Jerusalem: The Biography

  6 Justinian – Byzantine climax. Justin and Justinian: Treadgold 174–217. Donner, Muhammad 5–6; apocalyptic vision of the Last Emperor 16; Yemenite Jewish kingdom 31–4; Justinian’s vision 4–17. Wickham 92–5. Vision and building: Herrin 50–7. Gossip: see Procopius, Secret Life. Building: Bahat, Atlas 68–79. Building and pilgrims: Peters, Jerusalem 162–4: Piacenza Pilgrim; ‘Life of Sabas’ by Cyril of Scythopolis; Procopius, ‘On Buildings’, quoted in Peters. Grabar, Shape of the Holy 38–40, including Cyril quote; life in Jerusalem 24–38, including concepts of holy space/churches facing or backing on to Temple Mount. Jewish tragedy: Avi-Yonah 221–4 and 232–7, but c. 520 new Sanhedrin chief from Babylon to Tiberias, ruling Jews for seven generations until move to Jerusalem in 638; Justinian anti-Jewish legislation 246–8; Jews in Tiberias in contact with Jewish kings of Yemen 246–8. Treadgold 177. Butcher 383. Temple menorah – Byzantine triumph then to Jerusalem in 534: Perowne, Later Herods 177. Norwich 212. Byzantine style of dress: see Ravenna mosaic and Herrin on Theodora and ladies-in-waiting 67. Houses, mosaics and churches: on Orpheus semi-pagan/semi-Christian: Ashar Ovadius and Sonia Mucznik, ‘Orpheus from Jerusalem – Pagan or Christian Image’, in Cathedra 1.152–66. Nea Church: Grabar, Shape of the Holy 34–8; Madaba Map 27. M. Avi-Yonah, ‘The Madaba Mosaic Map’, Israel Exploration Society. See also article: Martine Meuwese, ‘Representations of Jerusalem on Medieval Maps and Miniatures’, Eastern Christian Art 2 (2005) 139–48. H. Donner, The Mosaic Map of Madaba: An Introductory Guide. Nea, last column in Russian Compound: Shanks 86–7. Byzantine rich houses south and west of Temple Mount: Archeological Park 147 and 32–3; extended Cardo 10 and 140; bathhouses near Jaffa Gate 125; Nea 81; monks in First Temple Jewish tombs 39. Burial with bells: see Rockefeller Museum. Jerusalem chariot-racing: Yaron Dan, ‘Circus Factions in Byzantine Palestine’, in Cathedra 1.105–19. Tsafrir, Sacred Esplanade 73–99.

  7 Persian invasion. The Persian general’s full name was Razmiozan, known as Farrokhan Shahrbaraz – the Royal Boar. Justin II to Phocas – decline: Treadgold 218–41. Sassanian king, state and religion: Donner, Muhammad 17–27. Avi-Yonah, 241, 254–65, including Midrash of Elijah and 20,000 Jewish soldiers quoting Eutychius; Salvation Midrash/Book of Zerubbabel, Nehemiah stories 265–8; Jews expelled 269–70. Sebeos, Histoire d’Héraclius 63–71. See also: A. Courret, La Prise de Jérusalem par les Perses; and Norwich 279–91. Arab tribes: Butcher 66–72. Jerusalem chariot-racing: Dan, ‘Circus Factions in Byzantine Palestine’, in Cathedra 1.105–19.

  Sassanids rise: Farrokh 178–90; Khusrau II 247–61. Sassanians before the Arab conquest: Hugh Kennedy, The Great Arab Conquests 98–111.

  Destruction of Jerusalem: F. Conybeare, ‘Antiochus Strategos: Account of the Sack of Jerusalem’, English Historical Review 25 (1910) 502–16. City destroyed: Bahat, Atlas 78–9. Bones of monks in Monastery of St Onufrius: Archeological Park 137. Jewish role and Lion’s Cemetery where martyrs buried in Mamilla: J. Prawer, History of the Jews in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem 57 and 241. Dan, ‘Circus Factions in Byzantine Palestine’, in Cathedra 1.105–19, inscription on Blues. Massacre myths: Grabar, Shape of the Holy 36–43. Traces of a Jewish building on Temple Mount, seventh century but dating from Persian or early Islamic period: Tsafrir, Sacred Esplanade 99.

  8 Heraclius: this is based on Walter E. Kaegi, Heraclius: Emperor of Byzantium. Treadgold 287–303. Farrokh 256–61. Butcher 76–8. Herrin 84–6. Norwich 291–302. Entering Jerusalem: Conybeare, ‘Antiochus Strategos’ 502–16. Defeated Romans: Koran (trans. M.A.S. Abdel Haleem) 30.1–5. Golden Gate – Byzantine or Umayyad: Bahat, Atlas 78–9. Goldhill, City of Longing 126. Heraclius and Jews, Benjamin of Tiberias: Avi-Yonah 260–76. First Crusader: Runciman 1.10–13. Heraclius in Jerusalem: Abu Sufyan’s memory: Kennedy, Conquests 74; Palestine in decline 31–2. Tsafrir, Sacred Esplanade 73–99. Heraclius and campaigns: Donner, Muhammad 17–27; Last Emperor 17–18. Wickham 256–61.

  PART FOUR: ISLAM

  1 Muhammad: Arabia before Prophet: this is based on the following: Koran; Ibn Ishaq, Life of Muhammad; Al-Tabari, Tarikh: The History of al-Tabari. Analysis and narrative – for conventional approach: W. Montgomery Watt, Muhammad: Prophet and Statesman; Karen Armstrong, Muhammad: A Biography of the Prophet. For new analysis: Donner, Muhammad; F. E. Peters, Muhammad and Jesus, Parallel Tracks, Parallel Lives.

  Apocalypse in Koran/Last Days/The Hour: Hour is near: Koran 33.63, 47.18. Hour nigh: Koran 54.1. Koran: Introduction ix–xxxvi. Isra and Miraj: Koran 17.1, 17.60, 53.1–18, 81.19 and 25. Change of qibla: Koran 2.142–50; Solomon and djinns in temple: Koran 34.13. Jewish sins and Nebachadnezzar fall of Temple: Koran 17.4–7. Jihad/killing/sword verse/People of the Book/dhimmi: Koran 16.125, 4.72–4, 9.38–9, 9.5, 9.29; no compulsion in religion 2.256, 3.3–4, 5.68, 3.64, 29.46. Donner, Muhammad 27–38; life and rise of Muhammad and limits of his biography 39–50; limits of sources, quotes of Thomas the Presbyter 50–7; beliefs of early Islam, Donner’s theory of Believers vs Muslims and number of mentions in Koran: 57–61; rituals 61–9; ecumenism of early Believers especially attitude to Jews and the umma document 72–4; Prophet and Apocalypse 78–82; militant jihad 83–6; ecumenical openness to Jews and Christians – quotations from Donner 87–9; Abu Sufyan and Meccan elite co-opted 92–7.

  Ibn Ishaq, Muhammad 200–10. Jesus meets Moses and Elijah: Mark 9.1–5. Muhammad, mystery of early Islam; doubts of some scholars of entire history before 800, question of conquest, early caliphs: Wickham 279–89. Armstrong, Muhammad 94; qibla 107; relations with Jews 102, 111, 161–3.

  Muhammad in Syria: Kennedy, Conquests 77. Early Islam: Chase F. Robinson, Abd al-Malik 13. Herrin 86–8. Muhammad’s rise: Kennedy, Conquests 45–7; no one more destitute than us, among us who would bury our daughters, God sent us a well-known man, the best among us, Arabian tribes before Muhammad, letters of Muslim soldiers vs Persians, 47. Letters of Muslim soldiers on Persian conquest: al-Tabari, Tarikh 1.2269–77, 2411–24; 2442–4; 2457–63. These sources describe the Arab invaders of Persia just after the Palestinian conquest. Sophronius: Peters, Jerusalem 175. Relations with the Arabian Jewish tribes, first qibla etc., Israiliyat: Isaac Hassan, ‘Muslim Literature in Praise of Jerusalem’, in Cathedra 1.170–2. Importance of advice of Jewish converts: Ibn Khaldun, The Muqaddimah: An Introduction to History (henceforth Ibn Khaldun) 260.

  2 Abu Bakr to Othman. The first successors to Prophet, sources: Donner, Muhammad 91–5; Prophet and Apocalypse 78–82 and 97; knowledge of Syria 96; jihad 83–6; ecumenical openness to Jews and Christians – quotations from Donner 87–9; caliph title used only (possibly) by Abu Bakr but more usually Commander of the Believers and succession 97–106; the nature of Islamic expansion, churches not destroyed 106–19; early version of shahada (without ‘Muhammad is his prophet/apostle’) 112; Bishop Sebeos and Jewish governor 114; ecumenical 114–15; on sharing churches 114–5; on Cathisma Church with mihrab and in Jerusalem itself 115; Abu Bakr conquests 118–33.

  Apocalypse/The Hour: Koran 33.63, 47.18. Hour nigh: Koran 54.1. Early armies at Yarmuk and al-Qadisiyah, only 30,000 men, power of religious propaganda and motivation: Ibn Khaldun 126. Development of title khalifa: Ibn Khaldun 180. Omar takes title Commander of the Faithful: Kennedy, Conquests 54–6 and 72–5. Barnaby Rogerson, The Heirs of the Prophet Muhammad and the Roots of the Sunni–Shia Schism (henceforth Rogerson) 83, 128–9, 169.

  Omar takes Palestine, Byzantine empire, weaknesses, plague, poverty: Kennedy, Conquests, 142–98; settlement of Palestine and Iraq 95–7; Amr al-As 46–51 and 70–3; Khalid bin Walid 70–3. Yaqubi, History 2.160–70, and al-Baladhuri, Conquest of the Countries, quoted in Peters, Jerusalem 176–7. Defeat of Byzantines: Runciman 1.15 Khalid in command at Damascus and Yarmuk: Kennedy, Conquests 75–89. Early administration: Rogerson 220.

  3 Omar enters Jerusalem: Koran 17.1, change of qibla: Koran 2.142–4. Concept of Day of Judgement: Koran 3.185 33.63, 47.18. 54.1.

  Covenant – Tabari, Annals 1.2405, in Peters, Jerusalem 18. Muthir al-Ghiram
in Guy Le Strange, Palestine under the Moslems 139–44. Eutychius quoted in Peters, Jerusalem 189–90.

  Grabar, Shape of the Holy 45–50. Omar looks, character, stories: Ibn Khaldun 162. Kennedy, Conquests 125–30. Rogerson 171–82.

  Donner, Muhammad: Omar conquest of Jerusalem, 125; Jews 114–15; Apocalypse 78–82 and 97; militancy 83–6; openness to Monotheists – quotations from Donner 87–9. Shlomo D. Goitein, ‘Jerusalem in the Arab Period 638–1099, in Cathedra 2: 168–75.

  Omar takes surrender: Kennedy, Conquests 91–5. Abdul Azis Duri, ‘Jerusalem in the Early Islamic Period’, in Asali, 105; early hadith and fadail: in Asali, 114–16. Jerusalem further place of prayer: Koran 17.1. On importance of Holy Land, Jerusalem and Aqsa: Mustafa Abu Sway, ‘The Holy Land, Jerusalem and the Aqsa Mosque in Islamic Sources’, in Sacred Esplanade 335–43. Wickham 279–89.

  Jewish hopes, move to Jerusalem: J. Mann, The Jews in Egypt and Palestine under the Fatimid Caliphs (henceforth Mann) 1.44–7. Jewish traditions – Israiliyat and Kaab quotations: Hassan, ‘Muslim Literature in Praise of Jerusalem,’ in Cathedra 1.170–2. Meir Kister, ‘A Comment on the Antiquity of Traditions Praising Jerusalem’, in Cathedra 1.185–6.

  The names of the city: Angelika Neuwirth, ‘Jerusalem in Islam: The Three Honorific Names of the City’, in OJ 77–93. Seventeen Muslim names/seventy Jewish in Midrash/multiplicity is greatness, quoted in Goitein, ‘Jerusalem’ 187. Grabar, Shape of the Holy 112. Omar on Temple Mount: Isaac ben Joseph quoted in Peters, Jerusalem 191–2; on Jews cleansing Temple Mount and banning: Salman ben Yeruham quoted in Peters, Jerusalem 191–4. Filth on Temple Mount deliberately placed by Helena – Mujir al-Din, Histoire de Jérusalem et d’Hébron (henceforth Mujir) 56–7, and on Jews cleansing Temple Mount. Earliest mosques: Kennedy, Conquests 121 and 134.

  First cemetery and early burials of Companions of Prophet: Kamal Asali, ‘Cemeteries of Old Jerusalem’, in OJ 279–84. Sophronius, abomination: in Peters, Jerusalem 190. First sight of Jerusalem from hill: Sari Nusseibeh, Once Upon a Country 29. Hussein bin Talal, King Hussein of Jordan, My War with Israel 122. Arculf in Thomas Wright, Early Travels in Palestine 1–5. Jews in Omar’s armies – see Professor Rood in JQ 32, Autumn 2007. Jewish aspirations: Sebeos quoted in Goldhill, City of Longing 76. Mann 1.44–7. Shared church and mosques: Ross Burns, Damascus: A History 100–5. Donner, Muhammad: see earlier references.

  Early names of Jerusalem: see Sacred Esplanade 13. Palestine/Syria holy land: Koran 5.21. Jewish worship on Temple Mount: Miriam Frenkel, ‘Temple Mount in Jewish Thought’, in Sacred Esplanade 346–8.

  The Arabs and armies – elite, tactics, armies, motivation, poverty including camel hair mixed with blood: Ibn Khaldun 162–3; 126. Kennedy, Conquests 40–2, 57–65; style of soldiers and female booty 111–13. Al-Tabari, Tarikh 1.2269–77, 2411–24, 2442–4, 2457–63. These sources describe the Arab invaders of Persia just after the Palestinian conquest. Duri in Asali, Jerusalem 105–9.

  4 Muawiya: this portrait is based on R. Stephen Humphreys, Muawiya ibn Abi Sufyan: From Arabia to Empire 1–10 and 119–34; family 38–42; rise 43–53. Donner, Muhammad: Muawiya admired by Jews and Christians 141–3; Apocalypse 143–4; first civil war 145–70; reign of Muawiya 171–7; openness 87–9. Jews plan new Temple: Sebeos quoted in Guy Stroumsa, ‘Christian Memories and Visions of Jerusalem in Jewish and Islamic Context’, in Sacred Esplanade 321–33 especially 329–30. Building on Temple Mount, Persian or early Islamic: Tsafrir, ‘70–638 CE: The Templeless Mountain’, Sacred Esplanade 99. Jewish worship on Temple Mount ended by Caliph Omar ibn Abd al-Malik 717–20: Frenkel, ‘Temple Mount in Jewish Thought’, Sacred Esplanade 346–8 Ibn Khaldun: on bayah 166–7; change from theocratic to royal authority 160–8; Christian administration 192; Muawiya – develops the mihrab after attempted assassination 222; introduces sealing of letters 219; introduces throne due to fatness 216. Caesar of the Arabs: Rogerson 326. Mosque: Arculf, St Adamnan, Pilgrimage of Arculfus in the Holy Land 1.1–23.

  Lover of Israel (Muawiya) hews Temple Mount, built mosque – Simon ben Yahati quoted in Peters, Jerusalem 199–200; possibility of Muawiya making Jerusalem the capital of Arab empire/adapting Herodian platform from square to rectangular and lowering Antonia Fortress 201. Jewish Arabian food: S. D. Goitein, A Mediterranean Society 1.72. Apocalyptic Midrash and al-Mutahar ibn Tahir attribute building of prayer place on Temple Mount to Muawiya: Goitein, ‘Jerusalem’ 76. Grabar, Shape of the Holy 50.

  Administration by Christians: Mansur ibn Sargun: Burns, Damascus 100–15. Administering Palestine: Rogerson 189–92, including quotation ‘I apply not my sword…’ Goitein, ‘Jerusalem’ 174.

  Othman: Rogerson 233–87. Muawiya’s palaces: Humphreys, Muawiya 10–12; politics of lineage 26–37.

  Muawiya on Judgement Day/on Syria/sanctifying land/land of ingathering and Judgement: Hassan, ‘Muslim Literature in Praise of Jerusalem’, in Cathedra 1.170. On Judgement Day: Neuwirth, ‘Jerusalem in Islam: The Three Honorific Names of the City’, OJ 77–93. War against Byzantines: Herrin 91–2. Dome of the Chain: Grabar, Shape of the Holy 130. Bayah allegiance – Tabari quoted in Grabar, Shape of the Holy 111–2. Walks through Christian sites: Humphreys, Muawiya 128–9. Umayyads and Jerusalem: Asali, Jerusalem 108–10. Patron and sheikh: Chase F. Robinson, Abd al-Malik 65. Yazid and succession: Humphreys, Muawiya 96–102. Yazid: Ibn Khaldun 164.

  5 Abd al-Malik and Dome. This portrait of the caliph and imagery and significance of the Dome is based on Andreas Kaplony, ‘The Mosque of Jerusalem’, in Sacred Esplanade 101–31; Grabar, Shape of the Holy; and Oleg Grabar, The Dome of the Rock; Donner, Muhammad; and Chase F. Robinson, Abd al-Malik. Islamic traditions: al-Tabari, Tarikh 1.2405, and Muthir al-Ghiram quoted in Peters, Jerusalem 187–9.

  Donner, Muhammad: civil war 177–89; community of believers into organized Islam 194–9; Last Judgement and Dome of Rock 199–203; Believers into Islam and caliphate, emphasis on caliph/Koran/double shahada/hadith/God’s deputy 203–12; development of Islamic rituals 214; development of Islamic origins, history 216–18. Political mission and religious aims: Wickham 289–95. Abd al-Malik looks: Robinson, Abd al-Malik 52–61; on concubines 20; on flattery 85; rise 25–43; Umayyad residences 47–8. On royal authority: Ibn Khaldun 198–9. Le Strange, Palestine under the Moslems 114–20 and 144–51.

  Description and aesthetics of the Dome: Grabar, Shape of the Holy 52–116. On services based on Jewish Temple, quote on Temple rebuilt, Koran as Torah: Kaplony, Sacred Esplanade 108–112, including Umayyad ritual from al-Wasiti, Fadail Bayt al-Muqaddas 112. Building the Dome. Robinson, Abd al-Malik 4–9 and 98–100; character 76–94; milestones around Ilya 113–12. On aim to overshadow Church of Sepulchre see al-Muqaddasi, A Description of Syria Including Palestine (henceforth Muqaddasi) 22–3.

  Caliph Omar ibn Abd al-Malik 717–20: Frenkel, Sacred Esplanade 346–8. Jews dream of rebuilding Temple and granted acccess – Salman ben Yeruham quoted in Peters, Jerusalem 193, and Isaac ben Joseph at 191–2. Jewish attendants of Dome: Mujir 55–7. Jews and Temple: Sebeos quoted in Stroumsa, Sacred Esplanade 321–33 especially 329–30. Traces of building, seventh century, Persian or early Islamic: Tsafrir, Sacred Esplanade 99. Mosque: Arculf, St Adamnan, Pilgrimage of Arculfus in the Holy Land 1.1–23.

  Eating a banana; Goitein, ‘Jerusalem’ 190 quoting Ibn Asakir’s fadail. Caliph Suleiman ibn Abd al-Malik in Jerusalem/bayah/plan to make it imperial capital/ Jewish attendants in Dome: Mujir 56–8. The Dome: Duri in Asali, Jerusalem 109–11. Peters, Jerusalem 197. Goitein, ‘Jerusalem’ 174. Jewish attendants, other buildings: Goitein, ‘Jerusalem’ 175–80. Byzantine influences on Dome: Herrin 90. Shanks 9–31.

  On importance of Holy Land, Jerusalem and Aqsa: Mustafa Abu Sway, Sacred Esplanade 335–43.

  6 Umayyad Jerusalem. Al-Aqsa – Grabar, Shape of the Holy 117–22; Aphrodito papyri 12; Umayyad caliphs in Jerusalem, Sulayman and Umar 111; palaces to south of Temple Mount 107–10; the Haram Double and Triple Gates/Gate of Prophet and possibly Golden Gate
122–8 and 152–8; four major domes 158; sceptical that the new Umayyad public buildings south of Temple Mount are necessarily palaces 128–30; Haram 122–8; Dome of the Chain 130–2; city life, Christians and Jews in city 132–5. Goitein, ‘Jerusalem’ 178. Kroyanker 32. Umayyad residences Robinson, Abd al-Malik 47–8. Herrin 90. Shanks 9–31. Moshe Gil, A History of Palestine 69–74 and 104. Mann, 1.44–5. Day of Judgement: Koran 3.185. Byzantine wooden beams in Rockefeller Museum. On apocalyptic geogyaphy and site of Divine–human communication: Neuwirth, OJ 77–93. This account of Islamic End of Days is substantially based on Kaplony, Sacred Esplanade 108–31, especially 124.

  Decline of Umayyads and rise of Abbasids: Goitein, ‘Jerusalem’ 178–81. Dynasties have a natural span like individuals: Ibn Khaldun 136. On associations of Apocalypse and Divine Judgement with Jewish traditions of creation and Apocalypse: Grabar, Shape of the Holy 133. Jewish worship on Temple Mount 717–20: Frenkel, Sacred Esplanade 346–8.

  On Jewish living areas, on Umayyad palaces: Bahat, Atlas 82–6. Jews banned from Haram and praying at walls, gates: Isaac ben Joseph quoted in Peters, Jerusalem 191, and Solomon ben Yeruham at 193. Mujir 56–7. On Christian pilgrims and festivals and Sepulchre: Arculf, St Adamnan, Pilgrimage of Arculfus in the Holy Land 1.1–23. Williband and Arculf, quoted in Peters 202–12. Umayyad palaces: Archeological Park 26–7, including old stones and lavatory. Walid I and the desert qasrs, Umayyad singing stars: The Umayyads: The Rise of Islamic Art 110–25. Walid II/Hisham – Palace of Khirbet al-Mafjar near Jericho – paintings at Rockefeller Museum. Decline of Umayyads and rise of Abbasids: Goitein, ‘Jerusalem’ 180–1. Abassid denunciation of Umayyads: Humphreys quoting Tabari. Abbasid revolution: Wickham 295–7.