Jerusalem: History and Imagination Modules 2-4

Key geographic features of Jerusalem

Central hill country, rocky terrain, Mount Moriah, Jordan River Valley, Gihon Spring (main water source). The location provided natural defenses but was less suited for agriculture.

The Jebusites:

A Canaanite group inhabiting Jerusalem in the Bronze Age. They controlled the city before David’s conquest and are mentioned in biblical and Egyptian sources.

Execration Texts:

Egyptian texts (19th-18th c. BCE) that curse enemy cities or rules (Yaqir Ammu), including "Rushalimum" (Jerusalem). They provide the earliest recorded mention of the city.

Amarna Letters:

14th-century BCE diplomatic correspondences between Canaanite rulers and the Egyptian pharaoh. They reveal political strife in Jerusalem and refer to the city as Urushalim/Urusalim.