Why have scores of armies fought to conquer and rule Jerusalem?
This is really an anomaly in the history of the world, because Jerusalem doesn’t have any of the characteristics that you usually find in a city that’s constantly being fought over. It’s not strategic geographically or economically, and it’s not particularly important for military reasons. The obvious answer is for religious and political reasons. It’s a city that’s sacred to three major religions and millions of people around the world. Most of the battles that have been fought for Jerusalem have been for control of the sacred spaces, especially the Temple Mount, as the Jews call it, or Haram al-Sharif, as the Muslims call it. Do you think past battles are feeding current political propaganda? In my research I was absolutely intrigued by the number of times that references or even explicit citations of the ancient battles crop up in the speeches and propaganda by modern political and military leaders in the area. These ancient battles are not dead, but very much alive in the conscious
