Mount of Olives
Mount of Olives | |
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Mount Olivet | |
Judean Mountains | |
Climbing | |
Easiest route | Road |
Several key events in the life of
Geography and geology
The Mount of Olives is one of three peaks of a mountain
The ridge is formed of oceanic sedimentary rock from the Late Cretaceous and contains a soft chalk and a hard flint. While the chalk is easily quarried, it is not a suitable strength for construction and features many man-made burial caves.
History
From
The religious ceremony marking the start of a new month was held on the Mount of Olives during the Second Temple period.[6] During the time of the Roman procurator Antonius Felix (52–60 CE), a Jewish prophetic figure known as "the Egyptian" gathered his followers atop the Mount of Olives in preparation for an invasion of the city or in the belief that he would cause the walls of Jerusalem to fall, allowing them to enter (depending on the version). This group was crushed by the Romans. While "the Egyptian" managed to flee, many of his followers were killed or taken captive, and the remainder escaped.[7][8]
In 1189, in the wake of the 1187 Battle of Hattin and reconquest of the land by Saladin, the sultan gave the Mount to two of his commanders.
In the mid-1850s, the villagers of Silwan were paid £100 annually by the Jews in an effort to prevent the desecration of graves on the mount.[10]
Prime Minister of Israel Menachem Begin asked to be buried on the Mount of Olives near the graves of Etzel members Meir Feinstein and Moshe Barazani, rather than Mount Herzl national cemetery.[11]
Status since 1948
The armistice agreement signed by Israel and Jordan following the 1948 Arab–Israeli War called for the establishment of a Special Committee to negotiate developments including "free access to the holy sites and cultural institutions and use of the cemetery on the Mount of Olives". However, during the 19 years the Jordanian annexation of the West Bank lasted, the committee was not formed. Non-Israeli Christian pilgrims were allowed to visit the mount, but Jews of all countries and most non-Jewish Israeli citizens were barred from entering Jordan and therefore were unable to travel to the area.[12][13][14]
By the end of 1949, and throughout the Jordanian rule of the site, some Arab residents uprooted tombstones and plowed the land in the cemeteries, and an estimated 38,000 tombstones were damaged in total. During this period, a road was paved through the cemetery, in the process destroying graves including those of famous persons.
State of Israel
Following the 1967 Six-Day War restoration work was done and the cemetery was reopened for burials. Israel's 1980 unilateral annexation of East Jerusalem was condemned as a violation of international law and ruled null and void by the UN Security Council in UNSC Resolution 478.
Tombs in the
On 6 November 2010, an international watch-committee was set up by Diaspora Jews with the aim of reversing the desecration of the Jewish cemetery. According to one of the founders, the initiative was triggered by witnessing tombstones that were wrecked with "the kind of maliciousness that defies the imagination."[25]
Religious significance
Hebrew Bible references
David and Absalom
The Mount of Olives is first mentioned in connection with David's flight from Absalom (
Site of "the glory of the Lord"
The sacred character of the mount is alluded to in the Book of Ezekiel (11:23): "And the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city, and stood upon the mountain which is on the east side of the city."[1]
"Mount of Corruption"
The biblical designation Mount of Corruption, or in Hebrew Har HaMashchit (
Apocalypse, resurrection, and burials
An apocalyptic prophecy in the
Many Jews have wanted to be buried on the Mount of Olives since antiquity, based on the Jewish tradition (from the Biblical verse Zechariah 14:4) that when the Messiah comes, the resurrection of the dead will begin there.
New Testament references
The Mount of Olives is frequently mentioned in the
Jesus is said to have spent time on the mount, teaching and prophesying to his disciples (Matthew 24–25), including the
Gnostic references
Again, the story of Jesus with his disciples on the Mount of Olives can be found in the Gnostic text Pistis Sophia, dated around the 3rd to 4th century CE.[32]
Landmarks
Landmarks at the top of the Mount of Olives include the
The construction of the
Gallery
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Augusta Victoria Hospital and its church
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TheRussian Orthodox Church of Mary Magdalene
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BYU Jerusalem Center (the "Mormon University")
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So-called "Tomb of Absalom"
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So-called "Tomb of Zechariah"
See also
- Mount of Olives Jewish Cemetery
- Beit Orot, Jewish settlement on the Mount of Olives
- Ma'ale ha-Zeitim, Jewish settlement on the Mount of Olives
- Olivet (disambiguation)
References
- ^ a b c Har-El, Menashe (1977). This is Jerusalem. Jerusalem: Canaan Publishing House. p. 117.
- ^ S2CID 165984075.
- ^ "International committee vows to restore Mount of Olives". Ynetnews. 8 November 2010.
- ^ "The Ancient Olive Trees on the Mount of Olives". Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development. Government of Israel. Archived from the original on 2019-04-28. Retrieved 2019-04-28.
- ^ Hull, Edward (1885). Mount Seir, Sinai and Western Palestine. Richard Bentley and Son, London. p. 152.
- ^ a b Har-el, Menashe (1977). This is Jerusalem. Jerusalem: Canaan. pp. 120–23.
- ^ Josephus, the Jewish War, 2.261-63; Antiquities of the Jews, 20.169-72
- ISBN 978-0-19-507615-8.
- ^ Nom de Deu, J. (1987). Relatos de Viajes y Epistolas de Peregrinos Jud.os a Jerusalén. Madrid. p. 82.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ISBN 978-965-229-254-4.
- ^ Sheleg, Yair (2007-04-07). "The good jailer". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 2013-11-15. Retrieved 2010-07-16.
- ^ To Rule Jerusalem By Roger Friedland, Richard Hecht, 2000, p. 39, "Tourists entering East Jerusalem had to present baptismal certificates or other proof they were not Jewish."
- ^ Thomas A Idinopulos, Jerusalem, 1994, p. 300, "So severe were the Jordanian restrictions against Jews gaining access to the old city that visitors wishing to cross over from west Jerusalem...had to produce a baptismal certificate."
- ^ Armstrong, Karen, Jerusalem: One City, Three Faiths, 1997, "Only clergy, diplomats, UN personnel, and a few privileged tourists were permitted to go from one side to the other. The Jordanians required most tourists to produce baptismal certificates—to prove they were not Jewish ... ."
- ISBN 9781317175025.
- ^ Bronner, Ethan; Kershner, Isabel (2009-05-10). "Parks Fortify Israel's Claim to Jerusalem". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-03-27.
- ISBN 1-56836-099-1.
After 1967, it was discovered that tombstones had been removed from the ancient cemetery to pave the latrines of a nearby Jordanian army barrack.
- ISBN 978-0-520-91868-9.
- ISBN 965-229-254-0. "The majority (50,000 of the 70,000) was desecrated by the Arabs during the nineteen years of Jordanian rule in eastern Jerusalem."
- ISBN 0-253-20873-4.
- ISBN 978-0-8453-4809-3.
- ^ Mount of Olives security beefed up to stop vandalism, Jerusalem Post 17-12-2009
- ^ Has Israel abandoned the Mount of Olives?, Jerusalem Post 15-05-2010
- ^ Vandalism returns to Mount of Olives cemetery, Ynet News 12-05-2010
- ^ a b Shameful dereliction at the Mt. of Olives Cemetery, Jerusalem Post 06-11-2010
- Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, book 9, chapter 10, paragraph 4, verse 225, William Whiston
- ^ Daniel Wachs and Dov Levitte, Earthquake Risk and Slope Stability in Jerusalem, Environmental Geology and Water Sciences, Vol. 6, No. 3, pp. 183–86, 1984
- ^ Charles Clermont-Ganneau, Archaeological Researches in Palestine, Vol. 1. p. 420, 1899; Charles Clermont-Ganneau, Palestine Exploration Fund Quarterly Statement, April 1874, p. 102
- ^ Mount of Olives description, from www.goisrael.com Archived 2012-03-20 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved January 4, 2012.
- ^ Matthew 21:1; 26:30, etc.
- ^ Matthew 26:39
- ^ G. R. S. Mead (1963). "2". Pistis Sophia. Jazzybee Verlag.
- ^ a b Alternative Tourism Group (ATG)- Study Center. The Mount of Olives [1]
- ^ "Emek Tzurim". The City of David. 2009. Archived from the original on 2010-02-12. Retrieved 2010-07-16.
- ^ "Jerusalem – Beyond the Old City Walls". Jewishvirtuallibrary.org. July 22, 1946. Retrieved 2013-03-26.
External links
- Media related to Mount of Olives at Wikimedia Commons
- Mount of Olives website
- Har Hazeitim website
- Interactive Panoramas of the Mount of Olives – jerusalem360.com, GoJerusalem.com
- Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911. .