Dome of the Rock

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Dome of the Rock

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The Temple Mount square is a huge 140-acre expanse of stone that was built in the days of Herod at the end of the first century BC. The second temple, which Herod renovated, stayed on the extension.

The Temple Mount square is built on a hill that, in Jewish tradition, is identified as the Moriah Mountains, the most sacred place for the Jewish people. where the creation of the world began and where the sacrifice of Yitzhak took place.

Above the foundation stone that was in the Holy of Holies in the Temple. For most of the First Temple period, the Ark of the Covenant was placed in it, until King Josiah ordered the Ark to be kept in a hiding place that King Solomon had prepared in the temple, lest it falls near the Gentiles when the temple is destroyed and since then in all periods of the Second Temple (until today [1]) – Drinking stone in the Holy of Holies without the cupboard.

On this stone, the High Priest would have burned the incense he had burned at the Most Holy on Yom Kippur, and even the bloodshed on the Most Holy that day was on this stone. [2]

The Zohar [3] notes that the drinking stone is the stone headstone placed by Jacob, our father, as described in the Parish and Exodus. And in the commentary on the Light of Life in the Torah [4] he explains that even then our father Jacob prepared the stone for the Temple.
Here, according to tradition, King Solomon built the first temple, and here the exiles from Babylon and the second temple. Herod renovated the temple and created an artificial extension of the hill.

The Monte do Templo square is supported by four immense retaining walls, built with chiseled stones and placed on top of each other. One of these retaining walls is the Western Wall, which now serves as a place of prayer and meeting.

In the center of the Temple Mount is the Temple, in which the Sages said, “Those who have not seen Herod’s building have not seen a beautiful building”. According to Roman historian Yosef Ben Matityahu, the construction of the complex took about 9 years, of which 8 were dedicated to the construction of extensions, walls and stews, and another year to the construction of the temple itself.

The large consumption of water in the temple required regular and sufficient water supply and, in fact, in the Monte do Templo square, many wells, which served as a reservoir.

The temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD It is generally assumed that the Temple Mount square remained empty and desolate for many years, until the Muslim conquest (although during the Roman period, a pagan temple was on an extension).

In 638, Jerusalem was conquered by the caliph Omar Ibn al-Khatab and a Muslim government started in the city. According to Islamic belief, there was the Al-Aqsa mosque, to which Muhammad arrived on a night journey, riding an animal from Pallayat and al-Buraq.

In addition, the Temple Mount is identified with the place from which heavenly Mohammed ascended, and there he found God and the prophets. For Muslim believers, this is the third place in their holiness in the world.

You will get to know all about its history if you book our private tour in Jerusalem.

 

Customize your private tour in Jerusalem

The Temple Mount is Judaism’s holiest site and is indeed a worth-visiting place in Jerusalem. However, if you want to spend more time on other attractive tourist spots, you can certainly book and customize our private tour in Jerusalem. Michael Skir, your private tour guide, is always there to serve you!