And despite the wait at the border, it worked! Very few people there. Those of us who weren't covered up enough were given long skirts and shirts to wear over your clothes.
The Temple Mount is on the site of Mount Moriah where Abraham went to sacrifice his son Issac (or Ishmael, according to Muslim tradition). Solomon built the first temple here around 950 BC. It was destroyed by the Babylonians 360 years later. The Jews were allowed to return to rebuild the temple about 515 BC.
The temple that Jesus knew was built by Herod and is known as the Second Temple. He began by building a huge platform to extend the Temple Mount. Construction continued for 83 years and the giant stones can still be seen in the Western Wall. It is 1/6 the size of the current Old City and covers 35 acres.
Herod's temple was completely destroyed in 70 AD when the emperor Titus ended the First Jewish Revolt. Just as Jesus had said, not one stone was left upon another. (Matthew 24:2) The emperor Hadrian made Jerusalem a Roman colony in 130 and Jews were forbidden from entering the city.
The Muslims conquered the area in the 7th century, cleared the rubbish from the Mount and built the Dome of the Rock around 690. This shrine is built over the rock where it is said that Mohammad made his night-long journey to paradise from in 621 AD.
The dome was originally lead but was covered in gold first in the 1960s and then again in 1993. The outside is ornately decorated and is quite beautiful. Along the inner arcade, this is written in Kufic script:
“O you People of the Book, overstep not bounds in your religion, and of God speak only the truth. The Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, is only an apostle of God, and his Word which he conveyed unto Mary, and a Spirit proceeding from him. Believe therefore in God and his apostles, and say not Three. It will be better for you. God is only one God. Far be it from his glory that he should have a son.”
The entire Mount is sacred to Muslims and only they are allowed to enter the Dome. On the final Friday of Ramadan, over 400,000 Muslims gather here.Orthodox Jews are forbidden to ascend the Mount for fear that they might walk on the area that was the Holy of Holies in the Temple.
Some believe the Holy of Holies is located under
the Done of the Tablets (or Dome of the Spirits)
a fountain for ritual cleansing
The smaller, but still beautiful, Dome of the Chain is where legend said a chain once rose to heaven...
Also located on the Temple Mount is the Al-Aqsa Mosque, originally built in 715AD. It is the third holiest site for the Muslim faith and over 4000 worshipers can lay prostrate on the floor to pray towards Mecca. It has been destroyed and rebuilt many times. The large hall has seven rows of columns that were donated by Benito Mussolini during a 20th-century restoration. There is also a stone that supposedly contains the left footprint of Jesus from His ascension.
When the Crusaders captured Jerusalem in 1099, they renamed the Dome of the Rock the Temple of the Lord and the Mosque became the palace of the king of Jerusalem and the headquarters of the Knights Templar. Next to the Rock is a small entrance to a cave known as The Well of Souls. Some believe it is the site of the Holy of Holies and some believe it is where the birth of John the Baptist was announced. The Crusaders used the cave as a confessional.
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