Changes

The '''Dome of the Rock''' houses the rock upon which [[Mohammed]] is said to have ascended to heaven, coincidentally the same rock upon which [[Abraham]] offered up his son [[Isaac]] to God, to prove his faith.  It is also on the site of the [[Second Temple]] of Jerusalem, or, the [[Temple Mount]]. The holiness of the site to the three Abrahamic faiths is intense, to say the least.

The '''Dome of the Rock''' houses the rock upon which [[Mohammed]] is said to have ascended to heaven, coincidentally the same rock upon which [[Abraham]] offered up his son [[Isaac]] to God, to prove his faith.  It is also on the site of the [[Second Temple]] of Jerusalem, or, the [[Temple Mount]]. The holiness of the site to the three Abrahamic faiths is intense, to say the least.

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 I]] called the Christian [[Patriarch]] 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 called the Christian [[Patriarch]] 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 as a placeholder, and in its final spectacular version somewhat later.

The Dome was built shortly thereafter, first in a primitive, wooden state between 687 and 691 as a placeholder, and in its final spectacular version somewhat later.