Table Of ContentJerusalem and Other Holy Places as Foci of Multireligious and
Ideological Confrontation
Jewish and Christian
Perspectives Series
Editorial Board
Doron Bar (Schechter Institute)
Marcel Poorthuis (Faculty of Catholic Theology of Tilburg University)
Eyal Regev (Bar-Ilan University)
Lieve M. Teugels (Protestant Theological University)
Advisory Board
Yehoyada Amir – Shaye Cohen – Judith Frishman
David Golinkin – Martin Goodman – Alberdina Houtman
Tamar Kadari – Clemens Leonhard – Gerard Rouwhorst
Joshua Schwartz – Vered Tohar – Israel Yuval
volume 37
The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/jcp
Jerusalem and Other Holy Places
as Foci of Multireligious and
Ideological Confrontation
Edited by
Pieter B. Hartog
Shulamit Laderman
Vered Tohar
Archibald L.H.M. van Wieringen
LEIDEN | BOSTON
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Jerusalem and Other Holy Places as Foci of Multireligious and
Ideological Confrontation (Conference) (2018 : Jerusalem), author. |
Hartog, Pieter B., editor. | Laderman, Shulamith, editor. | Tohar,
Vered, 1969– editor. | Wieringen, A.L.H.M. van (Archibald L.H.M.),
1963– editor.
Title: Jerusalem and other holy places as foci of multireligious and
ideological confrontation / edited by Pieter B. Hartog, Shulamit
Laderman, Vered Tohar, Archibald L.H.M. van Wieringen.
Description: Leiden ; Boston : Brill, [2021] | Series: Jewish and Christian
perspectives series, 1388–2074 ; volume 37 | Includes bibliographical
references and index. | Summary: “Jerusalem and Other Holy Places as
Foci of Multireligious and Ideological Confrontation brings together the
papers that were read at an international conference at the Schechter
Institute in Jerusalem in May 2018. The contributions to this volume
develop a multi-disciplinary perspective on holy places and their
development, rhetorical force, and oft-contested nature. Through a
particular focus on Jerusalem, this volume demonstrates the variety in
the study of holy places, as well as the flexibility of geographic and
historical aspects of holiness”—Provided by publisher.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020044642 (print) | LCCN 2020044643 (ebook) | ISBN
9789004437180 (hardback) | ISBN 9789004437210 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Sacred space—Congresses. |
Religions—Relations—Congresses. | Jerusalem—In Judaism—Congresses. |
Jerusalem—In Christianity—Congresses. | Jerusalem—In Islam—Congresses.
Classification: LCC BL580 .J47 2018 (print) | LCC BL580 (ebook) | DDC 203/.5—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020044642
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020044643
Typeface for the Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic scripts: “Brill”. See and download: brill.com/brill-typeface.
ISSN 1388-2074
ISBN 978-90-04-43718-0 (hardback)
ISBN 978-90-04-43721-0 (e-book)
Copyright 2021 by Pieter B. Hartog, Shulamit Laderman, Vered Tohar and Archibald L.H.M. van Wieringen.
Published by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Hes & De Graaf, Brill Nijhoff, Brill Rodopi,
Brill Sense, Hotei Publishing, mentis Verlag, Verlag Ferdinand Schöningh and Wilhelm Fink Verlag.
Koninklijke Brill NV reserves the right to protect this publication against unauthorized use. Requests for
re-use and/or translations must be addressed to Koninklijke Brill NV via brill.com or copyright.com.
This book is printed on acid-free paper and produced in a sustainable manner.
Contents
List of Figures and Tables vii
Introduction 1
Pieter B. Hartog, Shulamit Laderman, Vered Tohar, and
Archibald L.H.M. van Wieringen
1 Graves as Holy Places? The Development of Jewish and National Sacred
Space in the State of Israel, 1948–1967 8
Doron Bar
2 Rabbinic Literature’s Hidden Polemic: Sacred Space in the World
of the Sages 25
Eyal Ben-Eliyahu
3 Inner Sanctum: Digital Labyrinths as Postmodern Pilgrimages: the Cases
of the Talos Principle and the Turing Test 50
Frank G. Bosman
4 The Dome and the Rock Where Adam, Moses, and Jesus Meet 71
Katia Cytryn-Silverman
5 Synagogues as Foci of Multi-Religious and Ideological Confrontation?
The Case of the Sardis Synagogue 97
Steven Fine
6 Psalm 47 as a Song of Zion: Nationalistic and Universalistic
Tendencies 109
David Frankel
7 Where Shall Wisdom Be Found? Identity, Sacred Space, and Universal
Knowledge in Philostratus and Acts of the Apostles 131
Pieter B. Hartog
8 “Holy Mokum”—a Case Study: the Dynamics of Sacred Place at
Kastanjeplein, Amsterdam on National Remembrance Day 150
Willem Jan de Hek
vi Contents
9 The Garden in Eden: a Holy Place? 170
Robin B. ten Hoopen
10 Rituals of Holy Places in the 11th Century: the Circling of the Gates
of Jerusalem and Pilgrimage to the Cave of Machpelah 193
Tamar Kadari and Gila Vachman
11 Church History and Archaeology on Holy Places in the
Netherlands 213
Gert van Klinken
12 Seeing Jerusalem through Selected Jewish, Christian, and Islamic
Collective Memory’s Visualizations 227
Shulamit Laderman
13 From Church to Synagogue: the Bankras Church (Amstelveen, the
Netherlands) as a Case from the Responsa 258
Leon Mock
14 The “Inn of the Good Samaritan”: Religious, Civic and Political Rhetoric
of a Biblical Site 275
Eric Ottenheijm
15 A Sense of Place and the Jewish Temple: from the Book of Psalms to the
Temple Scroll 297
Eyal Regev
16 Remnants of Jewish Holiness in the Al Aksa Mosque in The Hague:
Emotions, Rules, and “Iconic Fields” 316
Lieve M. Teugels
17 Sacred Stones: Literary and Folkloric Representations of the Remains of
the Holy Temple 339
Vered Tohar
18 Jerusalem as an Aposiopesis in Old and New Testament Texts 355
Archibald L.H.M. van Wieringen
Index of Ancient Sources 373
Index of Modern Authors 382
Figures and Tables
Figures
4.1 The dome over the Ṣakhra. Photo by Pini Chemo, courtesy of David’s Tower
Museum 74
4.2 The Ṣakhra from above. Photo from Matson (G. Eric and Edith) Photograph
Collection at the Library of Congress 82
4.3 Mosaics of the lower section the Dome of the Rock’s drum, and a detail
of the Ayyūbid naskhī inscription, with verses 20–21 of Sūrat Ṭā hā. From
Myriam Rosen-Ayalon, The Early Islamic Monuments of al-Haram al-Sharif:
An Iconographic Study, Qedem 28 (Jerusalem: The Hebrew University of
Jerusalem, 1989), plate 16. Photo reproduced with the permission of the
Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem 87
4.4 The gilded stucco-decorated dome, with inscriptions referring to two of
the four rulers involved with its renovation, Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn (1190) and al-Nāṣir
Muḥammad b. Qalawūn (1318). Photo courtesy by Amiel Meitav 91
8.1 Bird’s eye view of the Oosterpark neighborhood looking in a northwestern
direction. © Google Maps, 2019 152
8.2 Participants walk a circular course over the square. © Willem Jan de Hek,
2018 153
8.3 A large map of planks is laid out over the square, projecting the street
pattern of the neighborhood. © Willem Jan de Hek, 2018 154
8.4 Kastanjeplein turns out to be a rich and storied place on 4 May.
© Willem Jan de Hek, 2018 166
10.1 Detail from MS Oxford Bodleian Library 102, fol 286v. By permission of The
Bodleian Libraries, The University of Oxford, MS Selden Super 194
12.1 Nicolas Poussin, The Destruction and Sack of the Temple of Jerusalem
(1625–1626). Courtesy of the Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel 228
12.2 Torah niche (ciborium) in the third-century Dura-Europos synagogue.
National Museum in Damascus. Public Domain. https://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Dura-Europos_synagogue#/media/File:Dura_Synagogue_ciborium.
jpg 232
12.3 The mosaic floors of the fourth-century Hammat Tiberias. Courtesy of the
Israel Antiquity Authority 234
12.4 The mosaic floor in the Bet Alpha synagogue. Courtesy of the Israel
Antiquity Authority 235
12.5a Perpignan Bible. Paris, Bibliothèque nationale, Heb. 7, Bible, fol. 12v.
Courtesy of the Bibliothèque nationale de France 236
viii Figures and Tables
12.5b Perpignan Bible. Paris, Bibliothèque nationale, Heb. 7, Bible, fol. 13r. Courtesy
of the Bibliothèque nationale de France 237
12.6 Regensburg Bible, Aaron the high priest kindling the menorah in the
Tabernacle. Illustrated manuscript of the Pentateuch, Bavaria, c. 1300,
The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, 180/52, fol. 155v. By permission of
The Israel Museum 239
12.7 Saragosa 1404: illustration of an olive tree on a mound, framed by
Zech 14:4. Paris, Bibliothèque nationale, Heb 31, Bible, fol. 4V. By permission
of Bibliothèque nationale de France 240
12.8 Madaba mosaic map in Jordan. Photo: Michele Piccirillo, The Mosaics of
Jordan (Amman: American Center of Oriental Research, 1993), fig. 103. By
permission of the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum 242
12.9 The Capture of Jerusalem by the Crusaders in 1099. Guillaume de Tyr,
Historia, BNF MS FR 352 fol. 62”. By permission of Bibliothèque nationale de
France 247
12.10 Sayyid Ali’s Kitab shawq nameh (Pilgrimage Guide), which illustrates
Muhammad’s apocalyptic journey from the Dome of the Rock up to heaven.
From the Collection of the National Maritime Museum, Haifa. Photograph:
Stas Korolov 249
12.11 Mordechai Ardon, stained glass triptych of Isaiah’s prophecy about
Jerusalem, Hebrew University of Jerusalem National Library 1980–1984.
Photo by Hanan Cohen (National Library of Israel), used with permission of
Mrs Ora Ardon 253
13.1 Interior of the Bankras Church. Photo: http://www.amstelveenweb.com 272
14.1 Still of the 1925 Good Samaritan scene, featuring Samaritan
High Priest Yitzhaq ben ʿAmram. https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=UZglOW-iRW0 287
14.2 Still of the 1925 Good Samaritan scene: two “Jews” in Yemenite and
Chassidic attire, and Yitzhaq ben ʿAmram. https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=UZglOW-iRW0 287
14.3 Former Byzantine church with modern roofing. Background: the Crusader
Fortress. Picture: Rob Nelisse 290
14.4 Postcard picture of the Ottoman inn, 1906. http://www.soniahalliday.com/
category-view3.php?pri=PA10-32-44.jpg 294
Tables
9.1 Features of ANE gardens 186
14.1 Acts of seeing in the parable of the Good Samaritan 279
Introduction
Pieter B. Hartog, Shulamit Laderman, Vered Tohar, and
Archibald L.H.M. van Wieringen
It seems that the concept of a holy place is as old as the concept of religion
itself, if not older. Holy places are a source for empowerment, but they are
also a major ground for confrontations between cultures and ethnic groups.
This volume is not intended to blur conflicts, but rather to observe and analyse
them from the perspective of cultural studies.
Although holiness is an abstract concept, the holy place is a concrete one.
We tend to attribute holiness to a certain geographical location, and this loca-
tion tends to become a space which transcends human lives and human time.
Under the impression that the 21st century has ushered in a new and increased
interest in the idea of holiness and the dialogue between the holy and the sa-
cred, this volume wishes to propose a contribution to the subject dedicated to
the geographical and metaphysical aspects of this issue.
Holy places play a leading role in many religious traditions. Most impor-
tant to Judaism, Christianity and Islam, Jerusalem is considered to be a holy
city and a religious centre that contains numerous sacred places. Occupying a
place of pride in the experience of believers, the sacred places commemorate
historical events or venerate awe-inspiring features in nature.
Although at first it appears that holy places are only significant to the ad-
herents of a specific religion and not to those of other beliefs, upon closer in-
vestigation the matter is more complex. Often a holy place seeks to obscure
an earlier or simultaneous veneration of the same spot by a different religion.
Holy places continue to display a multi-religious character despite religious
and political efforts to obscure that fact. Curiously, despite the antagonism
that often exists between two religions, a site’s sanctification by one religion
seems to attract veneration by another. Apparently, the rejection of holy places
by one religion does not always lead to physical distancing by another.
This volume is the outcome of a multi-disciplinary international conference
that took place at the Schechter Institute in Jerusalem in May 2018, with the
participation of Israeli, American, and Dutch scholars. The fields of interest
which were represented were Jewish thought, anthropology, geography, Jewish
literature, biblical studies, rabbinic studies, liturgy studies, communication
studies, Israel studies, and Islam studies.
© Pieter B. Hartog et al., 2021 | doi:10.1163/9789004437210_002
