Author(s): Andrew Lawler

World History

In 1863, a French senator digging in Jerusalem uncovered a stone casket filled with human bones and gold thread. He claimed it belonged to a queen mentioned in the Bible, and news of the find ricocheted around the world. In the century and a half since, Jerusalem has drawn a global cast of treasure hunters, missionaries, archaeologists, and religious zealots eager to extract remains of the biblical past from beneath its streets and shrines. Their efforts transformed our understanding of Jerusalem's history and sparked bloody riots, thwarted international peace agreements, and turned it into the world's most contested city. Under Jerusalem takes readers into the tombs, tunnels, and trenches of the Holy City, bringing to life the indelible characters who have explored this subterranean landscape. With clarity and verve, acclaimed journalist Andrew Lawler reveals how their pursuit defined the conflict over modern Jerusalem-and ultimately could provide a map for two peoples and three faiths to peacefully coexist.