75. How Often Was Jerusalem Destroyed?

The Holy City has been captured and recaptured many times by contending forces. In several of the sieges it has been partially ruined, but in at least four it has been practically destroyed, the first about 1400 B.C., when captured by the tribes of Judah and Simeon; the second in 586 by Nebuchadnezzar; the third in 170 B.C. by Antiochus Epiphanes; the fourth, and doubtless most terrible, in 70 A.D., by Titus. The city was restored by Hadrian in 135 A.D., and since then has changed hands many times. It now belongs to Turkey, and has about 60,000 inhabitants.