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The Dome of the Rock, being among a complex of buildings on the Temple Mount, (the other being the Al-Aqsa Mosque) is one of the holiest sites in Judaism, Islam and Christianity. 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. In an ancient Semitic tradition the bare rock at the top was thought to be the mouth of the serpent Tahum and the intersection of the underworld and upper world. It is also called the Foundation Stone. According to the sages of the Talmud it was from this rock that the world was created, itself being the first part of the Earth to come into existence. In the words of the Zohar: “The world was not created until God took a stone called Even haShetiyaand threw it into the depths where it was fixed from above till below, and from it the world expanded. It is the center point of the world and on this spot stood the Holy of Holies.” According to the Talm...

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 or to the Muslims as the Haram al-Sharif (“Noble Sanctuary”). 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 Rashidun 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. Umar was shocked to find the site covered in rubbish, as the Romans had initiated the custom of using it as a dung heap. Umar knelt down immediately, and began to clear the area with his hands. When the Muslims saw what he was doing, they followed his example, and soon the entire area of approximately 35 acres, was cleaned up. He commissioned the construction of a wooden mosque on the southern e...

Exterior The Dome is in the shape of a Byzantine martyrium, a structure intended for the housing and veneration of saintly relics, and is an excellent example of middle Byzantine art. al-Maqdisi reports that surplus funds consisting of 100,000 gold dinar coins were melted down and cast on the dome’s exterior, “which at the time had a strong glitter that no eye could look straight at it.”During the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent the exterior of the Dome of the Rock was covered with Iznik tiles. The work took seven years. Haj Amin Al-Husseini, appointed Grand Mufti by the British during the Mandate, along with Yacoub Al Ghussein implemented restoration of Dome of the Rock and Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. In 1955, an extensive program of renovation was begun by the government of Jordan, with funds supplied by the Arab governments and Turkey. The work included replacement of large numbers of tiles dating back to the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent, which had become dislodged by hea...

Crusaders During the Crusades, the Dome of the Rock was given to the Augustinians, who turned it into a church, and the Al-Aqsa Mosque became the royal palace of Baldwin I of Jerusalem in 1104. The Knights Templar, who believed the Dome of the Rock was the site of the Temple of Solomon, set up their headquarters in the Al-Aqsa Mosque adjacent to the Dome for much of the twelfth century. The “Templum Domini,” as they called it, was featured on the official seals of the Order’s Grand Masters (such as Evrard de Barres and Regnaud de Vichier), and it became the architectural model for Templar churches across Europe. Ayyubids and Mamluks Jerusalem was recaptured by Saladin on Friday, October 2, 1187, and the Haram was reconsecrated as a Muslim sanctuary. The cross on top of the Dome of the Rock was replaced by a golden crescent and a wooden screen was placed around the rock below. Salah al-Din’s nephew al-Malik al-Mu’azzam Isa (615-24/1218-27) carried out other restorations within the Ha...

The dome is formally owned and maintained by the Ministry of Awqaf in Jordan. Until the mid-nineteenth century, non-Muslims were barred from the area. Since 1967, non-Muslims have been allowed some entry, but non-Muslim prayers on the Temple Mount are not allowed. After Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon visited the Temple Mount in 2000, in what was considered by some a provocative gesture that set off Muslim rioting, non-Muslims were forbidden to enter the Temple compound. In 2006, the compound was reopened to non-Muslim visitors free of charge. Non-muslims may never enter on Fridays, Saturdays, or Muslim holidays. Entry is through a covered wooden walkway next to the security entrance to the Western Wall known as the Mugrabi or Maimonides Gate. Entry to the mosques themselves is prohibited to non-Muslims, as is access to the Temple Mount through the Cotton Market. Visitors undergo strict security screening, and items such as Hebrew prayerbooks or musical instruments are not allow...

Notes 1. Rizwi Faizer, The Shape of the Holy: Early Islamic Jerusalem,Rizwi’s Bibliography for Medieval Islam. Retrieved May 27, 2008. 2. Tractate Yoma 54b. 3. ↑Vayechi 1:231. 4. 1 Chronicles 21:25, and 2 Samuel 24:18-25. 5. Wilkinson, Jerusalem Pilgrims Before the Crusades,p. 204. 6. Victoria and Albert Museum, Drawings of Islamic Buildings: Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem.Retrieved May 27, 2008. 7. Abu-Bakr al-Wasiti, Fada’il Bayt al-Maqdis, p. 80-81. 8. Encyclopedia Britannica, Dome of the Rock.Retrieved May 27, 2008. 9. Shams al-Din al-Maqdisi, Ahsan al-Taqasim fi Mar’rifat al-Aqalim, 2nd ed. (Leiden, 1967) pp. 159-171. 10. Shlomo Dov Goitein, “The Historication Background of the Erection of the Dome of the Rock,” Journal of American Oriental Society,Vol. 70, No. 2, 1950. 11. Glass, Steel, and Stone, Dome of the Rock.Retrieved May 27, 2008. 12. Mark Twain, The Innocents Abroad. 13. Abu-Bakr al-Wasiti, Fada’il Bayt al-Maqdis,p. 80-81. 14. www.hzzretz.co.il, Photo of Shlomo Goren insi...