Jerusalem

Description

In Dante's geography, Jerusalem is placed at the center of the inhabited hemisphere, which extends for 180° of longitude between the Ganges to the east and Cadiz to the west. Its meridian stands directly above the city at its zenith, and at the setting of the sun beneath that sky, night rises simultaneously from the Ganges. The name of the city recurs in the Commedia in historical-religious contexts: the crowd that lost Ierusalemme is recalled in Purgatorio XXIII, while in Paradiso XIX a vengeance upon the Ciotto of Ierusalemme is prophesied; furthermore, according to Paradiso XXV, a soul must come to Ierusalemme to see. In Purgatorio IV, Sïòn is mentioned as the image within which Dante pictures himself gathered. For the moral sense, Scripture qualifies Jerusalem as a widow: «facta est quasi vidua domina gentium» (Lam. 1, 1), a reference that reveals the dramatic value of Dante's exclamation over the loss of innocence.