Names of Jerusalem

Jerusalem

A city called Rušalim in the Execration texts of the Middle Kingdom of Egypt (c. 19th century BCE) is sometimes identified as Jerusalem although this has been challenged.

Jerusalem is called either Urusalim (URU ú-ru-sa-lim) or Urušalim (URU ú-ru-ša₁₀-lim) in the Amarna letters of Abdi-Heba (1330s BCE). Also in the Amarna letters, it is called Beth-Shalem, the house of Shalem.

The Sumero-Akkadian name for Jerusalem, uru-salim, is variously etymologised to mean "foundation of [or: by] the god Shalim": from Hebrew/Semitic yry, ‘to found, to lay a cornerstone’, and Shalim, the Canaanite god of the setting sun and the nether world, as well as of health and perfection.

Jerusalem is the name most commonly used in the Bible, and the name used by most of the Western World. The biblical Hebrew form is Yerushalaim (ירושלם), adopted in Biblical Greek as Hierousalēm, Ierousalēm (Ιερουσαλήμ), or Hierosolyma, Ierosolyma (Ιεροσόλυμα), and in early Christian Bibles as Syriac Ūrišlem (ܐܘܪܫܠܡ) as well as Latin Hierosolyma or Ierusalem. In Arabic this name occurs in the form Ūrsālim (أورسالم).

The name "Shalem", whether as a town or a deity, is derived from the same root as the word "shalom", meaning peace, so that the common interpretation of the name is now "The City of Peace" or "Abode of Peace".

The ending -aim indicates the dual in Hebrew, thus leading to the suggestion that the name refers to the two hills on which the city sits. However, the pronunciation of the last syllable as -ayim appears to be a late development, which had not yet appeared at the time of the Septuagint. In fact, in the unvocalized Masoretic Text of the Hebrew Bible the yod that would be required for the -ayim ending (so that it would be written ירושלים, as in post-biblical Hebrew, rather than ירושלם) is almost always absent. It is only the much later vocalization, with the vowel marks for a and i squeezed together between the lamed and the mem, that provides the basis for this reading.

In Genesis Rabbah 56:10, the name is interpreted as a combination of yir'eh, "He will see [to it]," and Shalem, the city of King Melchizedek (based on Genesis 14:18). A similar theory is offered by Philo in his discussion of the term "God's city." Other midrashim say that Jerusalem means "City of Peace".

In Greek, the city is called either Ierousalēm (Ἰερουσαλήμ) or Hierosolyma (Ἱεροσόλυμα). The latter exhibits yet another re-etymologization, by association with the Greek word hieros (ἱερός) "holy". Similarly the Old Norse form Jorsala exhibits a re-interpretation of the second element as -sala, denoting a hall or temple, common in Old Norse toponyms.

Shalem

That the name Salem refers to Jerusalem is evidenced by Psalm 76:2 which uses "Salem" as a parallel for "Zion", the citadel of Jerusalem. The same identification is made by Josephus and the Aramaic translations of the Bible.

Shalem was the Canaanite god of dusk, sunset, and the end of the day, also spelled Shalim. Many scholars believe that his name is preserved in the name of the city Jerusalem. It is believed by some scholars that the name of Jerusalem comes from Uru + Shalem, meaning the foundation of Shalem or founded by Shalem or city of Shalem, and that Shalem was the city god of the place before El Elyon.

Zion

Mount Zion (Hebrew: הר צִיּוֹן‎ Har Tsiyyon) was originally the name of the hill where the Jebusite fortress stood, but the name was later applied to the Temple Mount just to the north of the fortress (also known as Mount Moriah, possibly also referred to as "Daughter of Zion" (i.e., as a protrusion of Mount Zion proper) originally).

Still later (Second Temple era), the name came to be applied to a hill just to the south-west of the walled city. This latter hill is still known as Mount Zion today. From the point of view of the Babylonian exile (6th century BCE), Zion has come to be used as a synonym of the city of Jerusalem as a whole.

Other biblical names

Pahlavi (ancient Iranian language)

According to "shahnameh", ancient Iranian used "Kang Diz Huxt" کنگ دژ هوخت or "Diz Kang Huxt" دژ کنگ هوخت to name Jerusalem . "Kang Diz Huxt" means "holy palace" and was the capital of "Zahhak" and also "Fereydun's" kingdom.

Greco-Roman

Aelia Capitolina was the Roman name given to Jerusalem in the 2nd century, after the destruction of the Second Temple. The name refers to Hadrian's family, the gens Aelia, and to the hill temple of Jupiter built on the remains of the Temple. During the later Roman Era, the city was expanded to the area now known as the Old City of Jerusalem. Population increased during this period, peaking at several hundred thousand, numbers only reached again in the modern city, in the 1960s.

From this name derive Arabic إيلياء ʼĪlyāʼ, Tiberian Hebrew אֵילִיָּה קַפִּיטוֹלִינָה ʼÊliyyāh Qappîṭôlînāh, Standard Hebrew אֵילִיָּה קַפִּיטוֹלִינָה Eliyya Qappitolina. The Roman name was loaned into Arabic, as ʼĪlyāʼ, early in the Middle Ages, and appears in some Hadith (Bukhari 1:6, 4:191; Muwatta 20:26), like Bayt ul-Maqdis.

Islamic

Jerusalem fell to the Muslim conquest of Palestine in 638. The medieval city corresponded to what is now known as the Old City (expanded in the 2nd century as Roman Aelia Capitolina). Population at the time of the Muslim conquest was about 200,000, but from about the 10th century it declined, to less than half that number by the time of the Christian conquest in the 11th century, and with the re-conquest by the Khwarezmi Turks was further decimated to about 2,000 people (moderately recovering to some 8,000 under Ottoman rule by the 19th century).

The modern Arabic name of Jerusalem is القدس al-Quds ("The Holy One"), and its first recorded use can be traced to the 9th century CE, two hundred years after the Muslim conquest of the city. Prior to the use of the name al-Quds, the names used for Jerusalem were إيلياء Iliya (from the Latin name Aelia) and بيت المقدس Bayt al-Maqdis, Bayt al-Muqaddas from which the name al-Quds is derived. The name بيت المقدس Bayt al-Maqdis, Bayt al-Muqaddas is the origin of the Hebrew name for the Temple, בית המקדש Beit Ha-Miqdash, both literally meaning "The House of the Holy".

Al-Quds is the most common Arabic name for Jerusalem and is used by many cultures influenced by Islam). The word Quds is derived from the Semitic root Q-D-S, meaning "holy". The variant al-Quds aš-Šarīf has also been used, notably by the Ottomans, who also used the Persian influenced Kuds-i Şerîf.* Arabic القدس al-Quds "The Holy", القدس الشريف al-Quds aš-Šhareef "The Holy Sanctuary"

Bayt al-Maqdis or Bayt al-Muqaddas is a less commonly used Arabic name for Jerusalem, a variant of the previous. It is the base from which nisbas (names based on the origin of the person named) are formed - hence the famous medieval geographer called both al-Maqdisi and al-Muqaddasi (born 946.) This name is used in the Hadith (Sahih Muslim 234, 251). The name is in reference to the Hebrew name for the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, "Beit Hamikdash." (בית המקדש)

البلاط al-Balāṭ is a rare poetic name for Jerusalem in Arabic, loaned from the Latin palatium "palace". Also from Latin is إيلياء ʼĪlyāʼ, a rare name for Jerusalem used in early times Middle Ages, as in some Hadith (Bukhari 1:6, 4:191; Muwatta 20:26).