Jerusalem

The Jebusite fortress that David conquered and turned into the capital of his united monarchy. It occupied a strategic position in the highlands and was easily fortified and defended. There, David's son Solomon built a magnificent permanent temple to the Lord, which was torn down by the Babylonians in 632 B.C.E. after a long and bloody siege. The Persians allowed a less grand replacement to be built and Nehemiah fortified the city walls to form a defensible citadel. "Next year in Jerusalem" became the hope of the Jews. The city later became sacred to Christians and Muslims as well and remains far from realizing its etymology as a place of "salem" — peace.

Mount Sinai

The mountain in western Egypt (otherwise known as Mount Horeb) where God first appeared to Moses in a burning bush and where he revealed to him and the freed people of...