 First edition | |
| Author | Simon Sebag Montefiore |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Subject | History of Jerusalem |
| Publisher | Weidenfeld & Nicolson |
Publication date | 27 January 2011 |
| Media type | Hardcover, Paperback, audiobook, E-Book at Google Books |
| ISBN | 0-2978-52655 |
| 956.94/420099 | |
| LC Class | 2011-020827 |
| Preceded by | Young Stalin (LA Times Book Prize, Costa Book Awards) |
Jerusalem: The Biography is a 2011 bestselling [1] [2] non-fiction book by British popular historian and writer Simon Sebag Montefiore.
Drawing on new archives, current scholarship, his own family papers and a lifetime's study, Montefiore illustrates the essence of sanctity and mysticism, identity and empire in a historical chronicle of the city of Jerusalem. [3]
Montefiore chose to organize Jerusalem chronologically, stretching it from King David's establishment of the city as his capital to the 1967 Six-Day War, with an epilogue pondering on more recent events. In the introduction, the author explains that "it is only by chronological narrative that one avoids the temptation to see the past through the obsessions of the present." [4]
The author narrates the history of Jerusalem as the centre of world history, but does not intend the book as an encyclopaedia of every aspect of this ancient city, nor as a guidebook of every niche, capital and archway in every building. At the beginning of his book, Montefiore clearly explains that neither does he intend to provide a history of Judaism, Christianity or Islam, nor a study of the nature of God in Jerusalem: for these he remands elsewhere, to a plethora of other publications. [5] His task, Montefiore affirms, is to pursue the facts, not to adjudicate between the mysteries of different religions or the secular reasons behind historical events: Jerusalem is a synthesis based on a wide reading of the primary sources, ancient and modern, on personal seminars with specialists, professors, archaeologists, families and statesmen, and on the author's multiple visits to Jerusalem, the shrines and archaeological digs. [6]
In December 2011, Simon Sebag Montefiore presented on BBC Four a three-part history of Jerusalem, based on his book and by the title Jerusalem: The Making of a Holy City. [7]
Jerusalem is an ancient city in West Asia, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the oldest cities in the world, and is considered holy to the three major Abrahamic religions—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Both Israelis and Palestinians claim Jerusalem as their capital; Israel maintains its primary governmental institutions there, and the State of Palestine ultimately foresees it as its seat of power. Neither claim, however, is widely recognized internationally.
Flavius Josephus was a Roman–Jewish historian and military leader. Best known for writing The Jewish War, he was born in Jerusalem—then part of the Roman province of Judea—to a father of priestly descent and a mother who claimed royal ancestry.
A tapa is an appetizer or snack in Spanish cuisine. Tapas can be combined to make a full meal, and can be cold or hot. In some bars and restaurants in Spain and across the globe, tapas have evolved into a very sophisticated cuisine. In some Central American countries, such snacks are known as bocas. In parts of Mexico, similar dishes are called botanas.
The Babylonian captivity or Babylonian exile is the period in Jewish history during which a large number of Judeans from the ancient Kingdom of Judah were captives in Babylon, the capital city of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, following their defeat in the Jewish–Babylonian War and the destruction of Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem. The event is known to be historical, and is described in the Hebrew Bible in addition to archaeological and extra-biblical sources.
1 Maccabees, also known as the First Book of Maccabees, First Maccabees, and abbreviated as 1 Macc., is a deuterocanonical book which details the history of the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire as well as the founding and earliest history of the independent Hasmonean kingdom. It describes the promulgation of decrees forbidding traditional Jewish practices by King Antiochus IV Epiphanes and the formation of a rebellion against him by Mattathias of the Hasmonean family and his five sons. Mattathias's son Judas Maccabeus takes over the revolt and the rebels as a group are called the Maccabees; the book chronicles in detail the successes and setbacks of the rebellion. While Judas is eventually killed in battle, the Maccabees eventually achieve autonomy and then independence for Judea under the leadership of the Hasmonean family. Judas's brother Simon Thassi is declared High Priest by will of the Jewish people. The time period described is from around 170 BC to 134 BC.
Sir Simon Michael Schama is a British historian specialising in art history, Dutch history, Jewish history, and French history. He is a University Professor of History and Art History at Columbia University.
ʻArish or el-ʻArīsh is the capital and largest city of the North Sinai Governorate of Egypt, as well as the largest city on the Sinai Peninsula, lying on the Mediterranean coast 344 kilometres (214 mi) northeast of Cairo and 45 kilometres (28 mi) west of the Egypt-Gaza border.
In Orthodox Christian belief, the Holy Fire is a ceremony that occurs every year at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem on Great Saturday, the day before Orthodox Easter.
Santa Montefiore is a British author.
Howard Eric Jacobson is a British novelist and journalist. He is known for writing comic novels that often revolve around the dilemmas of British Jewish characters. He is a Man Booker Prize winner.
Simon Jonathan Sebag Montefiore is a British historian, television presenter and author of popular history books and novels, including Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar (2003), Jerusalem: The Biography (2011), The Romanovs 1613–1918 (2016), and The World: A Family History of Humanity (2022), among others.
Yemin Moshe is a historic neighborhood in Jerusalem, overlooking the Old City.
Nicholas Hugh Sebag-Montefiore is a British writer. He trained as a barrister before becoming a journalist and then a non-fiction writer. His second book Dunkirk: Fight to the Last Man was published in 2006. His previous book is Enigma: The Battle for the Code, the story of breaking the German Enigma machine code at Bletchley Park during the Second World War. His family owned Bletchley Park until they sold it to the British government in 1938.
Jacob Valero (1813–1874) was the founder of the first private bank in Palestine, Jacob Valero & Company.
The Tomb of Simeon the Just or Simeon the Righteous is an ancient tomb in Jerusalem. According to scholarly consensus, based on an in situ inscription, it is the 2nd-century CE burial site of a Roman matron named Julia Sabina. However, according to a medieval Jewish tradition, is believed to be the burial place of Simeon the Just and his students. It is located adjacent to the Cave of the Minor Sanhedrin in the Shimon HaTzadik settlement within the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.
The Church History of Eusebius, the bishop of Caesarea was a 4th-century pioneer work giving a chronological account of the development of Early Christianity from the 1st century to the 4th century. It was written in Koine Greek, and survives also in Latin, Syriac and Armenian manuscripts.
Monsters: History's Most Evil Men and Women is a non-fiction history book by the British Historian Simon Sebag Montefiore, who also wrote 'Jerusalem: The Biography', 'Young Stalin', and 'Heroes - History's Greatest Men and Women', to which this book is a counter.
Sir Moses Haim Montefiore, 1st Baronet, was a British financier and banker, activist, philanthropist and Sheriff of London. Born to an Italian Sephardic Jewish family based in London, after he achieved success, he donated large sums of money to promote industry, business, economic development, education and health among the Jewish community in the Levant. He founded Mishkenot Sha'ananim in 1860, the first Jewish settlement outside the Old City of Jerusalem.
Adam S. Montefiore is a British-born Israeli wine trade veteran, wine critic and wine writer.
Montefiore is a surname, meaning "flower mountain". The surname is associated with the Montefiore family, Sephardi Jews who were diplomats and bankers all over Europe.
