Introduction
Translator's Note

Prologue _ Dawn in Jerusalem

Part 1 Judaism
Chapter 1 David's World
Chapter 2: The Great Success of a Little One
Chapter 3: The Kingdom and the Temple
Chapter 4 Kings of Judah
Chapter 5 The Whore of Babylon
Chapter 6 The Persians
Chapter 7 The Macedonians
Chapter 8 The Maccabees
Chapter 9: The Rise of Rome
Chapter 10: The Herodian Dynasty
Chapter 11 Jesus Christ
Chapter 12 The End of the Herodian Dynasty
Chapter 13: The Death of Jerusalem

Part 2: Paganism
Chapter 14 The Jewish War Continues

Part 3 Christianity
Chapter 15: The Golden Age of Byzantium
Chapter 16: The Decline of Byzantium

Part 4 Islam
Chapter 17: The Arab Conquest Begins
Chapter 18: The Umayyad Dynasty and the Restoration of the Temple
Chapter 19: Abbasids, the distant monarchs
Chapter 20: Fatimid Family, Tolerance and Madness

Part 5: The Crusades
Chapter 21: Soldiers on a Pilgrimage
Chapter 22: The Rise of Outremer
Chapter 23: The Golden Age of Outremer
Chapter 24 Deadlock
Chapter 25: The Courage of the Leper King
Chapter 26: The Story of Saladin
Chapter 27: The Third Crusade
Chapter 28: The Saladin Dynasty

Part 6: Mamluk Dynasty
Chapter 29: The Sultan's Slave
Chapter 30: The Decline of the Mamluk Dynasty

Part 7: The Ottoman Empire
Chapter 31: Suleiman
Chapter 32: Myth and Messiah
Chapter 33: The Clans

Part 8 Empire
Chapter 34: Napoleon in Jerusalem
Chapter 35: Neo-Romanticism
Chapter 36: The Conquest of Albania
Chapter 37 Evangelicals
Chapter 38: The New City
Chapter 39: A New Religion
Chapter 40 Arab Cities, Imperial Cities
Chapter 41 Russia

Part 9 Zionism
Chapter 42: Zion, for their nation
Chapter 43: The Oud Player of Jerusalem
Chapter 44: World War
Chapter 45: The Balfour Declaration
Chapter 46: Christmas Presents
Chapter 47: The Victorious Nations and the Spoils of War
Chapter 48: The British Mandate
Chapter 49: The Arab Revolt
Chapter 50: The Dirty War
Chapter 51: Jewish Independence, Arab Disaster
Chapter 52: The Division of the Sects
Chapter 53: The Six-Day War, Reversals and Losses

Epilogue _ Morning in Jerusalem

Appendix (family tree, map, notes, bibliography, index)

A city where divine blessings and human greed coexist.
The first attempt to uncover the entire life of Jerusalem!

The home of one god, the capital of two peoples, the temple of three religions.
Such an adjective can be applied only to one city on earth, and that is Jerusalem.
The land has never known a single moment of lasting peace throughout its long history, and has experienced countless cycles of destruction and construction.
Those who owned Jerusalem wanted to keep it forever, and those who did not wanted to take it away.
Through so many changes of hands, Jerusalem has become one of the most fascinating and conflicted cities in the world.
But why did the land have to be so destined? What was it that made it such a possessive city?

The new book, Jerusalem: The Biography, tells the entire history of the land of Jerusalem.
It contains the grand and sacred history of the land, as well as the history of the countless individuals and peoples who lived there, roamed there, and sought to possess it.
This book is not simply focused on religion or conflict, nor is it a teleological narrative that argues that all history was inevitable.
By chronicling the entire life of Jerusalem from ancient times to the present, it provides the deepest and broadest understanding of Jerusalem.


A comprehensive understanding of Jerusalem provides the most appropriate and clear answer to the question "why" about the world we live in.
Because the history of Jerusalem is the history of the world.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that almost all of the current international conflicts, terrorism, strife, and anguish originate in Jerusalem.
As such, Jerusalem holds a very important position in world history.
A proper understanding of Jerusalem leads to a proper understanding of the international community.
Jerusalem is no longer a sacred place only in the Bible.
Even for us living in the 21st century, that land still exists as a living, breathing, and speaking city, a sacred and desperate one.

A story that has never been seen before,
Describing Jerusalem as it really was

The author, Simon Sebag Montefiore, is Jewish.
He had been wandering around Jerusalem since childhood, and had absorbed history as the most factual of facts.
The author is also a descendant of Sir Moses Montefiore, a Zionist pioneer who fought for Jerusalem and the Jewish people.
Therefore, the author is perhaps the best and only narrator to describe the history of Jerusalem.

Montefiore said that he had read numerous books about Jerusalem, but he could not find one that was closest to the truth and revealed the true nature of Jerusalem, so he took up the pen himself.
After deciding to write a book, I spent a long time doing extensive research.
I met and talked with professors, archaeologists, families, and politicians one by one, and I visited archaeological sites until my feet were worn out.
As a result, he was able to discover materials that had never been revealed to the world before or had never been utilized.
All of these things are well-mixed in this book.

The author confesses that he feels as if he has been preparing to write this book his entire life.
Jerusalem, a place that exists on earth and in heaven, governed by faith and emotion, and which cannot be concisely expressed in words, was reborn at his fingertips and expressed more vividly than ever before.


The three religions of Abraham,
Unfolding the history of desire for that land

In this book, "The History of Jerusalem," we encounter the origins, birth, and development of the three religions that dominate the world (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) in the midst of a long history.
The image of people worshipping one god but being different from one another, pointing to the same place but calling it by different names, and being in the same place but being unaware of one another as if only their own sects existed is revealed without the slightest bias.

All three Abrahamic religions have a history of owning Jerusalem.
However, because the land has been repeatedly taken over and taken from each other, it is not clear which religion is the real owner of the land.

The Jews, as a chosen people, have resided in Jerusalem.
They had a firm belief in God's blessings, a belief that no one could undermine.
The Jews began to disperse abroad in earnest due to the division of the Roman Empire.
However, even while living in the diaspora (a Jewish community outside of Palestine that maintains Jewish religious norms and customs), they strengthened their belief that the Messiah would come to Zion, and finally attempted to re-enter Jerusalem in the late 19th century.
And they finally established their own country in that land.

Christianity began with the death and resurrection of Jesus.
Although many sects arose due to controversies over whether or not Jesus was God, it seemed to have a smooth future after being selected as the state religion of the Byzantine Empire.
Christianity, which later endured a history of oppression under Islamic rule, sought a rebound through the Crusades that began in Western society.
However, as time passed, the Crusades lost their original spirit and became the seeds of conflict.

Islam began with the founding of Muhammad.
Jerusalem was the place where he ascended to heaven to receive divine revelation.
Therefore, Jerusalem was a holy place for Islam and it had to be protected.
It was perhaps natural that the Palestinians, Muslim Arabs who had lived in Jerusalem for 1,500 years and were expanding their influence, could not tolerate the Jews who were invading their land with the blind belief in Zionism.
That's how the Palestinians began to resist, and the uncomfortable history between the two continues to this day.

The history of Jerusalem, which has been lived alongside three religions, is very colorful and complex.
It was more than just belief in God, perhaps faith was a tool for conquest.
Whatever the truth, what they have lived through is undoubtedly a history of struggle, a history of blood, and a history of tears.
This may come as a shock to those who vaguely thought of Jerusalem as a beautiful religious holy place.
But when you understand the truth, your faith will become more solid.


Even the story of Jerusalem this morning,
The unfinished period of repeating history

《Jerusalem Electricity》 expands the story to 21st century Jerusalem.
Beyond the stuffed history, this book concludes with the story of Jerusalem this morning, or rather, the coming tomorrow.

After the Balfour Declaration of 1917, in which the British Cabinet supported the establishment of a "homeland for the Jews" in Palestine, a full-scale modern conflict over ownership of Jerusalem began.
After that, the Middle East War and Intifada broke out between Israel and Palestine.


Since 1993, long and drawn-out negotiations have continued.
One thing that is clear from these lengthy negotiations is that neither side has any plans to share Jerusalem.
The 2010 meeting between President Obama and the two sides produced no results, only a chilling atmosphere.
Jerusalem's present is as complex and nuanced as its past, whether in the Herodian, Crusader, or British periods.
It is unclear whether peace will ever come to Jerusalem, or whether Jerusalem will still exist in a few decades.


Professor Yoo Dal-seung of Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, who translated the book, said in the translator's note that this book could perhaps be seen as a misguided love story that mistakes unconditional possession of someone for love.
A yearning and obsession with the land that has lasted for thousands of years.
It will remain an unquenchable spark and dominate the international community with its unquenchable desire.
That is why we must focus on Jerusalem and why Jerusalem is the center of the world.
Jerusalem still exists today!