Temple Mount Jerusalem
A closer look. Temple Mount Jerusalem. The Dome of the Rock has a striking presence in the holy city of Jerusalem. It is located on the Temple Mount, a spot is sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims. Its significance stems from the religious beliefs regarding the rock at its heart.
The rock is the peak of Mount Moriah which has always been regarded as sacred.
According to the Talmud, it was close to here that God gathered the earth that was formed into Adam. It was on this rock that Adam – and later Cain, Abel, and Noah – offered sacrifices to God. Jewish sources identify this rock as the place mentioned in the Bible where Abraham fulfilled God’s test to see if he would be willing to sacrifice his son Isaac.
Then according to the Bible, King David purchased a threshing floorAraunah the Jebusite,[4] it is believed that it was upon this rock that he offered the sacrifice mentioned in the verse and where he experienced a revelatory vision of angels ascending a golden ladder into the sky. He wanted to construct a permanent Temple there, but as his hands were “bloodied,” he was forbidden to do so himself. The task was left to his son Solomon, who completed the Temple in c. 950 B.C.E.It is traditionally believed that the Holy of Holies was located above the rock.
The site is significant for Christians because, as well as being the Temple, it is also the place where Jesus came as a young boy and later in his life prayed and taught.
The Dome of the Rock is located at the visual center of an ancient human-made platform known to the Jews as the Temple Mount. The platform, greatly enlarged under the rule of Herod the Great, was the former site of the Second Jewish Temple that was destroyed during the Roman Siege of Jerusalem in 70 C.E. In 637 C.E., Jerusalem was conquered by the Caliphate army during the Islamic invasion of the Byzantine Empire. After signing a peace treaty Caliph Umar asked the Patriach to lead him to the place of the old Jewish Temple.
