The Temple Mount is a hill located in the Old City of Jerusalem that for
thousands of years has been venerated as a holy site, in Judaism,
Christianity, and Islam alike.
The present site is a flat plaza surrounded by retaining walls (including the
Western Wall) which was built during the reign of Herod the Great for an
expansion of the temple.
The plaza 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, as
well as four minarets.
Herodian walls and gates, with additions from the late Byzantine and early
Islamic periods, cut through the flanks of the Mount.
Currently it can be reached through eleven gates, ten reserved for Muslims and
one for non-Muslims, with guard posts of Israeli police in the vicinity of
each.
|
Southern Wall of the Temple Mount.
On the left side of the photo is the southwestern corner. On the right
side of the photo is the site of the Western Wall Excavations.
|
|
Mughrabi Gate.
The Mughrabi Gate is the only entrance to the Temple Mount accessible to
non-Muslims.
-
The Maghariba Gate is the only access for non-Muslims to enter the
site.
-
The ramp leads from the plaza by the Western Wall up to the adjoining
compound, known to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif, which houses the
Al-Aqsa Mosque.
-
In 2007, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) built a temporary
wooden pedestrian bridge to the Maghariba Gate. No agreement could be
reached over a more permanent structure.
-
See more at
Gates of the Temple Mount, Magharibah Gate - Wikipedia
and
Mughrabi Bridge - Wikipedia.
|
|
Western Wall.
The separate areas for men (top) and women (bottom), seen from the
walkway to the Dome of the Rock.
-
The southern section of the western flank contains what is known as
the Western Wall.
-
Due to religious restrictions on entering the most sacred areas of the
Temple Mount, 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.
-
See more at
Western Wall - Wikipedia.
|
|
Southwestern corner of the Temple Mount.
On the left side of the photo is the southwestern corner. On the right
side of the photo is the site of the Western Wall Excavations.
|
|
West wall of Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Al-Aqsa Mosque (Arabic: "the Farthest Mosque") is the third holiest site
in Islam.
-
The mosque was built on top of the Temple Mount, known as the Al Aqsa
Compound or Haram esh-Sharif in Islam.
-
Muslims believe that Muhammad was transported from the Great Mosque of
Mecca to al-Aqsa during the Night Journey.
|
|
Facade of Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The facade of the mosque was built in 1065 CE on the instructions of the
Fatimid caliph al-Mustansir Billah.
-
It was crowned with a balustrade consisting of arcades and small
columns. The Crusaders damaged the facade, but it was restored and
renovated by the Ayyubids. One addition was the covering of the facade
with tiles.
-
The second-hand material of the facade's arches includes sculpted,
ornamental material taken from Crusader structures in Jerusalem.
-
The facade consists of fourteen stone arches, most of which are of a
Romanesque style. The outer arches added by the Mamluks follow the
same general design. The entrance to the mosque is through the
facade's central arch.
-
The porch is located at the top of the facade. The central bays of the
porch were built by the Knights Templar during the First Crusade, but
Saladin's nephew al-Mu'azzam Isa ordered the construction of the porch
itself in 1217.
|
|
Facade's central arch of Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The Crusader period began in 1099 with the First Crusade's capture of
Jerusalem.
-
After the city's conquest, the Crusading order known as the Knights
Templar was granted use of the Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount.
This was probably by Baldwin II of Jerusalem and Warmund, Patriarch of
Jerusalem at the Council of Nablus in January 1120, which gave the
Templars a headquarters in the captured Al-Aqsa Mosque.
-
The Temple Mount had a mystique because it was above what were
believed to be the ruins of the Temple of Solomon. The Crusaders
therefore referred to the Al Aqsa Mosque as Solomon's Temple, and it
was from this location that the new Order took the name of "Poor
Knights of Christ and the Temple of Solomon", or "Templar" knights.
|
|
Al-Aqsa Mosque seen from the northeast.
The east wall of the mosque can be seen on the left side of the photo.
|
|
East wall of Al-Aqsa Mosque.
In 713–714, a series of earthquakes ravaged Jerusalem, destroying the
eastern section of the mosque, which was subsequently rebuilt by
al-Walid's order.
-
Guy le Strange claims that Abd al-Malik used materials from the
destroyed Church of Our Lady to build the mosque and points to
possible evidence that substructures on the southeast corners of the
mosque are remains of the church.
-
See more at
Al-Aqsa - Wikipedia.
|
|
Southeastern corner of the Temple Mount.
East of and joined to the triple gate passageway is a large vaulted
area, supporting the southeastern corner of the Temple Mount platform –
which is substantially above the bedrock at this point – the vaulted
chambers here are popularly referred to as Solomon's Stables.
-
They were used as stables by the Crusaders, but were built by Herod
the Great – along with the platform they were built to support.
|
|
Solomon's Stables/Marwani Mosque.
In 1996 the waqf turned one of Jerusalem’s most impressive underground
spaces, an enormous columned hall beneath the southeastern end of the
platform known as Solomon’s Stables, from a dusty storeroom into the
large Al Marwani Mosque.
It is 600 square yards (500 square metres) in area, and is located under
the southeastern corner of the compound, 12.5 m (41 ft) below the
courtyard, and features twelve rows of pillars and arches. In December
1996 the Jerusalem Waqf renovated the area.
See more at
Solomon's Stables - Wikipedia.
|
|
Ablution fountain.
The mosque's main ablution fountain, known as
al-Kas ("the Cup"), is located north of the mosque between it and
the Dome of the Rock.
-
It is used by worshipers to perform wudu, a ritual washing of
the hands, arms, legs, feet, and face before entry into the mosque.
|
|
Dome of the Rock seen from the south.
The Dome of the Rock is the world's oldest surviving work of Islamic
architecture, the earliest archaeologically attested religious structure
to be built by a Muslim ruler and its inscriptions contain the earliest
epigraphic proclamations of Islam and of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.
-
Its initial construction was undertaken by the Umayyad Caliphate on
the orders of Abd al-Malik during the Second Fitna in 691–692 CE, and
it has since been situated on top of the site of the Second Jewish
Temple (built in c. 516 BCE to replace the destroyed Solomon's Temple
and rebuilt by Herod the Great), which was destroyed by the Romans in
70 CE. The original dome collapsed in 1015 and was rebuilt in 1022–23.
|
|
South qanatir (arches) of the Temple Mont.
Eight freestanding archways called al-Mawazin are located at the top of
the staircases leading to the platform (mastaba) of the Dome of
the Rock from the surrounding courtyard (sahn) below.
-
Each archway consists of open arches supported by 2 to 4 columns, set
between two pilasters.
-
One of the reasons mentioned for these doors is that the beauty of the
Dome of the Rock should not appear right away, marking a separation
between the city and the sacred place.
-
See more at
Al-Mawazin - Wikipedia.
|
|
Dome of the Rock framed by the south qanatir (arches).
|
|
Entrance to the Dome of the Rock.
The entrance to Dome of the Rock is from the west.
-
In 691 an octagonal Islamic building topped by a dome was built by the
Caliph Abd al-Malik around the rock, for a myriad of political,
dynastic and religious reasons, built on local and Quranic traditions
articulating the site's holiness, a process in which textual and
architectural narratives reinforced one another.
-
The shrine became known as the Dome of the Rock (Qubbat as-Sakhra).
-
See more at
Dome of the Rock - Wikipedia.
|
|
Dome of the Rock (left) and Dome of the Chain (right) seen from the
south.
The decoration of the outer walls went through two major phases: the
initial Umayyad scheme comprised marble and mosaics, much like the
interior walls.
-
Sixteenth-century Ottoman sultan Suleyman the Magnificent replaced it
with Turkish faience tiles. The Ottoman tile decoration was replaced
in the 1960s with faithful copies produced in Italy.
-
Surah Ya Sin (the 'Heart of the Quran') is inscribed across the top of
the tile work and was commissioned in the 16th century by Suleiman the
Magnificent. Al-Isra, the Surah 17 which tells the story of the Isra
or Night Journey, is inscribed above this.
- The dome itself was covered in gold in 1920.
|
|
Dome of the Chain (right) seen from the southeast.
Dome of the Chain is a free-standing dome located adjacently east of the
Dome of the Rock.
-
One of the oldest structures on the Temple Mount, it is not a mosque
or shrine, but is used as a prayer house.
-
It was built by the Umayyads, became a Christian chapel under the
Crusaders, was restored as an Islamic prayer house by the Ayyubids and
has been renovated by the Mamluks, Ottomans and the Jordanian-based
waqf.
|
|
Dome of the Chain seen from the east.
When the Crusaders invaded the Levant in 1099, they identified the dome
as the spot where Saint James was martyred, and transformed the building
into a chapel dedicated to him within the
Templum Domini.
-
In 1199–1200, the ceiling and pavings were renewed by the ruling
Ayyubids.
-
The Christians re-used the place in 1240–1244, before it reverted to
Muslim use.
-
13th-century Christian pilgrims associate it not only with St James,
but also with the place where Jesus met the adulterous woman.
|
|
Dome of the Chain seen from the east.
The building consists of a domed structure with two concentric open
arcades, that is: with no lateral walls closing it in. The dome, resting
on a hexagonal drum, is made of timber and is supported by six columns
which together create the inner arcade. The second, outer row of eleven
columns creates an eleven-sided outer arcade.
-
The building in Islamic tradition is the spot where Judgment Day will
occur in the "end of days" and where a chain will stop the sinful and
let the just pass through.
-
Notably, the mihrab in the al-Aqsa Mosque is located exactly in
the middle of the qibla wall of the Temple Mount on north-south axis
with the Dome of the Chain.
-
See more at
Dome of the Chain - Wikipedia.
|
|
East entrance to the Dome of the Rock.
|
|
Mount of Olives view from the Temple Mount.
This photo is taken from west to east. We are looking at the east side
of Jerusalem.
-
On the left side of the photo we can see the golden domes of the
Church of Mary Magdalene.
-
On the right side, a little further on, we can see the Dominus Flevit
Church.
- At the top of the photo we can see the Chapel of the Ascension.
|
|
Crow perched on one of the Temple Mount structures.
|
|
West qanatir (arches) of the Temple Mount.
|
|
Cotton Merchants' Gate.
The Cotton Merchants' Gate is one of the most beautiful gates that leads
onto the Temple Mount.
-
It was built by the ruler of Damascus, Tankiz, during the reign of
Mamluk Sultan ibn Qalawun, as marked by an inscription over the door.
-
Its eastern façade faces the inside the compound and features a recess
with a semi-dome. The semi-dome has a gently pointed arch, and its
voussoir has ablaq (alternating) masonry of red and beige
bricks. It also contains five rows of muqarnas.
-
Between the semi-dome and the door is a trefoil-shaped arch, with
ablaq patterns in black and beige bricks. Above the door is a
straight stone lintel, which is composed of three external pieces.
-
See more at
Cotton Merchants' Gate - Wikipedia.
|
See also
Source
Location
