Jerusalem was already mentioned in the ancient Egyptian Texts of the 19th – 18th centuries B.C. The city, also called Jebus, was conquered by King David who established the city as the capital of his kingdom Judah. Ever since then Jerusalem has always been the center of the Jewish people.

David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years. In Hevron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months , and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty three years over all Israel and Judah. (2nd Samuel, Chapter 5:4-5)