Holy Land
A region of the eastern Mediterranean, centered on present-day Israel and Palestine, revered in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
Jerusalem: A city sacred to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, located in the southern Levant. The region’s foremost sacred city and a focus of competing religious attachments.
Bethlehem: A Palestinian city traditionally identified as the birthplace of Jesus. Its Nativity traditions make it a central Christian pilgrimage destination.
Kingdom of Israel: An ancient Israelite kingdom in the southern Levant, traditionally ruled by Saul, David, and Solomon. Its biblical history grounds Jewish connections to the land.
Levant: A historical-geographic region of the eastern Mediterranean, including modern Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan. The Holy Land occupies part of this broader eastern Mediterranean region.
Temple Mount: A walled compound in Jerusalem sacred to Judaism and Islam. Its sanctity connects the site to the First and Second Temples and to Islamic tradition.
Nazareth: A city in northern Israel associated with Jesus’s upbringing. Christian traditions connect the town to the early life of Jesus.
Kingdom of Judah: An ancient kingdom centered on Jerusalem that survived after the northern Kingdom of Israel fell. Its temple-centered history made Jerusalem central to Jewish sacred geography.
Land of Israel: A Jewish religious and historical term for the land associated with the ancient Israelites. It overlaps with the Holy Land while expressing a specifically Jewish frame.
Church of the Holy Sepulchre: A church in Jerusalem built over sites associated with Jesus’s crucifixion and burial. It is a principal Christian pilgrimage destination in the region.
Sea of Galilee: A freshwater lake in northern Israel, also called Lake Tiberias. The Gospels place many episodes of Jesus’s ministry around its shores.