Zion (
Ṣiyyôn), also
transliterated Sion,
Sayon,
Syon,
Tzion or
Tsion, is a
place name often used as a
synonym for
Jerusalem. The word is first found in which dates from c.630–540 BCE according to modern scholarship. It commonly referred to a specific mountain near Jerusalem (
Mount Zion), on which stood a
Jebusite fortress of the same name that was conquered by
David and was named the
City of David. The term
Tzion came to designate the area of Jerusalem where the fortress stood, and later became a
metonym for
Solomon's
Temple in Jerusalem, the city of Jerusalem and "the World to Come", the Jewish understanding of the
hereafter.