So these chapters were definitely different from what we have seen thus far.  One pet peeve that I had was Armstrong’s overuse of the word hitherto it was unnecessary and too much.  I felt that it was quite ironic that the last word of Chapter 13 was in fact hitherto. Another question that I brought up was her use of the Iraq instead of just saying Iraq.  Can someone please explain this to me?

Chapter 10: Christian Holy City

I thought at first this was quite an interesting chapter title.  The whole book Ch 1-9 had been about the Jewish inhabitance of Jerusalem.  I liked that with every new ruling power of Jerusalem a new name for the city was likely to follow.  The Christian name for Jerusalem was Aelia.  I look forward to future chapters to see why the name Jerusalem is used today. With the frequent mentions especially near page 197 of Constantinople, it makes me want to visit present-day Istanbul.

Chapter 11: Bayt Al-Maqdis

As I believe J.M. said in class “The Muslims have finally arrived”! (I hope I don’t offend anyone by saying this)  I was eager for a little change and Chapter 11 brought it.  Islam is a religion that I know little about and am excited to learn as much as possible about its background and the beliefs of the Muslim people.  I found it interesting that the Arabic word Al-Quds translates to peace.  It was nice to make the connection with the Al-Quds University that we are collaborating with. I enjoyed the italicized arabic words that Armstrong included.  On page 219, the photo of men doing the customary greeting was fascinating to learn about!

Chapter 12: Al-Quds

To my understanding Islam teaches that Jesus did exist but was not the messiah (very similar to the Jewish belief).  Also, they believe that God existed but do not deem him extremely important for the lack of better words.  I was intrigued by what the Qur’an teaches of Muhammad the Prophet.  It is interesting to see how intertwined these major monotheistic religions of the world are.  I now also am seeing the importance of also this ancient history.  Every chapter is contributing to the conflict in 2009.

Chapter 13: Crusade

In Chapter 13 it was great to learn about The Crusaders.  I had heard of them and this time period but never known much about them.  Back in high school I wasn’t too much of a history buff, but now I see that should have been.  Knowing history can greatly contribute to my International Studies major.  It was fascinating to learn of yet another great conqueror of Jerusalem.  The Latin-speaking crusaders took The Disputed Land with great force.  However, I was a bit confused on their motives.  Yes, they were a conqueror possibly the greatest yet….but why? Were they trying to spread a new religion, a new way of thinking, of living life or just to rid of Arab-Jerusalem? Hopefully, I will learn more in this week’s class discussion and further reading!