Dome of the Rock

The Dome of the Rock is an Islamic shrine built approximately on the site of the Temple of Solomon.

The Dome of the Rock is an Islamic shrine in Jerusalem. The site is traditionally identified with that of the ancient Temple of Solomon. It is the high point of the Temple Mount, biblical Mount Moriah. In Islamic tradition, Mohammed is said to have ascended to heaven from the Temple Mount, which Muslims refer to as the "Noble Sanctuary." The Temple Mount is Islam's third holiest site, although neither the rock nor the dome have any special status.^[1] The dome was built in 691, making it the oldest example of notable Islamic architecture.

In Jewish tradition, the rock under the dome is identified with the foundation stone. The foundation stone is where Abraham offered up his son Isaac,^[2] and it is the part of the world that came into being first during creation.^[3] The Second Temple was also on the Temple Mount, possibly near the site of the dome.

After the Second Temple was destroyed in the Roman years, leaving Jerusalem in Roman and later Byzantine hands, the Temple Mount became an empty site, used alternately as empty space, or as a city dump. According to legend, when the first Muslim conquerors took Jerusalem, they approached the Temple Mount. There, the conqueror Umar (or Omar) called the Christian Patriarch Sophronius of the city before him to answer for the derelict state of the holy site. Insisting that such a site, sacred to all three religions, deserved respect, Umar insisted that the patriarch himself begin cleaning the mount.

The dome was built shortly thereafter, first in a primitive, wooden state between 687 and 691 by Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwān as a placeholder, and in its final spectacular version somewhat later. It has suffered several earthquakes (746, 1033, 1927). This shrine was covered by a lead dome from 691 until it was replaced with a gold-colored covering in 1965. Because of rust, the anodized aluminum cover was again replaced in 1993 with a gold covering. [1]

At present the Muslim Waqf has the authority to manage the Temple Mount-Haram al-Sharif and consecuently the Dome of the Rock