The Portrayal of the Consecration of Jerusalem in the Hebrew Bible
For the average person of the present, there is a general understanding that Jerusalem is an important place with grand historical and religious significance. Historically, Jerusalem has withstood an array of both consecrated and detrimental events that have been described and deciphered through ancient texts and relics. Shrines, altars, pillar figurines and other architectural remains of cult sites have been found in countless locations that are connected to ancient Israel. Aside from the archaeological discoveries that depict the city as a significant place, the Hebrew Bible is also a significant source that portrays the city as vital and sacred through the thoroughly outlined …show more content…
To illustrate imago mundi, Eliade uses the example of an image of a square drawn around a fixed center point (45). The fixed point would be the axis mundi and the image of the square around it is an imago mundi (Eliade 45). Imago mundi is defined an image or model of the world on a microcosmic scale (Eliade 42-43). However, imago mundi can be on small or large scales, as Eliade explains with the examples of the Temple in Jerusalem and the city of Jerusalem as a whole, with both being imago mundi (42). Imago mundi is established as the world spreads out from its center--founded by imitating the work of gods--revealing how the cosmic world is separated relative to the surrounding chaos and space suitable for habitation constitutes an imago mundi (Eliade 44-45, …show more content…
It is said that he “walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done...what was evil in the sight of the Lord” (2 Kings 8: 18). This chapter, however, states that the Lord did not destroy Judah--and therefore Jerusalem--because of his unyielding promise to his loyal servant King David (2 Kings 8: 19). Kings after Jehoram of Judah also did what God deemed to be evil, but the texts tell only of the misfortune that comes to the rulers--as opposed to the entirety of the place that was home to the city of Jerusalem. It portrays Jerusalem to be a sacred location that has worth, in contrast to the rest of the entirety of Israel, once again illustrating a hierophany that exemplifies Jerusalem as an axis