Jerusalem: The Biography

JUDAISM

The city of the Lord, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel … Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city.

Isaiah 60.14, 52.1

My native city is Jerusalem, in which is situated the sacred shrine of the most high God. The holy city is the mother city not of one country, Judaea, but of most of the other neighbouring lands, as well as lands far away, most of Asia, [and] similarly Europe, to say nothing of the countries beyond the Euphrates.

Herod Agrippa I, King of Judaea, quoted in Philo, De Specialibus Legibus

He who has not seen Jerusalem in her splendour has never seen a desirable city in his life. He who has not seen the Temple in its full construction has never seen a glorious building in his life.

Babylonian Talmud, Tractate of the Tabernacle

If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.

Psalm 137.5–6

Jerusalem is the most famous city of the East.

Pliny the Elder, Natural History, 5.15