Tags: jerusalem (7 pics) The Old City (Hebrew: העיר העתיקה‎, HaEer HaAtika, Arabic: البلدة القديمة‎, al-Balda al-Qadimah) is a 0.9 square kilometre (0.35 square mile) walled area within the modern city of Jerusalem. Until the 1860 (152 years ago) this area constituted the entire city of Jerusalem. The Old City is home to several sites of key religious importance: the Temple Mount and its Western Wall for Jews, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for Christians, and the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque for Muslims. Traditionally, the Old City has been divided into four quarters, although the current designations were introduced only in the 19th century. Today, the Old City is roughly divided into the Muslim Quarter, the Christian Quarter, the Jewish Quarter and the Armenian Quarter. Following the 1948 (64 years ago) Arab-Israeli War the Old City found itself located entirely on the Jordanian side of the demarcation line. The Jewish Quarter of the Old City was then largely destroyed by Jordan. Following the Six Day War in 1967 (45 years ago) which saw hand to hand fighting on the Temple Mount, the Old City transferred to Israeli control. In 1980 (32 years ago), Jordan proposed the Old City to be inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage Site List. It was added to the List in 1981 (31 years ago). In 1982 (30 years ago), Jordan requested that it be added to the List of World Heritage Sites in danger. History According to the Bible, before King David's conquest of Jerusalem in the 11th century BCE the city was home to the Jebusites. The Bible describes the city as heavily fortified with a strong city wall. The city ruled by King David, known as Ir David, or the City of David, is now believed to be southwest of the Old City walls, outside the Dung Gate. His son King Solomon extended the city walls and then, in about 440 BCE, in the Persian period, Nehemiah returned from Babylon and rebuilt them. In 41-44 CE, Agrippa, king of Judea, built a new city wall known as the "Third Wall." Muslims occupied Jerusalem in the 7th Century (637 CE) under the second caliph, Umar Ibn al-Khattab who annexed it to the Islamic Arab Empire. He granted its inhabitants an assurance treaty. After the siege of Jerusalem, Sophronius welcomed `Umar because, according to biblical prophecies allegedly known to the church in Jerusalem, "a poor, but just and powerful man" will rise to be a protector and an ally to the Christians of Jerusalem. Sophronius believed that `Umar, a great warrior who led an austere life, was a fulfillment of this prophecy. In the account by the Patriarch of Alexandria, Eutychius, it is said that `Umar paid a visit to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and sat in its courtyard. When the time for prayer arrived, however, he left the church and prayed outside the compound, in order to avoid having future generations of Muslims use his prayer there as a pretext for converting the church into a mosque. Eutychius adds that `Umar also wrote a decree which he handed to the Patriarch, in which he prohibited that Muslims gather in prayer at the site. In 1099 (913 years ago) Jerusalem was captured by the Western Christian army of the First Crusade and remained in their hands until recaptured by the Arab Muslims led by Saladin, on Oct. 2, 1187 (825 years ago). He summoned the Jews and permitted them to resettle in the city. In 1219 (793 years ago) the walls of the city were razed by Mu'azzim Sultan of Damascus; in 1229 (783 years ago), by treaty with Egypt, Jerusalem came into the hands of Frederick II of Germany. In 1239 (773 years ago) he began to rebuild the walls; but they were again demolished by Da'ud, the emir of Kerak. In 1243 (769 years ago) Jerusalem came again under the control of the Christians, and the walls were repaired. The Kharezmian Tatars took the city in 1244 (768 years ago) and Sultan Malik al-Muattam razed the city walls, rendering it again defenseless and dealing a heavy blow to the city's status. The current walls of the Old City were built in 1538 (474 years ago) by the Muslim Ottoman Empire Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. The walls stretch for approximately 4.5 kilometres, (2.8 miles), and rise to a height of 5–15 metres, (16–49 feet), with a thickness of 3 metres, (10 ft). Altogether, the Old City walls contain 43 surveillance towers and 11 gates, seven of which are presently open.

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