31 Facts About Temple Mount

The Second Temple Mount was constructed under the auspices of Zerubbabel in 516 BCE, was renovated by King Herod, and was destroyed by the Roman Empire in 70 CE.

Exact moment when the concept of the Mount as a topographical feature separate from the Temple or the city itself first came into existence is a matter of debate among scholars.

In 2 Chronicles, Solomon's Temple was constructed on Mount Moriah, and Manasseh's atonement for his sins is associated with the Mountain of the House of the Lord .

The conception of the Temple as being located on a holy mountain possessing special qualities is found repeatedly in Psalms, with the surrounding area being considered an integral part of the Temple itself.

Temple Mount has historical and religious significance for all three of the major Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

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In Jewish tradition, the Temple Mount is believed to be the location of Abraham's binding of Isaac.

Jewish texts predict that the Mount will be the site of a Third and final Temple, which will be rebuilt with the coming of the Messiah.

The rebuilding of the Temple Mount remained a recurring theme among generations, particularly in thrice-daily Amidah, central prayer of the Jewish liturgy, which contains a plea for the building of a Third Temple Mount and the restoration of sacrificial services.

Temple Mount was of central importance in Jewish worship in the Tanakh .

The Knights Templar, who believed the Dome of the Rock was the site of the Solomon's Temple Mount, gave it the name "Templum Domini" and set up their headquarters in al-Aqsa Mosque adjacent to the Dome for much of the 12th century.

Early Islam regarded the Foundation Stone as the location of Solomon's Temple, and the first architectural initiatives on the Temple Mount sought to glorify Jerusalem by presenting Islam as a continuation of Judaism and Christianity.

Muslim interpretations of the Quran agree that the Mount is the site of the Temple originally built by Solomon, considered a prophet in Islam, that was later destroyed.

The First Temple Mount is believed to have once been a part of a much larger royal complex.

Some scholars believe that, in accordance with biblical accounts, the royal and religious compound on the Temple Mount was built by Solomon during the 10th century BCE as a separate entity, which was later incorporated into the city.

All scholars agree that the Iron Age Temple Mount was smaller than the Herodian compound still visible today.

Some scholars, such as Kenyon and Ritmeyer, argued that the walls of the First Temple Mount compound extended eastward as far as the Eastern Wall.

Construction of the Second Temple Mount began under Cyrus in around 538 BCE and was completed in 516 BCE.

Pompey himself entered the Holy of Holies, but did not harm the Temple Mount, and allowed the priests to continue their work as usual.

Temple Mount achieved this by constructing huge buttress walls and vaults, and filling the necessary sections with earth and rubble.

Main entrances to the Herodian Temple Mount were two sets of gates built into the southern wall, together with four other gates reachable from the western side by stairs and bridges.

One consequence was that Hadrian's Temple to Jupiter on the Temple Mount was demolished immediately following the First Council of Nicea in 325 CE on orders of Constantine.

Church historians wrote that the Jews began to clear away the structures and rubble on the Temple Mount but were thwarted, first by a great earthquake, and then by miracles that included fire springing from the earth.

Temple Mount found it covered with rubbish, but the sacred Rock was found with the help of a converted Jew, Ka'b al-Ahbar.

The Temple Mount had a mystique because it was above what were believed to be the ruins of the Temple of Solomon.

In 1187, once he retook Jerusalem, Saladin removed all traces of Christian worship from the Temple Mount, returning the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque to their original purposes.

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Warren conducted some small scale excavations inside the Temple Mount, by removing rubble that blocked passages leading from the Double Gate chamber.

The Temple Mount remains, under the terms of the 1994 Israel–Jordan peace treaty, under Jordanian custodianship.

Later he established his office on the Temple Mount and conducted a series of demonstrations on the Temple Mount in support of the right of Jewish men to enter there.

Upper platform was built around the peak of the Temple Mount, carrying the Dome of the Rock; the peak just breaches the floor level of the upper platform within the Dome of the Rock, in the shape of a large limestone outcrop, which is part of the bedrock.

Lower platform – which constitutes most of the surface of the Temple Mount – has at its southern end al-Aqsa Mosque, which takes up most of the width of the Mount.

Israeli organizations such as the Committee to Prevent the Destruction of Antiquities on the Temple Mount argue that Palestinians are deliberately removing significant amounts of archaeological evidence about the Jewish past of the site and claim to have found significant artifacts in the fill removed by bulldozers and trucks from the Temple Mount.