But conflict, controversy and tension continue to boil to this day. A.D. 1099: Jerusalem is retaken by Crusaders, who convert the Al-Aqsa Mosque into a palace and the Dome of the Rock into a church. [155] A group of Islamic scholars understood the story of Muhammad's ascension from al-Aqsa Mosque as relating to the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. ), discovered a series of tunnels near the Temple Mount. "Early Muslims regarded the building and destruction of the Temple of Solomon as a major historical and religious event, and accounts of the Temple are offered by many of the early Muslim historians and geographers (including Ibn Qutayba, Ibn al-Faqih, Mas'udi, Muhallabi, and Biruni). How it came to be connected with the Koran is explained here: The only edifice of importance built during their 73-year rule of Jerusalem was the Dome of Moses, a small cupola, built in 1249, which still stands on the Temple Mount. It is significant for Jews because it was where Jesus was born and celebrated Jewish festivals. [23][24][25], Since the Crusades launched by the Latin Church (11th13th century), the Muslim community of Jerusalem has managed the site through the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf. [204], During his excavations in the 1930s, Robert Hamilton uncovered portions of a multicolor mosaic floor with geometric patterns inside al-Aqsa mosque, but did not publish them. It stands north-south 262 ft long. (The dome itself was covered in gold in 1920.) One of them, Shlomo Goren, held that it is possible that Jews are even allowed to enter the heart of the Dome of the Rock in time of war, according to Jewish Law of Conquest. "While there is no scientific evidence that Solomon's Temple existed, all believers in any of the Abrahamic faiths perforce must accept that it did." Solomon placed the Ark in the Holy of Holies the windowless innermost sanctuary and most sacred area of the temple in which God's presence rested;[109] entry into the Holy of Holies was heavily restricted, and only the High Priest of Israel entered the sanctuary once per year on Yom Kippur, carrying the blood of a sacrificial lamb and burning incense. In an article in the Saudi news outlet Okaz, Yamani claims that the mosque is actually located in Al Ju'ranah, near Mecca in Saudi Arabia. sfn error: no target: CITEREFTemple_of_Jerusalem (, sfn error: no target: CITEREFJonker1990 (, sfn error: no target: CITEREFStefon2020 (, sfn error: no target: CITEREFBritannica:_Holy_of_Holies (, Deuteronomy 12:5-26; 14:23-25; 15:20; 16:2-16; 17:8-10; 26: 2; 31: 11; Isaiah 2: 2-5; Obadiah 1:21; Psalms 48. Tome 1. pp. For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. As in Judaism, Muslims also associate the site with Solomon and other prophets who are also venerated in Islam. al-Wasati. Three thousand years of recorded history sit atop, around, and below the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, Israel's capital city. A northern portion of the western wall may be seen from within the Western Wall Tunnel, which was excavated through buildings adjacent to the platform. Mamluk Jerusalem: An Architectural Study, by MH Burgoyne and DS Richards, pages 104-107 (North Portico) and West Portico 192-194, Temple Mount destruction stirred archaeologist to action, February 8, 2005 | by Michael McCormack, Baptist Press, Last edited on 19 February 2023, at 04:55, attempt to deny Jewish connection with the Temple Mount, Where Heaven and Earth Meet: Jerusalem's Sacred Esplanade, Jerusalem during the late Second Temple period, Archaeological remnants of the Jerusalem Temple, an Australian set fire to the Jami'a al-Aqsa, Committee to Prevent the Destruction of Antiquities on the Temple Mount, Committee for the Prevention of Destruction of Antiquities on the Temple Mount, Hashemite custodianship of Jerusalem holy sites, "New Jerusalem Finds Point to the Temple Mount", "Jerusalem holy site clashes fuel fears of return to war", "Narratives of Jerusalem and its Sacred Compound", Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs, "The Location of the Holy House of Herod's Temple: Evidence from the Pre-Destruction Period", "The Meaning of the Inscribed Stones at the Corners of the Herodian Temple Mount", "Post-1967 Struggle over Al-Haram Al-Sharif/Temple Mount", Should Jews Be Allowed to Pray on the Temple Mount? As a result, the Al-Aqsa Mosque has been rebuilt and renovated several times since its original Umayyad construction. [262][263][264], Due to religious restrictions on entering the most sacred areas of the Temple Mount (see following section), the Western Wall, a retaining wall for the Temple Mount and remnant of the Second Temple structure, is considered by some rabbinical authorities to be the holiest accessible site for Jews to pray at. These have various forms and structures, seemingly built in different periods, ranging from vaulted chambers built in the gap between the bedrock and the platform, to chambers cut into the bedrock itself. The Western Wall was to remain the Jewish place of prayer. [141][142][143] Other Muslim scholars have used the Torah (called Tawrat in Arabic) to expand on the details of the temple. The existing four minarets include three near the Western Wall and one near the northern wall. This fort was built to house 10,000 men (6,000 soldiers and 4,000 support staff) as all Roman forts have a standard size: 35 acres, or 14.2 hectares. Tisha B'Av, an annual fast day in Judaism, marks the destruction of the First and Second Temples, which according to Jewish tradition, occurred on the same day on the Hebrew calendar. [91][92] In October 2017, Israel and the United States announced they would withdraw from UNESCO, citing anti-Israel bias. [139][140] After the construction, Muslims believe, the temple was used for the worship of the one God by many prophets of Islam, including Jesus. [52][60][61], Al-Jmi' al-Aq refers to the specific site of the silver-domed congregational mosque building,[51][52][53] also referred to as Qibli Mosque or Qibli Chapel (al-Jami' al-Aqsa or al-Qibli, or Masjid al-Jumah or al-Mughata), in reference to its location on the southern end of the compound as a result of the Islamic qibla being moved from Jerusalem to Mecca. [167] Muhammad later prayed towards the Kaaba in Mecca after receiving a revelation during a prayer session [168][169] in the Masjid al-Qiblatayn. As no scientific excavations have ever been conducted on the site, no archaeological evidence has been found to verify this. The Politics of Prayer at the Temple Mount. The Book of Isaiah foretells the international importance of the Temple Mount: And it shall come to pass in the end of days, that the mountain of the LORD'S house shall be established as the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. Description de la mosque Mesdjid-ol-aksa, telle qu'elle est de nos jours, (du temps de l'auteur, au dixime sicle de l'Hgire, au seizime aprs J. C.)", "The Holy Land, Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque in the Islamic Sources", "Description of the Noble Sanctuary at Jerusalem in 1470 A.D., by Kaml (or Shams) ad Dn as Suyt", Jordan-PLO Agreement on the Jerusalem Holy Sites - English (2013), "The Restoration Project of the Masjid Al-Aqsa by Mimar Kemalettin (1922-26)", "A New Saljuq Inscription in the Masjid al-Aqsa, Jerusalem", The Marwani Musalla in Jerusalem: New Findings, "Suq al-Ma'rifa: An Ayyubid Hanbalite Shrine in Haram al-Sharif", "The Haram al-Sharif: An Essay in Interpretation", "Geographical Terminology in Mujir al-Din's History of Jerusalem", "The Farthest Mosque or the Alleged Temple an Analytic Study", "Review: Where Heaven and Earth Meet: Jerusalem's sacred esplanade", "Provocations on Jerusalem's Holy Esplanade Must Stop Now, Secretary-General Says, Stressing Need to Respect, Uphold Status Quo at Holy Sites", "Middle East Report N159 - The Status of the Status Quo at Jerusalem's Holy Esplanade", "Statement By UN Special Coordinator For The Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland, On The Security Situation In Jerusalem", Finkelstein, Horbury, Davies & Sturdy (1999), "Report of the 1st Extraordinary Session of the World Heritage Committee", "Justification for inscription on the List of World Heritage in Danger, 1982: Report of the 6th Session of the World Heritage Committee", "Jerusalem's Status Quo Agreement: History and Challenges to Its Viability", https://www.un.org/unispal/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/UNESCOEX200.pdf, "UNESCO adopts anti-Israel resolution on al-Aqsa Mosque", "UNESCO approves new Jerusalem resolution", "UNESCO fails to acknowledge Jewish ties to Temple Mount", "Netanyahu leads angry denunciations of 'absurd' UNESCO decision", "The United States Withdraws From UNESCO", "U.S. Will Withdraw From Unesco, Citing Its 'Anti-Israel Bias', "UNESCO unanimously adopts resolution on old Jerusalem", "Jerusalem: Eye of the Universe - Torah.org", "The Temple of Solomon in Iron Age Context", "Pilgrimage: From the Ganges to Graceland: an Encyclopedia", https://books.google.com/books?id=ZLucAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA136, The Furthest Mosque, The History of Al Aqsa Mosque From Earliest Times, "Jerusalem, Jerusalem: How The Ancient City Ignited Our Modern World", "The Umayyad Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem", "The Modern History of Islamic Jerusalem: Academic Myths and Propaganda", "Israel applauds Egyptian writer's remarks on Jerusalem", "Saudi Lawyer Claims Al Aqsa Mosque Is In Saudi Arabia, Not Jerusalem", "Four Stages in the Evolution of the Temple Mount", "The Mound on the Mount: A Possible Solution to the Problem with Jerusalem", "The City of David Is Not on the Temple Mount After All", "How Did the Temple Mount Fall to Pompey? [291] The passageway for each is vaulted, and has two aisles (in the case of the triple gate, a third aisle exists for a brief distance beyond the gate); the eastern aisle of the double gates and western of the triple gates reach the surface, the other aisles terminating some way before the steps Warren believed that one aisle of each original passage was extended when al-Aqsa Mosque blocked the original surface exits. It appears that Radbaz also entered the Mount and advised others how to do this. During the 1930s and 1940s, large-scale restoration of the . By. Since the Waqf is granted almost full autonomy on the Islamic holy sites, Israeli archaeologists have been prevented from inspecting the area, and are restricted to conducting excavations around the Temple Mount. [220] While secular Jews ascend freely, the question of whether ascending is permitted is a matter of some debate among religious authorities, with a majority holding that it is permitted to ascend to the Temple Mount, but not to step on the site of the inner courtyards of the ancient Temple. If you mean the al-Aqsa mosque, it was opened in 705CE, 73 years after the death of the Prophet Muhammad. I said earlier that the Temple Mount has been controlled by . (2008) "The concept of the Temple Mount in the Second Tem period,". [299], Over the period 197088, a number of tunnels were excavated in the vicinity, including one that passed to the west of the Mount and became known as the Western Wall Tunnel, which was opened to the public in 1996. Shortly before the Byzantines took the area back five years later in 615, the Persians gave control to the Christian population, who tore down the partially built Jewish Temple edifice and turned it into a garbage dump,[209] which is what it was when the Rashidun Caliph Umar took the city in 637. In the early years of the Israelite kingdom, the Ark of the Covenant was periodically moved about among several sanctuaries, especially those of Shechem and Shiloh. Warren also conducted some small scale excavations inside the Temple Mount, by removing rubble that blocked passages leading from the Double Gate chamber. ca. Cistern 16/17 (located at the centre of the far northern end of the Temple Mount). [83] In 1982, it was added to the List of World Heritage in Danger.[84]. King Solomon built the First Temple on the top of Mount Moriah which is visible in the center of this drawing. Just like the Dome of the Rock was built to overshadow the rotunda of the Holy Sepulcher . During the 1990s, additional attempts were made for Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount, which were stopped by Israeli police. Between 1922 and 1924, the Dome of the Rock was restored by the Islamic Higher Council. xxi. The plaza is dominated by two monumental structures originally built during the Rashidun and early Umayyad caliphates after the city's capture in 661 CE:[5] the main praying hall of al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, near the center of the hill, which was completed in 692 CE, making it one of the oldest extant Islamic structures in the world. [46] In 2017, it was reported that Waqf officials harassed archeologists such as Gabriel Barkay and tour guides who used the term at the site. The Salah Eddin minbar was also restored. [178] In 2014, Finkelstein, Koch and Lipschits proposed that the tell of ancient Jerusalem lies beneath the modern-day compound, rather than the nearby archeological site known as the City of David, as mainstream archaeology believes;[179] however, this proposal was rejected by other scholars of the subject. According to Arculf's account as recorded by Adomnn, he saw a rectangular wooden house of prayer built over some ruins, large enough to hold 3,000 people. The holiest place in Judaism as the site of the two biblical temples . (RNS) For the past few weeks, the area surrounding the Al-Aqsa Mosque, known to Muslims as the Al-Aqsa compound and to Jews as the Temple Mount, has been calm. [293] They were used as stables by the Crusaders, but were built by Herod the Great along with the platform they were built to support. Glory be to the One Who took His servant Muammad by night from the Sacred Mosque to the Farthest Mosque whose surroundings We have blessed, so that We may show him some of Our signs. World Explained: Why al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem is a regular site of conflict between Israel and Palestine More than 170 have been injured in Israeli-Palestinian clashes around the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem since Friday. [222], Jordan undertook two renovations of the Dome of the Rock, replacing the leaking, wooden inner dome with an aluminum dome in 1952, and, when the new dome leaked, carrying out a second restoration between 1959 and 1964. [266] Non-Jews were also prohibited from entering the inner court of the Temple. Organizations that encourage Jews to immigrate to the Temple Mount replaced the Chief Rabbinate's sign prohibiting prayer in the compound, and stuck an identical sticker on it with reversed procedures. 29, No. The former UN envoy to Jerusalem, Raymond M. Lemaire, criticised "the construction of a metallic pergola in the middle of the courtyard of one of the Umayyad palaces, which disfigures the site." [237] In December 1997, Israeli security services preempted an attempt by Jewish extremists to throw a pig's head wrapped in the pages of the Quran into the area, in order to spark a riot and embarrass the government. [117][118][119] After the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE, which came to be regarded by early Christians, as it was by Josephus and the sages of the Jerusalem Talmud, to be a divine act of punishment for the sins of the Jewish people,[120][121] the Temple Mount lost its significance for Christian worship with the Christians considering it a fulfillment of Christ's prophecy at, for example, Matthew 23:38[122] and Matthew 24:2. [272] His behavior displeased the government, which restricted his public actions, censored his writings, and in August prevented him from attending the annual Oral Law Conference at which the question of access to the Mount was debated. The retaining walls on these two sides descend many meters below ground level. [68], During the period of Mamluk[69] (12601517) and Ottoman rule (15171917), the wider compound began to also be popularly known as the Haram al-Sharif, or al-aram ash-Sharf (Arabic: ), which translates as the "Noble Sanctuary". [271], A few hours after the Temple Mount came under Israeli control during the Six-Day War, a message from the Chief Rabbis of Israel, Isser Yehuda Unterman and Yitzhak Nissim was broadcast, warning that Jews were not permitted to enter the site. After Sharon and the Likud Party members left, a demonstration erupted and Palestinians on the grounds of the Haram al-Sharif began throwing stones and other projectiles at Israeli riot police. On 7 June 1967, soon after Israel had taken control of the area during the Six-Day War, Prime Minister Levi Eshkol assured that "no harm whatsoever shall come to the places sacred to all religions". [225] A few days after the war over 200,000 Jews flocked to the Western Wall in the first mass Jewish pilgrimage near the Mount since the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE. In 2 Chronicles, Solomon's Temple was constructed on Mount Moriah (3:1), and Manasseh's atonement for his sins is associated with the Mountain of the House of the Lord (33:15). [221] The Zionist movement at the time was strongly opposed to any notion that the Temple itself might be rebuilt. According to the Encyclopaedia of Islam, the Night Journey was associated with Jerusalem by the Umayyads as a political means to advance the glory of Jerusalem to compete with the glory of the sanctuary in Mecca then controlled by Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr. 329342. Climate III. In 516 BCE, The returned Jewish population in Judah, under Persian provincial governance, rebuilt the Temple in Jerusalem under the auspices of Zerubbabel, yielding what is known as the Second Temple. A monumental street, today referred to as the "Stepped Street," and took pilgrims from the city's southern gate via the Tyropoeon Valley to the western side of the Temple Mount. Yamani writes that the confusion between the two . * "The Rock was in the time of Solomon the son of David 12 cubits high and there was a dome over itIt is written in the Tawrat [Bible]: 'Be happy Jerusalem,' which is Bayt al-Maqdis and the Rock which is called Haykal." [309] A few days later, a portion of retaining wall, supporting the earthen ramp that led from the Western Wall plaza to the Gate of the Moors on the Temple Mount, collapsed. Temple Mount expansion. Many Israelis regarded this as a radical change of the status quo, which should not have been undertaken without first consulting the Israeli government. Saladin captured Jerusalem in 1187 and restored the mosque. [234], On 8 October 1990, 22 Palestinians were killed and over 100 others injured by Israeli Border Police during protests that were triggered by the announcement of the Temple Mount Faithful, a group of religious Jews, that they were going to lay the cornerstone of the Third Temple. A number of vocal Jewish groups now advocate building the Third Temple without delay in order to bring to pass God's "end-time prophetic plans for Israel and the entire world. Mohammed had his first "revelation" in A.D. 610 at the age of 40 when he was asleep in a cave. On the southern and eastern sides the walls are visible almost to their full height. History of Temple Mount Get answers in under 4 minutes. Al Aqsa mosque is a low grey roofed mosque also located on the Temple Mount, across from the Dome of Rock. [227] An Israeli inquiry found Israeli forces at fault, but it also concluded that charges could not be brought against any particular individuals. Di Cesare, M. (2017). Following the Ottoman conquest of Palestine in 1516, the Ottoman authorities continued the policy of prohibiting non-Muslims from setting foot on the Temple Mount until the early 19th century, when non-Muslims were again permitted to visit the site. David Ussishkin (2003). The Chief Rabbi of the Israeli Defense Forces, Shlomo Goren, led the soldiers in religious celebrations on the Temple Mount and at the Western Wall. Two twin gates follow south of the Ablution Gate, the Tranquility Gate and the Gate of the Chain: A twelfth gate still open during Ottoman rule is now closed to the public: East of and joined to the triple gate passageway is a large vaulted area, supporting the southeastern corner of the Temple Mount platform which is substantially above the bedrock at this point the vaulted chambers here are popularly referred to as Solomon's Stables. The Temple Mount is holy to both Muslims and Jews, and to Christians as well. The . During the 1929 Palestine riots, Jews were accused of violating the status quo[244][245] Following the riots, the Supreme Muslim Council and the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf prohibited Jews from entering the site's gates. ", "The Temple Mount Outrageous Lies and Escalating Dangers", "Watch: Waqf bans 'Religious Christians' from Temple Mount", "Israeli Police Storm Disputed Jerusalem Holy Site", "Al-Aqsa Mosque's Incident in July 2017: Affirming the Policy of Deterrence", "Israel freezes Unesco ties for 'denying Jewish holy sites', "Four stages in the evolution of the Temple Mount", "The Temple Mount, the Rabbis, and the Poetics of Memory", Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, The Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, The Administration Department of Awgaf and Al-Aqsa Mosque Affairs, Jerusalem: Al-Aqsa Mosque, "PLO urge journalists: Don't use term 'Temple Mount', "Islamic guards try to boot guide for saying 'Temple Mount' on Temple Mount", "Account of Jerusalem during the Frank Occupation, extracted from the Universal Geography of Edrisi. Aelia came from Hadrian's nomen gentile, Aelius, while Capitolina meant that the new city was dedicated to Jupiter Capitolinus, to whom a temple was built overlapping the site of the former second Jewish temple, the Temple Mount. Many Israelis Think So, Poll Shows,', "The Temple Mount/al-Aqsa in Zionist and Palestinian National Consciousness: A Comparative View", "Amid Temple Mount tumult, the who, what and why of its Waqf rulers", "EXPLAINER: What Are the Temple Movements and Why Should We Be Worried? During the Maccabean times, the temple mount was expanded to the north another 100 ft and the Temple was also moved north. The first minaret was constructed on the southwest corner of the Temple Mount in 1278. The head of manuscripts at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Najeh Bkeirat, has accused Israel of trying to "Judaize" the Temple Mount by building a new Holy Temple. [199] After the Third Jewish Revolt, all Jews were forbidden on pain of death from entering the city or the surrounding territory around the cite. [237], On the occasion of an upsurge in Palestinian knifing attacks on Israelis, associated with fears that Israel was changing the status quo on the Mount, the Haredi newspaper Mishpacha ran a notification in Arabic asking 'their cousins', Palestinians, to stop trying to murder members of their congregation, since they were vehemently opposed to ascending the Mount and consider such visits proscribed by Jewish law. 5. Al-Aqsa was used as a base for attacks on visitors and the police from which stones, firebombs and fireworks were thrown. [212] He found it covered with rubbish, but the sacred Rock was found with the help of a converted Jew, Ka'b al-Ahbar. Ernst Axel Knauf, Jerusalem in the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages: A Proposal, TA 27 (2000): 7590. [8][9][a] According to Jewish tradition and scripture,[11] the First Temple was built by King Solomon, the son of King David, in 957 BCE, and was destroyed by the Neo-Babylonian Empire, together with Jerusalem, in 587 BCE. ), "The Farthest Mosque must refer to the site of the. [273], A major critic of the decision of the Chief Rabbinate was Rabbi Shlomo Goren, the chief rabbi of the IDF. The rebuilding of the Temple remained a recurring theme among generations, particularly in thrice-daily Amidah (Standing prayer), central prayer of the Jewish liturgy, which contains a plea for the building of a Third Temple and the restoration of sacrificial services. [221], Neither Israeli Arabs nor Israeli Jews could visit their holy places in the Jordanian territories during this period.[223][224]. [226] Jews were given the right to visit the Temple Mount unobstructed and free of charge if they respected Muslims' religious feelings and acted decently, but they were not allowed to pray. [137] Thus, according to this tradition, Umar thereby reconsecrated the site as a mosque. 'The Furthest Mosque'),[2] and sometimes as Jerusalem's sacred (or holy) esplanade,[3][4] is a hill in the Old City of Jerusalem that has been venerated as a holy site in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam for thousands of years. [129], During the Byzantine era, Jerusalem was primarily Christian and pilgrims came by the tens of thousands to experience the places where Jesus walked. Of these, the most notable are (numbering traditionally follows Wilson's scheme[286]): The retaining walls of the platform contain several gateways, all currently blocked. [220][bettersourceneeded], In December 2013, the two Chief Rabbis of Israel, David Lau and Yitzhak Yosef, reiterated the ban on Jews entering the Temple Mount. The project was done without attention to the possibility of disturbing historically significant archaeological material, with stone and ancient artifacts treated without regard to their preservation. Cistern 1 (located under the northern side of the upper platform). When he returned the next day, he found that the hold had already been repaired. A Lost Inscription from the Dome of the Rock? New evidence of the Royal Stoa and Roman flames. Biblical Archaeology Review, 36, 2, pp. [170][171] The qibla was relocated to the Kaaba where Muslims have been directed to pray ever since. The mount is also the site of both ancient Jewish temples. [123] It was to this end, proof of a biblical prophecy fulfilled and of Christianity's victory over Judaism with the New Covenant,[124] that early Christian pilgrims also visited the site. [174] The First Temple is believed to have once been a part of a much larger royal complex. The Israeli Chief Rabbinate also declared a religious holiday on the anniversary, called "Yom Yerushalayim" (Jerusalem Day), which became a national holiday to commemorate the reunification of Jerusalem. [215] The shrine became known as the Dome of the Rock ( , Qubbat as-Sakhra). The trapezium shaped platform measures 488m (1,601ft) along the west, 470m (1,540ft) along the east, 315m (1,033ft) along the north and 280m (920ft) along the south, giving a total area of approximately 150,000m2 (37 acres). [303][316][317], "Al-Aqsa Mosque compound" redirects here. [22] Muslims view the site as being one of the earliest and most noteworthy places of worship of God. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. It is Judaism's holiest site, but Jews are not allowed to pray there. [235][236] Between 1992 and 1994, the Jordanian government undertook the unprecedented step of gilding the dome of the Dome of the Rock, covering it with 5000 gold plates, and restoring and reinforcing the structure. Today, the stone is preserved in Istanbul's Museum of Antiquities. In 638 C.E. [19], The upper platform was built around the peak of the Temple Mount, carrying the Dome of the Rock; the peak just breaches the floor level of the upper platform within the Dome of the Rock, in the shape of a large limestone outcrop, which is part of the bedrock. [156] Al-Bukhari and Al-Tabari, for example, are believed to have rejected the identification with Jerusalem. After him his son, the Prophet Solomon built a mosque in Jerusalem according to the revelation that he received from Allah. In 637 Arabs besieged and captured the city from the Byzantine Empire, which had defeated the Persian forces and their allies, and reconquered the city. Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at the crowd, injuring 24 people. Our story of the secret chambers of the Temple Mount begins in the early 1860s. The Temple Mount in Jerusalem during the First Temple Period: An Archaeologist's View. "The city of Jerusalem was chosen at the command of Allah by Prophet David in the tenth century BCE. So, they built the Al- Aqsa mosque in 705 AD over the site of the first and second Jewish temples and the Dome of the Rock over the site where Muhammad allegedly ascended to heaven- both of which still stand today. Yehoshua Frenkel, 'Jerusalem', in Abdelwahab Meddeb, Benjamin Stora (eds. [134] Umayyad Caliphs commissioned the construction of al-Aqsa Mosque on the site, including the shrine known as the "Dome of the Rock". During the first century BCE, the Temple was renovated by Herod. 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