The name “Jerusalem” is variously etymologized to mean "foundation (Sumerian yeru, ‘settlement’/Semitic yry, ‘to found, to lay a cornerstone’) of the god Shalem",<27><28> the god Shalem was thus the original tutelary deity of the Bronze Age city.<29>

The form Yerushalem or Yerushalayim (Jerusalem) first appears in the Bible, in the book of Joshua. According to a Midrash, the name is a combination of Yhwh Yir'eh ("God will see to it", the name given by Abraham to the place where he began to sacrifice his son) and the town "Shalem".<30>

The earliest extra-biblical Hebrew writing of the word Jerusalem is dated to the sixth or seventh century BCE<31><32> and was discovered in Khirbet Beit Lei near Beit Guvrin in 1961. The inscription states: I am Yahweh thy God, I will accept the cities of Judah and I will redeem Jerusalem"<33><34><35> or as other scholars suggest: "Yahweh is the God of the whole earth. The mountains of Judah belong to him, to the God of Jerusalem".<36><37>

Shalim or Shalem was the name of the god of dusk in the Canaanite religion, whose name is based on the same root S-L-M from which the Hebrew word for "peace" is derived (Salam or Shalom in modern Arabic and Hebrew).<38><39> The name thus offered itself to etymologizations such as "The City of Peace",<28><40> "Abode of Peace",<41><42> "dwelling of peace" ("founded in safety"),<43> alternately "Vision of Peace" in some Christian authors.<44> The ending -ayim indicates the dual, thus leading to the suggestion that the name Yerushalayim refers to the fact that the city sits on two hills.<45><46> However, the pronunciation of the last syllable as -ayim appears to be a late development, which had not yet appeared at the time of the Septuagint.

The most ancient settlement of Jerusalem, founded as early as the Bronze Age on the hill above the Gihon Spring, was according to the Bible named Jebus.<47> Called the "Fortress of Zion" (metsudat Zion), it was renamed by David as the City of David,<48> and was known by this name in antiquity.<49><50> Another name, "Zion", initially referred to a distinct part of the city, but later came to signify the city as a whole and to represent the biblical Land of Israel. In Greek and Latin the city's name was transliterated Hierosolyma (Greek: Ἱεροσόλυμα; in Greek hieròs, ἱερός, means holy), although the city was renamed Aelia Capitolina for part of the Roman period of its history.
Кроме того:
In the Book of Genesis, Salem or Shalem is the name of the place of which Melchizedek is king. Genesis 14:18 has מלכי־צדק מלך שלם ... כהן לאל עליון׃ The KJV renders this as "Melchizedek king of Salem ... the priest of the most high God (El Elyon)." Shalem is from the Semitic root š-l-m "being whole, complete, safe, at peace" as shalom,<8> the Hebrew word for "peace".<9>

The name "Shalem", whether as a town or a deity, is derived from the same root as the word "shalom", meaning peace,<15><16> so that the common interpretation of the name is now "The City of Peace"<7><17> or "Abode of Peace",<18><19>

In Greek, the city is called either Ierusalem (Ἰερουσαλήμ) or Hierosolyma (Ἱεροσόλυμα). The latter exhibits yet another re-etymologization, by association with the Greek word hieros "holy".

In Greek, the city is called either Ierusalem (Ἰερουσαλήμ) or Hierosolyma (Ἱεροσόλυμα). The latter exhibits yet another re-etymologization, by association with the Greek word hieros "holy".
Что еще могло быть святого, кроме "коло" - Солнца? Опять таки - яр, жар, Ярило.