Jerusalem

From AnthroWiki
Revision as of 07:32, 27 June 2021 by Odyssee (talk | contribs)
Enlarge
Panorama with view from the Mount of Olives to Jerusalem and the Temple Mount with the Dome of the Rock

Jerusalem (Hebrew: יְרוּשָׁלַיִם Yerushalayim; Arabic القدس al-Quds (ash-Sharif) "the Holy"; Greek: Ἱεροσόλυμα Hierosólyma, the "Holy Salem") is a town situated between the Dead Sea, 428 m below sea level, and the Mediterranean Sea at an altitude of 606-826 m above sea level in the mountains of Judea in the Holy Land in present-day Israel. It is of central spiritual and religious importance for the monotheistic Abrahamic religions. Jerusalem is first mentioned in the Old Testament. However, the oldest traces of human settlement date back to around 5000 BC.

Jerusalem as the spiritual centre

In the Bible, in the Book of Ezekiel, Jerusalem is mentioned as the centre of all the countries of this Earth (cf. also Ez 38:12):

„Thus says the Lord God: This is Jerusalem. I have set her in the center of the nations, with countries all around her“

– .: Ez 5:5

According to Jewish tradition, Adam was created here, or rather, his feet entered the Earth here, and he was also later buried here (→ legend of the wood of the cross). In the "Cave of Treasures" of Ephrem the Syrian it says:

And God formed Adam with his holy hands.
    in his own image and after his own likeness.
And when the angels beheld his glorious appearance,
    they were moved with the beauty of his sight;
for they beheld the form of his countenance,
    while it was lighted with a splendour like the orb of the sun,
    and the light of his eyes like the sun,
    and the image of his body like the light of the crystal.
And he spread himself out and stood in the midst of the earth,
and he set his two feet upon the place
    where the cross of our Saviour was set up,
    because Adam was created in Jerusalem.
And there he put on the robe of kingship,
    and the crown of glory was set upon his head.
And there he was made king, and priest, and prophet;
and there God set him on the throne of his glory.
And there God gave him dominion over all creatures,
and there were gathered together all the wild beasts...
    and the cattle and the birds, and came before Adam,
and he gave them names, and they bowed their heads before him,
and worshipped him all their natures, and served him.

Literature
References to the work of Rudolf Steiner follow Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works (CW or GA), Rudolf Steiner Verlag, Dornach/Switzerland, unless otherwise stated.
Email: verlag@steinerverlag.com URL: www.steinerverlag.com.
Index to the Complete Works of Rudolf Steiner - Aelzina Books
A complete list by Volume Number and a full list of known English translations you may also find at Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works
Rudolf Steiner Archive - The largest online collection of Rudolf Steiner's books, lectures and articles in English.
Rudolf Steiner Audio - Recorded and Read by Dale Brunsvold
steinerbooks.org - Anthroposophic Press Inc. (USA)
Rudolf Steiner Handbook - Christian Karl's proven standard work for orientation in Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works for free download as PDF.
Retrieved from "https://en.anthro.wiki/index.php?title=Jerusalem&oldid=4446"