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Jerusalem's unique position among cities of the world derives from its crucial role in religious history as a holy city for three great monotheistic religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. For thousands of years Jerusalem has been the temporal and spiritual center of the Holy Land, for which more tears and blood have been shed and more prayers offered than for any other region of the world. Jerusalem's powerful emotional appeal has inspired a prodigious outpouring of prose and poetry, artistic renderings, and, of course, maps.

This exhibition presents a selection of maps and views to illustrate the history of Jerusalem as it celebrates the 3000th anniversary of its establishment as the capital of King David's unified Kingdom of Israel. Many of these documents are centuries old. Some of them are imaginary and idealized portrayals based on Scriptural interpretation, and reflect the ideologies and religious persuasions of their makers. Others are objective depictions derived from historical records or eyewitness observations. The rest are combinations of reality and fantasy. Together, their powerful visual images provide a broad perspective on three millennia of Jerusalem's eventful history.

	I. Maps and the History of Jerusalem
	II. Jerusalem and Mapmaking
	III. Jerusalem the Holy
	IV. Jerusalem the Beautiful
	V. Jerusalem: The Pilgrim City
	VI. Jerusalem: The Center of the World
	VII. Jerusalem: From Town to Metropolis

Important notes concerning the graphics

• Click on the thumbnail images to see large images of each object in the exhibition, but please be aware that most of these large images are in the order of 700-850 kB each and may take a long time to download.
• Issues of copyright mean that we have not been able to provide images of certain objects in the exhibition.

Acknowledgements

This Exhibition was curated by Dr. Harold L. Osher, Peggy L. Osher, Dan Kyram, Jackie Beecham, and Yolanda Theunissen. Valuable assistance was given by Nitza Rosovsky, Prof. Matthew H. Edney, Rabbi Harry Z. Sky, Sandy Dowling, Prof. Gary J. Johnson, Prof. Craig Dietrich, Prof. Mahmud A. Faksh, Sumner T. and Rosalyne S. Bernstein, Harry W. and Susan D. Konkel, and Daniel E. O'Leary. Translations were provided by Prof. Emerita Gloria S. Duclos and Prof. Yves Dalvet. Explanatory diagrams were drawn by Jacques Chazaud. The professional assistance of Christi A. Mitchell, the staffs of the Media and Community Relations and the Publications Departments of USM, the Israeli Consulate in Boston, and Warren Roos Photography is gratefully acknowledged, as is the technical assistance of Stuart Hunter and Stephen Smith.

For directions to the Osher Map Library, open hours, information concerning educational programs based on the exhibition, and other associated events, click on the logo to connect to the Osher Map Library's homepage.

Last update, May 15th, 1996.