Karen Armstrong Chapters 1-2

I absolutely loved reading Karen's history of Jerusalem. She thinks critically, which is essential when dealing with Jerusalem's many 'versions' of history. Karen attempted to answer the question why a city or area is considered 'holy.' She correctly stated when a place is deemed 'sacred,' it is not based on intellectual investigation. The 'holiness' of a city is determined by it's general inhabitants. It is a place where people's sets of beliefs, feelings, and memories are deeply intertwined within that area. A sacred place is still sacred to a religion or people, even if they are miles away from it. This idea is critical to Jerusalem and the 'conflict.' Different people 'claim' different sites, and the city itself, yet many times it cannot be truly 'proven.' It exists because of the people. It is mythological in a sense, as she further describes.
I found this quote very intriguing. "Eventually, Jerusalem would become central to the religion of Israel, but the first time the city is mentioned unequivocally in the Bible it appears as enemy territory." She stated that there are still scholars, particularly in the U.S. and Israel who adhere to the view that Israelites did conquer the land of Canaan, even though others are concluding that Israel came from within Canaan's society. Is this a coincidence, or are there political reasons behind the scholars' consensus?
Armstrong does a commendable job of organizing information that is often vague to say the least, and attempting to recreate the history of Jerusalem, one that is still debated upon. Her book is "admirably dispassionate," as one of her critics writes. I too, find this extremely refreshing as well. I look forward to reading more chapters from Armstrong's book.