“No one has rights... All have rights!” » (Scott). This is what Balian of Ibelin proclaims in the 2005 film, Kingdom of Heaven, when an argument breaks out over who deserves the city of Jerusalem. The city itself, considered without any spiritual connotation, is rather banal. Yet more blood has been shed in this ancient place, by people whose beliefs are so closely linked, than anywhere else on earth. This still fuels millennia-old conflicts today, and perhaps the best explanation once again comes from Mr. Scott. “What is Jerusalem? Your holy places are above the Jewish temple that the Romans demolished. Muslim places of worship are above yours. What is holiest? (Scott). Although historical errors or dramatizations may abound in the film, in this moment of piercing insight the nail is driven firmly home by a simple fact; Jerusalem doesn't really belong to anyone and doesn't really mean anything. However, the meaning that human beings attach to the city itself, its monuments, and the way these seep into the land itself, makes the city more valuable than anything tangible. For pre-Diaspora Jews, Jerusalem had more reasons for importance than there were stars. in the sky. No place is more important to Judaism than Jerusalem; the city encompasses everything there is to be both Jewish and a member of this nation. For the Jews, Jerusalem is the land promised by God (Genesis 12:1-9). Many Talmudic scholars also believe that the spiritual center of the city, the Temple Mount, is also Mount Moriah, where Abraham sacrificed Isaac to God and where the Covenant between God and Abraham began (Hoppe, p. 6) . The Temple Mount is also, of course, where Solomon built his Temple to God, and where Herod rebuilt...... middle of paper ...... cementing himself into the Jewish holy city and creating Christian monuments like the Church of the Holy Sepulcher at sites such as the Roman-built Temple of Aphrodite. Attempts like this made young Christianity both new, but still with deep spiritual “roots” in the city. Thus, for Christians, physical control of Jerusalem was inextricably linked to ideological control of the city. Being the ruling force of the city was as much a legitimization of Christian beliefs and the “successive” nature of Christianity to Judaism as it was possession of the sites so sacred to the Christian religion itself. References: Scott, Riddley, ed. Kingdom of Heaven. 20th Century Fox, 2005. Film. The Leslie J. Hoppe Bible. The Holy City: Jerusalem in Old Testament Theology, Liturgical Press, 2000, p.. 6.