jerusalem is a very old city. it has great importance for three religions: judaism, christianity and islam. the bible says king david, the second king of israel, took this city from pagans and settled his palace there. king solomon, david's son and the next king, built the temple of solomon in jerusalem. later, as capital of judah, jerusalem was destroyed by nebuchadnezzar ii, the king of babylon. the palace of king david and the temple of solomon were burned, and the jews were captured and taken to babylon. seventy years later, the persian king cyrus allowed them to return to jerusalem and to rebuild the temple.