Editing Mount Zion

{{Short description|Hill in Jerusalem}}
{{Other uses|Mount Zion (disambiguation)|Mount Sion (disambiguation){{!}}Mount Sion|Zion (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox mountain
|name          = Mount Zion
|other_name    = {{Script/Hebrew|הַר צִיוֹן}} ({{italics correction|''Har Tsiyyon''}})<br/>{{lang|ar|جبل صهيون}} ({{italics correction|''Jabel Sahyoun''}})
|photo         = MtZion from Abu Tor.jpg
|photo_caption =
|elevation_m   = 765
|elevation_ref =
|location      = [[Jerusalem]]
|map           = Jerusalem#Old Jerusalem
|map_alt       =
|map_caption   = Location within Jerusalem##Location just south of the [[Old City (Jerusalem)|Old City]] of Jerusalem
|map_size      =
|coordinates   = {{coord|31|46|18|N|35|13|43|E|type:mountain_scale:100000|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
|range         = [[Judean Mountains|Judean]]
}}

'''Mount Zion''' ({{langx|he|הַר צִיּוֹן}}, ''Har Ṣīyyōn''; {{langx|ar|جبل صهيون}}, ''Jabal Sahyoun'') is a [[hill]] in [[Jerusalem]], located just outside the walls of the [[Old City (Jerusalem)|Old City]] to the south. The term Mount Zion has been used in the [[Hebrew Bible]] first for the [[City of David (archaeological site)|City of David]] ({{bibleverse|2 Samuel|5:7}}, {{bibleverse|1 Chronicles|11:5}}; {{bibleverse|1 Kings|8:1}}, {{bibleverse|2 Chronicles|5:2}}) and later for the [[Temple Mount]], but its meaning has shifted and it is now used as the name of ancient Jerusalem's Western Hill.<ref name=Pixner/><ref>[http://www.pij.org/details.php?id=647 The Significance of Jerusalem: A Jewish Perspective]</ref> In a wider sense, the term '''Zion''' is also used for the entire [[Land of Israel]].<ref>{{cite book |title=This is Jerusalem |author=Menashe Harel |publisher=Canaan Publishing |location=Jerusalem |year=1977 |pages=194–195 }}</ref>

==Etymology==
The [[etymology]] of the word ''[[Zion]]'' is uncertain.<ref name=Brileyp49>{{cite book |page=49 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eq5gFlzMxQgC&q=zion+etymology |title=Isaiah, Volume 1 - The College Press NIV commentary: Old Testament series |author=Terry R. Briley |publisher=College Press |year=2000 |isbn= 978-0-89900-890-5}}</ref><ref name=Longmanp936>{{cite book |page=936 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kE2k36XAkv4C&q=zion+etymology&pg=PA936 |title=Dictionary of the Old Testament: wisdom, poetry & writings, Volume 3 |author=Tremper Longman, Peter Enns |editor=Tremper Longman, Peter Enns |edition=Illustrated |publisher=InterVarsity Press |year=2008 |isbn= 978-0-8308-1783-2}}</ref><ref name=Bromileyp1006>{{cite book |page=1006 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yklDk6Vv0l4C&q=zion+etymology&pg=PA1006 |title=International Standard Bible Encyclopedia: E-J Volume 2 |author=Geoffrey W. Bromiley |editor=Geoffrey W. Bromiley |edition=Revised |publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing |year=1982 |isbn= 978-0-8028-3782-0}}</ref> Mentioned in the Bible in the [[Book of Samuel]] (2 Samuel 5:7) as the name of the [[Jebusite]] fortress conquered by [[King David]], its origin likely predates the [[Israelite]]s.<ref name=Brileyp49/><ref name=Longmanp936/> If [[Semitic languages|Semitic]], it may be associated with the Hebrew root ''ṣiyyôn'' ("castle").  Though not spoken in [[Jerusalem]] until 1,700 years later, the name is similar in [[Arabic language|Arabic]] and may be connected to the root ''ṣiyya'' ("dry land") or the Arabic ''šanā'' ("protect" or "citadel").<ref name=Longmanp936/><ref name=Bromileyp1006/> It might also be related to the Arabic root ''ṣahî'' ("ascend to the top") or ''ṣuhhay'' ("tower" or "the top of the mountain").<ref name=Bromileyp1006/> A non-Semitic relationship to the [[Hurrian language|Hurrian]] word ''šeya'' ("river" or "brook") has also been suggested.<ref name=Bromileyp1006/> 
[[File:Jerusalem Dormitio Church BW 1.JPG|300px|thumb|View of Mount Zion from the [[Mount of Olives]]]]
[[File:MountZionMay062023.jpg|300px|thumb|View of Mount Zion from west]]

''Sahyun'' ({{langx|ar|صهيون}}, ''Ṣahyūn'' or ''Ṣihyūn'') is the word for Zion in Arabic and [[Syriac language|Syriac]].<ref name=PEFp21>{{cite book|page=21|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nodAAQAAIAAJ&q=%22+it+means+%22sunny%2C%22+and+the+proper+equivalent+in+Arabic+or+in+Syriac%2C+according+to+this+same+authority%2C+is+Sahyun%22|title=Palestine exploration quarterly|author=Palestine Exploration Fund|author-link=Palestine Exploration Fund|publisher=Published at the Fund's Office|year=1977}}</ref> A valley called ''Wâdi Sahyûn'' (''[[wadi]]'' being the Arabic for "valley") seemingly preserves the name and is located approximately one and three-quarter miles ({{convert|1.75|mi|1|abbr=out|disp=output only}}) from the [[Old City of Jerusalem]]'s [[Jaffa Gate]].<ref name=PEFp21/>

The phrase ''Har Tzion'', lit. "Mount Zion", appears nine times in the [[Tanakh]].<ref>''The Responsa Project: Version 13'', Bar Ilan University, 2005</ref>

==The three different locations==
[[File:Jerusalem Tomb of David BW 1.JPG|thumb|150px|[[David's Tomb]] on Mount Zion]]

The name ''Mount Zion'' referred successively to three locations, as Jerusalemites preserved the time-honoured name, but shifted the location they venerated as the focal point of biblical Jerusalem to the site considered most appropriate in their own time.

===Lower Eastern Hill (City of David)===
At first, Mount Zion was the name given to the [[Jebusite]] fortified city on the lower part of ancient Jerusalem's Eastern Hill, also known as the [[City of David (historic)|City of David]].<ref name=Pixner/>

According to the [[Book of Samuel]], Mount Zion was the site of the Jebusite fortress called the "stronghold of Zion" that was conquered by [[King David]], then renamed and partially rebuilt by him as the "City of David", where he erected his [[David's Palace|palace]].<ref name=Pixner/>

===Upper Eastern Hill (Temple Mount)===
Once the [[Temple in Jerusalem#First or Solomon.27s Temple|First Temple]] was erected at the top of the Eastern Hill, the name "Mount Zion" migrated there too.<ref name=Pixner/>

After the conquest of the Jebusite city, its built-up area expanded northward towards the uppermost part of the same, Eastern Hill. This highest part became the site of [[Solomon's Temple]].

The identification of the pre-Israelite (Jebusite) and Israelite towns on the Eastern Hill is based on the existence of only one perennial water source in the area, the [[Gihon Spring]], and on archaeological excavations revealing sections of the Bronze Age and Iron Age city walls and water systems.<ref name=Pixner/><ref name=Harel193>{{cite book |title=This is Jerusalem |author=Menashe Harel |publisher=Canaan Publishing |location=Jerusalem |year=1977 |page=193 }}</ref>

The "Mount Zion" mentioned in the later parts of the [[Book of Isaiah]] ({{bibleverse|Isaiah|60:14}}), in the [[Book of Psalms]], and the [[First Book of Maccabees]] (c. 2nd century BCE; {{bibleverse|1 Maccabees|4:36-38}}) seems to refer to the top of the hill, generally known as the [[Temple Mount]].<ref name=Pixner/>

===Western Hill (today's Mount Zion)===
[[File:JerusalemTopography.png|thumb|Natural topography of the old city of Jerusalem and its surroundings]]

The last shift of the name Mount Zion was to the Western Hill, which is more dominant than the Eastern Hill and seemed to first-century CE Jerusalemites the worthier location for the by-then lost palace of King David. The Western Hill is what today is called Mount Zion.<ref name=Pixner>{{cite book |title=Paths of the Messiah |author=Bargil Pixner |editor=Rainer Riesner |editor-link=Rainer Riesner |others=Translated by Keith Myrick, Miriam Randall |publisher=Ignatius Press |year=2010 |pages=320–322 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bvhA6IE4VqgC&q=zion+canaanite&pg=PA321 |isbn=978-0-89870-865-3 }}</ref>

In the second half of the First Temple period, the city expanded westward and its defensive walls were extended to include the entire Western Hill behind them.<ref name=Harel272>{{cite book |title=This is Jerusalem |author=Menashe Harel |publisher=Canaan Publishing |location=Jerusalem |year=1977 |page=272 }}</ref> [[Nebuchadnezzar II]] destroyed the city almost completely around [[Siege of Jerusalem (587 BC)|586 BCE]], severing the continuity of historical memory. A long period of rebuilding followed, ending with Jerusalem's second [[Siege of Jerusalem (AD 70)|total destruction]] at the hands of the [[Roman Empire|Romans]] in 70 CE. [[Josephus]], the first-century CE historian who knew the city as it was before this second catastrophic event, identified Mount Zion as being the Western Hill, separated from the lower, Eastern Hill, by what he calls the "[[Tyropoeon Valley]]".<ref name=Pixner/> It must however be said that Josephus never used the name "Mount Zion" in any of his writings, but described the "Citadel" of King David as being situated on the higher and longer hill, thus pointing at the Western Hill as what the Bible calls Mount Zion.<ref name="Wars">{{cite book |title=The Wars of the Jews or History of the Destruction of Jerusalem |author= Flavius [[Josephus]] |publisher= [[Project Gutenberg]] |translator= [[William Whiston]] |quote= The city was built upon two hills, which are opposite to one another, and have a valley to divide them asunder; [...] Of these hills, that which contains the upper city is much higher, and in length more direct. Accordingly, it was called the "Citadel," by king David; [...] Now the Valley of the Cheesemongers, as it was called, and was that which we told you before distinguished the hill of the upper city from that of the lower,... (Book 5, Chapter 4, §1; or V:137) |url= http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2850/2850-h/2850-h.htm#link52HCH0004 |access-date= 19 February 2016 }}</ref><ref>''The genuine works of Flavius Josephus...'', translated by William Whiston, Havercamp edition, New York (1810). See footnote on page 83. ({{Google books|nc0vAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA83|online copy|page=83}})</ref>

==History since the Late Roman period==
[[File:Tomb of david 1903.jpg|The Tomb of David in 1903|thumb]]
[[File:Mt zion 1903.jpg|Mount Zion in 1903|thumb]]
At the end of the Roman period, a synagogue was built at the entrance of the structure known as David's Tomb, probably based on the belief that David brought the [[Ark of the Covenant]] here from [[Beit Shemesh]] and [[Kiryat Ye'arim]] before the construction of the Temple.<ref name=Harel273>{{cite book |title=This is Jerusalem |author=Menashe Harel |publisher=Canaan Publishing |location=Jerusalem |year=1977 |page=273}}</ref>

During the [[1948 Palestine war|1948 war]], Mount Zion was conquered by the [[Harel Brigade]] on May 18, 1948, and became the only part of the Old City to stay in Israeli hands until the armistice. At first it was linked to the Jewish neighborhood of [[Yemin Moshe]] across the [[Valley of Hinnom]] via a narrow tunnel, but eventually an alternative was needed to evacuate the wounded and transport supplies to soldiers on Mount Zion. A cable car capable of carrying a load of 250 kilograms was designed for this purpose. The cable car was only used at night and lowered into the valley during the day to escape detection; it is still in place at what is now the Mount Zion Hotel. The ride from the Israeli position at the St. John Eye Hospital to Mount Zion took two minutes.<ref>[http://www.gemsinisrael.com/e_article000003947.htm Mt. Zion Cable Car] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120813051739/http://www.gemsinisrael.com/e_article000003947.htm |date=2012-08-13}}</ref>

Between 1948 and 1967, when the Old City was under [[Jordanian annexation of the West Bank|Jordanian rule]], Israelis were forbidden access to the Jewish holy places. Mount Zion was a designated no-man's land between Israel and Jordan.<ref name="Bar-Am">{{Cite web |date=2022-05-15 |title=Cryptogram: The Comprehensive Law structured for Justice |url=https://mysteryofmountzion.com/blog-post-9/ |access-date=2024-08-02 |language=en-US}}</ref> Mount Zion was the closest accessible site to the ancient [[Temple in Jerusalem|Jewish Temple]]. Until East Jerusalem was captured by Israel in the [[Six-Day War]], Israelis would climb to the rooftop of [[David's Tomb]] to pray.<ref>''Jerusalem Divided: The Armistice Regime, 1947–1967'', [[Raphael Israeli]], Routledge, 2002, p. 6</ref> The winding road leading up to Mount Zion is known as Pope's Way (''Derekh Ha'apifyor''). In his Epistle to the Romans, Paul noted: "Happy is he whose conscience does not condemn him in that which he allows" (Romans 14:22) It was paved in honor of the historic visit to Jerusalem of [[Pope Paul VI]] in 1964.<ref name="Bar-Am" />

==Biblical references ==
[[File:Abendmahlssaal.jpg|thumb|150px|[[Room of the Last Supper]] on Mount Zion]]

The [[Hebrew Bible|Tanakh]] reference to ''Har Tzion'' (Mount Tzion) that identifies its location is derived from the Psalm 48 composed by the sons of [[Korah]], i.e. Levites, as "the northern side of the city of the great king", which [[Radak]] interprets as the [[City of David (historic)|City of David]] "from the City of David, which is Zion (1 Kings 8:1–2; 2 Chron. 5:2)".<ref>Ronald L. Eisenberg, ''The streets of Jerusalem: who, what, why'', Devora Publishing, 2006, p. 169</ref> 2 Samuel 5:7 also reads, "David took the strong hold of Zion: the same is the city of David," which identifies Mount Tzion as part of the City of David, and not an area outside today's Old City of Jerusalem. [[Rashi]] identifies the location as the source of "joy" mentioned in the Psalm as the [[Temple of Solomon|Temple Courtyard]], the location of atonement offerings in the northern part of the [[Temple Mount|Temple complex]].<ref>Menachem Davis, ed., ''The Book of Psalms'', Mesorah Publications, New York, 2001, p. 128</ref>

In the New Testament, Mount Zion is used metaphorically to refer to the heavenly Jerusalem, God's holy, eternal city. Christians are said to have "come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven" (Hebrews 12:22–23, cf. Revelation 14:1).

==Landmarks==
[[File:pope-roadS.jpg|250px|thumb|Derekh Ha'Apifyor (Pope's Way) leading up to Mount Zion, so named by the Israeli government in honor of [[Pope Paul VI]]'s historic visit to Israel in 1964]]

Important sites on Mount Zion are [[Dormition Abbey]], the Armenian [[Armenian Monastery of Saint Saviour (Jerusalem)|Monastery of St. Saviour]], [[King David's Tomb]] and the [[Room of the Last Supper]]. Most historians and archeologists today do not regard "David's Tomb" there to be the actual burial place of [[King David]]. The [[Chamber of the Holocaust]] (''Martef HaShoah''), the precursor of [[Yad Vashem]], is also located on Mount Zion. Another place of interest is the Catholic cemetery where [[Oskar Schindler]], a [[Righteous Among the Nations|Righteous Gentile]] who saved the lives of 1,200 Jews in the [[The Holocaust|Holocaust]], is buried.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArtStEngPE.jhtml?itemNo=883869&contrassID=2&subContrassID=4&title='A%20sign%20points%20to%20the%20grave%20'&dyn_server=172.20.5.5 |title=A sign points to the grave |publisher=Haaretz.com |last=Rubinstein |first=Danny |access-date=2007-10-23}}</ref>

Notable burials in the [[Mount Zion Cemetery, Jerusalem|Protestant cemetery on Mt. Zion]] include a number of prominent individuals from the 19th and 20th centuries. These include explorers and archaeologists such as: [[Flinders Petrie]], [[Charles Frederick Tyrwhitt Drake]], James Duncan, [[Clarence Stanley Fisher]], Charles Lambert and [[James Leslie Starkey]]; the architect [[Conrad Schick]]; and pioneers in the fields of medicine, education, religion, diplomacy and social services such as [[J. E. Hanauer|James Edward Hanauer]], Ernest Masterman, [[Hans Nicolajsen|John Nicholayson]], Paul Palmer, [[Max Sandreczky]], Johann Ludwig Schneller, [[Horatio Spafford|Horatio G. Spafford]], author of the hymn ''[[It Is Well with My Soul|It Is Well With My Soul]]''.  Also buried in the cemetery are G. Douglas Young, founder of [[Jerusalem University College]], and his wife Georgina (Snook) Young. The cemetery is also the final resting place for a number of soldiers who fought in the First World War, as well as members of the Palestinian Police who served under the [[Mandatory Palestine|British mandate]]. Several persons buried here were killed in the [[King David Hotel bombing|bombing of the King David Hotel]] on the morning of 22 July 1946.

==Archaeology==
In 1874, an Englishman, Henry Maudsley, discovered a large segment of rock scarp and numerous ancient dressed stones on Mount Zion that were believed to be the base of Josephus's First Wall. Several of these stones were used to construct a retaining wall outside the main gate of the Bishop Gobat school (later known as the American Institute of Holy Land Studies and Jerusalem University College).<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.centuryone.org/essene.html |via=Jerusalem's Essene Gateway |title=Where the Community Lived in Jesus' Time |journal=[[Biblical Archaeology Review]] |publisher=[[Biblical Archaeology Society]] |date=June 1997 |access-date=14 March 2020 |editor-first=Hershel |editor-last=Shanks |editor-link=Hershel Shanks |first=Bargil |last=Pixner |author-link=Bargil Pixner |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150119024410/http://www.centuryone.org/essene.html |archive-date=19 January 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Zion Gate]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category-inline}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zion}}
[[Category:Mount Zion| ]]
[[Category:Neighbourhoods of Jerusalem]]
[[Category:Geography of Jerusalem]]
[[Category:Hebrew Bible mountains]]
[[Category:New Testament mountains]]
[[Category:Historic sites in Jerusalem]]
[[Category:Hills of Israel]]
[[Category:Landforms of Jerusalem District]]