CSP 19 Jerusalem: Holy City

According to G.A. Smith in his Historical Geography of the Holy Land, Jerusalem “stands aloof, waterless, [and] on the road to nowhere.” Yet, despite its geographic, agricultural, and economic limitations, Jerusalem has been transformed into a city of tremendous religious significance. This course will examine the cultural history of Jerusalem over three millennia, primarily as the symbolic focus of three faiths: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. By examining the artifacts, architectural monuments, and iconography of Jerusalem in relation to written sources, students will explore the dynamic relationship between the real and the mythic Jerusalem. Students will compose papers involving close readings of primary sacred literature; cross-disciplinary engagements with texts, lived traditions, and archaeology; and implications of the historical evolution of the city of Jerusalem on the middle east crisis and political situations of modern Israel.