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The Temple Mount (Template:Lang-he, Har haBáyit), also called the Noble Sanctuary (Template:Lang-ar, al-haram al-qudsī ash-sharīf), is a religious site in the Old City of Jerusalem. Due to its importance for Judaism and Islam it is one of the most contested religious sites in the world.

The Temple Mount is the holiest site in Judaism. Jewish Midrash holds that it was from here that the world expanded into its present form, and that this was where God gathered the dust he used to create the first man, Adam. The Torah records that it was here that God chose to rest his Divine Presence, and consequently two Jewish Temples were built at the site. According to Jewish tradition, the Third Temple will also be located here, and will be the final one. In recent times, due to difficulties in ascertaining the precise location of the Mount's holiest spot, many Jews will not set foot on the Mount itself.

In Islam, the site is revered as the location of Islamic prophet Muhammad's journey to Jerusalem and ascent to heaven and is associated with other local Muslim figures of antiquity. The site is the location of the al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, the oldest extant Islamic structure in the world.

Both Israel and the Palestinian Authority claim sovereignty over the site, which remains a key issue in the Arab-Israeli conflict. In 1967, the Israeli government assigned a Muslim council, known as the Muslim Waqf, management of the site. The government enforces a controversial ban on prayer by non-Muslim visitors.

History

Israelite period

While the point at which the Temple Mount enters history may be disputed (see the religious traditions mentioned above), history records that there was a First Temple during the period of the Davidic dynasty that was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon in 586 BCE.

Persian, Hasmonean and Herodian Periods

Construction of the Second Temple is understood to have taken place in the Persian period, it is believed by tradition to have begun under Cyrus in 538 BCE, and was completed on the sixth year of Darius the Great in 516 BCE, 70 years after the exile to Babylonia.

Evidence of a Hasmonean expansion of the Temple Mount has been recovered by archaeologist Leen Ritmeyer.

Around 19 BCE, Herod the Great expanded the Temple Mount and rebuilt the Temple (see Herod's Temple). In the course of the First Jewish-Roman War it was destroyed by Titus in 70 CE. The Romans did not topple the Temple platform, all four walls of which, including the Western Wall, remain largely intact (there are repairs to the upper parts in some areas.)

Late Roman and Byzantine periods

During the time of the Byzantine Empire, it is believed that Constantine's mother, St. Helena, built a small church on the Mount in the 4th century, calling it the Church of St. Cyrus and St. John, later on enlarged and called the Church of the Holy Wisdom. The church was later destroyed and on its ruins the Dome of the Rock was built.;

In 363, Emperor Julian II, on his way to engage Persia, stopped at the ruins of the Second Temple in Jerusalem. In keeping with his effort to foster religions other than Christianity, Julian ordered the Temple rebuilt. Sozomen (c. 400–450) in his Historia Ecclesiastica wrote this about the effort as did a personal friend of his, Ammianus Marcellinus:

"Julian thought to rebuild at an extravagant expense the proud Temple once at Jerusalem, and committed this task to Alypius of Antioch. Alypius set vigorously to work, and was seconded by the governor of the province; when fearful balls of fire, breaking out near the foundations, continued their attacks, till the workmen, after repeated scorchings, could approach no more: and he gave up the attempt."

The failure to rebuild the Temple has been ascribed to an earthquake, common in the region, and to the Jews' ambivalence about the project. Sabotage is a possibility, as is an accidental fire. Divine intervention was the common view among Christian historians of the time.

Archaeological evidence in the form of an elaborate mosaic floor similar to the one in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem and multiple fragments of an elaborate marble Templom (chancel screen) prove that an elaborate Byzantine church or monastery stood on the Temple Mount in Byzantine times.

Muslim period

Caliph Omar ordered a mosque to be constructed at the southeast corner, facing Mecca, near which the al-Aqsa Mosque was built 78 years later. The original building is now known to have been wooden and to have been constructed on the site of a Byzantine church with an elaborate mosaic floor. (The Persian conquest that immediately preceded the Arab conquest makes it uncertain who destroyed the church.)

In 691 an octagonal Muslim building topped by a dome was built by the Caliph Abd al Malik around the rock, for political reasons, in violation of the Caliph Omar's teachings. The shrine became known as the Dome of the Rock (Qubbat as-Sakhra قبة الصخرة). The dome itself was covered in gold in 1920. In 715 the Umayyads led by the Caliph al-Walid I, rebuilt the Temple's nearby Chanuyos into a mosque (see illustrations and detailed drawing) which they named al-Masjid al-Aqsa المسجد الأقصى, the al-Aqsa Mosque or in translation "the furthest mosque", corresponding to the Muslim belief of Muhammad's miraculous nocturnal journey as recounted in the Quran and hadith. The term al-Haram al-Sharif الحرم الشريف (the Noble Sanctuary) refers to the whole area that surrounds that Rock as was called later by the Mamluks and Ottomans

The structures have been ruined or destroyed several times in earthquakes; the current version dates from the first half of the 11th century. For some Muslims, the importance of the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque make Jerusalem the third-holiest city, after Mecca and Medina. The mosque and shrine are currently administered by a Waqf (an Islamic trust).

In 1867, a team from the Royal Engineers, led by Lieutenant Charles Warren (later the London police commissioner of Jack the Ripper fame) and financed by the Palestine Exploration Fund (P.E.F.), discovered a series of tunnels beneath Jerusalem and the Temple Mount, some of which were directly underneath the headquarters of the Knights Templar. Various small artifacts were found which indicated that Templars had used some of the tunnels, though it is unclear who exactly first dug them. Some of the ruins which Warren discovered came from centuries earlier, and other tunnels which his team discovered had evidently been used for a water system, as they led to a series of cisterns.

Post 1967

During the 1967 Six-Day War Israel captured the Temple Mount. The Israeli government subsequently left the Islamic wakf in control of the site, although it remains under Israeli sovereignty. Because of this set-up, the site has become a flash-point between Israel and the Muslim world, especially when violent acts are perpetrated at the site. Similarly, complaints have been voiced by both sides against the other at construction and excavation works underneath and around the Temple Mount, which either side believe inflict damage to the antiquities or lead to the destabilisation of the retaining walls.

Management and access

An Islamic Waqf has managed the Temple Mount continuously since the Muslim reconquest of the Kingdom of Jerusalem in 1187. 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". Together with the extension of Israeli jurisdiction and administration over east Jerusalem, the Knesset passed the Preservation of the Holy Places Law, ensuring protection of the Holy Places against desecration, as well as freedom of access thereto. Israel agreed to leave administration of the site in the hands of the Wakf.

Although freedom of access was enshired in the law, as a security measure to prevent Intifada-related riots from destroying the site, the Israeli government currently enforce a ban on non-Muslim prayer on the site. Non-Muslims who are observed praying on the site are subject to expulsion by the police.

Current features

Due to the extreme political sensitivity of the site, few archaeological excavations have been conducted on the Temple Mount itself. Protests commonly occur whenever archaeologists conduct projects on or near the Mount. Aside from visual observation of surface features, most other archaeological knowledge of the site comes from the 19th century survey carried out by Charles Wilson and Charles Warren. This sensitivity has not prevented the Muslim Waqf from destroying archeological evidence on a number of occasions.

The Temple Mount is a large flat-topped construction built over a natural hill; the side walls of the Mount are hidden behind residential buildings on the northern side and northern portion of the western side. The southern portion of the western side is the Western Wall, only half visible above ground. On the southern and eastern sides the walls are visible almost to their full height. 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. The platform itself is separated from the rest of the Old City by the Tyropoeon Valley, though this once deep valley is now largely hidden beneath later deposits, and is imperceptible in places. The platform can be reached via Bridge Street — a street in the Arab quarter at the level of the platform, actually sitting on a monumental bridge; the bridge is no longer externally visible due to the change in ground level, but it may be seen (from beneath) via the Western Wall Tunnels.

An additional flat platform is built above the portion of the hill rising above the general level of the top of the Temple Mount, and this upper platform is the location of the Dome of the Rock; the rock in question is the bedrock at the peak of the hill, just breaching the floor level of the upper platform. Beneath the rock is a natural cave known as the Well of Souls, originally accessible only by a narrow hole in the rock itself, Crusaders hacked open an entrance to the cave from the south, by which it can now be entered. There is also a smaller domed building on the upper platform, slightly to the east of the Dome of the Rock, known as the Dome of the Chain — traditionally the location where a chain once rose to heaven. Several stairways rise to the upper platform from the lower; that at the northwest corner is believed by some archaeologists be part of a much wider monumental staircase, mostly hidden or destroyed, and dating from the Second Temple era.

The lower platform — which constitutes most of the surface of the Temple Mount — has at its southern end the al-Aqsa Mosque, which takes up most of the width of the Mount. Gardens take up the eastern and most of the northern side of the platform; the far north of the platform houses an Islamic school. The lower platform also houses a fountain (known as al-Kas), originally supplied with water via a long narrow aqueduct leading from pools at Bethlehem (colloquially known as Solomon's Pools), but now supplied from Jerusalem's water mains. There are several cisterns embedded in the lower platform, designed to collect rain water as a water supply. These have various forms and structures, seemingly built in different periods by different architects, ranging from vaulted chambers built in the gap between the bedrock and the platform, to chambers cut into the bedrock itself. Of these, the most notable are (numbering traditionally follows Wilson's scheme):

• Cistern 1 (located under the northern side of the upper platform). There is a speculation that it had a function connected with the altar of the Second Temple (and possibly of the earlier Temple), or with the bronze sea.
• Cistern 5 (located under the south eastern corner of the upper platform) — a long and narrow chamber, with a strange anti-clockwise curved section at its north western corner, and containing within it a doorway currently blocked by earth. The cistern's position and design is such that there has been speculation it had a function connected with the altar of the Second Temple (and possibly of the earlier Temple), or with the bronze sea. Charles Warren thought that the altar of burnt offerings was located at the north western end.
• Cistern 8 (located just north of the al-Aqsa Mosque) — known as the Great Sea, a large rock hewn cavern, the roof supported by pillars carved from the rock; the chamber is particularly cave-like and atmospheric, and its maximum water capacity is several hundred thousand gallons.
• Cistern 9 (located just south of cistern 8, and directly under the al-Aqsa Mosque) — known as the Well of the Leaf due to its leaf-shaped plan, also rock hewn.
• Cistern 11 (located east of cistern 9) — a set of vaulted rooms forming a plan shaped like the letter E. Probably the largest cistern, it has the potential to house over 700,000 gallons of water.
• Cistern 16/17 (located at the centre of the far northern end of the Temple Mount). Despite the currently narrow entrances, this cistern (17 and 16 are the same cistern) is a large vaulted chamber, which Warren described as looking like the inside of the cathedral at Cordoba (which was previously a mosque). Warren believed that it was almost certainly built for some other purpose, and was only adapted into a cistern at a later date; he suggested that it might have been part of a general vault supporting the northern side of the platform, in which case substantially more of the chamber exists than is used for a cistern.

The walls of the platform contain several gateways, all currently blocked. In the east wall is the Golden Gate, through which legend states the Jewish Messiah would enter Jerusalem. On the southern face are the Hulda Gates — the triple gate (which has three arches) and the double gate (which has two arches, and is partly obscured by a Crusader building); these were the entrance and exit (respectively) to the Temple Mount from Ophel (the oldest part of Jerusalem), and the main access to the Mount for ordinary Jews. In the western face, near the southern corner, is the Barclay's Gate — only half visible due to a building on the northern side. Also in the western face, hidden by later construction but visible via the recent Western Wall Tunnels, and only rediscovered by Warren, is Warren's Gate; the function of these western gates is obscure, but many Jews view Warren's Gate as particularly holy, due to its location due west of the Dome of the Rock (traditional belief considers the Dome of the Rock to have earlier been the location at which the Holy of Holies was placed).

Warren was able to investigate the inside of these gates. Warren's Gate and the Golden Gate simply head towards the centre of the Mount, fairly quickly giving access to the surface by steps. Barclay's Gate is similar, but abruptly turns south as it does so; the reason for this is currently unknown. The double and triple gates (the Huldah Gates) are more substantial; heading into the Mount for some distance they each finally have steps rising to the surface just north of the al-Aqsa Mosque. 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 the al-Aqsa Mosque blocked the original surface exits.

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 King Solomon's Stables. They were used as stables by the Crusaders, but were built by Herod the Great — along with the platform they were built to support. In the process of investigating Cistern 10, Warren discovered tunnels that lay under the Triple Gate passageway. These passages lead in erratic directions, some leading beyond the southern edge of the Temple Mount (they are at a depth below the base of the walls); their purpose is currently unknown — as is whether they predate the Temple Mount — a situation not helped by the fact that apart from Warren's expedition no one else is known to have visited them.

The existing four minarets include three near the Western Wall and one near the northern wall. The first minaret was constructed on the southwest corner of the Temple Mount in 1278. The second was built in 1297 by order of a Mameluk king, the third by a governor of Jerusalem in 1329, and the last in 1367.

Changes and damage to existing structures

In 1968–69, Israeli archeologists carried out excavations at the foot of the Temple Mount, immediately south of the al-Aqsa Mosque and opened two ancient Second Temple period tunnels there that penetrate beneath Al-Aqsa Mosque in the area of the Hulda and Single gates, penetrating five meters into one and 30 meters into another. "At the Temple Mount's south wall digging took place to uncover the Arabic Umayyad palaces and Crusader remains."

Over the period 1970–1988, the Israeli authorities excavated a tunnel passing immediately to the west of the Temple Mount, northwards from the Western Wall, that became known as the Western Wall Tunnel. They sometimes used mechanical excavators under the supervision of archeologists. Palestinians claim that both of these have caused cracks and structural weakening of the buildings in the Muslim Quarter of the city above. Israelis confirmed this danger:

"The Moslem authorities were concerned about the ministry tunnel along the Temple Mount wall, and not without cause. Two incidents during the Mazar dig along the southern wall had sounded alarm bells. Technion engineers had already measured a slight movement in part of the southern wall during the excavations...There was no penetration of the Mount itself or danger to holy places, but midway in the tunnel's progress large cracks appeared in one of the residential buildings in the Moslem Quarter, 12 meters above the excavation. The dig was halted until steel buttresses secured the building."

In 1981, Yehuda Meir Getz, rabbi of the Western Wall, had workmen open the ancient Warren's Gate, accessing the innards of the Temple Mount itself from the Western Wall Tunnel. Arabs on the Mount heard excavation noises from one of the more than two dozen cisterns on the Mount. Israeli Government officials, upon being notified of the unauthorized tunneling, immediately ordered the Warren's Gate resealed. The 2000-year-old stone gate was filled with cement, and remains cement-shut today. In 1996, Israel opened up an exit to the tunnel, which led to riots.

Archeologist Leon Pressouyre, a UNESCO envoy who visited the site in 1998 and claims to have been prevented from meeting Israeli officials (in his own words, "Mr Avi Shoket, Israel's permanent delegate to UNESCO, had repeatedly opposed my mission and, when I expressed the wish to meet with his successor, Uri Gabay, I was denied an appointment", accuses the Israeli government of culpably neglecting to protect the Islamic period buildings uncovered in Israeli excavations. More recently, Prof. Oleg Grabar of the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton University has replaced Leon Pressouyre as the UNESCO envoy to investigate the Israeli allegations that antiquities are being destroyed by the Waqf on the Temple Mount. Initially, Grabar was denied access to the buildings by Israel for over a year, allegedly due to the threat of violence resulting from the al-Aqsa Intifada. His eventual conclusion was that the monuments are deteriorating largely because of conflicts over who is responsible for them, the Jordanian government, the local Palestinian Authority or the Israeli government.

In autumn 2002, a bulge of about 700 mm was reported in the southern retaining wall part of the Temple Mount. It was feared that that part of the wall might seriously deteriorate or even collapse. The Waqf would not permit detailed Israeli inspection but came to an agreement with Israel that led to a team of Jordanian engineers inspecting the wall in October. They recommended repair work that involved replacing or resetting most of the stones in the affected area which covers 2,000 square feet (200 m²) and is located 25 feet (8 m) from the top of the wall. Repairs were completed before January 2004. The restoration of 250 square meters of wall cost 100,000 Jordanian dinars ($140,000).

On February 11, 2004, the eastern wall of the Temple Mount was damaged by an earthquake. The damage threatens to topple sections of the wall into the area known as Solomon's Stables.

On February 16, 2004, a few days after the earthquake, a portion of a stone retaining wall, supporting the ramp that leads from the Western Wall plaza to the Gate of the Moors on the Temple Mount, collapsed.

Alterations to antiquities

In 1996 the Waqf began construction in the structures known since Crusader times as Solomon's Stables, and in the Eastern Hulda Gate passageway, allowed the area to be (re)opened as a mosque called the Marwani Musalla (claimed by Israel to be new, by Palestinians to be restored from pre-Crusader times, having been built by a calif named Marwani, and the Crusaders having turned it into stables) capable of accommodating 7,000 individuals. Many Israelis regard this as a radical change of the status quo under which the site had been administered since the Six-Day War which should not have been undertaken without consulting the Israeli government; Palestinians regard these objections as irrelevant. Though the building was built at the same time as the Al-Aqsa Mosque, whether the building had been a mosque before Crusader times or not is open to discussion.

In 1997, the Western Hulda Gate passageway was converted into another mosque. In November 1999, a buried Crusader-era door was reopened as an emergency exit for the Mosque located within the Solomon's Stables area, opening an excavation claimed by Israel to be 18,000 square feet (1,700 m²) in size and up to 36 feet (11 m) deep. According to The New York Times, an emergency exit had been urged upon the Waqf by the Israeli police, and its necessity was acknowledged by the Israel Antiquities Authority.

In early 2001, Israeli police said they observed bulldozers destroying an ancient arched structure located adjacent to the eastern wall of the Temple Mount in the course of construction during which 6,000 square meters of the Temple Mount were dug up by tractors, paved, and declared to be open air mosques, which is assumed to have intermixed the underlying strata. Some of the earth and rubble removed was dumped in the El-Azaria and in the Kidron Valleys, and some of it (as of September 2004) remained in mounds on the site. The excavation and removal of earth with minimal archaeological supervision became an issue of controversy, with some scholars such as Jon Seligman, Hershel Shanks and Eilat Mazar claiming that valuable history material is being destroyed and others, such as Dan Bahat and Meir Ben-Dov, disputing this assessment. The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) inspected the material and declared it of no archaeological value, but a group called the Committee for the Prevention of Destruction of Antiquities on the Temple Mount campaigned against this position and in September 2004 obtained a temporary injunction against the IAA and the Muslim Waqf preventing them from removing the material which still lies in mounds on the site. Both sides accuse the other of having political motivation.

The Ir David Foundation is currently funding the Israel Antiquities Authority sifting of the rubble and a sampling of its finds of archaeologically significant items are available on the internet.

Some claim that this will lead to the destabilization of the retaining walls of the Temple Mount, of which the Western Wall is one, and/or the al-Aqsa Mosque, and allege that one side is doing so deliberately to cause the collapse of the sacred sites of the other. Israelis allege that Palestinians are deliberately removing significant amounts of archaeological evidence about the Jewish past of the site and claim to have found significant artifacts in the fill removed by bulldozers and trucks from the Temple Mount. Muslims allege that the Israelis are deliberately damaging the remains of Islamic-era buildings found in their excavations.

Since the Waqf is granted almost full autonomy on the Islamic holy sites, Israeli archaeologists have been prevented from inspecting the area; they have, however, conducted several excavations around the Temple Mount.

Religious attitudes

In Judaism

Jewish connection and veneration to the site stems from the fact that it contains the Foundation Stone, which according to the Talmud, was the spot from where the world was created and expanded into its current form. It was subsequently the Holy of Holies of the Temple, the Most Holy Place in Judaism. Jewish tradition names it as the location for a number of important events which occured in the Bible, including the Binding of Isaac, Jacob's dream, and the prayer of Isaac and Rebekah. Similarly, when the Bible recounts that King David purchased a threshing floor owned by Aravnah the Jebusite, tradition locates it as being on this mount. An early Jewish text, the Genesis Rabba, states that this site is one of three that the nations of the world cannot taunt Israel and say ‘you have stolen them.’ it being purchased "for its full price" by David. David wanted to construct a sanctuary there, but this was left to his son Solomon, who completed the task in c950 BCE with the construction of the First Temple.

Due to Jewish religious restrictions on entering the most sacred areas of the Temple Mount, the Western Wall, a retaining wall the Temple Mount and remnant of the Second Temple structre, is considered the holiest accessible site for Jews to pray. Jewish texts record that the Mount will be the site of the Third Temple, which will be rebuilt with the coming of the Jewish Messiah.

Jewish religious law concerning entry to the site

During Temple times, entry to the Mount was limited by a complex set of purity laws. Maimonides wrote that it was only permitted to enter the site to fulfill a religious precept. After the destruction of the Temple there was discussion as to whether the site, bereft of the Temple, still maintained its holiness or not. Jewish codifiers accepted the opinion of Maimonides who ruled that the holiness of the Temple sanctified the site for eternity and consequently the restrictions on entry to the site are still currently in force. Most Jews will not set foot on the Mount so as not to incur the severe punishment of karet, spiritual death. There is debate over whether reports that Maimonides himself ascended the Mount are reliable. Some early scholars however, claim that entry onto certain areas of the Mount are permitted. It appears that Radbaz also entered the Mount and advised others how to do this. He permits entry from all the gates into the 135×135 cubits of the Women's Courtyard in the east, since the biblical prohibition only applies to the 187×135 cubits of the Temple in the west. There are also Christian and Islamic sources which indicate that Jews accessed the site, but these visits may have been made under duress.

Opinions of modern-day rabbis concerning entry to the site

In August 1967 after Israel's capture of the Mount, the chief rabbis of Israel, Isser Yehuda Unterman and Yitzhak Nissim, together with other leading rabbis, asserted that "For generations we have warned against and refrained from entering any part of the Temple Mount." Rabbinical consensus in the Religious Zionist stream of Orthodox Judaism continue to hold that it is forbidden for Jews to enter any part of the Temple Mount and in January 2005 a declaration was signed confirming the 1967 decision.

All Haredi rabbis are also of the opinion that the Mount is off limits to Jews and non-Jews alike. Their opinions against entering the Temple Mount are based of the danger of entering the hallowed area of the Temple courtyard and the impossibility of fulfilling the ritual requirement of cleansing oneself with the ashes of a red heifer. The boundaries of the areas which are completely forbidden, while having large portions in common, are delineated differently by various rabbinic authorities.

There are a minority of right-wing national religious rabbis who encourage visits to certain parts of the Mount, which they believe are permitted according to most medieval rabbinical authorities. One of them, Shlomo Goren, states that it's possible that Jews are even allowed to enter the heart of the Dome of the Rock, according to Jewish Law of Conquest. These authorities advise ablution in a mikva prior to ascending the Mount.

The law committee of the Masorti movement in Israel has issued two responsa on the subject, both holding that Jews may visit the permitted sections of the Temple Mount. One responsa allows such visits, another encourages them.

In Islam

In Islam, the Mount is called al-haram al-qudsī ash-sharīf, meaning the Noble Sanctuary. Muslims view the site as being one of the earliest and most noteworthy places of worship of God. For a few months in the early stages of Islam, Muhammad instructed his followers to face the Mount during prayer, as the Jews did. Later identifcation of the Mount being the site of the "Farthest Mosque", (mentioned in the Koran as the location of Muhammad's miraculous nocturnal journey), gave rise to various Hadiths which emphasised the virtue of praying at the site. Today the area is regarded by the majority of Muslims as the third holiest site in Islam. This being the case, Muslims are resolute in calling for recognition of their exclusive rights over the site and demand that it be wholly transferred over to Muslim sovereignty.

Some Muslims deny any association with the Mount to the former Jewish Temple which stood at the site. Historically, however, Muslims acknowledged the Mount as being the site of the Temple of Solomon. Shaykh Prof. Abdul Hadi Palazzi suggests that the Quran expressly recognizes that Temple Mount in Jerusalem plays for Jews the same role that Mecca does for Muslims.

In Christianity

The Temple is mentioned many times in the New Testament (for example, Mark 11:11) in addition to the Old Testament. In these scriptures, Jesus prays there (Mark 11:25–26) and chases away money changers and other merchants from the courtyard, turning over their tables and accusing them of desecrating a sacred place with secular ways (see Jesus and the Money Changers). Jesus also predicts the destruction of the Second Temple (Matthew 24:2) and allegorically compares his body to a temple that will be torn down and raised up again in three days.

Though some Christians believe that the temple will be reconstructed before, or concurrent with, the Second Coming of Christ, the Temple Mount is largely unimportant to the beliefs and worship of most Christians. To wit, the New Testament recounts a story of a Samaritan woman asking Jesus about the appropriate place to worship, Jerusalem or the Samaritan holy place at Mt. Gerazim, to which Jesus replies, "neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father... But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth."

Recent events

See also

• Jerusalem in Judaism
• Jerusalem in Christianity
• Jerusalem in Islam
• Excavations of Al-Aqsa Mosque
• Gates of the Temple Mount
• Committee for the Prevention of Destruction of Antiquities on the Temple Mount

References

1. Rizwi Faizer (1998). "The Shape of the Holy: Early Islamic Jerusalem". Rizwi's Bibliography for Medieval Islam.
2. Wilkinson, Jerusalem Pilgrims Before the Crusades, p. 204
3. See "Julian and the Jews 361–363 CE" and "Julian the Apostate and the Holy Temple".
4. Was the Aksa Mosque built over the remains of a Byzantine church?, By ETGAR LEFKOVITS, Jerusalem Post, Nov. 16, 2008
5. Was the Aksa Mosque built over the remains of a Byzantine church?, By ETGAR LEFKOVITS, Jerusalem Post, Nov. 16, 2008
6. Oleg Grabar, The Haram ak-Sharif: An essay in interpretation, BRIIFS vol. 2 no 2 (Autumn 2000).
7. Ordnance Survey of Jerusalem
8. http://www.pef.org.uk/Pages/ProjJER1.htm
9. Preservation of the Holy Places Law, 1967.
10. Jerusalem - The Legal and Political Background, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of Israel.
11. Nadav Shragai, Three Jews expelled from Temple Mount for praying.
12. See "The Washington Post, Opinion Columns, July 17, 2000 Protect the Temple Mount by Hershel Shanks
13. Policeman Assaulted Trying to Stop Illegal Temple Mount Dig - Jewish World - Israel News - Arutz Sheva
14. Jerusalem's Temple Mount Flap
15. Waqf Temple Mount excavation raises archaeologists' protests - Haaretz - Israel News
16. Photograph of the northern wall area
17. Wilson's map of the features under the Temple Mount
18. Kaufman, Asher (May 23, 1991). "The Temple Site" (Abstract). The Jerusalem Post. p. 13. Retrieved 2007-03-04. The most important findings of the superposition of the Second Temple on the Temple area are that the Dome of the Rock was not built on the site of the Temple, and that the Temple was taper-shaped on the western side, a form hitherto unknown to the scholars.
19. "Researcher says found location of the Holy Temple". Ynetnews. February 9, 2007. Retrieved 2007-03-04. Archaeology Professor Joseph Patrich uncovered a large water cistern that points, in his opinion, to the exact location of the altar and sanctuary on the Temple Mount. According to his findings, the rock on which the Dome of the Rock is built is outside the confines of the Temple.
20. Under the Temple Mount
21. Photograph of the inside of the Golden Gate
22. image of the double gate passage
23. Photograph of King Solomon's Stables
24. Photograph of one of the chambers under the Triple Gate passageway
25. Jacqueline Schaalje, Special: The Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
26. ^ Abraham Rabinovich, Tunnel vision.
27. Omayma Abdel-Latif, Revoking the death warrant
28. The UNESCO fiasco
29. Esther Hecht, Battle of the Bulge
30. Jeruslam Post
31. Jerusalem Post
32. On-the-Spot Report from the Kotel Women´s Section Construction
33. archaeology.org
34. Nadav Shragai, First Temple artifacts found in dirt removed from Temple Mount
35. Recent finds from the Temple Mount
36. Al-Ahram: "Revoking the death warrant"
37. Babylonian Talmud Yoma 54b
38. Toledot 25:21
39. 2 Samuel 24:18–25
40. Genesis Rabba 79.7: "And he bought the parcel of ground, where he had spread his tent...for a hundred pieces of money." Rav Yudan son of Shimon said: ‘This is one of the three places where the non-Jews cannot deceive the Jewish People by saying that they stole it from them, and these are the places: Ma’arat HaMachpela, the Temple and Joseph's burial place. Ma’arat HaMachpela because it is written: ‘And Abraham hearkened unto Ephron; and Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver,’ (Genesis, 23:16); the Temple because it is written: ‘So David gave to Ornan for the place,’ (I Chronicles, 21:26); and Joseph's burial place because it is written: ‘And he bought the parcel of ground...Jacob bought Shechem.’ (Genesis, 33:19)." See also: Kook, Abraham Issac, Moadei Hare'iya, pp. 413–415.
41. Sefer ha-Charedim Mitzvat Tshuva, Chapter 3; Shu"t Minchas Yitzchok, vol. 6
42. Shaarei Teshuvah, Orach Chaim 561:1; cf. Teshuvoth Radbaz 691
43. Moshe Sharon. "Islam on the Temple Mount" Biblical Archaeology Review July/August 2006. p. 36–47, 68. "Immediately after its construction, five Jewish families from Jerusalem were employed to clean the Dome of the Rock and to prepare wicks for its lamps"
44. The Kaf hachaim (Orach Chaim 94:1:4 citing Radvaz Vol. 2; Ch. 648) mentions a case of a Jew who was forced onto the Temple Mount.
45. Lapidoth, Ruth (1994). The Jerusalem Question and Its Resolution: Selected Documents. Jerusalem: Martinus Nijhoff. p. 542. ISBN 0792328930. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
46. These rabbis include: Mordechai Eliyahu, former Sefardi Chief Rabbi of Israel; Zalman Baruch Melamed, rosh yeshiva of the Beit El yeshiva; Eliezer Waldenberg, former rabbinical judge in the Rabbinical Supreme Court of the State of Israel; Avraham Yitzchak Kook, Chief Rabbi of Palestine (Mikdash-Build (Vol. I, No. 26)); Avigdor Nebenzahl, Rabbi of the Old City of Jerusalem.
47. These rabbis include: Rabbis Yona Metzger (Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel); Shlomo Amar (Sefardi Chief Rabbi of Israel); Ovadia Yosef (spiritual leader of Sefardi Haredi Judaism and of the Shas party, and former Sefardi Chief Rabbi of Israel); Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron (former Sefardi Chief Rabbi of Israel); Shmuel Rabinowitz (rabbi of the Western Wall); Avraham Shapiro (former Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel); Shlomo Aviner (rosh yeshiva of Ateret Cohanim); Yisrael Meir Lau (former Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel and current Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv). Source: Leading rabbis rule Temple Mount is off-limits to Jews
48. These rabbis include: Yaakov Yisrael Kanievsky (Thoughts on the 28th of Iyar - Yom Yerushalayim); Yosef Sholom Eliashiv
49. Yoel Cohen, The political role of the Israeli Chief Rabbinate in the Temple Mount question
50. ^ Yated Ne'eman article
51. These rabbis include: Shlomo Goren (former Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel); Chaim David Halevi (former Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv and Yaffo); Dov Lior (Rabbi of Kiryat Arba); Yosef Elboim; Yisrael Ariel; She'ar Yashuv Cohen (Chief Rabbi of Haifa); Yuval Sherlo (rosh yeshiva of the hesder yeshiva of Petah Tikva); Meir Kahane.
52. Haaretz
53. Fendel, Hillel (November 6, 2006). "Israeli Sheikh: Temple Mount is Entirely Islamic". Arutz Sheva. Retrieved 2006-11-12. {{cite web}}: Text "We remind, for the 1,000th time, that the entire Al-Aqsa mosque, including all of its area and alleys above the ground and under it, is exclusive and absolute Muslim property, and no one else has any rights to even one grain of earth in it." ignored (help); Text "quote" ignored (help)
54. Sheikh Salah: Western Wall belongs to Muslims, February 18, 2007
55. Muslim acknowledgement of existence of the Temple:
    • "The Rock was in the time of Solomon the son of David 12 cubits high and there was a dome over it...It is written in the Tawrat : 'Be happy Jerusalem,' which is Bayt al-Maqdis and the Rock which is called Haykal." al-Wasati, Fada'il al Bayt al-Muqaddas, ed. Izhak Hasson (Jerusalem, 1979) pp. 72ff.
    • "The Farthest Mosque must refer to the site of the Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem on the hill of Moriah, at or near which stands the Dome of the Rock… it was a sacred place to both Jews and Christians… The chief dates in connection with the Temple in Jerusalem are: It was finished by Solomon about 1004 BCE; destroyed by the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar about 586 BCE; rebuilt under Ezra and Nehemiah about 515 BCE; turned into a heathen idol temple by one of Alexander the Great's successors, Antiochus Epiphanes, 167 BCE; restored by Herod, 17 BCE to 29; and completely razed to the ground by the Emperor Titus in 70. These ups and downs are among the greater signs in religious history." (Yusuf Ali, Commentary on the Koran, 2168.)
    • "The city of Jerusalem was chosen at the command of Allah by Prophet David in the tenth century BC. After him his son Prophet Solomon built a mosque in Jerusalem according to the revelation that he received from Allah. For several centuries this mosque was used for the worship of Allah by many Prophets and Messengers of Allah. It was destroyed by the Babylonians in the year 586 BC., but it was soon rebuilt and was rededicated to the worship of Allah in 516 BC. It continued afterwards for several centuries until the time of Prophet Jesus. After he departed this world, it was destroyed by the Romans in the year 70 CE." (Siddiqi, Dr. Muzammil. Status of Al-Aqsa Mosque, IslamOnline, May 21, 2007. Retrieved July 12, 2007.)
    • "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). Fantastic tales of Solomon's construction of the Temple also appear in the Qisas al-anbiya', the medieval compendia of Muslim legends about the pre-Islamic prophets." (Kramer, Martin. The Temples of Jerusalem in Islam, Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, September 18, 2000. Retrieved November 21, 2007.)
    • "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." (Khalidi, Rashid. Transforming the Face of the Holy City: Political Messages in the Built Topography of Jerusalem, Bir Zeit University, November 12, 1998.)
56. A Brief Guide to al-Haram al-Sharif, a booklet published in 1930 by the "Supreme Moslem Council", a body established by the British government to administer waqfs and headed by Hajj Amin al-Husayni during the British Mandate period, states on page 3: "The site is one of the oldest in the world. Its sanctity dates from the earliest (perhaps from pre-historic) times. Its identity with the site of Solomon's Temple is beyond dispute. This, too, is the spot, according to universal belief, on which David built there an altar unto the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings." (A subsequent footnote refers the reader to 2 Samuel 26:25)
57. Palazzi, Shaykh Prof. Abdul Hadi. "What the Qur'an Really Says". Retrieved 2007-07-12.
58. "Arabs Vandalize Judaism's Holiest Site". Arutz Sheva. March 31, 2005. Retrieved 2007-07-11.
59. Rightist MK Ariel visits Temple Mount as thousands throng Wall
60. The Times, October 14 2006
61. Fendel, Hillel (February 7, 2007). "Jerusalem Arabs Riot, Kassams Fired, After Old City Excavations". Arutz Sheva. Retrieved 2007-02-07.
62. Weiss, Efrat (February 7, 2007). "Syria slams Jerusalem works". Yedioth Ahronoth. Retrieved 2007-02-07. Israeli excavation works near the al-Aqsa mosque in the holy city of Jerusalem have led to a dangerous rise in Middle East tensions and could derail revival of Arab-Israeli peace talks... what Israel is doing in its practices and attacks against our sacred Muslim sites in Jerusalem and al-Aqsa is a blatant violation that is not acceptable under any pretext
63. Ynetnews
64. Haaretz
65. Sela, Neta (May 16, 2007). "Rabbi Shapira forbids visiting temple Mount". Ynet. Retrieved 2007-05-17.

External links

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General

• Forbidden sites on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem (+Video) Video from the Mosques and Solomon Stables
• Temple Mount Photo Gallery
• Temple Mount Presentation (Forbidden Sites - Exclusive Photos) Exclusive Photos from the forbidden sites on the Temple Mount
• A vision for the Temple Mount
• Friends of Al-Aqsa Defense of Al-Aqsa.
• Temple Mount, Jerusalem Watercolors from the Temple Mount, Jerusalem, by Kosinski
• The Temple Mount on foot Temple Mount on foot
• 2000 Ariel Sharon's visit to the Temple Mount — From Ariel Sharon's Life Story, a biography
• The Haram al-Sharif: An Essay in Interpretation by Oleg Grabar (discussing the history of the name "Haram al-Sharif")
• Protection of Holy Places Law, 1967 (Government of Israel)
• The Temple Mount (from US-Israel.org)
• The Temple Mount in Jerusalem (Christian source)
• Noble Sanctuary: The Online Guide to Al-Haram al-Sharif in Jerusalem
• Pictures of the Temple Mount
• Entering the Temple Mount In Our Time, Masorti movement responsa
• Schestkow Temple Mount photos
• Jerusalem Photos
• Temple Mount and possible site of the 3rd Jewish Temple
• Liberation of the Temple Mount and Western Wall by Israel Defense Forces — Historic Live Broadcast on Voice of Israel Radio, June 7, 1967
• Rabbis visiting Temple Mount 'hope for an awakening

Archeological controversy

• Jerusalem's Temple Mount Flap (from Archaeology magazine)
• The Archeological Destruction on the Temple Mount (from "Israel's War Against Terror")
• The Temple Mount Archaeological Destruction (with photographs of the construction) from Committee for the Prevention of Destruction of Antiquities on the Temple Mount
• The Destruction of the Temple Mount Antiquities (Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs)
• Islamic Research Academy on archeological damage
• Friends of Al-Aqsa Journal (on archaeological damage)
• Controversy over exact location of the Temples
• The Temples of Jerusalem in Islam Qur'anic and other references analyzed, by Martin Kramer
• Temple Mount Antiquities Salvage Operation
• Temple Mount Destruction (fromBiblical Archaeology Review)

Mugrabi Gate ramp reconstruction

• 11 arrested in riots following J'lem works
• Jordan attacks Israel over mosque excavations
• live broadcast from The Israel Antiquities Authority's website of the Excavation at the Mughrabi Ramp
• Israel blocks Jerusalem protest
• UNESCO Report

31°46′39.4″N 35°14′7.8″E / 31.777611°N 35.235500°E / 31.777611; 35.235500

v t e Old City of Jerusalem and its walls
World Heritage Site by UNESCO since 1981 Sorted by religions
Christianity	"Status Quo" Church of the Holy Sepulchre Deir es-Sultan Chapel of Saint Helena Via Dolorosa See also: New Church of the Theotokos Catholic Latin (Patriarch) Co-Cathedral of the Most Holy Name of Jesus Franciscans (Custos) Monastery of Saint Saviour Monastery of the Flagellation Church of the Condemnation Church of the Flagellation Chapel of Simon of Cyrene Convent of the Sisters of Zion Church of Saint Anne Church of the Holy Family Defunct Church of Saint James Intercisus Church of Saint Mary of the Germans Church of Saint Mary of the Latins Templum Domini Melkite Catholic (Patriarch) Cathedral of the Annunciation Armenian Catholic Church of Our Lady of Sorrows Maronite Catholic Maronite Convent Eastern Orthodox Greek Orthodox (Patriarch) Church of Saint John the Baptist Oriental Orthodox Armenian Orthodox (Patriarch) Cathedral of Saint James Church of the Holy Archangels Church of Saint Toros Syriac Orthodox Monastery of Saint Mark Coptic Orthodox (Archbishop) Deir es-Sultan Protestant Anglican Communion Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East Christ Church Lutheran Protestant Church in Germany Church of the Redeemer	Areas, quarters Christian Quarter Muristan Muslim Quarter Armenian Quarter Jewish Quarter Temple Mount Gates 1. Jaffa 2. Zion 3. Dung 4. Golden 5. Lions 6. Herod 7. Damascus 8. New (Double, Single, Tanners') Al-Mawazin Surrounding streets, roads: Highway 60 Jaffa Road Jericho Ma'ale HaShalom Ofel Sultan Suleiman
Islam (Sunni Islamic Grand Mufti)	Al-Aqsa (Waqf) Qibli Mosque Dome of the Ascension Dome of the Chain Dome of al-Khidr Dome of al-Khalili Dome of the Prophet Dome of the Rock Dome of Yusuf Madrasa Al-Ashrafiyya Marwani Mosque Other mosques Al-Buraq Mosque Al-Yaqoubi Mosque Al-Khanqah al-Salahiyya Mosque Mosque of Omar Al Dissi Mosque Sidna Omar Mosque
Judaism (Sephardic/Ashkenazi Chief Rabbis)	General Southern Wall Western Wall Western Wall Tunnel Little Western Wall Orthodox Jewish Ramban Synagogue Ari Synagogue Four Sephardic Synagogues Ohr ha-Chaim Synagogue Tzuf Dvash Synagogue Hurva Synagogue Ohel Yitzchak Synagogue Defunct Tiferet Yisrael Synagogue
Remnants or rebuilt buildings in italic Israel portal Palestine portal Christianity portal Islam portal Judaism portal

• Misplaced Pages external links cleanup from July 2007
• Temple Mount
• Mountains of Jerusalem
• Conversion of non-Muslim places of worship into mosques
• Islam in Jerusalem