For millennia, Jerusalem has stood as a nexus of faith and conflict, where the sanctity of the holy clashes with the profane reality of conquest and occupation. From the Canaanites and Israelites to Crusaders, Ottomans, and today's contending Israeli and Palestinian claims, this ancient city's very existence has been a catalyst for unifying reverence and violent division. In this sweeping historical examination, Borna Ahadi takes readers on a deeply immersive journey that probes the complex narratives and clashing visions that have defined Jerusalem throughout the ages. Weaving together biblical accounts, archaeological research, and diverse cultural perspectives, the author unravels the intricate tapestry of traditions that have sacralized these revered stones while catalyzing their repetitive conquest. Why has this singular place nurtured sublime expressions of the divine and the intense pursuit of earthly domination? What deeper truths and symbols reside within its old walls? As the author guides us from Jerusalem's prehistoric origins through its monumental monuments and pivotal turning points, the haunting paradox at the city's heart emerges. Part gripping historical chronicle, part meditative spiritual exploration, 'Who Owns Jerusalem?' illuminates how the essence of the human condition - our duelling capacities for transcendence and tribalism - has been profoundly etched into Jerusalem's very existence. This book is a revelation for those seeking to finally understand the complexity of this universally cherished yet bitterly contested place.

For millennia, Jerusalem has stood as a nexus of faith and conflict, where the sanctity of the holy clashes with the profane reality of conquest and occupation. From the Canaanites and Israelites to Crusaders, Ottomans, and today's contending Israeli and Palestinian claims, this ancient city's very existence has been a catalyst for unifying reverence and violent division. In this sweeping historical examination, Borna Ahadi takes readers on a deeply immersive journey that probes the complex narratives and clashing visions that have defined Jerusalem throughout the ages. Weaving together biblical accounts, archaeological research, and diverse cultural perspectives, the author unravels the intricate tapestry of traditions that have sacralized these revered stones while catalyzing their repetitive conquest. Why has this singular place nurtured sublime expressions of the divine and the intense pursuit of earthly domination? What deeper truths and symbols reside within its old walls? As the author guides us from Jerusalem's prehistoric origins through its monumental monuments and pivotal turning points, the haunting paradox at the city's heart emerges.

What is a homeland and when does it become a national territory? Why have so many people been willing to die for such places throughout the twentieth century? What is the essence of the Promised Land? Following the acclaimed and controversial The Invention of the Jewish People, Shlomo Sand examines the mysterious sacred land that has become the site of the longest-running national struggle of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The Invention of the Land of Israel deconstructs the age-old legends surrounding the Holy Land and the prejudices that continue to suffocate it. Sand’s account dissects the concept of “historical right” and tracks the creation of the modern concept of the “Land of Israel” by nineteenth-century Evangelical Protestants and Jewish Zionists. This invention, he argues, not only facilitated the colonization of the Middle East and the establishment of the State of Israel; it is also threatening the existence of the Jewish state today.

Muqarnas is sponsored by The Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts. In Muqarnas articles are being published on all aspects of Islamic visual culture, historical and contemporary, as well as articles dealing with unpublished textual primary sources.

Over the past twenty-five years - since the very large collection of Newton's papers became available and began to be seriously examined - the beginnings of a new picture of Newton has emerged. This volume of essays builds upon the foundation of its authors in their previous works and extends and elaborates the emerging picture of the `new' Newton, the great synthesizer of science and religion as revealed in his intellectual context.

A historical tour de force, The Invention of the Jewish People offers a groundbreaking account of Jewish and Israeli history. Exploding the myth that there was a forced Jewish exile in the first century at the hands of the Romans, Israeli historian Shlomo Sand argues that most modern Jews descend from converts, whose native lands were scattered across the Middle East and Eastern Europe. In this iconoclastic work, which spent nineteen weeks on the Israeli bestseller list and won the coveted Aujourd'hui Award in France, Sand provides the intellectual foundations for a new vision of Israel's future.