Jerusalem (Yerushalayim, Al Quds) city (state capital), history - - Pictures
The site of Jerusalem was occupied during the Stone Age, but the aboriginal inhabitants were driven out in the period from 5000 BC to 4000 BC by a people who had advanced into the Bronze Age. The invaders, called Canaanites in the Old Testament, were a mixed people among whom Jebusites were dominant. The Canaanites came under Egyptian rule in the 15th century BC, during the conquests of King Thutmose III. Among the early records referring to Jerusalem are Egyptian tablets dating from about 1400 BC that name the city Urusalim. In about 1250 BC Hebrews from Egypt began their conquest of Canaan, the region to the west of the Jordan River later known as Palestine. So powerfully fortified was Jerusalem, however, that it did not fall until more than 200 years later. In 1000 BC, some years after being anointed King of Israel, David finally captured the city.
