy Sepulc hre: Charles Couas non, The Churc h of theHoly Sepulc hre in J erus alem 19-20. K royanker 40-3. N. Kenaan, 'Sc ulptured Lintels of the Crus ader Churc h of the Holy Sepulc hre', in Cathedra 2.325. Runc iman 3.370-2. T he tradi tions and c alendar, pi lgrims : T yerman 341. Holy Fire - Daniel the Abbott quoted in Peters , J erus alem 263-5; methes ep andadminis tration of c i ty 301. Calendar and ri tuals : Boas , J erus alem 30-2; c hief pol i tic al pos ts and c ourts 21-5; c oronation 32-5; Golden Gate, on pos s ible Crus ader domes 63-4, c i ting P ringle; Crus ader graves on Temple Mount 182; J ohn of W urzburg s ays 'i l lus trious ' people buried near Golden Gate, Crus aders tyle and works hop on T emple Mount 191-8. P rawer, Latin K ingdom 97-102 on c oronations ; T rue Cros s 32-3; c rown 94-125. On T rue Cros s : Imad quoted in Grabar, Shape of the Holy 136. J ames Flem ing, B ibl ic al A rc haeology Rev iew , J anuary-February 1969, 30. Shanks 84-5. Red tent of king: Runc iman 2.458-9; Crus ader s tyle 3.368-83. S tyle and reus e of Herodian s tones , c i tadel and towers : K royanker 4, 37-43.3 Baldwin II: T yerman 206-8. Gift for kings hip: al -Qalanis i , Gabriel i 40. J erus alem: Bahat, Atlas 90-101. Royal palac es , palac e c los e to Sepulc hre: Boas , J erus alem 77-80. Palac e: A rnald von Harf quoted in Peters , J erus alem 355.

On the Orders , this is bas ed on J onathan Ri ley-Smith, The Knights of S t J ohn in J erus alem and Cy prus 1050-1310 ; P iers Paul Read, The Templars ; Mic hael Haag, The Templars : His tory and My th ; Boas , J erus alem; and P rawer, Latin K ingdom. Templar Temple Mount: T heodoric h, Des c ription of the HolyP lac es 30-2. Templar tradi tions , rules : Anonymous P i lgrim quoted in Peters , J erus alem 323. Mi l i tary organization, knights , T urc opoles : T yerman 220, 228 and orders 169. Orders : Boas , J erus alem 26-30; Templar Temple Mount, baths 142-60; s tables quoting J ohn of W urzburg and T heodoric h (10,000 hors es )163; Hos pi tal lers 156-9. P rawer, Latin K ingdom 252-79. Orders : Runc iman 2.312-14. Crus aders on Temple Mount: Oleg Grabar, The Dome of the Roc k 163. T he Crus ader Haram: Kedar and P ringle, Sac red Es planade 133-49. On Temple Mount: Churc h on Antonia s i te, Mic hael Hamil ton Burgoyne, MamlukJ erus alem: An A rc hi tec tural Surv ey 204-5; Templar Hal l on s outh-wes t c orner of Temple Mount 260-1; Templar Augus tinian Canons north of Dome. S ingle gate wi th ac c es s to Solomon's S tables : Arc haeologic al Park 31. On A rmenian s ettlement and rebui lding of S t J ames 's Cathedral after 1141: Dorfmann-Lazarev, 'His toric al Itinerary of the A rmenian People in Light of i ts B ibl ic al Memory'.4 Fulk and Mel is ende, bas ed on W il l iam of T yre 2.50-93 and 135; c harac ter of Mel is ende 2.283. T yerman 207-9. Runc iman 2.178, 233, 190. Coronation of J erus alem kings : Conques t of J erus alem and the Third Crus ade: Old Frenc h Continuation of W i l l iam of Ty re and Sourc es in Trans lation (henc eforth

Continuation) 15. Calendar and ri tuals : Boas , J erus alem 30-2; c hief pol i tic al pos ts 21-5; c oronation 32-5. P rawer, Latin K ingdom 97-102 on c oronations .Zangi and Edes s a: al-A thir, Gabriel i 41-3 and 50-1; c harac ter and death 53-5; Qal inis i 44-50; Us amah on l i fe in Zangi army, Zangi king of am irs 38 and 169-71. Zangi : Phi l l ips , W arriors 75-6; Ibn J ubayr quoted on wedding 47; c oronation 56-8; penal ties for adul tery 60-1; ps al ter as Fulk's gi ft 69-71; Holy

Sepulc hre 103. Zangi , c harac ter: As bridge, Crus ades 225-7.5 Us amah bin Munqidh, The Book of Contemplation: Is lam and the Crus ades (henc eforth Us amah - s c holar, c aval ier, Mus l im 26; Zangi king of am irs 38; brutal i ty of am irs 169-71; hunting with Zangi 202-3; los s of l ibrary 44; importanc e of Is lam and j ihad, father 63-4 and 202; Eas tern doc tors 66; Franks ' medic ine

145-6; meetings with Fulk 76-7; gos hawk 205-6; pi lgrimage to J erus alem 250; buying hos tages 93; meeting Baldwin II 94; father c uts arm off s ervant 129; Frankis h c onverts to Is lam 142-3; nature of Franks ' invi tation to Europe 144; at Temple 147-8; women and pubic s having 148-50; law 151-2; Franksac c l imatized to Eas t 153; s mal l things and death 156; vic tory and God 160.Des c ription of markets and s treets : c ondi tion of the c i ty of J erus alem 1187 quoted in Peters , J erus alem 298-303. T he Crus ader Haram: Kedar and P ringle, Sac red Es planade 133-49. Commerc e: P rawer, Latin K ingdom 408-9. On Syrian doc tors , s ee W il l iam of T yre on death of Baldwin III and Amaury.

Population and adoption of Eas tern c us toms : Fulc her, His tory 2.vi , 6-9 and 3.xxxvi i . Di fferent peoples in J erus alem: anonymous pi lgrim in Peters 307-8. A l i al -Harawi, on pic tures in Dome: Peters , J erus alem 313-18. T emplars ride out to prac tis e dai ly: Benjam in of T udela, The Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela 20-3; s ee als o W right, Early Trav el lers . J erus alem in 1165, 'people of al l tongues ', J ews pray at Golden Gate: Benjam in of T udela quoted in W right 83-6. J erus alem 1103: Saewulf quoted in W right, Early Trav el lers 31-9. On fes tivals , Ci ty of J erus alem guide and al-Harawi: Peters J erus alem, 302-18.

On A rmenian s ettlement and rebui lding of S t J ames 's Cathedral after 1141: Dorfmann-Lazarev, 'His toric al Itinerary of the A rmenian People in Light of i ts B ibl ic al Memory'. On Mel is ende bui lding, s ettlement, A rmenians under Crus ades : Kevork Hintl ian, His tory of the A rmenians in the Holy Land 18-23 and 25-8.On A rmenian s ettlement of refugees - thanks to George Hintl ian. A rmenian Quarter develops : Boas , J erus alem 39. Crus ader plans for Bab al-S i ls i la S t Gi les Churc h: author's vis i t to Temple T unnels , guided by Dan Bahat. Crus ader c hurc hes on Bab al-S i ls i la: Burgoyne, Mamluk J erus alem 443 and on s i te ofAntonia 204-5. On Mel is ende Fulk regime: T yerman 206-11. Runc iman 2.233. On bui lding: Grabar, Dome of Roc k gri l le 167. On c hurc hes : s ee P ringle. Bui lding - us e of Ci tadel , s pol ia from al-Aqs a for Sepulc hre: Boas , J erus alem 73-80. Kedar and P ringle, Sac red Es planade 133-49. Holy Sepulc hre: Couas non,Churc h of the Holy Sepulc hre in J erus alem 19-20. K royanker 40-3. Kenaan, 'Sc ulptured Lintels of the Crus ader Churc h of the Holy Sepulc hre', in Cathedra 2.325.

Burial ri tes and s hrines as theatre: J onathan Ri ley-Smith, 'T he Death and Burial of Latin Chris tian P i lgrims to J erus alem and Ac re, 1099-1291', Crus ades 7 (2008): burial s i tes , holy plac es as s tage-s ets , inc luding quote from Ri ley-Smith, on burial of Bec kett's murderers . Death in J erus alem/Mamil la: P rawer,Latin K ingdom 184. Boas , J erus alem 181-7, inc luding Ac eldama and burial on T emple Mount of Frederic k, Advoc ate of Regens burg, died 1148; Conrad Sc hic k found bones near Golden Gate. A rc hery prac tic e, Boas , J erus alem 163.

Ps al ter, arts : P rawer, Latin K ingdom 416-68. Runc iman 3.383. See als o J . Folda, Crus ader A rt: The A rt of the Crus aders in the Holy Land, 1099-1291 . Population and dres s of m i l i tary orders and J erus alem ites : Boas , 26-30 and 35-40. Tavern with c hains : c onvers ations with Dan Bahat. Li fe in J erus alem,baths , Venetian and Genoes e s treets , poulains : Runc iman 2.291-3.

Li fe and luxury, turbans , furs , burnous , baths , pork, Ibel in Beirut palac e: T yerman 235-40. Maps and vis ion of J erus alem: fourteen maps of Frankis h J erus alem, eleven of them round, us ual ly wi th the c artographic c onvention of the c ros s wi thin a c i rc le on the s treets : Boas , J erus alem 39 in royal palac e onCambrai map. Royal palac e: P rawer, Latin K ingdom 110-11.

Sex and women on Crus ade: Hous ley, Fighting for the Cros s 174-7. W hores in Outremer - Imad al-Din quoted in Gabriel i 204-5. Mus l ims : A l i al -Harawi quoted in Peters , J erus alem 381. J ews - vis i t of J udah Halevy: B renner 88-90. P rawer, His tory of the J ew s in the Latin K ingdom 144. Selec ted Poems of J udahHalev i , trans . Nina Salaman; als o s ee Peters , J erus alem: 278.

Runc iman 3.370-2. T he tradi tions and c alendar, pi lgrims : T yerman 341. Holy Fire - Daniel the Abbott quoted in Peters , J erus alem 263-5, methes ep and adminis tration of c i ty 301. Calendar and ri tuals : Boas , 30-2; 21-5; 32-5. P rawer, Latin K ingdom 97-102; T rue Cros s 32-3; c rown: 94-125. On T rue Cros s : Imadquoted in Grabar, Shape of the Holy 136.

Golden Gate: Boas , 63-4; Crus ader graves 182; T emple Mount 191-8. J . Flem ing, B ibl ic al A rc haeology Rev iew J anuary-February 1969, 30. Shanks 84-5. Red tent of king: Runc iman 2.458-9; Crus ader s tyle 3.368-83. S tyle and reus e of Herodian s tones : K royanker 4, 37-43. Dome of Roc k: A l i al -Harawi quoted inPeters , J erus alem 318.

Zangi , c harac ter, deathbed witnes s , As bridge, Crus ades 225-7. Hamil ton A . R. Gibb, 'Zengi and the Fal l of Edes s a', in M. W . Baldwin (ed.), The Firs t Hundred Years , vol . 1 of K . M. Setton (ed. in c hief), A His tory of the Crus ades 449-63.6 Sec ond Crus ade: Qal inis i quoted in Gabriel i 56-60; al-A thir 59-62. W i l l iam of T yre: on E leanor and Raymond 2.180-1; on debac le of Damas c us 2.182-96. Zangi 's c harac ter, death: As bridge, Crus ades 225-7. Gibb, 'Zengi and the Fal l of Edes s a', in Baldwin, Firs t Hundred Years 449-63.

T he mos t rec ent ac c ount is J onathan Phi l l ips , The Sec ond Crus ade 207-27. On Louis and E leanor: Ralph V. T urner, E leanor of Aqui taine 70-98. T yerman 329-37. Fourteen maps of Frankis h J erus alem, Boas , J erus alem 39. Royal palac e: P rawer, Latin K ingdom 110-11. On Churc h of Holy Sepulc hre, thisac c ount and analys is is c los ely bas ed on Ri ley-Smith, 'Death and Burial of Latin Chris tian P i lgrims to J erus alem and Ac re, 1099-1291', Crus ades 7 (2008); P ringle; Folda, Crus ader A rt, Couas non, Churc h of the Holy Sepulc hre in J erus alem 19-20; K royanker 40-3; Kenaan, Cathedra 2.325; Boas , J erus alem 73-80; Runc iman 3.370-2.7 Baldwin III: c harac ter, W i l l iam of T yre 2.137-9; the ac c ount of his reign is bas ed on 2.139-292; death and grief 2.292-4. T yerman 206-8. Runc iman 2.3.334, 2.242, 2.361-3; Ortuqids attac k 2.337; As c alon 2.337-58. Nur al-Din and Sunni revival : Qal inis i 64-8. T yerman 268-73. As bridge, Crus ades 229-33. Nur al-

Din polo: Phi l l ips , W arriors 110. Hamil ton A . R. Gibb, 'T he Career of Nur-ad-Din', in Baldwin, Firs t Hundred Years 513-27. On Andronic us : Bernard Hamil ton, The Leper K ing and his Heirs : Baldw in IV and the Crus ader K ingdom of J erus alem (henc eforth Leper) 173-4.8 Amaury and Agnes , s leazines s of J erus alem pol i tic s : Leper 26-32. T yerman 208-10. Amaury bui lds Royal Palac e: Boas , J erus alem 82. On Egyptian s trategy/negotiations with As s as s ins : Leper 63-75. Five Egyptian invas ions : T yerman 347-58; Syrian doc tors 212. Runc iman 2.262-93; death of kings 2.398-400.

Overm ighty m i l i tary orders - e.g. Hos pi tal lers vs patriarc h, W i l l iam of T yre 2.240-5; Templar dis obedienc e to Amaury. Agnes married Reynard of Maras h; engaged to Hugh of Ibel in; married P rinc e Amaury then Hugh of Ibel in then Reynard of S idon, who divorc ed her; lovers al legedly inc luded Amaury ofLus ignan and Herac l ius the Patiarc h: Runc iman 2.362-3, 407.

9 W i l l iam of T yre: l i fe and l ink wi th Us amah's l ibrary: Introduc tion, W i l l iam of T yre 1.4-37. Us amah's books 44. Baldwin IV , lepros y: W i l l iam of T yre 2.397-8. Leper 26-32.10 Mos es Maimonides : this ac c ount is bas ed on J oel L. K raemer, Maimonides : The Li fe and W orld of One of Civ i l is ation's Greates t M inds ; refus al to s erve Crus ader king probably between 1165 and 1171, 161; J erus alem vis i t 134-41; Fatim id doc tor 160-1; doc tor of Qadi al -Fadi l and then Saladin 188-92; al-

Qadi al -Fadi l 197-201; Saladin's doc tors 212 and 215; fame and c ourt l i fe - doc tor of al -A fdal 446; T aki al -Din/s ex l i fe 446-8. P rawer, His tory of the J ew s in the Latin K ingdom 142. Did Maimonides pray in the Dome of the Roc k?: Kedar and P ringle bel ieve he did -Sac red Es planade 133-49. Benjam in of T udelaon J ewis h dyers , David's T omb and A lroy: s ee W right, Early Trav el lers 83-6, 107-9. Mic hael B renner, Short His tory of the J ew s (henc eforth B renner), on A lroy 80; on Maimonides 90-92.

11 Books /Us amah, W i l l iam of T yre 1.4-37. Us amah, 44. Baldwin IV , lepros y: W i l l iam of T yre 2.397-8. Leper 26-32.12 Baldwin IV. Death of Nur al-Din - al -A thir, in Gabriel i 68-70. W i l l iam of T yre, death of kings , 2.394-6; s uc c es s ion and s ymptoms 2.398-9. A long with W i l l iam of T yre, this is bas ed on Leper 32-197; on lepros y s ee artic le by Dr P iers D. Mitc hel l in Leper 245-58. Herac l ius and m is tres s , c hi ld: Continuation 43-5.

T yerman 216. Herac l ius debauc hery unfairly exaggerated - for a more pos i tive view s ee B . Z. Kedar in Kedar, Mayer and Smai l (eds ), Outremer 177-204. W . L. W arren, K ing J ohn : Herac l ius ' tour and P rinc e J ohn, 32-3. Burial of Baldwin V and s arc ophagus : Boas , J erus alem 180. T yerman 210-13 and 358-65.Runc iman 2.400-30. Reynard of Chati l lon: Leper 104-5. Reynald raids Mec c a c aravan and takes Saladin's s is ter: Continuation 29.

13 Guy and S ibyl la: road to Hattin, c rowning and s py in Sepulc hre: Continuation 25-9; Reynauld, torture of Mec c a c aravan: Continuation 25-6. Ibn Shaddad, The Rare and Ex c el lent His tory of Saladin (henc eforth Shaddad) 37. For s ympathetic analys is of Guy: R. C. Smai l , 'T he P redic aments of Guy of Lus ignan',in Kedar, Mayer and Smai l (eds ), Outremer 159-76. T yerman 356-65. Runc iman 2.437-50. Coronation: Kedar, Outremer 190-9. M. C. Lyons and D. E . P. J ac ks on, Saladin: Pol i tic s of Holy W ar (henc eforth Saladin) 246-8. Mas s ac re of Templars and pol i tic al uni ty: Continuation 32-5. Hattin/ki l l ing of Reynald:Continuation 37-9, 45-8. Cres s on and invas ion: Shaddad 60-3. For Raymond's role s ee M. W . Baldwin, Ray mond III of Tripol i and the Fal l of J erus alem.

14 Saladin and Hattin: Shaddad 37-8. Continuation , 36-9 and 45-8. Battle, Reynald: Shaddad 73-5. A l-A thir: Gabriel i 119-25; Imad al-Din (army, battlefield, ki l l ing of Reynald, T rue Cros s , ki l l ing Templars ): Gabriel i 125. B . Z. Kedar (ed.), The Horns of Hattin 190-207. N. Hous ley, 'Saladin's T riumph over theCrus ader S tates : T he Battle of Hattin, 1187', His tory Today 37 (1987). P romis e to ki l l Reynald: Saladin 246-8; the battle 252-65. Runc iman 2.453-60. T yerman 350-72. Saladin s pl i ts infantry from knights : Hous ley, Fighting for the Cros s 124-6.

15 Saladin takes J erus alem: Shaddad 77-8; Shaddad joins s ervic e of Saladin 80; vis i ts to J erus alem for fes tivals 89. Continuation 55-67. A l-A thir quoted in Gabriel i 139-46; Imad al-Din 146-63 (women). Saladin 271-7; c ampaign after J erus alem 279-94. Runc iman 2.461-8. Fal l of the c i ty: Mic hael Hamil tonBurgoyne, '1187-1260: T he Furthes t Mos que (al-Mas j id al-Aqs a) under Ayyubid Rule', in Sac red Es planade 151-75.

16 Saladin, c harac ter, c areer, fam i ly, c ourt: this is bas ed on the primary s ourc es Ibn Shaddad and Imad al-Din; on Lyons and J ac ks on, Saladin ; and R. S tephen Humphreys , From Saladin to the Mongols : The Ay y ubids of Damas c us 1193-1260 . Shaddad: early l i fe 18; bel iefs and c harac ter 18; modes ty, old man,c ris es wi th Taki al -Din, jus tic e 23-4; lac k of interes t in money 25; i l lnes s 27, 29; j ihad 28-9; c ruc i fixion of Is lam ic heretic 20; vis i ts to J erus alem 28; s adnes s over Taki 32; c ourt l i fe, as c etic is m 33; fi l l of worldly pleas ures 224; mud on c lothes 34; genial i ty l ike P rophet holding hands unti l releas ed 35; Frankis hbaby 36; ris e to power 41-53; favouri te s on 63; s pec ial advic e to Zahir on rul ing 235; c ris es and c onfl ic t wi th am irs and grandees 66; s wap of Zahir and Safadin 70.Youth in Damas c us polo, Saladin 1-29; debauc hery s ati re of Taki 118-20; c hal lenges of Taki and s ons 244-6; dis tribution of new c onques ts 279-94; war 364-74. Saladin's s tyle of rul ing: Humphreys , Ay y ubids 15-39. Saladin's m is takes : al-A thir quoted in Gabriel i 180. As c ourt phys ic ian to Saladin and Taki

al-Din, s ex l i fe: K raemer, Maimonides , doc tor of Qadi al -Fadi l and then Saladin 188-92; 197-201; Saladin's 212 and 215; doc tor of al -A fdal 446; T aki al -Din 446-8.17 Saladin and Is lam ic J erus alem. Ibn Shaddad in c harge of J erus alem, Salahiyya Shafi i madras s a, appoints governors : Saladin 236-7. Imad al-Din: Gabriel i 164-75, inc luding Taki al -Din and princ es c leaning the Haram, opening up of Roc k, robe for preac her, Ci tadel of David res tored with mos ques ; c onvent

for Sufis in patriarc h hous e, Shafi i madras s a in S t Anne's ; Adi l enc amped in Churc h of Zion. T urkis h m i l i tary tac tic s : Hous ley, Fighting for the Cros s 111-14; Saladin's multinational army 228; Saladin's image 229-32. Ayyubid arc hi tec ture on the Haram: Burgoyne, '1187-1260: T he Furthes t Mos que (al-Mas j idal-Aqs a) under Ayyubid Rule', Sac red Es planade 151-75. Saladin and A fdal 's bui ldings and c hanges : Hiyari in As al i , J erus alem 169-72 and Donald P. Li ttle, 'J erus alem under the Ayyubids and Mamluks ', in As al i , J erus alem 177-83. Saladin's madras s a, k hanqah , Muris tan/ A fdal 's Mos que of Omar: Bahat,Atlas 104-7. Qubbat al-Miraj - Dome of As c ens ion, ei ther Crus ader baptis tery or bui l t wi th Crus ader s pol ia; Bab al-S i ls i la bui l t wi th Crus ader s pol ia: Burgoyne, Mamluk J erus alem 47-8.A rmenian J erus alem: Hintl ian, His tory of the A rmenians in the Holy Land 1-5; Muazzam pays for A rmenian bui lding 43.J ewis h return, Harizi : P rawer, His tory of the J ew s in the Latin K ingdom 134 and 230. Saladin invi tation and return: Yehuda al-Harizi quoted in Peters , J erus alem 363-4. P rawer, Latin K ingdom 233-47.On the Nus s eibehs : s ee Muj i r al -Din who s aw Saladin's s ignature on appointment to Sepulc hre/Khanqah Salahiyya. Hazem Zaki Nus s eibeh, The J erus alemites : A Liv ing Memory 395-9.

18 Ric hard and T hird Crus ade: unles s otherwis e s tated, this portrai t of Ric hard I is bas ed on J ohn Gi l l ingham, Ric hard I. Cris is on s ec ond marc h to J erus alem: Shaddad 20-122; s adnes s over T aki death 32; fury over am irs ' refus al to fight at J affa 34. Continuation 92-121. Runc iman 3.47-74.Ac re: Shaddad 96-8; arrival of Ric hard 146-50; fal l and ki l l ing of pris oners 162-5; infant c hi ld 147; ki l l ing of Frank pris oners 169; negotiations with Adi l and Ric hard 173-5; A rs uf 174-80; ins pec tion of J erus alem 181; Adi l and Ric hard letters 185; marriage 187-8, 193; bes t c ours e is j ihad 195; marriage to

Ric hard's niec e 196; winter in J erus alem 197; advanc e on J erus alem/attac k on Egyptian c aravan 205-7; c ris is at J erus alem; love of c i ty move mountains 210-12; prayers in J erus alem 217; J affa red-haired Ric hard 223; Saladin no worldly pleas ures 224; J erus alem wal ls 226; Ric hard i l l 227; T reaty of J affavis i tors to J erus alem, Saladin and Adi l to J erus alem 231-4; Saladin's advic e to s on Zahir 235; Shaddad in c harge of J erus alem, Salahiyya Shafi i madras s a, appoints governors 236-7.

Ac re: al -A thir quoted in Gabriel i 182-92 and 198-200; Imad al-Din 200-7, inc luding women; Ric hard 213-24; negotiations up to T reaty of J affa 235-6. See als o Itinerarium Regis Ric ardi , quoted in T homas A rc her, Crus ade of Ric hard I. Phi l l ips , W arriors 138-65. Saladin 295-306, 318-30; Saladin and Ric hard333-6; A rs uf 336-7; negotiations 343-8; advanc e on J erus alem 350-4; J affa 356-60; treaty 360-1; to J erus alem 13 September and Fadi l 's anxiety about c i ty 362-3. Long s iege of Ac re: Hous ley, Fighting for the Cros s 133; Ric hard's genius at A rs uf 124-6 and 143; T urkis h m i l i tary tac tic s 111-14; Saladin andRic hard 229-32; s ex and women on Crus ade 174-7. Frank Mc Lynn, Lionheart and Lac k land 169-218.19 Saladin's death: this is bas ed, unles s otherwis e s tated, on Shaddad and Humphreys , Ay y ubids . Ayyubid dynas ty to Safadin: death, Shaddad 238-245. Ris e of Safadin: Humphreys , Ay y ubids 87-123; inves tment of Muazzam with Damas c us in 1198 108; Muazzam moves to J erus alem in 1204 145; Safadin

c harac ter and rule, bri l l iantly s uc c es s ful , the ables t of his l ine 145-6, 155-6; Muazzam in J erus alem 11; ins c riptions , ti tle of s ul tan, independent ruler 150-4; Muazzam independent after death of Safadin 155-92; c harac ter of Muazzam 185-6, 188-90. W ar of Saladin's s ons : Runc iman 3.79-83. J erus alem underA fdal , Safadin and Muazzam, arc hi tec ture, Burgoyne, '1187-1260: T he Furthes t Mos que (al-Mas j id al-Aqs a) under Ayyubid Rule', Sac red Es planade 151-75. Ins c riptions of Adi l in c i tadel and fountains on Haram and Muazzam 's Ayyubid Tower, madras s as , Haram, wal ls , khan in A rmenian Gardens : Bahat, Atlas104-7. Adi l and Muazzam on al-Aqs a: K royanker 44. Qubbat al-Miraj - Dome of As c ens ion; Bab al-S i ls i la 1187-99: Burgoyne, Mamluk J erus alem 47-8; Muazzam golden age of Ayyubids , res tored s outh-eas t s tairway to Dome 1211, bui l t Nas iriyya Zawiya at Golden Gate 1214, c entral portal of al -Aqs a 1217, wal lsres tored, bui l t Qubbat al-Nalwiyya 1207 at s outh-wes t c orner of Haram as a Koran s c hool , Hanafi madras s a 48-9. M. Hawari , 'T he Citadel (Qal 'a) in the Ottoman Period: An Overview', in Arc heologic al Park 9, 81. On Muazzam c harac ter: Muj i r 85-7 and 140. Muazzam - s even towers plus mos que at Ci tadel : Li ttlein As al i , J erus alem; Muazzam 's J erus alem 177 - 180; Ayyubid panic 183-4.J ohn of B rienne and Fi fth Crus ade: T yerman 636-40. Runc iman 3.151-60; al-A thir quoted in Gabriel i 255-6. Panic in J erus alem: Li ttle in As al i , J erus alem 183. J ews leave: P rawer, Latin K ingdom 86-90.

20 Frederic k II: c harac ter - this is bas ed on David Abulafia, Frederic k II: A Mediev al Emperor, es pec ial ly c onc ept of monarc hy 137; lanc e of Chris t 127; J ews 143-4; c rus hing Mus l ims 145-7; J ews and Mus l ims 147-53; Luc era 147; marriage 150-4; c rus ade 171-82; s ongs , c ul ture 274; Mic hael Sc ot magic ian 261.On Kamil and Muazzam: Humphreys , Ay y ubids 193-207. Runc iman 3.175-84. T yerman 726-48, 757.

21 Frederic k in J erus alem: Ibn W as i l quoted in Gabriel i 269-73 and al-J auzi 273-6. Abulafia, Frederic k II 182-94; gi fts to Kamil 267; s ongs to 'flower of Syria' 277. Li ttle in As al i , J erus alem 184-5. Bui lding in J erus alem: author dis c us s ion with Dan Bahat. T yerman 752-5. Runc iman 3.188-91. Phi l l ips , W arriors255.

22 Latin J erus alem 1229-44. Franks reforti fy J erus alem; Nas ir Daud takes c i ty; then fac ed with T hibaul t of Navarre/Champagne res tored to Franks along with part of Gal i lee; Nas ir Daud retakes ; then in s pring 1244 J erus alem again returned to Franks , al lowed to c ontrol Haram: Humphreys , Ay y ubids 260-5. NewFrankis h bui lding, invas ion of Nablus i tes , s iege of Nas ir Daud: Boas , J erus alem 20 and 76. T yerman 753-5, 765. Runc iman 3.193 and 210-11. J ews : P rawer, Latin K ingdom 90. Goitein, Pales tinian J ewry, 300. B . Z. Kedar, 'T he J ews in J erus alem ', in B . Z. Kedar (ed.), J erus alem in the M iddle Ages : Selec tedPapers 122-37. Hiyari in As al i , J erus alem 170-1. T emplars in Dome of the Roc k: Li ttle in As al i , J erus alem 185. J . Drory, 'J erus alem under Mamluk Rule', in Cathedra 1.192. W ine in Dome: Ibn W as i l quoted in C. Hi l lenbrand, Crus aders 317.

23 Khwarizm ian T artars /Barka Khan: author vis i t to Khal idi Library, Barka Khan turba in S i ls i la S treet, thanks to Hai fa Khal idi . Burgoyne, Mamluk J erus alem 109-216 and 380. Humphreys , Ay y ubids 274-6. T yerman 771. Runc iman 3.223-9. On tomb: c onvers ation with Dr Nas mi J oubeh.24 Fal l of Ayyubids /as s as s ination of T urans hah and ris e of Baibars : c harac ter portrai t bas ed on Robert Irwin, The M iddle Eas t in the M iddle Ages : The Early Mamluk Sul tanate 1250-1382 (henc eforth Irwin). Ibn W as i l quoted in Gabriel i 295-300; Baibars at war, Ibn Az-Zahir quoted in Gabriel i 307-12. T yerman

797-8. Runc iman 3.261-71. Ris e of Baibars , feroc ious , nervous , s leeples s , ins pec tions , c harac ter, the ris e of the Mamluks , Irwin 1-23; c areer 37-42. Humphreys , Ay y ubids 302-3; Baibars in Pales tine Syria 326-35; Nas ir gets J erus alem again, Baibars moves down to J erus alem and plunders i t 257.Nac hmanides : P rawer, His tory of the J ew s in the Latin K ingdom 160-1, 252-3. K ing Hethum II: Hintl ian, His tory of the A rmenians in the Holy Land 4-5. Mamluk as Is lam 's Templars : Ibn W as i l quoted in Gabriel i 294. Baibars , A ibek and Shajar diamonds , c logs : Phi l l ip, W arriors 258-69. Khal idi Library: author

interview with Hai fa Khal idi ; J oc elyn M. A jam i, 'A Hidden T reas ure', in Saudi A ramc o W orld Magaz ine .PART S IX : MAMLUK

1 Baibars in power: Irwin 37-42 and 45-58. T yerman 727-31, 806-17. Runc iman 3.315-27. Mamil la - the Zawiya al-Qalandariyya and T urba al-Kabakayya (tomb of exi led Governor of Safed, al-Kabaki): As al i in OJ 281-2. On Mamluk ris e: this ac c ount of the Mamluks is bas ed on Linda S . Northrup, 'T he Bahri MamlukSultanate', in CHE 1.242-89, es pec ial ly on nature of Mamluk relations hips 251; quotation from Ibn Khaldun (grous e/Hous e of W ar) 242; Baibars m i l i tary power 259; Mamluk favouri te Sufis m vs Taymiyya 267; pres s ure on Chris tians and J ews 271-2; Baibars vic tory over Mongols , Crus aders , Sel juks 273-6.Mamluk c ul ture, on hors ebac k, rules : S ti l lman, 'T he Non-Mus l im Communities : T he J ewis h Community', CHE 1.209, and J onathan P. Berkey, 'Cul ture and Soc iety during the Middle Ages ', CHE 1.391. Mamluk emblems , Baibars ' l ions : Irene A . B ierman, CHE 1.371-2. Baibars at war: Ibn Az-Zahir quoted inGabriel i 307-12; s arc as tic letter on Cyprus c ampaign 321. Burns , Damas c us 198-200. Baibars ' death: Runc iman 3.348. J erus alem/Baibars : Burgoyne, Mamluk J erus alem 58-9, 66, 77. Donald P. Li ttle, '1260-1516: T he Noble Sanc tuary under Mamluk Rule - His tory,' in Sac red Es planade 177-87. Mic haelHamil ton Burgoyne, 'T he Noble Sanc tuary under Mamluk Rule - A rc hi tec ture', in Sac red Es planade 189-209. Baibars bui lds Khan al-Zahir: Muj i r 239. Baibars ' violent, perverted Sufi advis er Sheikh Khadir: Irwin 54. As al i , OJ 281-2. Cathedra 1.198. Edward I Crus ade: T yerman 810-12; Runc iman 3.242-3. M.P res twic h, Edw ard I, 66 and 119.

2 Qalawun, As hraf Khal i l , Nas ir Muhammad: the portrai t of Qalawun is bas ed on Linda Northrup, From S lav e to Sul tan: The Career of al -Mans ur Qalaw un and the Cons ol idation of Mamluk Rule in Egy pt and Sy ria , and on Irwin. Irwin 63-76. J erus alem ti tles : Northrup, From S lav e to Sul tan 175. Repair of al -Aqs aroof: Burgoyne, Mamluk J erus alem 77 and 129 . Khal i l and Ac re: Irwin 76-82. Fal l of Ac re: Runc iman 3.387-99, 403-5, 429.

3 Ramban and other J ewis h vis i tors : P rawer, His tory of the J ew s in the Latin K ingdom 155-61 and 241. Peters , J erus alem 363 and 531. Minaret: Burgoyne, Mamluk J erus alem 513.4 A rmenians and Mongols 1300: Hintl ian, His tory of the A rmenians in the Holy Land 4-5. Reuven Amitai , 'Mongol Raids into Pales tine', J RAS 236-55. Nic c olo of Poggibons i quoted in Peters , J erus alem 410.5 Mamluk J erus alem: this is bas ed on Burgoyne's Mamluk J erus alem; Irwin on Mamluk pol i tic s ; K royanker. Nas ir vis i t 1317 and bui lding: Burgoyne, Mamluk J erus alem 77-85; Sufis 419-21; Nas ir and Tankiz 278-97 and 223-33; Ci tadel 85; Mamluk s tyle 89; bl ind A la al-Din 117; tradi tion of Mamluk tombs from Nur

al-Din 167-8. Mamluk s tyle: K royanker 47-58. On bui lding: Drory, Cathedra 1.198-209. Ci tadel rebui l t: Hawari , OJ 493-518.Nas ir Muhammad: this portrai t is bas ed on Irwin 105-21, inc luding Irwin quote greates t and nas ties t. On Nas ir and ki l l ing of am irs : Ibn Battutah, Trav els 18-20; on J erus alem 26-8. Nas ir: Burns , Damas c us 201-16. Adminis tration: Li ttle in As al i , J erus alem 187-9; on Mus l im l i terature of fadai l ; 193-5, Sufis 191-2.

On Nas ir w aqfs , bui lding, Muj i r 102; on parades in J erus alem 181-2. Irwin: Mamluk exec utions 86; on rel igious juris t Ibn Taymiyya 96-7; anti -Chris tian and anti -J ewis h pol ic ies 97-9; Mongols 99-104. Mamluk rel igion, Sunni and Sufis m: Northrup, CHE 1.265-9; pol i tic s , ris e of Nas ir and autoc rac y 251-3. Onproxim ity to Haram: Tankiz ins c ription 'pure neighbour': Burgoyne, Mamluk J erus alem 65. On w aqfs : Ibn Khaldun quoted in Peters , J erus alem 381. A l-Hujr poem on hel l and paradis e: quoted by Muj i r 184. Bedouin attac ks : Burgoyne, Mamluk J erus alem 59; on Sufis 63. New s anc ti ty of J erus alem: Book ofA rous ing Souls by al-Fazari quoted in Peters , J erus alem 374; Ibn Taymiyya 375-8. K ing Robert and Franc is c ans : Clare Mouradian, 'Les Chretiens : Un Enjeu pour les Puis s anc es ', in C. Nic aul t (ed.) J erus alem, 1850-1948: Des Ottomans aux Anglais , entre c oex is tenc e s piri tuel le et dec hirure pol i tique 177-204.Franc is c ans and K ing Robert of Apul ia/Calabria: Fel ix Fabri , The Book of W anderings 2.279-82. Ludolph von Suc hem in Peters , J erus alem 422. Li ttle, Sac red Es planade 177-87. Burgoyne, Sac red Es planade 189-209. Irwin: brutal i ty 86; Ibn T aymiyya 96-7; anti -m inori ty pol ic ies 97-9; Mongol invas ion 99-104.6 Ibn Khaldun and Tamurlane: Ibn Khaldun 5, 39, 269. W alter J . Fis c hel , Ibn Khaldun and Tamerlane 14-17, 45-8. J erus alem ulema offer keys : Burgoyne, Mamluk J erus alem 59. Loc al J erus alems : Anu Mand, 'Saints ' Corners in Medieval Livonia', in A lan V. Murray, Clas h of Cul tures on the Mediev al Bal tic

Frontier 191-223.7 Non-Mus l im J erus alem under late Mamluks : Li ttle, Sac red Es planade 177-87; Burgoyne, Sac red Es planade 189-209. S ti l lman, CHE 1.209. New m inarets at Salahiyya Khanqah in 1417: Burgoyne, Mamluk J erus alem 517; on J ews 64 - on tranqui l l i ty - Is aac ben Chelo 1374; on trades E l i jah of Ferrara. New

minarets over Chris tian and J ewis h s hrines : Muj i r 69, 163, 170; attac k on Chris tians 1452, 254-6. A . David, 'His toric al S igni fic anc e of E lders Mentioned in Letters of Rabbi Obadiah of Bertinaro', and Augus ti A rc e, 'Res tric tions upon Freedom of Movement of J ews in J erus alem ', in Cathedra 2.323-4. P rayers atGolden Gate: Is aac ben J os eph quoted in Peters , J erus alem 192; population and prayers , Mes hul lam of Vol tera 408; Obadiah, prayers at gates 408; gradual ruin, jac kals , attac ks during drought, Obadiah's dis c iple, s eventy fam i l ies , J ewis h s tudy hous e near W es tern W al l?, fac ing Temple on Ol ives 392, 473,407-9; Mes hual lam and Obadiah, J ewis h pi lgrims 407-9; Is aac ben J os eph 1334 on Frenc h J ews , law s tudies , Kabbala 474-5. J ewis h prayers at Zec hariah tomb, c emetery, and vis i t to the gates , Huldah, Golden Gate: Arc haeologic al Park 36, 98, 107.Chris tians : A rmenians and J aqmaq: Hintl ian, His tory of the A rmenians in the Holy Land 5. On vis i t to Haram in dis guis e, interes t in others and learning phras es : A rnold von Harff quoted in Peters , J erus alem 406-7. Governor's hous e and c onc ubines : Fabri , Book of W anderings 1.451; Bars bay and J ewis h bid

for Tomb of David 1.303-4; rules for pi lgrims 1.248-54; entering Sepulc hre, hair, s tal ls , Sarac ens , bodies , graffi ti , traders , exhaus tion, s tres s , ques tions 1.299, 341, 363, 411-15, 566-7, 2.83-7. His tory of Franc is c ans : E lzear Horn, Ic hnographiae Monumentorum Terrae Sanc tae 81-3. Pay or beaten to death:Nic c olo di Poggibons i (1346) quoted in Peters , J erus alem 434; way of the Cros s 437; on Mount Zion, K ing Rupert etc .: E lzear Horn quoted at 369; burning of four monks 1391, 459; no entry on hors ebac k, Bertrandon de la B roc quiere 1430s , 470. Henry IV : T uc hman 45. Henry V : Chris topher A l lmand, Henry V

174. 8 Qaitbay. Parades : Muj i r 182; beauty 183, quotes Ibn Hujr; Qai tbay vis i t 142-4, 288. As hrafiyya and s abi l : Burgoyne, Mamluk J erus alem 78-80, 589-608; royal res idenc e Tankiziyya 228. K royanker 47. Qaitbay and omelette: Peters , J erus alem 406. Door of Aqs a: Goldhi l l , City of Longing 126. Drory, Cathedra1.1196-7. Governor's hous e and c onc ubines : Fabri , Book of W anderings 1.451; als o Qaitbay al lows refurbis hment of Sepulc hre 1.600-2; town, Obadiah on J erus alem J ews 1487: Peters , J erus alem 475-7. A l-Ghawry: Carl F. Petry, 'Late Mamluk Mi l i tary Ins ti tutions and Innovation', in CHE 1.479-89. Ris e ofOttomans : Carol ine Finkel , Os man's Dream: The S tory of the Ottoman Empire 1300-1923 (henc eforth Finkel) 83-4.

PART SEVEN: OTTOMAN

1 Sel im the Grim . Fal l of Mamluk Sul tan Ghawri : Petry, CHE 1.479-89. Ris e of Ottomans - taking the c i ty, des ire of al l pos s es s ors , wars , pos s es s ion of Padis hah Sul tan: Evl iya Celebi , Ev l iy a Ts helebi 's Trav els in Pales tine (henc eforth Evl iya) 55-9 and 85; Evl iya Celebi , An Ottoman Trav el ler 317. Sel im 's ris e,c harac ter, death: Finkel 83-4.

2 Suleiman, wal ls , gates , fountains , c i tadel : this ac c ount is bas ed on Sylvia Auld and Robert Hi l lenbrand (eds ), Ottoman J erus alem: The Liv ing City , 1517-1917 (OJ : volume one unles s otherwis e s tated). Amnon Cohen, '1517-1917 Haram al-Sheri f: T he Temple Mount under Ottoman Rule', in Sac red Es planade211-16. Bahat, Atlas 118-22. Ci tadel and Haram, Suleiman's dream, S inan in c harge of works , beauty of Suleiman's works : Evl iya 63-75; Evl iya Celebi , An Ottoman Trav el ler 323-7 inc luding Suleiman dreams and S inan. Roxelana w aqf: Dror Zeevi , An Ottoman Century : The Dis tric t of J erus alem in the 1600s27. Sul tan's Pool , Arc heologic al Park 128. Hawari , OJ 493-518. Fountains : OJ 2 and 2.15. P lanned vis i t 1553 of Suleiman: OJ 2.709-10. Fountains : Khadr Salameh, 'As pec ts of the S ij i l ls of the Shari 'a Court in J erus alem ', in OJ 103-43. Suleiman fountains , population Haram: OJ 4-8. Spol ia in J affa Gate:Boas , J erus alem 52. Suleiman and Roxelana, pol i tic al ethos : Finkel 115-18, 129-30; 133, 144-5, 148-50. Solomon of his age, pol i tic s , imperial projec tion: David Myres , 'An Overview of the Is lam ic A rc hi tec ture of Ottoman J erus alem ', OJ 325-54. Abraham Cas tro, gates , S inan planner, Arc heologic al Park 8.W al ls , s ec ond Solomon: Yus uf Nats heh, 'T he A rc hi tec ture of Ottoman J erus alem ', in OJ 583-655. Urban renewal, number of ti les , and Dome/al-Aqs a: Beatric e S t Laurent, 'Dome of the Roc k: Res torations and S igni fic anc e, 1540-1918', in OJ 415-21. Khas s aki Sul tan projec t: OJ 747-73. David Myres , 'A l-Imaraal-Amira: T he Khas s aki Sul tan 1552', in OJ 539-82. Ottoman s tyle: Hi l lenbrand, OJ 15-23. Heredi tary arc hi tec t dynas ty of al -Nammar: Mahmud A tal lah, 'T he A rc hi tec ts in J erus alem in the 10th-11th/16th-17th Centuries ', in OJ 159-90.J ewis h J erus alem: Sel im , Suleiman reigns , s ees W ai l ing W al l as plac e of wors hip - in 1488 Rabbi Obadiah does not mention W es tern W al l as s i te of prayer but Rabbi Is rael As hkenazi in 1520 s ays he prayed there and by 1572 Rabbi Is aac Luria was praying there: Miriam Frenkel , 'T he Temple Mount in

J ewis h T hought', in Sac red Es planade 351. Rabbi Mos es of Bas ola, in Peters , J erus alem 483-7; Hous e of P i late, one s ynagogue, David Reubeni of A rabia 490-2; population 484. As al i , J erus alem 204. Yus uf Said al-Nats heh, 'Uninventing the Bab al-Khal i l Tombs : Between the Magic of Legend and His toric alFac t', J Q 22-3, Autumn/W inter 2005.

Franc is c ans : Boni fac e of Ragus a, S t Saviour's , W ay of Cros s develops : Horn, Ic hnographiae Monumentorum Terrae Sanc tae 160-6. Ottoman repairs on Haram: S t Laurent, OJ 415-21. Ec onomy: Amnon Cohen, Ec onomic Li fe in Ottoman J erus alem 1-124.3 Duke of Naxos : Cec i l Roth, The Hous e of Nas i : The Duk e of Nax os 17-28, 75-111; Duke of Myti lene 205. B renner 142-3. Finkel 161. Bedouin attac k: Cohen, Ec onomic Li fe in Ottoman J erus alem 120 and 166. Frenc h c ons uls and c ons tant c hanges of praedominium: Bernard W as s ers tein, Div ided J erus alem:

The S truggle for the Holy Ci ty (henc eforth W as s ers tein) 15-23. Kabbal is ts s uc h as Shalom Sharabi in J erus alem: Martin Gi lbert, J erus alem: Rebirth of a Ci ty 125; early J erus alem ites s uc h as Meyugars fam i ly. Kus ki fam i ly from Georgia arrived eighteenth c entury: c onvers ation with Gideon Avni . Yehuda haHas id and As hkenazi immigrants : Hurva Synagogue, Goldhi l l , City of Longing 167. Frenc h c ons ul from S idon, fighting between Chris tian s ec ts , dis dain for Orthodox feigned body of Chris t wi th s pic es and powders , fanc ied c orps e, tattoos of pi lgrims , Holy Fire, Bedlam and burnt beards : Henry Maundrel l , AJ ourney from A leppo to J erus alem in 1697 80-100 and 125-30. Mus l im atti tudes to Eas ter (Feas t of Red Egg); and Churc h: Evl iya, Ottoman Trav el ler 330-7 and 352. W ay of the Cros s develops : Peters , J erus alem 437.

4 Ridwan and Farrukh, s eventeenth c entury: Zeevi , Ottoman Century 20-5; Ridwan 35-1; Farrukhs 43-56; downfal l 57-61. Ridwan bui lding on Haram, OJ 831-57. Abdul-Karim Rafeq, Prov inc e of Damas c us 1723-83 57. Druze c hieftain threatens Pales tine: Finkel 179. Suic idal Chris tians : Peters , J erus alem 461.W ay of the Lord/S tations of the Cros s : Horn, Ic hnographiae Monumentorum Terrae Sanc tae 160-86. Sepulc hre, Henry T imberlake in Peters , J erus alem 508-9; Sanders on 488-90, 510-15. Commerc e: George Hintl ian, 'Commerc ial Li fe of J erus alem ', in OJ 229-34: Cohen, Sac red Es planade 211-16. Frenc hpraedominium: W as s ers tein 15-23.

5 Chris tians early s eventeenth c entury. George Sandys , A Relation of a J ourney begun AD 1610 147-9, 154-73. Sandys and Americ an views of J ews and J erus alem: Hi l ton Obenzinger, Americ an Pales tine: Melv i l le, Tw ain, and the Holy Land Mania 14-23. T imberlake in jai l : Peters , J erus alem Peters , 511-2;J ohn Sanders on ac c us ed of being J ew 512-14. Americ an Puri tans , Cromwel l , End of Days and c onvers ion: Mac Cul loc h 717-25. Oren, Pow er; Sandys , B radford and May flow er quotation, early Awakenings 80-3. Mys tic is m: Evl iya, Ottoman Trav el ler 330-7. Cohen, Sac red Es planade 211-26. A rmenian vis i torJ eremiah Keomurdj ian reports Eas ter parade led by Pas ha of J erus alem with drums and trumpets : Kevork Hintl ian, 'T ravel lers and P i lgrims in the Holy Land: T he A rmenian Patriarc hate of J erus alem in the 17th and 18th Centuries ', in Anthony O'Mahony (ed.), The Chris tian Heri tage in the Holy Land 149-59.Cromwel l , Menas s eh bin Is rael : B renner 124-7. B ible as national epic - T homas Huxley quoted in T uc hman 81; on Sanders on and T imberlake, on Cromwel l and return of J ews 121-45. Zeevi , Ottoman Century 20-5; Ridwan 35-41; Farrukh 43-56; downfal l 57-61. Rafeq, Prov inc e of Damas c us 57. Praedominium:W as s ers tein 15-23.

6 Sabbatai : this ac c ount is bas ed on Gers hom G. Sc holem, Major Trends in J ew is h My s tic is m; on G. G. Sc holem, Sabbatai Zev i : The My s tic al Mes s iah ; on David Abulafia, The Great Sea: A Human His tory of the Mediterranean ; on B renner. Sc holem, My s tic is m 3-8, Zohar 156-9, 205, 243; influenc e of Spanis hexodus and Is aac Luria 244-6; Sabbatai 287-324. Mazower, Salonic a 66-78. Kabbal is ts s uc h as Shalom Sharabi in J erus alem: Gi lbert, Rebirth 125. Yehuda ha Has id, Hurva Synagogue: Goldhi l l , City of Longing 167. Sabbatai : Finkel 280.

7 Evl iya: portrai t is bas ed on Robert Dankoff, An Ottoman Mental i ty : The W orld of Ev l iy a Celebi ; Evl iya Celebi , An Ottoman Trav el ler 330-7 inc luding Eas ter at the c hurc h; J erus alem as the Kaaba of the poor and Dervis hes 332; and on Ts helebi , Trav els in Pales tine . Dankoff, Celebi 9-10; quote on longes t andful les t travel book 9; unc le tomb in J erus alem 22; educ ation 31; c ourtier and page of Murad IV 33-46; female c i rc umc is ion 61; Dervis h 117; s ex 118-19; unfair exec utions 139; as Fals taff and s hi tty martyr 142-5, 151; c hec king myths on Solomon ropes and Holy Fire 197-8. Evl iya, Trav els in Pales tine 55-94.Sufis m: Mazower, Salonic a 79-82. Sufis m and Is lam ic c us toms on entering/touring s hrines : Ilan Pappe, Ris e and Fal l of a Pales tinian Dy nas ty : the Hus ay nis 1700-1948 (henc eforth Pappe) 26-7. Laxnes s on Haram, Qas has hi , J ew els on the Ex c el lenc e of Mos ques quoted in Peters , J erus alem 496-8. ZeeviOttoman Century quotes c ri tic is m of Abu al-Fath al-Dajani on c onduc t on Haram 25-8. Laxnes s on Haram: Claudia Ott, 'T he Songs and Mus ic al Ins truments of Ottoman J erus alem ' in OJ 305. Il l -treatment of Chris tian pi lgrims , T imberlake in jai l : Peters , J erus alem 511-12. Fighting, Holy Fire: Maundrel l , J ourney80-100, 125-30. Dangers for J ewis h pi lgrims : Abraham Kal is ker quoted in Peters , J erus alem 525; As hkenazi J ews immigration 1700, Gedal iah quoted at 526-34; us e of W ai l ing W al l , Mos es Yerus halm i and Gedal iah 528. Minna Rozen, 'Relations between Egyptian J ewry and the J ewis h Community inJ erus alem in 17th Century', in A . Cohen and G. Baer (eds ), Egy pt and Pales tine 251-65. Cohen, Sac red Es planade 216-26. Gi lbert, Rebirth 125. Hurva: Goldhi l l , City of Longing 167. W es tern s truggle for praedominium: W as s ers tein 15-23. Zeevi , Ottoman Century 20-5; 35-41; 43-56; downfal l 57-61. Chris tians ec ts , rivalry of Powers and praedominium: Mouradian, 'Les Chretiens ', in Nic aul t, J erus alem 177-204.

8 Naqib al-As hraf revol t: Minna Rozen, 'T he Naqib al-As hraf Rebel l ion in J erus alem and i ts Reperc us s ions on the City's Dhimmis ', J ournal of As ian and A fric an S tudies 18/2, November 1984, 249-70. Adel Manna, 'Sc holars and Notables : T rac ing the E ffendiya's Hold on Power in 18th-Century J erus alem ', J Q 32,Autumn 2007. Butris Abu-Manneh, 'T he Hus aynis : Ris e of a Notable Family in 18th-Century Pales tine', in David Kus hner (ed), Pales tine in Late Ottoman Period: Pol i tic al , Soc ial and Ec onomic Trans formation 93-100; and Pappe 23-30. Fal l of the As hkenazis : Gedal iah quoted in Peters , J erus alem 530-4.Ottoman c hange in atti tude to J ews : Finkel 279. Zeevi , Ottoman Century 75. M. Hawari , OJ 498-9, s hel l ing of Dome. Gi lbert, Rebirth 125. Goldhi l l , City of Longing 167. J ewis h pi lgrims Abraham Kal is ker quoted in Peters , J erus alem 525; As hkenazi J ews 526-34; W al l , Mos es Yerus halm i, Gedal iah 528.W as s ers tein 15-23.

9 T he Famil ies /early to late eighteenth c entury: Adel Manna, 'Sc holars and Notables T rac ing the E ffendiya's Hold on Power in 18th Century J erus alem ', J Q 32, Autumn 2007. On c hange of name: Papper 25-38 Il lan Pappe, 'T he Ris e and Fal l of the Hus aynis ', Part 1, J Q 10, Autumn 2000. Butrus Abu-Manneh,'T he Hus aynis : Ris e of a Notable Family in 18th Century Pales tine', in David Kus hner (ed.). Pales tine in the Late Ottoman Period: Pol i tic al , Soc ial and Ec onomic Trans formation 93-100. T hanks to Adel Manna and als o to Mohammad al-A lam i and Bas hir Barakat for s haring his res earc h into the origins of theFamil ies . Zeevi , Ottoman Century 63-73. A . K . Rafeq, 'Pol i tic al His tory of Ottoman J erus alem ', OJ 25-8. Famil ies , name c hanges , rel igious bac kground, A lam is , Dajanis , Khal idis , Shihabis , al -Nammars : Mohammad al-A lam i, 'T he W aqfs of the T radi tional Famil ies of J erus alem during the Ottoman Period', inOJ 145-57. Heredi tary arc hi tec t dynas ty of al -Nammar: A tal lah, OJ 159-90. Lawrenc e Conrad, 'T he Khal idi Library', in OJ 191-209. Sari Nus s eibeh, Country 1-20, ki l l ing of two Nus s eibeh tax c ol lec tors by Hus s einis and marriage al l ianc e 52. Nas has hibi fam i ly Mamluk origins : Burgoyne, Mamluk J erus alem 60.Famil ies bui ld monuments on the Haram: Khalwat al-Dajani , Sabi l al -Hus s eini , Sabi l al -Khal idi -OJ 2.963, 966, 968. A lam is and hous e: author interview with Mohammad al-A lam i. On fam i ly name c hanges and origins , Hazem Zaki Nus s eibeh, J erus alemites 398-9.Chris tians and J ews : s ec ts in Sepulc hre, food, dis eas es , s qual id lavatories , Greek vomit: Horn, Ic hnographiae Monumentorum Terrae Sanc tae 60-78. Bel ls , s trings , l ines , 300 people in Sepulc hre: Henry T imberlake quoted in Peters , J erus alem 508-9. Fighting, Holy Fire: Maundrel l , J ourney 80-100, 125-30.

Churc h l ike a pris on: Evl iya Celebi , Ottoman Trav el ler 332. Holy W eek riots 1757: Peters , J erus alem 540. Ottoman repairs on Haram: S t Laurent, OJ 415-21. Ris e of Ayan Notables : Amnon Cohen, Pales tine in the 18th Century 1-10; ins tabi l i ty of Ottoman garris on and fighting and debauc hery 271-80. J erus alempromis ed by Bulutkapan A l i to Rus s ia: Finkel 407-9; treaty 1774 with Rus s ia 378-9. Mos t evi l people: Cons tantin Volney, Voy age en Egy pte et en Sy rie 332.10 Zahir al -Umar: Rafeq, OJ 28-9. D. Crec el ius , 'Egypt's Reawakening Interes t in Pales tine', in Kus hner, Pales tine in Late Ottoman Period 247-60; Cohen 12-19 and 92, inc luding plan to take J erus alem, 47; Zahir's North A fric an troops 285; Val i 's expedi tion, the daw ra 147-250. Pappe 35-8. Eugene Rogan, The

Arabs : A His tory (henc eforth Rogan) 48-53. Zahir as 'fi rs t K ing of Pales tine': Karl Sabbagh, Pales tine: A Pers onal His tory 26-46. Bulutkapan A l i : Finkel 407-9; Rus s ia 378-9.PART E IGHT: EMPIRE

1 Napoleon Bonaparte and J azzar Pas ha. Ris e and tortures and muti lations : Cons tatin de Volney, Voy age en Egy pte et en Sy rie 235. Edward Daniel Clarke, Trav els in Various Countries of Europe, As ia and A fric a 2.1.359-88, 2.2.3-5. Voy age and Trav els of HM Carol ine Queen of Great B ri tain 589-91. Cohen,Pales tine in the 18th Century 20-9, 68-70, 285. Pappe 38-46. Finkel 399-412. K ramer 61-3. Nathan Sc hur, Napoleon in the Holy Land (henc eforth Sc hur) 17-32. Paul S trathern, Napoleon in Egy pt (henc eforth S trathern) 185, 335-7.

2 Napoleon in Pales tine: this ac c ount is bas ed on Sc hur and S trathern. J affa mas s ac re Sc hur 67; Ac re 140-6; retreat 163; Governor of J erus alem in J affa 163-7. S trathern, origins of expedi tion 6-17; s iege of Ac re 336-46; Solomon's Temple 317; J affa mas s ac re 326. J ewis h offer: Sc hur 117-21. S trathearn 352-6. Napoleon's tent: Hintl ian, J Q 2, 1998. Pappe on J erus alem Famil ies : 46-51.

3 S idney Smith - this ac c ount of his l i fe is bas ed on: Tom Poc oc k, A Thirs t for Glory : The Li fe of Admiral S ir S idney Smith , in Ac re, J affa, J erus alem 100-20. A ls o: J ohn Barrow, The Li fe and Corres pondenc e of Admiral S ir W i l l iam S idney Smith 207. S trathern 337-40; Napoleon's retreat 371-81; ki l l ing of s ic k378; K leber 409. Franc is c an welc ome in J erus alem: Peter Shankland, Bew are of Heroes : Admiral S ir S . Smith 91-5. Smith's vani ty, talking of hims el f: Colonel Bunbury quoted in Flora Fras er, The Unruly Queen: The Li fe of Queen Carol ine 136. Marc h into J erus alem: Clarke, Trav els in Various Countries2.1.520. J ames Finn, Stirring Times (henc eforth Finn) 157. Edward Howard, The Memoirs of S ir S idney Smith 146. Old J azzar: Sc hur 171. 1808 fi re in Sepulc hre: Peters , J erus alem 542. Population by 1806 - 8,000: OJ 4-5. J erus alem and Gaza s ame population, c . 8,000 in 1800: K ramer 41-4. J azzar vers usGaza: Pappe 47-51.

4 Early vis i tors and adventures : N. A . S i lberman, Digging for J erus alem (henc eforth S i lberman) 19-29. Y . Ben-A rieh, J erus alem in the 19th Century 31-67. Peters , J erus alem 582-62. A . E lon, J erus alem: A City of M irrors 217. Clarke, Trav els in Various Countries 2.1.393-593, 2.2.3.5 F. R. de Chateaubriand, Trav els in Greec e, Pales tine, Egy pt and Barbary during the Years 1806 and 1807 1.368-86 and 2.15-179. Chateaubriand's s ervant: J ul ien, Itineraire de Paris a J erus alem par J ul ien, domes tique de M. de Chateaubriand 88-9. On las t of pi lgrims , fi rs t of c ul tural imperial is ts inc luding

Chateaubriand: E rns t Axel Knauf, 'Ottoman J erus alem in W es tern Eyes ', in OJ 73-6. Pappe 49-53.6 1808 fi re, Suleiman Pas ha c onques t: Hawari , OJ 499-500. Rafeq, OJ 29. Pappe 49-50. Suleiman and Sul tan Mehmet II res tore Dome ti les : Salameh, OJ 103-43. Suleiman Pas ha bui lds Iwan al-Mahmud II, pavi l ion, res tores Maqam al-Nabi , Nabi Daoud 1817, s ee Hi l lenbrand, OJ 14. Peters , J erus alem 582.

Cohen, Sac red Es planade 216-26.7 Carol ine and Hes ter: thanks to K irs ten E l l is for generous ly s haring her unpubl is hed res earc h on Hes ter and Carol ine. Firs t vis i t of Montefiore: Mos es and J udi th Montefiore, Diaries of S ir Mos es and Lady Montefiore (henc eforth Montefiore) 36-42. Abigai l Green, Mos es Montefiore: J ew is h Liberator, Imperial

Hero (henc eforth Green) 74-83. A lphons e de Lamartine, Trav els in the Eas t Inc luding J ourney to the Holy Land 78-88. Pappe 60-65.8 Dis rael i : J ane Ridley, Young Dis rael i 79-97. On his various pedigrees , fantas ies of J ewis h s ettlement in c onvers ations with Edward S tanley and his pos s ible authors hip of pre-Zionis t memorandum 1878 'Die judis c he Frage in der oriental is c hen Frage': Minna Rozen, 'Pedigree Remembered, Rec ons truc ted,

Invented: Benjam in Dis rael i between Eas t and W es t', in M. K ramer (ed.), The J ew is h Dis c ov ery of Is lam 49-75. Dis rael i 's 1857 pre-Zionis t ideas of Roths c hi lds buying Pales tine for J ews : Nial l Fergus on, W orld's Bank er: A His tory of the Hous e of Roths c hi ld (henc eforth Fergus on) 418-22 and 1131. Pappe 66-76. J ewis h l i fe: T udor Parfi tt, J ew s of Pales tine 1800-1882 c h. 2. T uc hman 220-3.

9 Mehmet A l i /Ibrahim Pas ha: Finkel 427, 422-46, 428. Rogan 66-83. On Mehmet A l i regime: Khaled Fahmy in CHE 2.139-73. Pappe 66-76. Phi l ip Mans el , Lev ant: Splendour and Catas trophe on the Mediterranean 63-90. W i l l iam B rown Hodgs on, An Edited B iographic al Sk etc h of Mohammed A l i , Pas ha of Egy pt,Sy ria, and A rabia . Rafek, OJ 31-2. J udi th M. Rood, 'T he T ime the Peas ants Entered J erus alem: T he Revol t agains t Ibrahim Pas ha in the Is lam ic Court Sourc es ', J Q 27, Summer 2006. J udi th M. Rood, 'Interc ommunal Relations in J erus alem during Egyptian Rule 1934-41', J Q 32, Autumn 2007 and J Q 34,Spring 2009. J ews and s ynagogues - Y. Ben-A rieh, J erus alem in the 19th Century , 25-30; Ibrahim and fel lahin revol t 67-70. Holy Fire: R. Curzon, V is i ts to the Monas teries of the Lev ant 192-204. Res toration of Hurva and four Sephardic s ynagogues : Goldhi l l , City of Longing 169. Montefiore, meetings withMuhammad A l i /1839 vis i t: Montefiore 177-87; Green c h. 6. T homs ons in J erus alem, baby and book: Oren, Pow er 121-5. Mouradian, 'Les Chretiens ', in Nic aul t, J erus alem 177-204.

10 On Shaftes bury, Palmers ton, J ames Finn and return of J ews , Chris tian Zionis m: David B rown, Palmers ton: A B iography on Mehmet A l i c ris is 211-37; on rel igion and Shaftes bury 416-21; Norman Bentwic h and J ohn M. Shaftes ley, 'Forerunners of Zionis m in the Chris tian E ra', in Remember the Day s : Es s ay son Anglo-J ew is h His tory P res ented to Cec i l Roth 207-40. Green 88-9. T uc hman 175-207. Shaftes bury/B ri tis h interes t: W as s ers tein 26-9; on the c ons uls and Anglo-P rus s ian bis hopric 29 and 34-7. Ris e of B ri tis h power: Gi lbert, Rebirth 14-27, 42-5. M. Verete, 'W hy was a B ri tis h Cons ulate Es tabl is hed inJ erus alem?', Engl is h His toric al Rev iew 75 (1970) 342-5. M. Verete, 'T he res toration of the J ews in Engl is h P rotes tant T hought, 1790-1840', Middle Eas tern S tudies 8 (1972) 4-50.Ruth Kark, Americ an Cons uls in the Holy Land (henc eforth Kark) on US m is s ionaries 26-9 on nature of J erus alem c ons ulates 55, 110-11; on c ons uls 128-90; on Livermore and Americ an m i l lenarians , quote by US c ons ul in Beirut 212-27, 307-10. On Lieutenant Lync h: S i lberman 51-62. J ames Finn as

evangel is t, and wife daughter of evangel is t, c harac ter, brave, tac tles s , Dines s s c andal : J ames and E l izabeth Finn, V iew from J erus alem, 1849-58: The Cons ular Diary of J ames and E l iz abeth Anne Finn (henc eforth Finn diaries ) 28-35 and 51; blood l ibel 107-15. Cons ular rivalries and pretens ions : Finn 2.141,2:221. Shaftes bury, Finn and Gawler's Hebrais m/evangel is m: Green 214-19 and 232-3. Return of patriarc hs : Mouradian, 'Les Chretiens ', in Nic aul t, J erus alem 177-204.11 Cres s on and Americ an m i l lenarianis m: W arder Cres s on, The Key of Dav id , on Angl ic an c onvers ion of J ews 327-30; leaving Phi ladelphia for J erus alem 2; c harges of ins ani ty and defenc e 211-44. Levi Pars ons , Memoir of Rev. Lev i Pars ons 357-79. On Americ an Sec ond Awakening, fi rs t pi lgrims Fis k and

Pars ons , J ohn Adams , Robins on, Livermore, J os eph Smith B lac ks tone Memorial : Oren, Pow er 80-92, 142-3. Obenzinger, Americ an Pales tine , on early Americ ans and Cres s on 4-5 and 188-27. Mac Cul loc h 903-7. Harriet Livermore - thanks to K irs ten E l l is for ac c es s to her unpubl is hed c hapters . USmis s ionaries , S i lberman 31-6. US Chris tian Zionis m: W . E . B lac ks tone, Memorial , in Obenzinger, Americ an Pales tine 269-70. Herzland Zionis m: Gi lbert, Rebirth 217-22. Zangwi l l , Galves ton s ettlement, A fric a, A rgentina, Angola and T erri torial is m: M. Obenzinger, J Q 17 February 2003. J ews in J erus alem, 1895:28,000; 1905: 35,000; 1914: 45,000; K ramer 102-3 and 138. Kark 19-37. W . T hac keray, Notes on a J ourney from Cornhi l l to Grand Cairo (henc eforth T hac keray) 681-99.H. Melvi l le, J ournals 84-94; on Clarel 65-81. Knauf, OJ 74-5. Chal lenge to US c ons ular flag: Finn diaries 260-77. Finn's evangel is m: Green 219 and 232-33. Mouradian, 'Les Chretiens ', in Nic aul t, J erus alem 177-204.

12 Nic holas I: W . B ruc e Linc oln, Nic holas I, hands ome 49, V ic toria 223, Rus s ian God 243-6, Our Rus s ia 251, Paul and knight, quote of Marquis de Cas telbajac (Frenc h ambas s ador) 291, J erus alem and the Eas tern Ques tion, Frenc h monk, legend of A lexander I and Rus s ian love of J erus alem 330-4. OrlandoFiges , Crimea: The Las t Crus ade (henc eforth Figes ) 1-17; on Nic holas 36-7. H. Martineau, Eas tern Li fe ,3: 162-5. Fo 78/446, Finn to Aberdeen and Fo 78/205 Finn to Palmers ton. Gogol: V. Voropanov, 'Gogol v Ierus al ime', Prav os lav ny Palomnik (2006) 2, 44-6 and 3. 35-59. 1.99-105. P. A . Kul is h, Zapis k i izz hiz ni N. V. Gogol ia s os tav lenny e iz v os pominaniy ego druz ey i z nak omy k h i iz ego s obs tv enny k h pis em 2.164-89. N. V . Gogol, Polnoe s obranie s oc hineniy : P is ma, 1848-52 vol . 14. I. P . Zolutus ky, Gogol 394-401. E lon, J erus alem 138-9. J erus alem Syndrome: Yair Bar-E l et al ., Bri tis h J ournal of Ps y c hiatry176 (2000) 86-90.

13 S tart of Crimean W ar: W . B . Linc oln, Nic holas I 330-40. Figes 100-8; Nic holas ins tabi l i ty 155-7; Nic holas ' 's olely Chris tian purpos e' 157. W ri ters : Finkel 457-60. E lon, J erus alem 70-1. Gi lbert, Rebirth 67-9, 83-6. Finn 2: 192-32. Fo 195/445 Finn to Clarendon 28 Apri l 1854. Ben-A rieh, 66-8. Derek Hopwood, TheRus s ian P res enc e in Sy ria and Pales tine 1-49. Lync h diaries quoted in Gi lbert, Rebirth 51. Karl Marx, New York Dai ly Tribune 15 Apri l 1854. Col in Shindler, A His tory of Modern Is rael 23. Americ ans , Lync h: Oren, Pow er 137-40. J ames Finn, wars agains t A rab/Bedouin warlords of Hebron, Abu Ghos h, fightingand Pas ha m i l i tary expedi tions : Finn 230-50. Murders , Holy Fire: Finn diaries 104 and 133-57. On nature of J erus alem: Finn xxvi i , 4, 40-2; on governor's pris on etc . 159-74; Holy Fire fighting 2.458-9; Sudanes e guards on Haram 2.237.Spl i t in J ews between Has s idim and Perus him: Green 116-17; 1839 trip 119-32; Nic holas I and Montefiore 181; 1859-60 purc has e of land for Montefiore Cottages 235-57; windmil l 324-38; wi tty reply 1859 to Cardinal Antonel l i 'Not as muc h as I gave your lac key' 277. On Montefiore legend in Rus s ia, Chaim

W eizmann, Trial and E rror (henc eforth W eizmann) 16. David F. Dorr, A Colored Man Round the W orld by a Quadroon 183-4 and 186-7. G. Flaubert, Notes de v oy age in vol . 19 of Les Oeuv res c ompletes 19. Frederic k B rown, Flaubert: A Li fe 231-9, 247, 256-61; als o E lon, J erus alem 37 and 139-41. Antony Sattin,W inter on the Ni le 17-18. Flaubert on Du Camp offic ial m is s ion: Ruth V ic tor-Hummel, 'Cul ture and Image: Chris tians and the Beginnings of Loc al Photography in 19th Century Ottoman Pales tine', in Anthony O'Mahony (ed.), Chris tian Heri tage in the Holy Land 181-91.

Americ ans : Oren Pow er 236-47. Melvi l le: Melvi l le, J ournals 84-94; on Clarel 65-81. Obenzinger, Americ an Pales tine 65-82, inc luding J ew mania; Grant/Linc oln 161; on B lyden and Dorr 227-47. Knauf, OJ 74-5. A lexander K inglake, Eothen 144-58, 161-2. Lync h, J ewis h pic nic outs ide wal ls : Gi lbert, Rebirth 51.On Gogol s ee note 12 above.14 End of Crimean W ar, 1850s : Finkel 457-60. E lon, J erus alem 70-1. Gi lbert, Rebirth 67-9, 83-6. Finn 1.2-4, 78, 2.452. Ben-A rieh, 66-8. Hopwood, Rus s ian P res enc e 1-49. Mouradian, 'Les Chretiens ', in Nic aul t, J erus alem 177-204. Gi lbert, Rebirth 51. Figes 415-16; Montefiore Balac lava Rai lway 418; brawl 464-5.15 Montefiore: al l quotations unles s otherwis e s tated are from the Diaries . Green 176-94, 227, 35-53, 59; fi fth vis i t 1857 63-9; Montefiore windmil l and alms hous es 1860 109-16; death of J udi th 140; s ixth vis i t 1866 171-86; J erus alem views 338; awning for W ai l ing W al l and removal of s laughterhous e 332-3; pre-

Zionis t views , J ewis h empire 320; negotiations with Ottomans 324. Roths c hi lds : Montefiore m is s ions funded; Dis rael i c omment; reluc tanc e to involve in J ordan; Fergus on, 418-422, and 1131. Melvi l le on Montefiore, 'this Croes us - a huge man of 75': Melvi l le, J ournals 91-4. Hurva Synagogue: Gi lbert, Rebirth98-100. Ben-A rieh, 42-4. V is i ts and tens ions : Finn diaries 197, 244; Montefiore and Col Gawlon J ewis h s ettlements : Green 50-9.Flaubert, Notes de v oy age 19. B rown, Flaubert 231-9, 247, 256-61; als o E lon, J erus alem 37 and 139-41. Flaubert on Du Camp offic ial m is s ion: W . B . Linc oln, Nic holas I, war and death 340-50. V ic tor-Hummel, 'Cul ture and Image' 181-91.

16 A rc haeologis ts and emperors , s piri tual imperial is m: W as s ers tein 50-65. Robins on: S i lberman 37-47, 63-72; W i ls on 79-85; W arren 88-99; B ri tis h Pales tine A rc haeology 79, 86, 113-27; B l is s on Mount Zion 147-60; German arc haeology 165-70. Frenc h: Ben-A rieh, 169; frenzy to identi fy bibl ic al s i tes 183-5.Saulc y: Goldhi l l , City of Longing 216. Gi lbert, Rebirth , on Robins on and Smith xxi i , 4-7 and 65-7; on W arren 128-35; J ewis h princ ipal i ty a s eparate kingdom guaranteed by the Great Powers 128-32. Americ an m is s ionaries and arc haeologis ts , Robins on: Oren, Pow er 135-7; U. S . Grant and Americ an vis i tors236-8. Lane Fox, Unauthoriz ed Vers ion 216-19. Kark on Robins on 29-30. Obenzinger, Americ an Pales tine , on T i tus Tobler 253. Ben-A rieh, 183-5. Ruth Hummel, 'Imperial P i lgrim : Franz J os ef's J ourney to the Holy Land in 1869', in M. W rba (ed.), Aus trian P res enc e in the Holy Land 158-77. Rus s ians : S imonDixon, 'A S tunted International : Rus s ian Orthodoxy in the Holy Land in the 19th Century', draft paper. Romanov pi lgrimages : N. N. Lis ovoy and P. V. S tegniy, Ros s iy a v Sv y atoy Zemle: Dok umenty i materialy 1.125-7; Grand Duke Cons tantine 1859 vis i t 128-35. Hopwood, Rus s ian P res enc e , Grand DukeCons tantine 51. Rus s ian pi lgrims : Bertha Spafford Ves ter, Our J erus alem (henc eforth Ves ter) 86-7. Spiri tual imperial is m: W as s ers tein 50-65.B ri tis h, Americ an and German arc haeology, S i lberman 113-27; 147-53-70; Moabite S tone 100-12; Mos es Shapira 131-40. Americ ans : Obenzinger, Americ an Pales tine , 161. Cons uls and Selah Merri l l : Kark 128-30 and 323-5. B ri tis h royals : Gi lbert, Rebirth 109-14 and 177-80. Rider Haggard, A W inter P i lgrimage

267. Edward Lear in E lon, J erus alem 142; 1881 Crown P rinc e Rudolf 144-5. K i tc hener/ Gordon: Gi lbert, Rebirth 187. Pol loc k, K itc hener: Sav iour of the Realm 29-37 and 31. K i tc hener photographs Muris tan, in Boas , J erus alem 160. Gordon in Goldhi l l , City of Longing 21; E lon, J erus alem 147; Grabar, 16.17 1860-9: Hummel, 'Imperial P i lgrims ' 158-77. Rus s ians : Dixon, 'A S tunted international .' Lis ovoy and S tegniy, Ros s iy a v Sv y atoy Zemle 1.125-45. Hopwood, Rus s ian P res enc e 51. Ves ter 86-7. W as s ers tein 50-65.18 Edward W . B lyden, From W es t A fric a to Pales tine 9-12 on J erus alem m ind; arrival 165; Holy Sepulc hre 166; B ible in hand 170; blac k Mus l ims 180; W al l 280-3; s ec ond c oming 199. Obenzinger, Americ an Pales tine 161-2; B lyden and Dorr 227-47. Mark T wain, Mediterranean Hotel and A riel Sharon: s ee

Haaretz 15 J uly 2008. Quotations from Mark T wain, The Innoc ents Abroad, or the New P i lgrims ' P rogres s . Green: J udi th Montefiore 140; vis i t 1866, 171-86; views 338; awning for W ai l ing W al l and removal of s laughterhous e; 332-3. U. S . Grant, T wain, Linc oln: Oren, Pow er 189, 236-8, 239-47. On arc haeology,pic tures que vis ions , new travel : Mazower Salonic a 205-21.

19 Yus uf Khal idi and Ottoman J erus alem: A lexander Sc holc h, 'An Ottoman B is marc k from J erus alem: Yus uf Diya al-Khal idi ', J Q 24, Summer 2005. K . Kas mieh, 'T he Leading Intel lec tuals of late Ottoman J erus alem ', in OJ 37-42. Exec ution: W arren quoted in Goldhi l l , City of Longing , 146. Conrad, 'Khal idiLibrary,' OJ 191-209. A rab mans ions , Ben-A rieh, 74-6. Martin Drow, 'T he Hammams of Ottoman J erus alem ', OJ 518-24. A rab mans ions : Shari f M. Shari f, 'Cei l ing Dec oration in J erus alem during the Late Ottoman Period: 1856-1917', in OJ 473-8. Hous es , s laves , women: Sus an Roaf, 'Li fe in 19th-CenturyJ erus alem ', in OJ 389-414. Clothes : Nanc y Mic klewright, 'Cos tume in Ottoman J erus alem ', in OJ 294-300. Ott, 'Songs and Mus ic al Ins truments of Ottoman J erus alem ', in OJ 301-20. W as i f J awhariyyeh, A l Quds A l Othmaniy ah Fi A l Muthak rat A l J aw hariy y eh on J ewis h Purim s hared with other s ec ts 1.68;J ewis h P ic nic at S imon the J us t tomb and s inging of Chris tian, Mus l im and Spanis h J ewis h s ongs 1.74; mus ic ians , bel ly danc ers , J ews and Mus l ims 1.148. Sal im Tamari , 'J erus alem 's Ottoman Moderni ty: T he T imes and Lives of W as i f J awhariyyeh', and 'Ottoman J erus alem in the J awhariyyeh Memoirs ', J Q9 , Summer 2000. Vera Tamari , 'T wo Ottoman Ceremonial Banners in J erus alem ', in OJ 317. J os eph B . Glas s and Ruth Kark, 'Sarah la P reta: A S lave in J erus alem ', J Q 34, Spring 2009. Sephardic J ews s hared fes tivals , c i rc umc is ion, matz ah , welc ome after haj , Sephardis pray for rain at reques t of Mus l imleaders , Valero relations with Nas has hibis and Nus s eibehs : Ruth Kark and J os eph B . Glas s , 'T he Valero Family: Sephardi-A rab Relations in Ottoman and Mandatory J erus alem ', in OJ 21, Augus t 2004. Greek Orthodox anti -Semitis m/ Eas ter s ongs - reported by B ri tis h vis i tors 1896: J anet Sos kic e, S is ters ofthe S inai 237. On A rabs c al l ing J ews 'J ews s ons of A rabs ' s ee W as if J awhariyyeh, diary, note 4, Zionis m s ec tion. W eddings . Pappe 53 and 97-8.Nus s eibehs ' c as tle hous e: Sari Nus s eibeh, Country 48-9. Khal idis , Khal idi Library: Nazmi al-J ubeh, 'T he Khal idiyah Library', J Q 3, W inter 1999. Conrad, 'Khal idi Library', OJ 191-205. Author interview with Hai fa Khal idi . A jam i, 'Hidden T reas ure', Saudi A ramc o W orld Magaz ine . Kas mieh, 'Leading Intel lec tuals

of Late OttomanJ erus alem ', OJ 37-42. Hus s einis : Il lan Pappe, 'T he Ris e and Fal l of the Hus aynis ', Part 1, J Q 10, Autumn2000; 'T he Hus ayni Family Fac es New Chal lenges : Tanzimat, Young T urks , the Europeans and Zionis m, 1840-1922', Part 2, J Q 11-12, W inter 2001. New wealth of the Famil ies : Pappe 87-91.

Nahda: Rogan138-9. National is m: K ramer 120-8, al l nations develop in the l ight of his tory, modern artic ulation of imagined c ommunities etc ., but oppos i tion not yet bas ed on A rab Pales tinian identi ty. Nabi Mus a: W as s ers tein 103. P rivatizationof w aqfs : Gabriel Baer, 'J erus alem Notables and the W aqf', inKus hner, Pales tine in the Late Ottoman Period 109-21. Yankee Doodle: Ves ter 181; Nabi Mus a/Sufis 114-17; keros ene lamps 69; Ramadan fair, peeps hows , hors erac es 118. Clan-fighting around J erus alem: Rafeq, OJ 32-6.

Photography: V ic tor-Hummel, 'Cul ture and Image' 181-91.Abdul Hamid: Finkel 488-512. Herzl onAbdul Hamid. T uc hman292. J onathan Sc hneer, The Bal four Dec laration: the Origins of the A rab-Is rael i Confl ic t (henc eforth Sc hneer), on Abdul-Hamid 17-18. Cohen, Sac red Es planade 216-26. Ec lec tic bui lding in imperial age: K royanker 101-41. On numbers of foreign

monas teries and monks : Mouradian, 'Les Chretiens ', in Nic aul t, J erus alem 77-204. 17,000 J ews : B renner 267.Americ an Colony: this ac c ount is bas ed on Ves ter. Family: Ves ter 1-64; the Hus s eini hous e 93 and 187; Gordon 102-4; J ac ob and Hezekiah, S i loam T unnel 95-8; s imples and lunatic s 126-41; Dutc h c ountes s 89. Detroi t New s 23 Marc h 1902. See: J . F. Genies s e, Americ an P ries tes s . OnOverc omers vs Selah

Merri l l , anti -Semitis m: Oren, Pow er 281-3. Kark 128-30 and 323-5. Hus s einis and s c hools : Pappe 104-7.Sc hic k and his bui ldings , new s tyles of late nineteenth c entury inc luding Frenc h, B ri tis h, Rus s ian, Greek and Bokhara areas : K royanker 101-41. Abdul Hamid: Finkel 488-512. A rc haeologic al national expedi tions and rivalries : S i lberman 113-27; 147-70; 100-12. Kark on c ons uls /Selah Merri l l 128-30; 323-5.

20 Gi lbert, Rebirth 14 and 177-80; K i tc hener/Gordon 187. Haggard, W inter P i lgrimage 267. Edward Lear inE lon, J erus alem 142; Rudol f 144-5. Pol loc k, K itc hener 29-37. K i tc hener photographs Boas , J erus alem 160. Gordon in Goldhi l l , City of Longing 21; E lon, J erus alem 147; Grabar, Shape of the Holy 16.Rus s ians : Dixon, 'A s tunted international '. Rus s ians and W es terners : S tephen Graham, W ith the Rus s ian P i lgrims to J erus alem (henc eforth Graham) - c lothes , s ea journey, obs es s ion with death 3-10; Montenegrin guide 35; l i fe in Compound 40-2; Romanov vis i ts and c harges in Compound 44-6; ludic rousEngl is h touris ts 55; Holy Sepulc hre 62-4; c orruption in J erus alem, the J ew Fac tory, c orrupt degenerate pries ts 69-76; pageant of Eas ter and Holy Fire 101-10; A rab women s el l ing booze in Compound 118; Holy Fire 126-8; meetings in the s treet 130-2. Lis ovoi and S tegni i , Ros s i ia v Sv iatoi Zemle 1.125-7; diaryof A rc himandri te Antonin 1881 and vis i ts of Grand Duke Sergei 1888 1.147-60. Pales tine Soc iety and Rus s ian Compound: Hopwood, Rus s ian P res enc e 70-115. Chris topher W arwic k, E lla: P rinc es s , Saint and Marty r: Sergei c harac ter and fi rs t vis i t 85-101; vis i t wi th E l la 143-53; J ewis h pogrom Mos c ow 162-6.Ts aris t pol ic ies and pogroms : B renner 238-43. Ves ter 86-7. J ewis h al iy ah : Ben-A rieh 78. Modernization and Ottoman reforms , A rab reac tions : K ramer 120-8. Nus s eibeh, Country 48-9. A l-J ubeh, 'Khal idiyah Library'. Kas mieh, 'Leading Intel lec tuals of Late Ottoman J erus alem ', OJ 37-42. Anti -Zionis t meas ures :Pappe 115-17.

PART NINE: ZIONISM

1 Herzl , Zionis m 1880s : Shindler, His tory 10-17. As s yrian profi le: J abotins ky quoted in Col in Shindler, The Triumph of M i l i tary Zionis m 54-61, inc luding Chris tmas tree. Des mond S tewart, Herz l 171-222, 261-73. Zionis m, Herzl , new fas hion for rac ial anti -Semitis m: B renner 256-67. Relations with Roths c hi lds ,Fergus on 800-4. T uc hman 281-309. J ewis h majori ty by 1860?: Paolo Cuneo, 'T he Urban S truc ture and Phys ic al Organis ation of Ottoman J erus alem in Context of Ottoman Urbanis m ', in OJ 218. Has s idic s and other groups arrive: Gi lbert, Rebirth 118-23 and 165-73; Hebrew c ul ture 185-9, 207-15. J ewis himmigration and population figures : Ben-A rieh 31-40 and 78 on Firs t A l iyah figures . Firs t A l iyah, Hes s , pogroms and reac tion of Tols toy/T urgenev: Shmuel E ttinger and Is rael Bartal , 'Fi rs t A l iyah, Ideologic al Roots and P rac tic al Ac c ompl is hments ', in Cathedra 2.197-200. Yemenite al iy ah : Ni tza Druyon,'Immigration and Integration of Yemenite J ews in 1s t A liy ah ', in Cathedra 3.193-5. Immigration of Bokharans : author interview with Shlomo Mous s aieff. Karl Baedeker (1876), 186 Spanis h J ews vs s qual id Pol is h brethen. Kal is c her, A lkalai and early proto-Zionis ts : Green 322-4. Evangel is t Zionis m: W . E .B lac ks tone, in Obenzinger, Americ an Pales tine 269-70. Herzland Zionis m: Gi lbert, Rebirth 217-22. Zangwi l l , Galves ton s ettlement, A fric a, A rgentina; Angola and Terri torial is m: Obenzinger, J Q 2003. J ews in J erus alem 1895: 28,000; 1905: 35,000; 1914: 45,000: K ramer 102-11, 138; pogroms and ris e inJ ewis h population 197-9. Martin Gi lbert, Churc hi l l and the J ew s , Churc hi l l ian Terri torial is m in T ripol i tania and Cyrenaic a 249. Kark 19-37. J ewis h Neighbourhoods : Gi lbert, Rebirth 140-5. Tom Segev, One Pales tine Complete: J ew s and A rabs under the B ri tis h Mandate 221-3. J ewis h s uburbs : Ben-A rieh 48-58. Herzl on extra-terri torial Temple Mount: W as s ers tein 320. W eizmann, Trial and E rror: on Herzl s tyle, c harac ter, not of people 41, 63; S ir Franc is Montefiore, Roths c hi lds , Herzl ian Zionis m 62-5. Early Zionis t dis tas te for J erus alem: Sufian Abu Zaida, '"A Mis erable P rovinc ial Town": T he Zionis t Approac h toJ erus alem 1897-1937', J Q 32, Autumn 2007. Roths c hi ld bids to buy W al l : Pappe 116-17.

2 Kais er and Herzl in J erus alem: New York Times 29 Oc tober 1898. Cohen, Sac red Es planade 216-26. T ravel agent Cook: New York Times 20 Augus t 1932. T homas Cook: Gi lbert, Rebirth 154-60. Luxury T homas Cook and Rol la Floyd tents : Ves ter 160-1. Luxury touris t tents : Ruth and T homas Hummel,Patterns of the Sac red: Engl is h P rotes tant and Rus s ian Orthodox P i lgrims of the Nineteenth Century , photograph. Kais er, J ews and Herzl : J ohn Rohl, W ilhelm II: The Kais er's Pers onal Monarc hy 1888-1900 944-54; on Churc h of Redeemer 899; I alone know s omething; al l of you know nothing 843; on J ews784. Kais er and anti -Semitis m: J ohn Rohl, The Kais er and his Court 190-212; on s exual hi j inks at c ourt/poodle 16. German arc hi tec ture: K royanker 24. V is i t to T emple Mount: OJ 270-1. Ves ter 194-8. S i lberman 162-3. Sean Mc Meekin, The Berl in-Baghdad Ex pres s , on Kais er in J erus alem and letters to ts ar 14-16.S tewart, Herz l 261-73. Goldhi l l , City of Longing 140. Gi lbert, Rebirth 223-7. Moderni ty, Kais er and photography: V ic tor-Hummel, 'Cul ture and Image' 181-91. Photos : OJ 267. Ben-A rieh 76. On A rab pol i tic s and Ruhi Khal idi : Marc us , J erus alem, 1913: Origins of A rab-Is rael i Confl ic t 39-44 and 99. K ramer 111-15.

Herzland Uganda: Lord Roths c hi ld's introduc tion, Fergus on 802-4. Herzl , Uganda, Lloyd George as lawyer in two appl ic ations for S inai homeland in 1903 and 1906: David Fromkin, A Peac e to End A l l Peac e (henc eforth Fromkin) 271-5. Churc hi l l ian Terri torial is m: Gi lbert, Churc hi l l and the J ew s 249. Zangwi l l ,Galves ton s ettlement, A fric a, A rgentina, Angola and T erri torial is m: Obenzinger, J Q 2003 17. Pappe 108-11. Ilan Pappe, 'Ris e and Fal l of the Hus aynis ', Part 1, J Q 10, Autumn 2000; 'Hus ayni Family Fac es New Chal lenges ', Part 2, J Q 11-12, W inter 2001. W as s ers tein 320.

Amy Doc ks er Marc us , J erus alem 1913: Origins of the A rab-Is rael i Confl ic t 30-60. Yus uf al-Khal idi to Chief Rabbi of Franc e Zadok Khan in Nus s eibeh, Country 23. Kas meh, 'Leading Intel lec tuals of Late Ottoman J erus alem ', OJ 37-42.3 T he portrai t of Ben-Gurion throughout the book is bas ed on the biography Mic hael Bar-Zohar, Ben-Gurion ; David Ben-Gurion, Rec ol lec tions ; W eizmann; Shindler, His tory and Mil i tary Zionis m; c onvers ations with Shimon Peres and Y i tzhak Yaac ovy. Ben-Gurion, Rec ol lec tions 34-43, 59-61. Bar-Zohar, Ben-

Gurion 1-12, 26-8. K ramer 111-15. Pol i tic al phi los ophy, artic les in 1914 and 1920: Shindler, His tory 21-35, 42-4 and 99-101. W eizmann: Herzl Ugandais m and E l A ris h plans 119-122; meeting with P lehve and K is hinev pogroms 109-18. Protoc ols of E lders of Zion : David Aaronovi tc h, Voodoo His tories 22-48.Early Zionis t dis tas te for J erus alem: Abu Zaida, '"A Mis erable P rovinc ial T own"', J Q 32, Autumn 2007.

4 Young T urk Revolution and A rab national is m: this s ec tion is bas ed on W as if J awhariyyeh, A l Quds A l Othmaniy ah Fi A l Muthak rat A l J aw hariy y eh , vol . 1: 1904-1917 , vol . 2: 1918-1948 , trans . for this book by Maral Amin Quttieneh (henc eforth W as i f). Among the diary entries us ed are 1.160, 167, 168-9, 190,204, 211, 217, 219, 231. A ls o bas ed on: Tamari , 'J erus alem 's Ottoman Moderni ty', J Q 9, Summer 2000. On c afes , atmos phere, women in the c i ty: Sal im Tamari , 'T he Las t Feudal Lord in Pales tine', J Q 16, November 2002. Sal im Tamari , 'T he Vagabond Cafe and J erus alem 's P rinc e of Idlenes s ', J Q 19,Oc tober 2003. Antebi : Marc us , J erus alem 1913 50-73. Baedeker on c i ty of no entertainment: Gi lbert, Rebirth 154-60. Baedeker (1912) xxi i , 19, 57. On A rab national is m and Young T urk revolution/Khal i l Sakakini quote: Norman Ros e, A Sens eles s Squal id W ar: Voic es from Pales tine 8. A rab renais s anc e,dis appointed national is m, Young T urks : Rogan 147-9. Shindler, His tory 23-8. Young T urks , s eizure of power by Committee of Union and P rogres s , T urkis h national is m, ris e of Enver: E fraim Kars h and Inari Kars h, Empires of the Sand: S truggle for Mas tery in the M iddle Eas t 1789-1923 (henc eforth Kars h) 95-117. See als o: P . S . Khoury, Urban Notables and A rab National is m: The Pol i tic s of Damas c us 1860-1920 . On CUP: Mazower, Salonic a 272-290. Footbal l /s c hool : Pappe 124-6; early national is m 127-9; anti -Zionis m 39-46.

5 Rus s ian pi lgrimage/Ras putin: G. E . Ras putin, Moi my s l i i raz my s hleni ia. K ratk oe opis anie putes hes tv iy a po s v y aty m mes tam i v y z v anny e im raz my s hleniy a po rel igioz ny m v opros am 60-74. Garb, journey, deathc aps Graham 3-10; kvas s 35; ac c ommodation 44-6; W es terners 55; Sepulc hre 62-4; c orruption inJ erus alem, 69-76; Eas ter 101-10; booze in Compound 118; Holy Fire 126-8; s treet embrac es 130-2. Rus s ian s hoot-out in Sepulc hre; Martin Gi lbert, J erus alem in the Tw entieth Century (henc eforth Gi lbert, J TC) 20. Eduard Radzins ky, Ras putin 180-3. Hummel, Patterns of the Sac red 39-61.

6 T his ac c ount is bas ed on the Parker fam i ly arc hive: s pec ial thanks to the pres ent Earl of Morley and his brother the Hon. Nigel Parker for their help and papers . The Times (London) 4 May 1911. New York Times 5 and 7 May 1911. Major Foley, Dai ly Ex pres s 3 and 10 Oc tober 1926. Phi l ip Coppens , 'Found: OneArk of the Covenant?', Nex us Magaz ine 13/6, Oc tober-November 2006. S i lberman 180-8. On riots and high j inks : Ves ter 224-30. Pappe 142.

7 1910-14. Rogan 147-9. 1908 to ris e of Enver: Kars h 95-117. Majower: 280-90 Exc i tement 1908: Marc us , J erus alem 1913 66-8, 186. Young T urks and T hree Pas has : Finkel 526-32. Abdul-Hamid's c loc k: K ramer 75. V is i t of P r E i tel Fri tz 1910, fight at Sepulc hre; Gi lbert, J TC 20-4; Zionis t s ettlement and pol i tic s25-40. J erus alem as Babel by W eizmann 3-4. W as s ers tein 70-81. Augus ta V ic toria: S torrs 296. Enver c oup: Kars h 94-101. Pappe 139-150.

8 J emal Pas ha/Firs t W orld W ar. A rrival of Pas ha, and 'beauti ful ' parade of Mec c a Sheikh Sayeed A lawi W afakieh with green flag, W as i f 1:167. K res s von K res s ens tein on Sheikh's parade and Suez expedi tion, Sean Mc Meekin, Berl in-Baghdad Ex pres s , 166-179. J emal, al -Salahiyya, Enver vis i t: W as i f 1.232. OJ57-62. Pappe 150-9. Mos t quotes from J emal are ei ther from the diaries of his private s ec retary Fal ih Ri fki quoted in Geoffrey Lewis , 'An Ottoman Offic er in Pales tine 1914-18', in Kus hner, Pales tine in the Late Ottoman Period 403-14, or from Djemal Pas ha, Memoirs of a Turk is h S tates man 1913-19 . Franz vonPapen, Memoirs 70. Terror, urban planning in Damas c us : Burns , Damas c us 263-5. Rudol f Hoes s , Commandant of Aus c hw itz 38-41. Rudol f Hes s : Ves ter 209 and 263. On high pol i tic s /m i l i tary: Kars h 105-17; Suez attac ks 141; repres s ion of Zionis ts , NILI s py-ring 160-70. K ramer 143-7. Finkel 533-40. On wardec laration and al-Aqs a al legianc e, Count Bal lobar and J emal: Segev, Pales tine 15-20. Hanging Mufti of Gaza: S torrs 371; J ews welc ome K res s ens tein 288; on Bal lobar 303. A rrival of A rmenians : Hintl ian, His tory of the A rmenians in the Holy Land 65-6. Gi lbert, J TC 41-5. J emal c harac ter: Ves ter 259-67;des truc tion of J erus alem plan 81; Rudol f Hes s in J erus alem 208-9 and 263. Fromkin: J emal terror 209-11. Mi l i tary c ampaign: Roger Ford, Eden to A rmageddon: W orld W ar I in the M iddle Eas t 311-61. J emal takes Fais al to hangings ; J emal, Enver mos t ruthles s : T. E . Lawrenc e, Sev en P i l lars of W is dom(henc eforth Lawrenc e) 46, 51. T he s tart of the war: George Hintl ian, 'T he Firs t W orld W ar in Pales tine and Ms gr. Franz Fel l inger', in Marion W rba, Aus trian P res enc e in the Holy Land in the 19th and Early 20th Century 179-93. W as s ers tein 70-81. J emal repres s ions : Kars h 161-70.

9 Death and s ex under J emal. T his s ec tion is bas ed on the diaris ts W as i f, Ihs an T urjman, Khal i l Sakakini . Pol i tic al thought, J erus alem l i fe, national is m, J emal and T urkis h debauc hery, pros ti tutes in s c hools , at T urkis h parties , on s treet, T ennenbaum: Sal im T amari , 'T he Short Li fe of P rivate Ihs an: J erus alem1915', J Q 30, Spring 2007. Ves ter, 264-7, 270-1. W as i f 1.160, 167, 168-9, 190, 204, 211, 217, 219, 231. Tamari , 'J erus alem 's Ottoman Moderni ty', J Q 9, Summer 2000. Adel Manna, 'Between J erus alem and Damas c us : T he End of Ottoman Rule as Seen by a Pales tinian Modernis t', J Q 22-23, Autumn/W inter2005. J emal repres s ions : Kars h 161-70. On Syrian national is m and terror: s ee Khoury, Urban Notables and A rab National is m. Pappe 150-9.Offer of W ai l ing W al l to J ews : Henry Morgenthau, United S tates Diplomac y on the Bos phorus : The Diaries of Ambas s ador Morgenthau 1913-1916 400: thanks to George Hintl ian for bringing this to my attention. J emal and J ews /A lbert Antebi exi led Oc tober 1916; as ks J emal 'W hat have you done to my

J erus alem?': Marc us , J erus alem 1913 138-44; 156-9. J ews , deportations , ti red of hangings , Aarons ohn/ NILI: Kars h 166-70. J emal 's peac e offer: Raymond Kevorkian, Le Genoc ide des A rmeniens c h. 7. P ros ti tution: Ves ter 264. Leah Tennenbaum and V i l la Leah: Segev, Pales tine 7. On J emal, LeahTennenbaum, feas ts , and bons mots on T hree Pas has s ee Conde de Bal lobar, Diario de J erus alen - 26 May 1915 and 9 J uly 1916. On analys is of Bal lobar, s ee R. Mazza, 'Antonio de la Cierva y Lewita: Spanis h Cons ul in J erus alem 1914-1920', and 'Dining Out in T imes of W ar', J Q 40, W inter 2009, and 41,Spring 2010. On 'bon garc on' J emal by Bal lobar: S torrs 303-4. See als o R. Mazza, J erus alem from the Ottomans to the B ri tis h .10 Portrai t of Lawrenc e is bas ed on J eremy W ils on, Law renc e of A rabia: The Authoriz ed B iography of T. E . Law renc e , unti l otherwis e s tated. Lawrenc e, ac tion and reflec tion: W i ls on, Law renc e 19; on Sheri f Hus s ein 656 and unfi t to govern 432; Lawrenc e views pro-B ri t pro-A rab 445; 'tragi-c omic ' demands of

Sheri f 196; Hogarth on Lawrenc e as moving s piri t of Mc Mahon and Revol t 213; early plan for J erus alem book of Sev en P i l lars 74; J erus alem and Beirut, s hop-s oi led hotel s ervants 184-5; on the Mc Mahon letters and negotiations , and plan to inc lude J erus alem in Egypt 212-18; Gertrude Bel l on Lawrenc eintel l igenc e 232; Lawrenc e on c harac ters of Abdul lah and Fais al 305-9 and 385-7; his c onc ept of gueri l la warfare and ins urgenc y 314; ki l l ing, Buffalo B i l l 446; on s exual c omedy 44; 27 A rtic les on how to lead an A rab ins urgenc y 960-5; c lothes 333-5; Sykes 230-3; c an't s tand l ies 410-12; Sykes -P ic ot,Lawrenc e informs Fais al 361-5; Aqaba plan 370-81; exec utes murderer 383; Americ an des c ription of Lawrenc e at Vers ai l les 604-5. Lawrenc e lac k of s c ruples , 'genius for bac king into the l imel ight': Margaret Mac mil lan, Peac emak ers : The Paris Peac e Conferenc e of 1919 and i ts A ttempt to End W ar 399-401.George Antonius , The A rab Aw ak ening: The S tory of the A rab National Mov ement 8-12, 245-50. Rogan 150-7. Kars h on Lawrenc e and A rab Revol t: man with the gold 191. J anet W al lac h, Des ert Queen: The Ex traordinary Li fe of Gertrude Bel l : imp 299. Has hemite/Sheri fian dynas ty: Avi Shlaim , Lion of J ordan:The Li fe of K ing Hus s ein in W ar and Peac e 1-10. Sc hneer 24-6. Lawrenc e: S torrs 467 and 202. S i lberman 190-2. Sheri fian des c ent and fam i ly: Lawrenc e 48; Abdul lah too c lever 64-7, 219-20; Fais al A rab c lothes 129; Lawrenc e c harac ter, 'brain as quic k and s i lent as a wi ld c at' 580-1; egotis tic al c urios i ty 583;Fais al pi ty 582. A rab Revol t: Kars h 199-221; Sykes -P ic ot 222-43. Karl E . Meyer and S . B . B rys ac , K ingmak ers : The Inv ention of the Modern M iddle Eas t on A rab Revol t, Sykes -P ic ot 107-13. Kars h: 171-221; Sykes -P ic ot 222-46. Fromkin 218-28; K i tc hener and views of W ingate and S torrs 88-105 and 142; Sykes146-9; Mc Mahon 173-87; Sykes -P ic ot 188-99. T he bes t detai led ac c ount of Mc Mahon remains E l ie Kedourie, In the Anglo-A rab Laby rinth: The Mc Mahon-Hus ay n Corres pondenc e and i ts Interpretations . Sc hneer gives an exc el lent ac c ount 32-48 and 64-74.

11 A rab Revol t/B ri tis h advanc e/Falkenhayn: Papen, 7-84. J emal s hows Falkenhayn Dome: OJ 276. Antonius , Arab Aw ak ening 8-12, 245-50. Rogan 150-7. Shlaim , Lion of J ordan 1-10. Lawrenc e: S torrs 467 and 202; S i lberman 190-2. On Sheri fians : Lawrenc e 48, 64-7, 219-20, 129, 582; on hims el f 580-3. Takingof Aqaba and report to A l lenby: W i ls on, Law renc e 400-20; rape at Deraa 462-4. A rab Revol t: Kars h 171-221; Sykes -P ic ot 22-43. Meyer and B rys ac , K ingmak ers 107-13. Fromkin 88-105, 142; Sykes 146-9, 218-28; Mc Mahon 173-87; Sykes -P ic ot 188-99; J emal terror 209-11; J emal bids for power hims el f 214-15.J emal peac e offer. S . Mc Meekin, Berl in-Baghdad Ex pres s 294-5. Sc heer 87-103; on NILI ring 171-2. Enver vis i t: W as i f 1.232-3. Enver/wartime J erus alem: Ves ter 246-71. On s py-rings , Sakakini , Levine, J emal terror, brothels , NILI: Manna, 'Between J erus alem and Damas c us ', J Q 22-23, Autumn/W inter 2005(quoting T urkis h s ec uri ty pol ic eman Aziz Bey). Sakakini and Levine: Segev, Pales tine 13-15. Aarons ohn: Fromkin 309. Marc us , J erus alem 1913 149-51.

12 Bal four, Lloyd George, W eizmann: Doc uments , motives and proc es s of Dec laration drafting: Doreen Ingrams (ed.), Pales tine Papers , 1917-1922: Seeds of Confl ic t 7-18, quoting from W il l iam Orms by-Gore memo on origins Dec laration 7-8; on hopes to win Rus s ian/US s upport; Bal four memo to Cabinet 9;Cabinet m inutes 31 Oc tober quoting Bal four 16. J ohn Grigg, Lloy d George: W ar Leader 339-57, es pec ial ly 347-9 on W eizmann; Lloyd George to W eizmann quote; Samuel c old and dry; As qui th to Venetia S tanley on Lloyd George keeping J erus alem from atheis tic Franc e; on Zionis m s erving B ri tis h empire349. R. J . Q. Adams , Balfour: The Las t Grandee 330-5. Mac Mil lan, Peac emak ers : on Lloyd George c harac ter 43-51; on Bal four's frivol i ty, s i lk handkerc hief, J ewis h genius , Zionis m only worthy thing he did 424-6. K ramer 148-54 and 167. Segev, Pales tine 33-50. Bal four on propaganda in Rus s ia and Americ a:Rogan 153-6. W eizmann: Hebrew univers i ty 100; fi rs t meeting with Bal four 143-5; 1906 J erus alem, univers i ty land bought, why J erus alem, 169-76 and 181; C. P. Sc ott, Lloyd George's ac c ount not true, may get J erus alem 190-8; 'I ... a Y id' 207; opponents of Zionis m, Claude Montefiore, Leopold de Roths c hi ld,Edwin Montagu 200-30 and 252; rel igious old s tates men 226; maze of pers onal relations hips 228; Germany negotiates wi th Zionis ts 234-5; drafting of Dec laration 252-62; W eizmann m is taken for Lenin 358. W eizmann as wel l -nouris hed Lenin: Mac Mil lan, Peac emak ers 423. Sykes on J ews /blac k people,Sc hneer 44-6; Lloyd George on Samuel 's rac e, 126; on B ri tis h J ews , Zionis ts vs As s im i lationis ts , Roths c hi lds , Montefiores 124-61, Sykes on Power of J ews 166-8; power to Zion, A rmenians , A rabs (Sykes ), on pos s ible Ottoman peac e 349-59, Curzon quote 350.German Zionis ts , negotiations with German Ottomans (J emal), T alaat's prom is e to German ambas s ador, and B ri tis h alarm at Zionis m as German idea (S ir Ronald Graham); Mc Meekin, Berl in-Baghdad Ex pres s 340-51.Herbert Samuel, Memoirs 140. Meyer and B rys ac , K ingmak ers 112-26. Max Egremont, Balfour 293-6. Kars h 247-58. Fromkin 276-301, inc luding Leo Amory on B ible, B randeis and W ils on. Avi Shlaim , Is rael and Pales tine 3-24. Lloyd George grabbing Pales tine: Ros e, Sens eles s Squal id W ar 16-17. Kars h 247-

58. Gi lbert, Churc hi l l and the J ew s : Churc hi l l , W eizmann and ac etone 23-30; bibl ic al prophet 95. George W eidenfeld, Remembering My Good Friends 201-20, on W eizmann, c harac ter and s tyle. Lord Roths c hi ld s upport for Zionis m: Fergus on 977-81. Early Zionis t views : Abu Zaida, '"A Mis erable P rovinc ialT own",' J Q 32, Autumn 2007.13 Fal l of c i ty/s urrender. A l lenby's orders from Lloyd George, J erus alem by Chris tmas : Grigg, Lloy d George: W ar Leader 339-43. Germans unmoved by withdrawal, S torrs 303-5; mayor wel l bred 292. A l ter Levine and Sakakini : Marc us , J erus alem 1913 149-51. Levine and Sakakini , Sakakini quote on arti l lery:

Segev, Pales tine 30. Mos he Goodman, 'Immortal izing a His toric Moment: T he Surrender of J erus alem ', in Cathedra 3.280-2. Ves ter 273-80. Hus s einis meeting; marriageable vi rgins ; blous e and beds heets : Pappe 162-6. Diary of B is hop Mes rob Nes hanian quoted in Hintl ian, 'Fi rs t W orld W ar in Pales tine andMs gr. Franz Fel l inger', in W rba, Aus trian P res enc e 179-93. Rumours , debate wi th Sakakini , Germans vs T urks on s urrender: Tamari , 'Las t Feudal Lord in Pales tine', J Q 16, November 2002. Manna, 'Between J erus alem and Damas c us ', J Q 22-23, Autumn/W inter 2005. Diary: K . Sakakini 20 J anuary 1920. A rabSyrian national is m: Nas s er Eddin Nas has hibi , J erus alem's Other Voic e: Ragheb Nas has hibi and Moderation in Pales tinian Pol i tic s 1920-1948 (henc eforth Nas has hibi) 134-5, 130-1; Ben-Gurion and A lam i on s mal l s ofa 69. Fais al and W eizmann: K ramer 158-62. Carriage s tolen from Americ an Colony:Frederic k Ves ter to S torrs 14 Marc h 1919, Americ an Colony Hotel arc hive. Anti -Semitic frenzy of T urks in J erus alem: Bal lobar, Diario 30 November 1917.

14 A l lenby: Grigg, Lloy d George: W ar Leader 342-5. W as i f 2.280. S torrs 305-7. Lawrenc e 330; on J erus alem 341, 553; Lawrenc e rape at Deraa, entry into c i ty, thoughts of rape as A l lenby s peaks ; effec ts of rape trauma later 668. Abs urdly boyis h: W i ls on, Law renc e 459-66: Gi lbert, J TC 45-61. Segev, Pales tine23-4 and 50-5. A l lenby's book: Meyer and B rys ac , K ingmak ers 109. A l lenby and S torrs in J erus alem: Fromkin 308-29. W ar Offic e advic e: E lon, J erus alem 167. Ves ter 278-80. A l lenby and Crus ader c omments to Hus s eini and to Nus s eibehs : Nus s eibeh, J erus alemites 426-7. T hanks to my c ous in Kate Sebag-Montefiore for res earc hing W il l iam Sebag-Montefiore's role in Pales tine. T hanks to Peter Sebag-Montefiore and his daughter Louis e As pinal l for the private arc hive of Major Geoffrey Sebag-Montefiore: reports quoted of 24 Apri l 1918 (s ex with loc al women); VD prevalent 11 J une 1918; VD rampant 16 J une1918; guarding holy plac es 23 J une 1918; Des ert Mounted Corps in brothels 29 J une 1918; brothels troubles ome and VD rampant 14 J uly 1918; brothels moved, thi rty-s even arres ted 18 Augus t 1918; women as tray 1 September 1918; brothels VD, nothing els e to report 8 September 1918; Aus tral ians inbrothels 13 Oc tober 1918 and 18 November 1918. Pappe 165-75: Maghrebis interes ted in s ale of W al l 234.

15 S torrs , mos t bri l l iant: Lawrenc e 56-7. Lawrenc e vis i ts and meets Lowel l T homas : W i ls on, Law renc e 489; Fais al and Lawrenc e's atti tude to Zionis m, hope for Zionis t J ewis h advis ers and financ iers for Fais al Syria, Lawrenc e on Zionis m and letter to Sykes , Fais al meetings with W eizmann near Aqaba and inLondon 442-4, 513-14, 514 and 576-7; on 12 Dec ember 1918 meeting in London, Fais al and W eizmann, Fais al s ays there is room in Pales tine for 4-5 m i l l ion J ews 593. Shindler, Mil i tary Zionis m 61-7. Ben-Gurion artic le 'Towards the Future' on s haring Pales tine, on J abotins ky and artic le 'Iron W al l ' 1923:Shindler, His tory 26-30; J abotins ky, Fas c is ts , Duc e as buffalo 131. W eizmann: J abotins ky 86; on A l lenby, S torrs , Protoc ols of E lders of Zion 265-81, 273; on Fais al meetings and Lawrenc e 293-6; founding of Hebrew Univers i ty 296; Nabi Mus a riots 317-21. Protoc ols of E lders of Zion : Aaronovi tc h, VoodooHis tories 22-48. Early Zionis t atti tude: Abu Zaida, '"A Mis erable P rovinc ial T own"', J Q 32, Autumn 2007. Pappe 166-87: Grand Muftis hip; Hus s eini es tates ' involvement wi th K ing Fais al ; Mus a Kazem 's c areer 111-12; Amin in Damas c us 170-1; Nabi Mus a 189-203.

16 Herbert Samuel, arrival : S torrs 352-8 and 412-14. S ti ffis h c harac ter: Segev, Pales tine 155. Oys ter: Sc hneer 122-6. Cold, dry: Lloyd George quoted in Grigg, Lloy d George: W ar Leader 348. W ooden: Edward Kei th-Roac h, Pas ha of J erus alem 73. Chaim Bermant, The Cous inhood: The Anglo-J ew is h Gentry 329-54. Pol i tic s : K ramer 213-24. Segev, Pales tine 91-9. Gi lbert, J TC 88. Samuel, Memoirs 154-75. Luke and Kei th-Roac h, Handbook of Pales tine 86-101. J abotins ky, revis ionis m: Shindler, Mil i tary Zionis m 50, 61-5, 85-92; Samuel and watering down of Bal fouris m 1-32. Pol i tic al phi los ophy of evolution, s oc ial is tc ooperation and move towards ruthles s pragmatis m, s trongman of Zionis m, artic les in 1914 and 1920: Shindler, His tory 21-35. Abu Zaida, '"A Mis erable P rovinc ial T own"', J Q 32, Autumn 2007.

17 Churc hi l l : Martin Gi lbert, Churc hi l l : A Li fe 428-38; als o Gi lbert, J TC 92. Gi lbert, Churc hi l l and the J ew s , W SC boyhood es s ay 1; as Manc hes ter MP and early meetings with W eizmann 7-15; Zionis m and Firs t W orld W ar 24-33; on artic le on International J ew 37-44, quoting Sunderland s peec h and Il lus tratedSunday Herald 8 February 1920; c olonial s ec retary trip to Cairo and J erus alem 45-64; Rutenberg c onc es s ion 78-85; c reated T rans jordania 'one Sunday afternoon' 109. Fais al and Abdul lah kingdoms : Shlaim , His tory 11-20. Lawrenc e as advis er, Hus s ein c ras s : W i ls on, Law renc e 540; Sheri fian s olution, Cairoc onferenc e and J erus alem meetings with Abdul lah, Lawrenc e on Churc hi l l 643-63 and 674. Kars h 309-25, es pec ial ly 314-16, 318. Rogan 178-85. Fromkin 424-6, 435-48, 504-29. Khoury, Urban Notables and A rab-National is m 80-90. Cairo: W al lac h, Des ert Queen 293-301. Segev, Pales tine 143-5. K ramer 161-3. Saudis vs Sheri fians : Rogan 179-84. On Lawrenc e and Las t Crus ade: Fromkin 498-9. Fais al , Lawrenc e and Zionis m: W eizmann 293-6. T homas and Lawrenc e: Oren, Pow er 399-402.

18 Hus s eini vs Nas has hibi . Portrai ts wri tten wi th referenc e to Mahdi Abdul Hadi (ed.), Pales tinian Pers onal i ties : A B iographic al Dic tionary . Mufti , c harac ter, c areer: Pappe 169-73; s elec tion of mayor and mufti 201, 212-45. Gi lbert Ac hc ar, The A rabs and the Holoc aus t: The A rab-Is rael i W ar Narrativ es ,(henc eforth Ac hc ar) on Mufti pol ic ies and c harac ter 123-0; on megalomania 127, on variety of A rab opinions , l iberals , Marxis t national is ts , Is lam ic is ts 41-123; quote 52. On pol i tic al parties , on blond mufti , jokes without laughter: author interview with Nas s er Eddin Nas has hibi . Nas has hibi 14-19; elec tion ofmufti 38 and 126-8; mufti leader 79; di fferenc es between mufti and Nas has hibi 75; Nas has hibi brought down by S ir A rthur W auc hope 32. W as s ers tein 324-7. K ramer 200-7 and 217-22. On Notables and rivalries : Benny Morris , 1948: A His tory of the Firs t A rab-Is rael i W ar 13-14. Mufti , poac her, B ri tis hintim idated: W eizmann 342. Total i tarianis m enl ightened: Kei th-Roac h quoted in Segev, Pales tine 4-9. Mufti , c aus e jus t, method unwis e and immoral : J ohn Glubb Pas ha A Soldier w i th A rabs 41. Sole qual i fic ations , pretens ion of fam i ly: Edward Kei th-Roac h, Pas ha of J erus alem 94. Sari Nus s eibeh, Onc eUpon a Country : dis as trous 36. P rojec tion of hol ines s s and importanc e of Haram for nation: K ramer 237 and redemption of the land 251-3; fam i ly pol i tic al parties 239-40. Tamari , 'J erus alem 's Ottoman Moderni ty', J Q 9, Summer 2000. Tamari , 'Vagabond Cafe and J erus alem 's P rinc e of Idlenes s ', J Q 19,Oc tober 2003. On Hai le Selas s ie and kings : J ohn T leel , 'I am J erus alem: Li fe in the Old Ci ty from the Mandate Period to the P res ent', J Q 4, Spring 1999. Amos Oz, A Tale of Lov e and Dark nes s (henc eforth Oz) 23, 38-42, 62, 118-19, 307, 324, 325, 329. Parti tion plans : W as s ers tein 108-12. Shlaim , Is rael andPales tine 25-36. 'Harem Beauties Drive Fords thro J erus alem ', Bos ton Sunday Herald 9 J uly 1922. B ri tis h dis l ike J ews : J ohn Chanc el lor quoted in Ros e, Sens eles s Squal id W ar 31; eas y to s ee why A rabs preferred to J ews , Ric hard Cros s man 32. High B ri tis h l i fe and George Antonius ' s winging party: Segev,Pales tine 342-5; Ben-Gurion, evolving views and propos als to Mus a A lam i and George Antonius 275-7. S tal in/B irobidzhan: S imon Sebag Montefiore, Stal in: Court of the Red Ts ar and Young S tal in; A rkady Vaks berg, Stal in agains t the J ew s 5.

19 Buraq Upris ing and after: W as i f 2.484. Pappe 233-45. Ac hc ar 128-133. Nus s eibeh, J erus alemites 39-43. Ilan Pappe, 'Haj Amin and the Buraq Revol t', J Q 18, J une 2003. Shindler, Mil i tary Zionis m 94-104. Kei th-Roac h, Pas ha 119-22. Nus s eibeh 31. Rogan 198-201. K ramer 225-37. Segev, Pales tine 296-333.Gi lbert, J TC 119-28. A . J . Sherman, Mandate Day s : B ri tis h Liv es in Pales tine 73-93. Mufti vis i ts Nazi c ons ul : J effrey Herf, Naz i P ropaganda for the A rab W orld 16-17 and 29. Koes tler quotes : Mic hael Sc ammel l , Koes tler: The Indis pens able Intel lec tual 55-65. Ben-Gurion, evolution, s oc ial is m, pragmatis m:Shindler, His tory 21-35.W hite Paper, B lac k Letter, Pas s field: W eizmann 409-16; depos ed as pres ident 417-22. Fal l of W eizmann, ris e of Ben-Gurion, J abotins ky as Il Duc e: Bar-Zohar, Ben-Gurion 59-67.

20 B ri tis h Mandate l i fe. A rc hi tec ture: K royanker 143-65. Bos ton Sunday Herald 9 J uly 1922. B ri tis h anti -Semitis m: J ohn Chanc el lor quoted in Ros e, Sens eles s Squal id W ar 31; Ric hard Cros s man 32. High B ri tis h l i fe, Antonius ' party: Segev, Pales tine 342-50; author interview with Nas s er Eddin Nas has hibi . KaiB ird, Cros s ing Mandelbaum Gate (henc eforth B ird), inc luding 's he was naughty' quote, open marriage 16-19 and 22-42. Colonel P. H. Mas s y, Eas tern Mediterranean Lands : Tw enty Years of Li fe, Sport and Trav el 69-70. Hunting etc .: Kei th-Roac h, Pas ha 89; modern c i ty, beauty parlour 95; P lumer andChanc el lor good-looking ac tor 99/100. B rawl between Latins and Greeks with umbrel la: Harry Luke, Cities and Men: An Autobiography 207; s taff 213; l i fe 241-5; toas tmas ter 218. K ing David Hotel : Gi lbert, J TC 101-19 and 130. P rivate aeroplane: J ohn B ierman and Col in Smith, Fire in the Night: W ingate ofBurma, E thiopia and Zion 79. P lumer and Chanc el lor: Segev, Pales tine 289. Cafe l i fe: Tamari , 'Vagabond Cafe and J erus alem 's P rinc e of Idlenes s ', J Q 19 Oc tober 2003. Neighbourhoods : Oz, Tale 23, 38-42. T he May fam i ly: Miriam Gros s , 'J erus alem Chi ldhood', Standpoint September 2010. Burial of GrandDuc hes s E l la: W arwic k, E lla 302-12; Luke, Cities and Men 214.T he Famil ies and the B ri tis h: S torrs 423-5. Nus s eibeh, Country 28-36, 62. K ramer 257-66. Congreve: Segev, Pales tine 9; W auc hope and new Government Hous e, duc k-s hooting 342-8. Nus s eibeh, J erus alemites : exhi larating c i ty 52; Katy Antonius 133; hous es , books hops , fam i l ies , whi te s ui ts 409-25; no

c hoic e but armed rebel l ion 44-7. Immigration figures : Segev, Pales tine 37. Churc hi l l and Moyne vis i t K ing David Hotel : Gi lbert, Churc hi l l and the J ew s 102; W oodhead Commis s ion and inc reas e in population of A rabs and J ews 152; partners hip and c harac ters of Ben-Gurion and W eizmann 76-9; negotiationswith Mus a A lam i 82-7; on love l i fe 118-19. On Ben-Gurion books and reading: author c onvers ation with Shimon Peres . On Ben-Gurion Napoleon joke: c onvers ation with Itzik Yaac ovy. W eizmann c harac ter and atti tude to Ben-Gurion: W eidenfeld, Remembering my Good Friends 201-20. Ac hc ar, variety of A rabopinons , national is ts , l iberals , Marxis ts , Is lam ic is ts 41-123. Mufti and Zionis t propos al for s hared s tates and two-tier legis latives : Pappe 226-8.21 A rab Rebel l ion: K ramer 259-65. Rogan 204-7. Morris , 1948 18-20. Ac hc ar 133-40; on breadth of A rab opinions 41-133. Tarbous h and gangs : Nas has hibi 97-103 and 46-57. W as i f 2.539-49. Ruthles s methods : Segev, Pales tine 350-2, 361-74, 382-8, 402, 414-43. Nus s eibeh, J erus alemites 42-9: fi rs t s hots .

Revol t, W ingate, l ike Lawrenc e: W eizmann 489-91 and 588. Des truc tion of c ompromis e and J udah Magnes : Oren, Pow er 436-8. W al id Khal idi , From Hav en to Conques t, 20-2, 33-5 Abd al-Kadir Hus s eini , portrai t wri tten wi th referenc e to Hadi , Pales tinian Pers onal i ties . Pappe quoted 278; on mufti violenc e246-82; Abd al-Kadir 225; 260-2; 269; 292-6.

22 W ingate and Dayan, A rab Rebel l ion: W as i f 2.539-49. Ruthles s methods : Segev, Pales tine 400-2, 414-43. B ierman and Smith, Fire in the Night 29-30, 55-130. Mos he Dayan, Story of my Li fe (henc eforth Dayan) 41-7; Montgomery exec utions : Ros e, Sens eles s Squal id W ar 45. W al id Khal idi , From Hav en toConques t, 20-2, 33-5. Dayan: A riel Sharon, W arrior 76, 127, 222.Revol t, res traint: Segev, Pales tine 420-43; W ingate, negotiations 489-91 and 588. W as s ers tein 115-16. Ben-Gurion emergenc e as s trongman of Zionis m: Shindler, His tory 21-35; res traint 35-6; Sadeh and W ingate 36-8. S t J ames 's Palac e c onferenc e/W hite Paper/war: Bar-Zohar, Ben-Gurion 93-105.

Moderates underm ined: Oren, Pow er 436-8. J erus alem los t to A rabs 17 Oc tober 1938: Pappe 287; Abd al-Kadir Hus s eini 292-6.23 Mufti in Berl in, Sec ond W orld W ar: Herf, Naz i P ropaganda for the A rab W orld , wi th Hi tler 73-9, 185-9; wi th Himmler 199-203. V iews on Holoc aus t and J ews : Morris , 1948 21-2. Ac hc ar: mufti 's extrem is t views ; mufti 's views unrepres entative of A rab views 140-52. Pappe 305-17. Dec adenc e As mahan: Mans el ,

Lev ant 306-7; Phi l ip Mans el , As mahan, S iren of the Ni le (unpubl is hed ms ). W artime: Nus s eibeh, J erus alemites 49-51. Rogan 246-50. Dayan 48-74. K ramer 307-10. Pappe 305-17. Sec ond W orld W ar J ewis h fears ; W as i f 2.558-60; Abd el-Kadir Hus s eini 2.601-2. Mus a Budeiri , 'A Chronic le of a Defeat Foretold:T he Battle for J erus alem in the Memoirs of Anwar Nus s eibeh', J Q 3, W inter/Spring 2001. Begin paroc hial not poetic al : Ros e, Sens eles s Squal id W ar 63-5. Koes tler quotes on Begin/Ben-Gurion: Sc ammel l , Koes tler 331. Begin's m i l i tary Zionis t c las h with J abotins ky: Shindler, Mil i tary Zionis m 205-12, 219-23,Begin's c harac ter and ideology inc luding quote on hunter from ex-Is rael i ambas s ador to B ri tian and paraphras ed quote on maximal is t ideology, emotional J udais m: Shindler, His tory 147-150. Pappe 323-7. Menac hem Begin, The Rev ol t (henc eforth Begin) 25; s hofar at W al l 88, 91; Des c artes 46-7; attac ks inJ erus alem 49, 62; operations and United Command 191-7; K ing David 212-20. Chris topher Andrew, Defenc e of the Realm: The Authoriz ed His tory of M I5 352-66, inc luding K ing David bomb 353. Population 93,000: W as s ers tein 121; Mac Mic hael plan 116; Fi tzgerald/Gort plan 120-3; T ruman/Anglo-Americ anCommis s ion 122; population 100,000 128. Katy Antonius parties : author interview with N. Nas has hibi . S tal in and FDR at Yal ta: S . M. P lokhy, Yalta: The P ric e of Peac e 343. Vaks berg, Stal in Agains t the J ew s 139. FDR, S tal in and T ruman on Zionis m: Morris , 1948 24-5. Churc hi l l and S tal in to J erus alem:Gi lbert, W ins ton S . Churc hi l l 7.1046-7, 1050, 1064 - thanks to S ir Martin Gi lbert for bringing this to my attention. T ruman and founding of Is rael : quotes from David Mc Cul lough, Truman 415 and 595-620. T ruman, c harac ter: Oren, Pow er 475-7. Lord Moyne, Eas t P rus s ia offer: Bar-Zohar, Ben-Gurion 106. KatyAntonius , divorc e, death of George, relations hip wi th Barker: Segev, Pales tine 480, 499; als o Katy Antonius obi tuary, The Times 8 Dec ember 1984; author interview with N. Nas has hibi ; B ird 16-19 and 37-43.

24 1947/Farran: Rogan 251-62. K ramer 310-12. Pappe 328-41. Gi lbert, J TC 186-271. Gi lbert, Churc hi l l and the J ew s , s peec h 's ens eles s s qual id war' 261-7. T he Farran s tory is bas ed on David Ces arani , Major Farran's Hat: Murder, Sc andal and B ri tain's W ar agains t J ew is h Terroris m 1945-8 : Montgomery'sc rac kdown and ris ing terroris m 10-58; Farran c harac ter 63-81; pol ic ing s tyle and kidnapping 90-8; trial 173-4. The Times 6 J une 2006 obi tuary. Ben-Gurion pric e of s tatehood: W as s ers tein 125. Montgomery at Katy Antonius : author interview with N. Nas has hibi . T ruman 'B ibl ic al s c holar': Clark Cl i fford quoted inRos e, Sens eles s Squal id W ar 73. US-Soviet atti tude to Pales tine: Morris , 1948 24-5. Mc Cul lough, Truman 415, 595-620. T ruman, put an underdog on top: Gi lbert, Churc hi l l and the J ew s 266. Anti -J ewis h c omments by B ri tis h offic ials : E fraim Kars h, Pales tine Betray ed quoting Cunningham 75. Katy Antoniusand Barker: Segev, Pales tine 480, 499; als o Katy Antonius obi tuary, The Times 8 Dec ember 1984; author interview with N. Nas has hibi : B ird 16-18 and 37-43. Churc hi l l on anti -Semitis m among B ri tis h offic ials : Gi lbert C hurc hi l l , and the J ew s 190; Irgun vi les t gangs ters 270. B ri tis h s ec uri ty forc es : Andrew,Defenc e of the Realm 352-66; Kei th J efferey, MI6 689-97.

25 1947-May 1948, Deir Yas s in and Abd al-Kadir Hus s eini : Rogan 251-62. W as s ers tein 133-424; Nigel Cl ive quote on c lapping c hi ldren, 150. Abd al-Kadir Hus s eini , c harac ter: Hadi , Pales tinian Pers onal i ties .Ben-Gurion: Oz, Tale 424. Dayan 48-74. Y i tzhak Rabin, The Rabin Memoirs (henc eforth Rabin): c hi ldhood 1-10; battle for J erus alem 16-27. K ramer 310-12. Gi lbert, J TC 186-271. Nus s eibeh, Country 38-56, inc luding appeal to Abdul lah; heroic Abd al-Kadir Hus s eini 52-4; fighting after UN vote 43; father s hot 56.

Fighting at Montefiore between J ews , A rab and B ri tis h: during the Montefiore battle, 10 February 1948: Avraham-Mic hael K irs henbaum was ki l led by B ri tis h s niper at Montefiore Battle. Nus s eibeh, J erus alemites 64-5. End of Mandate: W as i f 2.603-5. Abd el-Kadir Hus s eini : W as i f 2.601-2. Budeiri , 'Chronic le of aDefeat Foretold', J Q 3, W inter/Spring 2001. Abdul lah: Shlaim , Lion of J ordan 20-49. On Gaza Pales tine government: Shlaim , Is rael and Pales tine 37-53. Oz, Tale 318-21; Ben-Gurion diary quoted at 333; UN vote 343. On mufti 's role: Ac hc ar 153-6.

T his ac c ount of the war is bas ed on Morris , 1948 , inc luding P lan D 121; als o on Shindler, His tory ; Pappe 336-41; Rogan; Nak hba pers onal ac c ount by W as if. W as i f 2.603-5. W ar, Abd al-Kadir Hus s eini and breakdown: Nus s eibeh, J erus alemites 59-77. Dec laration of independenc e and c hoic e of s tatenames : Shindler, His tory 38-42; Ben-Gurion's views 43-4 and 99-100; war and troop numbers 46. A rab Liberation A rmy, 5,000 troops maximum: Morris , 1948 : 90; J erus alem under Abd al-Kadir Hus s eini 91; c ivi l war 93-132, inc luding P lan D 122; Hus s eini poem and Kas tel , muti lation of bodies at Kas tel 121-5;Deir Yas s in 126-8; 13 Apri l attac k on Hadas s ah ambulanc es 128-9; battle for J erus alem 129-32. Bertha Spafford Ves ter and intervention in A rab ambus h of Hadas s ah c onvoy: B ird 11. Abd al-Kadir Hus s eini , Deir Yas s in and revenge and pos tc ards of c orps es , P lan D: Rogan 255-61. W ar 262-9 and theCatas trophe, Nak hba , origin of word Ac hc ar 268-9. Katy Antonius mans ion and letters found: Segev 480, 499. B ird 16 and 37-43. Battle of J erus alem: Bar-Zohar, Ben-Gurion 164-70. Abd al-Kadir Hus s eini and brother Khaled: Pappe 334-5.26 Unles s s tated otherwis e, this ac c ount of the war is bas ed on Morris , 1948 ; Rogan 262-9, Pappe 323-41; and Shindler, His tory 45-9. Regular war 1948-9, Abdul lah: Abdul lah bin Hus s ein, K ing of J ordan, Memoirs 142-203. Shlaim , Lion of J ordan 20-49. S torrs 135. Luke, Cities and Men 243 and 248. Abdul lah:

Lawrenc e 67-9, 219-21. On Abdul lah c harac ter: Hus s ein bin Talal , K ing Hus s ein of J ordan, Uneas y Lies the Head 1-18. Rabin 16-27. J ohn Glubb, A Soldier w i th the A rabs , on Abdul lah 50-5, 271-5; the battle 105-31; on J erus alem 43-4, 213. Abdul lah, 'I want to be the rider': Kars h, Pales tine Betray ed 96.Burial of Hus s ein I in Burgoyne, Mamluk J erus alem 358. T he ac c ount of Abdul lah and negotiations is bas ed on Avi Shlaim , The Col lus ion ac ros s the J ordon , and Benny Morris , The Road to J erus alem: Glubb Pas ha, Pales tine and the J ew s . K ramer 315-19. Des truc tion in J ewis h Quarter: E lon, J erus alem 81.As s as s ination: author interview with wi tnes s N. Nas has hibi . Hus s ein, Uneas y Lies the Head 1-9. Glubb, Soldier w i th the A rabs 275-9; Shlaim , Lion of J ordan 398-417. Pappe on as s as s ination, and Mus a al-Hus s eini 313 and 343-5. Nus s eibeh, Country 62-75. Nas has hibi 20-1, 215-20. Budeiri , 'Chronic le of a

Defeat Foretold', J Q 3, W inter/Spring 2001. Spl i t J erus alem: Nus s eibeh, Country 59-64; J ordanian c i ty 64-94. Oz, Tale 369-70. Fal l of J erus alem: Begin 160. K ing of J erus alem: W as s ers tein 165; nobody takes J erus alem 169; Nabi Mus a 188; l ions and zoo 182. Nus s eibeh, J erus alemites 59-77. W eizmann,Swis s pres ident, W eidenfeld J erus alem c ampaign: W eidenfeld, Remembering My Good Friends 201-20. Author interviews with Lord W eidenfeld. Let J ews have J erus alem: Churc hi l l quoted by J ohn Shuc kburgh in Gi lbert, Churc hi l l and the J ew s 292. W eizmann on dis l ike of J erus alem as pres ident: W eizmann169. Battle of J erus alem: Bar-Zohar, Ben-Gurion 164-70. T ruman, 'I am Cyrus ': Oren, Pow er 501.27 K ing Hus s ein 1951-67. Suc c es s ion and early reign: Shlaim , Lion of J ordan 49; PLO 218-27; war 235-51. Nigel As hton, K ing Hus s ein of J ordan: A Pol i tic al Li fe (henc eforth As hton) 13-26; war 113-20. Hus s ein, Uneas y Lies the Head 110. Mufti 's las t vis i t Marc h 1967; Pappe 346; A rafat, Mufti 's heir 337.

Renovations of Dome etc .: Cres s wel l in OJ 415-21. Author interview with P rinc es s Firyal of J ordan. Goldhi l l , City of Longing 38. Nus s eibeh, Country 62-8; father's c areer 72-5; ris e of A rafat, Fatah 62-94. Budeiri , 'Chronic le of a Defeat Foretold', J Q 3, W inter/Spring 2001. Oz, Tale 70. Mandelbaum Gate - notgate not Mandelbaum, s nipers , divided c i ty/ population: W as s ers tein 40, 180-2, 191-2, 200. Li fe in divided J erus alem, Mandelbaum Gate, return of Katy Antonius , s mal l town, Bertha Spafford Ves ter: B ird 10-11; Katy Antonius , dragon and fl i rt, c afe 16-20; quotation by Kai B ird on 'jarring s eries of ad hoc fenc es '19; Mandelbaums 20-4; Rus s ian em igre vs Soviet Churc hes and CIA payments 32, inc luding Kai B ird quotation on Cold W ar in J erus alem (as ardently as Berl in al leyways ); Orient Hous e hotel 33.Nas s er dis c us s es J erus alem: author interview with N. Nas has hibi . Orthodox J ews : Yakov Lupo and Nitzan Chen, 'T he Ultra-Orthodox', in O. Ahimeir and Y. Bar-S imon-Tov (eds ), Forty Years in J erus alem 65-95. A ls o: Yakov Loupo and Nitzan Chen, 'T he J erus alem A rea Ultra-Orthodox Population', ms . E lon,

J erus alem 189-94. Ben-Gurion and E ic hmann: interview with Y i tzhak Yaac ovy. Haram quiet, few Mus l im vis i tors in 1950s : Oleg Grabar, Sac red Ex planade 388. Hus s ein, PLO, Uni ted K ingdom plan: Nus s eibeh, J erus alemites 133-53.28 S ix Day W ar: this is bas ed on Mic hael B . Oren, S ix Day s of W ar: J une 1967 and the Mak ing of the Modern M iddle Eas t; Tom Segev, 1967: Is rael , the W ar and the Year that Trans formed the M iddle Eas t ; Shlaim , Lion of J ordan ; J eremy Bowen, S ix Day s : How the 1967 W ar Shaped the M iddle Eas t; and

Rogan 333-43, inc luding Nas s er-Amer c onvers ation; and Nas s er hope to c laim vic tory wi thout war, pos t-war Pales tinian national is m/A rafat 343-53. Nas s er not Abdul lah: Nas has hibi 228. Shlaim , Lion of J ordan 235-51. As hton 113-20. Dayan 287-381. Gi lbert, J TC 272-97. Dayan pers onal i ty: Shindler, His tory101. On Dayan: author c onvers ation with Shimon Peres . Mic hael Bar-Zohar, Shimon Peres : A B iography 87-90. Bar-Zohar, Ben-Gurion on Dayan's s ex l i fe 118-19. Dayan c harac ter: A riel Sharon, W arrior 76, 127, 222.

29 W al l l iberated: Dayan 13-17. On Dayan: author c onvers ation with Shimon Peres . As hton 118-20, Shlaim , Lion of J ordon 248-51 and 258. Hus s ein weeps for c i ty: Noor, Queen of J ordan, Leap of Fai th , 75-7.EPILOGUE

1 1967-pres ent: population W as s ers tein 212, 328-38; peac e plans 345; whi te fl ight of s ec ular J ews , fal l ing proportion of J ews from 74 per c ent in 1967 to 68 per c ent in 2000. Forty peac e plans for J erus alem: Shlaim , Is rael and Pales tine 229, als o 25-36; on J erus alem 253-60. Population in 2000 inc luding140,000 Orthodox J ews : Loupo and Chen, 'Ul tra-Orthodox', Ahimeir and Bar-S imon-Tov, Forty Years in J erus alem 65-95. Population 2008: figures bas ed on J erus alem Ins ti tute for Is rael S tudies . A fter 1967 and Res olution 339 Rogan 242. 'J erus alem 's Settlements ', The Ec onomis t 3 J uly 2010 'J erus alemMayor Handing City to Settlers ' Haaretz ,22 February 2010 and 'J erus alem Mas ter P lan', Haaretz , 28 J une 2010. J erus alem Syndrome: Yair Bar-E l et al ., Bri tis h J ournal of Ps y c hiatry 176 (2000) 86-90.

2 T his c urs ory ac c ount of the pol i tic al developments s inc e 1967 is bas ed, unles s otherwis e s tated, on: K ramer; Rogan; Shindler, His tory . A rafat and Fatah: Rogan 343-53; Hus s ein rec ogni tion of PLO to W es t Bank 378; Firs t Inti fada, Hamas and Nus s eibeh and Fais al Hus s eini roles 429-37 and 465-7;Netanyahu s ettlements 476; Sec ond Inti fada 478-9. PLO years : Ac hc ar 211-31. Pappe: A rafat 337 and 351 (Hus s eini c onnec tion); Fais al al -Hus s eini 348-9. On ideology of s ettlement of J erus alem and W es t Bank: A riel Sharon, W arrior 354-72; 'how to s ec ure J erus alem as permanent c api tal of the J ewis hpeople ... to c reate an outer ring of development around A rab neighbourhoods ' 359; 'flow of pioneering national is m ' 364. On Menac hem Begin and redemptionis t/maximal is t J udais m: Shindler, His tory 147-50. On peac e talks : Shlomo Ben-Ami, Sc ars of W ar, W ounds of Peac e , on Sadat and Begin 146-71; theOs lo talks and A rafat on J erus alem 247-84. In my c onc lus ion, I have been greatly helped by the fol lowing outs tanding works on his tory, national is m and c i ties : Sylvia Auld and Robert Hi l lenbrand, Ottoman J erus alem: Liv ing City 1517-1917 ; Phi l ip Mans el , Lev ant: Splendour and Catas trophe on theMediterranean ; Mark Mazower, Salonic a: Ci ty of Ghos ts ; Adam LeBor, City of Oranges : J ew s and A rabs in J affa . Pales tinian portrai ts wri tten wi th referenc e to: Hadi , Pales tinian Pers onal i ties . Modern Rus s ian l inks to J erus alem: 'W here P i ty Meets Power', The Ec onomis t 19 Dec ember 2009. A rc haeology: s eeRaphael Greenberg, 'Extreme Expos ure: A rc haeology in J erus alem 1967-2007', Cons erv ation and Management of A rc haeologic al S i tes 2009 , vol . 11, 3-4, 262-81.Is lam ic , Chris tian and J ewis h fundamental is m: On Americ an m i l lennial s pec ulation about A rmageddon; Sarah Pal in, Pentec os tal is ts ' view on Sec ond Coming; Latter Rain prophec ies ; Americ a as new J erus alem: Sarah Curtis , 'Sarah Pal in's J erus alem and Pentec os tal fai th', Col loquy Tex t Theory Cri tique

17 (2009) 70-82. Numbers 19, modern apoc alyptic expec tations . Lawrenc e W right, 'Letter from J erus alem: Forc ing the End', New York er 20 J uly 1998. Marwan Mos que vs Temple T unnel , Temple Ins ti tute paral lel to Northern Is lam ic Movement, plan to bury A rafat on Haram: Benjam in Z. Kedar and Oleg Grabar,'Epi logue', in Sac red Es planade 379-88. Is lam ic is m, Hamas Charter, Protoc ols : Ac hc ar 233-40. Protoc ols of E lders of Zion : Aaronovi tc h, Voodoo His tories 22-48, inc luding Hamas Charter. On Pales tinian denial of J ewis h heri tage: Ben-Ami 247-84; 'PA s tudy c laims Kotel was never part of Temple Mount,J erus alem Pos t, 23 November 2010.

On c hal lenges of the divis ion of J erus alem in one or two s tates : Mic hael Dumper, 'T wo S tate P lus : J erus alem and the B inational Debate', J Q 39, Autumn 2009. Sari Nus s eibeh, 'Haram al-Shari f', in Sac red Es planade 367-73. Sepulc hre: Nus s eibeh, Country 72. Rel igions ignore eac h other: E than B ronner,'J ews and Mus l ims Share Holy Seas on in J erus alem ', New York Times 28 September 2008. Quotations from author's c onvers ations /with Shimon Peres , Amos Oz, Rabbi S . Rabinowitz, W ajeeh al-Nus s eibeh, Aded al-J udeh, Adeb al-Ans ari and Naj i Qazaz.

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INDEX

Aac hen, 379nAaron, 86nAbbas (unc le of the P rophet), 186-7Abbas , Mahmoud, 507-9, 518nAbbas id dynas ty, 188-90, 194-5, 403Abc arius Bey, 400nAbd al-Mal ik, Cal iph, 27n, 172n, 181-4, 188, 190Abdi-Hepa, K ing, 14-15Abdul-Aziz al-Saud, s ee SaudAbdul-Hamid II, Sul tan, 362, 364, 377, 384, 402, 424Abdul lah, K ing of J ordan, 402-3, 406, 432-3, 441, 448, 468, 470, 513as s as s ination, 484-5and Is rael i war, 474-83Abdul lah II, K ing of J ordan, 492, 513Abdul lah, Saud, K , s ee SaudAbdul lah Pas ha, 323Abdulmec id, Sul tan, 330, 348Aberdeen, George Hamil ton Gordon, Earl of, 334Abibaal , K ing of T yre, 25Abis hag, 25Aboukir Bay, Battle of, 312Abraham, 16, 27n, 39n, 45n, 86, 152n and Is lam, 170, 182, 185Abraham's V ineyard, 335Abs alom, 23-4Abs alom 's P i l lar, 24n, 195Abu al-Abbas , Cal iph, s ee al -Saffah Abu Bakr, 171-2Abu Dis , 507Abu Ghos h, 308-9, 346, 363Abu Mus l im , 187-8Abu Saad, 200nAbu Sulayman Dawud, 243Abu Ubayda, 172, 404Abys s inia, 453nAc hc ar, Gi lbert, 435, 455nAc ra fortres s , 62, 65-7Ac re, 310-11, 315, 322, 456Crus ader s iege, 255-8and Crus aders , 209, 213n, 216-17, 227, 233, 236, 239, 243, 249, 255-8, 263, 265n, 267, 269-70and Mamluk c onques t, 277-8, 279Napoleonic s iege, 316-17s ee als o P tolemaisAc tian Games , 83Ac tium, Battle of, 81, 88Adam, 17, 27n, 152n, 170, 182, 185Adams , J ohn, P res ident, 337, 374Adelaide, Queen of J erus alem, 217-18Adhemar of Le Puy, B is hop, 210-11Adiabene, Helena, Queen of, s ee HelenaAdoni jah, 25Adonizedek, K ing, 18Aegean Sea, 15, 18Ael ia Capi tol ina, 134-5, 137-8, 140, 145-7A fdal , Sul tan, 247-8, 264, 437, 502A fdal iyya Madras s a, 264A fghanis tan, 54, 161, 187, 406Agnes , Queen Mother, 237, 243-4Agrippina, Empres s , 116, 120Ahab, K ing, 31-2Ahaz, K ing, 33-4al-Ahd, 403Ahmadinejad, Mahmoud, 48n Ahmed Duzhdar Aga, 351Ahmet J azzar Pas ha, the Butc her, s ee J azzar, Pas ha, AhmetA ibeg, Sul tan, 272nA is ha, 171Akeldama, 109, 227, 389Akhenaten, pharaoh, 14, 15nAkhmon, A rik, 494Akiba, Rabbi , 135-6A lam i fam i ly, 360, 446Mus a al-A lam i, 447Sheikh al-A lam i, 255nA lamut, 203nA lapaes k, 444nA las ka, 382nA lc helai , Rabbi Yehuda Hai, 374A leppo, 220, 234, 254, 264, 271n, 276, 291, 303, 405, 416nA lexander the Great, 52-5, 57, 72, 82n, 106n, 133A lexander I, Emperor of Rus s ia, 340A lexander II, Emperor of Rus s ia, 347, 350n, 353, 368A lexander III, Emperor of Rus s ia, 368-9A lexander J annaeus , K ing, 69-70, 71n, 106n, 233nA lexander, P rinc e, 88-9, 93nA lexander, Mic hael Solomon, 334S t A lexander Nevs ky Churc h, 135n, 147n, 369, 386A lexandra, 79-81, 83A lexandra, Empres s of Rus s ia, 369, 386n, 387n, 444nA lexandria, 54-6, 60, 62, 74, 76-7, 81-2, 122, 124, 126, 144-5, 164, 239, 281, 333A lexandrium fortres s , 81, 89A lexei , T s arevic h, 385A lexios , Emperor, 209A l i (Cal iph), 178, 180, 187-8, 194A l i , K ing, 432nA l i Bey, 310A l iyah, 369-70, 375, 383A l lenby, General S ir Edmund, 1s t V is c ount, 355n, 408-9, 414-21, 425-6, 486n, 496A l lenby Barrac ks , 463A lmohads , 240al-Qaeda, 447A lter fam i ly, 486nA lypius , 150Amaury, K ing of J erus alem, 237-43, 249, 256n, 265Amaury of Lus ignan, K ing of Cyprus , 165nAmel-Marduk, K ing of Babylon, 45-6al-Amer, Field Mars hal Abdel-Hakim, 492-5, 492, 495Americ an Colony, 365-6, 408n, 417-18, 473, 488, 496, 506Americ an evangel is ts , 336-9Amman, 475, 478, 485, 487, 493Ammunition Hi l l , 496Amnon, 23-4, 56nAmr ibn al-As , 173, 177, 179nAmra, 185Ams terdam, 302Anabaptis ts , 297Ananias , 70nAnanus , 119, 123-5Anatol ia, 55, 209, 234, 277, 284, 396, 405nAndrew, P rinc es s , of Greec e, 454nAndrews , Lewis , 449Andronikos Komnenos , Emperor, 238Anglo-Americ an Commis s ion, 464Angola, 382nAni laeus , 101nAnkara, 459nAnnas (high pries t), 103-4, 119, 124S t Anne's c hurc h and monas tery, 217, 228, 255n, 286, 348, 397Ans ari fam i ly, 519

Sheikh Abd al-Salam al-Ans ari , 213Adeb al-Ans ari , 519Sheikh Khal i l al -Ans ari , 391Antebi , A lbert, 384Antigonos , 'One-Eyed', K ing, 54Antigonos , K ing, 75-8, 88nAntinopol is , 135Antinous , 134-5Antipater, 71-2, 74-5, 88-90, 92-3Antioc h, 60-1, 63, 65, 67, 118, 123-4, 144, 161, 277and Crus aders , 204, 209-10, 215, 217, 219, 223-4, 234, 236, 238, 256Antioc hus III the Great, K ing, 57-8, 60Antioc hus IV Epiphanes , K ing, 60-5, 72, 91n, 106n, 135Antioc hus V II S idetes , K ing, 68anti -Semitis m (the word), 368nAntonia, 111, 114Antonia fortres s , 1, 4, 6, 78, 82-4, 86, 90, 101, 106n, 118, 120, 122, 134, 179, 344nAntoninus P ius , Emperor, 138, 184nAntonius Fel ix, s ee Fel ixAntonius , George, 443, 445, 447, 464Antonius , Katy, 443, 464-7, 469-70, 488Apoc alyps e, xix, 4, 44, 62, 86n, 132, 165, 170, 187, 197J es us Chris t and, 97-8, 102-3, 106Appian, 133, 136Aqaba, 407-8, 419, 425Aqui leia, 89al-Aqs a Martyrs B rigadeal-Aqs a Mos que, 184-5, 187-8, 200, 395, 485and A rab Revol t, 448and Buraq Upris ing, 437-8and Crus aders (T emple of Solomon), 212-13, 217, 219, 221, 227, 229, 235, 269-70dai ly ri tuals , 519-20fi re, 502and Is rael i war, 477and K ing Abdul lah's as s as s ination, 481-2and Mamluk s ul tanate, 276, 280, 287and Marwan Mos que, 506negotiations and ac c es s , 502-3, 506-7, 510, 513, 516Nur al-Din's minbar, 237, 254, 269, 502and Ottoman s ul tanate, 291-2, 299n, 304-5and S ix Day W ar, 495Arab Club, 422Arab Higher Committee, 467-8, 473Arab Inves tigation Centres , 450Arab League, 469, 471, 477, 481, 504Arab Legion, 279n, 454, 472, 477-9, 484-6A rab Liberation A rmy, 469, 478Arab Revol t, 402-9, 415, 443n, 478, 482under Grand Mufti , 448-54, 459, 463Arabic learning and s c ienc e, 190n, 203nArafat, Yas s er, 469, 477, 491, 503-10, 515, 517, 518nAram-Damas c us , 33A raq e-Emir, 62nAraunah the J ebus i te, 24, 27narc haeology, 354-6, 390, 393, 502, 504, 509, 511nArc ul f, B is hop, 179Arda, Queen of J erus alem, 217Aref, Abdel-Rahman, P res ident, 494Aretas , K ing of Nabataea, 71A retas IV , K ing of Nabataea, 95, 98A rgentina, 376, 382, 485Argyl l , J ohn Campbel l , 9th Duke of, 354Aris tobulos , K ing, 69A ris tobulos II, K ing, 70-2, 76nAris tobulos , P rinc e, 88, 95-6, 111Aris totle, 190nArius , 144-5, 148Ark of the Covenant, 7, 17-18, 22, 24, 27, 44, 157n, 376and Parker fias c o, 389-93Armageddon, 41A rmenia, 81, 96n, 131n, 156n, 163-4, 405nArmenian Chapel of S t Helena, 140nArmenian Monas tery, 287n, 324, 352n, 496Armenian Quarter, 103n, 119n, 132, 285, 497, 510Armenians , 255, 285, 287n, 296, 352n, 359, 415, 518-19genoc ide, 398, 400, 408, 416nand rel igious c onfl ic t, 298-9, 320, 348, 488Arnold, B is hop of Bamberg, 201Arnul f, Patriarc h, 214Arp A rs lan, Sul tan, 201-3A rs uf, 259Artas , 399Artaxerxes I, K ing of Pers ia, 51, 337nArthur, K ing, 65nAs hdod, 65As herah, 38As hkelon, 18, 56, 67, 214, 220, 236, 238, 243, 249, 255, 260As hkenaz, 298As hkenazi J ews , 20, 191n, 298, 308, 330, 443As hraf, 180nAs hrafiyya madras s a, 287As inaeus , 101nAs mahan, 457-9As qui th, Herbert, 1s t Earl of As qui th and Oxford 411, 413As s as s ins , 203n, 260nAs s yrians , 31, 33-9, 48As tyges , K ing of Media, 47A thal iah, Queen of J erus alem, 31-2, 233nA thens , 60, 150A tlas mountains , 57nal-A tras h, Amal, s ee 'As mahan'A ts iz ibn Awak al-Khwarazmi, 202-3A tti la the Hun, 157A ttlee, Clement, 1s t Earl , 462, 464, 467Augus ta V ic toria fortres s , 379n, 390, 395, 408, 417, 431, 433, 479, 484n, 496Augus tus , Emperor (Oc tavian), 75, 77, 81-4, 88-90, 92-3, 113, 133, 160Aus c hwitz, 408n, 487Aus tin, W i l l ie, 322Aus tral ians , 421, 456-7Aus trian Hos pic e, 356, 429, 485Avars , 164Avigad, Nahman, 106n, 159nAzekah, 42nAzerbai jan, 163Aziz, Cal iph, 194, 197Aziz, Sul tan, 264Azizus , K ing of Emes a, 116Azmey Pas ha, 390Azouri , Naj ib, 385Baal, 31-3, 38, 39nBaal Shem T ov, 359nBab al-Qattanin, s ee Gate of the Cotton Merc hantsBab al-S i ls i la, s ee Gate of the ChainBab el-Ghawanmeh, 519Babylon, 14, 22, 27n, 35-6, 39, 41-3, 44n, 45-7, 49, 54, 57n, 60, 101n, 370, 501Babylonian Chronic les , 39Babylonians , 1, 34n, 39, 41-6, 48Baedeker, Karl , 358, 360, 385Baghdad, 172n, 188, 193-5, 202, 203n, 207n, 215, 272, 282, 449J ewis h population, 48n, 240n, 352nand Ottoman s ul tanate, 291-2Bahat, Dan, 506n

Baibars , Sul tan, 271-2, 275-7, 292n, 361Bairam Pas ha, 297Bakaa, 443al-Baladhuri , 172nBalak, 220Balaklava Rai lway, 348Baldwin I, K ing of J erus alem, 210, 215-18Baldwin II, K ing of J erus alem, 218-21, 224, 229nBaldwin III, K ing of J erus alem, 221, 233, 235-8Baldwin IV , K ing of J erus alem, 242-5Baldwin V , K ing of J erus alem, 245-6, 320nBalfour, A rthur, 1s t Earl of, xxv, 381, 409-10, 412-15, 428, 431, 440-1Balfour Dec laration, 414-15, 422-4, 427-9, 431, 437-9, 453, 456Bal ian of Ibel in, 245, 247, 249-50, 253-4Balkans , 291, 341, 361, 395Bal l in, A lbert, 376Bal lobar, Count Antonio de, 396-8, 400, 416-17Bals am of Gi lead, 79nbar Koc hba, S imon, 135-7, 163, 383Barabbas , 102, 105Barak, Ehud, 506-7, 512-13Barc elona, 279Barc lay's Gate, 354nBardawi l lagoons , 218Baris fortres s , 54, 69n, 78Barka Khan, 271, 361nBarkat, Nir, 511Barker, General Evelyn 'Bubbles ', 462, 464, 466-7Bars bay, Sul tan, 286Bars oma of Nis ibis , 153-5Bartholomew, Peter, 209Barton, General , 422Bas le, 375, 380nBas ra, 196Baths heba, 23, 25Baths heba's Pool , 363Battle of the Mi lvian B ridge, 143Battle of the Pyramids , 312Bay of Is s us , 163bay ah , 178Bayley, Lieutenant-Colonel , 418Bayt Nuba, 260Beauti ful Gate, 101-2n, 109, 165n, 264Bec ket, T homas , 228nBeers heba, 414Begin, Menac hem, 458-62, 465-7, 472, 480, 493, 496, 504-5, 508Behus tan mountains , 161Bei l in, Yos s i , 504-5Beirut, 9, 89, 216, 225, 238, 338, 347, 405, 458, 505and Parker fias c o, 391-2Rus s ian as s aul t, 310, 316nand T hree Pas has , 397-8, 416nBeit J ala, 197nBel is arius , General , 130n, 159Bel l , Gertrude, 404Bels hazzar, 45-7Belzers , 484nben S ira, J es us , 58, 199nben Zakkai , Rabbi Yohanan, 132ben Zakkai Synagogue, 330Ben-Gurion, David (David Grun), 398, 415, 430-1, 439, 443n, 484, 490, 503nand Deir Yas s in mas s ac re, 469and Is rael i s tate, 445-6, 450, 453, 458-62, 465, 467-70, 474-7, 479-80, 502origins , 381-3and premiers hip, 481, 492and Suez c ris is , 490Benjam in, 164Benjam in of T udela, 24n, 240nBerekhah, Rabbi , 153Berenic e, Queen of Chalc is , 5-6, 9, 116, 119, 121-3, 126, 129, 131Berl in, 398, 414, 416n, 443, 454-5, 461, 486Bernadotte, Count Folke, 480-3Betar, 137Betar youth organization, 430, 437-8, 461Bethany, 227-8Bethel , 17n, 30Bethes da Pool , 37, 72, 100, 228Bethlehem, 91, 94, 155, 399Churc h of the Nativi ty, 216, 342and Crus ades , 208, 210, 268Beth-Zac haria, 65Beth-Zur, 67Bevin, E rnes t, 462B ible, xvi i i , xx, xxiv, 10, 13, 21-3, 25-6, 28-9, 31-2n, 35, 40, 45, 477A leppo Codex, 100n, 213and arc haeology, 354-5Authorized Vers ion, 300the Gos pels , 10, 91, 97, 99, 102, 105, 108, 144inc ons is tenc ies in, 16nLatin trans lation, 152Mas oretic , 100nNew T es tament, 117, 121Old T es tament, 19, 55n, 69, 100nOrde W ingate and, 451-2Pentateuc h, 15-16, 45nand P rotes tantis m, 297, 300-1, 331S t Peters burg Codex, 100nSeptuagint, 55, 100nand Zionis m, 412B ible, books ofAc ts of the Apos tles , 109n, 114-15Chronic les , 30, 152nDaniel , 44, 45n, 63n, 97Deuteronomy, 40, 82, 114Ezekiel , 388Exodus , 17, 39nGenes is , 16, 39n, 298Is aiah, 33, 97, 100J eremiah, 41nJ udges , 17n, 18K ings , 22, 30, 32, 37nLamentations , 43Numbers , 40n, 86n, 135Ps alms , 19, 43-5, 102, 107, 156n, 426Revelation, 121, 133, 213n, 366S t J ohn, 91-2n, 98, 103, 109nS t Luke, 91, 93, 96, 99n, 102, 105, 108, 109nS t Mark, 96n, 99n, 102, 105, 109nS t Matthew, 91, 96n, 99, 105, 109Samuel, 22T hes s alonians , 118B ibl ic al Zoo, 483B ird, Eugene, 488-9B ird, Kai , 489B irobidzhan, 440n, 463B is hop Gobat's Sc hool , 449B is marc k, P rinc e Otto von, 362, 377B lac k Hand c el l , 447B lac k Hundreds , 383B lac k Letter, 439B lac k Obel is k, 32nB lac k Sabbath, 465

B lac k Sea, 163, 191nB lac k September, 502B lac k Sunday, 450B lake, W i l l iam, 45, 321n, 462B l is s , Frederic k, 390blood l ibel , 333, 336, 351, 374Boer W ar, 355nBohemond, P rinc e of Antioc h, 210, 215, 244Bokharan Quarter, 375, 444Bologna, 238Bols , Major-General S ir Louis J ., 431Bombay, 444nBook of the Glory of K ings , 157nBook of Zerubabbel, 163Book of Zohar, 298Bordeaux pi lgrim , 147-9, 152nBos nia, 315n, 318Bos phorus , 144Bos ra, 169Bos ton, 337Bos ton Herald , 441Bradford, W i l l iam, 301Brandeis , Louis , 428Bres lavers , 486nBres t-Li tovs k, 461Bridges , Robert, 321nBrindis i , 266, 269Bri tainB ri tis h J ews , 257, 277n, 301-2, 350and c onvers ion of J ews , 330-5Roman, 124, 136, 150and s tate of Is rael , 467and Suez c ris is , 490and Zionis m, xxv, 380-1, 409-15, 423-4, 431, 443, 466Bri tannic us , T iberius Claudius , 116nBri tis h Mi l i tary Cemetery, 434Bronner, E than, 510Bronze Age, 13B rooke, Rupert, 419Brothers , Ric hard, 322-3B rutus , Marc us J unius , 75Bubas tis , 31Buc han, J ohn, 404Bulgaria, 361bul lae , 32, 41n, 43Burma, 453n'Burma Road', 480Byron, George Gordon, 6th Baron, 37Byzantium, 144Caec ina, 131Caes ar, Gaius J ul ius , 72-5, 131, 134nCaes area, 82, 93, 99n, 100, 115, 119, 121, 140, 164, 209, 216Caes area Mari tima, 9Caes area Phi l ippi , 9, 116Caes arion, 74, 81, 82nCafe J awhariyyeh, 444Caiaphas (high pries t), 99n, 100, 103-4, 108, 110Cairo, 207n, 271, 272n, 302-3, 305, 316n, 436, 438, 469, 480, 491n, 493A lbanian c onques t, 326and B ri tis h rule, 402-4, 408and c al iphs , 192, 194-6, 198-200, 215and Fatim id Egypt, 239-40and Mamluk s ul tanate, 278, 283-5, 287Oriental S tores , 423and Saladin, 243, 251and Sul tan Baibars , 275, 277Cairo Geniza, 199nCairo Univers i ty, 449Calc utta, 450Calhoun, J ohn, 336Cal igula, Emperor, 60, 82n, 111-14, 116c al iphs , 172n, 184, 433Cal l i rhoe, 90Calvary, 106n, 285Cambrai , 239nCambys es II, K ing, 49c amels , 16n, 344, 407Camp David, 506du Camp, Maxime, 345, 347Canaanites , 14, 16, 18, 39nCanada, 466nCappadoc ia, 88nCapri , 98, 111-12Carac al la, Emperor, 138Carc hemis h, 41Cardo, 135n, 147, 160, 226, 501Carnegie, Mrs Andrew, 423Carol ine of B runs wic k, P rinc es s , 321-3Carrhae, Battle of, 76nCarter, J immy, P res ident, 503Carthage, 60, 130n, 159Carthaginians , 39n, 106nCartwright, Ebenezer, 301Cas s ius Longinus , Gaius , 74Cas s ius Dio, 135n, 136-7Cas ti le, 298de Cas tro, Abraham, 294Catherine the Great, Empres s of Rus s ia, 310, 311n, 315n, 317, 340Cathis ma Churc h, 176, 201Cathol ic Churc h, 157, 189, 208and rel igious c onfl ic t, 201, 296, 299-300, 331, 339, 341, 343, 424, 485, 517Cave of Hira, 169Cec i l , Lord Robert, 414Celebi , Evl iya, s ee Evl iyaCervantes , Miguel de, 446Chabon, Mic hael , 382nChamberlain, J os eph, 380Chamberlain, Nevi l le, 452-3Chanc el lor, S ir J ohn, 437-8, 443Chapel of the Appari tion, 520-3Chapel of the Hi l l of Calvary, 236Chapman, T homas , 404c hariots , 26, 28Charlemagne, Emperor, 65n, 189, 229n, 267, 343, 355, 379nCharles V , Emperor, 294n, 295Charles I, K ing, 300-1Charles of Anjou, K ing of J erus alem, 278nCharles , P rinc e of W ales , 505c has ti ty, 144-5Chateaubriand, Franc ois -Rene, V ic omte de, xxiv, 319-21Chauc er, Geoffrey, 285c hi ld s ac ri fic e, 39China, 185, 284, 365Chindi ts , 453nChris t Churc h, 334Chris tian Quarter, 189, 201, 364, 507Chris tiani ty, 10, 34, 48n, 55, 63n, 109, 117, 139Great Sc his m, 201hierarc hy and divis ions in, 144and J udais m, 110, 118, 140Roman adoption of, 143-5, 150-1and s uppres s ion of J ews , 148-50

Chris tians , early, 114-19, 121, 132-4, 136, 138-40Chris tology, 144, 156-7Chronic on Pas c hale, 135nc hurc h bel ls , 196, 214, 255, 330Churc h of Holy A rc hangels , 103nChurc h of Mary Magdalene, 368, 386, 444n, 455n, 489Churc h of Our Lady of J ehos haphat, 228Churc h of the Dorm ition, 379n, 492Churc h of the Holy Sepulc hre, xxi , 106n, 108, 149, 197, 303, 400, 420, 456, 485, 510and A rab c onques ts , 173, 175-6, 178, 182-3, 189-92, 194c ons truc tion by Empres s Helena, 147and Crus aders , 208, 212-15, 217, 221, 225, 227-8, 233, 235, 243, 250, 260, 269dai ly ri tuals , 518-20and Des c ent of the Holy Fire, 198, 228, 230, 300, 305, 328, 348, 361, 367, 388, 518des truc tion by fi re, 320Fatim id des truc tion, 199-200the Holy Sepulc hre, 134, 152, 165, 175, 177n, 178, 185, 189-92, 194and international vis i tors , 320, 328, 341, 345-6, 348, 353, 367-8, 378and Is lam ic s ul tanate, 254-5, 260, 263las t Crus ader grave, 422nlatrines , 310and Mamluk s ul tanate, 281, 285-7model of, 160and Mongol raids , 277and Napoleonic invas ion, 316, 318and Ottoman s ul tanate, 299-300Pers ian des truc tion, 162-3and pi lgrims ' ac c ommodation, 201and rel igious c onfl ic t, 320, 339, 343, 348, 424, 520-1and T artar c onques t, 271and T urkis h c onques ts , 203Churc h of the P innac le, 160nChurc h of the Redeemer, 378Churc h of the Res urrec tion, 153Churc hi l l , Clementine, 433Churc hi l l , Lord Randolph, 433nChurc hi l l , S ir W ins ton, xxv, 382n, 423n, 429n, 431-4, 441, 453n, 466, 477, 484n, 485and Zionis m, 410-14, 432, 461CIA , 489Ci l ic ia, 26, 88n, 117, 131nc irc umc is ion, 45, 61-3, 118, 130, 360ban on, 134, 137and Is lam, 171Citadel , xxi , 8-9, 84, 88, 123, 132, 136, 185, 202, 348and Crus aders , 207, 215, 217Clarenc e, P rinc e A lbert V ic tor, Duke of, 362Claudius , Emperor, 5, 114-16, 146nClaus ewitz, Carl von, 446Clemenc eau, Georges , 427-8Cleopatra II, Queen of Egypt, 67nCleopatra III, Queen of Egypt, 70nCleopatra V II, Queen of Egypt, 73-5, 77-82, 131Cleopatra Selene, 82nCleopatra T hea, 67nClermont, 208-9Cl i fford, Clark, 464Cl inton, B i l l , P res ident, 506, 508-9, 514Cobb, Mis s , 399Cohen, Amnon, 509nCohen, 'Red Ros a', 430Cold W ar, 489Columbus , Chris topher, 294nConder, Lieutenant Charles , 355n, 363nCongres s of Berl in, 362, 409Congreve, General S ir W alter 'Squib', 445Conrad III, K ing of Germany, 234-5Conrad of Montferrat, K ing of J erus alem, 249, 256nConrad II, K ing of J erus alem, 270nConradin, K ing of J erus alem, 270nCons tantine the Great, Emperor, 140, 143-5, 148-9, 163, 182, 184, 217, 369, 409Cons tantine IX Monamac hus , Emperor, 200Cons tantine X Doukas , Emperor, 201Cons tantinople, 130n, 144, 147, 153-6, 158-9, 165, 189, 192, 207n, 209, 217, 416, 442and A rab c onques t, 180, 183, 185-6, 190Hagia Sofia, 159, 181-2, 201Nika riots , 158Ottoman c onques t, 288and Pers ian threat, 161, 163-4Rus s ian c onques t, 311ns ee als o Is tanbulCons tantius Chlorus , Emperor, 140Cons tantius II, Emperor, 148n, 149-50Cook, J ohn Mas on, 379Cook, T homas , 363Cook, Mis s , 335Coptic Churc h, 157n, 310, 519Cordoba, 200n, 499Counc i l of Chalc edon, 157Counc i l of Nic aea, 145, 148Court of W omen, 8, 86Cras s us , Marc us Lic inius , 72-3, 76n, 106nCreas y, Mathi lda, 345Cremieux, Adolphe, 333Cres s on, W arder, 336-8Crete, 14, 79, 101, 327Crewe, Margaret, Marc hiones s of, 414Crimea, 191n, 304, 382n, 440nCrimean W ar, 343-4, 345n, 347-8, 352Cris pus Caes ar, 145Croes us , K ing of Lydia, 47Cromwel l , Ol iver, 301-2, 303, 331Cros s man, Ric hard, 461c ruc i fixion, 1-2, 62, 105-7Crus ader arc hi tec ture, 254Crus ades , 189, 355, 420, 428Count T hibaul t's , 270E ighth, 277nFifth, 265-6Firs t, 208-10and holy war theory, 208and rec onques t of Spain, 285, 293-4Sec ond, 234, 333Seventh, 271T hird, 255-62Ctes iphon, 161-2Cunningham, General S ir A lan, 467, 474-5Curzon, George Nathaniel , Marques s , 414, 415n, 426, 432-3Curzon, Robert, 328-9Cyprus , 35, 55, 84n, 133, 179, 257, 260n, 325, 362, 380-1, 436Cyrenaic a, 55Cyrene, 81Cyrus the Great, K ing of Pers ia, 47-50, 53Czec hos lovakia, 452-4Dac ia, 134Daimbert, Patriarc h, 215-16Dajani fam i ly, 296, 308n, 360-1, 439, 469, 488Damas , General , 312, 316Damas c us , 22, 29, 32n, 71, 194, 316n, 318, 323, 350, 380, 383, 417n, 469, 492and A lbanian c onques t, 327and A rab c onques ts , 172, 176, 178, 181, 185-6, 310and Crus aders , 217, 223-4, 235, 243, 246, 249and divis ion of Middle Eas t, 403, 405, 421, 426, 428, 469

and Is lam ic s ul tanate, 251-3, 262-4, 268J ewis h population and blood l ibel , 333, 336, 374and Mongol c onques t, 272, 279and S t Paul 's c onvers ion, 117, 143

and T amurlane's c onques t, 282-4and T hree Pas has , 397-8, 416Umayyad Mos que, 96n, 185Damas c us Gate, 110, 134, 135n, 138, 152n, 157, 208, 211, 226, 270, 304, 364-5, 379, 395, 397, 467, 479, 518Damas us , B is hop, 151Damietta, 265Dan, 30Daniel , prophet, 45-6, 97, 100n, 150Daniel the s tyl i te, 154Danube, river, 343Danzig, 513Darius I 'the Great', K ing of Pers ia, 49-50, 52, 106nDarius III, K ing of Pers ia, 53d'Aubeny, Phi l ip, 422nHous e of David, 22, 32nDavid, K ing, xix, xxiv, 7, 10, 13, 19-25, 32n, 40, 46, 67n, 86, 133, 140, 304-5, 374, 491and Baths heba, 23, 25, 363and Charlemagne, 189and Is lam, 170, 175, 182, 185his palac e, 23n, 501nrel ic s of, 152David el-Rey, 240nDavid's T omb, s ee Mount Zion, Cenac leDay of A tonement (Yom K ippur), 171, 302, 436-7, 459, 502s ee als o Yom K ippur W arDayan, Mos he, 400n, 456, 481, 487, 504and Orde W ingate, 451-2and S ix Day W ar, 493-8Dayan, Ruth, 452, 494D-Day, 459Dead Sea, 90, 96, 123Dead Sea Sc rol ls , 100n, 495Debus s y, Claude, 423Deir Yas s in mas s ac re, 471-2, 473Delhi , 283Demetrius II, K ing of Syria, 67nDeraa, 419Dervis hes , 303-4, 360-1Des c ent of the Holy Fire, 198, 228, 230, 300, 305, 328, 348, 361, 367, 388, 519des ert monas teries , 154Deuteronomis ts , 45nDic kie, A rc hibald, 390Dignes s , Mendel, 335Dioc letian, Emperor, 140, 145Dis rael i , Benjam in, 1s t Earl of Beac ons field, 240n, 324-5, 352, 362, 409, 411, 424Dome of Solomon, 265nDome of the As c ens ion, 165nDome of the Chain, 179, 212, 219Dome of the Roc k, 27n, 148, 181-5, 188, 190, 197, 250, 304-5, 400, 408, 424, 480and Crus aders (T emple of the Lord), 212-13, 217, 219, 227-9, 241, 270dai ly ri tuals , 519-21and Is lam ic s ul tanate, 254, 261, 263, 268-9Is rael i s hootings , 503and Mamluk s ul tanate, 276, 280-1, 284negotiations and ac c es s , 510, 519and Ottoman s ul tanate, 291-2, 305and Parker fias c o, 391regi lding of, 491and S ix Day W ar, 495, 497Domitian, Emperor, 121n, 130n, 131, 133Donmeh s ec t, 303nDonner, Fred M., 174nDoris , 85, 88-9Dorr, David, 347Double Gates , 138n, 184Dreyfus A ffair, 373Drus i l la, Queen, 116, 119Drus us , 111Druze, 199, 356, 519Duff, Captain Robin, 389n, 390-1Dung Gate, 329, 497Eas t P rus s ia, 382n, 461Eas ter, 148n, 159, 276, 298, 305, 339, 360, 388Eban, Abba, 493-4Ebenezer, Battle of, 18Ebioni tes , 140nEc c les ias tic us , 58, 199nEdes s a, 210, 213n, 215, 217-18, 224, 264fal l of, 233-4Edic t of Mi lan, 144Edom, 65, 77Edomites , 19, 29, 43, 69Edward I, K ing, 65n, 277n, 354Edward V II, K ing, 353-4, 363nEdwiga, Abbes s , 201Egeria, 152Egypt, 13, 19n, 22, 26, 44n, 109n, 133, 135, 138, 422, 468-70and A lbanian c onques t, 326-7, 334and A rab c onques ts , 191, 193-4and B ri tis h rule, 362, 380, 396-7, 403, 405, 407, 423, 449and Crus aders , 216, 218and des ert monks , 154and Greek c onques t, 53-6, 57n, 61-2and Is lam ic s ul tanate, 243-4, 251, 253, 260-1, 264-6and Is rael i war, 477-8, 480Is rael i tes in, 16-17J ewis h c ommunity, 194-5ki l l ing of dogs and c ats , 198Napoleonic invas ion, 311-12, 317-18and Nur al-Din's c onques t, 238-41, 251and Ottoman c onques t, 291, 294and peac e deal , 502-3and Pers ian c onques ts , 49-50, 162-4and Roman oc c upation, 73-7, 81-2and S ix Day W ar, 489, 494-5, 517and Suez Canal, 355, 490and T urkoman c onques t, 202and UAR, 490-1and Yom K ippur W ar, 505Egyptians , anc ient, 14-15, 18, 28-30, 35-6, 38, 41-2, 85nE ic hmann, Adol f, 487E i lat, 493E in Kerem, 95, 365, 449Ekron, 20E l A lamein, Battle of, 460E l-A ris h, 218, 380-2E leanor of Aqui taine, Queen, 234-5, 257E leazar the Gal i lean, 130elephants , 57, 63, 67E lgar, S ir Edward, 321nE l iahu, J ac ob, 37n, 365E l i jah, prophet, 197nE l is abeth, Empres s of Aus tria, 378E l izabeth I, Queen, 299E l izabeth II, Queen, 454nE l la, Grand Duc hes s , 368-9, 386n, 444n, 454nE lyas har, Menac he, 418Emes a, 88nEmmaus , 163Engl is h Hotel , 344Enl ightenment, 331, 374Enver Pas ha, Is mai l , 394-5, 400-2, 408, 416

Ephraim , 24Epic of Gi lgames h , 36, 45nEs hkol , Levi , 489-90, 493Es s enes , 100nE thiopia, 157n, 517E thiopian Churc h, 157n, 310, 517Euc l id, 190nEudoc ia, Empres s , 153-7Eudoc ia's W al l , 69nEugenie, Empres s , 355Eugenius II, Pope, 234Euphemius , 156nEuphrates , river, 35, 42, 81, 210Eus ebius of Caes area, 136, 145-8Eus tac e of Grenier, 221Eus toc hium, 151Eutropia, 146nEvl iya Celebi , xxv, 290, 303-5, 309Exec ration texts , 14nexec utions , 356, 397, 403s ee als o c ruc i fixion; s toningEx odus , 460Ezekiah, 74Ezion-Geber, 26Fabri , Fel ix, 286Fais al , K ing of Iraq, 406-7, 420-1, 424-9, 431-3Fais al II, K ing of Iraq, 490Falas has , 157nFalkenhayn, Field Mars hal E ric h von, 408-9, 416-17Faraj , Sul tan, 283-4Farhi , Haim, 315, 322, 323nFarouk, K ing of Egypt, 334n, 466, 482Farran, Major Roy, 465-7Farrukh, 297Fas t Hotel , 390, 401, 408, 417, 424, 451Fatah, 488, 501-2, 505n, 507al-Fatat, 403Fatima (daughter of the P rophet), 172, 178, 187n, 194, 403nFatim id dynas ty, 193-5, 197, 201-2, 203nFaus ta, Empres s , 145, 146nFel ix, Antonius , 116, 119Fel lowes , Cornel ius , 347nFerdinand, K ing of A ragon, 293-4Field of B lood, 108, 160Fi las tin , 394Final Solution, 294, 436, 454-5, 457Finn, J ames , 335, 341, 343-6, 348-9, 352-3, 444Firs t W al l , 69, 106nFiryal , P rinc es s , 488, 491Fis c us J udaic us , 130, 133Fis k, P l iny, 337flagel lation, 106-7Flaubert, Gus tave, xix, 344-5, 346Flem ing, J ames , 228nFlorenc e, 207nFlouris hing Edi fic e, 293Foley, Major, 389n, 391Ford, Henry, 423nFors ter, E . M., 443nFranc e, 296, 301, 310, 318, 330-1, 333-5, 341-3and divis ion of Middle Eas t, 405, 407, 411, 414-15, 420-1, 424, 426, 431, 433fal l of, 454and Suez c ris is , 487and Zionis m, 414-15Franc is I, K ing of Franc e, 355Frankis h c us toms , 230-1Frankl in, Benjam in, 336Franz Ferdinand, A rc hduke, 395Franz J os eph, Emperor, 355-6Frederic k Barbaros s a, Emperor, 256Frederic k II, Emperor, K ing of S ic i ly, 266-70, 422n, 480Frederic k III, Emperor of Germany, 355-6, 375Frederic k of Regens burg, 228nFrederic k of Swabia, Duke, 256Frenc h Revolution, 311, 317, 331, 374Friedric h, Grand Duke of Baden, 376Fuad Pas ha, Grand V izier, 356Fulc her of Chartres , 212-13Fulk the B lac k, Count of Anjou, 201, 221Fulk, V is c ount of Anjou, K ing of J erus alem, 221-5, 229, 233, 235nfundamental is m, xvi i , xix, 86n, 281, 447, 469, 506Gabriel , A rc hangel , 169-70Galen, 190nGalerius , Emperor, 140Gal l ipol i , 402Gal lus Caes ar, 149-50Galves ton P lan, 382Gamal iel V I, 154Ganzak, 163Garabedian, Yes s ayi , A rmenian Patriarc h, 363Garden of Eden, 17Garden of Geths emane, 103, 162, 493Garden T omb, 365Gate of the Chain, 138, 264, 279, 280n, 292nGate of the Cotton-Merc hants , 280Gate of the Divine P res enc e, 264Gath, 19-20Gaul, 72-3, 93, 112Gaza, 49, 57n, 67, 70, 79n, 172, 240, 272, 302, 307, 407, 416, 433, 447n, 466and Hamas and Inti fada, 447n, 506-7, 509, 513and Is rael i war, 481, 503Geba, 84nGedal iah, 44n, 309Gehenna, 39-40, 281Gemaraiah, s on of Shaphan, 41nGemel lus , 111-12Geneva, 482Genghis Khan, 157n, 280, 283, 375Gens eric , K ing of the Vandals , 130nS t George, 197n, 244S t George's Cathedral , 363S t George's Sc hool , 384, 442George V , K ing, 321n, 363, 421George II, K ing of Greec e, 456Georgia, 156nGeorgians , 106n, 281-2, 285, 296Ger c ourt, 484n, 515Germanic us , 112Germany, 270n, 373, 375, 377, 409, 426, 460Nazi Germany, 439-41, 449, 455-6Gerold, Patriarc h, 268Ges s ius Florus , 121-3Gezer, 26, 29nal-Ghadiya, Abdel Lati f, 308al-Ghazal i , Abu Hamid, 203nGhos h,J aber Abu, 330Gibeon (T el l al -Ful), 19, 21Gihon Spring, 14-15, 21-2, 25, 36Glads tone, W i l l iam, 350n, 388Glaphyra, 93Glubb, General S ir J ohn (Glubb Pas ha), 477-80, 484-5, 490Gnos tic Gos pels , 109n, 139n

God-fearers , 118, 120Godfrey of Boui l lon, Duke of Lorraine, 208, 210-12, 214-15, 227, 249, 320Goeds c he, Hermann, 380nGogol, Nikolai , 341-2, 344Goitein, S . D., 199nGolan, 9, 70, 138gold, 28, 31Golden Calf, 198Golden Gate, 164, 165n, 184, 185n, 195, 213, 227, 265n, 347, 388, 522Golds mith, Frank, 441Golgotha, 106, 138, 147, 365Gol iath, 19Gol iath's Spring, 275Goodman, A lan, 503Gordon, General Charles 'Chines e', 365Goren, Rabbi Shlomo, 497, 508nGort, Field Mars hal V is c ount, J ohn, 462Gos pel of J udas , 139nGos pel of Peter, 109nGos pel of Phi l ip, 139nGoths , 139Government Hous e, 431, 440, 442, 451, 474, 481, 495Grabar, Oleg, 488, 507nGraham, S tephen, 367, 387-8Grammar Sc hool , 265nGranada, 200n, 283-4Grand Mufti , s ee Hus s eni , AminGrand New Hotel , 363Grant, P res ident Ulys s es S ., 357nGray, Colonel Nic ol , 466Greec e, 60, 81, 88, 124, 327, 454n, 457Greek Fire, 207, 211Greek language, 55Greek love, 134nGreeks , 53-64, 72, 106n, 112, 115, 134s ee als o Orthodox Churc hGreenberg, Raphael, 511nGregory IX , Pope, 267Gregory of Nys s a, Saint, 152, 156Grodno, 307Gulf of Aqaba, 26Gur, Colonel Motta, 496-7Guy of Lus ignan, K ing of J erus alem, 244-8, 255, 260nHabiru, 14, 15nHadas s ah Hos pi tal , 440, 473, 481, 495hadith , 184Hadrian, Emperor, 133-9, 369Hafiz Pas ha, 346Haganah, 430, 438-9, 450-3, 456-7, 463, 465, 468-72, 478-80, 486, 503nHaggai, prophet, 49Haifa, 447, 459n, 475Haj im Bey, 419-20al-Hakim, Cal iph, 197-200, 203Halevi , J udah, 230Hama, 405Hamas , 447n, 506-7, 509, 513hammam bathhous es , 360Hammurabi , 14Hamza, 177Handel, George Frideric , 65n, 426Hanging Gardens of Babylon, 42Hannibal , 57n, 60Hanukkah, 65, 98, 417Haram al-Shari f, 87, 176n, 184, 188n, 193n, 197, 219, 354n, 437, 488, 498arc hives , 284dai ly ri tuals , 519-20Hus s eini burials , 505nand Is lam ic s ul tanate, 254, 260, 264-6negotiations and ac c es s , 515and Parker fias c o, 391al-Harawi, A l i , 230Haredim, 486-7Harel B rigade, 474, 476Harff, A rnold von, 286al-Harizi , J udah, 265Harold, K ing, 201Haroun al-Ras hid, Cal iph, 189-90Harris , A ir Mars hal S ir A rthur, 450Has an bin A l i , 180n, 403nHas idic J ews , 22, 64, 100n, 359, 375n, 364, 375n, 399, 479, 486, 487nHatikvah, 425, 474-5Hazael , K ing of Damas c us , 32nHazor, 22, 26, 29nHebrew Univers i ty, 394, 410, 425, 440, 450Hebrews , 15-17Hebron, 16, 21, 24, 65, 137, 270, 288n, 329, 333, 346, 438, 449, 483Heine, Heinric h, xxHejaz, 396, 403, 406, 422Helena, Empres s , 143, 145-7Helena, Queen of Adiabene, 100-1Henry V I, Emperor, 263nHenry II, K ing, 235n, 245n, 257Henry III, K ing, 269-70, 422nHenry IV , K ing, 285nHenry V , K ing, 285nHenry V III, K ing, 146n, 278n, 292, 297Henry of Champagne, K ing of J erus alem, 260n, 265nHenry, K ing of the Romans , 270nHens mans Hotel , 457Herac l ius , Emperor, 163-5, 172-3, 179, 184, 189, 227Herac l ius , Patriarc h, 219n, 244, 245n, 246, 249-50, 254, 256Hermann of Salza, 270Herod the Great, K ing, 3, 5, 9, 14, 27n, 67n, 71, 74-92, 111, 123, 146n, 185his death, 90-2and mas s ac re of the innoc ents , 91rebui lding of J erus alem, 82-7Herod Agrippa I, K ing, 91n, 111-16, 119, 126Herod Agrippa II, K ing, 5-6, 9, 115-16, 119-24, 131-2Herod Antipas , T etrarc h, 90, 92-6, 98-100, 104-5, 110-12, 119, 122Herod A rc helaus , E thnarc h, 91n, 92-3Herod Phi l ip, T etrarc h, 93, 96, 111-12Herod, K ing of Chalc is , 115-16Herod's Gate, 208, 211, 468Herod's Palac e, 8, 84, 93Herod's T omb, 92nHerodias , 95-6, 98, 111-12Herodium fortres s , 79n, 92, 136Herodotus , 47, 49Hers hel l , Rabbi David, 345Herzl , T heodore, 373-82, 475, 503nHes s , Mos es , 374Hes s , Rudol f, 411nHethoum II, K ing of A rmenia, 279Hezekiah, K ing, 34-9, 355Hezekiah's W al l , 69nHigher A rab Committee, 448Hi lkiah, 40Hi l l of Evi l Couns el , 440Hi l lel , 149Himmler, Heinric h, 456, 480Hindenburg, Field Mars hal Paul von, 439nHindenburg (A l lenby's hors e), 419-20

Hindu Kus h, 50Hippic us tower, 84, 132Hippoc rates , 190nHiram, K ing of T yre, 26Hirs c h, Baron Mauric e de, 382Hitler, Adol f, 65n, 270n, 382n, 400, 423n, 436, 447, 450, 452-5, 459, 461meeting with Grand Mufti , 454-5ris e to power, 439-41Hitti tes , 14-15, 23Hoes s , Rudol f, 408Hoffens tahl , Captain, 389-90Hol land, 294-5Holoc aus t, 59, 395, 400, 408n, 440n, 455n, 457, 463, 487s urvivors , 463-4Yad Vas hem memorial , 454n, 483nHoly Lanc e, 152, 162, 209Holy of Hol ies , 3, 6-7, 27, 62, 72-3, 85-7, 112, 125, 129-30, 510and A rab c onques t, 175-6, 179Holy Sepulc hre, s ee Churc h of the Holy Sepulc hreHoly W ar A rmy, 448-9, 470Homer, 45Homs , 405Hood, Lord, 322Horn, Father E leazar, 309-10Horns of Hattin, 246, 248Hos hayahu, 42nHous e of W is dom, 190, 196Hugh, Count of J affa, 222Hungary, 342hunting, 233Hurc ombe, Sergeant Fred, 418Hurva Synagogue, 308n, 330, 349, 352n, 480, 511Hus s ars of Is rael , 343nHus s ein, bin A l i (grands on of the P rophet), 180Hus s ein, K ing of Hejaz (Sheri f Hus s ein), 402-3, 405-6, 415, 432his tomb, 479, 484Hus s ein, K ing of J ordan, 477, 484-5, 488-90, 505, 507-8, 515and S ix Day W ar, 490-6Hus s ein, Saddam, 251, 485Hus s eini fam i ly, 308-9, 329, 360-2, 364, 394, 423, 429, 434, 439, 483, 489, 491Abd al-Kadir al -Hus s eini , 449, 452, 468-71, 505nAdnan al-Hus s eini , 519nFais al al -Hus s eini , 470, 506-7, 518nHus s ein E ffendi al -Hus s eini , 385, 391, 399, 401, 417-18, 420Is mai l al -Hus s eini , 385J amal al-Hus s eini , 453Kamal al-Hus s eini , Grand Mufti Muhammad ibn Mus tafa al-Hus s eini , 307-8Mus a al-Hus s eini , 481-2Mus a Kazem al-Hus s eini , 424, 430, 433, 445, 449Rabah E ffendi al -Hus s eini , 364-5Rafiq al-Hus s eini , 518nSaid al-Hus s eini , 468Umar al-Hus s eini , 362Uthman al-Hus s eini , 385al-Hus s eini , Grand Mufti Haj Amin, 418, 429-31, 435-9, 441, 443, 445-55, 468-9and A rab revol t, 448-54meeting with Hi tler, 454-5pol i tic al dec l ine, 478, 481, 484-5Huxley, A ldous , xixHyrc anus the T obiad, 56-7, 61nHyrc anus II, 70-2, 74-6, 79, 81Ibn al-A rabi , 203, 213nIbn al-Qays arani , 233Ibn As akir, 183Ibn Battutah, 281Ibn Is haq, 172nIbn Khaldun, xvi i i , xxv, 179n, 186, 283-4Ibn K i l l is , Grand V izier, 193-4, 200nIbn Shaddad, Baha al-Din, 251n, 252, 261-4Ibn T aymiyya, 281Ibn T ulun, Ahmed, 190-1Ibn Unain, 253Ibn W as i l , 265, 270Ibrahim Pas ha 'the Red', 326-30, 333-4Idumeans , 71, 125al-Ikhs hid, Muhammad Ibn T ughi , 191Ikhs hid tombs , 193nIl -Ghazi , 203, 219-20Imad al-Din, 247, 251n, 254, 258Imperial Hotel , 444, 518Imperial Orthodox Pales tine Soc iety, 368, 386nIndia, 50n, 304, 311, 403Indus , river, 54, 57nIndus trial Revolution, 331Inti fadas , 503-4, 507Iran, 73, 180n, 181, 186-7, 454J ewis h c ommunity, 34n, 48nIraq, 30, 36, 64, 73, 101, 134, 150, 180n, 186, 218, 234, 236, 382n, 404and A rab c onques t, 172, 178, 180-1and A rab Revol t, 403, 405and divis ion of Middle Eas t, 432, 446, 454, 467-8and Grand Mufti 's revol t, 448, 454and Is lam ic s ul tanate, 243, 251, 253, 262and Is rael i wars , 477, 494J ewis h c ommunity, 34n, 48n, 133, 486and Pers ian c onques t, 161, 163Iraq W ar, 209, 406Ireland, 409Ireneos , Patriarc h, 520-1Irgun Zvai Leumi, 439, 450, 453, 457-60, 464-7, 470, 472, 475, 479, 503nIs aac , s on of Abraham, 16, 27n, 39n, 86Is aac Angelus , 263Is abel la, Queen of Cas ti le, 293-4Is abel la, Queen of J erus alem, 256n, 265nIs aiah, prophet, 33-5, 38, 95, 97, 100-1Is fahan, 283Is hbos heth, 21Is lam, 10, 483early, 170-1, 174, 176, 178, 180-1, 184and offers of c onvers ion, 248-9Is mai l , Imam, 194Is mai l , Shah, 288Is raeland As s yrian c onques t, 31-4c oinage, 124, 136and dys func tional democ rac y, 511nfounding of modern s tate, xxiv, 326, 475-6and the Mac c abees , 65nrevol t agains t Romans , 123-4, 136and S ix Day W ar, 492-8and Suez c ris is , 490union and s pl i t wi th J udah, 21-2, 25, 30-1war of independenc e, 458n, 476-82Is rael Defenc e Forc es , 452, 491Is rael i tes , xvi i i , 15-20, 25-9Los t T ribes , 34, 297n, 322, 337-8Is raelovs ky Regiment, 311nIs rafi l , A rc hangel of Death, 185nIs rai l iy y at, 176Is tanbul , 293, 295-6, 302-3, 306, 311, 315n, 327, 330, 333-5, 342-3, 356, 360-1, 370, 377, 389, 393-4, 400, 402, 405n, 416n, 454nItaly, 71, 73, 143, 269, 270n, 295Ital ian J ews , 454

Iturea, 69Ivan the T errible, 146nivory, 28Izzat Bey, 417J abiya, 174J abotins ky, V ladim ir, 421, 423, 428-31, 437-9, 458-9, 499J ac ob (Is rael), 16J ac ob Baradeus , 157nJ ac obs , J ul ius , 426nJ ac obs on, Eddie, 461, 473J affa, 268, 271, 310, 329, 339, 355-6, 363, 394, 418, 448, 450and Crus ades , 209-10, 215-16, 219, 249, 258, 262and J erus alem rai lway, 348-9and Napoleonic invas ion, 312, 316-18and Parker fias c o, 391-2s ee als o J oppaJ affa Gate, 104, 208, 268, 288, 292n, 319, 343, 347, 349, 356, 363-4, 377, 384, 397, 400, 418-21, 424, 441, 444, 451-3, 469, 473, 479, 519J affa Road, 356, 363, 384, 417-18S t J ames , 115, 119nS t J ames the J us t (J ames , brother of J es us ), 107, 109-10, 115, 117-19, 124, 144S t J ames 's Cathedral , 233n, 285, 318nS t J ames es Cathedral , 119n, 162, 277J ames I, K ing, 300J ames , K ing of A ragon, 279J ames , brother of J es us , s ee S t J ames the J us tJ ames on Raid, 389nJ amra, 188J aqmaq, Sul tan, 286, 287nal-J aral lah, Sheikh Hus am, 481 s ee J aral lahJ as on, 61J awhariyyeh, W as i f, xxv, 384-5, 388, 390, 395, 397-401, 417, 419-20, 429, 435, 444-5, 449, 453, 456-7, 471-4J awhar al-S iqi l i , 193J azzar Pas ha, Ahmet, 315-18J ebus i tes , 15, 18, 21-2J effers on, T homas , P res ident, 336J eharah, K ing of J udah, 31J ehoas h, K ing, 32-3J ehoiakim , K ing, 41, 45J ehos haphat Gate, 240J ehovah's W itnes s es , 337nJ ehu, K ing, 32J em Sultan, Crown P rinc e, 288J emal Pas ha, 395-8, 400, 403, 407-8, 414, 416, 419, 489J eremiah, prophet, 41-3, 44n, 100n, 101, 301J eric ho, 13-14, 17n, 43, 71, 79-80, 84n, 90-1, 125, 163, 210, 276, 363, 465, 479J eroboam, 29-30S t J erome, 151-4, 160J erus alemA lbanian c onques t, 326-30Americ an obs es s ion with, 329n, 336-9A rab c onques t, 173-7, 181-6and arc haeology, 354-6, 390and As s yrian threat, 36-8Babylonian des truc tion, 1, 9, 42-4B ri tis h c onques t, 416-26Bri tis h wi thdrawal, 465-71Byzantine c i ty, 159-60c anine pogrom, 307-8Chris tian pi lgrims , 200-1, 226-7, 284-5, 327-8Crus ader c i ty, 225-32, 235-6Crus ader c onques t, 203-20David's c onques t, 21-23divided c i ty, 481-9earthquakes , 149-50, 155, 187, 200evangel is ts and vis i tors , 331-58Fatim id c onques t, 193-5and Grand Mufti 's revol t, 448-54Hadrian's c i ty, 135nas heavenly c i ty, 10, 33-4, 117, 133, 140, 197Hel lenization, 59-62Herod's rebui lding, 82-7Hezekiah's c i ty, 35Is lam ic c i ty, 264-5Is lam ic c onques t, 249-50, 253-4and Is rael i rule, 503-23Kais er's vis i t, 377-80and l i fe of J es us , 98-106Mamluk c onques t, 271-2, 276-88modern l i fe, 515-20modernis t c i ty, 440-5and Mongol raids , 272, 275, 277-8multipl ic i ty of names , 176n, 521-2nineteenth-c entury c i ty, 359-66Ottoman c onques t, 291-3Pers ian c onques t, 161-4Pers ian rebui lding, 49-51riots , 429-30, 436-8, 506-7, 509-10Roman des truc tion, 1-10Roman res toration, 145-6, 149-50Roman s uppres s ion, 134-9and Rus s ian pi lgrims , 353, 369, 385-7, 392, 405ns ec uri ty wal l , 509, 512s i tuation and name, 13-14and S ix Day W ar, 492-5T artar c onques t, 271-2theoc rac y and power s truggle, 58-9and T hree Pas has , 394-401and T urkoman c onques t, 202-3J erus alem Ac ademy, 191n, 195J erus alem B rigade, 470, 497J erus alem Chapels , 285J erus alem Ches s Club, 424J erus alem Emergenc y Committee, 474J erus alem Famil ies , xxiv, 177, 316, 329, 351, 370, 384, 398-9, 420, 442, 472, 474, 508n, 518, 521as c endanc y of, 308-9, 360-1, 364, 385, 434-5and Is rael i war, 481, 483-4, 488and land s ales , 394, 437J erus alem Syndrome, xxi , 341-2, 437-8, 499, 501-2J es s e, of Bethlehem, 19J es us , prophet, 120-1J es us Chris t, 4, 10, 34, 48n, 87, 90, 135, 148n, 150, 165n, 427, 461his c i rc umc is ion, 222and early Chris tians , 117-19, 122, 133-4, 136and Gnos tic s , 140nand ic ons , 229and Is lam, 170, 185, 519his l i fe, 91, 93-4, 96-110and Manic haeanis m, 144nrel ic s of, 146-7, 152, 162, 229his tomb, 146-7, 165n, 271, 300, 320and W il l iam B lake, 321nJ ewis h Agenc y, 445, 457, 461-5, 475, 481, 503nJ ewis h Auxi l iaries , 452J ewis h c alendar, 27J ewis h Legion, 421, 430J ewis h obs ervanc es , 45, 54, 59J es us and, 97-8J ewis h Quarter, 8, 35n, 36, 43, 159n, 191, 255, 286, 295, 298, 308, 335, 345, 511, 518and Buraq Upris ing, 438and Is rael i war, 468, 479-80res toration of, 503-4

and S ix Day W ar, 497J ewis h revol t, 1-10, 122-6J ewis h Settlement Pol ic e, 450-1J ewis h s ettlements , 506, 508, 515-16J ewis h T erri torial Organization, 382J ewsand A lbanian c onques t, 330Americ an, 428, 502anti -Zionis t, 410, 414, 421, 486and A rab c onques t, 176, 179, 183, 186As hkenazi , 20, 191n, 298, 308, 330, 443and Babylonian exi le, 45, 47-50Bri tis h, 257, 277n, 301, 350burial c us toms , 108and Byzantine pers ec ution, 153-5, 159, 161, 165c onvers ion of, 330-5and Cos s ac k mas s ac res , 301-2and Crus aders , 212-13, 240, 257, 270Dias pora, 293-4, 302divis ions among, 190-1, 195dyers , 240, 278and Fatim ids , 194-5, 198, 202German, 439, 441Greek, 454nHas idic , 22, 64, 100n, 359, 375n, 364, 375n, 399, 473, 486, 487nand immigration, 374-5, 383, 431, 437-40, 442, 445, 453, 457, 463-4, 511and Is lam ic s ul tanate 255, 264, 268Ital ian, 454and land purc has es , 385, 394, 437, 453Los t T ribes , 34n, 297n, 322, 337-8and Mamluk s ul tanate, 276, 286-7and mes s ianis m, 301-3and Napoleon's proc lamation, 316-17and Ottoman s ul tanate, 293, 297-8, 307, 309and Pers ian al l ianc e, 162-3Pol is h, 307-8, 357, 359, 375n, 441, 457and Roman s uppres s ion, 129-39, 148-50Rus s ian, 330, 334-5, 345, 350, 367-70, 374-5, 382-3, 412-13, 415, 423-4, 430, 508-9Sephardic , 20, 24, 191n, 293-4, 298, 300, 308, 324, 330, 345-6, 359-60, 384, 510Spanis h, 293-4, 296ul tra-Orthodox, 486, 505-7, 510J ezebel , Queen, 31-2j ihad, 171, 184, 208, 215, 256, 259, 447, 468anti -B ri tis h, 395, 402A l-J ihad al-Muqadas , 508J oab, 23-4J oanna, Queen, 257, 259J oanna, 108S t J ohn, 102n, 109J ohn, K ing, 235n, 245n, 262J ohn, Patriarc h, 192J ohn Hyrc anus , 25n, 68-9, 71nJ ohn of B rienne, K ing of J erus alem, 265-6J ohn of Gis c hala, 8, 124-5J ohn of Ibel in, 225J ohn of Leiden, 297nJ ohn the Baptis t, 79n, 90, 94-6, 98, 99n, 100n, 105, 152n, 365, 449J ohn T zim is kes , Emperor, 194J ohns on, Lyndon B ., P res ident, 493J onathan, P rinc e, 77J onathan the Mac c abee, s ee Mac c abeesJ onathan, s on of Saul , 20-1, 79-80J oppa, 67, 79n, 84ns ee als o J affaJ ordan, 22-3, 28, 61n, 82, 180n, 218, 251, 433, 468, 471, 505and Is rael i war, 477, 481, 512and S ix Day W ar, 494-5and UAR, 490-1J ordan, river, 13, 65, 95, 379n, 430, 493J ors alaborg, 217J os eph, K ing, 158nJ os eph, Dov/Bernard, 471, 478J os eph of A rimathea, 104, 107-8, 321nJ os eph the T obiad, 56-7J os ephus , xxv, 53, 58, 61, 66, 68, 74-5, 82, 85, 115, 119-20, 354nand J ewis h revol t, 3-9, 120-1, 123-6, 129, 131-2and l i fe of J es us , 96n, 99n, 100n, 101, 105-6wri ting of J ew is h W ar, 131J os iah, K ing, 39-40J os hua, 17-18, 210J os hua the pries t, 49J otapata, 124J uba II, K ing of Mauretania, 82n, 93n al-J ubeh, Nazmi, xxi i , 508J udah haNas i , 138-9J udahand As s yrian c onques t, 31-9and Babylonian c onques t, 41-6c urrenc y, 55and Is rael , 21-2, 25, 30-1J udah the Mac c abee, s ee Mac c abeesJ udah the P ious , 307J udais m, 10, 34, 40, 45, 48n, 50, 53, 110, 132, 483, 499and early Chris tiani ty, 110, 118, 140J udas Is ac riot, 39n, 91n, 103, 109J udeh fam i ly, 518Aded al-J udeh, 517-18J ul ia, 88J ul ia Sabina, 58nJ ul ian the Apos tate, Emperor, 149-50, 160n, 163J ul ien (valet), 321J uniper, B rother, 299nJ us tin, Emperor, 158J us tin, 136, 138J us tinian, Emperor, 130n, 158-61, 163, 182, 184J us tinian II, Emperor, 182J uvel ius , Dr Val ter, 388-90, 393nJ uvenal , B is hop, 156-7Kaab al-Ahbar, 175-6Kaaba, xix, 169-70, 182, 185Kabbala, 298, 301-2Kaddis h, 494Kafur, Abul-Mis k, 191-3Kahn, Rabbi Zadok, 380Kalandia airport, 474Kaleb, K ing of Axum, 158nKal is c her, Rabbi Zvi Hirs c h, 374Kamil , Sul tan, 260, 265-8, 270Kamini tz Hotel , 343Kaplony, Andreas , 183nKarbala, 180Karkar, Battle of, 31Karnak, 31Kas hgar, 202Kas tel , 471-2Katamon, 443, 469, 481Keith, A lexander, 332nKeith-Roac h, Edward, 437, 450, 456-7Kennedy, J ohn F., P res ident, 454Kenya, 381Kerak, 245, 361Kerem Avraham, 444Kerens ky, A lexander, 423n, 429n

KGB, 486Khadi ja, 169-70Khadir, Sheikh, 276-7nKhal id bin W al id, 172-4, 177Khal idi fam i ly, 271n, 308n, 329, 360-2, 439, 466Hus s ein al-Khal idi , 470Ras hid al-Khal idi , 518nRuhi al-Khal idi , 385, 394Yas in al-Khal idi , 378Yus uf al-Diya al-Khal idi , 360-2, 370, 380Khal idiyyah Library, 271n, 361n, 509nKhartoum, 365nKhazaria, 191nKhazneh s hrine, 98al-Khazrajy, Sheikh Ghanim, 263Khidr the Green Man, 197al-Khidri , 188nKhmelmyts ky, Hetman Bogdan, 301Khoras an, 187Khus rau II, Shah-in-Shah, 161, 163-4K iam i l Pas ha, 349K idron Val ley, 24n, 40, 85, 87, 103, 132, 139, 218, 226, 479, 493K iev, 489K ing-Crane Commis s ion, 428K ing David Hotel , 441-2, 457-8, 462, 464, 470, 473, 492Zionis t bombing, 465-6K ing's Gardens , 511nK ing's Road, 50nK inglake, A lexander, 345nK irkbridge, S ir A lec , 475K is hniev, 380K itc hener of Khartoum, Hebert, 1s t Earl , 355n, 402-3K laus ner, J os eph, 438K leber, General J ean-Baptis te, 317Knes s et, 478, 484, 492, 502-3Knights Hos pi tal ler, 219, 226, 243, 246, 249, 259Knights T emplar, 219, 226, 229-30, 243, 246, 249, 268-70, 344nKoes tler, A rthur, 191n, 437-8, 461nKol lek, T eddy, 501, 504-5Kons tantin Nikolaievic h, Grand Duke, 353Koran, 165, 170-1, 173-4, 183-4, 197n, 251, 264, 284, 304, 384, 425, 477Kos ygin, A lexei , 490Kres s von K res s ens tein, Baron Friedric h, 395, 416Kurdis tan, 405nKut, 403Kuwait, 488la s ais on , 461Lac his h, 38, 42nLadino language, 295, 335, 360Lagerlof, Selma, 366Laodic ea, 80Las t Emperor legend, 189, 256, 269, 340Las t Supper, 25n, 103n, 254Latrun fortres s , 260, 480Lawrenc e, Sarah, 404Lawrenc e, T . E ., xxv 403-7, 408, 410, 418-22, 425-7, 431-3, 477, 488, 510and Orde W ingate, 450-1Lawrenc e, T homas , 322Le Moniteur, 317Le T horon des Cheval iers (Latrun), 260League of Nations , 428Lebanon, 22, 79, 82, 116, 131n, 180n, 203n, 243, 355, 405, 428, 442, 449, 455n, 456, 469, 477Lebanes e war, 502-3, 511Lehi (S tern Gang), 460-62, 464-6, 471, 481Leic es ter, 363Lenin, V . I., 410, 415, 434Leo, Pope, 229nLeontopol is , 66nLeopold II, K ing of the Belgians , 348lepros y, 242nLevine, A l ter, 407-8, 417nLevi tes , 59Libya, 54, 101, 382n, 394Lic inius , Emperor, 144Li fta, 418Ligne, P rinc e de, 311Linc oln, Abraham, P res ident, 347nLinc oln, Mary T odd, 347nLions ' Gate, 162n, 276, 292n, 496Li tani , river, 244Li terary Soc iety, 422Li thuania, 191n, 293-4, 298, 350nLivermore, Harriet, 338-9Livia, Empres s , 90, 92, 95Living Imams , 193-4, 197Livonia, 285Livorno, 302, 350Lloyd George, David, 1s t Earl of Dwyfor, xxv, 381, 409, 411, 413, 415, 418, 424, 426-8, 431loc us ts , 398London, 207n, 219n, 352, 370, 421, 441, 446, 453London J ews Soc iety, 332, 335, 365London S toc k Exc hange, 350Lott, Clyde, 86nLoughborough, 363Louis V II, K ing, 234-5, 244Louis IX , K ing, 271-2Louis Phi l ippe, K ing, 330Lovers of Zion, 382Luc era, 267Lueger, Karl , 373Luke, S ir Harry, 442, 444Luri , Rabbi Is aac , 298Luther, Martin, 296Luxor, 14Lydda, 138, 478Lync h, Lieutenant W i l l iam, 346Lyons , 112Lys ias , 63Maamun, Cal iph, 190, 196nMac arius , B is hop, 145-6, 147nMac as ader, Mr, 390-1Mac c abee, J onathan, the Diplomat, 66-7Mac c abee, J udah, the Hammer, 64-6Mac c abee, S imon, the Great, 65, 67-8Mac c abees , 23, 65-70, 72, 76, 78-80, 83, 89, 100n, 120, 277n, 373, 434, 452, 458Mac Donald, Malc olm , 453Mac Donald, Rams ay, 438-9Mac edonians , s ee GreeksMac haerus fortres s , 79n, 96, 98Mac hiavel l i , Nic c olo, 327Mc Mahon, S ir Henry, 403-5Mac Mic hael , Harold, 461-2Mc Nei l , B rigadier Angus , 442Madaba, 69, 160nMadagas c ar, 382nMadrid, 504Maghrebi Gate, 497-8, 503Maghrebi Quarter, 421, 491n, 502magic , 48nMagnes , J udah, 450al-Magribiyyah, S ima, 399Mahmoud II, Sul tan, 327

Maimonides , Mos es , 240-1, 252-3Makhtes h, 35nMal ik Shah, Sul tan, 202nMalta, 299, 360Mamil la, 162, 213, 227, 441Mamluk arc hi tec ture, 280-81nMamluks , 247, 258-9, 271-2, 275-88, 291Manas s eh, K ing, 38-40Manc hes ter, 363, 409-10 Manc hes ter Guardian , 411Mandelbaum, S imc hoh and Es ther, 486Mandelbaum Gate, 486, 491, 496Manic haeanis m, 144Mans ur ibn Sanjun, 179Mans ur, Cal iph, 188Manuel, Emperor, 237-9Manzikert, 202Mar Saba Monas tery, 156nMarathon, Battle of, 50nMarc us V ips anius Agrippa, 81-2, 84, 88, 113Marc us Aurel ius , Emperor, 138Maria, Queen of J erus alem, 239, 249-50, 256nMaria II, Queen of J erus alem, 265nMariamme, 75, 76-85, 88-9, 111Mariamme tower, 84Marina (Marinos ), 154nMark Antony (Marc us Antonius ), 75, 77-8, 80-2, 111, 131, 134nMarks & Spenc er, 446Marley, Bob, 456nMaroni tes , 296, 355Marr, W i lhelm , 368nMars hal l , General George, 476Martel , Charles , 65n, 186martyrdom, 62, 447Marwan, c al iph, 180-1Marwan Mos que, 509Marx, Karl , 345, 374Mary I, Queen, 278nMary of Antioc h, Queen of J erus alem, 278nMary, mother of J es us (V irgin Mary), 91, 92n, 107-8, 222, 519and ic ons , 229her tomb, 178, 277, 288n, 496Mary Magdalene, xix, 107Mas ada fortres s , 77, 79n, 81, 123, 130-1, 458Mattathias , 63-5Maundrel l , Henry, 306nMauric e, Emperor, 161Maxentius , Emperor, 143Maxim i l ian, A rc hduke, Emperor of Mexic o, 348May, Kurt and Miriam, 441-2Mays un, 179Mazor, Dr E i lat, 23nMea Shearim , 364, 399, 444, 478, 486Mec c a, xix, 101, 176, 181-2, 184, 188n, 197, 245, 251, 264, 292, 309n, 370, 395and A rab Revol t, 402, 406and l i fe of the P rophet, 169-72and W ahabis , 281, 327, 432nMedes , 39, 47Medina, 171, 188n, 197, 245, 251Mediterranean Hotel , 357nMegiddo, 26, 29n, 31, 41Megiddo, Battle of, 426Mehmet IV , Sul tan, 304, 400Mehmet V Ras hid, Sul tan, 395Meir, Golda, 478, 491Melania, 151Melbourne, W i l l iam Lamb, 2nd V is c ount, 332Melc hizedek, 16, 152nMel is ende, Queen of J erus alem, 221-5, 228-30, 232-4, 236Mel is ende Ps al ter, 223nMelvi l le, Herman, xix, xxiv, 334, 338, 344-5, 347, 349Menas s eh ben Is rael , Rabbi , 302Mendel, Menac hem, 343Menelaos , 61-3, 66Menel ik, K ing, 157nMengele, Dr J os ef, 487menorah, 130nMerneptah, pharaoh, 18Merri l l , Selah, 365-6Merv, 202nMes ha, K ing of Moab, 31-2nMes hal, Khaled, 512nMes opotamia, 13Mes s al ina, 116nMes s ina, 257Mic ah, prophet, 38S t Mic hael , 502S t Mic hael 's Chapel, 518Mic hal , 20, 22Mic hmas , 66Mic kiewis z, Adam, 343nMihrimah, 292mik v ah , 95Mi l ford Haven, Louis Mountbatten, 1s t Marquis of, 444nMil ler, W i l l iam, 337nMil ton, J ohn, 39nMir Mehmed, 292Mis hnah, 27n, 86n, 139Mis hneh, 35nMithrais m, 144Mithridates , K ing of Pontus , 70Mizpah, 44nMoab, 70Moabites , 19, 31-2nModes tos , Patriarc h, 163, 165Modin, 63, 66, 458molok , 39nMolotov, Vyec hes lav, 440nMonas tery of the Cros s , 106n, 296nMongols , 272, 275, 277-9Monophys i tes , 156-7, 174, 519Montagu, Edwin, 414Montefiore, S ir Abraham, 357nMontefiore, Claude, 414Montefiore, S ir Franc is , 375Montefiore, J udi th, 323-4, 332, 349, 351, 357nMontefiore, S ir Mos es , 323-4, 325n, 332-3, 335-6, 348-51, 354, 357, 374, 421Montefiore Quarter, 351-2, 357, 384, 438, 467-9, 470Montes quieu, Baron de, 326Montgis ard, 243Montgomery, Field Mars hal Bernard, 1s t V is c ount, 452-4, 459, 464-6Montjoie, 204, 260Morgan, J . P ., J r., 423Morganthau, Henry, 398nMorley, Edmund Parker, 4th Earl of, 388Morley, J ohn Parker, 6th Earl of, 393Mormons , 338Moroc c o, 180n, 255, 283Morphia, Queen of J erus alem, 218Morris , Benny, 471Mos c ow, 369, 386n, 444n, 454, 462n, 489, 492-3, 515Mos es , 17, 40, 86n, 110, 170, 276, 410, 520Mos que of Omar, 264

mos que (the word), 171nMos s ad, 488, 505Mos ul, 217, 427Motol , 350n, 412Mount A rarat, 389nMount Gerizim , 53, 110, 509Mount Gi lboa, 20Mount Hermon, 248Mount Herzl , 487, 507Mount Moriah, 3, 7, 16, 24-5, 27, 35n, 179, 182Mount Nebo, 17Mount of Ol ives , 86-7, 139, 195, 236, 240, 323, 409, 434, 517, 521and Chris tiani ty, 99, 108, 117, 153c hurc hes , 147, 162, 368and c ruc i fixions , 1-2and Crus aders , 210-11and European vis i tors , 332, 363n and Is lam ic s ul tanate, 260, 265J ewis h c emetery, 139, 338, 479and Mamluk s ul tanate, 286and Ottoman s ul tanate, 295and P rovidenc e, 10, 132and Sec ond Coming, 500s ee als o Augus ta V ic toria fortres sMount Sc opus , 3, 174, 394, 425, 434, 473, 481-83, 494, 496Mount Zion, xxi - xxi i , 69, 120n, 132, 139, 148, 156, 200, 211, 338, 379n, 449, 463and A lbanian c onques t, 329Cenac le (David's T omb), 25n, 69, 103, 109, 239, 240n, 254, 255n, 260, 281, 286, 292n, 295, 327, 329, 400and Is lam ic s ul tanate, 254, 255nand Is rael i wars , 480, 495, 497and Mamluk s ul tanate, 281, 286-7and Ottoman s ul tanate, 292n, 299s ynagogue, 139, 148Mourners of Zion, 195Mous s aieff fam i ly, 375Movement for the Es tabl is hment of the T emple, 503Moyne, W alter Guinnes s , 1s t Baron, 382n, 441, 459Muawiya ibn Abi Sufayan, c al iph, 177-81Muazzam Is a, Sul tan, 265-7Mubarak, Hos ne, 505Mufti of J erus alem, s ee Hus s eini , Am inMuhammad, P rinc e of J ordan, 488, 491Muhammad, P rophet, 10, 44, 165, 174, 176, 184-5, 187, 246, 259, 291, 303, 403n, 520his l i fe, 169-72his Night J ourney, 169-70, 182, 200, 259, 437rel ic s of, 229Muhammad, s on of Farrukh, 297Muhammad A l i , 326-7, 329, 333-4, 350Muizz, Cal iph, 193-4Muj i r al -Din, 288mulberry trees , 295Munic h Agreement, 452Munic h Olympic s , 502Muns ter, 297nMunqidh, Us amah bin, s ee Us amahal-Muqaddas i , 182, 191n, 195-7Mus c ovy, 340Mus l im B rotherhood, 445, 477, 506, 508Mus l im Quarter, 276, 281, 356, 357n, 438, 506, 507-8, 520Mus s ol ini , Beni to, 430-1, 454Mus tans ir, Cal iph, 200nMus tas im , Cal iph, 190Myc enae, 14-15Nabataea, 88nNabataeans , 81Nabi Daoud, 295Nabi Mus a fes tival , 276, 308n, 361, 388, 391-2Nabi Mus a riots , 429-31, 435Nabi Samuel, 416-17Nablus , 236, 246, 270, 318, 327, 329, 365, 391, 417, 447, 449, 484Nabonidus , K ing of Babylon, 46Nabopolas s ar, 39Nac hmanides , Ramban, 278-9al-Nadim, 190nNahalavat Shiva, 364Nahum, prophet, 36Napoleon I (Bonaparte), Emperor, 311-12, 315-18, 320-1, 323, 326, 374, 427, 446Napoleon III, Emperor, 342-3, 348, 355, 380nal-Naqas hibi , Nas ir al -Din, 435nNarkis s , General Uzi , 494-7Nas has hibi fam i ly, 435n, 438-9, 442, 489Fakhri Bey al-Nas has hibi , 449Nas s ereddin al-Nas has hibi , 435, 443, 463, 484-5Ragheb al-Nas has hibi , 385, 394, 399, 422, 435-6, 439, 441, 448-9, 453, 478, 483Nas i , J os eph, 295, 297Nas ir Daud, Sul tan, 268, 270-1Nas ir Muhammad, Sul tan, 278, 279-81, 344nNas ir-i -Khus rau, 200-1Nas s er, Colonel Gamal Abdul , P res ident, 485, 489-90, 492-8, 506, 519Nathan, prophet, 23, 25Naumov, B is hop Cyri l , 386Navarino, Battle of, 327Nazarenes , 109-10, 115Nazareth, 95, 275, 416Nea Churc h, 159-60, 162Nebuc hadnezzar, K ing of Babylon, xix, 9, 41-6, 59, 65, 374, 388-9Nebuzardan, 43-4Nec ho, pharaoh, 41Negev, 481, 493, 516Neguib, General Muhammad, 482Nehemiah (c up-bearer), 51, 54, 56nNehemiah (J ewis h leader), 162-3Nels on, Admiral Horatio, 312, 494Nero, Emperor, 2, 60, 116, 118-21, 124, 126Nerva, Emperor, 133Nes torians , 157Nes torius , Patriarc h, 156Netanyahu, B inyamin, 507-8, 514Netzer, Ehud, 92nNew J erus alem Monas tery, 340nNew Salem, Il l inois , 347nNew York, 476, 489New York Times , 378, 392Newgate P ris on, 322Nic anor, 66Nic holas I, Emperor of Rus s ia, 339-43, 347, 350Nic holas II, Emperor of Rus s ia, 369, 379, 382-3, 386, 387n, 413, 444nNight of the B ridges , 464Nikolai Hos tel , 463, 475Nikolaus of Damas c us , 82Nikon, Patriarc h, 340nNi le, river, 135, 218, 271NILI, 407Nineveh, 31, 36, 38-9NKVD, 461Noah, 298Nob, 20Noble Sanc tuary, 281North Korea, 489Northern Rhodes ia, 436Notable Famil ies , s ee J erus alem Famil iesNottingham, 257nNubia, 28

Numrud, 32nNur al-Din, A tabeg, 234-43, 251his minbar, 237, 254, 269, 502Nuremberg trials , 439nNus aybah, 177nNus s eibeh fam i ly, 177n, 263, 298, 308n, 309, 361, 420, 442, 488, 491, 520Anwar al-Nus s eibeh, 442, 465-6, 468-9, 475-6, 479, 481n, 488, 491Hazem al-Nus s eibeh, 308n, 420n, 442, 444-5, 448, 456, 483, 488Obadah al-Nus s eibeh, 520Sari al -Nus s eibeh, 442, 483, 486-9, 491, 515, 518W ajeeh al-Nus s eibeh, 517-20Obadiah of Bertinoro, Rabbi , 288Obama, Barac k, P res ident, 512, 516nOc tavia, 82nOc tavian, s ee Augus tus , EmperorOdes s a, 339, 353, 367, 383, 386, 421Offic ers Club, 442, 464Ol ivet, 288, 338, 365, 444nOlmert, Ehud, 508, 515-16Olympic Games , 124Omar, 172, 174-8Omar II, Cal iph, 186, 255, 291, 304, 420n, 508, 520Onias II, 56, 61Onias IV , 66n, 67n, 70nOperation Agatha, 465Operation Nac hs hon, 471Operation T ariq, 494Ophel hi l l , 15, 21n, 22, 24, 355, 390, 393Orad II, K ing of Parthia, 73, 76nOrder of Carol ine, 323Order of S t Lazarus , 242nOrder of the Holy Sepulc hre, 320Orient Expres s , 376Orient Hous e, 364, 505Orleans , 238Orthodox Churc h, 157, 160, 189, 255, 486, 488and rel igious c onfl ic t, 201, 296, 299-300, 310, 320, 331, 339-40, 343, 348, 424, 488, 519-20Ortuq bin Aks ab, 203Os lo peac e talks , 506, 507n, 514Os orkon, pharaoh, 31os trac a , 42nOthman, 178, 181Ottoman Cos s ac ks , 343nOttoman empire, 296-7, 326-30, 333-4, 341, 343, 361-2, 380mil i tary defeat, 416-26and the T hree Pas has , 394-401, 403, 415nOttoman Land Law, 364nOutrejourdain, 243, 264Outremer, 215, 225-32, 249W il l iam 's his tory, 239, 245nOverc omers , 364-6Oxford, 333, 442, 445Oz, Amos , 438, 441, 444, 457, 465, 467, 483, 486-7, 516Pac orus , P rinc e, 76Pac t of Omar, 177nPahlavan knights , 76nPakis tan, 53-4Palac e Hotel , 441Palaes tina, 137, 149, 154, 165Palermo, 218, 266-7, 270nPales tine (nation and s tate), 19n, 380, 431, 453-4, 478, 504, 513Bri tis h Mandate, 428, 431, 433, 465, 473parti tion, 466-7, 475Pales tine A rab Party, 449Pales tine Exploration Fund, 354-5, 363nPales tine Liberation Organization (PLO), 491, 503-4, 505-6, 508Pales tine National Counc i l , 478nPales tine Pos t, 457, 465, 469Pales tine Soc iety, 517nPales tinian Authori ty, 364, 507, 510Pales tinian Chris tians , 218Palm Sunday, 191, 218, 227, 387Palmac h, 456-7, 463, 469, 471, 474, 479Palmers ton, Henry T emple, 3rd V is c ount, xxv, 331-2, 334Palmyran empire, 140Paltiel , 194-5pan-A rabis m, 486, 489, 504Pannyc his , 89paradis e, 48nParis , 150, 207n, 238, 285, 339, 347n, 352, 373, 380n, 462Vers ai l les peac e talks , 426-8Parker, Monty, (later Earl of Morley), 388-93Parry, S ir Hubert, 321n, 426Pars ons , Levi , 337Parthians , 68, 73, 75-8, 81, 130, 133, 139Pas argadae, 49Pas c hal II, Pope, 219Pas s field, Lord (S idney W ebb), 438Pas s over, 35, 40, 50, 59, 159, 324n, 360, 363n, 369, 388, 471, 517and blood l ibel , 333, 336J es us and, 98-102, 107-9, 148and longing for J erus alem, 139, 374S t Paul , 117-18, 121, 143Paul, Emperor of Rus s ia, 342Paul V I, Pope, 491Paula, 151-2Paul inus , 155-6Peel, W i l l iam, 1s tEarl , 448Peel, S ir Robert, 334Pentec os t, 103n, 109Pepys , Samuel, 304Peres , Shimon, P res ident, 494, 506-7, 514, 515Pergami, Bartolomeo, 322-3Pers ephone, 385Pers epol is , 50nPers ia, 63, 181, 458Pers ian Gulf, 35Pers ians , 46-53, 73, 75, 139-40, 150, 161-4, 288Petah T ikvah, 374S t Peter, 98, 102n, 104, 109, 115, 121, 151Peter, B is hop of W inc hes ter, 270Peter the Great, Emperor of Rus s ia, 146n, 340Peter, K ing of Yugos lavia, 456Peter the Georgian, 156nS t Peters burg, 339, 350, 368, 370, 380, 386, 415Petra, 71, 98Petronius , 112Pharis ees , 70, 72, 98, 100, 102, 105Pharos l ighthous e, 55Phas ael , 74Phas ael tower, 84, 93Pheroras , 81, 88nPhi l ip II Augus tus , K ing, 257-8, 260nPhi l ip II, K ing of Mac edon, 52Phi l ip II, K ing of Spain, 278nPhi l ip, P rinc e, Duke of Edinburgh, 444n, 454nPhi l ipp, P rinc e of Eulenburg, 376-8Phi l ippa, P rinc es s , 238Phi l ippi , Battle of, 75Phi l is tines , 18-20, 23, 137Phi lo J udaeus of A lexandria, 99n

Phoenic ia, 81Phoenic ian temples , 28Phoenic ians , 22, 26, 39nphotography, 363, 378P ic ot, Franc ois -Georges , 405, 420, 424P i lgrim S trangers , 338P ins k, 409P ins ker, Leo, 374P itt, W i l l iam, the E lder, Earl of Chatham, 413

P itt, W i l l iam, the Younger, 322plague, 256, 258, 332P lato, 190n, 446P lehve, Vyec hes lav von, 380P l iny the E lder, 3

, 381, 383P lumer, Field Mars hal Hebert, 1s t V is c ount, 436Poland, 291, 293-4, 298, 301, 311n, 461, 486nPol is h J ews , 307-8, 357, 359, 375n, 441, 457polo, 237, 251, 442Pompei i , 119nPompey the Great, Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus , 6, 70-3Pontius P i late, 99n, 100, 102, 104-5, 107-8, 110, 115, 119, 122, 135nPontus , 88nPools of Solomon, 329popes , 151, 159Popi l l ius Laenas , 62Poppaea, 120-1Popular Front for the Liberation of Pales tine, 501Port Said, 444nPortugal , 294Pos tal Cafe, 444Potemkin, P rinc e Gregory, 311, 374Potter's Field, 109pris oners , rans oming of, 213Pro-J erus alem Soc iety, 423prophets , 19pros ti tution, 144, 226-7, 258, 398, 421, 424Protes tant Churc hes , 157, 296-7, 299Protoc ols of the E lders of Zion , 380n, 383, 423-4, 433, 456nPrus s ia, 285, 334, 363P tolemais (Ac re), 67, 70n, 78, 124P tolemy I Soter, K ing, 54-5, 57n, 58nP tolemy II Phi ladelphos , K ing, 55, 56nP tolemy III Eugertes , K ing, 56P tolemy IV , K ing, 57nP tolemy V I Phi lometer, K ing, 66n, 67P tolemy V III Euergetes , K ing, 67nP tolemy IX Soter, K ing, 70nP tolemy X III, K ing, 73P tolemy, K ing of Mauretania, 82nP tolemy of A lexandria, 190nPulc heria, Empres s , 153, 155-7Punc h , 379Purim , 360, 384Puri tans , 300-1, 332, 337Pus hkin, A lexander, 340Putin, V ladim ir, 369n, 515npyramids , 85nQaitbay, Sul tan, 279n, 287-8, 521Qas has hi , 305al-Qas s am, Sheikh Izzat al-Din, 447-8Qazaz, Firaz, 521Qazaz, Naj i , 521qiblas , 171, 175Quadi, 138al-Quds Univers i ty, 518nQuirinius , 91nQutuz, Sul tan, 275Rabin, Y i tzhak, 429-30, 469, 473-6, 479-70, 485, 506-7, 514and S ix Day W ar, 492-3, 496-7Rabinowitz, Rabbi Shmuel, 517-18Rac hel 's T omb, 323, 351, 357nRac hkovs ky, P iotr, 380nrai lways , 348-9, 363Ramadan, 171, 199, 259, 359, 513Ramal lah, 216Ramban, Rabbi, s ee Nac hmanidesRamban Synagogue, 279n, 282, 286-7, 295, 297Ramla, 186, 204, 316, 481, 487Ramle Vale J ac kal Hounds Hunt, 442Rams es II the Great, pharaoh, 17-18Rams gate, 351, 357nRaphia, 70Raphia, Battle of, 57nRas putin, Grigory, 385-7Rauff, W alter, 457Raus hen Pas ha, 399Ravenna, 159Raymond, Count of T oulous e, Count of T ripol i , 207, 209, 211-12, 214Raymond, Count of T ripol i , 243-7Raymond, P rinc e of Antioc h, 234-6Raymond of Agui lers , 212Red Cres c ent, 399red hei fer, 86Red Sea, 31, 40, 245Rehavia, 444, 466, 481, 487Rehoboam, K ing, 30-1Rehovoth, 481Reic h, Ronny, 21n, 393Reuveni , David, 297n, 299nReynald of Chati l lon, Lord of Kerak andOutrejordain, 243, 245-6, 248, 250Rhodes , 81, 179, 333Ric hard, Earl of Cornwal l , 270Ric hard I the Lionheart, K ing, 65n, 235n, 257-63, 267, 406Ric hman, Rabbi, Chaim, 86nRida ibn T hawb, 200nRidwan, P rinc e, 297Ri ley-Smith, J onathan, 227Ris hon-le-Zion, 374de Riveri , Pas c hia, 244Riyad, General Abdul Munim, 493, 495Robert, Duke of Flanders , 208Robert I, Duke of Normandy, 201Robert II, Duke of Normandy, 208Robert, K ing of Naples , 281Roberts , David, 333Robins on, Edward, 337, 354nRobins ons 's A rc h, 99, 354nRohan, David, 501Romania, 343Romanos IV Diogenes , Emperor, 202nRomans , 60, 62, 70-7, 80-2, 93, 115-17and Chris tiani ty, 132-3and J ewis h revol t, 120-6and l i fe of J es us , 98, 100-7and S t Paul , 118-19s iege of J erus alem, 1-10and s uppres s ion of J ews , 129-39Rome, 121, 207n, 351, 370, 463Arc h of T i tus , 129, 130nand Chris tians , 114, 139-40, 151Churc h of S t Paul Outs ide the W al ls , 121nc ivi l war in, 138T emple of Peac e, 129, 131nVes pas ian's T riumph, 129-30year of three emperors , 2, 126Rome, bis hops of, 151, 159Rommel, Field Mars hal E rwin, 459Roos evel t, Frankl in D., P res ident, 382n, 459n, 462

Roos evel t, T heodore, P res ident, 428Ros h Ha Ayim, 53Ros h Has hanah, 516Roths c hi ld, Dol ly de, 414Roths c hi ld, Baron Edmond de, 374, 390, 421Roths c hi ld, J ames de, 421, 487nRoths c hi ld, Lionel de, 325n, 350, 352n, 362Roths c hi ld, Nathaniel , 1s t Baron, 324, 350, 380Roths c hi ld, W alter, 2nd Baron, 414-15Roxelana, Sul tana, 291-2, 297Royal Boar, 162-4Rubens , Peter Paul , 65nRubowitz, A lexander, 466, 467nRunc iman, S ir S teven, 263nRus s el l , Earl , 354Rus s ia, 310, 320, 330-1, 335, 339-43, 347-8, 361-2, 366, 515anti -Semitis m and J ewis h exodus , 367-70, 374, 380, 382-3Mos es Montefiore's vis i t, 350-1nRus s ian J ews , 330, 334-5, 345, 350, 367-70, 374-5, 382-3, 412-13, 415, 423-4, 430, 508-9and Sykes -P ic ot Agreement, 405s ee als o Soviet UnionRus s ian Compound, 353, 367, 369, 384, 386, 417, 429, 444, 462, 464-5, 474, 478Rus s ian Pales tine Soc iety, 367Rus s ian Revolution, 413Rus tavel i , Shota, 296nRutenberg, P inhas , 423n, 429Saakas hvi l i , Mikhei l , P res ident, 296nSabas , 156nal-Sabbah, Has s an, 203nSabbatai Zevi , 302-3Sabbath, 45, 54, 59, 62-3, 107, 144n, 171, 307Sabinus , 93Sabra and Shati la mas s ac res , 503s ac ri fic e, c ul t of, 53, 59, 101s ee als o c hi ld s ac ri fic eSadat, Anwar, P res ident, 504-5, 515Sadduc ees , 68nSadeh, General Y i tzhak, 452, 456Sadowa, Battle of, 356Safadin, Sul tan, 249, 251n, 253-4, 255n, 258-65Safed, 298, 334al-Saffah, Cal iph, 186-8Said, Boulos , 441Said, Edward, xix, xxiv, 441, 518n, 519nSakakini , Khal i l , 408, 417, 429, 444-5Sakhra, 175Saladin, Sul tan, 224-6, 227n, 241, 243-64, 270, 276, 380, 508, 520and later developments , 381, 404, 409, 420n, 509Salahiyya endowments , 255Sal ih Ayyub, Sul tan, 270-1, 275Sal is bury, Robert Cec i l , Marques s of, 409Sal lus t, 71Salome (daughter of Herodias ), 96Salome (s is ter of Herod), 80, 83-4, 88-90Salome A lexandra, Queen, 70-1Salonika, 293, 399Samara, 150Samaria, 28, 32, 34, 69, 82, 93Samari tans , 51, 53, 110, 116, 138, 154, 159Samarkand, 283Samos ata, 78Samuel, prophet, 19, 204Samuel, Herbert, 1s t V is c ount, 411, 413-14, 431, 433-6San Remo Conferenc e, 431Sanbal lat, 51, 53Sand, Shlomo, 191nSanders on, J ohn, 299Sandys , George, 299-300Sanhedrin, 59, 64, 74, 78, 104, 110, 119, 150Sanhedrin tomb, 79nSarac ens (the name), 173Sarajevo, 374Sardis , 48n, 50nSargon II, K ing of As s yria, 34-5Saturnius , 156al-Saud, Abdul lah, 327Ibn Saud, Abdul-Aziz, 327nIbn Saud, K ing Abdul lah, 327n, 432, 468Saudi A rabia, 281, 327n, 432n, 467, 510Saul, K ing, 19-21Saulc y, Fel ic ien de, 355S t Saviour's monas tery, 296, 310, 318-19, 322, 330Savoyards , 278nSc hic k, Conrad, 228n, 364nSc hiff, J ac ob, 382Sc hlec hter, Solomon, 199nSc ott, C. P ., 410-11Sc ott, W alter, 336Sea Peoples , 15, 18Sebag, J emima, 349Sebag-Montefiore, Major Geoffrey, 421Sebag-Montefiore, S ir J os eph, 357nSebag-Montefiore, Captain W i l l iam, 420nSebas te, 82Sebas topol , 347Sebeos , B is hop, 176Sec ond Balkan W ar, 395Sec ond W al l , 3, 363nSedgwic k, Sergeant J ames , 418Selas s ie, Hai le, Emperor, 400n, 441, 457, 519Seleuc ids , 56-7, 61, 65-8, 72-3, 76nSeleuc os , 57nSel im the Grim , Sul tan, 291Sel im II, Sul tan, 297Sel im III, Sul tan, 318Semiram is Hotel , 432, 469Sennac herib, K ing of As s yria, 35-8, 457Sephardic J ews , 20, 24, 191n, 293-4, 298, 300, 308, 324, 330, 345-6, 359-60, 384, 510Sephoria, 245Septimus Severus , Emperor, 138Serbs , 296Sergei A lexandrovic h, Grand Duke, 368-9, 386s even vei ls , danc e of, 96nSeventh Day Adventis ts , 337nSeward, W i l l iam H., 347nShaftes bury, Anthony As hley-Cooper, 7thEarl of, xxv, 331-4, 337, 350, 354s hahada , 176n, 184Shaizar, 224Shajar ad-Durr, Sul tana, 271, 272nShalmanes er, K ing of As s yria, 31, 32nShaltiel , David, 479Shamir, Y i tzhak, 481Shams al-Din, 268Sharon, A riel , 358n, 494, 504-6, 509Shea, General J ohn, 418, 420Sheba, Queen of, 26, 157nShec hem, 18, 30Sheikh J arrah, 58n, 364-5, 385, 442-3, 469, 473, 478-9, 483, 488, 496, 511, 517Shema, 102Shes hbazzar, K ing, 48Shes honq, pharaoh, 28-31

Shihabis , 519Shi loh, 18Shirin, Queen of Pers ia, 162Shirkuh, Amir, 239-41, 251s hofar, 437, 462, 497Shuqayri , Ahmed, 445, 491S ibyl la, Queen of J erus alem, 244-6, 249-50, 256S ic ari i , 116, 120, 123S ic i ly, 71, 194, 218, 257, 266-7S idon, 217, 249, 316n, 383S igurd, K ing of Norway, 217S ikors ki , General W lads law, 458S i loam Pool and T unnel , 36-7, 43, 99-100, 103n, 156, 365S i lwan, 35n, 329, 506, 508n, 511S t S imeon, 154S imon the Great, the Mac c abee, s ee Mac c abeesS imon, bui lder of the T emple, 87S imon, c ous in of J es us , 10, 119S imon, 'princ e of princ es ', 93nS imon, s on of Cleophas , 92n, 132-3S imon II, the J us t, 58-9, 384S imon ben Giora, 8, 125, 129S imon of Cyrene, 106S inai , 49, 61, 380, 407, 490, 492, 493-4, 505S ind, 183al-S iqi l l i , J awhar, s ee J awharS ir Gaw ain and the Green Knight, 197nS ix Day W ar, xxv, 490-98, 519s l ingers , 19nSmith, George Adam, 418Smith, J os eph, 338Smith, S ir S idney, 317-18, 321-2, 331Smyrna, 302Soc rates Sc holas tic us , 148nSolomon, K ing, 7, 23, 25-30, 40, 85, 157n, 159, 217, 305and Is lam, 170, 175, 182, 185rel ic s of, 152Solomon's m ines , 28Somal ia, 26Sophronius , Patriarc h, 173-5Soviet Union, 415, 433, 440n, 455, 465, 492, 502Sozomen, 147nSpafford, Anna, 365Spafford-Ves ter, Bertha, 365, 390, 392, 396, 418, 420, 441, 473, 488-9Spafford, Horatio, 364-6Spafford, J ac ob, 37nSpain, 134, 200n, 230, 240rec onques t of, 285, 293-4Spanis h Inquis i tion, 294Spartac us s lave rebel l ion, 73, 106nSpec ial Night Squads , 451-2Spec ial Squads , 463Springs of Cres s on, 246S tables of Solomon, 85, 150, 219, 226, 509S tal in, J os ef, 382n, 440n, 461, 462n, 463, 476, 489S tanhope, Lady Hes ter, 321-2S tanley, Dean A rthur, 353-4S tations of the Cros s , 106nS tepas hin, S tephan, 515nS t S tephen, 110, 152nS t S tephen's Gate, 417S tern, Abraham, 458S tonehenge, 14s toning, 59S torrs , S ir Ronald, xxv, 404, 406, 417n, 422-4, 429-30, 434-6, 478S trai t of T iran, 492-3S trategos , 162s tyl i tes , 154Sudan, 26, 355n, 365, 402Suetonius , 111Suez Canal, 325, 355, 362, 397, 490, 504Sufis m, 197n, 276, 280-1, 303-4s uic ide bombings , 507, 508, 513, 518nSuleiman, Cal iph, 186Suleiman the Magnific ent, Sul tan, 146n, 291-7, 343Suleiman Pas ha, the J us t, 320, 322Sul la, 73Supreme Mus l im Counc i l , 436, 439Suqman, 203Sus a, 50n, 51, 370Swedis h Evangel ic al Churc h, 365Sweyn Godwins on, Earl , 201Switzerland, 409Sykes , S ir Mark, 405, 414-15Sykes -P ic ot Agreement, 405-7, 415, 428Syria, 22, 31, 33, 41, 57n, 82, 116, 140, 215, 218, 355, 442, 456, 492and A lbanian c onques t, 327, 334and A rab c onques ts , 173, 177-8, 181, 187, 190-1, 194and arc haeology, 354and des ert monks , 154and divis ion of Middle Eas t, 403, 405-7, 415, 422, 424-8, 431-3, 454, 465-6and Grand Mufti 's revol t, 448, 454and Is lam ic s ul tanate, 243-4, 251, 265-6, 271, 272nand Is rael i wars , 474-5, 492, 504and Mongol raids , 275, 277Nur al-Din's c onques t, 236, 238, 241and Pers ian c onques s t, 161, 163-4Roman oc c upation, 72, 74-6, 80and T amurlane's c onques t, 282-3and the T hree Pas has , 395-6and UAR, 490-1Syriac Orthodox Churc h, 157n, 310al-T abari , 172nT abernac les , 59n, 67-8, 70, 98T abor Mountain, Battle of, 316T ac i tus , 9, 99n, 116, 125, 130, 133T aki al -Din, 247, 253, 259T alaat Pas ha, Mehmet, 395, 400, 414, 416nT alal , K ing of J ordan, 484T albieh, 335, 346, 352, 400n, 443, 466T al leyrand, Charles -Mauric e, P rinc e de, 312T almud, 83, 132, 136, 191T alpiot, 444, 452, 467nT amar, 24T amara, Queen of Georgia, 296nT amurlane, 282-4T anakh, 16, 55T anc red de Hautevi l le, 208, 210-12T ankiz, V ic eroy, 280-1T artars , 270-1T bi l is i , 416n, 461nT egart forts , 450T eima, 46T el Aviv, 383, 438, 452, 455, 463, 468, 470, 474, 487, 501, 511T el Dan s tele, xxiv, 22, 32ntelegraph, 356T el l al -J ahudiya, 66nT empleanti -T emple tradi tions , 99-100Babylonian des truc tion, 44Foundation S tone, 148, 508n, 509, 515Herod's T emple, 84-7, 183, 295, 354n

and J ewis h c ommemoration, 374and J ewis h revol t, 1-10, 122-3, 125, 131-2J ul ian's rebui lding, 150and l i fe of J es us , 99-102, 104, 109-10and Maimonides ' grieving, 240-1and PLO denial , 505-6, 508Roman depredations , 72-3, 78Sec ond T emple, 49-50, 85Solomon's T emple, 7, 25-8, 50, 85, 159, 183s pol iation under Antioc hus , 62-3T hird T emple, 437, 502, 505treas ures , 7-8, 31, 33, 51, 60, 129, 130n, 159T emple Ins ti tute, 86nT emple Mount, xix, xxi , 9, 16, 72, 122-3, 147-9, 195, 241, 361, 400, 420, 434, 488and A lbanian c onques t, 327and A rab c onques ts , 170, 175-9, 182-3, 185, 190-1, 200and A rab Revol t, 448and arc haeology, 355, 379and Crus aders , 211-12, 221, 227-9, 270and European vis i tors , 322, 325, 348-9, 378-9, 422Herod's c ons truc tions , 67n, 71, 85and Inti fada, 503and Is lam ic s ul tanate, 254, 268-9and Is rael i wars , 466, 492-5and J ewis h fes tivals , 153-4J ewis h pic nic s , 58n, 384and Mamluk s ul tanate, 276, 280, 284, 286, 288negotiations and ac c es s , 509-10, 514-16, 517and Ottoman s ul tanate, 291-3, 295, 299n, 304, 307-8and Parker fias c o, 389, 391-2rec ons ec ration, 162Roman c ons truc tions , 134-6, 138s ac red s tatus , 27-8, 152n and Sec ond Coming, 502-4and Sel juk c onques t, 202tomb of K ing Hus s ein, 479, 484tunnel c ons truc tion, 509and W orld Is lam ic Conferenc e, 439s ee als o Haram al-Shari f T emple Mount Fai thful , 503T emple of Amun, 31T emple of J upi ter, 134, 135n, 138, 140T emple of Solomon, s ee al -Aqs a Mos que T enCommandments , 17T ennenbaum, Leah, 399-400T enth Legion, 9, 132, 136, 138, 363nT etragrammaton, 302T eutonic Knights , 267-8, 270T exas , 382T hac keray, W i l l iam, 336, 339, 345, 347T heodora, Empres s , 158-60T heodora, Queen of J erus alem, 237-8T heodoric h, 219, 239nT heodos ius I, Emperor, 148n, 151T heodos ius II, Emperor, 153-6T hibaul t of Champagne, Count, 270T hird W al l , 114, 126T hirty Years W ar, 300S t T homas , 108T homas , Lowel l , 404, 425-6, 433nT homas the gravedigger, 162nT homas the P res byter, 172T homps on, A rc hbis hop W il l iam, 354T homs on, W i l l iam, 329, 337Thous and and One Nights , 189, 363T hrac e, 50T hree Pas has , 394-401, 403, 415nT iberias , 95, 111, 115, 161, 164, 177, 246, 295T iberius , Emperor, 95, 98, 99n, 110-12T iferet Is rael Synagogue, 352nT iglath-P i les er III, K ing of As s yria, 33-4T igris , river, 150T ikri t, 251T imberlake, Henry, 299-301T itus , Emperor, 1-10, 38, 44, 66n, 84n, 87, 99, 124-6, 129, 131, 133, 134n, 136, 479T obiah the Amnonite, 56nT obler, T i tus , 356T obruk, 459T oldot Haron, 486T omb of K ings , 355T omb of S imon, 360T omb of the Abys s , 27nT omb of Zec hariah, 132T orah, 45n, 51, 61, 62, 70, 90, 190, 279, 298, 338T orquemada, T omas de, 294T os efta, 139T ouro, J udah, 352nT ours , 186T ours , Battle of, 65nT ower of Babel , 42, 45nT ower of David, 84n, 203, 214, 217, 225, 236, 243, 245, 249, 260, 269-70, 280, 288, 292, 307, 319, 356, 363, 378, 418, 420, 452s ee als o Ci tadelT rajan, Emperor, 133-4, 160T rans jordan, 433, 446, 448T rans ylvania, 304nT reaty of J affa, 263T reaty of Karlowitz, 305T ries te, 513T ripol i , 209, 215T rojan W ars , 14-15T rots ky, Leon, 383, 423n, 429nT rue Cros s , 146-7, 152, 162, 164-5and Crus aders , 214, 217, 220, 223, 227, 236, 244, 247-9, 258-61, 263T ruman, Harry S ., P res ident, 410, 463-4, 476T unis , 506T unis ia, 194, 251, 283T urans hah, Sul tan, 271T urin Shroud, 108T urjman, Ihs an, 422T urkis h Lions , 275T us tari , Grand V izier, 200T wain, Mark, xxiv, 357-8T welve Apos tles , 97, 99, 103, 109T yler, J ohn, P res ident, 336T yre, 22, 27, 53, 202, 220, 227, 236, 255T yropaean Val ley, 35nUbadah ibn al-Samit, 177nUbayd A l lah (al-Mahdi), 194Uganda, 381-2, 410, 453Uhuh, Battle of, 177Ukraine, 50n, 301-3, 359n, 444, 486nUmayyad dynas ty, 178-87Union of Zionis t-Revis ionis ts , 430United A rab Command, 491United A rab Republ ic (UAR), 490United Nations , 48n, 466-7, 468-71, 478, 483, 492, 495-6, 514, 519United Res is tanc e Command, 462, 465United S tates of Americ aAmeric an Civi l W ar, 347nAmeric an Cons ti tution, 336Americ an J ews , 428, 500early c olonis ts , 300-2and J ewis h immigration, 370and S ix Day W ar, 494, 496

and Suez c ris is , 490and s tate of Is rael , 467Unur, A tabeg of Damas c us , 224, 229, 233, 235Ur, 16, 45nUrban II, Pope, 208Uriah the Hitti te, 23, 363US Zionis t Federation, 428Us amah bin Munqidh, xxv, 223-5, 229-31, 233, 237, 239, 241, 252Us tinov, Baron P lato von, 366Vagabond Cafe, 444Val ley of Hinnom, 40, 185nVal ley of J ehos haphat, 227Vanderbi l t, Cons uelo, 389Varus , Publ ius Quinc ti l ius , 93Venic e, 207nVerdun, 408, 416Vers ai l les peac e c onferenc e, 427-8Ves pas ian, Emperor, 1-2, 5, 124-6, 129, 131-2Ves ter, Frederic k, 485V ia Doloros a, 106n, 135n, 286, 300, 344n, 356, 497V ic toria, Queen, 324, 332, 341, 350, 354, 368, 454nV ienna, 292, 304, 352, 373, 376, 398V i l l iers , Captain Hyde, 389nV i lna, 350n, 359n, 501V inc ent, Pere, 390V irgin Mary, s ee Mary, mother of J es usV irgin's T omb, s ee Churc h of Our Lady of J ehos haphatV i truvius , 85nVolney, Cons tantin, 310-11von Papen, Franz, 396, 409, 416, 439nW agner, Ric hard, 423W ahab, Muhammad ibn Abdul , 327nW ahabis , 281, 327, 432al-W ahrani , 252-3W al id I, Cal iph, 184, 186W alter, Hubert, 263W aqfs , 280n, 364n, 421, 498, 508W ard, Hon. Cyri l , 389nwarfare, laws of, 213nW arren, Captain Charles , 21n, 355-6W arren's Gate, 186W aterloo, Battle of, 323W ats on, B rigadier C. F., 418W auc hope, S ir A rthur, 439-40, 450W avel l , S ir A rc hibald, 1s t Earl , 451W azzah, 421W eidenfeld, George, Baron, 482, 487W eizmann, Chaim, P res ident, xxv, 351n, 374, 409-12, 414-15, 421, 423-31, 435, 444-6, 450, 453, 458, 478and Buraq Upris ing, 438-9and E l A lamein, 457and Is rael i pres idenc y, 476, 480and Nabi Mus a riots , 429-30and Orde W ingate, 450-1W eizmann Ins ti tute of Sc ienc e, 481W el l of Souls , 27nW es t Bank, 478, 481-2, 488, 491, 502and Inti fada, 505-6, 509W es tern W al l , 9, 24n, 71, 120n, 135n, 151n, 175, 264, 286, 300, 355, 357, 379, 408, 452, 504and Buraq Upris ing, 436-8dai ly ri tuals , 518-19, 523as ha-Kotel , 295, 437, 497, 516and J ewis h ac c es s , 480, 482, 502, 513, 516purc has e attempts , 357, 374, 398n, 421, 437and s hofar ban, 437, 459and S ix Day W ar, 497-8tunnel c ons truc tions , 509W es tm ins ter, J erus alem Chamber, 285W hite Rus s ians , 444W ies el , E l ie, 512W ilhelm II, Kais er, 355-6, 375-80, 389, 395, 408, 417W il l iam III, K ing, 331W il l iam, Patriarc h, 223W il l iam of T yre, xxv, 208, 222, 233-4, 237-9, 242, 244, 245nW il l iam the Conqueror, K ing, 201, 208W il l iam the T roubadour, 234-5W ils on, Captain Charles , 354, 363n, 390W ils on, Captain Clarenc e, 389n, 390-1W ils on, W oodrow, P res ident, 427-8W ils on's A rc h, 354W ingate, Lorna, 452W ingate, General Orde, 450-2, 453n, 456, 494W inthrop, J ohn, 301W ittenberg, 296W olff, Heinric h, 439W oodhead Commis s ion, 442nW orkers of Zion, 383W orld Is lam ic Conferenc e, 439W orms Cathedral , 379nW rangel, Count Herman, 389nXenophon, 49Xerxes , K ing of Pers ia, 50n, 52Yaac ovy, Y i tzhak, 487Yac hin and Boaz pi l lars , 26Yad Vas hem memorial , 455n, 487n, 504Yalta c onferenc e, 462n, 463al-Yaqubi , 172nYarmuk, Battle of, 172-3, 177nYathrib, 170Yaus h, 42nYavneh (J amnia), 132Yazid, ibn Abi Sufyan, 180Yemen, 158n, 174, 194, 243, 251, 255Y is huv, 445, 459, 467, 470Yohanan ben Zakkai , 10Yolande, Queen of J erus alem, 265n, 266-7, 270nYom K ippur W ar, 502York, 257Young, W i l l iam T urner, 330, 332, 334-5Young T urk movement, 384, 394, 402Yvette, P rinc es s , 228Zac hariah, prophet, 101Zac harias , 95Zac harias , Patriarc h, 161Zadok the pries t, 25, 52, 54-5, 67Zaharoff, S ir Bas i l , 423Zahir, Cal iph, 199-200Zahir, Sul tan, 251, 262-4Zahir al -Umar al-Zaydani , Sheikh, 310-11Zalatimo, Muhammad, 135nZangi, A tabeg, 223-4, 231, 233-4, 251Zangwi l l , Is rael , 332n, 382Zealots , 123, 125Zedekiah, K ing, 42-3Zeinab, Madame, 457Zenobia, 140Zenon, 56nZerubbabel, P rinc e, 49-50, 85Zikhron Zion, 444Ziklag, 20z innor, 22Zion Gate, 207, 307, 417, 479-80, 497Zionis m, xx, 191n, 279, 373-82, 394, 409-15, 421-5, 430-1, 433, 435-7, 445-6, 478, 513

Americ a and, 412-14, 428, 460-1B ri tain and, xxv, 380-1, 409-15, 423-4, 431, 443, 467Chris tian, 301, 374Churc hi l l and, 410-14, 432, 459Germany and, 413-14Herzland, 373-82mil i tary, 458, 501Zionis t Commis s ion, 421Zionis t Congres s es , 375, 380n, 382, 438Zoroas ter, 48n, 50n

T he Temple Mount - Har haBayi t in Hebrew, Haram al-Shari f in A rabic , known in the B ible as Mount Moriah - is the c entrepiec e of J erus alem. T he W es tern W al l , the hol ies t s hrine of J udais m, is part of Herod's wes tern s upporting wal l of the es planade, the s etting for the Is lam ic s hrines , the Dome of the Roc kand the Aqs a Mos que. T o many, thes e 35 ac res remain the c entre of the world.

In 1994, arc haeologis ts found this s tele at T el Dan on whic h Hazael , K ing of A ram-Syria, boas ts of his vic tory over J udaea, the 'hous e of David', thereby c onfi rm ing David's exis tenc e.

T he s i te of Solomon's temple has been ravaged and rebui l t s o often that l i ttle remains , exc ept this ivory pomegranate ins c ribed 'to the Hous e of Hol ines s '. It was probably us ed as the head of a s taff during rel igious proc es s ions in the Firs t T emple.

In 701 BC, K ing Hezekiah forti fied the c i ty agains t the approac hing As s yrian army. His s o-c al led broad wal l c an be s een in today's J ewis h Quarter.

Meanwhi le two teams of his engineers s tarted digging the 533-metre-long S i loam T unnel to provide water for the c i ty: when they met in the m iddle, they c elebrated with this ins c ription, whic h was dis c overed by a s c hoolboy in 1891.

Before he turned to J erus alem, Sennac herib, mas ter of the m ighty, rapac ious As s yrian empire, s tormed Hezekiah's s ec ond c i ty Lac his h. T he bas -rel iefs in his Nineveh palac e depic t the bloody s iege and the punis hments s uffered by i ts c i tizens . Here J udaean fam i l ies are led away by an As s yrian.

K ing Darius , s een here in a rel ief from his Pers epol is palac e, was the real c reator of the Pers ian Empire that ruled J erus alem for over two c enturies . He al lowed the J ewis h pries ts to govern thems elves , even is s uing this Yehud (J udaea) c oin.

A fter A lexander the Great's early death, two Greek fam i l ies vied to c ontrol his empire. P tolemy I Soter hi jac ked A lexander's c orps e, founded a kingdom in Egypt and s tormed J erus alem. A fter a c entury under the P tolem ies , their Seleuc id rivals grabbed J erus alem. T he effete, flamboyant K ing Antioc hus IVpol luted the T emple and tried to annihi late J udais m, provoking a revol t by J udah the Mac c abee , whos e fam i ly c reated the new J ewis h kingdom that las ted unti l the arrival of the Romans .

T he Roman s trongman of the eas t, Mark Antony, bac ked a new ruler, Herod, but his m is tres s Cleopatra, the las t P tolemaic queen, wanted J erus alem for hers el f.

Ruthles s , murderous and bri l l iant, Herod the Great, hal f-J ewis h and hal f-A rab, c onquered J erus alem, rebui l t the T emple (s hown here in a model rec ons truc tion) and c reated the c i ty at i ts mos t s plendid.

T his os s uary, marked 'S imon the bui lder of the Sanc tuary', probably c ontained the bones of his arc hi tec t. T he ins c ription in Greek from the T emple warning genti les not to enter the inner c ourts on pain of death.

Mos t of the s outhern and wes tern wal ls of the Temple Mount, inc luding the s hrine, the W al l , are Herodian. T he impregnable s outh-eas tern c orner was the P innac le where J es us was tempted by Satan. A s eam in the wal l (jus t vis ible on the far right of this pic ture) s eems to s how Herod's giant as hlars to the leftand the older, s mal ler Mac c abean s tones to the right.

J es us ' Cruc i fixion, depic ted by van Eyc k in this painting, was almos t c ertainly a Roman meas ure, bac ked by the T emple el i te, to des troy any mes s ianic threat to the s tatus quo.

Herod the Great's s on Herod Antipas , ruler of Gal i lee, moc ked J es us but refus ed to judge him .

K ing Herod Agrippa was an urbane, happy-go-luc ky adventurer and the mos t powerful J ew in Roman his tory. His friends hip wi th the ps yc hotic Emperor Cal igula s aved J erus alem, and he later helped rais e Claudius to the throne.

After four years of independenc e, T i tus , the s on of the new Roman Emperor Ves pas ian, arrived to bes iege J erus alem. T he c i ty and i ts Temple were des troyed in the s avage fighting: arc haeologis ts have dis c overed the s keletal arm of young girl trapped in a burned hous e and the heap of Herodian s tonespus hed off the T emple Mount by the Roman s oldiers as they s mas hed Herod's Royal Portic o. T he A rc h of T i tus in Rome c elebrates his T riumph in whic h the c andelbra, or menorah, s ymbol of the Mac c abees , was dis played, and this c oin, ins c ribed 'J udaea Capta', c ommemorates the vic tory.

Res tles s , petulant and talented, Emperor Hadrian banned J udais m and refounded J erus alem as a Roman town, Ael ia Capi tol ina, whic h provoked a J ewis h rebel l ion led by S imon Bar Koc hba (who is s ued this c oin depic ting the res tored T emple.

T his graffi ti (Domine Ivimus 'W e go to the Lord') was dis c overed by the A rmenians beneath the Churc h of the Holy Sepulc hre in 1978. Pos s ibly dating from around ad 300, does i t s how that Chris tian pi lgrims prayed beneath Hadrian's pagan temple?

Cons tantine the Great was no s aint - he murdered his wi fe and s on - but he embrac ed Chris tiani ty and trans formed J erus alem, ordering the bui lding of the Churc h of the Holy Sepulc hre, whic h he s ent his mother Helena to s upervis e.

Emperor and phi los opher J ul ian overturned Chris tiani ty, res tored paganis m and gave the T emple Mount bac k to the J ews , before he was ki l led fighting the Pers ians .

T he Byzantine emperor J us tinian I and his wi fe T heodora, onc e a prom is c uous s howgirl , promoted thems elves as univers al Chris tian monarc hs and bui l t the c olos s al Nea Churc h in J erus alem.

T he Madaba Map s hows the magnific enc e of Byzantine J erus alem and ignores the Temple Mount whic h was kept as the s ymbol ic rubbis h-heap of J udais m. A fter the Eas t fel l to the Pers ians , Emperor Herac l ius entered the c i ty in 630 through the Golden Gate, whic h J ews , Mus l ims and Chris tians bel ieve to bethe s etting for the Apoc alyps e.

Arab c onques t: T his i l lus tration from Nizami 's poem Khamza s hows Muhammad's Night Fl ight (Is ra) to J erus alem, riding Buraq, his s teed with the human fac e, fol lowed by his As c ens ion (Miraj) to c onvers e with J es us , Mos es and Abraham.

Cal iph Abd al-Mal ik (s een here in one of the las t Is lam ic c oins to s how human features ) was the real formulator of Is lam and a vis ionary s tates man - yet i t was s aid that his breath was s o vi le i t c ould ki l l fl ies . In 691 he bui l t the fi rs t s urviving Mus l im s hrine, the Dome of the Roc k, ins c ribed with the earl ies tquotations from the Koran.

Abd al-Mal ik's Dome affi rmed the s upremac y of Is lam and his Umayyad empire, c hal lenged Chris tiani ty, outs hone the Churc h of the Holy Sepulc hre and emphas ized the Mus l ims as s uc c es s ors to the J ews by bui lding on the Roc k, the foundation s tone of the J ewis h T emple.

In 1099, after four hundred years of Is lam ic rule, the Crus aders s tormed J erus alem with an orgy of ki l l ing. T he c i ty s ti l l s tank of putres c ent fles h s ix months later.

K ing of J erus alem Baldwin I was a ti reles s warrior and worldly pol i tic ian, but als o a bigamis t who was ac c us ed of indulging his fles hly appeti tes .

For the Chris tians of the Crus ader era, J erus alem was the c entre of the world - as s hown in many twel fth-c entury maps , s uc h as this one from Robert the Monk's Chronic le.

Crus ader s plendour: the c i ty reac hed i ts apogee under Queen Mel is ende, here s een marrying Fulk of Anjou. He ac c us ed her of an affai r wi th Hugh of J affa. T his exquis i te Ps al ter may have been his mari tal peac e offering.

T he c urs e of J erus alem: the boy Baldwin IV s hows his tutor W i l l iam of T yre how he feels no pain during games played with friends , the fi rs t s ign of lepros y. T he Leper K ing s ymbol ized the dec l ine of the kingdom.

Merc i les s when he needed to be, patient and tolerant when he c ould afford to be, Saladin c reated an empire embrac ing Syria and Egypt, annihi lated the army of J erus alem and then took the c i ty.

Emperor Frederic k II, known as S tupor Mundi - the W onder of the W orld to s ome, the Anti -Chris t to others - is s een here entering the Holy Ci ty. He negotiated a peac e deal that divided J erus alem between Chris tians and Mus l ims .

Saladin and his fam i ly re-Is lam ized J erus alem often us ing Crus ader s pol ia. Mus l ims regard the Dome of the As c ens ion, bui l t in 1200 on the Temple Mount, as the s i te of Muhammad's Miraj , yet i t s tarted l i fe as the Crus ader Templar baptis tery. But i t was the Mamluks who real ly c reated today's Mus l im Quarter.Sul tan Nas ir al -Muhammad bui l t the Market of the Cotton Merc hants in the dis tinc tive Mamluk s tyle; Sul tan Qaitbay c ommis s ioned this fountain on the T emple Mount.

Suleiman the Magnific ent: a Sul tan to the A rabs , a Caes ar to the Chris tians . He never vis i ted J erus alem but, regarding hims el f as the s ec ond Solomon, he rebui l t mos t of the wal ls and gates that we s ee today.

Suleiman us ed a Crus ader s arc ophagus and dec oration to bui ld the Fountain of the Gate of the Chain and as s erted Ottoman s plendour and legi timac y by adding mos aic s to the Dome of the Roc k.

Charis matic , s c hizhophrenic , Sabbatai Zevi was rejec ted in J erus alem but the s el f-dec lared J ewis h Mes s iah exc i ted J ewis h hopes - unti l the Ottoman Sul tan forc ed his c onvers ion to Is lam.

T he red-bearded A lbanian general is s imo Ibrahim Pas ha c onquered Syria in 1831 and almos t took Is tanbul on behal f of his father Mehmet A l i . He c rus hed rebel l ious J erus alem brutal ly and opened up the c i ty to Europeans .

Mehmet A l i rec eived the Sc ottis h painter David Roberts on his way to J erus alem: his paintings of Oriental s c enes , s uc h as this interior of the Churc h of the Holy Sepuc hre, influenc ed the European view of Pales tine.

T he plutoc rat and J ewis h phi lanthropis t S ir Mos es Montefiore vis i ted J erus alem s even times and was one of the fi rs t to bui ld outs ide the Old Ci ty. In 1860, he s tarted his windmil l and c ottages . He was what V ic torians thought a 'noble Hebrew' s hould be l ike, but he had his s ec ret s c andals too: he fathered ac hi ld wi th his teenaged maid in his eighties .

Muc h of the Old Ci ty was s urpris ingly empty in this period. T his photograph taken in 1861 by the pioneering photographer Yes s ayi , the A rmenian Patriarc h, s hows the des erted lands c ape behind the Churc h of the Holy Sepulc hre.

From the 1830s , the Sephardic A rab-s peaking J ews of J erus alem were joined by Y iddis h-s peaking immigrants from the Rus s ian Empire and more Sephardis from the A rab world. European vis i tors were appal led and fas c inated by the s qualor and exotic is m of Yemenite and As hkenazi J ews .

J erus alem was als o dominated by Rus s ian Orthodox peas ants , outs ide the Churc h at Eas ter), who prayed and c arous ed with equal fervour, whi le J affa Gate and David S treet bec ame the hub of European J erus alem.

T heodore Herzl , as s im i lated V iennes e journal is t and bri l l iant publ ic is t, was the organizer of pol i tic al Zionis m. In 1898, he approac hed Kais er W i lhelm II who ordered Herzl to meet him in J erus alem. Regarding hims el f as a German Crus ader, the Kais er wore a s pec ial ly des igned white uni form with a ful l -lengthvei l attac hed to his pic kelhauber.

T he Kais er vis i ts the T omb of K ings . In the arc haeologic al rac e between the Great Powers , the Frenc hman de Saulc y had c laimed this was K ing David's tomb. It is ac tual ly the tomb of the fi rs t-c entury Queen of Adiabene.

T he Americ an Colonis ts arrived as a m i l lenarian Chris tian s ec t but they s oon bec ame beloved phi lanthropis ts : here, Bertha Spafford, a daughter of the founders , pos es with Bedouin friends .

J erus alem 's mayor Sel im al-Hus s eini : the very model of an aris toc ratic J erus alem ite.

Ne'er-do-wel l aris toc ratic rogue and huc ks ter, Montagu Parker, later Earl of Morley, whos e three-year projec t to unc over the A rk of the Covenant ended in the s ole riot in J erus alem 's his tory to uni te J ews and Mus l ims . He only jus t es c aped with his l i fe.

For almos t hal f a c entury the fixer, aes thete, s oc ial i te and oud-player W as i f J awhariyyeh knew everyone, s aw everything, and rec orded i t al l in his peerles s ly vivid diary.

J emal Pas ha, the dic tator of J erus alem during the Firs t W orld W ar, was a T urkis h national is t wi th a tas te for c igars , c hampagne, beauti ful J ewis h c ourtes ans and brutal exec utions .

Born in a Rus s ian s htetl , Chaim W eizmann was at home with kings and lords . His pas s ionate c harm helped c onvert B ri tain's imperial panjandrums , Lloyd George, Churc hi l l and Bal four, to Zionis m, whi le Lawrenc e of A rabia promoted the A rab c aus e.

Surrender, 1917: Hus s ein al-Hus s eini , mayor of J erus alem (c entre, wi th walking s tic k), tried s ix times to s urrender to the B ri tis h wi th a s heet tied to a broom.

Mandate: c onqueror of J erus alem, General 'the Bul l ' A l lenby (right), and m i l i tary governor Ronald S torrs c elebrate the Fourth of J uly wi th Bertha Spafford (left) at the Americ an Colony in 1918.

Lawrenc e of A rabia and Amir Abdul lah fol low W ins ton Churc hi l l through the gardens of Augus ta V ic toria in 1921: the B ri tis h Colonial Sec retary c reated the new realm of T rans jordan for the Has hemite Abdul lah.

T he glories of Imperial J erus alem: P rinc e A rthur, Duke of Connaught, s on of Queen V ic toria, hands out awards in Barrac ks Square, though he grumbled when s ome rec ipients wore Ottoman and German medals .

High Commis s ioner of Pales tine Herbert Samuel (s eated, c entre) and J erus alem governor S torrs (s tanding, fourth from the right) hos t the rel igious hierarc hs of the c i ty after a s ervic e to c elebrate B ri tis h l iberation in 1924.

Sheri f of Mec c a, K ing of Hejaz, Hus s ein meets the early Pales tinian national is t leader Mus a Kazem Hus s eini (left) in J erus alem.

T he s heri f never forgave his ambitious s ons , Fais al (left), king fi rs t of Syria then Iraq, and Abdul lah (right), later king of J ordan (s een here in J erus alem in 1931) for s eizing kingdoms of their own.

David Ben-Gurion, working on new J ewis h hous ing in 1924, emerged as the tough Zionis t leader jus t as the Mufti , Am in al-Hus s eini , emerged as A rab national is t leader: here he leads the annual Nabi Mus a, J erus alem 's main Is lam ic fes tival , on hors ebac k in 1937.

T he annual Eas ter ri tual of the Holy Fire (s een from the dome of the Churc h of the Holy Sepulc hre) was c rowded, pas s ionate and often fatal .

T he prayers at the W es tern W al l in 1944 to c ommemorate the dead of the Holoc aus t s how the tiny, c ons trained area perm itted for J ewis h wors hip.

As mahan: A rab s inger, Druze princ es s , Egyptian fi lm s tar, s py and temptres s of the wartime K ing David Hotel .

T he Mufti Am in al-Hus s eini meets Hi tler who admired his fai r hair and blue eyes . His c ous in, Abd al-Kadir Hus s eini , was an aris toc ratic warrior and A rab hero of 1947-8, whos e death was a blow to Pales tinian hopes . His funeral on the Temple Mount was a c haotic , tens e oc c as ion: s ome mourners were ki l ledby guns fi red in the air.

1946-8: as A rabs and J ews mas s ac red eac h other's c ivi l ians , Menac hem Begin's Irgun bombed the B ri tis h headquarters in the K ing David Hotel . B ri tis h General Bubbles Barker (bottom right on news paper) al ready loathed the J ews , enc ouraged by his c harm ing, exuberant m is tres s , the leading Pales tinianhos tes s Katy Antonius .

T he battle of J erus alem in 1948,: A rab s oldiers es c orting a J ewis h pris oner during the fight for the J ewis h Quarter; a J ewis h girl fleeing from the fighting; A rab Legionaries behind s andbag barric ades .

T he A rab vic tor of 1948 K ing Abdul lah of J ordan waves to c rowds in J erus alem, but he paid wi th his l i fe. His as s as s in l ies dead in the Aqs a mos que. Abdul lah's grands on, K ing Hus s ein of J ordan prepares for war in 1967: he reluc tantly and dis as trous ly plac ed his forc es under Egyptian c ommand.

Is rael i government in c ris is : Is rael i Chief of S taff Y i tzhak Rabin (left) c ol laps ed under the pres s ure and had to be s edated; Mos he Dayan (right), brought in as Defenc e Minis ter, s een here wi th Rabin at a c abinet meeting as the c ris is intens i fies in 1967. Dayan thric e warned Hus s ein not to attac k but held bac kunti l Syria and Egypt were defeated.Is rael i paratroopers advanc e towards Lions ' Gate.

Minutes after i ts c apture in J une 1967, Is rael i s oldiers pray at the W es tern W al l ; the s heikh of the Haram al-Shari f watc hes from the Maghrebi Gate; behind him , Is rael i jeeps fight ac ros s the Haram, before c elebrating the reuni fic ation of J erus alem in front of the Dome.

* T he Egyptian Pharaohs as pired to rule Canaan at this time but i t is not c lear whether they ac tual ly did. T hey may have us ed thes e pottery s ymbols to c urs e the defiant rulers of their enemies or to expres s their as pirations . T he theories about thes e fragments have c hanged s everal times , s howing how arc haeologyis as muc h interpretative as s c ienti fic . It was long bel ieved that the Egyptians s mas hed thes e vas es or figures to c urs e or exec rate the plac es named on them - henc e they are known as the Exec ration texts .

* T hes e are s ome of the 380 letters , wri tten in Babylonian on baked c lay tablets , by loc al c hieftains to the heretic pharaoh Amenhotep IV (1352-1336), who ins ti tuted the wors hip of the s un, ins tead of the tradi tional pantheon of numerous Egyptian gods : he c hanged his name to Akhenaten. T he royal arc hive of hisforeign m inis try, the Hous e of Corres pondenc e of Pharaoh, was dis c overed in 1887 at his new c api tal Akhetaten, now E l-Amarna, s outh of Cairo. One theory s ugges ts that the Habiru were the early Hebrews /Is rael i tes , yet the word ac tual ly appears al l over the Middle Eas t at this time to des c ribe thes e marauders -the word s imply means 'vagrant' in Babylonian. It is pos s ible that the Hebrews des c ended from a s mal l group of Habiru.

* T he Creation appears twic e in Genes is 1.1-2.3 and 2.4-25. T here are two genealogies of Adam, two flood s tories , two c aptures of J erus alem, two s tories in whic h God c hanges J ac ob's name to Is rael . T here are many anac hronis ms - for example, the pres enc e of Phi l is tines and A rameans in Genes is when theyhad not yet arrived in Canaan. Camels as beas ts of burden appear too early. Sc holars bel ieve the early B ibl ic al books were wri tten by s eparate groups of wri ters , one who emphas ized E l , the Canaanite god, and another who s tres s ed Yahweh, the Is rael i te one God. yet invaluable s ourc e, often the only one avai lableto us - and i t is als o, effec tively, the fi rs t and paramount biography of J erus alem.

* W hen the T emple s tood in J erus alem, only the high pries t, onc e a year, c ould utter the tetragram YHW H, and J ews , even today, are forbidden to s ay i t, preferring to us e Adonai (Lord), or jus t HaShem (the uns peakable Name)

+ T he Is rael i te invas ion of Canaan is a battlefield of c omplex, us ual ly unprovable theories . But i t s eems that the s torm ing of J eric ho, whos e wal ls were c rumbled by J os hua's trumpets , is mythic al : J eric ho was more anc ient than J erus alem. (In 2010, the Pales tinian Authori ty c elebrated i ts 10,000th annivers ary -though the date is random.) However, J eric ho was temporari ly uninhabi ted and there is no evidenc e of c ol laps ed wal ls . T he Conques t Hypothes is is hard to take l i teral ly s inc e the fighting (as rec ounted in the Book of J os hua) us ual ly takes plac e in s uc h a s mal l area. Indeed Bethel near J erus alem is one of the fewc onquered towns in the Book of J udges that w as ac tual ly des troyed in the thi rteenth c entury. T he Is rael i tes may have been far more peac eful and tolerant than they c laimed.

* J us t as the word 'Phi l is tine' has , thanks to the B ible, entered the language to des c ribe a lac k of c ul ture (des pi te their c ul tural s ophis tic ation), s o the people of Gath, known at 'Gi ts ', als o entered the vernac ular. But the Phi l is tines gave their name to the land whic h bec ame the Roman Pales tina, henc e Pales tine.

+ T he s l ing was not then a c hi ld's toy but a powerful weapon: s l ingers are s hown in ins c riptions in Beni Has an in Egypt s tanding bes ide the arc hers in battle. Royal ins c riptions in Egypt and As s yria s how c ontingents of s l ingers were regular uni ts of the imperial arm ies of the anc ient world. It is bel ieved s ki l leds l ingers c ould projec t s pec ial ly s moothed s tones the s ize of tennis bal ls at 100-150mph.

* W as 'David' a nom de guerre or regal name? T he B ible tel ls the Gol iath s tory twic e, and in the s ec ond vers ion i t names the Is rael i te boy-hero as E lhanan: was this David's real name?

* T his is the world's mos t exc avated arc haeologic al s i te. T he pres ent dig around the Spring by P rofes s or Ronny Reic h is the twel fth on this s i te and has revealed the Canaanite forti fic ations des c ribed in c hapter one. In 1867, the Engl is h arc haeologis t Charles W arren dis c overed a s haft leading from Ophel down tothe s pring. It was long bel ieved that W arren's Shaft was man-made and that J erus alem ites lowered buc kets to get water. But the mos t rec ent dig has c hanged al l that: i t s eems W arren's Shaft was natural . In fac t, the water flowed to a man-made roc k-c ut pool , guarded by an enormous tower and wal ls .

* T he s c ale of David's c i ty is now muc h debated between the m inimal is ts who c laim that i t was jus t a c hieftain's s mal l c i tadel and the maximal is ts who embrac e the imperial c api tal of tradi tional B ible s tories . Unti l the Tel Dan ins c ription was unc overed, the extreme m inimal is ts even hinted that David hims el fnever exis ted, pointing to the lac k of any arc haeologic al evidenc e exc ept the B ible. In 2005 Dr E i lat Mazor announc ed that s he had dis c overed K ing David's palac e. T his was widely doubted, but her exc avations do s eem to have unc overed a s ubs tantial tenth-c entury publ ic bui lding, whic h, along with the Canaaniteforti fic ations and s tepped s truc tures , would have formed David's c i tadel .

* T he pyramid known as Abs alom 's P i l lar in the K idron Val ley was fi rs t mentioned by Benjam in of T udela in AD 1170 and i t does not date from 1000 BC. It is ac tual ly a fi rs t-c entury BC tomb. In the Middle Ages , the J ews , banned from the c i ty and even from the W es tern W al l , prayed c los e to the P i l lar. Even into theearly twentieth c entury, pas s ing J ews us ed to s pi t or throw s tones at i t to s igni fy their dis gus t for Abs alom 's dis loyal ty.

* Several hundred years later, J ohn Hyrc anus , the Mac c abean king, was s aid to have plundered David's tomb to pay off a foreign c onqueror. T wo thous and years after that, during the Crus ader K ingdom, workmen repairing the Cenac le on Mount Zion, where J es us took his las t s upper, dis c overed a room that theythought was David's tomb. T his bec ame a s i te revered by J ews , Chris tians and Mus l ims al ike. But the real s i te of David's tomb remains a mys tery.

* W here was the Holy of Hol ies ? T his is now a pol i tic al ly explos ive ques tion and an intrac table c hal lenge for any Is rael i -Pales tinian peac e deal s haring J erus alem. T here are many theories , depending on the s ize of the T emple Mount whic h was later extended by Herod the Great. Mos t s c holars bel ieve i t s tood atopthe roc k wi thin the Is lam ic Dome of the Roc k. Some argue that this mys terious yel low, twis ted c avern was original ly a burial c ave of around 2000 BC, and there s eem to be folk memories of this : when exi les returned from Babylon around 540 BC, they were s aid to have found A raunah the J ebus i te's s kul l . T heMis hnah, the c ompi lation of oral J ewis h tradi tions of the s ec ond c entury ad, c al ls i t the Tomb of the Abys s , hol lowed for 'fear of any grave in the depths '. T he Mus l ims c al led i t the W el l of Souls . J ews and Mus l ims bel ieve this was where Adam was c reated and Abraham almos t s ac ri fic ed Is aac . It is l ikely that inAD 691, the c al iph Abd al-Mal ik c hos e the s i te for the Dome at leas t partly to c reate an Is lam ic s uc c es s or to the T emple. J ews regard the Roc k as the foundation s tone of the T emple.

* T he B ible c i tes the fortres s es of Megiddo, Gezer and Hazor as Solomon's s tore-c i ties . But in the debates of the twenty-fi rs t c entury, revis ionis ts , led by P rofes s or Is rael Finkels tein, argue that they are ac tual ly Syrian-s tyle palac es bui l t a hundred years later, leaving Solomon without any bui ldings . Otherarc haeologis ts c hal lenge the revis ionis t dating. T he blac k-onred pottery found at thes e s i tes belongs in the late tenth c entury BC, roughly the time of Solomon's reign and Pharaoh Shes honq's invas ion, nine years after the king's death, whi le exc i ting new analys is of the bui ldings s ugges ts they were indeed huge,tenth-c entury s tables , and therefore plaus ibly evidenc e of Solomon's c avalry power and Mediterranean hors e-trading operations . T he debate c ontinues .

* T he K ings of Is rael and J udah marc hed together agains t Mes ha, the rebel l ious Moabite king who, in a s tele, dec lared that he s ac ri fic ed his own s on and s uc c es s ful ly repel led the invaders . A lmos t 3,000 years later, in 1868, s ome Bedouin s howed a German m is s ionary a blac k bas al t s tone whic h unleas hed anarc haeologic al rac e between P rus s ia, Franc e and England, whos e agents intrigued to win this pres tigious imperial prize. One tribe of Bedouin tried to des troy the s tone, but final ly the Frenc h won. It was worth the s truggle. Sometimes c ontradic ting, s ometimes c onfi rm ing the B ible, Mes ha admits that Is rael hadc onquered Moab but s tates that he rebel led agains t K ing Ahab and then defeated Is rael and J udah - whic h (ac c ording to the lates t trans lation) he c al ls 'Hous e of David', again c onfi rm ing David's exis tenc e. He then boas ts that he took from a c aptured Is rael i te town 'the ves s els of Yahweh,' the fi rs t mention of theIs rael i te God outs ide the B ible.

* T he B ible portrays K ing J ehu of Is rael as the res torer of Yahweh and s mas her of the idols of Baal . But the B ible is more interes ted in his relations with God than in the power pol i tic s now revealed by arc haeology: J ehu probably had help from Damas c us bec aus e i ts king Hazael left the s tele at Tel Dan in northernIs rael boas ting that he had defeated previous kings of the Hous e of Is rael and the Hous e of the David, the arc haeologic al proof that K ing David exis ted. But J ehu als o had to bec ome a vas s al of the As s yrian king Shalmanes er III. On the B lac k Obel is k, found at Nimrud, now in the B ri tis h Mus eum, J ehu makes hislow obeis anc e to Shalmanes er who s i ts , wi th his braided beard, diadem, embroidered robes and s word, before the winged s ymbol of As s yrian power, s hel tered by a paras ol held by a c ourtier. 'I rec eived', s ays Shalmanes er, 's i lver, gold, a gold bowl, a gold vas e, gold buc kets , tin, a s taff, hunting s pears .' T hiskneel ing J ehu is the fi rs t his toric al image of an Is rael i te.

* T he anc ient J ewis h c ommunities of Iran and Iraq c laim des c ent from the Ten T ribes of Is rael deported by the As s yrians as wel l as from thos e deported later by the Babylonians . T he lates t genetic res earc h proves that thes e J ews were indeed s eparated from other J ewis h c ommunities around 2,500 years ago.Yet the ques t for thes e vanis hed Is rael i tes has s pawned a thous and fantas ies and theories : the T en T ribes have been 'dis c overed' in various unl ikely plac es - from the Native Americ ans of North Americ a to the Engl is h.

* T wo new s uburbs developed outs ide the wal led Ci ty of David and the Temple Mount: the Makhtes h in the T yropaean Val ley that ran between Mount Moriah and the wes tern hi l l , and another, the Mis hneh, on the wes tern hi l l i ts el f, today's J ewis h Quarter. High offic ials were buried in the tombs around the c i ty: 'T hisis [the tomb] of [ ... ]yahu, the Royal S teward,' reads a tomb in S i lwan vi l lage. 'T here is no gold or s i lver here, only his bones and the bones of his s lavewife - c urs ed be anyone who opens this tomb.' T he c urs e did not work: the tomb was plundered and is today a c hic ken c oop. But this royal s teward may ac tual lyhave been Hezekiah's c ourtier c ri tic ized by Is aiah for bui lding a grandios e tomb: the name c ould, read 'Shebnayahu'.

* In 1880, J ac ob E l iahu, aged s ixteen, s on of J ewis h c onverts to P rotes tantis m, invi ted a s c hool friend to dive the length of the S i loam T unnel. T hey were both fas c inated by the bibl ic al s tory of 2 K ings 20.20: 'And the res t of the ac ts of Hezekiah, and al l his m ight, and how he made a pool , and a c ondui t, andbrought water into the c i ty, are they not wri tten in the book of the c hronic les of the kings of J udah?' J ac ob s tarted from one end and his friend from the other, feel ing the workers ' anc ient c his el-marks wi th their fingers . W hen the marks c hanged direc tion J ac ob real ized he was at the plac e where the two teams hadmet and there he found the ins c ription. He emerged at the other end to find that his friend had long s inc e given up; and he terri fied the loc al A rabs who bel ieved the T unnel c ontained a dj inn or dragon. W hen he told his headmas ter, word s pread and a Greek trader c rept into the T unnel and roughly c ut out theins c ription, breaking i t. But the Ottoman pol ic e c aught him ; and the ins c ription is now in Is tanbul . J ac ob E l iahu then joined the evangel ic al Americ an Colonis ts and was adopted by the Colony's founding fam i ly, the Spaffords . J ac ob Spafford bec ame a teac her at their s c hool , ins truc ting his pupi ls about theT unnel, never mentioning that he was the boy who had found the ins c ription.

* T here are hints of c hi ld s ac ri fic e in Genes is and Exodus , inc luding Abraham 's wi l l ingnes s to s ac ri fic e Is aac . Human s ac ri fic e was long as s oc iated with Canaanite and Phoenic ian ri tual . Muc h later, Roman and Greek his torians as c ribed this das tardly prac tic e to the Carthaginians , thos e des c endants of thePhoenic ians . Yet very l i ttle evidenc e was dis c overed unti l the early 1920s , when two Frenc h c olonial offic ials in T unis ia found a tophet, wi th buried urns and ins c riptions in a field. T hey bore the letters MLK (as in molok , offering) and c ontained the burned bones of c hi ldren and the tel l ing mes s age of a vic tim 'sfather reading: 'It was to Baal that Bomilc ar vowed this s on of his own fles h. B les s him ! ' T hes e finds may have c oinc ided with the time of Manas s eh, implying that the bibl ic al s tories were plaus ible. Molok (offering) was dis torted into the bibl ic al 'moloc h', the defini tion of the c ruel idolatrous god and, later inW es tern l i terature, partic ularly in J ohn Mi l ton's Paradis e Los t, one of Satan's fal len angels . Gehenna in J erus alem bec ame not jus t hel l , but the plac e where J udas inves ted his i l l -gotten s i lver piec es and during the Middle Ages the s i te of mas s c harnel-hous es .

* J os iah's reforms were a vi tal s tepin the development of J udais m. T wo tiny s i lver s c rol ls were found in a Val ley of Hinnom tomb of this period: ins ide was etc hed the pries tly prayer of Numbers 6.24-6 whic h remains part of the J ewis h s ervic e today. 'For YHW H is our res torer and roc k. May YHW H bles s you andkeepyou and make his fac e s hine.'

* Royal c ourtiers l ived and worked atopthe City of David. An arc hive of forty-five bul lae - c lay s eals hardened by being burned in the des truc tion of the c i ty - has been found in a hous e there, whic h arc haeologis ts c al l the Hous e of the Bul lae. T his was obvious ly a s ec retariat of the king: one bul la bears the ins c ription'Gemaraiah s on of Shaphan', the name of the royal s c ribe of K ing J ehoiakim in the Book of J eremiah. Some time during the c ris is , the king died, to be s uc c eeded by his s on, J ehoiac hin.

* Shattered s herds bearing mes s ages - known as os trac a - have been found by arc haeologis ts buried in layers of as hes at the c i ty gate of the fortres s of Lac his h: they give a human gl imps e of the uns toppable Babylonian advanc e. Lac his h and another fortres s , Azekah, held out the longes t, c ommunic ating witheac h other and J erus alem by fi re-s ignals . A t Lac his h, the beleaguered J udaean c ommander Yaus h rec eived reports from his outpos ts as they were gradual ly des troyed. His offic er Hos hayahu s oon noted that the fi re-s ignals no longer c ame from Azekah. T hen Lac his h too was des troyed in heavy fighting.

* Nothing has been found of the Temple - exc ept the tiny ivory head of a s c eptre or s taff us ed in proc es s ions , c arved into the s hape of a pomegranate, dating from the eighth c entury and ins c ribed: 'Belonging to the hous e of hol ines s ' (though s ome c laim this fragment is not authentic ). But J eremiah was s urpris inglyac c urate: Nebuc hadnezzar's henc hmen s et up headquarters at the c i ty's Middle Gate to organize J udah, and their names in the Book of J eremiah are c onfi rmed by a text found in Babylon. Nebuc hadnezzar appointed a royal m inis ter, Gedal iah, as puppet ruler over J udah, but as J erus alem was in ruins he ruled fromMizpah to the north, advis ed by J eremiah. J udaeans rebel led and murdered Gedal iah, and J eremiah had to flee to Egypt, where he vanis hes from the s tory.

* Between 586 and 400 BC, the mys terious wri ters of the B ible, s c ribes and pries ts l iving in Babylon, refined and c ol lated the Five Books of Mos es , known as the Torah in Hebrew, c ombining the di fferent tradi tions of God, Yahweh and E l . T he s o-c al led Deuteronomis ts retold the his tory and rec as t the law to s howthe fec kles s nes s of kings and the s upremac y of God. And they inc orporated s tories ins pired by Babylon s uc h as the Flood, s o s im i lar to the Epic of Gi lgames h, the origins of Abraham in nearby Ur and of c ours e the Tower of Babel . T he Book of Daniel was wri tten over a long period: s ome parts were defini telywri tten in the early Exi le, other parts later. W e do not know i f there was an individual named Daniel or whether he is a c ompos i te. But the book is als o ful l of his toric al c onfus ions that arc haeologis ts have c lari fied wi th the helpof the evidenc e found in Babylon during nineteenth-c entury exc avations .

* One of Cyrus ' dec rees of toleranc e, later found ins c ribed on a c yl inder, won him the s oubriquet Father of Human Rights , and a c opy now s tands at the entranc e of the United Nations in New York. But he was no l iberal . For ins tanc e, when the Lydian c api tal of Sardis rebel led, he s laughtered thous ands of i tsinhabi tants . Cyrus hims el f bel ieved in Ahura Mazda, the winged Pers ian god of l i fe, wis dom and l ight in whos e name the prophet of the A ryan Pers ians , Zoroas ter, had dec reed that l i fe was a battle between truth and l ie, fi re vers us darknes s . But there was no s tate rel igion, jus t this polytheis tic vis ion of l ight anddark that was not inc ompatible wi th J udais m (and later Chris tiani ty). Indeed the Pers ian word for heaven -paridaeza - bec ame our own 'paradis e.' T heir pries ts - the magi - gave us the word 'magic ', and the three eas tern pries ts s aid to have heralded the birth of Chris t.

+ T his is a bibl ic al exaggeration. Many thous ands c hos e to l ive as J ews in Iraq and Iran. Babylonian J ews remained a ric h, powerful and numerous c ommunity under the Seleuc ids , Parthians and Sas s anids upto the Abbas id c al iphate and the Middle Ages . Babylon bec ame a c entre of J ewis h leaders hipandlearning almos t as important as J erus alem unti l the Mongol invas ion. T he c ommunity rec overed under the Ottomans and B ri tis h. But pers ec utions s tarted in the 1880s in Baghdad (whic h was s aid to be one third J ewis h) and intens i fied under the Has hemite monarc hy. In 1948, there were 120,000 J ews in Iraq.W hen the s hah was overthrown in 1979, there were 100,000 Iranian J ews . T he majori ty of both c ommunities em igrated to Is rael . T wenty-five thous and Iranian J ews and a mere fi fty Iraqi J ews remain today.

* Darius raided Central As ia eas t of the Cas pian, and probed India and Europe, attac king Ukraine and annexing T hrac e. He bui l t his s umptuous palac e-c api tal of Pers epol is (in s outhern Iran), promoted the rel igion of Zoroas ter and Ahura Mazda, organized the fi rs t world c urrenc y (the Daric ), rais ed a navy of Greeks ,Egyptians and Phoenic ians , and c reated the fi rs t real pos tal s ervic e, s etting up inns every 15 m i les along the 1,678 m i les of the K ing's Road from Sus a to Sardis . T he ac hievements of his thi rty-year reign make him the Augus tus of the Pers ian empire. But even Darius reac hed his l im i ts . Shortly before his death in490 BC, he tried to pus h into Greec e, where he was defeated at the Battle of Marathon.

* T he Samari tans were already developing their s eparate s emi-J ewis h c ul t, bas ed on a J udais m formed before the introduc tion of the new Babylonian rules . Under the Pers ians , Samaria was ruled by Sanbal lat's dynas ty of governors . T heir exc lus ion from J erus alem enc ouraged them to s et up their own Temple atMount Gerizim and they embarked on a feud with the J ews and J erus alem. Like al l fam i ly rivalries , i t was bas ed on the hatred of tiny di fferenc es . T he Samari tans bec ame s ec ond-c las s c i tizens , des pis ed by the J ews as heathens , henc e J es us ' s urpris ing revelation that there was s uc h a thing as a 'good Samari tan'.A round a thous and Samari tans s ti l l l ive in Is rael : long after the des truc tion of the end of the J ewis h c ul t of s ac ri fic e, the Samari tans in the twenty-fi rs t c entury s ti l l annual ly s ac ri fic e the Pas s over lamb on Mount Gerizim .

* T anakh was a Hebrew ac ronym for Law, P rophets and W ri tings , the books whic h the Chris tians later c al led T he Old T es tament.

* J os eph's fam i ly were J ews of m ixed origin, perhaps des c endants of a T obiah the Ammonite who had oppos ed Nehemiah. His father T obiah was a magnate c los e to P tolemy II - the papyrus arc hive of a royal offic ial named Zenon s hows him trading with the king - and ruled huge es tates in Amnon (today's J ordan).

* Antioc hus was the heir of the other great dynas ty des c ended from the generals who c arved up A lexander the Great's empire. W hen P tolemy I s ec ured his own kingdom in Egypt, he bac ked Antioc hus ' anc es tor Seleuc os , one of A lexander's offic ers , in his bid to s eize Babylon. As gi fted as P tolemy, Seleuc osrec onquered mos t of A lexander's As ian terri tories - henc e the Seleuc id ti tle K ing of As ia. Seleuc os ruled from Greec e to the Indus - only to be as s as s inated at his apogee. T he fam i ly had been promis ed Coele-Syria, but P tolemy had refus ed to hand i t over: the res ul t was a c entury of Syrian wars .

+ T his was the age of the war elephant. Ever s inc e A lexander had returned from his Indian c ampaign with a c orps of elephants , thes e armoured pac hyderms had bec ome the mos t pres tigious (and expens ive) weapons for any s el f-res pec ting Mac edonian king - though they often trampled their own infantry ins tead ofthe enemy's . Meanwhi le in the wes t, the Carthaginians , des c endants of Phoenic ians from T yre, and the Romans , were fighting for mas tery of the Mediterranean. Hannibal , the bri l l iant Carthaginian general , invaded Italy, having marc hed his elephants over the A lps . Antioc hus deployed Indian elephants , theP tolem ies had A fric an elephants and Hannibal us ed the s mal ler, now extinc t s pec ies from the A tlas Mountains in Moroc c o.

* Some his torians bel ieve S imon ac tual ly ruled under P tolemy I. T he s ourc es are c ontradic tory but he was , mos t l ikely, Antioc hus the Great's c ontemporary S imon II, who rebui l t the forti fic ations , repaired the Temple and added a giant c is tern on the Temple Mount. His tomb s tands north of the Old Ci ty in thePales tinian Sheikh J arrah neighbourhood. During the Ottoman c enturies , a 'J ewis h pic nic ' was held there annual ly whic h was c elebrated by Mus l ims , J ews and Chris tians together, one of the fes tivals s hared by al l s ec ts in the days before national is m. Today, the tomb is a J ewis h s hrine at the c entre of Is rael iplans to bui ld a nearby s ettlement. Yet the tomb, l ike s o many s i tes in J erus alem, is i ts el f a myth: i t is nei ther J ewis h nor the res ting-plac e of S imon the J us t. Bui l t 500 years later, i t was the tomb of a Roman lady, J ul ia Sabina.

* T he c hief J ewis h fes tivals - Pas s over, W eeks and Tabernac les - were s ti l l developing. Pas s over was the s pring fes tival that now c ombined the two old feas ts of the Unleavened B read and the s tory of the Exodus . Gradual ly Pas s over replac ed Tabernac les as the main J ewis h fes tival in J erus alem. Tabernac less urvives today as Sukkot, when J ewis h c hi ldren s ti l l bui ld a harves t hut dec orated with frui t. T emple duties were divided by rota between the Levi tes , des c endants of the tribe of Levi , and the pries ts (des c endants of Mos es ' brother Aaron, thems elves a s ub-group of the Levi tes ).

* J as on fled again, taking refuge with his bac ker, Hyrc anus the Tobiad princ e. Hyrc anus had ruled muc h of J ordan for forty years , remaining an al ly of the P tolem ies even when they los t J erus alem. He fought c ampaigns agains t the A rabians and bui l t a luxurious fortres s at A raq e-Emir wi th beauti ful c arvings andornamental gardens . W hen Antioc hus c onquered Egypt and retook J erus alem, Hyrc anus ran out of options : the las t of the T obiads c ommitted s uic ide. T he ruins of his palac e are now a touris t s i te in J ordan.

* T he Book of Daniel is a c ol lec tion of s tories , s ome from the Babylonian Exi le, others from the pers ec utions of Antioc hus : the fiery furnac e may des c ribe his tortures . Daniel 's new vis ion of an enigmatic 'Son of Man' ins pired J es us . T he c ul t of martyrdom would be replayed in the early c enturies of Chris tiani ty.

* His fam i ly is c orrec tly known as the Has monean dynas ty, but for s impl ic i ty they are identi fied in this book as the Mac c abeans . T he Mac c abee bec ame the medieval prototype for Chris tian c hivalry alongs ide K ing A rthur and Charlemagne. Charles 'Martel ' - the Hammer - who defeated the A rabs at the Battle of Toursin 732; Ric hard the Lionheart in the twel fth c entury and Edward I (1272-1303) promoted thems elves as latterday Mac c abees . Later, Rubens painted J udah the Mac c abee; Handel wrote an oratorio dedic ated to him . T he Mac c abees have es pec ial ly ins pired Is rael , where many of the footbal l teams are named afterthem. As the heroes of Hanukkah, J ews tradi tional ly regard them as freedom-fighters agains t a genoc idal tyrant, a prec urs or of Hi tler. But s ome have s ugges ted another view, ins pired by today's s truggle between Americ an democ rac y and j ihadis t terroris m, in whic h the Greeks are the c ivi l ized ones fightingMac c abee rel igious fanatic s who res emble a J ewis h T aleban.

* T his new high pries t was not even a member of the Zadoki te Hous e of Onias . Its rightful heir was Onias IV, who now fled wi th his fol lowers to Egypt where he was welc omed by K ing P tolemy V I Phi lometer. Phi lometer al lowed him to bui ld a J ewis h temple on the s i te of a dis us ed Egyptian s hrine at Leontopol is inthe Ni le Del ta, and there he c reated his own J erus alem, s ti l l known as T el l al -J ahudiya - Hi l l of the J ews . T hes e J ewis h princ es bec ame powerful m i l i tary c ommanders in Egypt. Onias ' temple las ted unti l T i tus ordered i ts des truc tion in AD 70.

* Phi lometer's s uc c es s or was hos ti le to the J ews bec aus e Onias and the A lexandrian J ews had s upported Phi lometer. Even by the fam i ly's vic ious s tandards , P tolemy V III Euergetes , nic knamed Fats o (Phys kon) by the A lexandrian mob, was a mons ter. Fats o took revenge on the J ews in Egypt, mas s ing hiselephants to trample them, but, perhaps in a divine m irac le, the elephants trampled the king's entourage ins tead. T he c l imax of his c ruel ties was the murder of his own fourteen-year-old s on who total ly trus ted his father: Fats o had the boy's head, legs and hands c ut off and s ent to his own mother, Cleopatra II.W hen another of the fam i ly, Cleopatra T hea who married the Syrian king Demetrius II, dec ided to murder her own s on, s he offered him a c up of pois on. But the s on forc ed the mother to drink i t. Suc h was fam i ly l i fe among the P tolem ies .

+ No trac e has been found of the Ac ra. Some s c holars bel ieve i t s tood jus t s outh of Temple Mount. Herod the Great was to extend the Temple Mount, s o probably the razed hi l l of the Ac ra is now beneath the Temple platform where al-Aqs a Mos que s tands . For thos e who ques tion why s o l i ttle s urvives from the reignof, s ay, K ing David, this demons trates that enormous c ons truc tions c an leave no arc haeologic al trac e.

* And with a new nic kname, Hyrc anus , s urely the res ul t of his Parthian adventures , even though he never reac hed Hyrc ania on the Cas pian. He c ons ol idated his power abroad with a new Roman al l ianc e and in J erus alem through the bac king of the ric h Temple el i te, the Sadduc ees , des c endants of the hous e ofZadok - henc e their name.

* T he c i ty wal l extended from the Temple Mount to the S i loam Pool and thenc e to the Citadel , where the foundations of his towers remain today, and where one c an s ee l i ttle res idential hous es of Mac c abean J erus alem. Sec tions of his wal l s urvive at various plac es : on the s outh s lope of Mount Zion, jus t wes t ofthe Cathol ic Cemetery, there is a plac e where J ohn's wal l s ti l l s tands next to the bigger s tones of Hezekiah's and the muc h later ones of the Byzantine empres s Eudoc ia. In 1985, Is rael i arc haeologis ts dis c overed a s ubterranean aqueduc t and large pool bui l t by J ohn and the Mac c abees . B ri tis h, German and Frenc harc haeologis ts in the nineteenth c entury had unc overed this S truthion Pool underground in 1870 when the S is ters of Zion c onvent was bui l t on the V ia Doloros a. T he aqueduc t reveals how the S truthion Pool was s uppl ied and, beneath the Convent, c los e to the V ia Doloros a, vis i tors c an walk along this aqueduc t,now part of the T emple T unnel . T he Mac c abees als o bui l t a bridge ac ros s the deepval ley between the T emple Mount and the Upper Ci ty. J ohn hims el f res ided in his Baris s tronghold, north of the T emple, but he als o probably s tarted to bui ld a palac e in the expanding Upper Ci ty.

* W hen he attac ked the Greek c i ty P tolemais , P tolemy IX Soter, then rul ing in Cyprus , intervened and defeated A lexander. But he was res c ued by J ewis h c onnec tions : Soter was at war wi th his mother Cleopatra III, Queen of Egypt, who feared her s on's power in J udaea. Cleopatra's c ommander was the J ewis hAnanias , the s on of the ex-high pries t Onias , who res c ued the Mac c abean king. Cleopatra c ons idered annexing J udaea, but her J ewis h general advis ed agains t this , and s he was in no pos i tion to take on her own army.

* T he Idumeans , the B ibl ic al Edomites , tough pagan warriors bas ed to the s outh of the J erus alem, had been c onverted en mas s e to J udais m by J ohn Hyrc anus . Antipater was the s on of a c onvert to J udais m who had been appointed Governor of Edom by K ing A lexander, though the fam i ly originated from thePhoenic ian c oas tal c i ties .

* Pac orus was the s on and heir-apparent of the A rs ac id K ing of K ings , Orad II, who had defeated Cras s us . T he Parthians had expanded from their homeland eas t of the Cas pian, breaking away from the Seleuc ids around 250 BC, to c reate a new empire that c hal lenged Roman power. Pac orus ' army wass pearheaded by his Pahlavan knights , who wore heavy armour and loos e trous ers and wielded 12-foot lanc es , axes and mac es . Charging at ful l ti l t, thes e c ataphrac ts had s mas hed the Roman legions at Carrhae. T hey were s upported by mounted arc hers famous for the s peed and ac c urac y of their over-the-s houldermarks -mans hip-the 'Parthian s hot'. But Parthia had a feudal flaw: i ts kings were often at the merc y of i ts overm ighty, ins ubordinate nobles .

+ Antigonos , s on of the late king A ris tobulos II, us ed Greek and Hebrew names . His c oins s how the T emple menorah - the c andelabra, his fam i ly's s ymbol - wi th 'K ing Antigonos ' in Greek; the revers e has the T emple s hewbread table wi th 'Mattathias the High P ries t' in Hebrew.

* T he murdered c ouns el lors were probably buried in the ornate Sanhedrin tomb that s ti l l s tands north of the Old Ci ty, dec orated with pomegranates and ac anthus leaves . As for his mountain s trongholds , the mos t famous are: Mas ada, where the las t J ewis h fighters agains t Rome c ommitted mas s s uic ide in AD 73;Mac haerus , where J ohn the Baptis t was beheaded by one of Herod's s ons ; and the man-made mountain of Herodium, where Herod and his s ons were buried.

+ T hes e were s ome of the mos t valuable luxury brands of the anc ient Mediterranean: J eric ho palms produc ed date wine; the bals am groves produc ed Bals am of Gi lead, prized for i ts c ures for headac hes and c atarac ts but als o for i ts mos t expens ive s c ent. Cleopatra als o annexed mos t of the c oas t inc luding J oppa(J affa), leaving Herod with Gaza as his only port.

* T his Syrian Greek s c holar bec ame Herod's c onfidant as wel l as Augus tus ' pers onal friend. He mus t have been a s upple c ourtier indeed to s urvive the murderous c ourts of both Cleopatra and Herod. He later wrote biographies of both Augus tus and Herod, for whic h his c hief s ourc e was Herod hims el f. Nikolaus 'Herodian biography has vanis hed but i t provided J os ephus ' main s ourc e and i t is hard to imagine a better one. As for Nikolaus ' former royal pupi ls , Augus tus had Caes arion, the s on of Caes ar and Cleopatra, murdered. But the other three c hi ldren were brought upin Rome by the emperor's s is ter, Antony's ex-wifeOc tavia. T he eventual fate of the boys is unknown but the girl , Cleopatra Selene, married J uba II, K ing of Mauretania. Her s on K ing P tolemy of Mauretania was exec uted by Cal igula. T here ended the P tolemaic dynas ty 363 years after A lexander the Great.

* T his m ight have been named after a later wi fe, als o c al led Mariamme. But i t mus t have rem inded him and everyone els e of the Mac c abean princ es s . Today's Tower of David, whic h has nothing to do with David, is bas ed on Herod's Hippic us Tower. A fter T i tus ' des truc tion of the c i ty, i t remained unti l Ottomantimes the c hief s tronghold of J erus alem. No other bui lding in J erus alem s o reveals the embroidered nature of the c i ty's development as the Citadel , where arc haeologis ts have unc overed J udaean, Mac c abean, Herodian, Roman, A rab, Crus ader, Mamluk and Ottoman ruins .

+ Herod's weal th c ame from his landholdings al l over the Middle Eas t. T hes e produc ed s heep, c attle (rais ed in J ordan and J udaea), wheat and barley from Gal i lee and J udaea, fis h, ol ive oi l , wine and frui t, l i l ies and onions from As hkelon (henc e s hal lots are As hkelon onions ), pomegranates from Geba, north ofJ erus alem, figs from J oppa, date palms and bals am from J eric ho. Herod owned a hal f to two-thirds of his kingdom; he taxed and exported Nabataean s pic es ; and he was als o a m ining magnate, paying Augus tus 300 talents for rights to hal f the c opper m ines of Cyprus . W hi le he exported his loc al wines , he hims el fdrank the Ital ian vintages . Even on his death, after a l i fetime of bui lding and giving Rome huge s ums , he s ti l l left over 1,000 talents or a m i l l ion drac hmas to Augus tus , and there was muc h more than that for his fam i ly.

* Herod would have us ed the lates t tec hnology. T he Egyptians had known how to move vas t s tones to bui ld the pyramids as early as 4000 BC. T he Roman engineer V i truvius had c reated enormous devic es - wheels , s ledges and c ranes - to trans port s uc h s tones . Large wheels over 13 feet in diameter s erved asaxles pul led by teams of oxen. T hen there were winc hes - horizontal rotating beams with attac hed poles and c ranks whic h enabled teams of ten men or fewer to us e them. T his way, eight men c ould l i ft 11/2 tons .

* 'Speak unto the c hi ldren of Is rael ,' s aid God to Mos es and Aaron in Numbers 19, 'that they bring thee a red hei fer wi thout s pot, wherein is no blem is h.' T he hei fer would be s ac ri fic ed on a pyre of c edar and hys s op overlaid wi th a s trand of s c arlet thread and i ts as hes m ixed with holy water. Ac c ording to the Mis hnah,this had only happened nine times , and on the tenth, the Mes s iah would c ome. S inc e the m i l lennial exc i tement of the Is rael i c onques t of J erus alem in 1967, fundamental is t Chris tian evangel is ts and J ewis h redemptionis ts bel ieve that two of the three es s ential prec ondi tions for the Apoc alyps e and c oming of theMes s iah (or the Sec ond Coming for the Chris tians ) have been met: Is rael has been res tored and J erus alem is J ewis h. T he third prec ondi tion is the res toration of the Temple. Some Chris tian fundamental is ts and the tiny fac tions of redemptionis t Orthodox J ews , s uc h as thos e of the Temple Ins ti tute, bel ieve thatthis is pos s ible only when the Temple Mount is puri fied wi th the s ac ri fic e of the red hei fer. T herefore even today a Pentec os tal preac her from Mis s is s ippi named Clyde Lott is , in al l ianc e with Rabbi Ric hman of the Temple Ins ti tute, trying to breed the red hei fer from a herd of 500 Red Angus imported from Nebras kato a farm in the J ordan Val ley. T hey bel ieve they wi l l breed the 'hei fer that wi l l c hange the world'.

* Herod's fam i ly tree is c ompl ic ated bec aus e the fam i ly were s o endogamous , repeatedly intermarrying and remarrying within the Herodian and Mac c abee c lans trying to rec onc i le them: he married his brother Pheroras to Mariamme's s is ter and his eldes t s on Antipater to the daughter of the las t K ing Antigonos(beheaded at his reques t by Antony). But the marriages were inters pers ed with exec utions : Salome's fi rs t two hus bands were ki l led by Herod. Herodians als o married into the royal fam i l ies of Cappadoc ia, Emes a, Pontus , Nabataea and Ci l ic ia, al l Roman al l ies . A t leas t two marriages were c anc el led bec aus e thehus band would not c onvert to J udais m and be c irc umc is ed.

* Doc tors have debated his s ymptoms ever s inc e. T he mos t l ikely diagnos is is that Herod s uffered hypertens ion and arterios c leros is c ompl ic ated by progres s ive dementia and by c onges tive heart and kidney fai lure. T he arterios c leros is led to venous c onges tion, aggravated by gravi ty, s o that fluid c ol lec ted in hisfeet and geni tals , bec oming s o s evere that the fluid bubbled through the s kin; the blood flow bec ame s o poor that nec ros is of the fles h - gangrene - developed. T he bad breath and i tc hing were c aus ed by kidney fai lure. T he peni le/s c rotal gangrene provided ideal material for the laying of eggs by fl ies that hatc hedas maggots . It is pos s ible that the geni tal worms were hos ti le propaganda, s ymbol izing divine vengeanc e on an evi l king: Antioc hus IV Epiphanes , Herod's grands on, Agrippa I, and many other s inners inc luding J udas Is c ariot, were as s igned s im i lar worm-infes ted, bowel- and s c rotum-exploding exi ts .

* J es us ' bi rth is his toric al ly c hal lenging, the Gos pels c ontradic tory. No one knows the date but i t was probably before Herod's death, in 4 BC whic h means J es us died in his early thi rties i f he was c ruc i fied in AD 29-30, forty i f i t was AD 36. T he s tory of the c ens us s ummoning the fam i ly to Bethlehem is nothis toric al bec aus e Quirinius ' c ens us took plac e after Herod's s uc c es s or, A rc helaus , was depos ed in AD 6, almos t ten years after J es us ' bi rth. In rec ounting the journey to Bethlehem and his Davidic genealogy, Matthew's Gos pel provides J es us with royal bi rth and ful fi lment of prophec y - 'for thus i t is wri tten by theprophet.' T he Mas s ac re of the Innoc ents and the es c ape to Egypt are c learly ins pired by the Pas s over s tory: one of the Ten P lagues was the K i l l ing of the Firs t Born. W herever J es us was born, i t is l ikely that the fam i ly did travel to the Temple for the s ac ri fic e. Mus l im tradi tion, expanded on by the Crus aders ,bel ieves that J es us was rais ed in the c hapel beneath al-Aqs a Mos que, J es us ' Cradle. J es us ' fam i ly is mys terious : after the birth, J os eph s imply dis appears from the Gos pels . Matthew and Luke s tate that Mary remained a vi rgin and J es us was fathered by God (an idea fam i l iar in Roman and Greek theology, and als os ugges ted in Is aiah's prophec y of Emmanuel). But Matthew, Mark and J ohn name J es us ' brothers : J ames , J os es , J udas and S imon along with a s is ter, Salome. W hen Mary's vi rgini ty bec ame Chris tian dogma, the exis tenc e of thes e other c hi ldren bec ame inc onvenient. J ohn mentions 'Mary the wife of Cleophas '. IfJ os eph died young, Mary may have married this Cleophas and had more c hi ldren bec aus e, after the Cruc i fixion, J es us was s uc c eeded as leader fi rs t by his brother J ames then by 'S imon s on of Cleophas '.

* Herod's tomb was dis c overed in 2007 by P rofes s or Ehud Netzer who found an ornate red s arc ophagus , dec orated with flowers , s mas hed to piec es almos t c ertainly by the anti -Herodian J ewis h rebels of AD 66-70. T wo other s arc ophagi are whi te, dec orated with flowers : do they belong to his s ons ? Herodium wasanother m irac le of Herod's c ons truc tion - a man-made mountain 210 feet in diameter wi th a mas s ive luxurious palac e on top c ontaining a domed bathhous e, towers , fres c oes and pools . Herod's pyram idal tomb was on the Herodium Hi l l below the eas tern tower of the fortres s , als o des troyed in 66-70

* One of thes e 'kings ' was S imon, a hulking s lave belonging to Herod, s oon beheaded by the Romans . S imon may be the s ubjec t of the s o-c al led Gabriel 's Revelation, a s tone ins c ription found in s outhern J ordan in whic h the A rc hangel Gabriel ac c laims a 'princ e of princ es ' c al led S imon who wi l l be ki l led but wi l lris e again 'in three days ' when 'you wi l l know that evi l wi l l be defeated by jus tic e. In three days you wi l l l ive, I, Gabriel , c ommand you.' T he detai ls - res urrec tion and judgement three days after a prophet's death - predate J es us ' c ruc i fixion by over thi rty years . A fter ki l l ing S imon, Publ ius Quinc ti l ius Varus c ommandedthe German frontier. Some ten years later, in AD 9, he was ambus hed, los ing three legions . T his dis as ter s poi led the las t years of Augus tus , who s uppos edly wandered his palac e c rying, 'Varus , give me bac k my legions ! '

+ A l l three s ons adopted the name 'Herod', c aus ing muc h c onfus ion in the Gos pels . A rc helaus was married but fel l in love with Glaphyra, that daughter of the K ing of Cappadoc ia who had been married to Herod and Mariamme's s on A lexander. A fter A lexander was exec uted, s he married K ing J uba of Mauretania andafter his death returned to Cappadoc ia. Now s he married A rc helaus .

* Salome the danc er s ymbol izes c old-hearted c apric e and female depravi ty, but the two Gos pels Mark and Matthew never give her name. J os ephus gives us the name of Herodias ' daughter in another c ontext but s imply rec ounts that Antipas ordered J ohn's exec ution without any terps ic horean enc ouragement. T hedanc e of the s even vei ls was a muc h later elaboration. T here were many Herodian Salomes (J es us ' s is ter was als o named Salome). But mos t probably the danc er was the wife of Herod Phi l ip, T etrarc h of T rac honi tis , unti l his death when s he married another c ous in who was later appointed king of Les s er A rmenia:the danc er ended upas a queen. Ul timately J ohn's head would bec ome one of the mos t prized of Chris tian rel ic s . T here would be at leas t five s hrines c laim ing to have the original : the s hrine of J ohn's head in the Umayyad Mos que in Damas c us is revered by Mus l ims .

* No one knows exac tly when J es us c ame to J erus alem. Luke s tarts J es us ' m inis try wi th his baptis m by J ohn, around AD 28-29, s aying he was about thi rty, s ugges ting that his death was between AD 29 and s ay AD 33. J ohn s ays his m inis try las ted one year; Matthew, Mark and Luke s ay i t las ted three years . J es usmay have been ki l led in 30, 33 or 36. But his his toric al exis tenc e is c onfi rmed not only in the Gos pels but in Tac i tus and J os ephus , who als o mentions J ohn the Baptis t. A t the very leas t, we know that J es us c ame to J erus alem at Pas s over after P i late's arrival as prefec t (26) and before his departure (36) during thereigns of T iberius (died 37) and Antipas (before 39) and the high pries thood of Caiaphas (18-36): mos t l ikely between 29 and 33. P i late's c harac ter is c onfi rmed by both J os ephus and Phi lo J udaeus of A lexandria, and his exis tenc e c onfi rmed by an ins c ription found in Caes area.

* Suc h as thos e of the Es s enes , probably an offs hoot of the pious Has idim who had original ly bac ked the Mac c abees . J os ephus explained that they were one of the three s ec ts of J udais m in the fi rs t c entury AD, but we learned more in the Dead Sea Sc rol ls , dis c overed in eleven c aves at Qumran near the DeadSea in 1947-56. T hes e c ontain the earl ies t Hebrew vers ions of s ome of the bibl ic al books . Chris tians and J ews had long debated the di fferenc es between the Septuagint B ible (trans lated into Greek, from a vanis hed Hebrew original and the bas is of the Chris tian Old Tes tament, between the thi rd and fi rs t c enturiesBC) and the earl ies t s urviving Hebrew B ible (the Mas oretic , dating from s eventh to the tenth c enturies AD. T he A leppo Codex is the oldes t, but inc omplete; the S t Peters burg Codex is dated 1008, and i t too is c omplete.) T he Sc rol ls revealed di fferenc es but c onfi rm that the Mas oretic was fairly ac c urate. T he Sc rol lsprove, however, that there were many vers ions of the bibl ic al books in c i rc ulation as late as J es us ' time. T he Es s enes were aus tere J ews who developed the apoc alyptic ideas of J eremiah and Daniel and s aw the world as a s truggle between good and evi l ending in war and judgement. T heir leader was a mys tic al'Teac her of Righteous nes s '; their enemy was the 'W ic ked P ries t' - one of the Mac c abees . T hey feature in many c rac kpot theories about the origins of Chris tiani ty, but we c an only s ay that J ohn the Baptis t may have l ived with them in the des ert and that J es us may have been ins pired by their hos ti l i ty to the Templeand by their apoc alyptic s c enarios

* T his Iraqi kingdom remained J ewis h wel l into the next c entury. Queen Helena and her s ons were buried jus t outs ide the old c i ty of J erus laem under three pyramids ; the ornate K ing's T omb s urvives today, north of the Damas c us Gate on the Nablus Road that leads pas t the Americ an Colony Hotel . In the nineteenthc entury, a Frenc h arc haeologis t exc avated the s i te and announc ed i t had belonged to K ing David. Adiabene was not the only J ewis h fiefdom in that area: two J ewis h rebels agains t Parthia, As inaeus and Ani laeus , c reated an independent J ewis h s tate around Babylon that las ted about fi fteen years .

+ T he Golden Gate is the tradi tional gate by whic h J es us entered the Temple, and in J ewis h, Mus l im and Chris tian mys tic is m, the Mes s iah wi l l enter J erus alem there. But J es us would not have entered this way: the Gate was not bui l t for another 600 years and the nearby Shus han Gate was not open to the publ icand only rarely us ed by the high pries t hims el f. Another Chris tian tradi tion s ays J es us entered through the Beauti ful Gate, on the other s ide, today probably c los e to the Bab al-S i ls i la (Gate of the Chain) on the wes t. T his is more l ikely. But the Beauti ful Gate is als o the plac e where Peter and J ohn performed amirac le after J es us ' death. T he very name Golden Gate may be a muddled vers ion of 'beauti ful ' s inc e golden in Latin (aurea) and beauti ful in Greek (oreia) are s o s im i lar. J erus alem 's hol ines s is c ris s -c ros s ed with s uc h m is unders tandings , and multiple legends appl ied to the s ame s i tes to enforc e and embel l is htheir s anc ti ty

* Every event in this s tory was to develop i ts own geography in J erus alem, though many of thes e s i tes are probably his toric al ly wrong. T he Upper Room (Cenac le) on Mount Zion is the tradi tional s i te of the Las t Supper; the real s i te was maybe c los er to the c heaper hous es around the S i loam Pool s inc e Markmentions 'a man c arrying a jar of water' there. T he Las t Supper tradi tion developed later in the fi fth c entury and even more s trongly under the Crus aders . A s tronger tradi tion s ugges ts this s i te was where the Holy Spiri t des c ended on the Apos tles at Pentec os t, after J es us ' death: this is c ertainly one of the mos tanc ient Chris tian s hrines . Its hol ines s was s o infec tious that J ews and Mus l ims later revered i t too. T he tradi tional but plaus ible s i te of Annas ' mans ion is under the Churc h of Holy A rc hangels in the A rmenian Quarter. A s tone weight ins c ribed 'belonging to the hous e of Caiaphas ' in A ramaic has been unc overedin J erus alem and in 1990 bui lders found a s ealed burial c as e in whic h one os s uary was ins c ribed 'J os eph s on of Caiaphas ' - s o thes e are pos s ibly the high pries t's bones . T he Geths emane Garden with i ts anc ient ol ive grove is bel ieved to be the c orrec t s i te

* T his is a total ly di fferent route from the tradi tional V ia Doloros a. T he Gennath Gate, mentioned by J os ephus , was identi fied by the Is rael i arc haeologis t Nahman Avigad in the northern part of the J ewis h Quarter in a s ec tion of the Firs t W al l . In the Mus l im period, Chris tians wrongly bel ieved that the AntoniaFortres s was the P raetorium where P i late had made his judgements . Medieval Franc is c an monks developed the tradi tion of the S tations of the Cros s along the V ia Doloros a, from the Antonia s i te to the Churc h of the Holy Sepulc hre - almos t c ertainly the wrong route. Golgotha derives from the A ramaic for 's kul l ',Calvary from the Latin for 's kul l ', calva .

+ Cruc i fixion originated in the eas t - Darius the Great c ruc i fied Babylonian rebels - and was adopted by the Greeks . As we have s een, A lexander the Great c ruc i fied the T yrians ; Antioc hus Epiphanes and the J ewis h king A lexander J annaeus c ruc i fied rebel l ious J erus alem ites ; the Carthaginians c ruc i fiedins ubordinate generals . In 71 BC the Roman s uppres s ion of the Spartac us s lave revol t c ulm inated in a mas s c ruc i fixion. T he wood for the c ros s is s aid to have c ome from the s i te of the forti fied eleventh-c entury Monas tery of the Cros s , near today's Is rael i Knes s et. T he monas tery was long the headquarters of theGeorgian Orthodox Churc h in J erus alem

* T he Gos pel of Peter, a Gnos tic c odex dating from the s ec ond or thi rd c entury, dis c overed in nineteenth-c entury Egypt, c ontains a mys terious s tory about the removal of the body. T he oldes t Gos pel , Mark, wri tten forty years later around AD 70, ends with J es us being laid in his tomb, never mentioning theRes urrec tion. Mark's ac c ount of the res urrec tion was a later addi tion. Matthew, wri tten about AD 80, and Luke are bas ed on Mark and another unknown s ourc e. Henc e thes e three are known as the Synoptic s - from the Greek meaning 's een together'. Luke m inim ized the role of J es us ' fam i ly at the Cruc i fixion, but Markmentions Mary mother of J ames , J os es and J es us ' s is ter. J ohn, the lates t Gos pel , wri tten probably at the end of the c entury, portrays a more divine J es us than the others but has other s ourc es , giving more detai l on J es us ' earl ier vis i ts to J erus alem.

+ Ac ts of the Apos tles tel ls this s tory, but Matthew has another vers ion: the remors eful J udas threw away his s i lver in the Temple at whic h the high pries t (who c ould not put i t into the Temple treas ury bec aus e i t was blood money) inves ted i t in the Potter's Field 'to bury s trangers in'. T hen he hanged hims el f. T heAkeldama - Field of B lood - remained a burial plac e into the Middle Ages .

* 'It fel l to me', Agrippa wrote as a Mac c abee and a Herodian, 'to have for my grandparents and anc es tors , kings , mos t of whom had the ti tle High P ries t, who c ons idered their kings hip inferior to the pries thood. Holding the offic e of High P ries t is as s uperior in exc el lenc e to that of king as God s urpas s es men. For theoffic e of one is to wors hip God, of the other to have c harge of men. As my lot is c as t in s uc h a nation, c i ty and T emple, I bes eec h you for them al l .'

* Claudius was unluc ky in his marriages : he ki l led one wife and the other ki l led him . He exec uted his unfai thful teenaged wife Mes s al ina for treas on then married his niec e, J ul ia Agrippina, the s is ter of Cal igula, who s tarted to promote Nero, her s on by an earl ier marriage, as heir. Claudius made Nero joint heir wi thhis own s on B ri tannic us , named to c elebrate his c onques t of B ri tain. On his ac c es s ion, Nero murdered B ri tannic us .

* J ames ' head was buried alongs ide another J ac obi te head - that of the S t J ames ki l led by Agrippa I - in what bec ame the Cathedral of the A rmenian Quarter. Henc e i ts name is the very plural S t J ames es ' Cathedral .

+ Fel ix and Drus i l la had a s on who l ived in Pompei i . W hen the town was des troyed by the volc ano in 79, the s on and his mother Drus i l la died in the as h.

* T he s treet that s urvives right bes ide the W es tern W al l was his - and s o was another pavement that c an be s een on Mount Zion.

* If the Greek form of 'Nero Caes ar' is trans l i terated into Hebrew c ons onants and the c ons onants are replac ed by their numeric al equivalent, the res ul ting figures added together equal 666. Revelation was probably wri tten during the pers ec utions of Emperor Domitian in 81-96. In 2009, papal arc haeologis tsdis c overed a hidden tomb beneath the Churc h of S t Paul Outs ide the W al ls in Rome, always reputed to be the plac e of Paul 's burial . T he bones were c arbon-dated to the fi rs t to thi rd c enturies - they c ould be the remains of Paul .

* As for Ves pas ian, he is bes t remembered in Italy for c reating publ ic lavatories , whic h are s ti l l known as vespas ianos .

* * Ves pas ian's c oins boas ted 'J UDAEA CAPT A ' wi th the female figure of J udaea s eated, bound, at the foot of a palm tree whi le Rome leaned on his s pear above her. T he fate of the J erus alem treas ures is mys terious . In 455, Gens eric , K ing of the Vandals , s ac ked Rome and tookthe T emple treas ures to Carthage,where they were later c aptured by Emperor J us tinian's general Bel is arius , who in turn brought them to Cons tantinople. J us tinian s ent the c andelabra bac kto J erus alem, but i t mus t have been looted by the Pers ians in 614; at any rate, i t vanis hed. T he A rc h of T i tus , c ompleted by T i tus ' brother Domitian, s hows thearms of the c andelabra lengthened and turned upwards to res emble a trident: i t may have been al tered or i t may be the artis t's m is take. Ironic al ly the Romanized c andelabra (exc ept the pagan s ymbols ) bec ame the bas is for the modern J ewis h menorah, the c andelabra us ed at Hanukkah and as the ins ignia of Is rael .

* * Herod Agrippa II was rewarded with an expanded kingdom in Lebanon. Perhaps he was not tempted to rule the ruins of J udaea but he may have played with the idea of a pol i tic al c areer in Rome. W hen he vis i ted in 75 for the inauguration of the Temple of Peac e (exhibi ting s ome of the Temple ves s els ), he wasgranted the rankof praetor. Having reigned under ten emperors , he died around AD 100. His relatives bec ame kings of A rmenia and Ci l ic ia and ul timately even Roman c ons uls .

* T his is an unfinis hed fam i ly tomb. Its fam i ly probably peris hed in the s iege, s o i t was an appropriate plac e for J ews to gather to mourn the T emple. T hes e pi lgrims c arved the Hebrew ins c riptions that are s ti l l vis ible today.

* T his dis pleas ed the Romans . Greek love was c onventional and not regarded as effem inate: Caes ar, Antony, T i tus and T rajan were al l what we would c al l bis exual . However, in a revers al of moral i ty today, Romans bel ieved i t was ac c eptable to have s ex with boys but not wi th adul ts . Yet even when Antinousbec ame a man, Hadrian ignored his wi fe and treated his lover as his partner.

* Hadrian's bui ldings s urvive in s ome odd plac es : Zalatimo's Sweet Shop, 9 Hanzei t S treet, inc orporates the remains of the gate of Hadrian's Temple of J upi ter and the entranc e to the main forum. T he s hop was opened in 1860 by Muhammad Zalatimo, an Ottoman s ergeant; i t is s ti l l run by the fam i ly patriarc h ofthis Pales tinian c ake dynas ty, Samir Zalatimo. Hadrian's wal ls c ontinue into another old Pales tinian fam i ly bus ines s - the frui t-juic e s tore of Abu As s ab - and then into the Rus s ian A lexander Nevs ky Churc h. T he arc hway of Hadrian's les s er forum s urvives on the V ia Doloros a, whic h many Chris tians m is takenlybel ieve is where P i late pres ented J es us to the c rowd with the words 'Ec c e homo' (Here is the man). In fac t, the arc h did not exis t unti l a hundred years later. T he bas e of the Damas c us Gate has been exc avated to reveal i ts Hadrianic glory. Today's main s treet Ha-Gai or E l W ad fol lows the route of Hadrian's Cardo,whic h has been exc avated in the W es tern W al l plaza. T he his torian Cas s ius Dio and the later Chris tian s ourc e Chronic on Pas c hale s ugges t that a T emple of J upi ter was bui l t on the T emple Mount. T his is pos s ible, but no trac es have been found.

* Ups ide down jus t above the dec orated s ec tion of the Double Gate in the s outhern wal l of the Temple Mount is an ins c ription that reads 'T O T HE EMPEROR CAESAR T IT US AELIUS HADRIANUS ANT ONINUS AUGUST US P IUS ', almos t c ertainly the bas e of the eques trian s tatue of Antoninus P ius that als os tood on the T emple Mount. It mus t have been looted and then reus ed by the Umayyad c al iphs who bui l t the gate.

* T he Gnos tic s were one of thes e s trands : they bel ieved that the divine s parkwas releas ed only to an el i te few with s pec ial knowledge. In 1945, the dis c overy by Egyptian peas ants of thi rteen c odic es hidden in a jar and dating from the s ec ond or thi rd c enturies has revealed muc h more - and generated many badmovies and novels . In the Apoc alyps e of Peter and the Firs t Apoc alyps e of J ames , i t is a s ubs ti tute who is c ruc i fied in plac e of J es us . In the Gos pel of Phi l ip, there are fragmentary referenc es to J es us kis s ing Mary Magdalene, enc ouraging the idea that they may have married. T he Gos pel of J udas , whic h emergedin 2006, appears to pres ent J udas as J es us ' as s is tant in ac c ompl is hing the Cruc i fixion, rather than trai tor. T he texts were probably hidden in the fourth c entury when the Chris tian emperors s tarted to c rac kdown on heres ies , but the word 'Gnos tic ', bas ed on the Greekfor knowledge, was c oined in the eighteenthc entury. T he J ewis h Chris tians s urvived in tiny numbers as the Ebioni tes - the Poor Ones - rejec ting the V irgin B irth and revering J es us the J ewis h prophet into the fourth c entury. As for the mains tream Chris tians , though relatively s mal l in numbers , their s ens e of c ommunity and m is s ion gave them a growingdis dain for the genti les whom they c al led bumpkins -pagani , henc e pagan.

* W hi le exc avating the anc ient A rmenian Chapel of S t Helena, A rmenian arc haeologis ts opened up a s pac e (now the Varda Chapel) whic h c ontained the mos t intriguing graffi to: a s ketc h of a boat and a phras e in Latin: 'Domine iv imus ' (Lord we have c ome), a referenc e to Ps alm 122 whic h s tarts 'In domum dominiibimus ' (W e'l l go the hous e of the Lord). T his dates from the s ec ond c entury, proving that Chris tians were s ec retly praying beneath the T emple of J upi ter in pagan Ael ia.

* Ini tial ly, Cons tantine identi fied the Unc onquered Sun with the Chris tian God, plac ing c ros s es on s ome of his c oins , the Sun on others , and remaining Ponti fex Maximus (High P ries t) of the pagan c ul ts . In 321, Cons tantine dec lared Sunday - the day of the Sun - as the Chris tian vers ion of the Sabbath. Mithrais mwas a Pers ian mys tery rel igion with a fol lowing among Roman troops . As for Manic haeanis m, the Parthian prophet Mani preac hed that exis tenc e was a perpetual s truggle of l ight and dark, ul timately judged and enl ightened by J es us Chris t. Now only the word s urvives to des c ribe a world-view that s ees l i fe as atournament between good and evi l .

* In ki l l ing his s on, Cons tantine joined an uns avoury c rewof royal fi l ic ides that inc ludes Herod the Great, Ivan the T errible, Peter the Great, Suleiman the Magnific ent. Herod, the emperor Claudius and Henry V III als o exec uted their own wives .

+ But s he was not the fi rs t lady of Cons tantine's fam i ly to be there. Eutropia, Faus ta's Chris tian mother, was already in J erus alem, perhaps to s upervis e the emperor's plans , when her daughter was ki l led. She s hared her daughter's downfal l and was almos t wri tten out of his tory.

* W e do not knowthe exac t s equenc e of thes e bui ldings and dis c overies . Eus ebius of Caes area, who provides the c ontemporary rec ord, mentions only the orders of the emperor and the ac tions of B is hop Mac arius in bui lding the Churc h of the Holy Sepulc hre (but nothing about Helena's role in finding the Cros s ).Yet he gives her c redi t for the As c ens ion Churc h on the Mount of Ol ives . T he s tory of Helena and the Cros s is told later by Sozomen (als o a loc al Chris tian). Some of Cons tantine's wal ls c an s ti l l be s een, wi thin the Rus s ian A lexander Nevs ky Churc h: the s tones c ontain the nic hes by whic h Cons tantine's arc hi tec tsattac hed the marble. Cons tantinian c hurc hes were bas ed not on pagan temples but the s ec ular bas i l ic a, the audienc e-hal ls of emperors . Churc h ri tuals and c leric al c os tumes were bas ed on the imperial c ourt to promote for the repres entatives of the K ing of Heaven a hierarc hy paral lel to that of the emperor.

* Up unti l Nic aea, Eas ter s ti l l fel l on Pas s over, s inc e i t was at Pas s over that J es us had been c ruc i fied. NowCons tantine's hatred of the J ews informed his dec is ion to c hange this for ever. Cons tantine dec reed that Eas ter s hould be fixed on the fi rs t ful l moon Sunday after the vernal equinox. T his s ys tem remainedunivers al unti l 1582 when the Eas tern and W es tern c alendars diverged.

+ A rius was on his way through Cons tantinople after a meeting with Cons tantine when he fel t a 'relaxation of the bowels '. Before he c ould reac h a c onvenienc e, wrote Soc rates Sc holas tic us , A rius ' bowels burs t in the m iddle of the Forum with his intes tines , l iver and s pleen haemorrhaging out of him , a c leardemons tration of the evi l of his heres y. Yet A rianis m l ived on after Cons tantine's death, s upported by his heir Cons tantius II unti l c ondemned again by T heodos ius I, who in 381 dec reed that J es us was equal to the Father in the T rini ty of Father, Son and Holy Spiri t and of the s ame s ubs tanc e.

* Nothing remains of this very s hort J ewis h blos s oming, but there may be one s mal l c lue. High on the W es tern W al l , a Hebrewins c ription has been dis c overed reading: 'And when you s ee this , your heart wi l l rejoic e, and your bones s hal l flouris h l ike young gras s .' It was too high on the wal l for the Sec ond Templebut in this period the ground was muc h higher. Some s c holars bel ieve this expres s es the joy of the J ews at J erus alem 's res toration. More l ikely, i t refers to a tenth-c entury c emetery: bones were found below this s pot.

* Zion was original ly the name of the c i tadel of David's Ci ty, s outh of the Temple, but bec ame s ynonymous with the Temple Mount. Now 'Zion' bec ame the Chris tian name for the wes tern hi l l . In 333, the Bordeaux P i lgrim already c al led i t Zion. In 390, the B is hop of J erus alem bui l t the magnific ent and c olos s al Zion,Mother of Churc hes there on the s i te of the Coenac ulum. J erus alem 's gi ft for dynamic reinvention and c ul tural theft is endles s - but i t does make names very c onfus ing. Take this example: Hadrian's Neapol is Gate wi th the huge c olumn s tanding before i t nowbec ame S t S tephen's Gate for s ome c enturies before theA rabs c al led i t the Gate of the Column, and later the Nablus Gate (Neapol is being today's Nablus ); the J ews c al led i t the Shec hem Gate; the Ottomans c al led i t today's name, Damas c us Gate. (T oday's S t S tephen's Gate is on the eas tern s ide of the c i ty.)

+ T he Byzantines moved mos t of the J ewis h tradi tions of the Temple Mount to the Churc h of the Holy Sepulc hre. T he reddis h s tone of the Temple Mount had been known as the 'B lood of Zac harias ' (the pries t murdered there as told in 2 Chronic les 24.21), but this s i te nowmoved to the Churc h as did the Creation,the burial plac e of Adam, the al tars of Melc hizedek and Abraham and Solomon's devi l -c atc hing s i lver bowl. T hes e joined the platter for J ohn the Baptis t's head, the s ponge that s oothed J es us on the c ros s , the c olumn where he was s c ourged, the s tone that ki l led S t S tephen and, of c ours e, the T rue Cros s . T heT emple had been the 'c entre of the world' for J ews ; no wonder this one-s top s hrine of al l bibl ic al hol ines s , the Churc h, was now i ts el f regarded as 'a navel of the world'.

* Monas tic women often had to dis guis e thems elves as eunuc hs , whic h led to s ome entertaining s tories : a c ertain Marina s haved her head, donned a male tunic and joined a monas tery as Marinos but was ac c us ed of fathering a c hi ld and expel led. She brought up the c hi ld and only on her death did the monksdis c over that s he was unequipped to perpetrate the s in of whic h s he had been ac c us ed.

* Eudoc ia was ins pired by Ps alm 51: 'Do good in thy good pleas ure [Greek: eudoc ia ] unto Zion: bui ld the wal ls of J erus alem.' She was advis ed by the c elebrated A rmenian monk Euphemius whos e protege Sabas later founded the hauntingly beauti ful Mar Saba Monas tery, today inhabi ted by twenty monks , in theJ udaean mountains not far from J erus alem. A rmenia, in the Cauc as us , had been the fi rs t kingdom to c onvert to Chris tiani ty in 301 (after the mythic al c onvers ion of K ing Abgar of Edes s a), fol lowed by i ts neighbour Georgia (known as Iberia) in 327. Eudoc ia was joined by her own protege, Peter the Georgian, the kingof Iberia's s on, who bui l t a monas tery outs ide the wal ls . T his was the s tart of the Cauc as ian pres enc e in J erus alem that endures today.

* Nes torianis m bec ame popular in the Eas t through the As s yrian Churc h of the Eas t that c onverted s ome of the royal fam i ly of Sas s anid Pers ia and later many of Genghis Khan's fam i ly. S imultaneous ly, Monophys i te Eas tern Chris tians , rejec ting Chalc edon, formed the Egyptian Coptic , Syriac Orthodox (known als oas J ac obi te after i ts founder J ac ob Baradeus ) and E thiopian Churc hes . T he latter developed a s pec ial l ink wi th J udais m -The Book of Glory of K ings c elebrates the union of K ing Solomon and Sheba, as the parents of the 'Lion of J udah' K ing Menel ik who brought the A rk of the Covenant to E thiopia, where i t is nows aid to res t in Axum. T his l ink later c reated the Hous e of Is rael (Beta Is rael), the Falas has , blac k E thiopian J ews , who exis ted at leas t from the fourteenth c entury; in 1984, the Is rael is airl i fted them to Is rael .

* One of J us tinian's earl ies t dec is ions in his unc le's reign was to des troy the A rabian J ewis h kingdom of Yemen. In the early fi fth c entury, the K ings of Yemen (Himyara) had c onverted to J udais m. In 523, in res pons e to Byzantine threats , the J ewis h king J os eph - Dhu Nuwas Zurah Yus uf - mas s ac red Chris tians inYemen and forc ed neighbouring princ ipal i ties to c onvert to J udais m. J us tinian ordered the Chris tian king Kaleb of Axum (E thiopia) to invade Yemen. K ing J os eph was defeated in 525 and c ommitted s uic ide by riding into the s ea on hors ebac k. Yet many J ews remained in Yemen and J udais m did not dis appear inA rabia: many of i ts tribes remained J ewis h in Muhammad's day; Yemenite J ews would s tart to s ettle in J erus alem in the nineteenth c entury and em igrate to Is rael after 1948. Only one vi l lage of J ews remains in Yemen in 2010.

* For years this immens e c omplex was los t, but i ts foundations , s tretc hing from the J ewis h Quarter under the pres ent wal ls to outs ide the Old Ci ty, were dis c overed in exc avations by the arc haeologis t Nahman Avigad in 1973. J us tinian bui l t on a s eries of vaul ts c ons truc ted along the s lope to s upport i ts weight.T his ins c ription was found among them: 'And this is the work c arried out by the generos i ty of our mos t grac ious Emperor Flavius J us tinianus .'

* In 1884, a c olourful mos aic was found on the floor of a Byzantine c hurc h in Madaba (in J ordan), ins c ribed 'T he Holy Ci ty of J erus alem ', the fi rs t J erus alem map to s howthe Byzantine view of the c i ty wi th i ts s ix main gates , c hurc hes and the Temple Mount s c arc ely worth s howing at al l . Yet the Temple Mount wasnot c ompletely empty. It has never been exc avated by arc haeologis ts , but in the 1940s B ri tis h engineers , res toring the Is lam ic holy s i tes , made s hal lowprobes and found Byzantine trac es . Optim is ts hoped thes e m ight be the foundations of Emperor J ul ian's (unbui l t) J ewis h Temple. But thes e may be trac es of theonly Byzantine s hrine on this s i te - the s mal l Churc h of the P innac le marking J es us ' temptation by the devi l .

* Chris tian ac c ounts make the exaggerated c laim that 10,000 to 90,000 Chris tians were murdered by the J ews and buried by T homas the Gravedigger. Chris tian legend c laims the vic tims were buried in the Mamil la c emetery of the Lions ' Cave, s o named bec aus e s urvivors hid in the c ave unti l they were s aved by al ion. T he J ews c laim that i t was J ewis h vic tims of a Chris tian mas s ac re who were s aved by the l ion.

* Some trac es of a bui lding at the T emple Mount's s outh-wes t c orner s eem to s how a menorah painted over a c ros s , pos s ibly a Chris tian s hrine inheri ted for a s hort time by J ews . But this may date from the early Is lam ic period.

* T he Golden Gate, ac tual ly two gates , is di rec tly and prec is ely al igned with the Tomb i ts el f in the Churc h of the Holy Sepulc hre, the plac e to whic h Herac l ius took the Cros s . T he plac e had further s ymbol is m, as we have s een, bec aus e the Byzantines m is takenly bel ieved i t als o marked the Beauti ful Gate whereJ es us entered on Palm Sunday and where his apos tles performed a m irac le after his death. Nonetheles s s ome s c holars bel ieve the gate was ac tual ly bui l t by the Ummayad c al iphs . T he Gate s oon as s umed mys tic al s igni fic anc e for the J ews who c al led i t the Gate of Merc y.

* T he word 'mos que' derives from the A rabic mas j id , whic h led to the Spanis h mezquita and the Frenc h mosquee .

* Muhammad's s uc c es s ors us ed the ti tle Commander of the Bel ievers . Later the Heads of S tate were known as Khal i fat Ras ul A l lah - Suc c es s or to the Mes s enger of God - or c al iph. Abu Bakr may have us ed this ti tle but there is no evidenc e i t was again us ed for another s eventy years , unti l the reign of Abd al-Mal ik.T hen i t was appl ied retros pec tively: the fi rs t four rulers bec ame known as the Righteous Cal iphs .

+ T he early his tory of Is lam, inc luding the s urrender of J erus alem, is mys terious and c ontes ted. T he pre-em inent Is lam ic his torians wrote one or two c enturies later and far from J erus alem or Mec c a: Ibn Is haq,Muhammad's fi rs t biographer, wrote in Baghdad, dying in 770; al-Tabari , al -Baladhuri and al-Yaqubi al ll ived in late-ninth-c entury Pers ia or Iraq.

* T he early Mus l ims s eem to have c al led thems elves 'Bel ievers ' - the word appears 1,000 times in the Koran whi le 'Mus l im ' appears about 75 times - and as we wi l l s ee in J erus alem, they were c ertainly not yet hos ti le to their fel low monotheis ts ,Chris tians or J ews . P rofes s or Fred M. Donner, an authori ty on earlyIs lam, takes this further: 'T here is no reas on to bel ieve', he wri tes , 'that the Bel ievers viewed thems elves as a new or s eparate rel igious c onfes s ion. Some of the early Bel ievers were Chris tians or J ews .'

* T here is no c ontemporary ac c ount of the fal l of J erus alem but the A rab his torians des c ribe the arm ies that s imultaneous ly invaded Pers ia and this is bas ed on thos e s ourc es .

* J ews and mos t Chris tians would not have had a problem with the earl ies t vers ions of the Mus l im s tatement of fai th - the s hahada - whic h read 'T here is no God but God', as i t may not have been unti l 685 that they added 'Muhammad is the apos tle of God'. J ewis h and Mus l im names for J erus alem overlap:Muhammad c al led Pales tine 'T he Holy Land' in the J udaeo-Chris tian tradi tion. T he J ews c al led the Temple Bey t ha-M iqdas h (the Holy Hous e) whic h the Mus l ims adapted: they c al led the c i ty hers el f Bay t al-Maqdis . T he J ews c al led the Temple Mount Har ha-Bey t (the Mount of the Holy Hous e); Mus l ims ini tial lyc al led i t Mas j id Bay t al-Maqdis , the Mos que of the Holy Hous e, and later als o Haram al-Shari f, the Noble Sanc tuary. Ul timately Mus l ims had s eventeen names for J erus alem; J ews c laimed s eventy, and both agreed 'a multipl ic i ty of names is a s ign of greatnes s '.

* T he tradi tional text of the Covenant or Pac t of Omar wi th the Chris tians c laims Omar agreed to ban the J ews from J erus alem. T his is Chris tian wis hful thinking or a later forgery bec aus e we know that Omar welc omed the J ews bac k in J erus alem, that he and the early c al iphs al lowed J ewis h wors hip on the T empleMount and that the J ews did not leave again as along as Is lam held s way. T he A rmenians were already a large Chris tian c ommunity in J erus alem with their own bis hop (later patriarc h). T hey es tabl is hed c los e relations with the Mus l ims and rec eived their own Covenant. For the next m i l lennium and a hal f,Chris tiansand J ews were dhimmi , people of the Covenant, tolerated but inferior, s ometimes left to thems elves , s ometimes vic ious ly pers ec uted.

+ Omar ordered the reti rement of Khaled, vic tor of Yarmuk, after hearing about a wine-s oaked bathhous e orgy in whic h a poet s ang of the general 's heroic s . Khaled died of plague though today's Khal idi fam i ly c laim des c ent from him . One of Muhammad's early s upporters had been a woman named Nus aybah wholos t two s ons and a leg fighting for the P rophet. Now Nus aybah's brother,Ubadah ibn al-Samit, arrived with Omar, who is s aid to have appointed him as a judge in J erus alem, and c us todian of the Holy Sepulc hre and of the Roc k. His des c endants , the Nus s eibeh fam i ly, are s ti l l Cus todians of the Holy Sepulc hre in2010 (s ee the Epi logue).

* T his was a hands hake whic h meant a c ontrac t to render obedienc e: the word c omes from baa - to s el l .

* T he modern mos que c ontains both a mihrab , a prayer-nic he fac ing Mec c a, and a minbar, the pulpi t. Muawiya's prayer-hal l had the mihrab but probably not yet a minbar bec aus e early Is lam was too egal i tarian to have a pulpi t. However, ac c ording to the his torian Ibn Khaldun, Muawiya's imperial reign c hanged that.His Egyptian governor, the general Amr, invented the minbar in his mos que in Egypt and Muawiya s tarted to us e i t to give the Friday s ermon, adding a lattic ed enc los ure around i t to protec t him from as s as s ins .

* Iran remains a Shi i te theoc rac y. Shi i tes are a majori ty in Iraq and a large m inori ty in Lebanon. Hus s ein's brother Has an bin A l i remained in reti rement, though he too may have been murdered. His direc t des c endants inc lude today's royal dynas ties of Moroc c o's A loui te and of J ordan's Has hemite kings . T he T welveShi i te Imams , the Fatim id dynas ty, the Aga Khans and the J erus alem ite Family the Hus s einis al l trac e their roots bac k to Hus s ein. T heir des c endants are often known as the Nobi l i ty, the As hraf (the s ingular is Sheri f us ual ly addres s ed as Sayy id).

* In 1902, one of Abd al-Mal ik's m i les tones was found eas t of J erus alem with an ins c ription that defined the way the c al iph s aw his power in relation to that of God: 'T here is no God but God alone. Muhammad is the mes s enger of God... Abd al-Mal ik, the Commander of the Fai thful and s ervant of God, had orderedthe repair of this road and c ons truc tion of this m i les tone. From Ilya [J erus alem] to here is s even m i les ...'

* 'O People of the Book do not go beyond the bounds of your rel igion and do not s peak anything about God exc ept the truth,' read the ins c riptions around the Dome. 'Indeed the Mes s iah J es us s on of Mary was only a mes s enger of God s o bel ieve in God and in his mes s engers and do not s ay "three"... It is not for Godto take a s on.' T his s eems more an attac k on T rini tarianis m than on Chris tiani ty as a whole. As for the J ews , the bi-weekly s ervic e there referred s trongly to the J ewis h Temple: 'On every T ues day and T hurs day, they order s affron and they prepare with mus k, ambergris and s andalwood perfumed with ros ewater. T henthe s ervants (who were J ews and Chris tians ) eat and enter the bath to puri fy thems elves . T hey go to the wardrobe and c ome out wi th new red and blue c lothes and bands and bel ts . T hen they go to the S tone and anoint.' As the s c holar Andreas Kaplony wri tes , this was 'a Mus l im s ervic e, the Temple s ervic e as theMus l ims think i t s hould be. T o c ut a long s tory s hort, this is the Former T emple rebui l t, the Koran is the new T orah and the Mus l ims are the true people of Is rael .'

* As always in J erus alem, the bui lders borrowed from els ewhere, s o Aqs a's wooden beams were taken from a Chris tian s i te, s ti l l marked in Greek with the name of a s ixth-c entury Patriarc h (now in the Roc kefel ler and Haram Mus eums ). T he Double and T riple Gates to the s outh, matc hing the Golden Gate to theeas t, al l of them now c los ed, are the mos t beauti ful in J erus alem, bui l t us ing the s tones of earl ier Herodian and Roman bui ldings . It was there that the wal l c ontains the ups ide-down ins c ription to Emperor Antoninus P ius from his eques trian s tatue on the T emple Mount.

* 'Every s oul s hal l tas te death and you wi l l be paid in ful l only on the Day of Res urrec tion,' s ays the Koran. T he Mus l ims c reated a geography of Apoc alyps e around J erus alem. T he forc es of evi l peris h at the Golden Gate. T he Mahdi - the Chos en - dies when the A rk of the Covenant is plac ed before him . A t the s ightof the A rk, the J ews c onvert to Is lam. T he Kaaba of Mec c a c omes to J erus alem with al l thos e who ever made the pi lgrimage to Mec c a. Heaven des c ends on the Temple Mount wi th Hel l in the Val ley of Hinnom. T he people as s emble outs ide the Golden Gate on the P lain - al -Sahira. Is rafi l the A rc hangel of Death(one of the Dome's gates is named after him) blows his trumpet: the dead (es pec ial ly thos e buried c los e to the Golden Gate) are res urrec ted and pas s through the Gate, the portal to the End of Days (wi th i ts two l i ttle domed Gates of Merc y or that of Repentanc e), to be judged in the Dome of the Chain where thes c ales of jus tic e hang.

* An imam is the leader of a mos que or c ommunity but in Shia, imams c an be s piri tual leaders , c hos en by God and bles s ed with infal l ibi l i ty. T he T welver Shi i tes of Iran bel ieve in the fi rs t twelve imams des c ended from Muhammad's s on-in-law A l i and his daughter Fatima and that the T welfth Imam was 'oc c ul ted' -hidden by God - and wi l l return as the Madhi, the Chos en mes s ianic redeemer of J udgement Day. T he Is lam ic Republ ic of Iran was founded by Ayatol lah Khomeini on this m i l lenarian expec tation: the c lergy rule only unti l the Imam's return.

* J erus alem 's importanc e les s ened as Mec c a's grew: i f J erus alem had perhaps at one point approac hed Mec c a and Medina as part of the haj -'You s hal l only s et out for the three mos ques Mec c a,Medina, and al-Aqs a,' dec lared one of the hadith of al -Khidri - now under the Abbas ids ,J erus alem was reduc ed to az iy ara , a pious vis i t.

* T he Abbas ids , partic ularly Maamun, regularly reques ted c opies of Greek c las s ic s from the Byzantines , s ec uring for pos teri ty P lato,A ris totle,Hippoc rates ,Galen,Euc l id and P tolemy of A lexandria. T he A rabs developed an enti re new voc abulary of s c ienc e that entered the Engl is h language: alc ohol , alembic ,alc hemy, algebra, almanac are jus t s ome of the words thus borrowed. A l-Nadim 's famous Index s hows that they als o produc ed 6,000 new books . Paper was now replac ing parc hment s c rol ls : in one of his tory's dec is ive battles , the Abbas ids had defeated an invas ion by the Chines e Tang emperors , ens uring theMiddle Eas t would be Is lam ic not Chines e and als o c apturing the s ec rets of Chines e paper-makers .

* T he J ewis h c ommunities of the world were ruled by the two heredi tary gaons of the J erus alem Ac ademy and the Babylonian/Iraqi Ac ademy, whos e s eat was in Baghdad. T he Karai tes s pread throughout the J ewis h world, bui lding up large c ommunities from the Crimea to Li thuania that s urvived up to theHoloc aus t, when mos t of them were annihi lated. T his led to one of the s tranges t anomal ies of the Nazi repres s ion: in the Crimea, s ome Karai tes were of T urkic rather than Semitic origin, s o the Nazis ac tual ly ordered the protec tion of this J ewis h s ec t.

+ T he Khazars - s hamanis t T urkic nomads , rul ing the s teppes from the B lac k Sea to Central As ia - formed the las t J ewis h s tate before the c reation of Is rael . In about 805, their kings c onverted to J udais m, taking names s uc h as Manas s eh and Aaron. W hen the J erus alem ite wri ter Muqaddas i pas s ed throughKhazaria he lac onic al ly obs erved, 'Sheep, honey and J ews exis t [there] in large quanti ties .' By the 960s , this J ewis h empire was in dec l ine. However, wri ters from A rthur Koes tler to the rec ent Shlomo Sand have c laimed that muc h of European J ewry are ac tual ly des c ended from thes e T urkic tribes men. If true, thiswould underm ine Zionis m. But modern genetic s refutes the theory: the two lates t s urveys s ugges t that modern J ews , both Sephardic and As hkenazi , are around 70 per c ent des c ended from Middle Eas tern genes of 3,000 years ago and around 30 per c ent from European s toc k.

* Rec ent rulers of J erus alem had als o been buried there, bel ieving, l ike the J ews , that burial in J erus alem would mean they would be res urrec ted fi rs t on the Day of J udgement. T he c los er to the Temple Mount, the s ooner they would ris e again. T he Ikhs hid tombs have never been found but are bel ieved to havebeen jus t on the northern edge of the Temple Mount. A Pales tinian his torian s howed this author how His tory has s o often been invented in J erus alem by al l three rel igions for pol i tic al reas ons only to gain i ts own s ac red momentum. W hen there was talk of Is rael i bui lding jus t north of the Temple Mount, thehis torian s ugges ted s imply putting up a plaque identi fying this as the s i te of the Ikhs hid tombs , whic h has bec ome the ac c epted s hrine. T he new bui lding was c anc el led.

* A l-Quds fi rs t appeared on Maamun's c oins in 832. Henc eforth J erus alem ites were known as people from Quds : quds i , or in s lang, 'uts i '.

* Khidr is the mos t fas c inating of Is lam ic s aints , c los ely as s oc iated with J erus alem where he was s aid to c elebrate Ramadan. Khidr the Green Man was a mys tic al s tranger, eternal ly young but wi th a whi te beard, c i ted in the Koran (18.65) as Mos es ' guide. In Sufis m - Is lam ic mys tic is m - Khidr is the guide andi l lum inator of the holy path. T he Green Man s eems to have ins pired the Green Knight in the A rthurian epic S ir Gaw ain and the Green Knight. But he is c hiefly identi fied wi th the J ewis h E l i jah and the Chris tian S t George, a Roman offic er exec uted by Dioc letian. His s hrine at Bei t J ala near Bethlehem is s ti l l reveredby J ews ,Mus l ims and Chris tians .

* Not al l the s ynagogues had been des troyed. T he J ewis h s ynagogue in Fus tat,Old Cairo, c ontained one of the key his toric al res ourc es of the Middle Ages : the Cairo Geniza. In thos e times , al l three Peoples of the Book revered the paper on whic h holy language was wri tten bec aus e words had s piri tual l i fe l ikepeople. T he J ews kept papers rec eived in s ynagogues in a geniz a or s torehous e for s even years at whic h point they were buried in a c emetery or s towed in a s pec ial attic . For over 900 years , the Cairo Geniza was not emptied, pres erving 100,000 papers s howing J ewis h Egyptian l i fe, i ts c onnec tions withJ erus alem, and the Mediterranean world in al l i ts as pec ts , s ealed and forgotten unti l 1864 when a J erus alem ite s c holar fi rs t penetrated i t. In the 1890s ,Geniza doc uments s tarted to emerge, bought by Engl is h,Americ an and Rus s ian s c holars , but i t was only in 1896 that two ec c entric Sc ottis h ladies s howed s omeGeniza doc uments to P rofes s or Solomon Sc hec hter, who rec ognized the earl ies t Hebrew text of Ben S ira's Ec c les ias tic us . Sc hec hter c ol lec ted the pric eles s hoard, whic h enabled S . D. Goitein to produc e his s ix-volume Mediterranean Soc iety .

* T his was the age of J ewis h m inis ters for Is lam ic monarc hs . In Egypt, the s c ion of a trading fam i ly of Pers ian Karai tes ,Abu Saad al-T us tari bec ame a purveyor of luxuries to Zahir, to whom he then s old a blac k s lave girl . On the c al iph's death in 1036, s he bec ame the W al ida, mother of Cal iph Mus tans ir, wi thT us tari as the power behind the throne. He amas s ed c olos s al weal th, onc e giving al-W al ida a s i lver s hip and tent worth 130,000 dirhams . He never c onverted to Is lam. T he poet Rida ibn T hawb wrote: 'People of Egypt,I have good advic e for you / T urn J ew, for Heaven i ts el f has bec ome J ewis h.' In 1048,T us tari wasmurdered by T urkis h troops , muc h mourned by the Goan of J erus alem. Meanwhi le the vizier of Is lam ic Granada in Spain was another patron of J erus alem: Samuel ibn Nagrela, 'T he P rinc e', a polymathic doc tor, poet,Talmudic s c holar and general , perhaps the only prac tis ing J ew to c ommand Is lam ic arm ies inbattle. His s on s uc c eeded him but was murdered in 1066 in a mas s ac re of J ews in Granada.

* W hen the c aptive emperor was brought before the vic torious A lp A rs lan, whos e mous tac hes were s o long he draped them over his s houlders , as ked, 'W hat would you do i f I was brought before you as a pris oner?' 'Perhaps I'd ki l l you, or exhibi t you in the s treets of Cons tantinople,' repl ied Romanos IV Diogenes . 'Mypunis hment is far heavier,' repl ied A lp A rs lan. 'I forgive you, and s et you free.' But the Lion did not las t long hims el f. W hen he s aw the approac h of an as s as s in, he waved as ide his bodyguards in order to dis play his s ki l l as an arc her by bringing down the attac ker. But his foot s l ipped, and the as s s as s in s tabbedhim. Dying, he warned his s on Mal ik Shah , 'Remember wel l the les s ons learned, and do not al low your vani ty to overreac h your good s ens e.' His tomb in Merv reads with Ozymandian i rony: 'O thos e who s aw the s ky-high grandeur of A lp A rs lan, behold! He is under the blac k s oi l now.'

* A dis pute over the Fatim id s uc c es s ion gave ris e to a murderous breakaway s ec t of Is mai l i Shi i tes led by Has s an al-Sabbah. He and his Nizaris fled to Pers ia, where he s eized the mountain fortres s of A lamut and later they gained fortres s es in Lebanon. He made up for his s mal l numbers by launc hing as pec tac ular c ampaign of terroris m agains t his Sunni enemies . His team of ki l lers , who terrorized the Middle Eas t for over a c entury, were s uppos edly under the influenc e of has his h, and c ame to be c al led the Has his him , or As s as s ins . T he Mus l ims , though, c al led them Batini , s eekers after s ec ret es otericknowledge.

+ In 1095, the Sunni phi los opher Abu Hamid al-Ghazal i s ought refuge in J erus alem from the As s as s ins . 'I s hut mys el f up in the prec inc t of the Dome of the Roc k,' he s aid, in a tiny c hamber atop the Golden Gate, to wri te the Rev iv i fic ation of the Sc ienc e of Rel igion . T his reinvigorated Sunni Is lam by s eparating thelogic of phi los ophy - Greek metaphys ic s - from the ec s tatic revelation of rel igious truth, whi le giving eac h i ts due. Ul timately his demol i tion of s c ienti fic c aus e and effec t (in his Inc oherenc e of the Phi los ophers ) in favour of divine revelation ended the golden age of A rabic learning in Baghdad and helped underm ineArab s c ienc e and phi los ophy.

* 70,000 is the tradi tional figure for J erus alem 's population but this is an implaus ible exaggeration. In the eleventh c entury, Cons tantinople had 600,000 inhabi tants ; Baghdad and Cairo, the great c i ties of Is lam: 400,000-500,000; Rome, Venic e and Florenc e 30,000-40,000; Paris and London 20,000. As for theGreek Fire, 'God's flame', a petroleum-bas ed c onc oc tion fi red through s iphons , had onc e s aved Cons tantinople. Now the Mus l ims , not the Chris tians , had i t.

* T he laws of warfare s tated that no quarter was expec ted after bi tter s ieges , yet the Frankis h eyewitnes s es went further in advertis ing their butc hery and c laim ing that no one was s pared. But s ome of their des c riptions are ins pired direc tly by the Book of Revelation. T hey did not s pec i fy numbers . Later, Mus l imhis torians c laimed 70,000 or even 100,000 were ki l led, but the lates t res earc h s ugges ts that the mas s ac re was s mal ler, perhaps around 10,000, c ons iderably les s than the future Mus l im mas s ac res of Edes s a and Ac re. T he bes t-plac ed c ontemporary, Ibn al-A rabi , who had rec ently l ived in J erus alem and was inEgypt in 1099, c i ted 3,000 as ki l led in al-Aqs a. Nor were al l the J ews ki l led. T here were c ertainly J ews and Mus l ims left al ive. Unus ual ly, i t s eems that the Crus ader c hronic lers , for propaganda and rel igious purpos es , hugely exaggerated the s c ale of their own c rimes . Suc h was holy war.

* T he round Temple Churc h in London, c ons ec rated by Herac l ius , the Patriarc h of J erus alem, in 1185 and made famous in Dan B rown's novel The Da V inc i Code , is s urely model led on the Temple of the Lord, the Dome of the Roc k, whic h they bel ieved to have been bui l t by Solomon. But there are s c holars whoas s ert i t is bas ed on the double-domed Churc h of the Holy Sepulc hre.

* A t times of c ris is the Li fe-Giving T ree, whic h was tended in the c hurc h by the sc riniarius , the rel ic -keeper, in a bejewel led c hes t, was c arried before the king by four bearers .

* T he original Crus aders overwhelm ingly s poke the northern Frenc h dialec t langue d'oie , total ly di fferent from the P rovenc al langue d'oc . But i t was langue d'oc that bec ame Outremer's c hief dialec t.

* T he Mel is ende Ps al ter, wi th i ts c arved ivory c overs , s tudded with turquois e, ruby and emerald s tones , was c rafted by Syrian and A rmenian artis ts in the Holy Sepulc hre s c riptorium. Its Byzantine, Is lam ic and W es tern s tyles s how how Crus ader and Eas tern art fus ed during the reign of this hal f-A rmenian, hal f-Frankis h queen.

* Fulk was not the fi rs t king of J ers ualem Us amah had known. In 1124, Baldwin II had been a pris oner at Shai jar, Us amah's fam i ly c as tle. He was treated s o hos pi tably that the Crus aders c ame to res pec t Us amah and the fam i ly. T he ruins of Shai jar c as tle c an s ti l l be s een in Syria.

* An Orthodox and a Latin c hurc h were bui l t atop their res pec tive Akeldama c harnel-hous es where bodies were dropped through holes in the roof: i t was bel ieved that the bodies dec ompos ed within twenty-four hours wi th no s mel l . Las t us ed for burials in 1829, the Latin c harnel-hous e is fi l led wi th earth but theGreek Orthodox pi t is vis ible today. Peering through a s mal l opening, one c an s ee the white bones . Nei ther of the c hurc hes exis ts , probably des troyed by Saladin.

+ T he holy Golden Gate was opened jus t twic e a year. T he c emetery outs ide the Golden Gate, probably attac hed to the Templar c onvent, was a s pec ial res ting-plac e. It was here that the murderers of T homas Bec ket were reported buried. A few important Frankis h knights were buried ins ide on the Temple Mount. In1969, J ames Flem ing, an Americ an B ible s tudent, was photographing the Gate when the earth gave way and he fel l into a hole 8 feet deep. He found hims el f s tanding on a heap of human bones . T he hole revealed what appeared to be a neat arc h of Herodian as hlars . T he bones may belong to Crus aders (Frederic kof Regens burg was buried there in 1148; the arc haeologis t Conrad Sc hic k found bones there in 1891). Before and after the Crus ades , the Mus l ims us ed this as a s pec ial c emetery. E i ther way, Flem ing was unable to c hec k bec aus e the Mus l im authori ties s wiftly c emented i t over.

* T he Holy P repuc e was jus t one of a panoply of medieval rel ic s . Charlemagne pres ented a s ec tion to Pope Leo before his c oronation in 800, but there were s oon between 8 and 18 s uc h rel ic s in the Chris tian world. Baldwin I s ent one to Antwerp in 1100 but Mel is ende pos s es s ed another s ec tion. Mos t of the rel ic swere los t or des troyed in the Reformation.

* Mel is ende was the thi rd queen to rule J erus alem in her own right - after A thal iah, J ezebel 's daughter, and A lexandra, widow of A lexander J annaeus in Mac c abean times . She was c rowned three times , onc e with her father in 1129, then with Fulk in 1131 and again wi th her s on in 1143. Des pi te the low s tatus ofwomen on both s ides , Us amah bin Munqidh tel ls of both Is lam ic and Crus ader women who in times of peri l pul led on armour and fought the enemy in battle. Mel is ende did not forget her A rmenian roots . A fter the fal l of Edes s a, s he s ettled i ts A rmenian refugees in J erus alem and in 1141 the A rmenians s tarted torebui ld S t J ames 's Cathedral near the royal palac e.

* As s oon as s he was free, E leanor married Henry, Duke of Normandy and Count of Anjou, the grands on of K ing Fulk of J erus alem, who s oon s uc c eeded to the Engl is h throne as Henry II. T heir c hi ldren inc luded K ing J ohn and the future Crus ader, K ing Ric hard the Lionheart.

* A t leas t he s eems to have loved T heodora longer than the others . W hen s he was c aptured by the emperor, Andronikos s urrendered and was forgiven. T hen the emperor died, and the prepos terous c ad s eized power in 1182 and bec ame one of the mos t des pic able emperors in the his tory of Cons tantinople. Duringhis reign of terror, he ki l led mos t of the imperial fam i ly inc luding the women. Aged s ixty-five but s ti l l boyis hly hands ome, he married a thi rteen-year-old princ es s . W hen he was overthrown, the mob tortured him to death in the mos t horrible way, an arm c ut off, an eye gouged, hair and teeth torn out, his fac e burnedwith boi l ing water to ruin his famous looks . T heodora's fate is unknown.

* T his palac e appears on the fai rly real is tic map of J erus alem c reated in Cambrai around this time. T heodoric h s aw the palac e in 1169. It was given to the German Crus aders in 1229, but i t vanis hed, probably des troyed by the raiding Khwarizm ian T urks in 1244. A rc haeologis ts found parts of i ts foundations in 1971and 1988 under the A rmenian Garden and the T urkis h barrac ks .

* T he J ewis h travel ler Benjam in of T udela vis i ted J erus alem jus t after Maimonides . W hi le he was there, workmen refurbis hing the Cenac le on Mount Zion dis c overed a mys terious c avern that was hai led as K ing David's Tomb. T he Crus aders added a c enotaph whic h, in the c ontagious rel igious atmos phere ofJ erus alem, made this Chris tian s i te holy for J ews and Mus l ims too. Benjam in c laimed he travel led on to Iraq. E i ther way, he rec orded the drama playing out in Baghdad where a young J ew named David el-Rey (the K ing) or A lroy dec lared hims el f the Mes s iah, prom is ing to fly the loc al J ews on wings 'to c onquerJ erus alem.' T he J ews of Baghdad waited on their rooftops but never ac hieved l i ft-off, muc h to the amus ement of their neighbours . A lroy was later murdered. W hen Benjam in Dis rael i vis i ted J erus alem in the nineteenth c entury, he s tarted to wri te his novel , A lroy .

* A fter four c enturies as a J ewis h s ynagogue under Is lam, the Crus aders s ealed up the 'Cave' in the tunnels next to the wes tern wal l , turning i t into a c is tern. So i t is unl ikely Maimonides prayed there.

* Lepros y was c ommon. Indeed J erus alem had i ts own Order of S t Lazarus for leprous knights . Lepros y is hard to c atc h: the c hi ld mus t have had months of c ontac t, perhaps with a wetnurs e s uffering m i ld s ymptoms . T he dis eas e is c aus ed by bac teria pas s ed through droplets in s weat and touc h. Baldwin'sadoles c enc e triggered lepromatous lepros y. In the fi lm K ingdom of Heav en he is s hown wearing an i ron mas k to c onc eal his utterly ravaged, nos eles s fac e, but ac tual ly he refus ed to hide hims el f as king even as the dis eas e c ons umed him .

* It was now that W i l l iam of T yre 'wearied by the s ad dis as ters , in utter detes tation of the pres ent, res olved to abandon the pen and c ommit to the s i lenc e of the tomb the c hronic le of events that c an s erve only to draw forth lamentations and tears . W e lac k the c ourage to c ontinue. It is therefore time to hold ourpeac e.' His Outremer c hronic le s urvives , his Is lam ic his tory is los t. He argued with Patriarc h Herac l ius , who exc ommunic ated him . W i l l iam appealed to Rome but died jus t as he was leaving for Italy. Pos s ibly he was pois oned. In 1184, Herac l ius , bearing the keys of J erus alem, toured England and Franc e in aques t for an heir to the leper-king or at leas t more funds and knights . He tried to interes t Henry II of England. Ins tead his younges t s on J ohn wanted to ac c ept the throne of J erus alem, but his father refus ed to let him . It is hard to imagine that J ohn, later known as Softs word and one of England's mos t inept kings ,would have s aved J erus alem.

* A fic tional vers ion of Bal ian (played by Orlando B loom) is the hero of the movie K ingdom of Heav en , where he has an affai r wi th Queen Sybi l la (Eva Green).

* Saladin was the Crus aders ' s horthand for Salah al-Dunya al-Din (the Goodnes s of the W orld and the Fai th). Saladin's brother, known by the Crus aders as Safadin, was born Abu Bakr ibn Ayyub, adopting the honori fic Safah al-Din (Sword of the Rel igion) and later the royal name al-Adi l (T he J us t) by whic h he isc al led in mos t his tories . T wo of Saladin's c ourtiers wrote biographies : Imad ad-Din, his s ec retary, wrote The Lightning of Sy ria and then Cic eronian E loquenc e on the Conques t of the Holy City , c harac terized by purple pas s ages . In 1188, Baha al-Din Ibn Shaddad, an Is lam ic s c holar from Iraq, vis i ted J erus alem andwas appointed by Saladin fi rs t as qadi (judge) of the army and then as overs eer of J erus alem. On Saladin's death he s erved as c hief qadi for two of his s ons . His biography, Sultanly Anec dotes and J os ephly V irtues (a referenc e to his fi rs t name Yus uf, J os eph), is a rounded portrai t of a warlord under pres s ure.

* In J erus alem an old man had the temeri ty to s ue the s ul tan hims el f over s ome property. Saladin c ame down from his throne to be judged equal ly, and won the c as e, but then loaded the c laimant wi th gi fts .

* Saladin held c ourt s ometimes in the Hos pi tal and s ometimes in the Patriarc h's Palac e, where there was a wooden hut on the roof where he l iked to s i t up late at night wi th his entourage. His brother Safadin res ided in the Cenac le c omplex on Mount Zion. Saladin dec ided to give the Patriarc h's Palac e to his ownSalahiyya Sufi c onvent, or khanqah . Today i t remains the Salahiyya khanqah (as i ts ins c ription dec lares ) and the bedroom with i ts fine Crus ader c api tals where Saladin (and the patriarc hs ) s lept is today the bedroom of Sheikh al-A lam i, a member of one of J erus alem 's prom inent fam i l ies . T he patriarc hs hads pec ial entranc es from their Palac e to the Churc h of the Holy Sepulc hre and Saladin bloc ked thes e though they c an s ti l l be s een behind the ti l ls of today's s hops . He als o took over S t Mary's Latina for his Salahiyya Hos pi tal and c ommandeered S t Anne's as his Salahiyya madras s a, rel igious s c hool . Now i t is ac hurc h again but i t is s ti l l ins c ribed to Saladin as 'Reviver of the Empire of the Commander of the Bel ievers '.

* T he new Queen of J erus alem was S ibyl la's hal f-s is ter, Is abel la, daughter of K ing Amaury and Queen Maria. Is abel la divorc ed her hus band to marry Conrad of Montferrat. He thus bec ame by marriage the ti tular king of J erus alem.

* T he oldes t pub in England, the J ourney to J erus alem, in Nottingham, dates from Ric hard's Crus ade.

* In Apri l 1192, Ric hard final ly real ized that Guy, who had been king of J erus alem only by marriage to his late wi fe, was a bus ted flus h. Ins tead he rec ognized Conrad of Montferrat, hus band of Queen Is abel la, as king of J erus alem. But days later, Conrad was ki l led by the As s as s ins . Henry, Count of Champagne, anephew of both Ric hard of England and Phi l ip of Franc e, married Queen Is abel la of J erus alem, s ti l l aged only twenty-one, pregnant wi th Conrad's c hi ld and already on her thi rd hus band. He bec ame K ing Henry of J erus alem. In order to c ompens ate Guy, Ric hard s old him Cyprus , whic h his fam i ly ruled for threec enturies .

* On his way home, Ric hard was c aptured and handed over to the German emperor Henry V I, who impris oned him for over a year, unti l England had paid a large rans om. He returned to fighting the Frenc h king, bringing home s ome Sarac en s oldiers and the s ec ret of the Greek Fire. In 1199, bes ieging a m inor Frenc hc as tle, he was ki l led by an arc her's bol t. 'He was ', wri tes S teven Runc iman, 'a bad s on, a bad hus band and a bad king but a gal lant and s plendid s oldier.'

* T he foundations of s ix of his towers c an be s een today. On the Temple Mount, he bui l t the domed Grammar Sc hool and the glorious arc hes and domed entranc e to al-Aqs a. He may have us ed Frankis h s pol ia to bui l t the oc tagonal Dome of Solomon, als o known as the Kurs i Is a - the T hrone of J es us (the J es usmay be Is a hims el f) - and the Dome of the As c ens ion; the latter has an ins c ription dating i t to 1200-1. But i t is more l ikely that both were original Crus ader bui ldings : indeed the baptis mal font of the Dome of the As c ens ion with i ts Frankis h c api tals , topped with an elegant Frankis h fals e lantern, may have originatedin the T emplum Domini . It was Muazzam who wal led up the Golden Gate.

+ Queen Is abel la of J erus alem was unluc ky in marriage: her thi rd hus band Henry of Champagne ruled Ac re as king of J erus alem and fathered two more daughters by her - but, reviewing German Crus aders in 1197, he was dis trac ted by his dwarf and s tepped bac kwards out of a window. T hen s he married Amaury ofLus ignan, K ing of Cyprus , who died of a s urfei t of whi te mul let in 1205. On her death, her daughter Maria - now queen of J erus alem - married the knight J ohn of B rienne, and they had a daughter Yolande.

* Frederic k and Kamil maintained their friends hip: the s ul tan s ent the emperor a bejewel led planetarium, whic h was both a c loc k and a moving map of the heavens - and an elephant; Frederic k s ent Kamil a polar bear. Frederic k s pent the res t of his l i fe in a c ons tant war wi th the popes to defend his dual inheri tanc ein Germany and Italy. It was the popes who s tigmatized him as the Beas t of the Apoc alyps e. His eldes t s on Henry K ing of the Romans betrayed him ; Frederic k impris oned him for the res t of l i fe, appointing Conrad K ing of J erus alem, his s on by Yolande, as his heir. T he W onder died of dys entery in 1250, and wasburied in Palermo. Conrad died young, the c rown of J erus alem being inheri ted by Conrad's baby s on, Conradin who was hims el f beheaded aged 16. But Frederic k's reputation grew: as time pas s ed, l iberals c elebrated his modern toleranc e; whi le Hi tler and the Nazis admired him as a Nietzs c hean s uperman.

* T hes e Tartars were final ly defeated by Saladin's des c endants in 1246. Drunk in battle, Barka Khan was beheaded, his head dis played in A leppo. But his daughter married the Mamluk s trongman Baibars , future s ul tan; his s ons bec ame powerful am irs who between 1260 and 1285 bui l t the fine tomb, turba , thats ti l l s tands on the S treet of the Chain. T here they buried their father: 'T his is the tomb of the s ervant needful of God's merc y Barka Khan.' His s ons were later buried with him . But when arc haeologis ts ins pec ted the tomb, there was no Barka ins ide. Perhaps his body never arrived from A leppo. In 1846-7, the wealthyKhal idi fam i ly bought this bui lding and indeed the enti re s treet. Barka's tomb is now the reading room of the Khal idi l ibrary, founded in 1900. It is s ti l l the home of Mrs Hai fa al-Khal idi and has a fine view of the W es tern W al l . As a quaint rem inder of J erus alem 's s pan of his tory, the extended hous e als o c ontains ared B ri tis h pos tbox from the Mandate.

* A t times ,J erus alem was ruled from Syria, at times from Cairo where Shajar al-Durr made hers el f s ul tana in her own right. T his was a fem inine ac hievement unique in Is lam and the s ourc e of many legends . As a young c onc ubine, s he had won the eye of the s ul tan by wearing a dres s made enti rely of pearls , henc eShajar al-Durr,T ree of Pearls . Now s he needed male s upport s o s he married a mamluk offic er,A ibeg, who bec ame s ul tan. But the c ouple s oon fel l out and s he had him s tabbed in his bath. A fter eighty days ' reign the mamluks depos ed her. Before s he tried to es c ape, s he ground her famous diamonds to dus t s o noother woman c ould wear them. W hen s he was c aught,A ibeg's c onc ubines (perhaps furious not to inheri t the jewels ) beat her to death wi th their c logs - the mamluk equivalent of death by s ti letto.

* Baibars ' Sufi guru, Sheikh Khadir, bec ame s o powerful that he was able to s educ e the wives , s ons and daughters of the Mamluk generals in a reign of terror. It only ended when they pres ented Baibars wi th s uc h ful l evidenc e that he had to order Khadir's arres t for s odomy and adul tery. He was s pared death onlybec aus e he predic ted that Baibars ' death would rapidly fol low his own.

* By 1268, the rump K ingdom was in s uc h peri l that the pope c al led a new Crus ade. In May 1271, the heir to the Engl is h throne, Edward Longs hanks , arrived at Ac re whic h he helped defend agains t Baibars . But when Ac re negotiated a truc e with the s ul tan, Edward objec ted and i t s eems Baibars ordered hisas s as s ination: he was s tabbed with a pois oned dagger. Having s urvived this , Edward tried in vain to organize a new al l ianc e: the Crus aders would help the Mongols fight Baibars in return for J erus alem. W hen he returned to England as Edward I, he promoted hims el f as Hammer of the Sc ots , i l lus trating his PaintedChamber at W es tm ins ter wi th s c enes of the Mac c abees . Yet he forc ed Engl is h J ews to wear yel low s tars and final ly expel led them from England. T hey did not return for three c enturies . A t his death, Edward was mourned as 'J erus alem 's flower of c hivalry'

* Many of the royal hous es of Europe, inc luding the Bourbons , the Habs burgs and the Savoyards , c laimed the ti tle. In 1277, Charles of Anjou bought i t from Mary of Antioc h, one of i ts c laimants , after whic h kings of Naples or S ic i ly c laimed i t and i t des c ended via the Savoyards to the Ital ian kings . T he K ing of Spains ti l l us es i t. Only one Engl is h monarc h us ed the ti tle. W hen Mary I, daughter of Henry V III, married Phi l ip II of Spain, in W inc hes ter in 1554, s he was dec lared, among other Habs burg ti tles , to be queen of J erus alem. T he ti tle was us ed by the Habs burg emperors unti l 1918.

* Its fate tel ls the s tory of the J ews in J erus alem. T he fi rs t s ynagogue was probably on Mount Zion but s oon moved to the J ewis h Quarter. Under the Mamluks , a mos que and al-Yehud (J ewis h) m inaret were bui l t next to i t, extended in 1397. W hen the s ynagogue c ol laps ed in 1474, Mus l ims demol is hed i t and refus edto perm it i ts rec ons truc tion. But the penul timate Mamluk s ul tan Qaitbay al lowed i t to be rebui l t. It was c los ed again by the Ottomans in 1587. A s ynagogue was then opened in the neighbouring bui lding unti l the Ramban and the next-door s ynagogue were uni ted and reopened in 1835. But in the early twentiethc entury the Ramban was taken over by the Mus l ims , us ed as s torage unti l i t again bec ame a s ynagogue. It was del iberately des troyed by the A rab Legion in 1948. In 1967, i t was reopened.

* It was now that mos t of Herod's wal l along the wes t s ide of the Temple dis appeared behind the new Mamluk bui ldings . But i t reappears onc e, down a hidden al leyway in a c ourtyard of the Mus l im Quarter: i t is one of J erus alem 's s ec ret plac es . J us t as J ews revered the famous W es tern W al l to the s outh, s o s mal lnumbers of J ews prayed and s ti l l pray at this , the Li ttle W al l

+ T he Mamluks bui l t in a dis tinc tive s tyle that c an be s een al l over the Mus l im Quarter: s talac ti te c orbel l ing c al led muqarna and the al ternating of dark and l ight s tones known as ablaq . Perhaps the fines t example of the Mamluk s tyle is Tankiz's Tankiziyya palac e-madras s a bui l t over the Gate of the Chain: al togetherthere are twenty-s even madras s as , al l marked with the blazons of the Mamluk am irs - Tankiz as Cupbearer marks his bui ldings with a c up. T he typic al Mamluk am ir in J erus alem would endow a c hari table trus t, a w aqf, partly to maintain his madras s a, partly to provide a home and job for his des c endants in c as e hispower and wealth were los t in the frequent power s truggles . Eac h tomb or turba was us ual ly downs tairs in a room with green-lattic ed windows s o that pas s ers -by c ould hear the prayers being rec i ted - and they too c an be s een. T hes e bui ldings were muc h later as s igned to J erus alem 's A rab fam i l ies who endowedthem as trus ts s o that today many are s ti l l fam i ly homes .

* In 1393, Henry Bol ingbroke c ame on pi lgrimage to J erus alem and when he s eized the throne as Henry IV, he was told that he would return there to die. He managed to ful fi l this prophec y on his deathbed: he had hims el f plac ed in the J erus alem Chamber at W es tm ins ter. His s on Henry V s hared this devotion: onhis deathbed, the vic tor of Aginc ourt wis hed he had made the pi lgrimage to rebui ld the wal ls of J erus alem.

* Yet Sul tan J aqmaq, who terrorized the Latins , protec ted the A rmenians : his ins c ription prom is ing his favour c an s ti l l be read jus t ins ide the gate of the A rmenian Monas tery

* * In the las t years of Mamluk J erus alem, at the s ame time as thos e J ewis h travel lers were weeping on the Mount of Ol ives , Muj i r al -Din c ompi led his loving, punc ti l ious s tudy of J erus alem and Hebron. He mus t have been res pec ted: he was buried in the elegant domed monument that now s tands jus t above theV irgin's T omb.

* A legend grewup that Suleiman c ons idered level l ing J erus alem unti l he dreamed that l ions would eat him i f he did s o, henc e he bui l t the Lions ' Gate. T his is bas ed on a m is unders tanding: he did bui ld the Lions ' Gate but i ts l ions are ac tual ly the panthers of Sul tan Baibars from 300 years earl ier, borrowed fromhis Sufi khanqah that onc e s tood north-wes t of the c i ty. Suleiman us ed the s pol ia of J erus alem: his Gate of the Chain fountain is topped with a Crus ader ros ette and the trough is a Crus ader s arc ophagus . T he new wal ls did not enc los e Mount Zion. It was s aid that Suleiman was s o furious when he looked into amagic c up and s awthat David's T omb was outs ide the c i ty that he exec uted the arc hi tec ts . T our guides point out their graves c los e to the J affa Gate - but this too is a myth: the graves belong to two s c holars from Safed.

* W hen Chris topher Columbus departed on his expedi tion to Americ a the s ame year, he wrote to his Mos t Cathol ic monarc hs , 'I propos e to Your Majes ties that al l the profi t derived from this enterpris e be us ed for the rec overy of J erus alem.' T heir s on Emperor Charles V, Suleiman's rival and ti tular K ing ofJ erus alem, inheri ted his parents ' c rus ading tradi tion, and his talk of a Crus ade agains t J erus alem was one reas on that Suleiman rebui l t the wal ls .

* T hey had to s el l their monas tery S t Saviour's to the Franc is c ans and that was jus t the beginning. In 1685, the impoveris hed Georgians los t their headquarters , the Monas tery of the Cros s , s aid to be the origins of the wood for J es us 's c ros s , to the Orthodox. A fter the fal l of Crus ader J erus alem in 1187, QueenTamara of Georgia had s ent an offic ial , Shota Rus tavel i , the author of the national epic , The Knight in the Panther Sk in , to embel l is h the Monas tery: he is probably buried there and his portrai t appeared in i ts fres c oes . But in 2004, Rus tavel i 's berobbed, whi te-bearded and high-hatted portrai t was vandal ized jus t asthe Georgian P res ident Mikhei l Saakas hvi l i arrived on a s tate vis i t to ins pec t i t. T he Rus s ian Orthodox were s us pec ted but nothing was proved. T he Serbs pas s ed their las t monas tery to their Greek brethern in the s eventeenth c entury. T he Maroni tes s ti l l maintain a c onvent near the J affa Gate, though the Georgians ,Maroni tes and Serbs have al l long s inc e los t their s hare of the Churc h.

* Both J ews and Chris tians were infec ted by apoc alyptic expec tations . In 1523, a dwarfis h young J ew, David Reuveni , c aus ed a s ti r in J erus alem by dec laring hims el f an A rabian princ e leading the Ten T ribes bac k to Zion, but the Is lam ic qadi s pared him as a lunatic and he then s ai led to Rome, where the poperec eived him , but ul timately Chris tendom proved les s tolerant than Is lam and he died in the early 1530s in a Spanis h dungeon. In 1534 a radic al P rotes tant s ec t of Anabaptis ts s eized the German town of Muns ter whic h they dec lared to be the New J erus alem. T heir leader J ohn of Leiden, an i l legi timate tai lor'sapprentic e, pronounc ed hims el f K ing of J erus alem, heir to K ing David. A fter eighteen months , this new Zion was rec aptured and the Anabaptis t leaders exec uted.

* T hes e human bonfi res in the c ourtyard of the Churc h were not infrequent. In 1557 a S ic i l ian monk, B rother J uniper, twic e invaded the Aqs a before he was ki l led by the qadi hims el f - and then inc inerated before the Churc h. A Spanis h Franc is c an denounc ed Is lam ins ide al-Aqs a and was beheaded on the TempleMount before another bonfi re. Yet as the c as e of Reuvent had s hown, death was not always the end of the s tory, and Chris tiani ty in Europe was no more c ivi l ized: almos t 400 heretic s were burned in England during the s ixteenth c entury.

* Some of this fol lowers regarded this as the ul timate s ac red paradox - and their Sabbatarian J udaeo-Is lam ic s ec t, the Donmeh (T urnc oats , though they c al led thems elves Mamin, the Bel ievers ), partic ularly the many who l ived in Salonic a, were to play a role in the Young T urk revolutions between 1908 and the Firs tW orld W ar. T hey s ti l l exis t in T urkey

* During one of the battles in T rans ylvania agains t the Habs burgs , he s l ipped away from the fray to evac uate his bowels only to be ambus hed by an Aus trian s oldier, 's o I plopped right into my own fi l th.' As they fought, they rol led 'tops y-turvy' in our hero's exc rement unti l 'I almos t bec ame the s hi tty martyr.' Evl iyafinal ly ki l led the infidel , and managed to pul l up his pantaloons 'but I was s oaked in blood as wel l as s hi t and I had to laugh, s eeing that I'd bec ome the s hi tty Ghazi (Is lam ic warrior).' A fterwards he pres ented the Aus trian's head to his Pas ha, who s aid, 'My Evl iya, you s mel l s trangely of s hi t! ' T he offic ers 'laugheduproarious ly' and the Pas ha gave him fi fty gold piec es and a s i lver turban-c res t.

* Henry Maundrel l , Chaplain of the Engl is h Levant Company, who vis i ted in 1697, watc hed the 'fury' of the monks as they fought bloodi ly in the Churc h. He als o des c ribed the mania of the Holy Fire as even more demented than i t had been a c entury earl ier when Sandys vis i ted: the pi lgrims 'began to ac t in s uc h anindec ent manner as to expos e their nudi ties , they tumbled about the Sepulc hre after the manner of tumblers on s tage' l ighting their beards - i t was 'l ike Bedlam i ts el f'. As for the pries ts , Maundrel l jus t c al led them 'm irac le-mongers '

* T his bec ame known as the Ruin - Hurva - Synagogue, and remained a wrec k for over a c entury. It was rec ons truc ted in the nineteenth c entury - but des troyed by the J ordanians in 1967.

+ T hes e c lans were known in Engl is h as the Notables , to the T urks as the E ffendiya, to the A rabs as the Aya. T he Nus s eibehs were Cus todians of the Churc h; the Dajanis pres ided over David's Tomb; the Khal idis ran the s haria lawc ourts ; the Hus s einis us ual ly dominated as Naqib al-As hraf, Mufti and Sheikh ofthe Haram as wel l as leading the Nabi Mus a fes tival . T he Abu Ghos h, warlords of the mountains around J erus alem, guardians of the pi lgrim route from J affa, were al l ies of the Hus s einis . Only rec ent res earc h by P rofes s or Adel Manna has revealed the true s tory of how the Ghudayyas took over the identi ty of theHus s einis . T he Nus s eibehs c hanged their name from Ghanim; the Khal idis from Deiri ; the J aral lahs (who c ompeted for the muftis hip wi th the Hus s einis ) from Has qafi . 'It is dis orienting and perplexing to have to endure a c hange of name,' admits one of thes e grandees , Hazem Nus s eibeh, ex-Foreign Minis ter ofJ ordan, in his memoir The J erus alemites , ' even though i t oc c urred s even c enturies ago.'

* T he powerful Val i (Governor) of the V i layet (P rovinc e) of Damas c us us ual ly ruled J erus alem and was often the Amir al -Haj , Commander of the annual c aravan to Mec c a whic h he funded through his daw ra , an armed expedi tion. A t other times , J erus alem was c ontrol led by the Val i of S idon who ruled from Ac re.J erus alem was a s mal l dis tric t, a Sanjak, under a Sanjak Bey or Mutas al l im . Yet J erus alem 's s tatus c hanged repeatedly over the next c enturies , s ometimes bec oming an independent dis tric t. Ottoman governors ruled with the aid of the qadi , a c i ty judge appointed in Is tanbul , and the mufti (the leader appointed bythe Grand Mufti of the empire, the Sheikh al-Is lam in Is tanbul , who wrote fatw a judgements on rel igious ques tions ) drawn from J erus alem 's Famil ies . T he pas has of Damas c us and S idon were rivals who s ometimes fought m ini-wars for c ontrol of Pales tine.

* Potemkin devis ed the 'Greek P rojec t' for Catherine - the Rus s ian c onques t of Cons tantinople (whic h Rus s ians c al led Ts argrad) to be ruled by Catherine's grands on, es pec ial ly named Cons tantine. Catherine's parti tioning of Poland brought m i l l ions of J ews into the Rus s ian empire for the fi rs t time, mos t of whomwere c onfined in m is erable poverty to a Pale of Settlement. But Potemkin, one of the mos t phi lo-Semitic leaders in Rus s ian his tory, was a Chris tian Zionis t who s aw the l iberation of J erus alem as part of his Greek P rojec t. In 1787, he c reated the Is raelovs ky Regiment of J ewis h c avalry to take J erus alem. A witnes s ,the P rinc e de Ligne, moc ked thes e ringleted c avalrymen as 'monkeys on hors ebac k'. Potemkin died before he c ould put his s c hemes into ac tion.

* * He was a Chris tian s laveboy from Bos nia who, es c aping after c ommitting a murder, s old hims el f to the s lave-markets of Is tanbul . T here he was bought by an Egyptian ruler who c onverted him to Is lam and us ed him as his c hief exec utioner and hi tman. He began his ris e as governor of Cairo but made his namedefending Beirut agains t Catherine the Great's navy. Beirut was honourably s urrendered to the Rus s ians after a long s iege and the s ul tanrewarded the Butc her wi th promotion to Governor of S idon, and s ometimes als o that of Damas c us . He vis i ted J erus alem, unoffic ial ly in his s phere of influenc e, where theHus s einis owed him al legianc e.

* Napoleon blamed his defeat on Smith, 'the man who made me m is s my des tiny', but he left one legac y in J erus alem. On taking J affa, his s ic k s oldiers (thos e whom he later had ki l led) were nurs ed by A rmenian monks , whom he thanked by pres enting them with his tent. T he A rmenians c onverted i t into c has ubles ,now us ed in S t J ames es Cathedral in J erus alem 's A rmenian Quarter

* Godfrey's s purs and s word, along with a bric k from his Frenc h c hateau, hang today in the Latin s ac ris ty of the Holy Sepulc hre. As for the Crus ader tombs , only fragments of the s arc ophagus of the boy-king Baldwin V s urvived this ac t of s ec tarian vandal is m

* In 1804, W i l l iam B lake, poet, painter, engraver and radic al , opened his poem Mil ton wi th the prefatory vers es 'And did thos e feet in anc ient times ...' whic h ends 'T i l l we have bui l t J erus alem in England's green and pleas ant land.' T he poem, printed in about 1808, prais es the brief heyday of a heavenly J erus alem inpre-indus trial England, ins pired by the mythic al vis i t of young J es us ac c ompanying J os eph of A rimathea to ins pec t the latter's Cornis h tin-m ines . T he poem remained l i ttle known unti l 1916 when the Poet Laureate Robert B ridges as ked the c ompos er S ir Hubert Parry to s et i t to mus ic for a patriotic meeting. EdwardE lgar later orc hes trated i t. K ing George V s aid he preferred i t to 'God Save the K ing', and i t has bec ome an al ternative anthem, wi th univers al appeal to plangent patriots , c hurc hgoers , P romenaders , s ports fans , s oc ial is t ideal is ts and generations of drunken, floppy-haired undergraduates . B lake never c al led i t'J erus alem ' for he als o wrote an epic enti tled J erus alem: The Emanation of the Giant A lbion

* In 1818, on Suleiman Pas ha's death, Abdul lah had taken power in Ac re and exec uted the very weal thy, one-eyed, one-eared and nos eles s Haim Farhi , who had effec tively run muc h of Pales tine for thi rty years . Abdul lah ruled unti l 1831. T he Farhi fam i ly s ti l l l ive in Is rael

* During his voyage home, a fears ome s torm s truc k the Montefiores ' s hip. T he s ai lors feared that the ves s el would s ink. Montefiore c arried, for luc k, from the previous year's Pas s over, a piec e of unleavened matzah, known as the afikoman , whic h, at the height of the tempes t, he c as t into the waves . T he s ea ins tantlybec ame m irac ulous ly quiet. Montefiore bel ieved that this was God's bles s ing on a J erus alem pi lgrimage. T he Montefiore fam i ly today read his ac c ount of this event every Pas s over

* His ideal c harac ter, featured in his bes t novel Coningsby , was S idonia, a Sephardic m i l l ionaire who is friends with the emperors , kings and m inis ters in al l the c abinets of Europe. S idonia was an amalgam of Lionel de Roths c hi ld and Mos es Montefiore, both of whom Dis rael i knew wel l

* T he W ahabis were the fol lowers of an eighteenth-c entury fundamental is t Salafi preac her Muhammad ibn Abdul W ahab who in 1744 al l ied hims el f wi th the Saudi fam i ly. Des pi te their s etbac k at the hands of Mehmet A l i , the Saudis s oon re-es tabl is hed a s mal l s tate. During the Firs t W orld W ar and the 1920s , theirc hieftain Abdul-Aziz ibn Saud, funded by B ri tis h s ubs idies and bac ked by his fanatic al W ahabi army, rec onquered Mec c a and A rabia. In 1932, he proc laimed hims el f king of Saudi A rabia, where W ahabi Is lam s ti l l rules . Ibn Saud fathered at leas t s eventy c hi ldren and his s on Abdul lah bec ame king in 2005

* W i l l iam T homs on later wrote one of the Evangel ic al c las s ic s that enc ouraged the Americ an obs es s ion with J erus alem. The Land and the Book , reprinted in thi rty edi tions , pres ented Pales tine as a mys tic al Eden where the B ible was al ive.

* Anthony As hley-Cooper, des c endant of the fi rs t earl , that s hrewd m inis ter who had s erved everyone from Cromwel l to W i l l iam III, s ti l l held the c ourtes y ti tle Lord As hley and s at in the Hous e of the Commons , s uc c eeding as the 7th earl in 1851. But for s impl ic i ty we c al l him Shaftes bury throughout

* Shaftes bury borrowed the notorious phras e 'a land without a people' from a Sc ottis h m inis ter, A lexander Kei th, and i t was later attributed (probably m is takenly) to Is rael Zang-wi l l , a Zionis t who did not bel ieve in s ettl ing Pales tine, prec is ely bec aus e i t was already inhabi ted by A rabs

* T he A lbanians never again held J erus alem but they ruled Egypt for a c entury, fi rs t as khedives (nominal ly Ottoman vic eroys but ac tual ly independent), then as s ul tans of Egypt and final ly as kings . W hen Mehmet A l i bec ame s eni le, Ibrahim bec ame his regent but he hims el f died in 1848 jus t before his father. T helas t of the A lbanian dynas ty was K ing Farouk who was overthrown in 1952

* W i l l iam Mi l ler was one of the mos t popular of thes e new Americ an prophets . An ex-army offic er from Mas s ac hus etts , he c alc ulated that Chris t would c ome again in J erus alem in 1843: 100,000 Americ ans bec ame Mi l leri tes . He c onverted the as s ertion in Daniel 8.14 that the 's anc tuary would be c leans ed' in 'twothous and and three hundred days ' into years by c laim ing that a prophetic day was real ly a year. Henc e s tarting in 457 BC, whic h Mi l ler bel ieved was the date of Pers ian K ing A rtaxerxes I's order to res tore the Temple, he arrived at 1843. W hen nothing happened that year, he s ugges ted 1844. T he Mi l leri te s uc c es s orc hurc hes , the Seventh Day Adventis ts and the J ehovah's W itnes s es , s ti l l number fourteen m i l l ion members worldwid

* In 1658, Patriarc h Nikon bui l t the New J erus alem Monas tery in Is tra, near Mos c ow, to promote the univers al m is s ion of Rus s ian Orthodoxy and Autoc rac y. Its c entrepiec e was a repl ic a of the ac tual Sepulc hre in J erus alem whic h is valuable s inc e the original was des troyed in the fi re of 1808. In 1818, before heas c ended the throne, Nic holas I vis i ted the New J erus alem and was deeply moved, ordering i ts res toration. T he Nazis damaged i t but i t is now being res tored

* * T he Crimean war s aw another attempt to arm the J ews . In September 1855, the Pol is h poet Adam Mic kiewic z travel led to Is tanbul to organize Pol is h forc es known as Ottoman Cos s ac ks , to fight the Rus s ians . T hes e inc luded the Hus s ars of Is rael , rec rui ted from Rus s ian, Pol is h and Pales tinian J ews .Mic kiewic z died three months later and the Hus s ars were never tes ted in the val ley of death

* * T he s eat of the Ottoman governors was al-J awai l iyya, bui l t by one of Nas ir Mohammad's Mamluk am irs , on the s i te of Herod's Antonia Fortres s and the fi rs t s tation of the V ia Doloros a. Under Crus ader rule, the Templars had bui l t a c hapel there and part of i ts domed porc h s tood unti l the 1920s . A modern s c hools tands there today.

* * T hes e wri ters were fol lowing a fas hion for oriental travelogues . Between 1800 and 1875, about 5,000 books were publ is hed in Engl is h about J erus alem. Many of thes e works are remarkably s im i lar, ei ther breathles s repeti tions of bibl ic al s tories by evangel ic als (s ometimes reinforc ed by arc haeology) ortravelogues moc king Ottoman inc ompetenc e, J ewis h wai l ing, A rab s impl ic i ty and Orthodox vulgari ty. T he witty Eothen by A lexander K inglake, who later reported on the Crimean W ar, is probably the bes t

* Dorr's young mas ter, plantation owner Cornel ius Fel lowes , dec ided to s et off on a three-year tour of the world from Paris to J erus alem. Fel lowes offered a deal to his intel l igent and l i terate young s lave. If Dorr s erved him on the trip, he would be freed on his return. In his efferves c ent travelogue, Dorr rec ordedeverything from the gorgeous ladies of Paris to the 's c arc e towers and c harred wal ls ' of J erus alem. On his return, his mas ter refus ed to manumit him s o Dorr es c aped to the north and in 1858 publ is hed AColored Man Round the W orld by a Quadroon . It was the Americ an Civi l W ar, whic h s tarted s oon afterwards ,that final ly gave him his freedom. T he winner of that war, P res ident Abraham Linc oln, was not formal ly rel igious , but longed to vis i t J erus alem, perhaps bec aus e as a young man he had l ived in one of the Americ an J erus alems , New Salem, Il l inois ; he knew the B ible by heart and he had probably heard the s toriesof his Sec retary of S tate, W i l l iam H. Seward who had vis i ted J erus alem on his world tour. On the way with his wi fe to Ford's T heatre, on 14 Apri l 1865, he propos ed a 's pec ial pi lgrimage to J erus alem '. A t the theatre, moments before he was s hot, he whis pered: 'How I s hould l ike to vis i t J erus alem.' A fterwards MaryT odd Linc oln dec ided he 'was in the m ids t of the Heavenly J erus alem '

* * P rac tis ing J ews c ould not s i t in the Hous e of Commons unti l 1858. T hen a new Ac t of Parl iament final ly al lowed Lionel de Roths c hi ld to take his s eat as the fi rs t prac tis ing J ew ever to s i t in the Hous e. Interes tingly, Shaftes bury had repeatedly s poken agains t this - as a Chris tian Zionis t, his interes t was real lyin the return and c onvers ion of the J ews in preparation for the Sec ond Coming. But muc h later he grac ious ly propos ed to P rime Minis ter W i l l iam Glads tone, 'It would be a glorious day for the Hous e of Lords when that grand old Hebrew (Montefiore) were enrol led on the l is ts of the heredi tary legis lators of England.'But i t was too s oon. T he fi rs t J ewis h peerage was awarded to Lionel Roths c hi ld's s on, Nathaniel , in 1885, after Montefiore's death.

+ On the way to S t Peters burg he was welc omed to V i lna, a s emi-J ewis h c i ty fi l led wi th s o many Talmudic s c holars that i t was known as 'the J erus alem of Li thuania', by thous ands of enthus ias tic J ews , but Nic holas did not moderate his pol ic es and as J ewis h l i fe wors ened, Montefiore later returned to meetA lexander II. It was s aid that every J ewis h s hac k in Rus s ia had a portrai t, almos t a J ewis h ic on, of their c hampion. 'A t breakfas t (in Motol , a vi l lage near P ins k) my grandpa us ed to tel l me s tories of the deeds of m ighty figures ,' wrote Chaim W eizmann, a future Zionis t leader. 'I was partic ularly impres s ed by the vis i tof S ir Mos es Montefiore to Rus s ia, a vis i t only a generation before my birth but the s tory was already a legend. Indeed Montefiore was hims el f, though then s ti l l l iving, al ready a legend.'

* Montefiore was the mos t famous but not the ric hes t of J erus alem 's phi lanthropis ts . He was often the c hannel for Roths c hi ld money and his alms hous es were funded by J udah Touro, an Americ an tyc oon from New Orleans who in 1825 had bac ked a J ewis h homeland on Grand Is land in the Niagara river, ups tateNew York. T he projec t fai led and in his wi l l , he left $60,000 for Montefiore to s pend in J erus alem. In 1854, the Roths c hi lds bui l t a muc h-needed J ewis h hos pi tal . During his 1856 vis i t, Montefiore c reated a J ewis h girls ' s c hool , to the dis approval of the Orthodox J ews , and this was later taken over by his nephewLionel de Roths c hi ld who renamed i t after his late daughter Evel ina. But the greates t projec t was the T i feret Is rael Synagogue c los e to the Hurva in the J ewis h Quarter. Funded by J ews al l over the world, but c hiefly by the Reuben and Sas s oon fam i l ies of Baghdad, this s plendidly domed s ynagogue, the highes tbui lding in the J ewis h Quarter, bec ame the c entre of Pales tinian J ewry unti l i t was des troyed in 1948. Meanwhi le the A rmenians had their own Roths c hi lds : the oi l -ric h Gulbenkian fam i ly regularly c ame on pi lgrimage and c reated the Gulbenkian Library in the A rmenian Monas tery

* T he Rus s ian Compound c ontained the c ons ulate, a hos pi tal , the multidomed Holy T rini ty Churc h with four bel l towers , the arc himandri te's res idenc e, apartments for vis i ting aris toc rats and pi lgrim hos tels , to hous e over 3,000 pi lgrims . Its bui ldings res embled huge but elegant modern fortres s es and during theB ri tis h Mandate they s erved as m i l i tary s trongholds .

* Edward Robins on, a m is s ionary and P rofes s or of B ibl ic al Li terature in New York, yearned to unc over the geography of the B ible. He us ed his knowledge of other s ourc es s uc h as J os ephus to make s ome as tonis hing finds . In 1852, he notic ed, at ground level , the top of what he gues s ed was one of themonumental arc hes ac ros s the val ley into the Temple - known ever s inc e as Robins on's A rc h. Another Americ an, Dr J ames Barc lay, a m is s ionary to c onvert the J ews and an engineer advis ing the Ottomans on the pres ervation of the Mamluk bui ldings , s potted the l intel that had topped one of Herod's gates - today'sBarc lay's Gate. T he two Americ ans m ight have s tarted as Chris tian m is s ionaries , but as arc haeologis ts they proved that the Mus l im Haram al-Shari f was the Herodian T emple.

* A fter J erus alem, W arren bec ame famous as the inept Metropol i tan Pol ic e Commis s ioner who fai led to c atc h J ac k the Ripper and as a dud m i l i tary c ommander during the Boer W ar. His s uc c es s ors , Lieutenants Charles Conder and Herbert K i tc hener (the latter s ubs equently the c onqueror of Sudan), s urveyed thec ountry s o s uc c es s ful ly that General A l lenby us ed their maps to c onquer Pales tine in 1917.

* Montefiore died in 1885 aged over 100. He and J udi th were buried with J erus alem earth in their own Rac hel 's Tomb in Rams gate. T he Montefiore W indmil l s ti l l s tands and the Montefiore Quarter, know as Yemin Mos he, is one of the c i ty's mos t elegant Neighbourhoods and one of five named after him . Hisbaronetc y was inheri ted by his nephew S ir Abraham who was c hi ldles s (his wi fe went ins ane on their wedding night) but Mos es left his es tates to his Moroc c an-born nephew J os eph Sebag who bec ame Sebag-Montefiore. T he Rams gate mans ion burned down in the 1930s . An almos t forgotten figure (exc ept inIs rael), his tomb was neglec ted for a long time, threatened by urban s prawl and graffi ti , but in the twenty-fi rs t c entury, his tomb has bec ome a s hrine: thous ands of ul tra-Orthodox J ews make a pi lgrimage there on the annivers ary of his death.

* Ironic al ly T wain s tayed in the Mediterranean Hotel in the Mus l im Quarter, the very bui lding whic h the Is rael i Likud leader and general A riel Sharon bought in the late 1980s in his bid to judaize the Mus l im Quarter. Today i t is a J ewis h s eminary. T wain's book The Innoc ents Abroad was an ins tant c las s ic fors c eptic s : when ex-P res ident Ulys s es Grant vis i ted J erus alem, he us ed i t as his guidebook.

* T he Has idim - 'the pious ' in Hebrew - are a growing pres enc e in J erus alem. T he inheri tors of s eventeenth-c entury mys tic is m they s ti l l wear the dis tinc tive blac k garb of that era. In the 1740s , a fai th-healer in Ukraine named Is rael ben E l iezer, adopting the name Baal Shem Tov (Mas ter of the Good Name), c reated amas s movement that c hal lenged Talmudic s tudies , advoc ating tranc e-l ike movements in prayer, s inging, danc ing and mys tic al prac tic es to get c los er to God. T heir c hief opponent was the V i lna Gaon who rejec ted al l this as folk s upers ti tion and s tres s ed the need for tradi tional Talmudic s tudies . T heir c onfl ic tres embles that between the mys tic al Sufis and the hars h Is lam ic c ons ervatives of, s ay, the Saudi W ahabis .

* Ever s inc e the 1760s , the Khal idis had been form ing a l ibrary - c ol lec ting 5,000 Is lam ic books , s ome dating from the tenth c entury, and 1,200 manus c ripts . In 1899, Raghib Khal idi merged his c ol lec tion wi th thos e of Yus uf and his c ous ins and opened the Khal idi Library the next year around the Mamluk tomb ofBarka Khan on S i ls i la S treet, where i t remains .

* Guided around J erus alem by Captains Charles W i ls on and Conder, arc haeologis ts of the Pales tine Exploration Fund, the princ es attended a Sephardic Pas s over dinner, and were 'muc h impres s ed by the c omplete domes tic i ty' of this 'happy fam i ly gathering'. T hey were even more exc i ted by their tattoos . 'I wastattooed', wrote P rinc e George, 'by the s ame man who tattooed Papa [the P rinc e of W ales ].'

+ T he s ign outs ide Cook's offic e read: 'T homas Cook and Son have the larges t s taff of dragomans and muleteers , the bes t landaus , c arriages , c amp, s addlery etc in Pales tine! ' T he bui lding of the Grand New Hotel revealed Roman remains : a part of the Sec ond W al l , ti les ins c ribed with the Tenth Legion's ins igniaand a c olumn erec ted by a legate of Augus tus , us ed for dec ades as the bas e of a s treetlamp.

* T he German arc hi tec t and arc haeologis t Conrad Sc hic k was the mos t prol i fic arc hi tec t of his time, but his bui ldings defy any pigeon-hol ing - his home, T habor Hous e, and c hapel c ontain ves tiges of Germanic , A rab and Graec o-Roman s tyles .

+ T he Hus s einis and the other Famil ies s uc h as the newer Nas has hibis bec ame muc h ric her, embrac ing the c ommerc ial boom; one of the Hus s einis provided the wooden s leepers for the new rai lway. In 1858, the Ottoman Land Law privatized many of the anc ient w aqfs , whic h s uddenly made the Famil ies into ric hlandowners and traders in grain. T he los ers were the A rab fel lahin, the peas ants , now at the merc y of feudal abs entee landlords . Henc e Rauf Pas ha, the las t Hamidian governor, c al led the Famil ies 'paras i tes '.

* His year in J erus alem was c ut s hort by the Mahdi 's rebel l ion in Sudan. Rec al led to govern Sudan, Gordon was bes ieged and then ki l led in Khartoum, reputedly holding his B ible. T he Garden Tomb was not the only arc haeologic al ac hievement of the Colony: as we s aw muc h earl ier, i t was J ac ob E l iahu, the c hi ldof a J ew c onverted by the London J ews Soc iety who defec ted to the Colony, who found the ins c ription left by the workers in the S i loam tunnel .

* T his word was c oined in 1879 by W i lhelm Marr, a German journal is t, in his book The V ic tory of J udais m ov er Germandom, in time to des c ribe the new rac ial breed of hatred that was replac ing the old rel igious vers ion.

* Sergei 's Hous e remained tec hnic al ly owned by Sergei unti l P res ident Putin admired i t on his 2005 vis i t to Is rael and was s aid to have been s o moved that he wept. Is rael returned the hos tel to Rus s ia in 2008.

+ A lexander III died in 1894 and was s uc c eeded by his inexperienc ed, inept and unluc ky s on Nic holas II, who s hared his father's rigid bel ief in autoc rac y. He l iked and trus ted 'Unc le Sergei '. As governor-general , Sergei was res pons ible for the c oronation fes tivi ties in Mos c ow during whic h thous ands of c elebratingpeas ants died in a s tampede. Sergei advis ed his nephew to c ontinue with the c elebrations and evaded res pons ibi l i ty.

* J erus alem 's s o-c al led 'Pol is h J ews ' were mainly Has idim from the Rus s ian empire but s ome of their s ec ts were oppos ed to Zionis m, bel ieving i t was s ac ri lege for mere men to dec ide God's tim ing for the Return and J udgement Day.

* W i lhelm 's unpredic table behaviour frequently alarmed his own entourage. His early s ex l i fe wi th i ts outre tas tes , inc luding glove-wearing and s ado-mas oc his tic fetis hes , had to be c onc ealed. One c ourtier, a m iddle-aged P rus s ian general , died of a heart attac k whi le danc ing for the Kais er in nothing but a tutu andfeather-boa, and another entertained him dres s ed as a begging poodle 'in s haved tights wi th, under a real poodle-tai l , a marked rec tal opening. I c an already s ee His Majes ty laughing with us .' Ul timately his friend Eulenburg was des troyed in a s ex s c andal when his s ec ret gay l i fe was expos ed. Yet W i lhelm wasals o a priggis h V ic torian when i t c ame to the morals of others : he never s poke to Eulenburg again.

* T he Kais er's Teutonic gigantis m c hanged the modern J erus alem s kyl ine. His Augus ta V ic toria Hos pic e, a German medieval fortres s wi th a hideous tower s o high that i t was vis ible from the J ordan, dominated the Mount of Ol ives , and his Cathol ic Dorm ition Churc h, on Mount Zion, model led outs ide on W ormsCathedral and ins ide on Charlemagne's c hapel at Aac hen, had 'mas s ive towers more s ui ted to the Rhine Val ley'.

* It was around this time that one of the ts ar's top s ec ret pol ic emen, the Okhrana direc tor in Paris , P iotr Rac hkovs ky, ordered the forging of a book c laim ing to be a s ec ret rec ord of Herzl 's Congres s in Bas le in 1897: The P rotoc ols of the E lders of Zion was adapted (and muc h of i t l i fted direc tly) from an 1844 Frenc hs ati re agains t Emperor Napoleon III and an 1868 anti -Semitic German novel by Hermann Goeds c he. T he Protoc ols was a prepos terous though diabol ic al plan for J ews to infi l trate governments , c hurc hes and the media and inc i te wars and revolution, in order to c reate a world empire ruled by a Davidic autoc rat.Publ is hed in 1903, i t was des igned to provoke anti -Semitis m within Rus s ia where ts ardom was threatened by J ewis h revolutionaries .

* T here would be at leas t thi rty-four di fferent plans in loc ations as divers e as A las ka, Angola, Libya, Iraq and South Americ a. T he plan for A las ka during the Sec ond W orld W ar was s ati rized by Mic hael Chabon in his thri l ler, The Y iddis h Pol ic eman's Union . Pol i tic ians from Churc hi l l and FDR to Hi tler and S tal inpurs ued other plans : before attac king the Soviet Union in 1941, Hi tler planned to deport the J ews to a death-c olony in Madagas c ar. During the 1930s and 1940s , Churc hi l l propos ed a J ewis h homeland in Libya whi le in 1945, his c olonial s ec retary Lord Moyne s ugges ted Eas t P rus s ia for the J ews . As we wi l l s ee,S tal in ac tual ly s et up a J ewis h homeland and during the 1940s c ons idered a J ewis h Crimea.

* Ironic al ly, whi le W es terners reread the s uperfic ial memoirs of European vis i tors , this s uperlative c hronic le of the c i ty, c overing forty years up to the c reation of Is rael and beyond, is s ti l l publ is hed only in A rabic .

* Sergei hims el f, patron of the Rus s ian pres enc e, was long dead. In 1905, he final ly res igned his pos t as governor-general of Mos c ow, but was blown to s m ithereens by terroris ts wi thin the K reml in. His wi fe E l la rus hed outs ide and c rawled ac ros s the ground c ol lec ting the body parts of her hus band, though only anarm les s c hunk of tors o and a fragment of the s kul l and jaw were identi fiable. She vis i ted his ki l ler in pris on before his exec ution. A fterwards s he s uc c eeded Sergei as pres ident of the Pales tine Soc iety, whic h Nic holas II now pers onal ly s upervis ed. But E l la fel l out wi th her s is ter Empres s A lexandra over thegrowing power of Ras putin. And tragic al ly, s he would return to J erus alem (s ee footnote on p. 444).

* On his return to Rus s ia, Ras putin res umed his intimate role in the imperial fam i ly. He publ is hed My Thoughts and Reflec tions : B rief Des c ription of a J ourney to the Holy P lac es in the m ids t of the Great W ar in 1915 when Nic holas II was c ommanding the Rus s ian army, leaving A lexandra, advis ed by Ras putin, aseffec tive ruler of the home front - wi th dis as trous c ons equenc es . He was i l l i terate; the book reads as i f i t had been dic tated, and i t was s aid that the empres s hers el f c orrec ted i t. Des igned to promote his image as a res pec table pi lgrim when he was at the height of his power and unpopulari ty, i t was too late: he wasas s as s inated s hortly afterwards .

* Parker's friends were Captain Clarenc e W ils on, Major Foley, who had partic ipated in the J ames on Raid in T rans vaal , the Hon. Cyri l W ard, thi rd s on of the Earl of Dudley, Captain Robin Duff, c ous in of the Duke of Fi fe, and Captain Hyde V i l l iers , c ous in of the Earl of J ers ey, along with the Sc andinavians CountHerman W rangel and a c ertain van Bourg, a mys tic who i rri tated the group when he s ugges ted that the treas ure m ight ac tual ly be on Mount A rarat, not in J erus alem at al l .

* T he ful l s tory of Parker is told here for the fi rs t time, bas ed not only on his letters and ac c ounts but als o J uvel ius ' prophec ies . Even in 1921, Parker's agents in J erus alem were s ti l l s uing him for unpaid fees . T he Flas hman-es que Parker s kulked at headquarters and avoided the trenc hes in the Great W ar, nevermarried but kept multiple m is tres s es , inheri ted the earldom of Morley and the s tately home in 1951 and proudly told his fam i ly that he meant to s pend every penny of his inheri tanc e. Even in old age, he remained in the words of one of the fam i ly 'a vain, venal , unrel iable blac ks heep who left nothing, a namedropperand boas ter'. He l ived unti l 1962, but he never mentioned J erus alem and there were no papers - unti l in 1975 the Parker lawyers found a fi le that they returned to the S ixth Earl of Morley. For many years , the papers were forgotten, but the earl and his brother Nigel Parker kindly made them avai lable to this author.J uvel ius , bec oming a l ibrarian in Vyborg, wrote a novel bas ed on the s tory and died of c anc er in 1922. T his epis ode left l i ttle trac e in J erus alem, but in the tunnels of Ophel, now the s i te of Ronny Reic h's exc avation of thos e huge Canaanite towers , a s mal l c ave leads to an abandoned buc ket that onc e belonged toMonty Parker.

* Ruhi Khal idi died of typhoid later that year and many were c onvinc ed that he had been pois oned by the Young T urks .

* J emal loathed J ewis h national is m or anything that threatened T urkis h dominanc e but at the s ame time, he tried to c ourt J ewis h s upport: he offered Henry Morganthau, US ambas s ador to Is tanbul , the c hanc e to buy the W es tern W al l and repeated the offer to J erus alem 's J ews .

* Leah T ennenbaum later married a Chris tian lawyer, Abc arius Bey, who bui l t her a mans ion, V i l la Leah, in T albieh; s he was thirty years younger than him . She left him , but he rented the V i l la Leah to the exi led E thiopian emperor, Hai le Selas s ie. Later the hous e belonged to Mos he Dayan.

* T hey took the name of the dynas ty from Has hem, great-grandfather of the P rophet. T hey were des c ended from Muhammad through his daughter Fatima and grands on Has s an, henc e their ti tle of s heri f. T hey c al led thems elves the Has hemites , the B ri tis h c al led them the Sheri fians .

* A t fi rs t Sykes had c ons idered giving J erus alem to Rus s ia whos e pi lgrims had dominated the c i ty unti l the war. Rus s ia had already been promis ed Is tanbul to whic h Sykes -P ic ot added s wathes of eas tern Anatol ia, A rmenia and Kurdis tan.

* Hoes s , the future SS Commandant of Aus c hwitz, where m i l l ions of J ews were gas s ed and c remated during the Holoc aus t, was c ons idering a c areer in the Cathol ic pries thood. J erus alem 'played a dec is ive part in my s ubs equent renunc iation of my fai th. As a devout Cathol ic , I was dis gus ted by the c ynic almanner in whic h trade in al legedly holy rel ic s was c arried on by the repres entatives of the many c hurc hes there.' W ounded in the knee and awarded the Iron Cros s , Hoes s , who 's hunned al l demons trations of affec tion', was s educ ed in J erus alem by one of his German nurs es : 'I fel l under the magic s pel l of love.' Hewas hanged in Apri l 1947. By c oinc idenc e an 'obs treperous ' young German boy, helping the Americ an Colony with i ts Cas ual ty Clearing S tation near the Notre Dame, was the s on of the German V ic e Cons ul : Rudol f Hes s was the future deputy Fuhrer of Nazi Germany, who flew to Sc otland on an ins ane peac emis s ion in 1941 and s pent the res t of his l i fe as a pris oner.

* In one of Dis rael i 's mos t popular novels , Tanc red , a duke's s on travels to J erus alem where a J ew s ays , prophetic al ly, 'T he Engl is h wi l l take this c i ty; they wi l l keep i t.'

* Lloyd George's m is s ion was to win the war and everything els e was s ubordinate to that. So i t was no s urpris e that he was als o c ons idering a fourth Middle Eas tern option: he was negotiating indirec tly and very s ec retly wi th the T hree Pas has over a s eparate Ottoman peac e that would betray J ews , A rabs andFrenc h by leaving J erus alem under the s ul tan. 'A lmos t the s ame week that we've pledged ours elves to s ec ure Pales tine as a national home for the J ewis h People,' wrote an exas perated Curzon, 'are we to c ontemplate leaving the T urkis h flag flying over J erus alem?' T he talks c ame to nothing.

* J emal returned to Is tanbul in 1917, but on the Ottoman s urrender the fol lowing year he fled to Berl in where he wrote his memoirs . He was as s as s inated by A rmenians in T bi l is i in 1922 as revenge for the A rmenian genoc ide, even though he c laimed, 'I was c onvinc ed the deportations of al l A rmenians was bound toc aus e great dis tres s ,' and i t may wel l be true, as he s aid, that 'I was able to bring nearly 150,000 to Beirut and A leppo.' T alaat was als o as s as s inated; Enver was ki l led in battle, leading a T urkic revol t agains t the Bols heviks in Central As ia.

* On 3 Dec ember, Ottoman s ec ret pol ic e raided the hous e of Sakakini , who was hiding the J ewis h adventurer and s py, A l ter Levine, a kindnes s that was almos t the las t example of the old Ottomanis t toleranc e between J ews and A rabs . Both were arres ted and des patc hed to Damas c us : they had to walk the wholeway.

+ T wo years later, the Colonis ts were s ti l l trying to get their c arriage returned or the c os t reimburs ed, wri ting to Mi l i tary Governor S torrs : 'On 8th Dec ember 1917 the late Governor borrowed our wagon c omplete wi th oi l , c loth c over and s pring s eat, whip, pole and two hors es .'

* T he A rab boy holding the his toric beds heet s tuc k the brooms tic k into the ground, but i t was purloined by the Swedis h photographer. T he B ri tis h threatened to arres t him at whic h he s urrendered i t to A l lenby, who gave i t to the Imperial W ar Mus eum, where i t remains .

* One of A l lenby's offic ers was Captain W i l l iam Sebag-Montefiore MC, aged thirty-two, great-nephew of S ir Mos es Montefiore, who us ed to tel l how, near J erus alem, he was bec koned by a beauti ful A rab woman who led him to a c ave where he found and arres ted a group of Ottoman offic ers .

* W hen the Nus s eibehs s howed A l lenby round the Churc h, they c laimed that he as ked for the keys . 'Now the Crus ades have ended,' he s aid. 'I return you the keys but thes e are not from Omar or Saladin but from A l lenby.' Hazem Nus s eibeh, J ordanian foreign m inis ter in the 1960s , tel ls the s tory in his memoirs ,publ is hed in 2007.

* S torrs made an exc i ting dis c overy in the Churc h. Muc h to the fury of the Greek pries ts , he found the las t Crus ader grave at the s outh door - that of a s ignatory of Magna Carta and tutor to Henry III named Phi l ip d'Aubeny, a three-times Crus ader who died in J erus alem in 1236 during the rule of Frederic k II. S torrs hadthe grave guarded by Engl is h s oldiers .

* T he Hus s einis were pros pering; they now owned over 12,500 ac res of Pales tine. Mayor Hus s eini was popular wi th A rabs and J ews al ike. S torrs l iked Mufti Kamil al -Hus s eini . Unti l then, the mufti was ac tual ly only leader of the Hanafi s c hool of Is lam ic law (favoured by the Ottomans ); there are four s uc h s c hools .S torrs now promoted him to Grand Mufti not jus t of al l four s c hools in J erus alem but of al l Pales tine. T he mufti reques ted that his younger brother Amin al-Hus s eini join P rinc e Fais al in Damas c us when the c i ty fel l ; S torrs agreed.

* W hen the Protoc ols was publ is hed in Engl is h, i t bec ame influential in B ri tain and Americ a (bac ked by Henry Ford), unti l in Augus t 1921 the London Times expos ed i t as a forgery. It had been publ is hed in German in 1919, and Hitler bel ieved that i t c ontained the truth about the J ews , explaining in Mein Kampf thatthe forgery c laim 'is the s ures t proof they are genuine'. W hen i t was publ is hed in A rabic in 1925, the Latin Patriarc h of J erus alem rec ommended the book to his c ongregants .

+ T he Greeks argued with the A rmenians over the divis ion of the V irgin's Tomb. T he A rmenians feuded with the Syriac J ac obi tes over the c emetery on Mount Zion and owners hip of the S t Nic odemus Chapel in the Churc h, where the Orthodox and Cathol ic s fought over the us e of the northern s tairc as e at Calvary andowners hip of a s trip floor at the eas tern arc h between the Orthodox and the Latin c hapels there. T he A rmenians fought the Orthodox over the owners hip of the s tairc as e on the eas t of the main entranc e - and over the right to s weep i t. T he Copts fought the E thiopians over the latter's prec arious rooftop monas tery.

* S torrs c al led Rutenberg, a Rus s ian Soc ial is t Revolutionary whom Kerens ky had in 1917 appointed Deputy Governor of Petrograd, 'the mos t remarkable of them al l '. He had c ommanded the W inter Palac e before i t was s tormed by T rots ky's Red Guards . Rutenberg was 'thic ks et, powerful , dres s ed always in blac k,head s trong as grani te, utteranc es low and menac ing, bri l l iant and fas c inating' but als o 'vers ati le and violent.' In 1922, Churc hi l l s upported Rutenberg, an engineer, in his bid to found the hydroelec tric works that powered muc h of Pales tine.

* T he word 'Pales tinian' c ame to mean the Pales tinian A rab nation, but for the fi rs t hal f of the twentieth c entury the J ews there were known as Pales tinians or Pales tinian J ews ; the A rabs known as Pales tinian A rabs . In W eizmann's memoirs (publ is hed 1949) when he wri tes 'Pales tinian' he means J ewis h. A Zionis tnews paper was c al led Pales tine , an A rab one Fi l is tin .

* T he ageing Hus s ein bec ame the K ing Lear of A rabia, obs es s ed with fi l ial ingrati tude and B ri tis h perfidy. Lawrenc e, on his las t m is s ion, was s ent to pers uade the bi tter king to c ompromis e with Anglo-Frenc h hegemony or los e his B ri tis h funding. He wept, raged and refus ed. Soon afterwards , Hus s ein wasdefeated by Ibn Saud and abdic ated in favour of his eldes t s on, who bec ame K ing A l i . But the Saudis c onquered Mec c a, A l i was ejec ted and Ibn Saud dec lared hims el f king of Hejaz, then of Saudi A rabia. T he two kingdoms are s ti l l ruled by their fam i l ies - Saudi A rabia and Has hemite J ordan.

* T he twenty-five-year-old Americ an Lowel l T homas of Colorado made his fortune launc hing Las t Crus ade , a travel l ing s how that told the legendary adventures of 'Lawrenc e of A rabia'. A m i l l ion people s aw i t in London alone and even more in Americ a. Lawrenc e des pis ed and loved i t, watc hing the s how five times .'I s aw your s how and thank god the l ights were out,' he wrote. 'He's invented s ome s i l ly phantom thing, a matinee idol in fanc y dres s .' Lawrenc e finis hed his memoirs , us ing that old ti tle, Sev en P i l lars of W is dom, a c reamily baroque yet poetic al work that was a m ix of his tory, c onfes s ion and mythology - 'I prefer l iesto truth, partic ularly where they c onc ern me,' he joked. Yet for al l i ts faul ts i t is s urely a mas terpiec e. A fterwards , Lawrenc e c hanged his name, joined the air forc e and reti red into obs c uri ty, dying in a motorc yc le ac c ident in 1935.

+ Lord Randolph Churc hi l l bec ame friends with the Roths c hi lds and others when this was s ti l l ris que amongs t aris toc rats . W hen he arrived at a hous e party, an aris toc rat greeted him , 'W hat Lord Randolph, you've not brought your J ewis h friends ?' at whic h Randolph repl ied, 'No I didn't think they'd be amus ed by thec ompany.'

* T he Nas has hibis c laimed des c ent from a thirteenth-c entury Mamluk potentate, Nas ir al -Din al-Naqas hibi , who had s erved as Superindentant of the T wo Harams (J erus alem and Hebron). In fac t they were des c ended from eighteenth-c entury merc hants who manufac tured bows and arrows for the Ottomans .Ragheb's father had made a huge fortune and married a Hus s eini .

* He was aided by von Papen, the offic er who in 1917 had s o wanted to s ave Germany's reputation in J erus alem. Papen, who had already s erved as c hanc el lor, advis ed P res ident Hindenburg to appoint Hi tler, c onvinc ed he and his aris toc ratic c amari l la c ould c ontrol the Nazis : 'W ithin two months , we'l l have pus hedHitler s o far in the c orner, he'l l s queak.' Papen bec ame Hitler's vic e-c hanc el lor but s oon res igned, bec oming German ambas s ador to Is tanbul . He was tried at Nuremburg, s erved a few years in pris on, and died in 1969.

* As the B ri tis h c ontemplated l im i ting immigration to Zion, J os eph S tal in was bui lding his own Soviet J erus alem. 'T he T s ar gave the J ews no land but we wi l l ,' he announc ed. His views on the J ews were c ontradic tory. In a famous 1913 artic le on national i ty, S tal in dec lared that J ews were not a nation but 'mys tic al ,intangible and otherworldly'. Onc e in power, he banned anti -Semitis m, whic h he c al led 'c annibal is m ', and in 1928, approved the c reation of a s ec ular J ewis h homeland with Y iddis h and Rus s ian as offic ial languages . Inaugurated in May 1934, S tal in's Zion, the J ewis h Autonomous Region, was a was teland,B irobidzhan, on the Chines e border. A fter the Sec ond W orld W ar and the Holoc aus t, his foreign m inis ter Vyac hes lav Molotov and others bac ked the c reation of another J ewis h homeland in the more attrac tive Crimea - a S tal inis t Cal i fornia - whic h ul timately arous ed S tal in's vic ious anti -Semitis m. Yet by 1948B irobidzhan c ontained 35,000 J ews . T oday i t s urvives wi th a few thous and J ews and al l i ts s igns s ti l l in Y iddis h.

* T he W oodhead Commis s ion of 1938 s tated that between 1919 and 1938, the A rab population of Pales tine had inc reas ed by 419,000; the J ewis h population by 343,000.

* Antonius , s on of a ric h Chris tian Lebanes e c otton-trader, born in A lexandria and educ ated at V ic toria Col lege and Cambridge and a friend of E . M. Fors ter, was as s is tant educ ation direc tor for the Mandate. He was c hronic l ing the A rab Revol t and the B ri tis h betrayal in his book the The A rab Aw ak ening , one of thes eminal texts of A rab national is m. Antonius advis ed both the mufti and the B ri tis h high c ommis s ioners . Antonius ' daughter Soraya later wrote probably the bes t novel about this period bas ed on her parents ' m i l ieu W here the J inn Cons ul t.

* J erus alem was s ti l l fi l led wi th W hite Rus s ians but one Grand Duc hes s returned pos t-humous ly. In 1918, the widow of Grand Duke Sergei , E l la, who had bec ome a nun, was arres ted by the Bols heviks . Her s kul l was s mas hed in and s he was tos s ed down a m ines haft in A lapaevs k, jus t hours after the Bols hevikshad als o murdered her s is ter, Empres s A lexandra, Emperor Nic holas II and al l their c hi ldren. W hen the W hites took A lapaevs k, they dis c overed the bodies : E l la's had s c arc ely dec ayed. Her body and that of her devoted fel low nun S is ter Barbara travel led via Peking, Bombay and Port Said to J erus alem where theywere rec eived in J anuary 1921 by S ir Harry Luke who had to c hange their route through the c i ty to avoid pro-Bols hevik protes ts by J ewis h immigrants . 'T wo unadorned c offins were l i fted from the train. T he l i ttle c avalc ade wound i ts way s adly, unobtrus ively to the Ol ivet', wrote Louis , Marques s of Mi l ford Haven who,with his wi fe V ic toria, helped bear the c offins . 'Rus s ian peas ant women, s tranded pi lgrims , s obbing and moaning, were almos t fighting to get s ome part of the c offin.' T he Mi l ford Havens were the grandparents of P rinc e Phi l ip, Duke of Edinburgh. E l izabeth the New Martyr was c anonized and res ts in a glas s -toppedwhite marble s arc ophagus in the Churc h of Mary Magdalene s he and her hus band had bui l t. Some of her s aintly rel ic s have been returned to her Martha and Mary Convent in Mos c ow.

* He was a member of one of the grandes t Famil ies . T he A lam is ' hous e remains the mos t extraordinary in J erus alem: in the s eventeenth c entury the fam i ly bought a hous e right next to the Churc h whic h ac tual ly s hares and owns part of i ts roof; the view from there is as tonis hing. T he bui lding, wi th Byzantine,Crus ader and Mamluk ves tiges , is s ti l l owned by Mohammad al-A lam i. A c ous in s ti l l s erves as s heikh of Saladin's Salahiyya khanqah next door.

+ Hamas , the Is lam ic Pales tinian organization in Gaza, was ins pired by Qas s am henc e i t named i ts armed wing the Qas s am B rigade, and i ts m is s i les are Qas s am roc kets .

* W ingate had made his name in Pales tine. He was admired by Churc hi l l who later bac ked his c areer. In 1941, W ingate's Gideon Forc e helped l iberate E thiopia from the Ital ians and then as a major general , he c reated and c ommanded the Chindi ts , the larges t A l l ied s pec ial forc es of the war, to fight behindJ apanes e l ines in Burma. He was ki l led in a plane c ras h in 1944.

* In Greec e, a princ es s with a s pec ial l ink to J erus alem was one of thos e brave genti les who protec ted J ews . P rinc es s Andrew of Greec e, born P rinc es s A l ic e of Battenberg, great-granddaughter of Queen V ic toria, ris ked her l i fe by hiding the Cohen fam i ly of three whi le 60,000 Greek J ews were murdered. In 1947,her s on P rinc e Phi l ip, a l ieutenant in the Royal Navy, married P rinc es s E l izabeth, who s uc c eeded to the throne four years later. P rinc es s Andrew bec ame a nun and founded her own order, l ike her aunt Grand Duc hes s E l la. She l ived in London but dec ided to be buried in J erus alem. W hen her daughter grumbledthat this was a long trip for vis i tors , the princ es s retorted, 'Nons ens e, there's a perfec tly good bus s ervic e from Is tanbul ! ' She died in 1969, but not unti l 1988 was s he buried in the Churc h of Mary Magdalene c los e to her aunt E l la. In 1994, P rinc e Phi l ip, Duke of Edinburgh, attended the c eremony at Yad Vas hem, theHoloc aus t memorial in J erus alem, that honoured his mother as one of the 'Righteous among the nations '.

* 'He entered into the Nazis ' c rim inal del i rium about "the J ews "', wri tes P rofes s or Gi lbert Ac hc ar in his book Arabs and the Holoc aus t, 'as i t burgeoned into the greates t of al l c rimes agains t humanity.' Ac hc ar adds , 'i t is undeniable that the mufti es pous ed the Nazis ' anti -Semitic doc trine whic h was eas i ly c ompatiblewith a fanatic al anti -J udais m c as t in the Pan-Is lam ic mould.' In a s peec h in Berl in on the 1943 annivers ary of the Bal four Dec laration, he s aid 'they l ive rather as paras i tes amongs t the peoples , s uc k their blood, pervert their morals ... Germany has very c learly res olved to find a defini tive s olution for the J ewis hdanger that wi l l el im inate the s c ourge that the J ews repres ent in the world.' In his memoirs wri tten in his Lebanes e exi le, he revel led in the fac t that J ewis h 'los s es in the c ours e of the Sec ond W orld W ar repres ented more than 30 per c ent of the total number of their people whereas the Germans ' los s es were les ss igni fic ant' and, c i ting the Protoc ols and the W orld W ar One 's tab in the bac k' myth, he jus ti fied the Holoc aus t s inc e there was no other way to s c ienti fic al ly reform the J ews .

* In the 1930s , the emperor, known as Ras Tafar before his ac c es s ion, ins pired the Ras tafarians , founded in J amaic a and made famous by the reggae s inger Bob Marley, who hai led him as the Lion of J udah and the Sec ond Coming of J es us Chris t. E thiopia and A fric a were the new Zion. Hai le Selas s ie wasmurdered by the Marxis t Dergue in 1974.

* T he des c ription is that of A rthur Koes tler, the wri ter who had c ome to J erus alem as a Revis ionis t Zionis t in 1928 but had s oon left. In 1948, Koes tler returned to c over the W ar of Independenc e and interviewed Begin and Ben-Gurion.

* T hat s ummer, Churc hi l l wrote to S tal in s ugges ting an al l ied c onferenc e in J erus alem - 'T here are fi rs t c las s hotels , Government hous es etc . Mars hal S tal in c ould c ome by s pec ial train wi th every form of protec tion from Mos c ow to J erus alem ' - and the B ri tis h prime m inis ter helpful ly enc los ed the route: 'Mos c owT bi l is i Ankara Beirut Hai fa J erus alem '. Ins tead they met (wi th P res ident Roos evel t) at Yal ta.

* T his is now a mus eum to the J ewis h res is tanc e fighters who were impris oned there. T he Nikolai Hos tel was the las t Rus s ian pi lgrim hos tel to be bui l t, wi th room for 1,200 pi lgrims , opened by the Romanov P rinc e Nikolai in 1903.

* One of thos e ki l led was J ul ius J ac obs , a c ous in of the author and a B ri tis h c ivi l s ervant who happened to be J ewis h.

* Farran remained a war hero to B ri tis h s ec uri ty forc es . He fai led to win a Sc ottis h s eat in Parl iament as a Cons ervative in 1949 and then moved to Canada. T here he took up farm ing, was elec ted to the A lberta legis lature, bec oming m inis ter of telephones , s ol ic i tor-general and a profes s or of pol i tic al s c ienc e. Hedied in 2006 aged eighty-s ix. A s treet in Eas t T alpiot, J erus alem, was rec ently named after Rubowitz.

* T wo Hus s eini c ous ins s erved as foreign and defenc e m inis ters , Anwar Nus s eibeh as c abinet s ec retary - and the mufti as pres ident of the Pales tine National Counc i l .

* In a c las s ic example of J erus alem 's rel igious c ompeti tivenes s and i ts abi l i ty to c reate s anc ti ty out of nec es s i ty, J ewis h pi lgrims , robbed of the W al l , prayed at the T omb of David on Mount Zion and c reated the c ountry's fi rs t Holoc aus t Mus eum there.

* But Ragheb Nas has hibi was dying of c anc er. T he king vis i ted him in the Augus ta V ic toria Hos pi tal . 'In this bui lding,' s aid Abdul lah, 'in the s pring of 1921, I had my fi rs t meeting with W ins ton Churc hi l l .' In Apri l 1951, Nas has hibi died and was buried in a s mal l tomb near his vi l la - whic h was later knoc ked down tobui ld the Ambas s ador Hotel .

* T he larges t c ourt, the Ger, named after a vi l lage in Poland and ruled by the A l ter fam i ly, wear shtreimel fur hats ; the Belzers , from Ukraine, wear kaftans and fur hats ; the B res lavers wors hip wi th mys tic and exhibi tionis tic danc ing and s inging, and are known as the 'Has idic hippies '.

* In 1957, Yad Vas hem, 'A P lac e and a Name', the memorial to the 6 m i l l ion J ews ki l led in the Holoc aus t, was c reated on Mount Herzl . In 1965, the Is rael Mus eum was opened, fol lowed by the new Knes s et, both funded by J ames de Roths c hi ld who had helped rec rui t the J ewis h Legion in A l lenby's army.

* A rafat c laimed to have been born in J erus alem. His mother was a J erus alem ite, but he was in fac t born in Cairo. In 1933, at the age of four, he went to l ive wi th relatives for four years in the Maghrebi Quarter next to the W al l .

* As the tens ion ros e, an old man vis i ted the c i ty for the las t time and the world s c arc ely notic ed: Haj Amin Hus s eini , the ex-mufti , prayed at al -Aqs a and then returned to his Lebanes e exi le, where he died in 1974.

* Kol lek, born in Hungary, rais ed in V ienna, and named after T heodor Herzl , had s pec ial ized in s ec ret m is s ions for the J ewis h Agenc y, l iais ing with the B ri tis h s ec ret s ervic e during the c ampaign agains t the Irgun and the S tern Gang, and then buying arms for the Haganah. He then s erved as direc tor of Ben-Gurion'sprivate offic e.

* T he c hief ac ademic work on J erus alem madnes s des c ribes the typic al patients as 'individuals who s trongly identi fy wi th c harac ters from the Old or New Tes tament or are c onvinc ed they are one of thes e c harac ters and fal l vic tim to a ps yc hotic epis ode in J erus alem.' Tour guides s hould look out for '1. Agi tation.2. Spl i t away from group. 3. Obs es s ion with taking baths ; c ompuls ive fingernai l /toe-nai l c l ipping. 4. P reparation, often with aid of hotel bed-l inen, of toga-l ike gown, always white. 5. T he need to s c ream, s ing out loud bibl ic al vers es . 6. P roc es s ion to one of J erus alem 's holy plac es . 7. Del ivery of a s ermon in a holyplac e.' T he K far Shaul Mental Heal th Centre in J erus alem, whic h s pec ial izes in the Syndrome, is s aid to s tand on the s i te of the vi l lage of Deir Yas s in.

* Fais al Hus s eini , the s on of Abd al-Kadir, emerged as one of the leaders of the Inti fada. Hus s eini had trained as a Fatah explos ives expert and s pent years in Is rael i jai ls , the es s ential badges of honour for any Pales tinian leader, but, releas ed from pris on, he was one of the fi rs t to c ome round to talks wi th theIs rael is , even learningHebrew to put his c as e more c learly. Hus s eini attended the Madrid talks and now bec ame A rafat's Pales tinian m inis ter for J erus alem. W hen the Os lo Ac c ords fel l apart, the Is rael is c onfined him to Orient Hous e before eventual ly c los ingi t down. W hen he died in 2001, buried l ike his father onthe Haram, the Pales tinians los t the only leader who c ould have replac ed A rafat.

+ A rc haeologis ts had s tarted exploring tunnels beneath the A rab homes that bordered the enti re wes tern wal l of the Temple Mount duringthe 1950s and P rofes s or OlegGrabar, the future doyen of J erus alem s c holars , remembers how they would frequently appear as i f by magic out of the floors in the ki tc hens of thes urpris ed res idents . Under Is rael i arc haeologis ts , the tunnel yielded - and c ontinues to do s o - the mos t breathtaking finds from the immens e s tones of the foundations of Herod's Temple, via Mac c abee, Roman, Byzantine and Umayyad bui ldings , to a new Crus ader c hapel . But the tunnel als o c ontained the plac ec los es t to the T emple's Foundation S tone where J ews c ould now pray-and i t uni ted J erus alem by l inkingthe J ewis h and Mus l im Quarters .

* T hes e s truggles reveal the c omplexi ties of both s ides , s ometimes bringing Is rael is and A rabs together: when Rabbi Goren tried to c ommandeer the Khal idi hous e overlooking the W al l for a yes hiva, Mrs Hai fa Khal idi was defended in Is rael i c ourts by two Is rael i his torians , Amnon Cohen and Dan Bahat, and s ti l ll ives today in her hous e above the famous Khal idiyyah Library. W hen rel igious J ews tried to expand their digs and s ettlement in S i lwan below the City of David, they were s topped by laws ui ts brought by Is rael i arc haeologis ts .

* In 2009/2010, the population of Greater J erus alem was 780,000: 514,800 J ews (who inc lude 163,800 ul tra-Orthodox) and 265,200 A rabs . T here were around 30,000 A rabs in the Old Ci ty and 3,500 J ews . T here are around 200,000 Is rael is l iving in new s uburbs in eas tern J erus alem.

* In Is rael 's dys func tional democ rac y, wi th weak c oal i tion governments , national-rel igious organizations have bec ome ever more powerful in ques tions of J erus alem 's planning and arc haeology. In 2003, Is rael i bui lding s tarted in the vi tal Eas t One (E1) s ec tion, eas t of the Old Ci ty, whic h would have effec tively c ut offeas t J erus alem from the W es t Bank, underm iningthe c reation of a Pales tinian s tate. Is rael i l iberals and Americ a pers uaded Is rael to s top this , but plans to bui ld J ewis h s ettlements in the A rab neighbourhoods of Sheikh J arrah and S i lwan c ontinue. T he latter s tands next to the muc h-exc avated anc ient Ci ty ofDavid where a J ewis h national is t-rel igious foundation, E lad, funds the invaluable arc haeologic al exc avations and runs a vis i tors ' c entre tel l ing the s tory of J ewis h J erus alem. It als o plans to move Pales tinian res idents to nearby hous ingto make way for more J ewis h s ettlers and a K ing David park c al led the K ing'sGardens . Suc h s i tuations c an c hal lenge arc haeologic al profes s ional is m. A rc haeologis ts , wri tes Dr Raphael Greenberg, a his torian who has c ampaigned agains t this projec t, repres ent 'a s ec ular ac ademic approac h', yet their bac kers hope for 'res ul ts that legi tim is e their c onc epts of the his tory of J erus alem '. So farhis fears have not material ized. T he integri ty of the arc haeologis ts is high and as we s aw earl ier, the pres ent dighas unc overed Canaanite not J ewis h wal ls . Nonetheles s thes e s i tes have bec ome flas hpoints for protes ts by Pales tinians and Is rael i l iberals .

* T he Rus s ian reverenc e for J erus alem has been modernized to s ui t the authori tarian national is m fos tered by V ladim ir Putin who in 2007 overs aw the reunion of the ex-Soviet Mos c ow Patriarc hate and the W hite Rus s ian Orthodox Churc h Outs ide Rus s ia. T hous ands of s inging Rus s ian pi lgrims again fi l l the s treets .T he Holy Fire is flown bac k to Mos c ow on a plane, c hartered by an organization c al led the Centre for National Glory and the Apos tle Andrei Foundation, headed by a K reml in potentate. A ki ts c h l i fe-s ized golden s tatue of 'Ts ar David' has appeared outs ide David's Tomb. An ex-prime m inis ter, S tephan S tepas hin, isthe c hief of the res tored Pales tine Soc iety: 'a Rus s ian flagin the c entre of J erus alem,' he s ays , 'is pric eles s .'

* T he Famil ies remain important in J erus alem. A fter the death of Fais al Hus s eini , A rafat appointed the phi los opher Sari Nus s eibeh (c ous in of W eejah), as Pales tinian repres entative in J erus alem, but s ac ked him after he rejec ted s uic ide bombings . T he founder of al -Quds Univers i ty, Nus s eibeh remains the c i ty'sintel lec tual maveric k, admired by both s ides . A t the time of wri ting, the Pales tinian repres entative for J erus alem is Adnan al-Hus s eini ; another c ous in, Dr Rafiq al-Hus s eini , advis es P res ident Abbas . As for the Khal idis , Ras hid Khal idi , the Edward Said P rofes s or of Modern A rab S tudies at Columbia Univers i ty inNew York, advis es Barac k Obama.

* On a las t vis i t to J erus alem in 1992 before his death, Edward Said c al led the Churc h 'an al ien, run-down, unattrac tive plac e ful l of frumpy m iddle-aged touris ts m i l l ing about in a dec repi t and i l l -l i t area where Copts , Greeks , A rmenians and other Chris tian s ec ts nurtured their unattrac tive ec c les ias tic al gardens ins ometimes open c ombat wi th eac h other'. T he mos t famous s ign of that open c ombat is a l i ttle ladder belonging to the A rmenians on the balc ony outs ide the right-hand window in the fac ade of the Churc h whic h tour guides c laim c an never be moved without other s ec ts s eizingi t. In fac t, the ladder leads to abalc ony where the A rmenian s uperior us ed to drink c offee with his friends and tend his flower garden: i t is there s o that the balc ony c an be c leaned.

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