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Nine Quarters of Jerusalem: A New Biography of the Old City
'Original and illuminating ... what a good book this is' Jonathan Dimbleby'A love letter to the people of the Old City' Jerusalem PostIn Jerusalem, what you see and what is true are two different things. Maps divide the walled Old City into four quarters, yet that division doesn't reflect the reality of mixed and diverse neighbourhoods. Beyond the crush and frenzy of its major religious sites, much of the Old City remains little known to visitors, its people overlooked and their stories untold. Nine Quarters of Jerusalem lets the communities of the Old City speak for themselves. Ranging through ancient past and political present, it evokes the city's depth and cultural diversity.Matthew Teller's highly original 'biography' features the Old City's Palestinian and Jewish communities, but also spotlights its Indian and African populations, its Greek and Armenian and Syriac cultures, its downtrodden Dom Gypsy families and its Sufi mystics. It discusses the sources of Jerusalem's holiness and the ideas - often startlingly secular - that have shaped lives within its walls. Nine Quarters of Jerusalem is an evocation of place through story, led by the voices of Jerusalemites.
400 pages, Paperback
Published January 26, 2023
50 people are currently reading
567 people want to read
About the author
Matthew Teller
14 books9 followersMatthew Teller writes for the BBC, The Times, Guardian, Independent, Financial Times and other global media. He has produced and presented documentaries for BBC Radio 4 and World Service, and has reported for 'From Our Own Correspondent' from around the Middle East and beyond. He is the author of several travel guides, including the Rough Guide to Jordan. His most recent book is Quite Alone: Journalism from the Middle East 2008-2019,
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
April 9, 2022
I can smell Jerusalem reading this book, I can smell the spices in the souq, I can hear the call to prayer, I can see the armed police. Covid has been rough for someone one who lives to travel and I miss being in Jerusalem. I have met people written about in this book. This is a book about the people of the old town not so much of the history but it is still a fantastic read. This was the antidote I needed, so I will be to return.
August 17, 2022
A fairly engaging but deeply problematical book. Teller ardently wants to write a non-Israeli biography of Jerusalem but in doing so he writes out most of the city’s non-Muslim history. I admire his pro Palestinian politics but a political conviction doesn’t make for good history.
June 27, 2024
This book is subtitled a biography. But it’s more of a tour. And if you let Matthew Teller be your guide, you’re in for a special treat. After demonstrating that the common misconception that the Old City of Jerusalem is divided into four quarters (Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Armenian) is nothing but a colonial construct, and explaining how he sleuthed out the culprit, he will then take you to see the sights. However, you’ll do a lot more than check the usual off your list: Holy Sepulchre, Western Wall, Noble Sanctuary, the suq… Teller will take you to nooks and crannies of the city few know about - at least I didn’t despite several trips to Jerusalem. He’ll tell you their stories and how they came to be. And no place comes to be anything without people.
That’s where the book excels: the people Teller will introduce you to are the ones you never see or never bother to pay attention to as you roam around the alleys, eager to take photos or buy souvenirs. (Guilty as charged!) You’ll meet shopkeepers who are so much more than meets the eye; craftsmen; people dedicated to helping others, improving the lives of youth. You’ll learn about Sufis and gypsies (and yes, that's the acceptable term in this case) and Indian mystics, African Muslim communities, remarkable women - some legendary and some real. You’ll meet Karaite Jews whose “practice is astonishingly like Islam” and an Armenian folk-rock musician.
And as you follow him around the more-than-four quarters, that old colonial construct will fall apart, as will the simplistic distinction of Arab or Jew, or even Muslim, Christian, Jew, Armenian. You’ll discover so many more flavours of each.
Teller does not shy away from strong opinions. In fact he makes no claim to impartiality. He states unequivocally that his book “rejects equality in favour of equity.” His writing style manages to combine chattiness (“But first, food. And an excursion across the border…”) with charming eloquence (“Overhead run strings of lights between the trees; underfoot frolics a tribe of marmalade cats.”) and is a delight to read.
That’s where the book excels: the people Teller will introduce you to are the ones you never see or never bother to pay attention to as you roam around the alleys, eager to take photos or buy souvenirs. (Guilty as charged!) You’ll meet shopkeepers who are so much more than meets the eye; craftsmen; people dedicated to helping others, improving the lives of youth. You’ll learn about Sufis and gypsies (and yes, that's the acceptable term in this case) and Indian mystics, African Muslim communities, remarkable women - some legendary and some real. You’ll meet Karaite Jews whose “practice is astonishingly like Islam” and an Armenian folk-rock musician.
And as you follow him around the more-than-four quarters, that old colonial construct will fall apart, as will the simplistic distinction of Arab or Jew, or even Muslim, Christian, Jew, Armenian. You’ll discover so many more flavours of each.
Teller does not shy away from strong opinions. In fact he makes no claim to impartiality. He states unequivocally that his book “rejects equality in favour of equity.” His writing style manages to combine chattiness (“But first, food. And an excursion across the border…”) with charming eloquence (“Overhead run strings of lights between the trees; underfoot frolics a tribe of marmalade cats.”) and is a delight to read.
August 13, 2023
A better title for this would be “A Muslim’s reflections on very selective aspects of the Old City’s history.”
By his own explanation, the author states at the end of the book:
“But as I set out to show in this book, and as I tried to suggest with its title, Jerusalem has many more sides than two, and many more quarters than the four that appear on its maps. To reduce Jerusalem to two sides, or four quarters, and then give them equal resources would be terribly misleading about the limitless complexity of this city. Those two sides – and, especially, representations of their being irreconcilable – are a convenient fiction for the disengaged or the lazy, and any balance that may result from treating them equally can never be equitable, because they do not start as equals. Israel has the overwhelmingly larger proportion of power, influence, assets, status and visibility. The seesaw is not level to begin with. To achieve an equitable balance, one must act unequally.”
This is very good, but also problematic. In the author’s attempt to show there are more stories than what are assumed, he neglects to accurately and fairly depict stories different than his own.
What is in here is very interesting, but it is also incredibly incomplete. And at times can be misleading.
By his own explanation, the author states at the end of the book:
“But as I set out to show in this book, and as I tried to suggest with its title, Jerusalem has many more sides than two, and many more quarters than the four that appear on its maps. To reduce Jerusalem to two sides, or four quarters, and then give them equal resources would be terribly misleading about the limitless complexity of this city. Those two sides – and, especially, representations of their being irreconcilable – are a convenient fiction for the disengaged or the lazy, and any balance that may result from treating them equally can never be equitable, because they do not start as equals. Israel has the overwhelmingly larger proportion of power, influence, assets, status and visibility. The seesaw is not level to begin with. To achieve an equitable balance, one must act unequally.”
This is very good, but also problematic. In the author’s attempt to show there are more stories than what are assumed, he neglects to accurately and fairly depict stories different than his own.
What is in here is very interesting, but it is also incredibly incomplete. And at times can be misleading.
February 18, 2024
Jerozolima - miasto przesiąknięte historią i naznaczone skomplikowaną teraźniejszością, która odbija się nie tylko na ulicach starego świata, ale również w ludziach. Zwłaszcza, że biografia Jerozolimy to nie opowieści o budynkach czy ulicach, ale historie mieszkańców tego sędziwego miasta i ich losy, które budują dzisiejszą społeczność Starego Miasta.
Matthew Teller w biografii Jerozolimy przedstawia przeróżne perspektywy społeczności Starego Miasta – od palestyńskich po ormiańskie, zwraca uwagę na żydowskie kultury, wspomina mistyków sufickich i wiele innych. Autor oddaje głos ludziom należącym do tego miasta, dzięki czemu mamy wgląd do serca Jerozolimy i poznania jej od „ludzkiej strony”, która często umyka nam podczas poszukiwania informacji o tym starym mieście.
Książka malowniczą narracją przedstawia nam mieszkańców i ich przywiązanie do Jerozolimy – jaką daje im radość, ale też z jakimi problemami muszą się mierzyć. Autor przedstawia poszczególne kultury miasta, zwłaszcza te dyskryminowane, i daje możliwość wglądu do ich niesamowitego życia. Taka lektura o wiele lepiej pokazuje historię danego miejsca, gdyż czujemy emocjonalne przywiązanie i poruszenie, które potrafi otworzyć oczy.
Wiem, że niektórzy mogą mieć problem z mnogością perspektyw i brakiem czystej wiedzy dotyczącej budowy Jerozolimy, aczkolwiek uważam, że takich wiadomości jest multum… A opowieści płynących z serc ludzi jest zdecydowanie za mało.
Zatem jeśli ciekawi Was Jerozolima od tej ludzkiej strony i chcecie poznać jej różnorodność, to polecam sięgnąć po tę książkę!
Matthew Teller w biografii Jerozolimy przedstawia przeróżne perspektywy społeczności Starego Miasta – od palestyńskich po ormiańskie, zwraca uwagę na żydowskie kultury, wspomina mistyków sufickich i wiele innych. Autor oddaje głos ludziom należącym do tego miasta, dzięki czemu mamy wgląd do serca Jerozolimy i poznania jej od „ludzkiej strony”, która często umyka nam podczas poszukiwania informacji o tym starym mieście.
Książka malowniczą narracją przedstawia nam mieszkańców i ich przywiązanie do Jerozolimy – jaką daje im radość, ale też z jakimi problemami muszą się mierzyć. Autor przedstawia poszczególne kultury miasta, zwłaszcza te dyskryminowane, i daje możliwość wglądu do ich niesamowitego życia. Taka lektura o wiele lepiej pokazuje historię danego miejsca, gdyż czujemy emocjonalne przywiązanie i poruszenie, które potrafi otworzyć oczy.
Wiem, że niektórzy mogą mieć problem z mnogością perspektyw i brakiem czystej wiedzy dotyczącej budowy Jerozolimy, aczkolwiek uważam, że takich wiadomości jest multum… A opowieści płynących z serc ludzi jest zdecydowanie za mało.
Zatem jeśli ciekawi Was Jerozolima od tej ludzkiej strony i chcecie poznać jej różnorodność, to polecam sięgnąć po tę książkę!
September 21, 2025
A heart-breaking read in the light of the current war in Gaza and its impact within Israel and Jerusalem. Teller lovingly recreates his rambling walks through the Old City and beautifully evokes the relationships he has built within its diverse communities.
What emerges is the truth that human connection far outweighs the prejudices and impositions of those nominally in charge. This book pleads for our common humanity to be the force that guides our lives.
What emerges is the truth that human connection far outweighs the prejudices and impositions of those nominally in charge. This book pleads for our common humanity to be the force that guides our lives.
January 7, 2024
I've not been to Jerusalem. I don't think I'll ever be able to go to Jerusalem. This book is the closest I can be to Jerusalem. You can see yourself being transported to the old city, walking in those alleys, seeing and feeling the place. History is complex. History is non linear and Matthew Teller has done a well to set the perspective.
August 19, 2025
As a resident of the Old City of Jerusalem, I know a lot of these characters, places, and stories. My first instinct was to *not* give this a five-stars on the premise that it's a "foreigner" collecting all this data, getting the interviews from the locals, and writing about our beloved authentic city in his own fluent language, but what can I say... Matthew Teller wins. Once I turned the last page, this ode, I admitted - even out loud - is "gooooood."
There's a lot I jotted down, because I want to remember. Wow, this took forever to type out. Come to think of it, this could be like study-material.
DESCRIPTIONS:
- It's true what he says about this intense city: "... this push and pull, hot and cold. It's prerogative of ownership, of belonging - to criticise, disparage, even to hate, but at the same time to love. I've had a friend tell me he knows the Jerusalem stories he grew up with are fiction, but still he would die to defend the stones that bred them." (Page 1).
Why, I wonder on my more collected days, do we permit this rather than see it as mere lunacy that had gained some erroneous collective approval?
- John Tleel, who died in 1918: "The great are small inside the Old City . . . It is not a city . . . Jerusalem is a living person." (Page 2).
- Yuval Ben-Ami called Jerusalem "the city of the frozen moment." (Page 2).
- For Matthew Teller, it is the smell of cumin. (Page 3).
- "This city wears its history like a teenager wears school uniform, joylessly." (P. 87).
HISTORY
- "When the pharaohs cursed 'Rusalimum,' in texts written in the decades either side of 1900 BCE, maybe they were cursing Jerusalem. We don't know. But Jerusalem - perhaps named for Shalim, the god of the setting sun - was certainly a place by [that] time." "Later, around 1000 BCE, in a foundational tradition of Judaism, something special about Jerusalem prompted David, perhaps a ruler of Judah, a region to the south, to seize it and its fortress of Zion, then controlled by the Jebusites." [David's son Solomon built the temple and incorporated the old Jebusite/Canaanite worship into it, as the Jebusites/Canaanites had looked at Jerusalem as the center of the world.] [The Foundation Stone is where God had collected the dust that formed Adam. It was where Abraham had bound his son, believed in Judaism to be Isaac, for sacrifice." (Pages 4, 5).
"The Temple was destroyed in 586 BCE, rebuilt, and destroyed again in 70 CE." ... "The Foundation Stone took on new significance [with the Night Journey of the Prophet Muhammad] and "it bore the footprint of Muhammad from his ascent to heaven, when he received God's instruction to pray five times a day." "Below it gaped the Abyss of Chaos, source of the Rivers of Paradise. In Islam the Rock stood as the focus of the Quranic site Al-Aqsa, a mosque that some believed had bee built by the first human, Adam, and renovated by Solomon...." The golden dome (the location of the Day of Judgment) "was where the souls of the dead would gather to heal the archangel Israfil blow the trumpet announcing the end of the world." "So it didn't matter that the city had no river, no strategic value and no natural sources of commercial wealth. It had God." (Pages 4, 5, 6).
- Herod rebuilt the Temple [this was around 35 BC. His Roman boss was Mark Anthony]...Then the Romans destroyed Jerusalem in 70 CE when the Temple was destroyed the second time. 65 years later Hadrian rebuilt Jerusalem after its destruction. Jupiter Temple. Venus Temple. Helena-> Tomb. Charles Gordon (Garden Tomb)
About the Temple that Herod built:
"the outermost was named the Court of the Gentiles, accessible to all. Next came the Court of the Women, restricted to Jews only. From there, only Jewish men could access the Court of the Israelites..." At the back of chamber was "Holy of Holies, a space holding the Ark of the Covenant, a chest out of which God spoke to Moses and which contained the stone tables of the Ten Commandments. Only one man, the High Priest, could enter the Holy of Holies, and then only on one day a year, Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. But the Ark had disappeared, perhaps during the destruction of Solomon's Temple in 586 BCE. By Herod's day, the Holy of Holies had been empty for more than five hundred years. There was nothing there." (P. 12). (Meanwhile the Tomb/Holy Spulchre is empty, and the cave beneath the Rock where the spirits of the dead await Judgment Day, is empty). "An encounter with the invisible and the intangible." (P. 13).
- Haret al-Sharaf (Sharaf al-Din Mussa) (The Ottomans referred to the Armenian and Jewish quarters under this name). P. 30.
- Islam: 7th Century.
- Pontos Pilates (ordered Jesus' killing Friday 3 April 33 CE].
- Constantine legalized Christianity in 313.
- The world's oldest map of Jerusalem: Greek Orthodox Church in Madaba. (P. 21).
- Holy Sepulchre Keys: Joudeh and Nuseibeh (Tradition that started with Salah al Din 1192).
- Ladder of the Holy Sepulchre (more than 265 years). At least 1757. (P. 107).
- Crusades: 1099 (al-Firanja) Cross over the Dome and Rock (removed Islam)
- Salah al-Din: 1187 (almost a century after) - Sacred rock over Dome of Rock
He transferred St. Anne to "Madraset el Salihiyyeh)
- Mamluks: 1250
- The walls of Jerusalem: Ottoman Sultan Suleiman [Suleiman al-Qanuni.] (He named himself Suleiman II after King Solomon the Temple Builder!] During his reign the Dome of the Rock was rebuilt, public fountains, and the Citadel was reinforced. In 1535, he ordered for the city walls to be built. It took hundreds of years. (44, 45, 46).
Suleiman al-Qanuni NEVER MADE IT TO JERUSALEM HIMSELF! The Prophet apparently appeared in his dream telling him to embellish Mecca and Medina and to fortify Jerusalem's Citadel. The work probably began in 1537 with manager Muhammad al-Naqash, Syrian sidekick Darwish el-Halabi, and Muslih al-din Bin Abdullah from Turkey (finances). In 1541 they were complete: 4 KM Length, 12 Meters High, more than 2 Meters thick, pierced by seven gates. Bab al-Rahma (Golden Gate) was immediately sealed shut. In the 19th century a new gate was introduced.
- Charles Ashbee, arrived in Jerusalem in 1918, found Jerusalem (filthy/pagan), but adored the walls. So he removed all cafes and shops - and sliced diced "old city." Ashbee's Ramparts Walk. Also this separation and romanticm idealized fetishized the creamy yellow limestones - as if holiness - "new must appear old." - "Without cars, a whole other kind of city becomes possible." (p. 77).
- "In 1492, Jerusalemite historian Mujir al-Din identified eighteen harat in the city." (p. 29). (Including harat Bab Hutta).
- Sharon Building: Wittenberg House that Sharon bought in 1987. He died in 2014 having sold it to extremist Jewish settler organization. But before Wittenberg and before the Latins, it was the Mediterranean Hotel in the 1860s. Mark Twain slept there.
Pages: Spafford (67), Tarek Taha-Abu Shukri (89), al-Amad Halawa (93), Zalatimo (100), Muntaser Edkaidek (115), Sufism (125), Mahmoud Jaddeh (178), Moroccan Quarter takeover (218,219,221), Qahwet al-Sa3alik (khalil Sakakini) pages 278 +279 by Gloria Hotel. Nice interviews with Apo and Jack (like page 319).
Sufism: Al-Ghazali (Ihya2 3ulum al din).
يلبسون الصوف ويمشون حافي الأرجل وينامون في الصحراء
- 1925: Turkey's Mustafa Kamal Ataturk was the one to close Sufi lodges, imprisoned dervishes.
Mustafa abu Sway (Al-Quds Uni) teaches about Ghazali
Antoine Galland (Ala al Din, alf leileh w leileh, ali baba) - originally Hanna Diab -Syrian (no credit).
So: Crusades: 1099, Ayyubids (Salah al Din): 1187 and then Mamluks: 1250.
Note: Ottomans: 1516 to 1917 (roughly 400 years).
- Mamluk times: Boys and young men TRAFFICKED (Got "human resources - Eastern Turkey, Caucus, central Asia... damascus, cairo, india) to convert to Islam, train in army, find new nationality, carried weapons and arches. Under the Mamluks, Christians and Jews lived freely. Business flourished. Governor Aladdin. Names: Al-Thaher Bebers - Mamluk who became Sultan.
- Two Mamluk places: Ribat al-Mansouri and Ribat al-Basiri.
- African Palestinians gained prominence because they were bodyguards of Haj Amin al-Husseini
Ottomans: In 1916, Jamal Pasha tried (and failed) to sell part of the wall to Palestinian Jews.
1908: Young Turk revolution (famine, disease, genocide...)
- Sultan Abdul Hamid loved clocks - but general allenby didnt like the jaffa gate one (built in 1907).
Among my favorite lines: "Whenever I pass Jaffa Gate I look up at the gap in the sky where the clocktower stood and give a nod to the age of possibility, and remember its destroyers." (P. 270).
There's a lot I jotted down, because I want to remember. Wow, this took forever to type out. Come to think of it, this could be like study-material.
DESCRIPTIONS:
- It's true what he says about this intense city: "... this push and pull, hot and cold. It's prerogative of ownership, of belonging - to criticise, disparage, even to hate, but at the same time to love. I've had a friend tell me he knows the Jerusalem stories he grew up with are fiction, but still he would die to defend the stones that bred them." (Page 1).
Why, I wonder on my more collected days, do we permit this rather than see it as mere lunacy that had gained some erroneous collective approval?
- John Tleel, who died in 1918: "The great are small inside the Old City . . . It is not a city . . . Jerusalem is a living person." (Page 2).
- Yuval Ben-Ami called Jerusalem "the city of the frozen moment." (Page 2).
- For Matthew Teller, it is the smell of cumin. (Page 3).
- "This city wears its history like a teenager wears school uniform, joylessly." (P. 87).
HISTORY
- "When the pharaohs cursed 'Rusalimum,' in texts written in the decades either side of 1900 BCE, maybe they were cursing Jerusalem. We don't know. But Jerusalem - perhaps named for Shalim, the god of the setting sun - was certainly a place by [that] time." "Later, around 1000 BCE, in a foundational tradition of Judaism, something special about Jerusalem prompted David, perhaps a ruler of Judah, a region to the south, to seize it and its fortress of Zion, then controlled by the Jebusites." [David's son Solomon built the temple and incorporated the old Jebusite/Canaanite worship into it, as the Jebusites/Canaanites had looked at Jerusalem as the center of the world.] [The Foundation Stone is where God had collected the dust that formed Adam. It was where Abraham had bound his son, believed in Judaism to be Isaac, for sacrifice." (Pages 4, 5).
"The Temple was destroyed in 586 BCE, rebuilt, and destroyed again in 70 CE." ... "The Foundation Stone took on new significance [with the Night Journey of the Prophet Muhammad] and "it bore the footprint of Muhammad from his ascent to heaven, when he received God's instruction to pray five times a day." "Below it gaped the Abyss of Chaos, source of the Rivers of Paradise. In Islam the Rock stood as the focus of the Quranic site Al-Aqsa, a mosque that some believed had bee built by the first human, Adam, and renovated by Solomon...." The golden dome (the location of the Day of Judgment) "was where the souls of the dead would gather to heal the archangel Israfil blow the trumpet announcing the end of the world." "So it didn't matter that the city had no river, no strategic value and no natural sources of commercial wealth. It had God." (Pages 4, 5, 6).
- Herod rebuilt the Temple [this was around 35 BC. His Roman boss was Mark Anthony]...Then the Romans destroyed Jerusalem in 70 CE when the Temple was destroyed the second time. 65 years later Hadrian rebuilt Jerusalem after its destruction. Jupiter Temple. Venus Temple. Helena-> Tomb. Charles Gordon (Garden Tomb)
About the Temple that Herod built:
"the outermost was named the Court of the Gentiles, accessible to all. Next came the Court of the Women, restricted to Jews only. From there, only Jewish men could access the Court of the Israelites..." At the back of chamber was "Holy of Holies, a space holding the Ark of the Covenant, a chest out of which God spoke to Moses and which contained the stone tables of the Ten Commandments. Only one man, the High Priest, could enter the Holy of Holies, and then only on one day a year, Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. But the Ark had disappeared, perhaps during the destruction of Solomon's Temple in 586 BCE. By Herod's day, the Holy of Holies had been empty for more than five hundred years. There was nothing there." (P. 12). (Meanwhile the Tomb/Holy Spulchre is empty, and the cave beneath the Rock where the spirits of the dead await Judgment Day, is empty). "An encounter with the invisible and the intangible." (P. 13).
- Haret al-Sharaf (Sharaf al-Din Mussa) (The Ottomans referred to the Armenian and Jewish quarters under this name). P. 30.
- Islam: 7th Century.
- Pontos Pilates (ordered Jesus' killing Friday 3 April 33 CE].
- Constantine legalized Christianity in 313.
- The world's oldest map of Jerusalem: Greek Orthodox Church in Madaba. (P. 21).
- Holy Sepulchre Keys: Joudeh and Nuseibeh (Tradition that started with Salah al Din 1192).
- Ladder of the Holy Sepulchre (more than 265 years). At least 1757. (P. 107).
- Crusades: 1099 (al-Firanja) Cross over the Dome and Rock (removed Islam)
- Salah al-Din: 1187 (almost a century after) - Sacred rock over Dome of Rock
He transferred St. Anne to "Madraset el Salihiyyeh)
- Mamluks: 1250
- The walls of Jerusalem: Ottoman Sultan Suleiman [Suleiman al-Qanuni.] (He named himself Suleiman II after King Solomon the Temple Builder!] During his reign the Dome of the Rock was rebuilt, public fountains, and the Citadel was reinforced. In 1535, he ordered for the city walls to be built. It took hundreds of years. (44, 45, 46).
Suleiman al-Qanuni NEVER MADE IT TO JERUSALEM HIMSELF! The Prophet apparently appeared in his dream telling him to embellish Mecca and Medina and to fortify Jerusalem's Citadel. The work probably began in 1537 with manager Muhammad al-Naqash, Syrian sidekick Darwish el-Halabi, and Muslih al-din Bin Abdullah from Turkey (finances). In 1541 they were complete: 4 KM Length, 12 Meters High, more than 2 Meters thick, pierced by seven gates. Bab al-Rahma (Golden Gate) was immediately sealed shut. In the 19th century a new gate was introduced.
- Charles Ashbee, arrived in Jerusalem in 1918, found Jerusalem (filthy/pagan), but adored the walls. So he removed all cafes and shops - and sliced diced "old city." Ashbee's Ramparts Walk. Also this separation and romanticm idealized fetishized the creamy yellow limestones - as if holiness - "new must appear old." - "Without cars, a whole other kind of city becomes possible." (p. 77).
- "In 1492, Jerusalemite historian Mujir al-Din identified eighteen harat in the city." (p. 29). (Including harat Bab Hutta).
- Sharon Building: Wittenberg House that Sharon bought in 1987. He died in 2014 having sold it to extremist Jewish settler organization. But before Wittenberg and before the Latins, it was the Mediterranean Hotel in the 1860s. Mark Twain slept there.
Pages: Spafford (67), Tarek Taha-Abu Shukri (89), al-Amad Halawa (93), Zalatimo (100), Muntaser Edkaidek (115), Sufism (125), Mahmoud Jaddeh (178), Moroccan Quarter takeover (218,219,221), Qahwet al-Sa3alik (khalil Sakakini) pages 278 +279 by Gloria Hotel. Nice interviews with Apo and Jack (like page 319).
Sufism: Al-Ghazali (Ihya2 3ulum al din).
يلبسون الصوف ويمشون حافي الأرجل وينامون في الصحراء
- 1925: Turkey's Mustafa Kamal Ataturk was the one to close Sufi lodges, imprisoned dervishes.
Mustafa abu Sway (Al-Quds Uni) teaches about Ghazali
Antoine Galland (Ala al Din, alf leileh w leileh, ali baba) - originally Hanna Diab -Syrian (no credit).
So: Crusades: 1099, Ayyubids (Salah al Din): 1187 and then Mamluks: 1250.
Note: Ottomans: 1516 to 1917 (roughly 400 years).
- Mamluk times: Boys and young men TRAFFICKED (Got "human resources - Eastern Turkey, Caucus, central Asia... damascus, cairo, india) to convert to Islam, train in army, find new nationality, carried weapons and arches. Under the Mamluks, Christians and Jews lived freely. Business flourished. Governor Aladdin. Names: Al-Thaher Bebers - Mamluk who became Sultan.
- Two Mamluk places: Ribat al-Mansouri and Ribat al-Basiri.
- African Palestinians gained prominence because they were bodyguards of Haj Amin al-Husseini
Ottomans: In 1916, Jamal Pasha tried (and failed) to sell part of the wall to Palestinian Jews.
1908: Young Turk revolution (famine, disease, genocide...)
- Sultan Abdul Hamid loved clocks - but general allenby didnt like the jaffa gate one (built in 1907).
Among my favorite lines: "Whenever I pass Jaffa Gate I look up at the gap in the sky where the clocktower stood and give a nod to the age of possibility, and remember its destroyers." (P. 270).
October 6, 2023
the math ain't mathin' with that title
June 4, 2025
This is an amazing book for the geography and the stories of Jerusalem today and it's history over the last 80 years or so. Teller's narrative creation is fantastic for what might otherwise be just a collection of stories.
October 5, 2025
Amazing book on all things to know about Al-Quds/Jerusalem. From the religious bases, to the Old City gates, to the alleys, to the inhabitants, to the many people coming from all over the world to choose this city, I enjoyed every single detail and chapter. Loved how the author did not give in to biases and did his thorough research on everything and everyone, and covered everything and everyone. Didn't know Bab Al3amood was also called Damascus Gate because if you kept going in the direction opposite Aqsa from it, you would reach Nablus, and then Damascus. I was also amazed by the number of Jordanian business that were actually founded in the Old City such as Izmihan, Zalatimo, etc.
Some amazing and note-worthy quotes:
"As in the previous traditions, there was a physical Jerusalem and a moral, spiritual one; an old, corrupted message and a new, clear one. So it didn't matter that the city had no river, no strategic value and no natural sources of commercial wealth. It had God."
"And for two brief days in September 1867 - Monday 23rd nd Tuesday 24th - Moses and Emma's acclaimed establishment, its tiers of rooms around a paved courtyard, hosted a party of pilgrims that included the American writer Mark Twain, partway through the journey he was to publish a couple of years later as The Innocents Abroad. Twain, amusingly, is often quoted by Israeli nationalists, who cite his descriptions of a supposedly barren and depopulated pre-Zionist "Holy Land" as evidence of the nonexistence of Palestinians and the non-nationhood of Palestine. They misunderstand that his book.." I always wondered who the hell lied and said it was an empty land, and how in the hell would it be empty given its religious significance for many. Turns out it was Mark Twain, misinterpreted to be precise.
"In the front, octopus-armed waiters make sure turbulent tides of customers stay happy." Loved the octopus analogy.
'"Every tree, every stone, every corner, every centimeter of Jerusalem has a story. Despite the nations that come and go here, Jerusalem will remain. Our message is we want to build, and not destroy. You can destroy the biggest, tallest building in minutes, but when you want to build it takes a long, long time. As Muslims, we want to build a nation without the sickness of killing and hatred and love of money and wars."
"Lots of Palestinians express sumud, a hard-to-translate word that is often rendered as steadfastness, particularly in the face of hardship - the willingness to persist against the odds, to take the long view, to keep your eyes on the prize."
"Yet even Palestinians in Gaza enjoy some privileges over Palestinians living in exile in the diaspora, to whom Israel denies the right to return. Many cannot even visit. Others, depending on status and country of residence, can approach but only as tourists, requesting short-stay holiday visas and facing interrogation and searches by Israeli officials." My life :'(
Some amazing and note-worthy quotes:
"As in the previous traditions, there was a physical Jerusalem and a moral, spiritual one; an old, corrupted message and a new, clear one. So it didn't matter that the city had no river, no strategic value and no natural sources of commercial wealth. It had God."
"And for two brief days in September 1867 - Monday 23rd nd Tuesday 24th - Moses and Emma's acclaimed establishment, its tiers of rooms around a paved courtyard, hosted a party of pilgrims that included the American writer Mark Twain, partway through the journey he was to publish a couple of years later as The Innocents Abroad. Twain, amusingly, is often quoted by Israeli nationalists, who cite his descriptions of a supposedly barren and depopulated pre-Zionist "Holy Land" as evidence of the nonexistence of Palestinians and the non-nationhood of Palestine. They misunderstand that his book.." I always wondered who the hell lied and said it was an empty land, and how in the hell would it be empty given its religious significance for many. Turns out it was Mark Twain, misinterpreted to be precise.
"In the front, octopus-armed waiters make sure turbulent tides of customers stay happy." Loved the octopus analogy.
'"Every tree, every stone, every corner, every centimeter of Jerusalem has a story. Despite the nations that come and go here, Jerusalem will remain. Our message is we want to build, and not destroy. You can destroy the biggest, tallest building in minutes, but when you want to build it takes a long, long time. As Muslims, we want to build a nation without the sickness of killing and hatred and love of money and wars."
"Lots of Palestinians express sumud, a hard-to-translate word that is often rendered as steadfastness, particularly in the face of hardship - the willingness to persist against the odds, to take the long view, to keep your eyes on the prize."
"Yet even Palestinians in Gaza enjoy some privileges over Palestinians living in exile in the diaspora, to whom Israel denies the right to return. Many cannot even visit. Others, depending on status and country of residence, can approach but only as tourists, requesting short-stay holiday visas and facing interrogation and searches by Israeli officials." My life :'(
February 24, 2024
Jerozolima zawsze była tyglem kulturowym, przechodzącym pod panowanie raz jednej, raz drugiej narodowości. Dziś jest rządzona przez Izrael, ale nie zmienia to jej wielokulturowości i skomplikowanej historii, która wpływa na teraźniejszość świętego miasta. W tej biografii autor skupia się na starej części Jerozolimy i przedstawia jej losy za pośrednictwem ludzi tam mieszkających, dziś są to mniejszość palestyńska, ormiańska, afrykańska, indyjska, chrześcijańska czy nawet romska. To ludzie tworzą to miasto i to im oddany jest tu głos, głos różnoraki tak jak zagmatwane losy miasta, w którym do dziś mieszają się wyznania i narodowości. To obraz miasta pachnącego przyprawami, rozbrzmiewającego dialektami, pośród nawoływań do modlitwy czy zachęt do kupna tego czy innego orientalnego towaru na wąskich uliczkach Jerozolimy. Niech Was nie zwiedzie tytuł książki. Owszem, jest to biografia, ale nie jest przeładowana trudnymi do zapamiętania datami, a lekcja historii, jaką tu dostajemy jest fascynująca i urzekająca. To miasto jest szczególne i ma swój klimat. Jedyny i niepowtarzalny. To miejsce oddycha, przemawia i walczy. Autor pokazuje, że jeśli zboczymy z turystycznych punktów tego miasta odnajdziemy tak naprawdę jego jądro i prawdziwą istotę. A to hipnotyzuje. Może dlatego wielu bohaterów tej książki, mimo trudnego życia, nie decyduje się opuścić swojej małej ojczyzny. Są z nią związani na dobre i złe i zdają się zawsze do niej wracać, choćby nie wiem co. Dziś Jerozolima, jak i cały tamtejszy region, jest w trudnym okresie i położeniu, więc nie jest to pierwsza destynacja na mojej liście miejsc do odwiedzenia, co nie zmienia faktu, że kiedyś na pewno chciałbym ją odwiedzić. Trzeba tylko czekać na lepsze czasy, a gdy tam już dotrę dam się ponieść specyficznej atmosferze jednego z najważniejszych i najstarszych miast na świecie. Wy też możecie ją poczuć, sięgając po tą książkę. Polecam!!!
Za książkę dziękuję @wydawnictwoznakpl
Za książkę dziękuję @wydawnictwoznakpl
February 3, 2023
One of the notes at the back of the book is probably a good description of the book.The human tapestries that weave Jerusalem. Different ethnicities and faiths from Islam to Christianity , from Rabbinic Jews to Karaites, from Palestinians to Turks, Romans ,Armenians, Brits, Doms. From quarters changed through the centuries , to wars and gates having many names depending on who calls them. Stores having roots and history of decades, even centuries with stories about themselves and the people who owned and carry the legacy. Walls , streets , alleys telling their own stories. There may be still many to be told about a city with a history of centuries full of diverse people and cultures. However , it is a good reading giving the feeling you walk in the streets over many years. It was pleasure to read some of the pages while being in the narrow streets and corners of the city with many names.
January 27, 2024
I loved this book,
Matthew Teller's very extensive research, and his compassionate narrative about the people who he knew in Jerusalem made it a book I could not put down. He took me into the lives of these people, and their families, their backgrounds, their love and their agony for their beloved city.
He reports the tragedies that have constantly been a fact of the people who consider this city home, and he drew you into their art, their music, their food, their devotion for life and their spiritual being.
A must read especially at the moment with the present heart breaking struggles.
Matthew Teller's very extensive research, and his compassionate narrative about the people who he knew in Jerusalem made it a book I could not put down. He took me into the lives of these people, and their families, their backgrounds, their love and their agony for their beloved city.
He reports the tragedies that have constantly been a fact of the people who consider this city home, and he drew you into their art, their music, their food, their devotion for life and their spiritual being.
A must read especially at the moment with the present heart breaking struggles.
March 5, 2024
In many ways an excellent narrative on the lives of non-Jews in modern day Jerusalem. Written very much in the style of a Colin Thubron, reflecting fascinating stories of day to day life. Also a valuable record of a disappearing world.
As he says in the final chapter, it is not designed to be an impartial book, hence he purposefully takes the Arab side in the conflict. Everything Israel or Britain is therefore bad and everything Arab is good.
At times the book is a bit sentimental for the “old days”, whereas all cities evolve and old businesses close. Not all of this bad as in many places people want to live a modern life.
As he says in the final chapter, it is not designed to be an impartial book, hence he purposefully takes the Arab side in the conflict. Everything Israel or Britain is therefore bad and everything Arab is good.
At times the book is a bit sentimental for the “old days”, whereas all cities evolve and old businesses close. Not all of this bad as in many places people want to live a modern life.
November 13, 2022
Having just visited Israel, Matthew Teller helped me to grasp just a fraction of the extreme complexities of Jerusalem. The multi faceted layers of many millennium are delved into through the eyes of its many inhabitants.
Keller explains the labyrinth of the various chapels of The Church of the Holy Sepulchre with a clarity and insight that was not easy to understand whilst Standing in amongst the thousands of tourists and pilgrims. One looses the sense of the deep spirituality that surrounds this building.
A visit to Jerusalem would definitely be enhanced with this extremely well written by book
Keller explains the labyrinth of the various chapels of The Church of the Holy Sepulchre with a clarity and insight that was not easy to understand whilst Standing in amongst the thousands of tourists and pilgrims. One looses the sense of the deep spirituality that surrounds this building.
A visit to Jerusalem would definitely be enhanced with this extremely well written by book
May 16, 2023
Definitely recommend! It's an engaging and easy read that reveals some interesting parts of the lives of people living here today. I read this book before visiting Jerusalem and then was able to visit some of the places and meet some of the people he wrote about. It is part history and part story about the present state. Don't expect an all encompassing summary of Jerusalem, but a slice of the lives of a few people. Teller is up front about the fact that he is writing with a particular group of people and a particular angle in mind.
February 5, 2024
Three* is ungenerous but four*would be too many. It is an idiosyncratic mixture of history, social/political comment and interviews. At times too forensic, at times merely scratching the surface. I imagine Teller sees himself as an impartial everyman; the objective observer and yet his sympathies and opinions pepper the text. He is speaking at the Royal Geographical Society later this year; it will be interesting to hear how he frames his talk. Hitherto I have only heard him speak at the Palestinian Literary Festival.
January 22, 2024
I have only visited Jerusalem once for a few days so am maybe not familiar enough with the city to get the most from this book. I enjoyed many of the stories but as I read more I got slightly irritated with the writer's political bias. I understand the writer's desire to tell the Palestinian stories but I would have liked a bit more balance to the narrative. I find it hard to believe the Israelis' governorship has been all bad.
July 10, 2024
A highly subjective and kaleidoscopic portrait of a rich & complex city told through the lesser heard voices of the many people who call Jerusalem home. Matthew Teller is a masterful storyteller and writer who transports his readers to unusual nooks and hidden crannies to reveal the history within nested histories of each strand of life he follows. Beautiful prose in this epic collection of essays that transported me straight to the heart of this dizzying holy land.
August 3, 2024
If to be honest I expected more from this book.
I bought in at the airport in Jordan.
And still I did not understand is it biography or is it tour guide between streets or shops or families or it’s history…
Too much mixed up stories and people.
Maybe this is how this city looks like today ai have never been in Jerusalem maybe once I will visit I will understand better.
I bought in at the airport in Jordan.
And still I did not understand is it biography or is it tour guide between streets or shops or families or it’s history…
Too much mixed up stories and people.
Maybe this is how this city looks like today ai have never been in Jerusalem maybe once I will visit I will understand better.
February 15, 2023
I enjoyed it endlessly
May 12, 2023
I was expecting so much more from this book. I especially wishes for detailed maps pf the 9 quarters.
January 1, 2024
If Jerusalem fascinates you, this will be time well spent.
March 14, 2024
I love this book
March 17, 2024
An outstanding exploration of facets of Jerusalem that most never see or consider, with an abundance of gorgeous photos (if only they were in color!).
March 24, 2024
Well written, engaging and colourful but very clearly biased, so much so that I had to put the book down at just over halfway through…
August 8, 2024
Bardzo solidnie napisany mozaikowy portret społeczności jerozolimskiej tak złożonej, że "multietniczny" w ogóle nie zaczyna oddawać jej sensu.
November 8, 2024
Hats off to Matthew Teller 🙏
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