The earliest settlement of Jerusalem was during the Chalcolithic period—around 4,000 BCE. It has possessed continuous settlement till this very day. Jerusalem has had occupants for over 6,000 straight years, and even during times of exile, the Holy City has had occupants. Some archeological digs have uncovered remnants over the historical city referenced in the Bible, such as the Fountain Gate mentioned in Nehemiah 2:14. Not only is Jerusalem written about in the Bible, it is also referred to by non-biblical texts like the Amarna letters.
The Bible explains how Joshua took over Jerusalem by force and killed all in Israel that were not aligned with him and his allies. But, in the book of Judges and Joshua, this idea is contradicted because it refers to the Jebusites being in Jerusalem when in earlier books have them wiped out completely. There is some debate over how the Israelites got to Jerusalem. Did they take it over by force, did they immigrate slowly there, or was Canaanite Jerusalem of mixed ethnic background and were they always there?
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