【耶路撒冷：圣城围墙内的故事】耶路撒冷是哪三教圣城
时间：2019-01-08 03:23:37 来源：柠檬阅读网 本文已影响 人 
Within these walls lies a 1)mystical city, an ancient promise of peace, so desired that man has warred over it for thousands of years. Over the centuries, its walls have been 2)reddened by the blood of Jebusites and Jews, Babylonians and Persians, armies of Arabs, Crusaders, Ottoman Turks and the British Empire. 3)Sacred city of the soul for one third of the earth’s people, through the 4)millennia, it has drawn mankind to itself like a 5)magnet.
Jerusalem, within these walls and the tiny 6)enclave that is the Old City, some of the greatest dramas in the history of mankind have been 7)enacted. This is a story of that city, 8)crucible of the world’s three great 9)monotheistic religions, symbol of peace in an area of 10)turmoil and dark evil. It is a story of peoples of 11)profoundly different cultures who struggled to maintain those differences, people who have fought each other but now live side by side in sometimes uneasy 12)coexistence.
Jews from around the world pray at the Western Wall, 13)vestige of the second temple, object of Jewish 14)yearning and prayer for two thousand years. Here, built on the sites where tradition says Jesus spent his last moments on earth, was 15)crucified and 16)entombed, is the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Most holy of 17)shrines in the Christian world, this church has attracted pilgrims since the time of Constantine the Great. Within the walls of their ancient quarter, Armenians strive to preserve the heritage of a vanished kingdom in their lives and in the hearts and minds of their younger generation. 18)Consecrated under this 19)dome is the Sacred Rock where tradition says Abraham prepare to sacrifice Isaac over which the ancient temples of the Jews were built from which Muslims proclaim Muhammad journeyed to heaven.
Wrapped around the 20)venerable city like the setting for an 21)exotic jewel are the walls, 22)retaining traces of the eras of King Herod, the Romans and Crusaders, last rebuilt by Suleyman the Magnificent four hundred years ago. Outside the walls there is the 20th century, the new city of Jerusalem and the 23)administrative center of the nation of Israel. Inside is a city believed by medieval man to be the center of the universe, a city known to more people for a longer time than any other on earth. Here the heart of historic Jerusalem still beats.
Its 24)ethnic religious quarters cling to the sites that give them life. The Dome of the Rock, third holiest place of Islamic 25)pilgrimage after Mecca and Medina, and focal point of the Muslim quarter. The Western Wall, known as the Wailing Wall, symbol of the Jewish quarter. The Church of the Holy Sepulcher, core of the Christian quarter that is grown around it. The Cathedral of St. James, spiritual center of the Armenian quarter. Twenty-six thousand souls make their home in the Old City, 26)packed into an area of less than one square mile.
Their story began three thousand years ago when King David bought the 27)threshing floor on this hill as the site for the temple of the Jews one God. Having 28)subdued the Jebusites, he transformed their city into the capital of the United Kingdom of Israel and 29)thrust Jerusalem, center stage, in a drama that continues to this day.
Local A: Jerusalem is a place where meanings survive, where names survive. In Jerusalem, everybody has a religion. That doesn’t mean that everybody goes to 30)synagogue, or church or the 31)mosques. But people believe in things. The people who come here are not visitors, they are pilgrims. They come to Jerusalem because it has a special meaning for them, not like coming to another city. We try to give people a feeling they live in a city which belongs to everybody, but everybody has his particular past and his particular history. Everybody who lives in Jerusalem tries to link up with the past ?Jews, Christians, Muslims.
Local B: The most important thing about Jerusalem is its people and their variety. They should remain in that variety. They should protect that variety. The people who live here, they are the factor that is most important.
Through the generations, thousands of human beings have been thrust together to live out their lives in the vibrant 32)microcosm that is the Old City of Jerusalem. Bound by their 33)fierce connection to the city, despite their differences, the pressures of the years, the violence and suffering, the 34)resilience of these people and the city itself has preserved its timeless qualities. Even in our era of 35)materialism and uncertainty, the concepts of love, rebirth, 36)brotherhood and peace still shine forth from within the walls of Jerusalem.
围墙内是一个神秘的城市，一个自古应许的和平之地，数千年来人们为了争夺它而大动干戈。数个世纪以来，这道墙染满了耶布斯人、犹太人、巴比伦人和波斯人的血，还有阿拉伯、十字军、奥托曼土耳其以及大英帝国等军队的鲜血。这座城市是全世界三分之一人心中的圣城，几千年来，它像磁石般不断吸引人们前来此地。
耶路撒冷城墙内的弹丸之地便是旧城。这里发生过人类历史上一些惊天动地的大事。这是关于这个城市的故事，三大一神教在这里碰撞交汇，这是这片战乱频仍之地的和平象征。这个故事讲的是几个文化背景截然不同的民族如何奋力保持各自的文化特色，这些人过去一直兵戎相见，如今则勉强地和平共处。
来自全球各地的犹太人在西墙祈祷。西墙是第二圣殿的遗迹，两千年来一直是犹太人的祈祷之地。据说这里便是耶稣在世上度过最后时刻的地方，他随后被钉十字架和安葬在这里，建立在遗址上的圣墓教堂是基督教世界最神圣之处。自从君士坦丁大帝以来，这里吸引了无数的朝圣者。居住在旧城内老区的亚美尼亚人力图在他们的生活和年轻一辈的心中保存一个已消逝的王国。据说这个圆顶底下所供奉的便是亚伯拉罕准备祭献以撒时所用的那块圣岩。犹太人曾在这块圣岩上建立古老的圣殿，而穆斯林也宣称此地是穆罕默德升天之处。
城墙就像珍奇珠宝的镶嵌座一样包裹着一个备受尊崇的城市，至今仍保留着希律王、罗马人及十字军时代的遗址。四百年前，这些城墙在奥托曼的苏利曼大帝手里进行最后一次重建。城墙外是二十世纪风貌的耶路撒冷新城，也是以色列全国的行政中心。城墙内的旧城，在中世纪人的心目中是宇宙的中心，而且旧城声名之隆、享誉之久亦居世界之冠。在这里，历史古城耶路撒冷的心脏仍在跳动。
旧城内依种族、宗教划分成的社区各自紧守着赋予它们生命的历史古迹。圣岩圆顶清真寺是仅次于麦加与麦地那的伊斯兰教第三大朝觐圣地，也是旧城内穆斯林教区的中心。西墙，又常被称为“哭墙”，是犹太区的象征。基督教区则以圣墓教堂为核心向四周发展。圣詹姆斯大教堂是亚美尼亚区的精神中心。二万六千名居民以旧城为家，挤在这片不到一平方英里的土地上。
他们的故事始于三千年前，大卫王当时在这座山上买下打谷场，作为犹太人尊奉唯一上帝的圣殿殿址。他降服了耶布斯人以后，把他们的城市改建为以色列联合王国的首都，就此把耶路撒冷推向历史的舞台中心，直到今天。
当地人甲：耶路撒冷这个地方意义深远，伟人辈出。在耶路撒冷，每个人都有信仰。这不是说每个人都会上犹太会堂、教堂或清真寺，然而人们心中都有信仰。前来此地的人不是观光客，他们是朝圣者。他们前来耶路撒冷是因为此地对他们具有特殊意义，不像其它城市。我们希望让大家觉得自己是住在一个属于所有人的城市里，但每个人都拥有各自独特的过去与历史背景。无论是犹太人、基督徒或是穆斯林教徒，住在耶路撒冷的每一个人都希望与历史联接在一起。
当地人乙：耶路撒冷最重要的一点是城内居民种族复杂、宗教多样。人们应该保留这种多样性，并且应好好保护这种多样性。住在这里的居民，他们才是最关键的要素。
经历无数世代，成千上万的人聚集在耶路撒冷旧城这个生机蓬勃的小天地。尽管他们之间有着种种差异，尽管岁月、动乱以及苦难的压力不曾消减，然而他们与耶路撒冷的炽烈关系却紧密如昔。居民和耶路撒冷本身的韧性使该城得以永葆特质，不与时浮沉。即使在我们这个物欲横流、充满变数的时代，博爱、重生、手足情谊以及和平的观念仍将不断从圣城内绽放光芒。
