Jerusalem tourist information

Archaeological findings indicate the existence of a settlement in Jerusalem in the 3rd millennium BCE. The earliest written record of the city to Egyptian records of the Bronze Age in the 2nd millennium BCE.

The city is believed to have been first built and founded by Canaanite peoples (possibly, but not necessarily the Jebusites who occupied the city during the late Bronze Age). During this Canaanite period, Jerusalem had the name Urušalim, meaning "the city of peace". From about 1600 to 1300 BCE, the city came under Egyptian suzerainty and was governed by Canaanite rulers who paid tribute to the Pharaohs. During this period, the city increasingly came under attacks from the Habiru, who possibly were the ancestors of the Hebrews.

According to Midrash, Jerusalem was founded by Shem and Eber, ancestors of Abraham. Further, the Bible mentions that the city was controlled by the Jebusites until its conquest by David, at a date subsequently placed at about 1000 BCE.

David expanded the city to the south, and declared it the capital city of the united Kingdom of Israel. It thus became the capital of the Jewish kingdoms of Israel, Judah and Judea in the First Temple and Second Temple periods.

In about 960 BCE, Solomon built the First Jewish Temple. For about four centuries after the ten tribes split off to form the northern Kingdom of Israel, Jerusalem served as the capital of the southern Kingdom of Judah.

By the end of the First Temple period, Jerusalem was the sole acting religious shrine in the kingdom, and a center of regular pilgrimage. Historical records corroborate some of the Biblical history from around the 9th century BCE, and attest the significance of the Temple in Jewish religious life. In 597 BCE, the city was overcome by the Babylonians under Nebuchadrezzar, and in 586 BCE, the city's walls were ruined and the Temple was burnt. After several decades of captivity, the Jews were allowed by Cyrus II of Persia to return to Judah and rebuild the city and the Temple. It continued to be the capital of Judah and center of Jewish worship for another four centuries under the Hasmonean Kingdom.

By 19 BCE, the Temple Mount was elevated and the Second Temple was expanded under Herod the Great, a Jewish client-king under Roman rule. In 6 CE, the city and Iudaea Province came under direct Roman rule. The Great Jewish Revolt resulted in the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE. The city served as the national capital again for almost 3 years during the Bar Kokhba's revolt against Rome; it was sacked in 135 CE. For almost two millennia thereafter, Jerusalem did not serve as the national capital of any independent state, until the renewed independence of Israel in 1948.

The city remained under Roman and Byzantine rule, until it was taken by the advancing Muslim forces in 638. The rights of the non-Muslims under Islam were governed by the Pact of Umar, and Christians and Jews living in the city were granted autonomy in exchange for a required poll tax. Whereas the Byzantine Christian authorities had not tolerated the presence of Jews within the walls of the city, the Muslim rulers allowed the reestablishment of a Jewish community. After the treaty of Capitulation signed with the Byzantines, Umar ordered the Patriarch Sophronius to guide him and those who accompanied him to the sanctuary of King David, where he later decided to build a mosque in front of the Rock.The mosque became known as Masjid Umar.

In 1099, the city was conquered by the First Crusaders, who slaughtered most of its Muslim and Jewish inhabitants. A series of conquests followed: in 1187 the city was taken from the Crusaders by Saladin. From 1228 to 1244, it was given by Saladin's descendant al-Kamil to the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II.

In fell again to the Ayyubids of Egypt in 1244. Thereafter, the city remained in Muslim hands continuously for almost 700 years.

The Ayyubids were replaced in 1260 by the Mamelukes, and in 1517, Jerusalem and its environs fell to the Ottoman Turks.

In 1917, the British Army led by General Allenby captured the city. Under the League of Nations Mandate, Britain was entrusted with establishing a Jewish National Home in Palestine. This period saw the construction of garden suburbs in the western part of the city and establishment of institutions of learning such as the Hebrew University, founded in 1925.

As the British Mandate of Palestine was expiring, the 1947 UN Partition Plan (Part III) recommended that "The City of Jerusalem shall be established as a corpus separatum under a special international regime and shall be administered by the United Nations." However, this plan was never implemented and at the end of the 1948-49 war, Jerusalem found itself divided between Israel and Jordan (then known as Transjordan).

The 1949 cease-fire line between Israel and Jordan, which was part of the Green Line, cut through the center of the city from 1949 until 1967, during which time west Jerusalem was part of Israel and East Jerusalem was part of Jordan. From 1950 to 1967, the capital declared by Israel comprised of western Jerusalem. Ever since Israel captured Eastern Jerusalem from Jordan in the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel has administered and has asserted sovereignty over the entire city. The international community has not accepted this claim.

An Israeli law of 1980 declared Jerusalem to be the 'eternal, undivided' capital of Israel, while East Jerusalem is being claimed as the intended capital of a future Palestinian state. The status of the city and of its holy places is disputed.

Roads
Begin Boulevard is western Jerusalem's inner city expressway. It runs south to north from Manahat (Malcha) to Ramot, where it merges into the Modi'in-Tel Aviv highway (Highway 443). Other major north-south arteries include: the Talpiot-Atarot route (Route 60), which traverses the city center and roughly separates East and West Jerusalem; and Herzl Boulevard, which begins at the northern entrance of the city and continues south via Mount Herzl and the Yad VaShem Holocaust memorial. It then merges into additional routes that lead to the southwestern quarters. The Golomb-Herzog-Ben-Zvi route also links the southern quarters with the city center.

Running east through the city center, Jaffa Road connects the Jaffa Gate of the Old City as well as East Jerusalem with the northwestern city entrance and Highway 1. Yigal Yadin Boulevard serves as a northern bypass of the city center, and links Ma'ale Adummim and the northeastern neighborhoods to Begin Boulevard near Ramot.

A future ring-road would include Yadin and Begin boulevards as the respective north and west sectors.

Buses
Jerusalem Central Bus Station is Jerusalem's intercity bus station. It is served mainly by Egged buses and by a single joint Egged - Dan bus line, while Superbus and Margalit, serving Modi'in, have their stops close by. City buses in the Jewish and Israeli areas are run by Egged, which runs close to 100 bus lines throughout the city and its suburbs.

Palestinian-run buses serve the Arab Palestinian neighborhoods under Israeli jurisdiction in the city as well as Palestinian towns in the West Bank and Israeli Arab cities. This system is based out of the East Jerusalem Central Bus Station on Sultan Suleiman Street. Palestinian buses also leave from outside the Damascus Gate of the Old City.

The Egged and Palestinian city bus networks are almost completely separated. There are only a handful of bus stops where both companies have buses stopping. Palestinian residents of Jerusalem do use Egged buses frequently, but Jewish residents rarely use the Palestinian buses, corresponding with the fact that since many Palestinians do regularly visit the Israeli center of town, Jews do not frequently come to the Arab parts of the city. Also, the Arab buses show their destinations only in Arabic, which most Jews cannot read, while Palestinian Jerusalemites can usually read Hebrew.

Railway
Israel Railways operates train service to Southern Jerusalem with 2 stops: Jerusalem Malcha near the Malcha Mall and the Biblical Zoo. Very few trains stop at the latter stop. The line was out of use for seven years because of deteriorating conditions and was restored on April 9, 2005. Jerusalem Malcha is the new station, which replaces the historical Khan Station at Remez Square near the Old City. The train ride from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem takes about 80 minutes.

The existing rail line serving Jerusalem began operating in 1892. A brand new high-speed electrified rail link is currently under construction, which will run from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem via Ben Gurion Airport and terminate at a new underground station - Binyanei HaUmah, located between the Jerusalem Central Bus Station and the International Convention Centre. It is anticipated that the new rail link will open in 2011, with an expected transit time from Tel Aviv of less than 30 minutes.

A local light rail network is being planned and has already been partially constructed. The first line is at the height of its construction and is slated to begin operating from Pisgat Ze'ev in the northeast through the French Hill and through Yaffo Street to the Central Bus Station and the southwestern neighborhoods around 2008. Unusually, for a city with a population of over 600,000, Jerusalem never had a previous first generation tramway network, although, before the war, one was proposed but was cancelled for political reasons.

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Airport
Atarot Airport is Jerusalem's airport, but was closed to civilian traffic in 2000 due to security concerns arising from the Al-Aqsa Intifada, and was later placed under IDF control during 2001. Ben Gurion International Airport, 40 km northwest of the city, serves as the primary international air transport hub for both Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

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