New Year Update and Free Gift

What to expect from Approaching Jerusalem in 2024

This newsletter was birthed out of my own unanswered questions about historical Jerusalem and a desire to understand how modern preoccupation with the city’s antiquity has impacted its physical development over the last ~150 years. I also had a sense that there should be a space dedicated to collating the large amount of new and diverse material about historical Jerusalem that is being constantly produced. These goals remain unchanged.

Whether you’ve been a subscriber from the beginning or found your way to this space more recently, I’m grateful to have you as a reader. As a token of appreciation, I want to offer you ten of my personal photos of holy sites in Jerusalem for personal or academic use (please credit Chandler Collins when using). You can download them below.

Last year I published 21 original newsletter articles, just short of my goal to write one every other week. In 2024 the cadence will shift slightly to allow for more deliberate publications. Going forward, I aim to send this newsletter twice a month.

Starting next week and on the second Friday of every month, you’ll receive a new series titled “Jerusalem in Brief.” It should feel more accessible and newsletter-y while still providing in-depth information like summaries of recent important articles and descriptions of historical photos.

Longer-form articles will hit your inbox on the final Friday of every month. As has been typical, these posts will review books or explore aspects of Jerusalem’s history and archaeology. Jerusalem Tracker posts detailing new publications, news, and media about Jerusalem will be issued quarterly.

If you have benefited from this newsletter and would like to see it continue, the best way to do that is to become a regular paid subscriber. I created a new page detailing the Jerusalem-related benefits you will receive as a paid subscriber. Another less-involved option is simply leaving a small one-time tip as little as the price of a coffee.

Writing during the war in Gaza has been difficult. What I mentioned in my first post after October 7 remains relevant, even if my heart has only gotten heavier:

It feels trite to move forward without recognizing the horrors still unfolding in southern Israel and Gaza, as well as in other nearby areas. While the sending of a newsletter may imply business as usual, know that I wrote today’s post while carrying an extremely heavy heart.

With gratitude,
Chandler