Historical Magazine, vol. iv., 2d series (New York).
JER′SEYVILLE. A city and the county-seat of Jersey County, Ill., 66 miles southwest of Springfield; on the Chicago and Alton and the Chicago, Peoria and Saint Louis railroads (Map: Illinois, B 4). It has a public library and a fine court-house. The county fair grounds are located here. The city is the centre of a fertile agricultural region, and carries on a considerable trade in produce, fruit, grain, live stock, etc. Settled in 1839, it was first incorporated in 1867. The government is administered under a revised charter of 1897, which provides for a mayor, elected biennially, and a council. Jerseyville owns its water-works. Population, in 1890, 3207; in 1900, 3517.
JERU′SALEM (Heb. Yĕrūshālayim, Gk. Ἱερουσαλήμ, Hierousalēm, Lat., Hierosolyma). The chief city of Palestine. The name is of great antiquity, being found on seven of the Tell el-Amarna letters written by Abdi-hiba, ruler of the city, to his master, Amenophis IV. of Egypt c.1400 B.C. The old form was Urusalim. On the inscriptions of the Assyrian kings it is spelled Urusalimmu. The meaning of the word is uncertain. In the early period of their occupation of Canaan the Hebrews also called it ‘the city of the Jebusites’ or ‘Jebus’ (Judges xix. 10-11). The fortified part of the old Jebusite city was also called Zion (cf. II. Sam. v. 7). The city rebuilt on the old site by the Emperor Hadrian (A.D. 136) was named by him Ælia Capitolina, but the ancient name continued in use. The Mohammedans call it el-Kuds, ‘the holy.’ See special map with Palestine.
The Modern City. The dome of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is located in latitude 31° 46′ 45″ N., longitude 35° 13′ 25″ E. The city is distant 33 miles from the Mediterranean and 15 miles from the northern end of the Dead Sea. It is situated on a spur from the main ridge or watershed of Palestine, which runs out eastward for a mile and a half, and then deflects to the south for nearly the same distance. On three sides—east, south, and southwest—the city is bounded by deep ravines. The plateau thus formed was originally broken by minor valleys and hills. The highest summit was at the southwest angle. Between this broad western hill and the eastern part of the spur was a valley—the Tyropœon (i.e. ‘the cheesemakers’). The eastern hill, with several distinct summits, was somewhat long and narrow, sinking rapidly at its southern end. The three valleys, the Kidron on the east, the Tyropœon in the middle, and that of Hinnom on the south and west of the western hill, unite southeast of the city. At their junction the elevation is about 2000 feet above the sea. The summit of the western hill is over 2500 feet above sea-level, that of the eastern somewhat less. The upper portion of the Tyropœon and several minor ravines are now almost entirely obliterated by the accumulated rubbish of 3000 years' checkered history. The climate of the city is not unhealthful, but the unsatisfactory sanitary conditions produce frequent outbreaks of fever and other epidemics. The mean annual temperature is about 62°, the extremes being 25° and 112°. The annual rainfall averages a little over 23 inches. Jerusalem proper is surrounded by a long and tortuous wall, built by Solomon the Magnificent in the first half of the sixteenth century, and practically coinciding with the fortifications of the city at the time of the Crusades. The wall is surmounted by thirty-eight towers, and is pierced by eight gates, of which the most important are the Jaffa Gate in the west, the Damascus Gate in the northwest, and the newly opened Gate of Abdul-Hamid, a short distance north of the Jaffa Gate. The inner city is divided into four parts. The Mohammedans occupy the northeastern and largest portion adjoining the Haram esh-Sherif; the Armenians live in the southwest; the Jews in the southeast, and the Christians in the northwest adjoining the outer city. The town is laid out irregularly and the space unequally distributed. The streets are narrow, tortuous, and dirty. The Jerusalem of the present, with its mercantile houses, hotels, stores, various educational and philanthropical institutions, has very little suggesting the city of the past. The historical interest of the city centres around the Haram esh-Sherif (the site of the Temple; see Temple at Jerusalem; Omar, Mosque of), the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and the Via Dolorosa (q.v.). Of the modern religious edifices may be mentioned the Latin Patriarchal Church, the German Church of the Redeemer, the French Church of Saint Anne, the Coptic and the Franciscan monasteries, and the Armenian patriarchal buildings. The outer town, which has grown up since 1858 to the northwest of the old city, contains many Christian churches and hospices, hospitals, schools, missions, monasteries, as well as consulates and many private residences. In the neighborhood are a number of Jewish colonies. In regard to sanitary conditions the outer city is not above Jerusalem proper. The city is connected by carriage-roads with Jaffa, Bethlehem, Hebron, and Jericho, and by a narrow-gauge railway line (54 miles) operated by a French company, with Jaffa. The chief industry of Jerusalem is the manufacture of articles from olive-wood and mother-of-pearl. The trade is chiefly in the hands of the Jews. Administratively the city is the capital of a sanjak, and has two councils, in which the recognized religious communities are represented. Jerusalem is the seat of a Roman Catholic, a Greek Catholic, and an Armenian patriarch, an Anglican bishop, and numerous consuls. The permanent population is estimated at 50,000 to 60,000, of whom the Jews constitute over one-half, the Mohammedans exceeding 7000, and the Christians numbering over 10,000. The annual number of pilgrims and tourists is estimated at an average of 15,000.
The Ancient and Mediæval City. Of the history of Jerusalem up to the time of David very little is known. The notices in the Tell el-Amarna letters and the statement in Gen. xiv. 18 only show that it was a place of some importance long before the Hebrew occupation. The account of the conquest of the region south of Jerusalem by the tribe of Judah (Judges i. 8, 21, in which verse 8 seems to be a late gloss, and verse 21 is to be corrected according to Joshua xv. 63) shows that the city was too strongly fortified to be taken. With this the other ancient reference (Judges xix. 10-12) agrees. It remained a Jebusite city until its capture by David. Its King, Adoni Zedek, was captured, it is true, by Joshua at the battle of Makkedah
