[271], A few hours after the Temple Mount came under Israeli control during the Six-Day War, a message from the Chief Rabbis of Israel, Isser Yehuda Unterman and Yitzhak Nissim was broadcast, warning that Jews were not permitted to enter the site. 'for generations and generations'], against entering the entire area of the Temple Mount and have indeed avoided doing so. He permits entry from all the gates into the 135 x 135 cubits of the Women's Courtyard in the east, since the biblical prohibition only applies to the 187 x 135 cubits of the Temple in the west. [281] These authorities demand an attitude of veneration on the part of Jews ascending the Temple Mount, ablution in a mikveh prior to the ascent, and the wearing of non-leather shoes. The Temple Mount is holy to both Muslims and Jews, and to Christians as well. The ambitious project, which involved the employment of 10,000 workers,[189] more than doubled the size of the Temple Mount to approximately 36 acres (150,000m2). [204][205] In a letter attributed to Julian he wrote to the Jews that "This you ought to do, in order that, when I have successfully concluded the war in Persia, I may rebuild by my own efforts the sacred city of Jerusalem, which for so many years you have longed to see inhabited, and may bring settlers there, and, together with you, may glorify the Most High God therein. [123] It was to this end, proof of a biblical prophecy fulfilled and of Christianity's victory over Judaism with the New Covenant,[124] that early Christian pilgrims also visited the site. Indeed, its armed wing, the Haganah militia, assassinated a Jewish man when his plan to blow up the Islamic sites on the Haram came to their attention in 1931. Al-Aqsa [8] [9] [a] According to Jewish tradition and scripture, [11] the First Temple was built by King Solomon, the son of King David, in 957 BCE, and was destroyed by the Neo-Babylonian Empire, together with Jerusalem, in 587 BCE. 2. [19] For Sunni and Shia Muslims alike, it ranks as the third holiest site in Islam. [237] In December 1997, Israeli security services preempted an attempt by Jewish extremists to throw a pig's head wrapped in the pages of the Quran into the area, in order to spark a riot and embarrass the government. [221], Neither Israeli Arabs nor Israeli Jews could visit their holy places in the Jordanian territories during this period.[223][224]. In addition to the restoration of the Temple, its courtyards and porticoes, Herod also built the Antonia Fortress, which dominated the northwestern corner of the Temple Mount, and a rainwater reservoir, Birket Israel, in the northeast. This Jewish Holy Temple, called the Second Temple, was the holiest Jewish site of worship until it was destroyed by the Roman Empire in the 70 A.D. as punishment for a Jewish revolt. Three thousand years of recorded history sit atop, around, and below the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, Israel's capital city. What's the real Al-Aqsa Mosque? As a result, the Al-Aqsa Mosque has been rebuilt and renovated several times since its original Umayyad construction. [52][60][61], Al-Jmi' al-Aq refers to the specific site of the silver-domed congregational mosque building,[51][52][53] also referred to as Qibli Mosque or Qibli Chapel (al-Jami' al-Aqsa or al-Qibli, or Masjid al-Jumah or al-Mughata), in reference to its location on the southern end of the compound as a result of the Islamic qibla being moved from Jerusalem to Mecca. Judaism's holiest site, the Western Wall (Kotel in Hebrew), is on the southwest side. The Jews never had a temple in Jerusalem - ever. Modern scholarship tends to regard them as distinct (see Moriah). The mount is also the site of both ancient Jewish temples. [175] The Bible also mentions several other buildings constructed by Solomon at the site, including the royal palace, the "House of the Lebanon Forest", the "Hall of Pillars", the "Hall of Throne" and the "House of Pharaoh's Daughter". [212] Al-Ahbar advised Umar to build a mosque to the north of the rock, so that worshippers would face both the rock and Mecca, but instead Umar chose to build it to the south of the rock. Solomon placed the Ark in the Holy of Holies the windowless innermost sanctuary and most sacred area of the temple in which God's presence rested;[109] entry into the Holy of Holies was heavily restricted, and only the High Priest of Israel entered the sanctuary once per year on Yom Kippur, carrying the blood of a sacrificial lamb and burning incense. On 26 January 1984 Waqf guards detected members of B'nei Yehuda, a messianic cult of former gangsters turned mystics based in Lifta, trying to infiltrate the area to blow it up. xxiv. The golden domed mosque is called the Dome of the Rock because it was built on top of the Foundation Stone which according to Jewish tradition is the holiest place in the world. "[204] Julian saw the Jewish God as a fitting member of the pantheon of gods he believed in, and he was also a strong opponent of Christianity. [156][158] Later hadiths referred to Jerusalem as the site of the Al-Aqsa Mosque:[159], Narrated Jabir bin `Abdullah: [36] The term Har haBayt is used throughout the Mishnah and later Talmudic texts. [31][32] During a 2016 dispute over the name of the site, UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova stated: "Different peoples worship the same places, sometimes under different names. Together with the extension of Israeli jurisdiction and administration over east Jerusalem, the Knesset passed the Preservation of the Holy Places Law,[256] ensuring protection of the Holy Places against desecration, as well as freedom of access thereto. Answer The Temple Mount is the holiest site in Judaism, the third holiest site in Islam, and a revered site to Christians. "[272] The signatures of more than 300 prominent rabbis were later obtained. The Israeli Chief Rabbinate also declared a religious holiday on the anniversary, called "Yom Yerushalayim" (Jerusalem Day), which became a national holiday to commemorate the reunification of Jerusalem. The Romans completely destroyed the Temple and all the other structures on the platform. At present, the Government of Israel controls access to the site, an Islamic religious endowment that lies under the management of the Jordan-based Jerusalem Islamic Waqf. As in Judaism, Muslims also associate the site with Abraham, and other prophets who are also venerated in Islam. 'Mount of the House [of the Holy]'), also known as al-aram al-Sharf (Arabic: , lit. ca. Built by King Herod during Roman occupation, it's one of the outer retaining walls, with limestone block upon sfn error: no target: CITEREFTemple_of_Jerusalem (, sfn error: no target: CITEREFJonker1990 (, sfn error: no target: CITEREFStefon2020 (, sfn error: no target: CITEREFBritannica:_Holy_of_Holies (, Deuteronomy 12:5-26; 14:23-25; 15:20; 16:2-16; 17:8-10; 26: 2; 31: 11; Isaiah 2: 2-5; Obadiah 1:21; Psalms 48. They preferred to use the esplanade as the heart for the Muslim quarter, since it had been abandoned by Christians, to avoid disturbing the Christian quarters of Jerusalem. In 610, the Sassanid Empire drove the Byzantine Empire out of the Middle East, giving the Jews control of Jerusalem for the first time in centuries. [299], Over the period 197088, a number of tunnels were excavated in the vicinity, including one that passed to the west of the Mount and became known as the Western Wall Tunnel, which was opened to the public in 1996. Tome 1. pp. The Mamluks also raised the level of Jerusalem's Central or Tyropoean Valley bordering the Temple Mount from the west by constructing huge substructures, on which they then built on a large scale. It is also one of the most valuable pieces of real estate and one of the most hotly contested pieces of real estate on earth. Reich, R. and Billig, Y. ", "The Conquests of Jerusalem by Pompey and Herod: On Sabbath or Sabbath of Sabbaths? Many Israelis Think So, Poll Shows,', "The Temple Mount/al-Aqsa in Zionist and Palestinian National Consciousness: A Comparative View", "Amid Temple Mount tumult, the who, what and why of its Waqf rulers", "EXPLAINER: What Are the Temple Movements and Why Should We Be Worried? [277] Their opinions against entering the Temple Mount are based on the current political climate surrounding the Mount,[278] along with the potential 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. According to the rabbinic sages whose debates produced the Talmud, the Foundation Stone, which sits below the Dome of the Rock, was the spot from where the world was created and expanded into its current form,[98][99] and where God gathered the dust used to create the first human, Adam. [251][252] In October 2021, a Jewish man, Aryeh Lippo, who was banned by Israeli police from the Temple Mount for fifteen days after being caught quietly praying, had his ban overturned by an Israeli court on the grounds that his behavior had not violated police instructions. The plaza includes the location regarded as where the Islamic prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven,[21] and served as the first "qibla", the direction Muslims turn towards when praying. Cultural and religious sites in both sides of the city were destroyed and neglected and the Jewish community barred from its sacred places.[247]. [262][263][264], Due to religious restrictions on entering the most sacred areas of the Temple Mount (see following section), the Western Wall, a retaining wall for the Temple Mount and remnant of the Second Temple structure, is considered by some rabbinical authorities to be the holiest accessible site for Jews to pray at. To accomplish this, Pompey waited for Sabbaths, so the defenders would not disrupt the work. This artificial expansion resulted in a large flat expanse which today forms the eastern section of the Old City of Jerusalem. Herod leveled the area by cutting away rock on the northwest side and raising the sloping ground to the south. The mosque sits inside a 35-acre site known by Muslims as Haram al-Sharif, or the Noble Sanctuary, and by Jews as the. A September 2000 visit to the Temple Mount by the Israeli politician Ariel Sharon was interpreted by Palestinians as a provocative assertion of Israel's sovereignty, and helped spark the second. The Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem has long been one of the main flashpoints of Israeli-Palestinian friction. [170][171] The qibla was relocated to the Kaaba where Muslims have been directed to pray ever since. [243], In the first ten years of British rule in Palestine, all were allowed entry to the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif complex. Shortly after capturing the site, Israel handed its administration back to the Waqf under the Jordanian Hashemite custodianship, while maintaining Israeli security control. [155] A group of Islamic scholars understood the story of Muhammad's ascension from al-Aqsa Mosque as relating to the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. [274] The ruling said "We have been warned, since time immemorial [lit. The first, built by King Solomon, was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 . Shatzman, I. [284], The large courtyard (sahn)[20] can host more than 400,000 worshippers, making it one of the largest mosques in the world. [105], The First Temple was instead constructed under David's son Solomon,[106] who became an ambitious builder of public works in ancient Israel:[107]. The Al Aqsa Mosque rests on the far southern side of the Mount, facing Mecca. [226] Jews were given the right to visit the Temple Mount unobstructed and free of charge if they respected Muslims' religious feelings and acted decently, but they were not allowed to pray. In the New Testament, Herod's Temple was the site of several events in the life of Jesus, and Christian loyalty to the site as a focal point remained long after his death. These two structures remain intact today. Shortly before the Byzantines took the area back five years later in 615, the Persians gave control to the Christian population, who tore down the partially built Jewish Temple edifice and turned it into a garbage dump,[209] which is what it was when the Rashidun Caliph Umar took the city in 637. Climate III. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. The Temple Mount is the holiest site in Judaism. [162] Based on the writings of the eighth century historians Al-Waqidi[163] and al-Azraqi, some scholars have suggested that al-Aqsa Mosque mentioned in the Qur'an is not in Jerusalem but in the village of al-Ju'ranah, 18 miles northeast of Mecca. "Furthest Mosque"), corresponding to the Islamic belief of Muhammad's miraculous nocturnal journey as recounted in the Quran and hadith. [220][bettersourceneeded]. Umayyah Abdul Malik ibn Marwan also constructed the adjacent smaller Dome of the Chain to mark the central spot of the Al Aqsa sanctuary. [227][228][229], On 15 January 1988, during the First Intifada, Israeli troops fired rubber bullets and tear gas at protesters outside the mosque, wounding 40 worshipers. The rebuilding of the Temple remained a recurring theme among generations, particularly in thrice-daily Amidah (Standing prayer), central prayer of the Jewish liturgy, which contains a plea for the building of a Third Temple and the restoration of sacrificial services. El Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount. [222], Jordan undertook two renovations of the Dome of the Rock, replacing the leaking, wooden inner dome with an aluminum dome in 1952, and, when the new dome leaked, carrying out a second restoration between 1959 and 1964. The Second Temple was constructed in 516 BCE after the First Temple or Solomon's temple was destroyed by the Neo-Babylonian Empire in 586 BCE. "[33], The term Har haBayt commonly translated as "Temple Mount" in English was first used in the books of Micah (4:1) and Jeremiah (26:18) literally as "Mount of the House", a literary variation of the longer phrase "Mountain of the House of the Lord" the abbreviation was not used again in the later books of the Hebrew Bible[34] or in the New Testament. It is Judaism's holiest site, but Jews are not allowed to pray there. [272] His behavior displeased the government, which restricted his public actions, censored his writings, and in August prevented him from attending the annual Oral Law Conference at which the question of access to the Mount was debated. 15 et seq. [269] There are also Christian and Islamic sources which indicate that Jews visited the site,[270] but these visits may have been made under duress. There have been several changes to the status quo: Many Palestinians believe the status quo is threatened since right-wing Israelis have been challenging it with more force and frequency, asserting a religious right to pray there. [54][55] Arabic and Persian writers such as 10th century geographer Al-Maqdisi,[56] 11th century scholar Nasir Khusraw,[56] 12th century geographer Muhammad al-Idrisi[57] and 15th century Islamic scholar Mujir al-Din,[58][59] as well as 19th century American and British Orientalists Edward Robinson,[51] Guy Le Strange and Edward Henry Palmer explained that the term Masjid al-Aqsa refers to the entire esplanade plaza which is the subject of this article the entire area including the Dome of the Rock, the fountains, the gates, and the four minarets because none of these buildings existed at the time the Quran was written. [260] Normally, West Bank Palestinians are allowed access to Jerusalem only during Islamic holidays, with access usually restricted to men over 35 and women of any age eligible for permits to enter the city. [303][316][317], "Al-Aqsa Mosque compound" redirects here. Ernst Axel Knauf, Jerusalem in the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages: A Proposal, TA 27 (2000): 7590. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth. [8][9][a] According to Jewish tradition and scripture,[11] the First Temple was built by King Solomon, the son of King David, in 957 BCE, and was destroyed by the Neo-Babylonian Empire, together with Jerusalem, in 587 BCE. [238][239][240] On 29 September, the Israeli government deployed 2,000 riot police to the mosque. Due to the extreme political sensitivity of the site, no real archaeological excavations have ever been conducted on the Temple Mount itself. [129], During the Byzantine era, Jerusalem was primarily Christian and pilgrims came by the tens of thousands to experience the places where Jesus walked. : the Western Attitude Towards Islamic Epigraphy in 17th-Century Jerusalem. Al Aqsa Mosque ("Al-Masjid al-Aqsa"), which literally means, "The Farthest Mosque," occupies the southern end of Temple Mount and faces the Dome of the Rock. Since the Waqf is granted almost full autonomy on the Islamic holy sites, Israeli archaeologists have been prevented from inspecting the area, and are restricted to conducting excavations around the Temple Mount. [31] Almost immediately after the Muslim conquest of Jerusalem in 638 CE, Caliph 'Omar ibn al Khatab, reportedly disgusted by the filth covering the site, had it thoroughly cleaned,[135] and granted Jews access to the site. [138], Muslim interpretations of the Quran agree that the Mount is the site of the Temple originally built by Solomon, considered a prophet in Islam, that was later destroyed. Andrew Marsham, 'The Architecture of Allegiance in Early Islamic Late Antiquity,' in Alexander Beihammer, Stavroula Constantinou, Maria G. Parani (eds.). Some Arab-Muslim commentators and scholars attempt to deny Jewish connection with the Temple Mount, while some Jewish commentators and scholars attempt to belittle the importance of the site in Islam. [16][17][18], According to the Hebrew Bible, the Temple Mount was originally a threshing-floor owned by Araunah, a Jebusite. Flashpoints of Israeli-Palestinian friction Mount itself destroyed the Temple Mount and have indeed avoided doing so & x27. 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