Mount Moriah

“In the last days the mountain of the LORD’s temple will be established as the highest of the mountains; it will be exalted above the hills, and peoples will stream to it.” (Micah 4:1)

"As the navel is set in the centre of the human body,

so is the land of Israel the navel of the world... 

situated in the centre of the world, 

and Jerusalem in the centre of the land of Israel, 

and the sanctuary in the centre of Jerusalem, 

and the holy place in the centre of the sanctuary, 

and the ark in the centre of the holy place, 

and the foundation stone before the holy place, 

because from it the world was founded."

Midrash Tanchuma, Qedoshim.

              The Temple Mount, known in Hebrew as Har HaBáyit (Hebrew: הַר הַבַּיִת) or as Har HaMōriyā (Hebrew: הַר הַמוריה) and in Arabic as the Haram al-Sharif (Arabic: الحرم القدسي الشريف‎, al-ḥaram al-qudsī ash-šarīf), the Noble Sanctuary, is one of the most important religious sites in the Old City of Jerusalem.

The present site is dominated by three monumental structures from the early Umayyad period: the al-Aqsa Mosque, the Dome of the Rock and the Dome of the Chain.


Traditions identify it with two biblical mountains ; Mount Moriah where the story of the binding of Isaac is set, and Mount Zion where the original Jebusite fortress stood.

According to the Bible, both Jewish Temples stood at the Temple Mount, though there is no proof for the first temple.[3] However, the identification of Solomon's Temple with the area of the Temple Mount is widespread

According to Jewish tradition and scripture (2 Chronicles 3:1-2), the first temple was built by King Solomon the son of King David in 957 BCE and destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BCE. The second was constructed under the auspices of Zerubbabel in 516 BCE and destroyed by the Roman Empire in 70 CE. Afterwards the site remained undeveloped for six centuries, until the Arab conquest.[5] Jewish tradition maintains it is here a Third and final Temple will also be built.

After the Muslim conquest of Jerusalem in 637 CE, Umayyad Caliphs commissioned the construction of the al-Aqsa Mosque and Dome of the Rock on the site.[7] The Dome was completed in 692 CE, making it one of the oldest extant Islamic structures in the world, after the Kaabah. The Al Aqsa Mosque rests on the far southern side of the Mount, facing Mecca. The Dome of the Rock currently sits in the middle, occupying or close to the area where the Holy Temple previously stood.[8]

The shrine of the dome of the Rock, with its large golden dome and an octagon structure, was built in 696Ad. It is one of the most beautiful and enduring shrines in the World, and remained almost untouched throughout the years. The rock is, according to Muslim tradition, the spot where prophet Mohamed ascended to heaven.  The shrine is located in the center of a raised platform which itself is in the center of the temple mount.

this is the closest i could get with my camera
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