Zion

zi'un, the loftiest of the hills on which the city of Jerusalem was built. It was occupied as a stronghold by the Jebusites before it was taken by King David and converted into a citadel. It rises abruptly some three hundred feet above the vale of Hinnom and Kidron. A Turkish mosque, said to shelter the tomb of David, now occupies the southern brow of Zion. The Old Testament writers frequently speak of Jerusalem as Zion and the Daughter of Zion. The prayer of the Hebrew exiles in Babylonia was to be restored to Zion. The name is used also by modern writers to designate the kingdom of God both on earth and in heaven.