Temple Mount: Past and Present

One of the lessons we have learned during our stay here is that Israel is an incredibly beautiful land, but it’s also an incredibly complex land. Politics and religion are deeply intertwined. If you want to garner an emotional response, just ask someone how they feel about the Palestinian State or the Temple Mount.

On the topic of Palestine: We’re reserving that for our icebreaker the next time we want to make everyone uncomfortable at a party.

But, a few weeks ago, we mentioned a bit of the history of the Temple Mount, and we thought we’d go a bit more in depth about its past.

The Modern-Day Temple Mount

We’re first introduced to the Temple Mount as we know it in II Chronicles 3:1, when Solomon builds his incredible temple where his father David had purchased Ornan’s threshing floor. This served two purposes: it reinforced the sacredness of the site where the destroying angel appeared to David, and his actions that stopped the plague. It also bolstered Jerusalem’s defenses—the City of David was heavily fortified, but weak to the north due to the rise of Mt. Moriah above it. An enemy could easily come down the slope against the city. The Temple Mount served as an added fortification, made all the stronger by the Divine Presence within. However, we know that same Divine Presence soon fled the temple, and it was destroyed and rebuilt, only to be rebuilt then destroyed again in 70 AD. Today, you can still see the huge stones Herod the Great used to build the Temple Mount (some as long as 49 feet), which make credible Josephus’s description of a temple of epic proportions.

One of the Temple Mount stones. This one is around 24 feet long. The longest known measures 49 feet.

Hadrian rebuilt Jerusalem, and successfully triggered another revolt when he built a temple to himself and Jupiter on the ruined Temple Mount.  Later, in the 4^th century AD, the Jews were allowed to again rebuild their temple. The great earthquake in 363 halted those efforts. But this did not stop them from performing sacrifices on all that was left—the great foundation stone upon which tradition says Abraham sacrificed Isaac.

The foundation stone, beneath the Dome of the Rock

During the Byzantine era, the Neo-Persian Empire retook Palestine and granted the Jews freedom to rebuild their temple. Then that was scrapped when they handed control of Jerusalem over to the Christians who, in the nature of good sports, kindly tore down the new construction and made it a garbage dump. Which is how it remained until the Muslim period. As soon as Caliph Omar captured Jerusalem in 637 AD, he made a beeline for the Temple Mount with his advisor. This converted rabbi had him build a monument over what he believed to the be the Temple’s Holy of Holies, and later where Mohammed ascended to Heaven to speak to God.  This also happened to be the same bedrock on which Jews had sacrificed before.  In 691 AD, the general structure of the Dome of the Rock was built over the sacred foundation stone, all based on the Byzantine architecture of the nearby Church of the Holy Sepulchre.  The Golden Dome as we know it now was renovated in the early 90s to include the gold-plated roof tiles, donated by Jordan’s King Hussein, who personally funded the project by selling one of his grand palaces in Britain.

Dome of the Rock

The Quran and attending traditions say the Temple Mount was the “Farthest Mosque” to which Muhammad traveled in one night as part of a miracle. To further commemorate this event, the Al-Aqsa mosque was added to the Mount in 705, after which man vied with nature to rebuild each time one of several earthquakes would take it down, until 1033. In 1099, the Crusaders took Jerusalem and converted the Al-Aqsa into a church (naturally), and then the Ottoman Turks reconverted it into a mosque (naturally) when the Crusaders were driven out. It is said to be an architectural carbon copy of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.

The Al-Aqsa Mosque

Control of the Temple Mount more or less remained in the hands of the Muslims, with access being restricted or granted depending on who was in charge, whether Britain, Jordan, or Israel. After the 6-Day War in 1967, Israel granted control of the Temple Mount as a waqf, or sacred donation to Islam, to help establish better relations with the Arab community. Today, orthodox Jews do not ascend the Temple Mount, because the location of the Holy of Holies is unknown—and thus, the whole Mount is holy. For other visitors, modesty is strictly enforced, and religious symbols or texts (crosses, Bibles, Stars of David) are strictly forbidden. If you don’t want to go all the way up, you can visit the Western Wall or just sit on the southern steps and imagine throngs of the faithful going up to honor their religious obligations.

Jerusalem, Western Wall and the Temple Mount

We have been in Jerusalem a little over a week now.  The first half of this time was spent using Jerusalem as a base for exploring areas of the Shephelah and slightly beyond.  The past few days we have been in the Old City, exploring all its “nooks and crannies” (and wow, are there a lot of them).

Western Wall and the Temple Mount

This shot was taken a few nights ago of the Western Wall and Dome of the Rock together.  This view is interesting in having two iconic holy sites, one for Judaism (the wall), and one for Islam (the dome), so close together.  The contents of the dome also have significance for both of them, as well.

First, the construction of the wall is interesting in that it is part of a retaining wall holding up the base of the Temple Mount.  This retaining wall is from the “Second Temple,” as it is commonly called, reconstructed by Herod the Great (around 19 B.C., possibly finished at a later time).  The actual upper surface of the Temple Mount is not to be accessed by observant Jews, as somewhere on this upper surface, the actual temple would have resided.  This temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D.  Not knowing the exact location of the temple and it holy places may cause one to tread upon the sacred ground only the High Priest could access.  At a minimum, there are also purification practices which must take place before entering the temple area.  Modern secular Jews can ascend to the Temple Mount freely, if they desire.

Given these conditions, this is why the wall has become the active sacred worship site for modern observant Jews.

Western Wall

Next, the Temple Mount and Islam.

Up on the temple mount, there are quite a few items central to modern Islam.  First, what is said to be the most photographed icon of Jerusalem, the Dome of the Rock.

Dome of the Rock

Contained within this dome lies a section of ancient chiseled bedrock, commonly called the “Foundation Stone.”  This stone actually has significant traditional meaning to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.  For Judaism, some believe this is the actual location of the Most Holy Place of the destroyed temple.  For Christianity, if this is the temple location, is bears significance because of the visits Jesus paid to the temple grounds.  For many in Islam, it is from this spot that Muhammad ascended into heaven.  The qualifiers of “some” and “many” are used here.  If you do any reading on these traditions, you will see that there is debate among members of all these religions as to exactly where and how all of these events transpired for their respective traditions.  Also, there are many (many) more traditions associated with these spots, these are just the most well known.

To refocus on Islam and the Temple Mount – today when you visit or read about the Temple Mount, it is usually the Islamic history and culture that is noticed and pondered.  The Temple Mount is actually under control of an Islamic Waqf (an Islamic Trust), while Israeli police provide security for the site.  Because of this, along with the presence, design, and artistry of the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam comes to the forefront when visiting the Temple Mount.  The Al-Aqsa Mosque is located across from the Dome of the Rock.  It is one of the world’s oldest mosques and is considered the third holiest site of Islam.  It has a capacity for over 5,000 worshipers and has held its historical significance in Islam since the late 7th century A.D.

Al-Aqsa Mosque

These icons are some of the foremost to the world’s major religions.  They provide an interesting backdrop to these cultures that can at times be so different, yet share the same icons, and find themselves at such a close proximity.