Heads up: PBS is airing the documentary Jerusalem: Center of the World 9 p.m. tonight on WITF-TV, looking at the founding of the city and the birth and convergence of the three major monotheistic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam). (The next viewer-friendly time is 1 p.m. Sunday.)
Directed by Andrew Goldberg and Oregon Public Television and hosted by Ray Suarez of "The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer," PBS says it's "the first documentary to delve into the historical facts and religious beliefs that have led so many thousands to live and die for this city."
It also leaves the city to follow the paths taken by Abraham, David, Jesus and Mohammed, among others.
Highlights from the film include visits to:
-- Mount Moriah, site of the First and Second Temples: At the center and beginning of it all, this 60' x 40' piece of Rock is where, according to the Bible, Abraham was instructed by God to sacrifice his son. The Rock was later enshrined by David's son, King Solomon, and became the site of the First Temple.
-- Church of the Holy Sepulcher: One of the holiest and most visually amazing churches in all of Christianity, it was built to enshrine the collective sites of Jesus' crucifixion, burial and ascension to Heaven.
-- Dome of the Rock (pictured above): Built over the Rock, this Islamic shrine is among the oldest extant Islamic buildings in the world, and is considered by many to be the most stunning. It is from here that Muslims believe the Prophet Mohammed ascended to Heaven.
-- The Western Wall (also above, in foreground): Dating from roughly 2,000 years ago, King Herod the Great, ruler of Jerusalem, built vast retaining walls around Mount Moriah where the Second Temple stood. Virtually all was destroyed when the Romans sacked Jerusalem in 70 C.E., but the Wall remains and is considered the holiest site in the world for the Jewish people.
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