City of Jerusalem, Essay Example

The City of Jerusalem dates back as far as the Old Testament and was referred to as SALEM (Genesis 14:18) and ruled by King Melchizedek.  King David took Jerusalem from the Jebusites and created the Capital City of the Kingdom of  Israel. Jerusalem became the Capital of Judah for some 400 years and since this time it changed hands to a number of other dynasties i.e. Hasmorean, Herodian, Roman Rule, Arab Caluphates etc. Today Jerusalem is the Capital of modern day Israel but remains an issue of conflict with the Arab world.

Tomb of the Virgin Mary

The traditions concerning the burial of the Virgin Mary date back to the 2nd and 3rd century. It was around 455AD that an ancient tomb was dug out of a quarry site and believed to be the Tomb of Mary.  ” When the Crusaders arrived, all they found were ruins. They rebuilt the church in 1130 and included a Benedictine monastery to make it the “Abbey Church of St. Mary of Jehosaphat.” The monastic complex included early Gothic columns, red-on-green frescoes, and three towers for protection. Queen Melisande was buried in the lower church in 1161.” (Sacred Destinations).

The Tomb of Mary is venerated by the Muslims as the Prophet Muhammad sort a light over the tomb of Mary.  ” There is a built apse to the west and a longer rock-cut apse to the east, in which Mary’s tomb is marked by a small square chapel. It is quite similar to her son’s tomb in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The altar inside the tomb conceals the remains of a bench tomb that may date from the 1st century.”  (Sacred Destinations).

The Tomb of the Virgin is also known as the Church of the Assumption and was said to originate from the Byzantine period in the 5th Century. The crypt was cut into live rock and located at ” the bottom of the Mount of Olives at the right of the path. This is considered to be the site where the Virgin Mary was supposedly entombed”  (Atlas Tours.net).  The sarcophagus of the tomb was evidently empty. This gave rise to a traditional myth regarding the resurrection of Mary, hence ” the Virgin Mary died a natural death (the Domitian of the Theotokos, the falling asleep) like any human being; that her soul was received by Christ upon death; and that her body was resurrected on the third day after her repose, at which time she was taken up, soul and body, into heaven in anticipation of the general resurrection. Her tomb, according to this teaching, was found empty on the third day. Roman Catholic teaching holds that Mary was “assumed” into heaven in bodily form, the Assumption; the question of whether or not Mary actually underwent physical death remains open in the Catholic view; however, most theologians believe that she did undergo death before her Assumption.”  (Wapedia).

Another tradition was that Mary left behind her cincture or belt to Thomas at the time of her ascension to heaven and it was this alone that was found to remain in the tomb. The belt was said to have been made out of camel hair.  It was said to have been transported to Saint Mary of Blachernae church in Istanbul before it was destroyed by fire in 1434.

Works Cited

Atlas Tours.net. Mount of Olives and Church of the Tomb of the Virgin, Jerusalem. 2008. 30 6 2010 <http://www.atlastours.net/holyland/mount_of_olives_and_church_of_the_tomb_of_the_virgin.html>.

Sacred Destinations. Tomb of the Virgin, Jerusalem. 2010. 30 6 2010 <http://www.sacred-destinations.com/israel/jerusalem-tomb-of-virgin-mary>.

Wapedia. Mary’s Tomb. 19 5 2010. 30 6 2010 <http://wapedia.mobi/en/Mary’s_Tomb>.