Catalog prepared by Dr. Harold L. Osher with the assistance of Peggy L. Osher and Yolanda Theunissen

This web-version of the Catalog prepared by Prof. Matthew H. Edney

Jerusalem’s unique position among cities of the world derives from its crucial role in religious history as a holy city for three great monotheistic religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. For thousands of years Jerusalem has been the temporal and spiritual center of the Holy Land, for which more tears and blood have been shed and more prayers offered than for any other region of the world. Jerusalem’s powerful emotional appeal has inspired a prodigious outpouring of prose and poetry, artistic renderings, and, of course, maps. This exhibition presents a selection of maps and views to illustrate the history of Jerusalem as it celebrates the 3000th anniversary of its establishment as the capital of King David’s unified Kingdom of Israel. Many of these documents are centuries old. Some of them are imaginary and idealized portrayals based on Scriptural interpretation, and reflect the ideologies and religious persuasions of their makers. Others are objective depictions derived from historical records or eyewitness observations. The rest are combinations of reality and fantasy. Together, their powerful visual images provide a broad perspective on three millennia of Jerusalem’s eventful history.