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Persia held Jerusalem until 333 B.C.E., when Alexander the Great added Palestine to his empire. About 198 B.C.E, king Antiochus III conquered Judea of which Jerusalem was a part, making it a tributary to Syria. .
The Jews later revolted under the leadership of Maccabees and defeated the Syrians. The Temple was reconverted in 165 B.C.E., and the Maccabean dynasty ruled until Rome took the city in 63 B.C.E. The Romans set up a local dynasty, the house of Herod, to rule most of Palestine. Herod the Great rebuilt much of Jerusalem, including the Temple. While suppressing a major Jewish revolt, the Romans destroyed the second Temple in 70 C.E. In 135 C.E., after the failure of! the Bar Kochba revolt, Jews were banished from Jerusalem. ( Thubron, 1987, p.45) Bar Kochba, also known as Simeon ben Koseva was the leader of the Jewish rebellion against Rome to regain their holy city, Jerusalem. After a lengthy and heroic defence, the rebellion failed, fifty fortresses and a thousand villages were destroyed. .
The Jews fought hard to get back control of this city which must be of great importance to them or they would not put up such a fight. It was during the period of David's kingship that the city of Jerusalem became the centre of Israelite government and religion. Until David's reign,Jerusalem was held by the Jebusites, a people from Canaan. Over time, especially as themonarchy declined, Jerusalem became the symbol of God's promise to Israel and the centre for Israel's hope for the future. This shows how important the city ofJerusalem is to the Jewish religion and to their existence. The importance of Jerusalem to thereligion of Judaism is quite evident, in addition to Judaism! , Christianity also sees Jerusalemas a holy pilgrimage for their religion. Jerusalem for Christians is the site of many of the events in the life of Jesus Christ, who is the Messiah for the Christian religion. From the early fourth century, when Christianity became legal in the Roman empire, Jerusalem developed as a centre of Christian pilgrimage.