Zion

Zion (Hebrew: צִיּוֹן, romanized: Ṣīyyōn;[a] Biblical Greek: Σιών) is a placename in the Tanakh, often used as a synonym for Jerusalem[3][4] as well as for the Land of Israel as a whole.

[11][dubious – discuss] The name "Zion" appears in the coins minted by the revolutionary government in Jerusalem during the Great Jewish Revolt against Rome (66–73 CE).

[12] David Goodblatt argues that these slogans were used to communicate the rebels' goals to the masses, serving as a unifying rallying cry for the fight for Zion.

[12] James S. McLaren suggests that its appearance on the coins may specifically refer to the Temple Mount, as part of a set of terms conveying varying layers of identity: 'Jerusalem,' representing its location and the city's as the national capital, and 'Israel,' reflecting the new independent state.

[13] According to Ya'akov Meshorer, the name "Zion" was used on the coins as a 'poetic term' with nationalistic connotations, symbolizing not only Jerusalem but also "its history, religion, culture and desire for freedom".

[14] The term "Zionism", coined by Austrian Nathan Birnbaum, was derived from the German rendering of Tzion in his journal Selbstemanzipation ("self emancipation") in 1890.

[17][18] A valley called Wādī Sahyũn seemingly preserves the name and is located approximately one and three-quarter miles from the Old City's Jaffa Gate.

[16] For example, the reference to the "precious cornerstone" of the new Jerusalem in the Book of Isaiah 28:16 is identified in Islamic scholarship as the Black Stone of the Kaaba.

[19] This interpretation is said by ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya (1292–1350) to have come from the People of the Book, though earlier Christian scholarship identifies the cornerstone with Jesus.

The Ge'ez-language Kebra Nagast serves as inspiration for the idea that the "Glory of Zion" transferred from Jerusalem to Ethiopia in the time of Solomon and Sheba, c. 950 BCE.

The Jewish longing for Zion, starting with the deportation and enslavement of Jews during the Babylonian captivity, was adopted as a metaphor by Christian black slaves in the United States.

Out of Zion hath gone forth the Law of God, and Jerusalem, and the hills and land thereof, are filled with the glory of His Revelation."

This apparent misidentification dates at least from the 1st century AD, when Josephus calls Jerusalem's Western Hill "Mount Zion".

[25] The Abbey of the Dormition and King David's Tomb are located upon the hill currently called Mount Zion.