Jerusalem: A Feminist History

FAIN: FEL-282246-22

Sarit Kattan Gribetz
Fordham University (Bronx, NY 10458-9993)

Research and writing leading to a history of Jerusalem from biblical times to the present, focused on the experience of the city’s women.

The history of Jerusalem is usually told as a story about King David, Emperor Constantine, and Sultan Salah al-Din – that is, as the history of a city that was founded, built, and ruled by powerful men. Throughout its history, however, from antiquity through the medieval and modern periods, the city of Jerusalem has been built, ruled, mourned, visited, and populated by women. Moreover, Jerusalem is often personified as a woman and depicted in feminine terms, a common literary trope providing important angles through which to explore how constructions of gender so profoundly shaped historical and theological conceptualizations of the city. "Jerusalem: A Feminist History" offers an alternative historical narrative that builds upon descriptions of women’s experiences, spaces, practices, and contributions to tell a new story. As a work of feminist history, it simultaneously probes how constructions of gender have conditioned depictions of the city’s history from antiquity to modernity.