3/3/2011

Topics Covered

- Abbasid Dynasty

- Fatmids

- Saladin’s Jerusalem

- Mamluk Jerusalem

- Mamluk Architecture

- Al-Madrasa al-ashrafiyya

- Development of the Haram

- Growing Jewish Quarter

- Ottoman Jerusalem

 - Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent

- Damascus Gate

- Jaffa Gate

- The Western Wall

Saladin conquered Jerusalem back from the crusaders in 1187, and unlike the crusaders, he lets anyone who wants to leave out of the country. He purifies and reclaims the Haram and gives the Church of the holy Sepulcher to the Greek Orthodox. Jews re-settle in Jerusalem, and Christian buildings are replaced with Muslim shrines. His successors struggle for power, and once more crusades happen and the walls on Jerusalem are dismantled in the 5^th Crusade, people flee from the city resulting in Jerusalem no longer being a place of refuge.

In 1267, Rabbi Moses ben Nachman makes aliyah and founds the Ramban synagogue which becomes the Jewish center. Many Jews are attracted to the area to come and study with him. He makes the argument that Aliyah is a commandment – that it is required of all the Jews. He develops the idea of Kabalah – Jewish Mysticism. He spiritualized Jerusalem and said that the Temple was the symbol of the path to G-d, and Zion, was the final, innermost stage on the path to G-d. He was a mystic in Spain and aggressively anti-Christian, which is why he was expelled. He came to Israel to teach his mysticism and find a community who he could share his ideas with.