The Temple Mount (Har HaBayit in Hebrew, Haram al-Sharif in Arabic) is a 36-acre elevated platform in the heart of Jerusalem’s Old City that is sacred to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. It is the place where Abraham bound Isaac for sacrifice (Genesis 22), where Solomon built the First Temple, where Jesus taught and challenged, and where Muslims believe Muhammad ascended to heaven. The golden Dome of the Rock, visible from every direction, is the most recognizable symbol of Jerusalem, and the platform it stands on is the most significant piece of ground in the history of monotheism.
Foundation Stone
Beneath the golden dome, at the center of the octagonal building, a large outcropping of natural bedrock protrudes from the floor. This is the Even HaShtiya (the Foundation Stone), which Jewish tradition identifies as the point from which God created the world and the place where Abraham bound Isaac for sacrifice. In the Temple period, the Foundation Stone was in the Holy of Holies, the innermost sanctum of the Temple, where only the High Priest entered, once a year, on Yom Kippur. Islamic tradition holds that this is the rock from which the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven on his Night Journey (Isra and Mi’raj). A small cave beneath the rock, accessible by stairs, is known as the Well of Souls, where tradition says the voices of the dead can sometimes be heard. The stone, the cave, and the dome above them make this single piece of bedrock the most spiritually contested rock on the face of the earth.
First and Second Temples
The Temple Mount is the holiest site in Judaism. The First Temple, built by King Solomon in the 10th century BCE, housed the Ark of the Covenant and was the center of Israelite worship for nearly 400 years until the Babylonians destroyed it in 586 BCE. The Second Temple, rebuilt after the return from exile and magnificently expanded by Herod the Great, was the heart of Jewish life until the Romans destroyed it in 70 CE. The Western Wall, the last remaining retaining wall of Herod’s platform, is the closest accessible point to where the Temple once stood.
Jewish tradition identifies the exposed bedrock beneath the Dome of the Rock as the Even HaShtiya (Foundation Stone), the point from which, according to the Talmud, the world was created. It is also identified as the place where Abraham bound Isaac: “Take your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering” (Genesis 22:2).
Jesus at the Temple
The Temple was central to the life and ministry of Jesus. He was presented at the Temple as an infant (Luke 2:22). At age twelve, his parents found him in the Temple courts, “sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding” (Luke 2:46-47). As an adult, Jesus visited the Temple during the major Jewish festivals, and some of the most dramatic moments of the Gospels took place on this platform.
The Cleansing of the Temple: Jesus entered the Temple courts and overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves: “It is written, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it ‘a den of robbers’” (Matthew 21:13). The money changers provided the Temple currency needed to purchase sacrificial animals, and their tables filled the Court of the Gentiles, the only area where non-Jews could worship. Jesus’ anger was directed at those who turned a place of prayer into a marketplace.
The Woman Caught in Adultery: While teaching at the Temple, Jesus was confronted by teachers of the law who brought a woman caught in adultery and demanded he pronounce judgment. Jesus bent down and wrote on the ground with his finger. Then he straightened up and said: “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” One by one, her accusers left, and Jesus said to the woman: “Neither do I condemn you. Go now and leave your life of sin” (John 8:7-11). The scene took place in the Temple courts, where the stone pavement would have been the surface on which Jesus wrote his mysterious, unrecorded words.
The Widow’s Offering: Sitting opposite the Temple treasury, Jesus watched people putting their money into the offering boxes. Many rich people threw in large amounts. Then a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins (lepta), worth only a few cents. Jesus called his disciples and said: “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything, all she had to live on” (Mark 12:41-44). The treasury was located in the Court of the Women, and the scene is a window into the daily Temple life that Jesus observed.
The Prediction of Destruction: As Jesus left the Temple for the last time, his disciples called his attention to the magnificent buildings. Jesus responded with a prophecy that was fulfilled 40 years later: “Do you see all these great buildings? Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down” (Mark 13:2). The fallen stones at the Davidson Center, lying on the street where the Romans threw them in 70 CE, are the physical evidence of this prophecy.
Al-Aqsa Mosque
At the southern end of the platform, Al-Aqsa Mosque is the main prayer space on the Temple Mount, capable of accommodating over 5,000 worshippers. The mosque is associated with the “farthest mosque” (al-masjid al-aqsa) mentioned in the Quran in connection with Muhammad’s Night Journey: “Glory to Him who made His servant travel by night from the Sacred Mosque to the Farthest Mosque” (Quran 17:1). The current building, rebuilt multiple times after earthquakes, dates primarily to the 11th century. The Crusaders used it as their headquarters, calling it the Temple of Solomon, and the Knights Templar took their name from this building.
Dome of the Rock
The Dome of the Rock was built by the Umayyad caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan in 691 CE, making it one of the oldest Islamic buildings in the world. The octagonal structure, crowned by its famous golden dome (originally lead, later gilded), was designed to be one of the great architectural achievements of the Islamic world. The exterior walls are covered with blue Iznik tiles added by Suleiman the Magnificent in the 16th century, and Quranic inscriptions run along the upper walls. The interior is decorated with elaborate mosaics of gold, green, and blue, and the Foundation Stone protrudes from the floor at the center of the building.
The dome was covered in gold in 1994, funded by King Hussein of Jordan, who sold one of his houses in London to pay for the $8 million project. The golden dome has become the most recognizable symbol of Jerusalem, visible from the Mount of Olives, from the Church of the Redeemer tower, and from rooftops across the city.
Platform
The 36-acre platform that visitors walk on today was largely the creation of Herod the Great, who doubled the size of the original Temple Mount by building massive retaining walls and filling in the space behind them. The engineering was extraordinary: some of the stones in the retaining walls weigh over 500 tons, and the platform they support is one of the largest religious precincts in the ancient world. The open esplanade is dotted with smaller structures: fountains for ablution, arcaded galleries, staircases, and the scales (mawazin), a row of arches that tradition associates with the scales of judgment on the Last Day.
Cypress trees, olive trees, and gardens cover parts of the platform, and the overall atmosphere, especially on a quiet morning, is surprisingly peaceful. The contrast between the serenity of the platform and the intensity of the emotions it generates is one of the defining paradoxes of Jerusalem.
Significance
The Temple Mount is sacred to half the world’s population. For Jews, it is the place where God chose to dwell and where the Temple will one day be rebuilt. For Christians, it is where Jesus taught, healed, and prophesied. For Muslims, it is the third holiest site in Islam, after Mecca and Medina. The convergence of three faiths on a single platform, each with deep and legitimate claims, makes the Temple Mount the most spiritually dense place on earth. Its future is one of the great unresolved questions of our time.
Visiting the Temple Mount
Non-Muslim visitors can access the Temple Mount through the Mughrabi Gate, near the Western Wall, during limited visiting hours (typically Sunday-Thursday mornings, subject to change due to security and holidays). The Islamic Waqf manages the religious sites, and entry to the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque is restricted to Muslims. Visitors should dress modestly and be prepared for security checks. Photography of the exteriors is permitted; behavior should be respectful at all times.
Visit with Hoshen Tours
The Temple Mount is a site that requires sensitivity, knowledge, and careful planning. Hoshen Tours navigates the visiting hours, security requirements, and the layers of sacred history, from Abraham’s sacrifice to Jesus’ teaching to Muhammad’s ascension, with the respect and professionalism that a place this important demands.