Jerusalem, 1000-1400 Every people under heaven

JERUSALEM'S VENEER OF HARMONY, tolerance and inclusiveness is as thin and as alluring as the fine layer of gold covering the gray lead dome standing on the top of the contested Temple Mount, or the Haram al-Sharif as it is called in Arabic. Timeless conflict brews under the beautiful surface of the sacred city, whose many names are yet another manifestation of the continuing rivalry around the "ownership" of its holy sites and symbolic history. The controversial resolution passed by Unesco in October, which attempted to classify the Western Wall, one of Judaism's holiest sites, as a part of the Muslim Al Aqsa Mosque compound, is yet another step in this long tradition of conflict. This everlasting rivalry, paradoxically, has only enhanced the beauty and cultural richness of Jerusalem. The various churches and mosques, each competing to have the tallest structure in the sacred city, have invested a fortune in building magnificent minarets and bell towers meant to own the Jerusalem skyline. The warring Christian sects, in their struggle to dominate the sacred Church of the Holy Sepulcher (a struggle that at times has led to almost comical fistfights among priests, monks and ministers), have made great efforts to enhance their part of the space and make it outshine the others. In the same tradition, the great resources allocated by the Israelis to restore and celebrate Jerusalem's Jewish past have made it an attractive destination for travelers from all around the world. The Metropolitan Museum's much discussed new exhibition, "Jerusalem, 10001400: Every People Under Heaven," as well as a beautiful catalog now offered to the public, does not necessarily emphasize the above-mentioned conflict. But it does celebrate the aesthetic richness that ensued from it by presenting the viewer with some of the most magnificent and meaningful artifacts. It is the city's story told through its material culture. Years of intensive curatorial efforts have yielded a large number of rare objects, some of which have never before been allowed to be taken out of their showcases, much less be shipped overseas and displayed abroad. Among the most exciting are a rare collection of gold coins dated back to the 11th century; the marvelously intricate gold filigree jewelry, made in the Islamic tradition; large jewel-encrusted crosses and relic-boxes, made in the European tradition; and European-Jewish jewelry depicting the long lost temple destroyed by the Romans in A.D. 70. Of special interest are the rare manuscripts that seem to receive special attention in the exhibition and the catalog: Hebrew, Aramaic, Syriac, Arabic, Latin and Persian texts, often lavishly ornamented, gilded and painted with vivid colorful images of the holy city. These books were the prized possession of aristocratic Jewish, Muslim and Christian families who used them as a way to show off their wealth and power at the same time as their piety and devotion. The catalog is also surprisingly dense with content and background information. It contains more than 20 articles, written by the curators of the exhibition in addition to a long list of historians, archaeologists and experts in religious studies and medieval art. Here the curators, who are also the editors of the catalog, map out both points of friction and collaboration. It is not without fine irony that the first paragraph of the introduction chooses as its organizing metaphor the Jerusalem syndrome, a well-known psychiatric phenomenon, causing some visitors to Jerusalem to develop a pathological fixation on the city and its holiness. It is precisely that fixation, the obsessive, possessive instinct that compelled individuals, as well as political and religious bodies, to pour so much of their spirit, assets and talent into making Jerusalem the magnificent place that it has become. ? RUBY NAMDAR is a novelist whose first book, "The Ruined House," won Israel's Sapir Prize and is being translated into English.