JERUSALEM — The historic opening of the United States Embassy in Jerusalem on Monday seals the Trump administration’s recognition of the holy, and hotly contested, city as the capital of Israel.

For many Jewish Israelis, the move is a long overdue expression of reality in the city. But the recognition upends decades of American foreign policy and an international consensus that holds that it prejudges negotiations over the final status of the city. Palestinians claim East Jerusalem, with its holy sites sacred to Christians, Muslims and Jews, as the capital of a future Palestinian state and vehemently oppose the American decision.

The Talmud teaches that “10 measures of beauty were given to the world; Jerusalem received nine while the rest of the world received one.”

Earthly Jerusalem is complicated. Here are nine things worth knowing about the city.

It All Began in Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv was the first seat of government for the embryonic State of Israel.