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[[File:Mosque.jpg|right|thumb]]The '''Dome of the Rock''' is an [[Islamic]] shrine in Jerusalem. It is the oldest Islamic building of note and it is adjacent to [[al-Aqsa Mosque]]. It is the high point of the [[Temple Mount]], biblical Mount Moriah.

[[File:Mosque.jpg|right|thumb|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. The Temple Mount is Islam's third holiest site, although neither the rock nor the dome have any special status.<ref>"[http://www.islamicencyclopedia.org/islamic-pedia-topic.php?id=641 Masjid al-Aqsa]", ''Islamic Encyclopedia,'' Mon, 13 Oct, 2014.</ref> The dome was built in 691, making it the earliest example of notable Islamic architecture.

[[Mohammed]] is said to have ascended to heaven from the Temple Mount. In Jewish tradition recorded in the Mishna, the rock under the dome is called the foundation stone. The foundation stone is where [[Abraham]] offered up his son [[Isaac]] to God to prove his faith and it is the part of the world that came into being first during creation. The [[Second Temple]] was also on the Temple Mount, possibly near the site of the dome. Muslims refer to the Temple Mount as the "Noble Sanctuary."  

In Jewish tradition recorded in the Mishna, the rock under the dome is called the foundation stone. The foundation stone is where [[Abraham]] offered up his son [[Isaac]],<ref>[[Genesis 22:1-24</ref> and it is the part of the world that came into being first during creation.<ref>{{bibleverse||Job|38:4|ESV}}</ref> The [[Second Temple]] was also on the Temple Mount, possibly near the site of the dome. Muslims refer to the Temple Mount as the "Noble Sanctuary."  

After the Second Temple was destroyed in the Roman years, leaving Jerusalem in [[Roman Empire|Roman]] and later [[Byzantine Empire|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.   

After the Second Temple was destroyed in the Roman years, leaving Jerusalem in [[Roman Empire|Roman]] and later [[Byzantine Empire|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.