The
Holy Land (
Arabic: الأرض المقدسة,
al-Arḍ
ul-Muqaddasah;Ancient
Aramaic: ארעא
קדישא
Ar'a Qaddisha;
Hebrew: ארץ הקודש
Erets HaQodesh;
Greek: Άγιοι Τόποι
Agioi
Topoi;
Latin:
Terrae Sanctae),
generally refers to the geographical region of the
Levant called Land of
Canaan or
Land of Israel in the
Bible, and constitutes the
Promised land. This area, or sites within it,
hold significant religious importance to at least four
monotheistic Abrahamic religions:
Judaism,
Christianity,
Islam and the
Bahá'í Faith. Part of its sanctity
stems from the
religious significance of
Jerusalem, the holiest city to
Judaism,
the third-holiest to
Islam, and part of the
proposed Christian
Pentarchy.
The holiness of this land was the ideological driving force behind
the
Crusaders' re-conquest from the
Muslim rulers who controlled it since the
Islamic conquests. Numerous
pilgrims visited that land throughout history.
Although
the Zionism movement, the current State of
Israel
and the Israeli-Arab conflict are largely
political, the dispute around the control of the Temple Mount
in East Jerusalem is
based on religious beliefs. Some have
proposed the founding of a Federal Republic of
the Holy Land as a
one-state
solution to the
Israeli-Palestinian
conflict.
Judaism
In the Torah (
Tanakh or
Old Testament), the term
Holy Land is
not used. Instead, this area is called Land of
Canaan,
Land of Israel
and
Promised land.
Judaism's holiest cities are, at least according to
the list of "Four Holy Cities", Jerusalem
, Hebron
, Tzfat
and Tiberias
.
Jerusalem has, since
Abraham, been the
spiritual focus of the
Jews.
Israelite
kingdoms and states
existed intermittently in the region for over a
millennium, with Jerusalem as their
capital. Following foreign conquests, Israelite presence in
the Holy Land dwindled. In particular, the failure of the
Bar Kokhba Revolt against the
Roman Empire resulted in
widescale expulsion of
Jerusalemites. The Romans renamed this land
Syria Palaestina, the origin of the name
Palestine. Jerusalem was renamed
Aelia Capitolina. The
Mishnah and
Jerusalem
Talmud, two of Judaism's most important religious texts, were
written down in the region during this period.
Jerusalem appears 669 times in the
Hebrew
Bible.
Zion, which usually means Jerusalem,
sometimes the
Land of Israel, appears
154 times.
In the first sections, the area of Jerusalem
is called Mount Moriah, the location of the
binding of Isaac, now called the
Temple
Mount.
In the
Hebrew Bible, Jerusalem and the
Holy Land are considered a divine gift, part of several
covenants. Jerusalem has long been
embedded into Jewish religious consciousness.
Jews have studied and personalized the struggle by
King David to capture Jerusalem and his
desire to build the
Jewish temple
there, as described in the
Book of
Samuel and the
Book of Psalms.
Many of King David's yearnings about Jerusalem have been adapted
into popular prayers and songs. Jerusalem is
mentioned in many Jewish
prayers; the
Passover seder prayer ends
with
Next year in Jerusalem. Jews turn towards Jerusalem
to pray.
The Western Wall
of the Temple Mount, nicknamed the "wailing wall",
is the holiest site to Jews and a site of pilgrimage for
centuries.
Christianity
For Christians, the concept of a Holy Land is derived from the
renaming of the Land of Canaan as the Land of Israel (e.g. ).
- "The uniqueness of the Land of Israel is thus 'geo-theological'
and not merely climatic. This is the land which faces the entrance
of the spiritual world, that sphere of existence that lies beyond
the physical world known to us through our senses. This is the key
to the land's unique status with regard to prophecy and prayer, and
also with regard to the commandments."
The concept of the land being holy is especially prominent in the
Book of Numbers.
Horst Seebass argues that the book is "indeed
pervaded by the theme of the holy land." The land is also
considered holy in the
Hebrew Bible
because God's "holy people" settle there.
The Holy Land is also significant in
Christianity because of the lands association
as the place of birth, ministry,
Crucifixion and
Resurrection of
Jesus of Nazareth, who Christians regard as the
Saviour or
Messiah.
The holy cities for Christians of all denominations are:
During the
Crusades, Christian pilgrims often sought out the Holy Places
in the Outremer, especially in early 12th
century immediately after the capture of Jerusalem. Besides the sites in Jerusalem and
Bethlehem, Christian holy places also included:
Islam
- See also: Religious
significance of Jerusalem in Islam.
- See also: Holiest sites
in Islam.
Sharing
similar religious beliefs with Jews and Christians, Muslims
consider the land west of (but not limited to) the Jordan River
to be sacred, as mentioned in the Qur'an.
The first
few months of Islamic history considered Al-Aqsa Mosque
in Jerusalem to be the first Qibla
(direction of prayer), as opposed to the Kaaba
in Mecca
.
Both
Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque, are considered to be the third holiest places for
all denominations of Islam. In Arabic, the city of Jerusalem
is commonly known as "Al-Quds", meaning "the Holy".
Muslims
believe that Muhammad journeyed from
Masjidul
Haram
in Makkah
, to the
Al-Aqsa
Mosque in Jerusalem, and back, all in a single
night. It was at the Al-Aqsa Mosque that Muhammad performed
Salah (the prayers) with all of the Prophets of Islam, and thereafter ascended
to heaven, called Mi'raj.
Muslims
also consider the depression below Mount Sinai
, known as "Tuwa", to be sacred
as mentioned in the Qur'an as the "Holy Valley" (الوادي
المقدس):
There are other mentions of "Holy" or "Blessed" land in the
Qur'an, however there is much dispute amongst
scholars as to the exact whereabouts of those places.
For instance, the
"Blessed Land" referred to in verse [21:71] has been interpreted
very differently by various scholars: Abdullah Yusuf Ali likens it to a wide
land range including, Syria
, Palestine and the cities of Tyre
and Sidon
; Az-Zujaj describes it as, "Damascus
, Palestine, and a bit of Jordan
";
Qatada claims it to be, "the Levant"; Muadh ibn
Jabal as, "the area between al-Arish
and the Euphrates";
and Ibn Abbas as, "the land of
Jericho
".
The term
"Holy Land" is also often used by Muslims (although not in the
Qur'an) in reference to the Hijaz - the land
of the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah
. Shi'a Muslims also
include the land of Karbala
under the high status of a "Holy Land" based on
narrations from the archangel Gabriel to
Muhammad.
See also
References
- Since the 10th century BCE: *"The centrality of Jerusalem to
Judaism is so strong that even secular Jews express their devotion
and attachment to the city and cannot conceive of a modern State of
Israel without it... For Jews Jerusalem is sacred simply because it
exists." Leslie J. Hoppe. The Holy City: Jerusalem in the
theology of the Old Testament, Liturgical Press, 2000, p. 6.
ISBN 0814650813 *"For Jews the city has been the pre-eminent focus
of their spiritual, cultural, and national life throughout three
millennia." Yossi Feintuch, U.S. Policy on Jerusalem,
Greenwood Publishing Group, 1987, p. 1. ISBN 0313257000
- The Land of Israel: National Home Or Land of Destiny,
By Eliezer Schweid, Translated by Deborah Greniman, Published 1985
Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press, ISBN 0838632343, p.56.
- Horst Seebass, "Holy Land in the Old Testament: Numbers and
Joshua," VT 56 (2006), 95. One perspective represented in
Numbers is that the land becomes holy if it is the result of holy
war, or Cherem. Seebass postulates that land
taken in holy war is always holy. (ibid.)
- "At the end of Joshua, the land has been distributed among
the tribes, the patriarchal promise is fulfilled and the land
becomes the holy land." John Goldingay, Theological Diversity
and the Authority of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids:
Eerdmans, 1995), 68.
- Sean Martin, The Knights Templar: The History & Myths
of the Legendary Military Order, 2005. ISBN 1-56025-645-1
- Ali (1991), p.934
External links
and the Church of All Nations
, but many other Christian institutions as
well.
is the birthplace of Jesus.
is Jesus's hometown and the site of many holy
places, including the Church of the
Basilica of the Annunciation and Mary's Well
.
(Tzippori), where the Virgin
Mary was said to have spent her childhood
, site of Christ's baptism
, site of the Transfiguration of
Jesus
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