Bible History
Bible History
Choose a Category

Jerusalem

Mount of Olives

Separated from the Eastern Hill (the Temple Mount and the City of David) by the Kidron Valley, the Mt. of Olives has always been an important feature in Jerusalem's landscape. From the 3rd millennium until the present, this 2900-foot hill has served as one of the main burial grounds for the city. The two-mile long ridge has three summits each of wh...

Read More

Jerusalem Area G

The City of David was very narrow; about 80-100m wide. The east side has a steep slope of about 60 degrees. Though smaller, steeper and more difficult for construction than the Western Hill, the City of David was chosen because of its water source, the Gihon Spring.[Bible Places]...

Read More

Cardo

A 6th c. church floor in Medeba, Jordan has a mosaic map of the land of Israel with numerous place names in Greek. The center of the map is an open-faced depiction of Jerusalem with the city walls, gates, churches (with red roofs), and the Cardo. This main street of the city is depicted with two rows of colonnades running the length of the city f...

Read More

Dome of the Rock

Built atop the earlier location of the Temple, the Dome of the Rock was built by the Muslim ruler Abd el-Malik in 688-691. Because of its situation on bedrock, the numerous earthquakes over the centuries have not caused significant damage to the structure (unlike its neighbor Al Aqsa mosque). This shrine was covered by a lead dome from 691 until it...

Read More

Garden Tomb

In Jerusalem for a visit in 1884, General Charles Gordon spied a prominent rocky crag which looked to him like it could be the "place of the skull" mentioned in the Bible as where Jesus was crucified. Around the corner Gordon identified an ancient tomb and putting the two together he located the hill of crucifixion and the nearby burial place. [B...

Read More

Hezekiah's Tunnel

A 1750-foot (530m) tunnel carved during the reign of Hezekiah to bring water from one side of the city to the other, Hezekiah's Tunnel together with the 6th c. tunnel of Euphalios in Greece are considered the greatest works of water engineering technology in the pre-Classical period. Had it followed a straight line, the length would have been 1070 ...

Read More

Church of the Holy Sepulcher

Originally built by the mother of Emperor Constantine in 330 A.D., the Church of the Holy Sepulcher commemorates the hill of crucifixion and the tomb of Christ's burial. On grounds of tradition alone, this church is the best candidate for the location of these events. The Garden Tomb was not identified as such until the 19th century. [Bible Place...

Read More

Jewish Quarter

The southeast corner of the Old City, the Jewish Quarter occupies about 15 acres and has been inhabited by Jews for centuries. Following the capture of the Old City by the Arabs in 1948, all Jews were expelled and their buildings destroyed. When Israel regained the Old City in 1967 work began to reconstruct the quarter and today hundreds of people ...

Read More

Western Wall

Formerly known as the Wailing Wall, the Western Wall is now so known because of the desire to remove the negative associations that the Wall had before its recapture in 1967. The plaza was created as an area for prayer (technically it is a synagogue) beginning in 1967 and thousands of people sometimes gather here for prayer. [Bible Places]...

Read More

Mt. Zion

The modern Mt. Zion is a misnomer applied by Byzantine pilgrims who thought that the larger, flatter Western Hill must be the original City of David. Archaeological evidence has shown that this hill was only incorporated within the city's fortifications in the 8th century B.C. but the name has stuck. The Hinnom Valley borders this hill on its weste...

Read More

61 Bible Translations

Popular Articles

Explore the Bible Like Never Before!

Bible History Online

Bible Study Tools

Top Tags