The city of Jerusalem is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in our world.[1] While some Historians believe that the city was inhabited by humans long before the Bronze Age, around 5000 BC,[2] archaeologists believe that the first settlement was founded around the beginning of the 3rd millennium BC.[3] In 3000 BC, Jebusites, members of Canaanite tribes,migrated to the Arabian Peninsula, an area that includes modern-day Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and the Gulf countries..[4] The new settlers chose high hills and mountains to start their new life in, which will later make up the city of Jerusalem.[5] The new land was called Jebus or Yabus in Arabic.[6]

First Appearance in Written History

Due to the limited historical records available from this time, the period 3000 BC is often called the prehistory and proto-history of the city of Jerusalem. Mentions of the the city from this time are often found in religious scripture or literary texts, which can prove useful to historians when they match the historical documentation available to them.[7]

The City of Canaanite made its first appearance in written records at the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC.[8] The city was referred to as Rusalimum in the Middle Egyptian Execration texts, hieratic texts found on small statues that listed the names of cities and nations considered enemies of the Pharaoh.. Another mention of the city was found in the Amarna Tablets, clay tablets which record the “diplomatic correspondence from the region of Akhenaten 1350 BC”.[9]

The Jebusite tribes, or the Arab Canaanites, believed to be the first inhabitants of the city, remained in the city for centuries even after Israelites entered the city..[10] Joshua 15:63 of the Torah mentions the Jebusites: “As for the Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the children of Judah could not drive them out; but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Judah at Jerusalem unto this day.”[11] In Judges Book 19:11 and 19:12 state: “And when they were by Jebus, the day was far spent; and the servant said unto his master, Come, I pray thee, and let us turn in into this city of the Jebusites, and lodge in it. And his master said unto him, We will not turn aside hither into the city of a stranger, that is not of the children of Israel…”[12]

A Note on the Sacredness of the City

One of the names of the city was “Ursalem” or “Ursalim” which either means the city of peace or the city of the Jebusites’ god “Shalem”. The city of Jerusalem was considered holy by Jebusites who built a temple for their god Shalem on the hills of the city.[13] The Torah mentions one of the Jebusite kings Melchizedek or Malki Sadiq , which, in Arabic, means the just and straight king.[14] Melchizedek was also called the Priest of the Great God. It is believed that he met the Prophet Abraham in his way from Iraq to Egypt, and that Abraham blessed him.

edek, which means righteousness in Hebrew, is a common component in the names of the priestly rulers of the city as mentioned in Judeo-Christian scriptures.[15]

A Note on the Flourishing Urban Culture and Lifestyle

Archaeological evidence shows that Jebusites who lived in the city were culturally advanced. The city had a flourishing religious, cultural, and economic life.[16] Its inhabitants exceeded in architecture, industry and commerce. They began the cultivation of olives in the area,[17] set their own laws and regulations, produced arms and weaponry, clothes, and were knowledgeable about minerals and metallurgy, and the making of pottery.[18] Archaeological excavations in the area revealed a city wall built in the eastern part of the city to protect the water channels that led from the springs of Gihon and Shiloach to Jerusalem from outside invaders in the 17th century BC.[19] [20].

Excavation also uncovered the existence of a tunnel chiseled in rock used to connect the city and the spring of Gihon. Research reveals that while the Jebusites did not actually build the tunnel, which was natural, Jebusites enhanced and used it in times of siege.[21]

[1] Joseph Millis, Jerusalem: the Illustrated History of the Holy City (London: Andre Deutsch, 2012), 5

[2] Millis, Jerusalem, 6 and Riad Yassin and Amjad Al-Fa’ouri, the Political and Cultural History of Jerusalem (Jordan: Dar Wael, 2012) 7 and 15

[3] Teddy Kollek and Moshe Pearlman, Jerusalem: a History of Forty Centuries (New York: Random House, 1968), 15

[4] Habib Ghanem, Jerusalem: a History and a Cause (Lebanon: Dar Al-Manhel, 2002), 21

[5] Millis, Jerusalem, 6

[6] Ghanem, Jerusalem, 22

[7] H J Franken, “Jerusalem in the Bronze Age 3000-1000 BC”, Jerusalem in History (2000): 11-12

[8] Kollek and Pearlman, a History of Forty Centuries, 15

[9] Millis, Jerusalem, 6

[10] Ghanem, Jerusalem, 25

[13]Yaseen and Fa’ouri, the Political and Cultural History, 14 and 15

[14] Yaseen and Fa’ouri, the Political and Cultural History, 15 and Millis, Jerusalem, 7 and Aref Al-Aref, History of Jerusalem (Jerusalem: Al Andalus Library, 1999 fifth edition), 28

[15] Kollek and Pearlman, a History of Forty Centuries, 17

[16] Yaseen and Fa’ouri, the Political and Cultural History, 15

[17] Al-Aref, History of Jerusalem, 27

[18] Al-Aref, History of Jerusalem, 27 and 28 and Yaseen and Fa’ouri, the Political and Cultural History, 15

[19] Millis, Jerusalem, 6

[20] Franken, “Jerusalem in the Bronze Age”, 15-16

[21] Firas Al-Sawwah, a History of Jerusalem: in Search of the Jewish State (Damascus: Dar Alaa Al-Din, 2003 third edition), 37

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