Je·ru·sa·lem (j -r s -l m, -z -) A city divided between east-central Israel and the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Jerusalem was founded as far back as the fourth millennium b.c. and was ruled by the Canaanites, Hebrews, Greeks, Romans, Persians, Arabs, Crusaders, Turks, and British before being divided in 1949 into eastern and western sectors under Israeli and Jordanian control. In 1967, Israeli forces captured the eastern sector from Jordan, later declaring the city as a whole to be the capital of Israel. The legal status of Jerusalem, considered a holy city to Jews, Muslims, and Christians, remains fiercely disputed. Population: 729,000.
Je·ru sa·lem·ite (-l -m t ) n. |
ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms | Noun | 1. | Jerusalem - capital and largest city of the modern state of Israel (although its status as capital is disputed); it was captured from Jordan in 1967 in the Six Day War; a holy city for Jews and Christians and Muslims; was the capital of an ancient kingdomTemple of Jerusalem, Temple of Solomon - any of three successive temples in Jerusalem that served as the primary center for Jewish worship; the first temple contained the Ark of the Covenant and was built by Solomon in the 10th century BC and destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BC; the second was built in 515 BC and the third was an enlargement by Herod the Great in 20 BC that was destroyed by the Romans during a Jewish revolt in AD 70; all that remains is the Wailing Wall Sion, Zion - originally a stronghold captured by David (the 2nd king of the Israelites); above it was built a temple and later the name extended to the whole hill; finally it became a synonym for the city of Jerusalem; "the inhabitants of Jerusalem are personified as `the daughter of Zion'" Wailing Wall - a wall in Jerusalem; sacred to Jews as a place of prayer and lamentation; its stones are believed to have formed part of the Temple of Solomon |
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