Book excerpt: It is my hope that this Atlas of Biblical Jerusalem, excerpted from The Illustrated Atlas of Jerusalem, will be helpful to readers of the scriptures and visitors alike, who wish to visualize the Holy City as it was in biblical times. Jerusalem was at the apex of its glory and beauty during the last century before the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE. Herod had built many magnificent edifices in the city, with the Temple and its Mount the crowning glory. These works gained fame, and the Talmud goes out of its way to describe the physical qualities of the city, which "took nine measures of beauty out of the ten with which the world was bestowed, leaving one measure to the rest of the world."--Foreword.