In a Nutshell: The Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount

Nir Topper
15 hours ago
3 min read

The Temple Mount – a sacred precinct in the southeastern corner of the Old City of Jerusalem, known in Islam as Al-Haram al-Sharif (The Noble Sanctuary). According to Jewish tradition, this is the site of the Binding of Isaac and where the two Holy Temples once stood. Today, the Mount houses two structures of immense religious and political significance: the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, often referred to as the Golden Dome.

The gilded structure standing at the heart of the Mount is one of the most iconic monuments in the world. However, contrary to popular belief, it is not a mosque but a sacred shrine. Known in Arabic as Qubbat al-Sakhra (The Dome of the Rock) after the stone at its center—identified in Jewish tradition as the "Foundation Stone" (Even HaShetiya)—it was built between 691–692 CE by the Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. According to widely accepted scholarly interpretation, one of the primary motivations for its construction was the desire to establish a dominant Islamic presence in Jerusalem, rivaling the city's magnificent Byzantine Christian structures, most notably the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Its architecture, based on an octagonal plan, draws inspiration from the Byzantine design of churches and martyria from that era.

At the heart of the structure lies the Foundation Stone. According to Jewish tradition, this is the spot from which the world was founded and where the Holy of Holies—the inner sanctum of the two Temples—once stood. This area was so sacred that only the High Priest was permitted to enter, and only once a year, on Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement). According to a later account appearing in the Zohar (13th century), a rope would be tied to the High Priest's leg so he could be pulled out if he collapsed, ensuring no one else would have to enter the Holy of Holies to retrieve him. For Muslims, this is the rock from which the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven during his Night Journey (Al-Mi'raj).

The famous Golden Dome was not always golden; for centuries, it was covered in lead that blackened over time. Between 1959 and 1962, the lead was replaced with aluminum-bronze plates coated in gold leaf. In the 1990s, King Hussein of Jordan funded a major restoration project at a cost of approximately $8 million, during which the dome was covered with brass plates plated in 24-karat gold—creating the shimmering appearance we recognize today.

The Temple Mount - Al-Haram al-Sharif - stands as the third holiest site in Islam, after the mosques of Mecca and Medina. Its profound religious significance stems from the Prophet Muhammad's miraculous Night Journey (Isra) and his subsequent Ascension to heaven (Mi'raj) from this very spot. For the early Muslim community, it also served as the original Qibla—the first direction of prayer—before the focus turned toward Mecca.

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Photo 1 – The Dome of the Rock. Photo: Nir Topper.

Photo 2 – The sign at the entrance to the Temple Mount. According to most Halakhic (Jewish legal) authorities, Jews are forbidden from entering the Temple Mount due to the concern of inadvertently entering the area of the Holy of Holies, the exact boundaries of which are unknown today.