> Thank you for that interesting lesson in history. I never knew most of that. One thing confused me though, number 7 in your list. You said that King David "founded" Jerusalem, but I thought that he conquered it. Doesn't the book of II Samuel say that Joab defeated the Jebusites and took Jerusalem, thereby securing his position as the leader of David's army?

That is correct, and the error of "David built Jerusalem" is one of the few things I disagree with in these articles. Seems like ther was one other, but I don't remember what it is at the moment.

> And I've also been taught that the city's history goes even farther back, to the time of Abraham. The book of Genesis teaches that after Abraham (or Abram) defeated the league of armies that had plundered Sodom and kidnapped his nephew Lot, the "Priest-King" of "Salem," Melchizedek came and offered sacrifice to God, and Abram gave him a tithe of the spoils. I've been told that this city of Salem and Jerusalem are one and the same.

Could be. And even if that isn't true, we know it was around in Joshua's time.

Nyperold