View source for Temple Mount

{{short description|Religious site in Jerusalem}}
{{pp-extended|small=yes}}
{{Infobox mountain
| name = Temple Mount
| other_name = Har haBayit<br />Haram al-Sharif<br />Jerusalem's sacred (or holy) esplanade
| photo = File:Jerusalem-2013(2)-Aerial-Temple Mount-(south exposure).jpg
| photo_caption = Aerial view of the Temple Mount
| elevation_m = 740
| location = [[Jerusalem]]
| map = Old Jerusalem
| coordinates = {{coord|31|46|41|N|35|14|9|E|region:IL-JM_type:mountain_scale:100000|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| range = [[Judean Mountains|Judean]]
| type = [[Meleke|Limestone]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/insideisrael/2010/March/New-Jerusalem-Finds-Point-to-the-Temple-Mount|title=New Jerusalem Finds Point to the Temple Mount|work=cbn.com}}</ref>
}}
{{Jerusalem large}}
The '''Temple Mount''' ({{langx|hbo|הַר הַבַּיִת|translit=Har haBayīt|label=[[Hebrew language|Hebrew]]}}) is a hill in the [[Old City of Jerusalem]]. Once the site of two successive [[Temple in Jerusalem|Israelite and Jewish temples]], it is now home to the Islamic compound known as [[Al-Aqsa]] ({{langx|ar|الأَقْصَى|translit=Al-Aqṣā}}), which includes the [[Al-Aqsa Mosque]] and the [[Dome of the Rock]]. It has been venerated as a [[Sacred space|holy site]] for thousands of years, including in [[Judaism]], [[Christianity]] and [[Islam]].<ref name="Kedar 20122"/><ref name="Weaver 2018 p. 7722"/>

The present site is a flat plaza surrounded by [[retaining wall]]s (including the [[Western Wall]]), which were originally built by [[Herod the Great|King Herod]] in the first century BCE for an expansion of the [[Second Temple|Second Jewish Temple]]. The plaza is dominated by two monumental structures originally built during the [[Rashidun]] and early [[Umayyad Caliphate|Umayyad]] caliphates after [[Siege of Jerusalem (636–637)|the city's capture in 637]] CE:<ref name="Nicolle, David 19942">Nicolle, David (1994). ''Yarmuk AD 636: The Muslim Conquest of Syria''. Osprey Publishing.</ref> the main [[Qibli Mosque|praying hall of al-Aqsa Mosque]] and the [[Dome of the Rock]], near the center of the hill, which was completed in 692 CE, making it one of the oldest extant Islamic structures in the world. The [[Herodian dynasty|Herodian]] walls and gates, with additions from the late [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]], [[History of Jerusalem during the Early Muslim period|early Muslim]], [[Mamluk Sultanate|Mamluk]], and [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] periods, flank the site, which can be reached through [[Gates of the Temple Mount|eleven gates]], ten reserved for Muslims and one for non-Muslims, with guard posts of the [[Israel Police]] in the vicinity of each.<ref>{{cite web |title=Temple Mount/Al Haram Ash Sharif |url=https://www.lonelyplanet.com/jerusalem/attractions/temple-mount-al-haram-ash-sharif/a/poi-sig/1443318/361047 |access-date=April 17, 2018 |website=Lonely Planet}}</ref> The courtyard is surrounded on the north and west by two [[Mamluk architecture|Mamluk-era]] porticos (''[[Riwaq (arcade)|riwaq]]'') and [[Minarets of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound|four minarets]].

The Temple Mount is the holiest site in Judaism,<ref name=":112">{{Cite book |last1=Marshall J. |first1=Breger |title=Jerusalem: A City and Its Future |last2=Ahimeir |first2=Ora |publisher=Syracuse University Press |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-8156-2912-2 |page=296 |oclc=48940385}}</ref><ref name=":110">{{Cite book |last1=Cohen-Hattab |first1=Kobi |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nizvDwAAQBAJ&q=holiest+site+in+judaism |title=The Western Wall: The Dispute over Israel's Holiest Jewish Site, 1967–2000 |last2=Bar |first2=Doron |date=2020 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-43133-1 |language=en}}</ref>{{efn|To the Jews the Temple Mount is the holiest place on Earth, the place where God manifested himself to King David and where two Jewish temples{{snd}}Solomon's Temple and the Second Temple{{snd}}were located.{{sfn|Gonen|2003|p=4}}}} and where two Jewish temples once stood.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Sporty |first=Lawrence D. |date=1990 |title=The Location of the Holy House of Herod's Temple: Evidence from the Pre-Destruction Period |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3210164 |journal=The Biblical Archaeologist |volume=53 |issue=4 |pages=194–204 |doi=10.2307/3210164 |issn=0006-0895 |jstor=3210164 |s2cid=224797947 |quote=The holy house has most commonly assumed to be located on the same spot as the Moslem holy structure known as the Dome of the Rock. This assumption has been held for centuries for the following reasons: The rock out-cropping under the Dome of the Rock is the main natural feature within the Haram enclosure; the Dome of the Rock is centrally located within the esplanade, and, at 2,440 feet above sea level, the Dome of the Rock is one of the highests point within the area.|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-05-07 |title=Temple Mount {{!}} Definition, Jerusalem, Bible, & History {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Temple-Mount |access-date=2024-05-27 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en |quote=Temple Mount, site of the Temple of Jerusalem, which was destroyed by the Romans on the 9th/10th of Av in 70 CE (see Tisha be-Av). It consists of a raised platform that, since the 7th century, has been home to the Islamic holy sites of the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque. The lower section of the compound’s Western Wall, which dates to the 2nd century BCE, is the only remnant of the retaining wall that surrounded the Temple. It has served as a site of pilgrimage for Jews since the Temple’s destruction.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-04-23 |title=Old City of Jerusalem {{!}} Map, Quarters, Gates, History, Pictures, & Importance {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Old-City-of-Jerusalem |access-date=2024-05-27 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en |quote=The Old City is dominated by the raised platform of the Temple Mount{{snd}}known in Hebrew as Har Ha-Bayit, the site of the First and Second Temples, and known to Islam as Al-Ḥaram al-Sharīf (“The Noble Sanctuary”), a Muslim holy place containing the Dome of the Rock, Al-Aqsa Mosque, and other structures.}}</ref> According to Jewish tradition and scripture,<ref name="bibleref|2 Chron.|3:1-2|HE2">{{bibleverse|2 Chron.|3:1–2|HE}}.</ref> the [[Solomon's Temple|First Temple]] was built by King [[Solomon]], the son of King [[David]], in 957 BCE, and was destroyed by the [[Neo-Babylonian Empire]], [[Siege of Jerusalem (587 BC)|together with Jerusalem]], in 587 BCE.&nbsp;No archaeological evidence has been found to verify the existence of the First Temple, and scientific excavations have been limited due to religious sensitivities.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Reich |first1=Ronny |last2=Baruch |first2=Yuval |date=2016 |title=The Meaning of the Inscribed Stones at the Corners of the Herodian Temple Mount |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44092415 |journal=Revue Biblique (1946–) |volume=123 |issue=1 |pages=118–24 |issn=0035-0907 |jstor=44092415 |quote=The Temple Mount has never been the focus of a modern archaeological excavation}}</ref><ref name="PullanSternberg20132">{{cite book |author1=Wendy Pullan |author-link1=Wendy Pullan (academic) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SeEkAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA9 |title=The Struggle for Jerusalem's Holy Places |author2=Maximilian Sternberg |author3=Lefkos Kyriacou |author4=Craig Larkin |author5=Michael Dumper |publisher=Routledge |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-317-97556-4 |page=9 |quote=The sources for the first temple are solely biblical, and no substantial archaeological remains have been verified.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Yitzhak Reiter |title=Contested Holy Places in Israel–Palestine |date=2017 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-315-27727-1 |location=London |pages=20–50 |chapter=Post-1967 Struggle over Al-Haram Al-Sharif/Temple Mount |doi=10.4324/9781315277271-3 |access-date=2022-05-22 |chapter-url=http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9781315277271-3}}</ref> The Second Temple, constructed under [[Zerubbabel]] in 516 BCE, was later renovated by King Herod and was [[Siege of Jerusalem (70 CE)|ultimately destroyed]] by the [[Roman Empire]] in 70 CE. [[Orthodox Jew]]ish tradition maintains it is here that the [[Third Temple|third and final Temple]] will be built when the [[Messiah in Judaism|Messiah]] comes.<ref name=":122">Baker,&nbsp;Eric W..&nbsp;The Eschatological Role of the Jerusalem Temple: An Examination of the Jewish Writings Dating from 586 BCE to 70 CE.&nbsp;Germany:&nbsp;Anchor Academic Publishing,&nbsp;2015, pp. 361–62</ref> The Temple Mount is the place Jews turn towards during prayer. Jewish attitudes towards entering the site vary. Due to its extreme sanctity, many Jews will not walk on the Mount itself, to avoid unintentionally entering the area where the [[Holy of Holies]] stood, since, according to rabbinical law, there is still some aspect of the [[Shekhinah|divine presence]] at the site.<ref name="ReferenceA2">[[Maimonides]], ''[[Mishneh Torah]]'', Avoda, Beit haBechira, 6:14.</ref><ref name=":132">[[Sidra DeKoven Ezrahi]], [[Bernard Avishai]], [https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium.HIGHLIGHT-jews-don-t-have-a-holiest-site-1.10797092 'Jews Don’t Have a ‘Holiest’ Site,'] [[Haaretz]] 13 May :’The point is, this kind of recklessness not only offended secular democrats, it vulgarized what “holy” has meant for most observant Jews, too. Not coincidentally, more than 85 percent of Israel’s Haredi Jews oppose prayer on the Mount, for reasons having to do with purity and impurity that cannot be resolved in “our time.” Advocates of such prayer and sacrifice tend to be, like Goren, Orthodox-nationalist zealots educated in local yeshivas and identified with the neo-Zionist settlement project. They are, like Islamists, fanatics warped by violence and nationalist fantasy – “Jewists,” not Jews.‘</ref><ref name=":142">Sam Sokol, [https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-poll-half-of-jewish-israelis-support-jewish-prayer-on-the-temple-mount-1.10778149 Should Jews Be Allowed to Pray on the Temple Mount? Many Israelis Think So, Poll Shows,'] [[Haaretz]]  3 May 2022: '86.5 percent of ultra-Orthodox Jews opposed prayer for reasons of halakha, while national religious (51 percent), traditional religious (54.5 percent) and traditional non-religious respondents (49 percent) supported worship on the mount for nationalist reasons. Many rabbis, and almost all ultra-Orthodox ones, prohibit their followers from ascending the Temple Mount due to concerns over ritual purity.'</ref>

The [[Al-Aqsa]] mosque compound, atop the site, is the [[List of the oldest mosques|second oldest mosque in Islam]],<ref name=NG>{{cite book | author=National Geographic Society (U.S.) | last2=de Blij | first2=H.J. | last3=Downs | first3=R. | author4=John Wiley & Sons | title=Wiley/National Geographic College Atlas of the World | publisher=Wiley | year=2007 | isbn=978-0-471-74117-6 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pPQ5AQAAIAAJ | access-date=2022-06-15 | page=49|quote=Al 'Aqsa is the second oldest mosque in Islam after the Kaaba in Mecca and is third in holiness after the mosques in Mecca and Medina. It holds up to 400,000 worshippers at one time.}}</ref> and one of the three Sacred Mosques, the [[holiest sites in Islam]]; it is revered as "the Noble Sanctuary".<ref name=":22">* {{cite web |last1=Kasolowsky |first1=Raissa |last2=Blair |first2=Edmund |date=2023-04-06 |title=Factbox: Where is Al Aqsa mosque and why is it so important in Islam? |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/where-is-al-aqsa-mosque-why-is-it-so-important-islam-2023-04-05/ |access-date=2023-07-23 |website=Reuters |quote=Where and What Is the al-Aqua Mosque?  The Al-Aqsa lies at the heart of Jerusalem's Old City on a hill known to Jews as Har ha-Bayit, or Temple Mount, and to Muslims internationally as al-Haram al-Sharif, or The Noble Sanctuary. Muslims regard the site as the third holiest in Islam, after Mecca and Medina. Al-Aqsa is the name given to the whole compound and is home to two Muslim holy places: the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque, also known as the Qibli Mosque, which was built in the 8th century AD. |ref=none}}
* '''''[[Where Heaven and Earth Meet]]''''', p. 13: "Nowadays, while oral usage of the term Haram persists, Palestinians tend to use in formal texts the name Masjid al-Aqsa, habitually rendered into English as 'the Aqsa Mosque'".
* {{cite book |last1=Tucker |first1=S.C. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YAd8efHdVzIC&pg=PA70 |title=The Encyclopedia of the Arab-Israeli Conflict: A Political, Social, and Military History [4 volumes]: A Political, Social, and Military History |last2=Roberts |first2=P. |publisher= |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-85109-842-2 |series=ABC-CLIO history reference online |page=70 |quote='''Al-Aqsa Mosque''' The al-Aqsa Mosque (literally, "farthest mosque") is both a building and a complex of religious buildings in Jerusalem. It is known to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary) and to Jews and Christians as the Har ha-Bayit or Temple Mount. The whole area of the Noble Sanctuary is considered by Muslims to be the al-Aqsa Mosque, and the entire precinct is inviolable according to Islamic law. It is considered specifically part of the waqf (endowment) land that had included the Western Wall (Wailing Wall), property of an Algerian family, and more generally a waqf of all of Islam. When viewed as a complex of buildings, the al-Aqsa Mosque is dominated and bounded by two major structures: the al-Aqsa Mosque building on the east and the Dome of the Rock (or the Mosque of Omar) on the west. The Dome of the Rock is the oldest holy building in Islam. |ref=none}}
* {{cite web |date=2022-04-22 |title=Jerusalem holy site clashes fuel fears of return to war |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-61154373 |website=BBC News |quote=Whole site also considered by Muslims as Al Aqsa Mosque}}.
* {{cite web |author=UNESCO World Heritage Centre |date=2022-04-04 |title=39 COM 7A.27 – Decision |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/decisions/6243/ |access-date=2022-05-29 |website=UNESCO World Heritage Centre |quote=…the historic Gates and windows of the Qibli Mosque inside Al-Aqsa Mosque/ Al-Haram Al-Sharif, which is a Muslim holy site of worship and an integral part of a World Heritage Site}}.
* [[PEF Survey of Palestine]], 1883, [[iarchive:surveyofwesternp00warruoft/page/119|volume III Jerusalem]], p. 119: "The Jamia el Aksa, or 'distant mosque' (that is, distant from Mecca), is on the south, reaching to the outer wall. The whole enclosure of the Haram is called by Moslem writers Masjid el Aksa, 'praying-place of the Aksa,' from this mosque."
* [[Yitzhak Reiter]]: "This article deals with the employment of religious symbols for national identities and national narratives by using the sacred compound in Jerusalem (The Temple Mount/al-Aqsa) as a case study. The narrative of The Holy Land involves three concentric circles, each encompassing the other, with each side having its own names for each circle. These are: Palestine/Eretz Israel (i.e., the Land of Israel); Jerusalem/al-Quds and finally The Temple Mount/al-Aqsa compound...Within the struggle over public awareness of Jerusalem's importance, one particular site is at the eye of the storm{{snd}}the Temple Mount and its Western Wall{{snd}}the Jewish Kotel{{snd}}or, in Muslim terminology, the al-Aqsa compound (alternatively: al-Haram al-Sharif) including the al-Buraq Wall... "Al-Aqsa" for the Palestinian-Arab-Muslim side is not merely a mosque mentioned in the Quran within the context of the Prophet Muhammad's miraculous Night Journey to al-Aqsa which, according to tradition, concluded with his ascension to heaven (and prayer with all of the prophets and the Jewish and Christian religious figures who preceded him); rather, it also constitutes a unique symbol of identity, one around which various political objectives may be formulated, plans of action drawn up and masses mobilized for their realization", [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259734239_Narratives_of_Jerusalem_and_its_Sacred_Compound "Narratives of Jerusalem and its Sacred Compound"], ''Israel Studies'' 18(2): 115–32 (July 2013).
* Annika Björkdahl and Susanne Buckley-Zistel: "The site is known in Arabic as Haram al-Sharif{{snd}}the Noble Sanctuary{{snd}}and colloquially as the Haram or the al-Aqsa compound; while in Hebrew, it is called Har HaBeit{{snd}}the Temple Mount." {{cite book |author1=Annika Björkdahl |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YrztCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA243 |title=Spatialising Peace and Conflict: Mapping the Production of Places, Sites and Scales of Violence |author2=Susanne Buckley-Zistel |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-137-55048-4 |pages=243–}}
* [[Mahdi Abdul Hadi]]: "Al-Aqsa Mosque, also referred to as Al-Haram Ash-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary), comprises the entire area within the compound walls (a total area of 144,000 m2){{snd}}including all the mosques, prayer rooms, buildings, platforms and open courtyards located above or under the grounds{{snd}}and exceeds 200 historical monuments pertaining to various Islamic eras. According to Islamic creed and jurisprudence, all these buildings and courtyards enjoy the same degree of sacredness since they are built on Al-Aqsa's holy grounds. This sacredness is not exclusive to the physical structures allocated for prayer, like the Dome of the Rock or Al-Qibly Mosque (the mosque with the large silver dome)"[http://www.tika.gov.tr/upload/2016/INGILIZCE%20SITE%20ESERLER/TANITIM%20BROŞÜRLERİ/PDF/Haram-Ash-sharief-Final-En_2013.pdf Mahdi Abdul Hadi] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200216194529/https://www.tika.gov.tr/upload/2016/INGILIZCE%20SITE%20ESERLER/TANITIM%20BRO%c5%9e%c3%9cRLER%c4%b0/PDF/Haram-Ash-sharief-Final-En_2013.pdf|date=2020-02-16}} [[Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs]]; Tim Marshall: "Many people believe that the mosque depicted is called the Al-Aqsa; however, a visit to one of Palestine's most eminent intellectuals, Mahdi F. Abdul Hadi, clarified the issue. Hadi is chairman of the Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs, based in East Jerusalem. His offices are a treasure trove of old photographs, documents, and symbols. He was kind enough to spend several hours with me. He spread out maps of Jerusalem's Old City on a huge desk and homed in on the Al-Aqsa compound, which sits above the Western Wall. "The mosque in the Al-Aqsa [Brigades] flag is the Dome of the Rock. Everyone takes it for granted that it is the Al-Aqsa mosque, but no, the whole compound is Al-Aqsa, and on it are two mosques, the Qibla mosque and the Dome of the Rock, and on the flags of both Al-Aqsa Brigades and the Qassam Brigades, it is the Dome of the Rock shown," he said. {{cite book |author=Tim Marshall |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ysYpDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA151 |title=A Flag Worth Dying For: The Power and Politics of National Symbols |publisher=Simon & Schuster |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-5011-6833-8 |pages=151–}}
* ''[[USA Today]]'': "A view of the Al-Aqsa compound (Temple Mount) in Jerusalem's Old City" [https://www.usatoday.com/picture-gallery/news/2017/12/05/a-closer-look-at-jerusalem/108347986/].
* [[Al Jazeera Arabic|Al Jazeera]]: "Israeli Deputy Minister Tzipi Hotovely referred to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound as 'the centre of Israeli sovereignty, the capital of Israel'... In response, Netanyahu's office later that night put out a statement saying that 'non-Muslims visit the Temple Mount [Al-Aqsa compound]' but are not permitted to pray there.{{'"}} [https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/10/151028194019092.html]</ref> Its courtyard (''[[sahn]]'')<ref name="Prawer">{{cite book |last1=Prawer |first1=P.M.H.J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-qQUCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA81 |title=The History of Jerusalem: The Early Muslim Period (638–1099) |last2=Prawer |first2=J. |last3=Ben-Shammai |first3=H. |last4=Ben-Tsevi |first4=Yad Yitshak |author5=Universiṭah ha-ʻIvrit bi-Yerushalayim |publisher=New York University Press |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-8147-6639-2 |page=81 |language=en-us |quote=... The Temple Mount, al-Haram al-Sharif, is a large esplanade (sahn in Arabic) ... |access-date=2022-05-31}}</ref> can host more than 400,000 worshippers, making it one of the [[List of largest mosques|largest mosques in the world]].<ref name=NG/> For [[Sunni Islam|Sunni]] and [[Shia Islam|Shia]] Muslims alike, it ranks as [[Holiest sites in Sunni Islam|the third holiest site in Islam]]. The plaza includes the location regarded as where the Islamic prophet [[Muhammad]] [[Isra and Mi'raj|ascended to heaven]],<ref>{{cite book |author=Colby |first=Frederick S. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sasZCjcTisIC&pg=PA15 |title=Narrating Muhammad's Night Journey: Tracing the Development of the Ibn 'Abbas Ascension Discourse |publisher=SUNY Press |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-7914-7788-5 |page=15 |access-date=14 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200715080148/https://books.google.com/books?id=sasZCjcTisIC&pg=PA15 |archive-date=15 July 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref> and served as the first "''[[qibla]]''", the direction Muslims turn towards when praying. As in Judaism, Muslims also associate the site with [[Solomon in Islam|Solomon]] and other prophets who are also venerated in Islam.<ref name="Quran 2:4, 34:13-14">{{qref|2|4|b=y}}, {{qref|34|13–14}}.</ref> The site, and the term "al-Aqsa", in relation to the whole plaza, is also a central identity symbol for [[Palestinians]], including [[Palestinian Christians]].<ref>{{cite journal | last=Cohen | first=Hillel | title=The Temple Mount/al-Aqsa in Zionist and Palestinian National Consciousness: A Comparative View | journal=Israel Studies Review | publisher=Berghahn Books | volume=32 | issue=1 | year=2017 | issn=2159-0370 | eissn=2159-0389 | jstor=45238302 | pages=1, 8–9, 17 | doi=10.3167/isr.2017.320102 |url=https://www.academia.edu/33360120 | quote=The holy site known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif or al-Aqsa is central to both the Jewish and Palestinian Arab national movements… Al-Aqsa can thus be seen as the central symbol of Palestinian nationalism... One should bear in mind that since the emergence of nationalism in the Arab world, important schools have insisted on separation of religion and state. In addition, a degree of tension exists between al-Aqsa’s two aspects, as a national symbol uniting Palestinian Muslims and Christians, and al-Aqsa as an exclusively Muslim symbol. In other words, the intentions of Palestinians united under the banner of al-Aqsa are not all the same…  For the Palestinians, al-Aqsa is a singular focal point of self-respect and religious destiny. This heightens their commitment to the site, without connection to their religious affiliation (Muslim or Christian) or level of religious belief and observance.}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Reiter |first=Yitzhak |author-link=Yitzhak Reiter |year=2013 |title=Narratives of Jerusalem and its Sacred Compound |journal=Israel Studies |publisher=Indiana University Press |volume=18 |issue=2 |pages=115–32 |doi=10.2979/israelstudies.18.2.115 |issn=1084-9513 |s2cid=143739581 |quote=This article deals with the employment of religious symbols for national identities and national narratives by using the sacred compound in Jerusalem (The Temple Mount/al-Aqsa) as a case study. The narrative of The Holy Land involves three concentric circles, each encompassing the other, with each side having its own names for each circle. These are: Palestine/Eretz Israel (i.e., the Land of Israel); Jerusalem/al-Quds and finally The Temple Mount/al-Aqsa compound...Within the struggle over public awareness of Jerusalem's importance, one particular site is at the eye of the storm{{snd}}the Temple Mount and its Western Wall{{snd}}the Jewish Kotel{{snd}}or, in Muslim terminology, the al-Aqsa compound (alternatively: al-Haram al-Sharif) including the al-Buraq Wall... "Al-Aqsa" for the Palestinian-Arab-Muslim side is not merely a mosque mentioned in the Quran within the context of the Prophet Muhammad's miraculous Night Journey to al-Aqsa which, according to tradition, concluded with his ascension to heaven (and prayer with all of the prophets and the Jewish and Christian religious figures who preceded him); rather, it also constitutes a unique symbol of identity, one around which various political objectives may be formulated, plans of action drawn up and masses mobilized for their realization.}}</ref><ref>[[Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs]]; Tim Marshall: "Many people believe that the mosque depicted is called the Al-Aqsa; however, a visit to one of Palestine's most eminent intellectuals, Mahdi F. Abdul Hadi, clarified the issue. Hadi is chairman of the Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs, based in East Jerusalem. His offices are a treasure trove of old photographs, documents, and symbols. He was kind enough to spend several hours with me. He spread out maps of Jerusalem's Old City on a huge desk and homed in on the Al-Aqsa compound, which sits above the Western Wall. "The mosque in the Al-Aqsa [Brigades] flag is the Dome of the Rock. Everyone takes it for granted that it is the Al-Aqsa mosque, but no, the whole compound is Al-Aqsa, and on it are two mosques, the Qibla mosque and the Dome of the Rock, and on the flags of both Al-Aqsa Brigades and the Qassam Brigades, it is the Dome of the Rock shown," he said. {{cite book |author=Tim Marshall |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ysYpDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA151 |title=A Flag Worth Dying For: The Power and Politics of National Symbols |publisher=Simon & Schuster |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-5011-6833-8 |pages=151–}}; [[Mahdi Abdul Hadi]], [http://www.tika.gov.tr/upload/2016/INGILIZCE%20SITE%20ESERLER/TANITIM%20BROŞÜRLERİ/PDF/Haram-Ash-sharief-Final-En_2013.pdf Mahdi Abdul Hadi] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200216194529/https://www.tika.gov.tr/upload/2016/INGILIZCE%20SITE%20ESERLER/TANITIM%20BRO%c5%9e%c3%9cRLER%c4%b0/PDF/Haram-Ash-sharief-Final-En_2013.pdf|date=2020-02-16}}: "Al-Aqsa Mosque, also referred to as Al-Haram Ash-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary), comprises the entire area within the compound walls (a total area of 144,000 m2) – including all the mosques, prayer rooms, buildings, platforms and open courtyards located above or under the grounds – and exceeds 200 historical monuments pertaining to various Islamic eras. According to Islamic creed and jurisprudence, all these buildings and courtyards enjoy the same degree of sacredness since they are built on Al-Aqsa's holy grounds. This sacredness is not exclusive to the physical structures allocated for prayer, like the Dome of the Rock or Al-Qibly Mosque (the mosque with the large silver dome)."</ref>

Since the [[Crusades]], the Muslim community of Jerusalem has managed the site through the [[Jerusalem Islamic Waqf]]. The site, along with the whole of [[East Jerusalem]] (which includes the Old City), was controlled by [[Jordan]] from 1948 until 1967 and has been [[Israeli occupation of the West Bank|occupied by Israel]] since the [[Six-Day War]] of 1967. Shortly after capturing the site, Israel handed its administration back to the Waqf under the [[Hashemite custodianship of Jerusalem holy sites|Jordanian Hashemite custodianship]], while maintaining Israeli security control.<ref>{{cite web |author=Lieber |first=Dov |date=July 20, 2017 |title=Amid Temple Mount tumult, the who, what and why of its Waqf rulers |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/amid-temple-mount-tumult-the-who-what-and-why-of-its-waqf-rulers/ |access-date=April 16, 2018 |website=Times of Israel}}</ref> The Israeli government enforces a ban on prayer by non-Muslims as part of an arrangement usually referred to as the "status quo".<ref>{{Cite web |title= What Are the Temple Movements and Why Should We Be Worried? |url=https://www.ir-amim.org.il/en/node/2113 |website=Ir Amim}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Gilbert |first=Lela |date=21 September 2015 |title=The Temple Mount – Outrageous Lies and Escalating Dangers |url=http://www.hudson.org/research/11686-the-temple-mount-outrageous-lies-and-escalating-dangers |access-date=4 November 2015 |publisher=[[Hudson Institute]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Yashar |first=Ari |date=28 October 2015 |title=Watch: Waqf bans 'Religious Christians' from Temple Mount |work=Arutz Sheva |url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/202602 |access-date=4 November 2015}}</ref> The site remains a major focal point of the [[Israeli–Palestinian conflict]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Israeli Police Storm Disputed Jerusalem Holy Site |url=http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-10-25-voa6.cfm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091031040808/http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-10-25-voa6.cfm |archive-date=October 31, 2009}}</ref>

==Terminology==
The name of the site is disputed, primarily between Muslims and Jews, in the context of the ongoing [[Israeli–Palestinian conflict]]. Some Arab-Muslim commentators and scholars [[Temple denial|attempt to deny Jewish connection with the Temple Mount]], while some Jewish commentators and scholars attempt to belittle the importance of the site in Islam.<ref name=":18">{{Cite book |last=Reiter |first=Yitzhak |title=Contested Holy places in Israel/Palestine: Sharing and Conflict Resolution |publisher=Routledge |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-138-24349-1 |pages=21–23 |oclc=960842983 |quote=The HS is also the third holiest site in Islam. Early Islam identified the location of the Holy Rock (known as the Foundation Stone among Jews) with the Temple of Solomon. The Dome of the Rock, built by the Caliph ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan at the end of the seventh century CE, was aimed to glorify the place with the understanding of Islam as a continuation of Judaism (and Christianity). Muslim writers related to the site with respect to its sacred continuity. For example, the fifteenth-century Arab historian of Jerusalem Mujir al-Din quotes an early tradition narrated by al-Wasti stating, "After David built many cities and the situation of the children of Israel was improved, he wanted to construct Bayt al-Maqdis [Jerusalem] and build a dome over the rock in the place that Allah sanctified in Aelia [the Roman Byzantine name of Jerusalem]". In another place, he writes, “Suleiman (Solomon) built Masjid Bayt al-Maqdis by the order of his father Da’ud (David).” However, during the twentieth century, against the backdrop of the struggle between the Zionist and the Palestinian-Arab national movements, a new Arab-Muslim trend of denying Jewish attachment to the Temple Mount arose. On the Jewish side, meanwhile, some nationalists and academics also belittled the importance to Muslims of the sacred site in particular and of Jerusalem in general, highlighting the fact that Jerusalem’s name never appears in the Qur’an and that the city never served as an Arab political center.}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Omar |first=Abdallah Marouf |date=2017 |title=Al-Aqsa Mosque's Incident in July 2017: Affirming the Policy of Deterrence. |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/26300531 |journal=[[Insight Turkey]] |volume=19 |issue=3 |pages=69–82 |doi=10.25253/99.2017193.05 |jstor=26300531 |quote=As shown before, Israel tried first to play with the definition of al-Aqsa as being only the Qibli Mosque building. This would give Israel an excuse to request a share in administrating the whole compound, claiming that not all of it is al-Aqsa Mosque. |ref=none |issn=1302-177X |url-access=subscription }}</ref> During a 2016 dispute over the name of the site, [[UNESCO]] Director-General [[Irina Bokova]] stated: "Different peoples worship the same places, sometimes under different names. The recognition, use of and respect for these names is paramount."<ref>{{Cite news |date=2016-10-14 |title=Israel freezes Unesco ties for 'denying Jewish holy sites' |language=en-GB |agency=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-37653910 |access-date=2022-07-17}}</ref>

===Temple Mount===
The term ''Har haBayīt'' – commonly translated as "Temple Mount" in English – was first used in the books of [[Book of Micah|Micah]] (4:1) and [[Book of Jeremiah|Jeremiah]] (26:18), literally as "Mount of the House", a literary variation of the longer phrase "Mountain of the House of the Lord". The abbreviation was not used again in the later books of the [[Hebrew Bible]]{{sfn|Eliav|2008|p=50-51|ps=: "The pair of words ''Temple Mount'' also debuted in the works of the prophets. The ''copyright'' for this name is reserved to the prophet Micah, who incorporated it into his famous admonitory prophecy: ''Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest'' (Micah 3:12). It is quite doubtful, however, that the book of Micah preserved a concrete name that was actually used in the day-to-day lexicon of the prophet's generation. A close-reading of this passage shows that the phrase ''Mountain of the House'' is a literary variation of a longer term, the ''mountain of the House of the Lord'' (three words in Hebrew), which appears in verse 4:1. The author places the complete term in the middle and ''plays'' with its constituent parts (both pieces come out to two words in Hebrew) in the previous and subsequent verses (3:12; 4:2). In verse 4:1 the name Lord is deleted, leaving the term ''Mount of the House,'' or Temple Mount. This, then, is not a case of terms taken from the vocabulary of daily life but rather variations characteristic of the common literary diction used by the prophets. Furthermore, nearly one thousand years will pass from the alleged time of Micah until the specific term ''Temple Mount'' reappears in the Mishnah. In the interim, the term ''Temple Mount'' is not used in even one of the numerous existing sources, except in works quoting and using the entire phrase from Micah. This is conclusive evidence that the name ''Temple Mount'' was not used in earlier periods, even though the image of a mountain as a place for a temple was both known and probably, at least to some degree, widespread."}} or in the [[New Testament]].{{sfn|Eliav|2008|p=56|ps=: "Various passages of the New Testament use the images of the Temple and Jerusalem, whether to express the ''Heavenly Jerusalem'' or, on occasion, as a label for the actual community. And what of the Temple Mount? The word combination ''Temple'' and ''Mount'' is never to be found throughout the entire corpus of the New Testament."}} The term remained in use throughout the [[Second Temple period]], although the term “Mount Zion”, which today refers to the [[Mount Zion|eastern hill]] of ancient Jerusalem, was used more frequently. Both terms are in use in the [[Books of the Maccabees|Book of Maccabees]].<ref name=":20">{{Cite journal |last1=Patrich |first1=Joseph |last2=Edelcopp |first2=Marcos |date=2013 |title=Four stages in the evolution of the Temple Mount |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44092217 |journal=Revue Biblique (1946–) |volume=120 |issue=3 |pages=321–61 |issn=0035-0907 |jstor=44092217}}</ref> The term ''Har haBayīt'' is used throughout the [[Mishnah]] and later Talmudic texts.<ref name="Eliav 2003 pp. 49–113">{{cite journal |last=Eliav |first=Yaron Z. |year=2003 |title=The Temple Mount, the Rabbis, and the Poetics of Memory |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/23509245 |journal=Hebrew Union College Annual |publisher=Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion |volume=74 |pages=49–113 |issn=0360-9049 |jstor=23509245 |access-date=2022-06-30}}</ref>{{sfn|Eliav|2008|p=59b}}

The 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.<ref name=":20" /> According to Eliav, it was during the first century CE, after the destruction of the Second Temple.{{sfn|Eliav|2008|p=64|ps=: "Surprisingly, it was only in the aftermath of the Second Temple's destruction, when Jerusalem lost its own role as a political and religious center, that the Temple Mount gained prominence."}} Shahar and Shatzman reached different conclusions.<ref>Shahar, Y. (2008) "The concept of the Temple Mount in the Second Tem period," ''New Studies on Jerusalem,'' pp. 14, 203–10 (Hebrew with an English abstract on p. 4).</ref><ref>Shatzman, I. (2009). Appendix H, in: Yosef Ben Matityahu ([Titus] Flavius Josephus), ''History of the Jewish War Against the Romans'' (tr. L. Ulman), Jerusalem, pp. 646–59 (Heb).</ref> In the [[Books of Chronicles]], edited at the end of the [[Yehud (Persian province)|Persian period]], the mountain is already referred to as a distinct entity. In 2 Chronicles, [[Solomon's Temple]] was constructed on Mount [[Moriah]] (3:1), and [[Manasseh of Judah|Manasseh]]'s atonement for his sins is associated with the Mountain of the House of the Lord (33:15).<ref name=":15" /><ref>{{bibleverse|2 Chronicles|33:15|HE}}.</ref><ref name=":20" /> 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.{{sfn|Eliav|2008|p=54|ps=: "The name ''Temple Mount'' appears but once throughout the multitude of available sources (in 1 Maccabees, which will be discussed below). Even there, it operates only as a literary construction, inspired by the biblical verse in Micah. This is a decisive finding, which proves that the term ''Temple Mount'' was not an integral part of the Second Temple period's lexicon...The most important question, however, is: how was this surrounding territory perceived by those living at the time, and how did it rank, if at all, in their world-view? It seems to me that throughout most of the period, the area did not possess any independent identity and was considered an integral part of the Temple itself. From a semantic standpoint, the various names given to the compound{{snd}} ''hatser ''(courtyard) in Hebrew, or the Greek ''peribolos'' and ''temenos''{{snd}}describe a space that surrounds another architectural element. The Temple, then, was perceived as an architectural complex containing different components. Just as the altar was part of the Temple structure, so were the surrounding elements{{snd}}courtyards and galleries. This is not to say that all these parts shared an equal status or degree of holiness. There was a definite, hierarchical system: the outer enclosure was not on a par with the inner court, and the inner court was not equivalent to the Holy of Holies. They were all grasped, however, as parts of a whole, which together formed the Temple. The sacredness of these territories is almost self-evident and is certainly no surprise. The expression "my holy courts" appears already in early, First Temple texts (for example, Isaiah 62:9), and it is only natural that the areas that form part of the Temple should possess some of its holiness. For example, the codes of purity were strictly enforced in these courts, in order to prevent the penetration of defilement into the inner sanctuary. The compounds surrounding the Temple, then, did not possess an independent character, and constituted an integral part of the Temple. People didn't refer to these areas as the "Temple Mount," and they were not even perceived in their consciousness as a mountain.}}

The governmental organization which administers the site, the [[Jerusalem Islamic Waqf]] (part of the Jordanian government), have stated that the name "The Temple Mount" is a "strange and alien name" and a "newly-created Judaization term".<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20201031114752/https://haramalaqsa.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/al-aqsa-definition-AR.pdf Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, The Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, The Administration Department of Awgaf and Al-Aqsa Mosque Affairs, Jerusalem: Al-Aqsa Mosque]}}: "They all reassure their rejection of the attempts to Judaize al-Aqsa Mosque or any of its components by the Israeli Occupation Authorities, its various organs and the Jewish organizations, which interfering with its extreme Jewish organizations, which attempt interfering with its administration, hampering its reconstruction, and forcing strange and alien names [such as "The Temple Mount"] among other newly-created Judaization terms."</ref> In 2014, the [[Palestine Liberation Organization|Palestinian Liberation Organization]] (PLO) issued a press release urging journalists not to use the term "Temple Mount" when referring to the site.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ynetnews |date=2014-11-06 |title=PLO urge journalists: Don't use term 'Temple Mount' |language=en |work=Ynetnews |url=https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4588544,00.html |access-date=2022-06-30}}</ref> In 2017, it was reported that Waqf officials harassed archeologists such as [[Gabriel Barkay]] and tour guides who used the term at the site.<ref name=":19">{{Cite web |last=Zion |first=Ilan Ben |date=2022-03-07 |title=Islamic guards try to boot guide for saying 'Temple Mount' on Temple Mount |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/islamic-guards-try-to-boot-guide-for-saying-temple-mount-on-temple-mount/ |access-date=2022-06-30 |website=The Times of Israel |language=en-US}}</ref> According to Jan Turek and John Carman, in modern usage, the term Temple Mount can potentially imply support for Israeli control of the site.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Carman |first1=John |last2=Turek |first2=Jan |year=2016 |title=Looking Back and Forward |journal=Archaeologies |publisher=Springer Science and Business Media LLC |volume=12 |issue=3 |pages=231–39 |doi=10.1007/s11759-017-9304-z |issn=1555-8622 |quote=In part, the issue is one of the technical interpretations of [[World Archaeological Congress|WAC Statutes]] which require WAC to adhere to UN and UNESCO principles of Human Rights and official languages: whether the latter extends to adoption of UNESCO names for things and places is less clear. But it goes further than this: the names applied to places are also indications of claims of ownership and stakeholder status. Since WAC is also bound to defy the forcible occupation of territory and the oppression of peoples, to recognise ‘Temple Mount’ as a legitimate title is potentially to recognise Israeli claims and therefore implicitly offer support for Israeli occupation of Jerusalem in defiance of international condemnation. |ref=none |s2cid=157370997|doi-access=free }}</ref>

=== Other Hebrew terms ===
[[Books of Chronicles|2 Chronicles]] 3:1<ref name=":15">{{bibleverse|2 Chronicles|3:1|HE}}.</ref> refers to the Temple Mount in the time before the construction of the temple as Mount Moriah ({{langx|he|הַר הַמֹּורִיָּה}}, {{transliteration|he|har ha-Môriyyāh}}).

Several passages in the [[Hebrew Bible]] indicate that during the time when they were written, the Temple Mount was identified as Mount Zion.<ref name="Pixner">{{cite book |author=Pixner |first=Bargil |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bvhA6IE4VqgC&q=zion+canaanite&pg=PA321 |title=Paths of the Messiah |publisher=Ignatius Press |others=Translated by Keith Myrick and Miriam Randall |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-89870-865-3 |editor=[[Rainer Riesner]] |pages=320–322}}</ref> The [[Mount Zion]] mentioned in the later parts of the [[Book of Isaiah]] (Isaiah 60:14),<ref>{{Bibleverse|Isaiah|60:14|HE}}.</ref> in the [[Book of Psalms]], and the [[First Book of Maccabees]] ({{c.|2nd century BCE}}) seems to refer to the top of the hill, generally known as the Temple Mount.<ref name="Pixner" /> According to the [[Book of Samuel]], Mount Zion was the site of the Jebusite fortress called the "stronghold of Zion", but once the First Temple was erected, according to the Bible, at the top of the Eastern Hill ("Temple Mount"), the name "Mount Zion" migrated there too.<ref name="Pixner" /> The name later migrated for a last time, this time to Jerusalem's Western Hill.<ref name="Pixner" />

===Al-Aqsa Mosque===
[[File:Mesjid el-Aksa and Jami el-Aksa in the 1841 Aldrich and Symonds map of Jerusalem (cropped).jpg|thumb|Extract of an [[1840–41 Royal Engineers maps of Palestine, Lebanon and Syria|1841 British map]] showing both "Mesjid el-Aksa" and "Jami el-Aksa"]]
The English term "al-Aqsa Mosque" is a translation of either ''al-Masjid al-'Aqṣā'' ({{langx|ar|ٱلْمَسْجِد ٱلْأَقْصَىٰ}}) or ''al-Jâmi' al-Aqṣā'' ({{langx|ar|ٱلْـجَـامِـع الْأَقْـصّى}}).<ref name=Robinson>{{cite book | last1=Robinson | first1=E. | last2=Smith | first2=E. | title= Biblical Researches in Palestine |title-link= Biblical Researches in Palestine | publisher=John Murray | year=1841 | quote="The Jámi'a el-Aksa is the mosk alone; the Mesjid el-Aksa is the mosk with all the [[sacred enclosure]] and precincts, including the [[Dome of the Rock|Sükhrah]]. Thus the words Mesjid and Jāmi'a differ in usage somewhat like the Greek ίερόν and ναός."}}</ref><ref name=Palmer>{{cite journal | author-link= Edward Henry Palmer|last=Palmer | first=E.H. | title=History of the Haram Es Sherif: Compiled from the Arabic Historians | journal=Palestine Exploration Quarterly | volume=3 | issue=3 | year=1871 | issn=0031-0328 | doi=10.1179/peq.1871.012 | pages=122–132|quote=Excursus in the Name Masjid el Aksa. In order to understand the native accounts of the sacred area at Jerusalem, it is essentially necessary to keep in mind the proper application of the various names by which it is spoken of. When the Masjid el Aksa is mentioned, that name is usually supposed to refer to the well-known mosque on the south side of the Haram, but such is not really the case. The latter building is called El Jámʻi el Aksa, or simply El Aksa, and the substructures are called El Aksa el Kadímeh (the ancient Aksa), while the title El Masjid el Aksa is applied to the whole sanctuary. The word Jámi is exactly equivalent in sense to the Greek συναγωγή, and is applied to the church or building in which the worshippers congregate. Masjid, on the other hand, is a much more general term; it is derived from the verb sejada “to adore," and is applied to any spot, the sacred character of which would especially incite the visitor to an act of devotion. Our word mosque is a corruption of masjid, but it is usually misapplied, as the building is never so designated, although the whole area on which it stands may be so spoken of. The Cubbet es Sakhrah, El Aksa, Jam'i el Magharibeh, &c., are each called a Jami, but the entire Haram is a masjid. This will explain how it is that 'Omar, after visiting the churches of the Anastasis, Sion, &c., was taken to the "Masjid" of Jerusalem, and will account for the statement of Ibn el 'Asa'kir and others, that the Masjid el Aksa measured over 600 cubits in length-that is, the length of the whole Haram area. The name Masjid el Aksa is borrowed from the passage in the Coran (xvii. 1), when allusion is made to the pretended ascent of Mohammed into heaven from ·the temple of Jerusalem; "Praise be unto Him who transported His servant by night from El Masjid el Haram (i.e., 'the Sacred place of Adoration' at Mecca) to El Masjid el Aksa (i.e., 'the Remote place of Adoration' at Jerusalem), the precincts of which we have blessed," &c. The title El Aksa, "the Remote," according to the Mohammedan doctors, is applied to the temple of Jerusalem "either because of its distance from Mecca, or because it is in the centre of the earth."}}</ref><ref name="PEF">[[PEF Survey of Palestine]], 1883, [[iarchive:surveyofwesternp00warruoft/page/119|volume III Jerusalem]], p. 119: "The Jamia el Aksa, or 'distant mosque' (that is, distant from Mecca), is on the south, reaching to the outer wall. The whole enclosure of the Haram is called by Moslem writers Masjid el Aksa, 'praying-place of the Aksa,' from this mosque."</ref> ''Al-Masjid al-'Aqṣā'' – "the farthest mosque" – is derived from the [[Quran]]'s ''[[Al-Isra|Surah 17]]'' ("The Night Journey") which writes that [[Muhammad in Islam|Muhammad]] travelled from Mecca to the mosque, from where he subsequently ascended to [[Heaven]].<ref name="auto">{{cite web |title=Al-Aqsa Mosque, Jerusalem |publisher=Atlas Travel and Tourist Agency |url=http://www.atlastours.net/holyland/al_aqsa_mosque.html |access-date=29 June 2008| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080726195105/http://www.atlastours.net/holyland/al_aqsa_mosque.html| archive-date= 26 July 2008 | url-status= live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Lailat al Miraj |work=BBC News |publisher=BBC MMVIII |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/holydays/lailatalmiraj.shtml |access-date=29 June 2008 }}</ref> Arabic and Persian writers such as 10th-century geographer [[Al-Maqdisi]],<ref name=MukaddasiNasir>{{cite book | last=Le Strange | first=Guy | author-link= Guy Le Strange| title=Palestine Under the Moslems: A Description of Syria and the Holy Land from A.D. 650 to 1500. Translated from the Works of the Medieval Arab Geographers | publisher=Houghton, Mifflin | year=1890 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BxUyssIX-H4C&pg=RA1-PA94 | pages=96|quote=Great confusion is introduced into the Arab descriptions of the Noble Sanctuary by the indiscriminate use of the terms Al Masjid or Al Masjid al Akså, Jami' or Jami al Aksâ; and nothing but an intimate acquaintance with the locality described will prevent a translator, ever and again, misunderstanding the text he has before him-since the native authorities use the technical terms in an extraordinarily inexact manner, often confounding the whole, and its part, under the single denomination of "Masjid." Further, the usage of various writers differs considerably on these points : Mukaddasi invariably speaks of the whole Haram Area as Al Masjid, or as Al Masjid al Aksî, “the Akså Mosque,” or “the mosque," while the Main-building of the mosque, at the south end of the Haram Area, which we generally term the Aksa, he refers to as Al Mughattâ, “the Covered-part.” Thus he writes "the mosque is entered by thirteen gates," meaning the gates of the Haram Area. So also "on the right of the court,” means along the west wall of the Haram Area; "on the left side” means the east wall; and “at the back” denotes the northern boundary wall of the Haram Area. Nasir-i-Khusrau, who wrote in Persian, uses for the Main-building of the Aksâ Mosque the Persian word Pushish, that is, “Covered part,” which exactly translates the Arabic Al Mughatta. On some occasions, however, the Akså Mosque (as we call it) is spoken of by Näsir as the Maksurah, a term used especially to denote the railed-off oratory of the Sultan, facing the Mihrâb, and hence in an extended sense applied to the building which includes the same. The great Court of the Haram Area, Nâsir always speaks of as the Masjid, or the Masjid al Akså, or again as the Friday Mosque (Masjid-i-Jum'ah).}}</ref> 11th-century scholar [[Nasir Khusraw]],<ref name=MukaddasiNasir/> 12th-century geographer [[Muhammad al-Idrisi]]<ref>{{cite book | last1=Idrīsī | first1= Muhammad | author-link1=Muhammad al-Idrisi| last2=Jaubert | first2=Pierre Amédée  | author-link2=Pierre Amédée Jaubert  | title=Géographie d'Édrisi | publisher=à l'Imprimerie royale | year=1836 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BRA7AAAAcAAJ&pg=PA343 | language=fr | pages=343–44|quote= Sous la domination musulmane il fut agrandi, et c'est (aujourd'hui) la grande mosquée connue par les Musulmans sous le nom de Mesdjid el-Acsa مسجد الأقصى. Il n'en existe pas au monde qui l'égale en grandeur, si l'on en excepte toutefois la grande mosquée de Cordoue en Andalousie; car, d'après ce qu'on rapporte, le toit de cette mosquée est plus grand que celui de la Mesdjid el-Acsa. Au surplus, l'aire de cette dernière forme un parallelogramme dont la hauteur est de deux cents brasses (ba'a), et le base de cents quatre-vingts. La moitié de cet espace, celle qui est voisin du Mihrab, est couverte d'un toit (ou plutôt d'un dôme) en pierres soutenu par plusieurs rangs de colonnes; l'autre est à ciel ouvert. Au centre de l'édifice est un grand dôme connu sous le nom de Dôme de la roche; il fut orné d'arabesques en or et d'autres beaux ouvrages, par les soins de divers califes musulmans. Le dôme est percé de quatre portes; en face de celle qui est à l'occident, on voit l'autel sur lequel les enfants d'Israël offraient leurs sacrifices; auprès de la porte orientale est l'église nommée le saint des saints, d'une construction élégante; au midi est une chapelle qui était à l'usage des Musulmans; mais les chrétiens s'en sont emparés de vive force et elle est restée en leur pouvoir jusqu'à l'époque de la composition du présent ouvrage. Ils ont converti cette chapelle en un couvent où résident des religieux de l'ordre des templiers, c'est-à-dire des serviteurs de la maison de Dieu.}} Also at {{cite book | last1=Williams | first1=G. | last2=Willis | first2=R. | title=The Holy City: Historical, Topographical, and Antiquarian Notices of Jerusalem | publisher=J.W. Parker | chapter= Account of Jerusalem during the Frank Occupation, extracted from the Universal Geography of Edrisi. Climate III. sect. 5. Translated by P. Amédée Jaubert. Tome 1. pp. 341–45. | issue=v. 1 | year=1849 | chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T_sqAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA3-PA131 | ref=none}}</ref> and 15th-century Islamic scholar [[Mujir al-Din]],<ref name=MujiralDin>{{cite book | last=Williams | first=George | author-link=George Williams (priest) | title=The Holy City: Historical, Topographical and Antiquarian Notices of Jerusalem | publisher=Parker | year=1849 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fd07AAAAcAAJ&pg=RA1-PA151|pages=143–60|quote= The following detailed account of the Haram es-Sherif, with some interesting notices of the City, is extracted from an Arabic work entitled “ The Sublime Companion to the History of Jerusalem and Hebron, by [[Mujir al-Din|Kadi Mejir-ed-din, Ebil-yemen Abd-er-Rahman, El-Alemi]],” who died A.H. 927, (A.D. 1521)… “I have at the commencement called attention to the fact that the place now called by the name Aksa (i. e. the most distant), is the Mosk [Jamia] properly so called, at the southern extremity of the area, where is the Minbar and the great Mihrab. But in fact Aksa is the name of the whole area enclosed within the walls, the dimensions of which I have just given, for the Mosk proper [Jamia], the Dome of the Rock, the Cloisters, and other buildings, are all of late construction, and Mesjid el-Aksa is the correct name of the whole area.”}} and also {{cite book | last=von Hammer-Purgstall | first=J.F. | author-link=Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall|title=Fundgruben des Orients | publisher=Gedruckt bey A. Schmid| volume=2 | year=1811 | chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kSowAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA240 | language=fr |page=93|chapter= Chapitre vingtième. Description de la mosquée Mesdjid-ol-aksa, telle qu'elle est de nos jours, (du temps de l'auteur, au dixième siècle de l'Hégire, au seizième après J.C.)|quote= Nous avons dès le commencement appelé l'attention sur que l'endroit, auquel les hommes donnent aujourd'hui le nom d'Aksa, c'est à-dire, la plus éloignée, est la mosquée proprement dite, bâtie à l'extrêmité méridionale de l'enceinte où se trouve la chaire et le grand autel. Mais en effet Aksa est le nom de l'enceinte entière, en tant qu'elle est enfermée de murs, dont nous venons de donner la longueur et la largeur, car la mosquée proprement dite, le dôme de la roche Sakhra, les portiques et les autres bâtimens, sont tous des constructions récentes, et Mesdjidol-aksa est le véritable nom de toute l'enceinte. (Le Mesdjid des arabes répond à l'ίερόν et le Djami au ναός des grecs.)}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Abu Sway |first=Mustafa |date=Fall 2000 |title=The Holy Land, Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque in the Islamic Sources |url=https://www.academia.edu/6338726 |journal=Journal of the Central Conference of American Rabbis |pages=60–68 |quote=Quoting [[Mujir al-Din]]: "Verily, ‘Al-Aqsa’ is a name for the whole mosque which is surrounded by the wall, the length and width of which are mentioned here, for the building that exists in the southern part of the Mosque, and the other ones such as the Dome of the Rock and the corridors and other [buildings] are novel."}}</ref> as well as 19th century American and British [[Orientalism|Orientalists]] [[Edward Robinson (scholar)|Edward Robinson]],<ref name=Robinson/> [[Guy Le Strange]] and [[Edward Henry Palmer]] explained that the term Masjid al-Aqsa refers to the entire esplanade plaza which is the subject of this article – the entire area including the [[Dome of the Rock]], the fountains, the [[Gates of the Temple Mount|gates]], and the [[Minarets of the Temple Mount|four minarets]] – because none of these buildings existed at the time the Quran was written.<ref name=Palmer/><ref>{{cite book | last=Le Strange | first=Guy | author-link= Guy Le Strange| title=Palestine Under the Moslems: A Description of Syria and the Holy Land from A.D. 650 to 1500. Translated from the Works of the Medieval Arab Geographers | publisher=Houghton, Mifflin | year=1890 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BxUyssIX-H4C&pg=RA1-PA89 | quote=The Askà Mosque. The great mosque of Jerusalem, Al Masjid al Aksà, the "Further Mosque," derives its name from the traditional Night Journey of Muhammad, to which allusion is made in the words of the Kuran (xvii. I)... the term "Mosque" being here taken to denote the whole area of the Noble Sanctuary, and not the Main-building of the Aksà only, which, in the Prophet's days, did not exist.}}</ref><ref name="Strange 1887 pp. 247–305">{{cite journal | last=Strange | first=Guy le | title=Description of the Noble Sanctuary at Jerusalem in 1470 A.D., by Kamâl (or Shams) ad Dîn as Suyûtî | journal=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland | publisher=Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland | volume=19 | issue=2 | year=1887 | issn=0035-869X | jstor=25208864 | pages=247–305 | doi=10.1017/S0035869X00019420 | s2cid=163050043 | url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/25208864 | quote=…the term Masjid (whence, through the Spanish Mezquita, our word Mosque) denotes the whole of the sacred edifice, comprising the main building and the court, with its lateral arcades and minor chapels. The earliest specimen of the Arab mosque consisted of an open courtyard, within which, round its four walls, run colonades or cloisters to give shelter to the worshippers. On the side of the court towards the Kiblah (in the direction of Mekka), and facing which the worshipper must stand, the colonade, instead of being single, is, for the convenience of the increased numbers of the congregation, widened out to form the Jami' or place of assembly… coming now to the Noble Sanctuary at Jerusalem, we must remember that the term 'Masjid’ belongs not only to the Aksa mosque (more properly the Jami’ or place of assembly for prayer), but to the whole enclosure with the Dome of the Rock in the middle, and all the other minor domes and chapels.| url-access=subscription }}</ref>

''Al-Jâmi' al-Aqṣá'' refers to the specific site of the silver-domed [[congregational mosque]] building,<ref name=Robinson/><ref name=Palmer/><ref name=PEF/> also referred to as [[Qibli Mosque]] or Qibli Chapel (''al-Jami' al-Aqsa'' or ''al-Qibli'', or ''Masjid al-Jumah'' or ''al-Mughata''), in reference to its location on the southern end of the compound as a result of the Islamic [[qibla]] being moved from Jerusalem to Mecca.<ref>* {{cite journal |last=Abu-Sway |first=Mustafa |date=2013-03-31 |title=Al-Aqsa Mosque: Do Not Intrude! |url=https://pij.org/articles/1644/alaqsa-mosque-do-not-intrude |journal=Palestine-Israel Journal |quote=Not only do the Israeli occupation authorities prevent freedom of movement and freedom of worship, they interfere in defining Al-Aqsa Mosque by restricting the meaning of Al-Aqsa Mosque to the southernmost building, Qibli Mosque, rather than all 144 dunums or 36 acres. |ref=none}}
* {{cite journal |last=Omar |first=Abdallah Marouf |date=2017 |title=Al-Aqsa Mosque's Incident in July 2017: Affirming the Policy of Deterrence. |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/26300531 |journal=[[Insight Turkey]] |volume=19 |issue=3 |pages=69–82 |doi=10.25253/99.2017193.05 |jstor=26300531 |quote=As shown before, Israel tried first to play with the definition of al-Aqsa as being only the Qibli Mosque building. This would give Israel an excuse to request a share in administrating the whole compound, claiming that not all of it is al-Aqsa Mosque. |ref=none |issn=1302-177X |url-access=subscription }}
* {{cite web |author=UNESCO World Heritage Centre |date=2022-04-04 |title=39 COM 7A.27 – Decision |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/decisions/6243/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220530124745/https://whc.unesco.org/en/decisions/6243/ |archive-date=30 May 2022 |access-date=2022-05-29 |website=UNESCO World Heritage Centre |quote=…the historic Gates and windows of the Qibli Mosque inside Al-Aqsa Mosque/ Al-Haram Al-Sharif, which is a Muslim holy site of worship and an integral part of a World Heritage Site. |ref=none}}
* [https://ecf.org.il/media_items/1507 Jordan-PLO Agreement on the Jerusalem Holy Sites – English (2013)]: "Recalling the unique religious importance, to all Muslims, of al-Masjid al-Aqsa with its 144 Dunums, which include the Qibli Mosque of al-Aqsa, the Mosque of the Dome of the Rock and all its mosques, buildings, walls, courtyards, attached areas over and beneath the ground and the Waqf properties tied-up to al-Masjid al-Aqsa, to its environs or to its pilgrims (hereinafter referred to as "Al-Haram Al-Sharif")."
* Yehia Hassan Wazeri "The Farthest Mosque or the Alleged Temple an Analytic Study", ''Journal of Islamic Architecture'' Vol. 2 Iss. 3 June 2013, “The blessed Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa, which is mentioned in the Ever Glorious Qur'an (in Sura Al-Isra'), is the blessed spot that is now called Al-Haram Al-Qudsi and is surrounded by the great wall along with the buildings and monuments that have been built on it, on top of which is Al-Masjid Al-Qibli (covered Masjid) and the Dome of the Rock.”
* {{cite journal |last=Kamil |first=Meryem |date=2020-09-01 |title=Postspatial, Postcolonial |journal=Social Text |publisher=Duke University Press |volume=38 |issue=3 |pages=55–82 |doi=10.1215/01642472-8352247 |issn=0164-2472 |s2cid=234613673 |quote=The compound is an enclosed platform, with its western portion demarcated as the Jewish holy site of the Wailing Wall. Within the com- pound are two hallowed buildings: the Dome of the Rock and al-Qibli mosque.19 Muslims venerate the Dome of the Rock as the site where Muhammad ascended to heaven, and Jews honor the site where Abraham sacrificed Isaac. Al-Qibli mosque is noted by Muslims as the initial direction for prayer before Mecca. |ref=none|doi-access=free }}
* Omran M. Hassan, A Graphical Vision of Aesthetics of Al-Quds Architecture through the Digital Technology, International Journal of Advanced Science and Technology Vol. 29, No. 7s, (2020), pp. 2819–38: “As shown, it is a part of the building of Al-Qibli mosque which is part of Al-Aqsa Mosque and one of its monuments with a roofed building topped by a dome covered by a layer of lead, located in the south side of Al-Aqsa Mosque towards Al-Qiblah in which the name Al-Qibli came from.”
* [[Mahdi Abdul Hadi]], [http://www.tika.gov.tr/upload/2016/INGILIZCE%20SITE%20ESERLER/TANITIM%20BROŞÜRLERİ/PDF/Haram-Ash-sharief-Final-En_2013.pdf Al-Aqsa Mosque] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200216194529/https://www.tika.gov.tr/upload/2016/INGILIZCE%20SITE%20ESERLER/TANITIM%20BRO%c5%9e%c3%9cRLER%c4%b0/PDF/Haram-Ash-sharief-Final-En_2013.pdf|date=16 February 2020}}, [[Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs]]: "Al-Aqsa Mosque, also referred to as Al-Haram Ash-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary), comprises the entire area within the compound walls (a total area of 144,000 m2) – including all the mosques, prayer rooms, buildings, platforms and open courtyards located above or under the grounds – and exceeds 200 historical monuments pertaining to various Islamic eras. According to Islamic creed and jurisprudence, all these buildings and courtyards enjoy the same degree of sacredness since they are built on Al-Aqsa’s holy grounds. This sacredness is not exclusive to the physical structures allocated for prayer, like the Dome of the Rock or Al-Qibly Mosque (the mosque with the large silver dome).
* {{cite book |author=Tim Marshall |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ysYpDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA151 |title=A Flag Worth Dying For: The Power and Politics of National Symbols |publisher=Simon & Schuster |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-5011-6833-8 |page=151 |ref=none}}: "Many people believe that the mosque depicted is called the Al-Aqsa; however, a visit to one of Palestine's most eminent intellectuals, Mahdi F. Abdul Hadi, clarified the issue. Hadi is chairman of the Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs, based in East Jerusalem. His offices are a treasure trove of old photographs, documents, and symbols. He was kind enough to spend several hours with me. He spread out maps of Jerusalem's Old City on a huge desk and homed in on the Al-Aqsa compound, which sits above the Western Wall. "The mosque in the Al-Aqsa [Brigades] flag is the Dome of the Rock. Everyone takes it for granted that it is the Al-Aqsa mosque, but no, the whole compound is Al-Aqsa, and on it are two mosques, the Qibla mosque and the Dome of the Rock, and on the flags of both Al-Aqsa Brigades and the Qassam Brigades, it is the Dome of the Rock shown", he said."</ref> The two different Arabic terms, translated as "mosque" in English, parallel the two different Greek terms translated as "temple" in the [[New Testament]]: {{langx|el|ίερόν|translit=hieron}} (equivalent to Masjid) and {{langx|el|ναός|translit=naos}} (equivalent to Jami'a),<ref name=Robinson/><ref name=MujiralDin/><ref name="Carpenter Comfort 2000 p. 404">{{cite book | last1=Carpenter | first1=E.E. | last2=Comfort | first2=P.W. | title=Holman Treasury of Key Bible Words: 200 Greek and 200 Hebrew Words Defined and Explained | publisher=B&H Publishing Group | year=2000 | isbn=978-0-8054-9352-8 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K5ugZP7HQ6oC&pg=PA404 | access-date=2022-07-25 | page=404|quote=The New Testament writers used two different Greek words to describe the "temple": naos and hieron. Naos refers to the actual "sanctuary" of the temple, the place of God's dwelling. ''Hieron'' refers to the "temple precincts" as well as to the "sanctuary." Generally speaking, ''naos'' was used to designate the inner section of the temple known as the "holy place" and the "holy of holies," whereas ''hieron'' would designate the outer court and the temple proper.}}</ref> and use of the term "mosque" for the whole compound follows the usage of the same term for other early Islamic sites with large courtyards such as the [[Mosque of Ibn Tulun]] in Cairo, the [[Umayyad Mosque]] in Damascus and the [[Great Mosque of Kairouan]].<ref>{{cite book | last=Le Strange | first=Guy | author-link= Guy Le Strange| title=Palestine Under the Moslems: A Description of Syria and the Holy Land from A.D. 650 to 1500. Translated from the Works of the Medieval Arab Geographers | publisher=Houghton, Mifflin | year=1890 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BxUyssIX-H4C&pg=RA1-PA94 | pages=94–96|quote=The main characteristics of the primitive Arab mosque are well exemplified in the accompanying plan representing the Jâmi' of Ibn Talûn. This is the oldest mosque in Cairo… As here seen in its simplest form, the mosque primarily consisted of an open courtyard, within which, and round its four walls, ran colonnades or cloisters, to give shelter to the worshippers. On the side of the court towards the Kiblah (in the direction of Makkah), and facing which the worshipper must stand and kneel during prayers, the colonnade, instead of being single, is, for the convenience of the increased numbers of the congregation, widened out to form the Jâmi', or “place of assembly.” In the case of Ibn Talūn's Mosque, five rows of columns, with the boundary-wall, form the five transverse aisles (A to a). In the centre of the boundary-wall on the Makkah side is set the great Mihrab of the mosque (a), indicating the direction of the Kiblah. Now in all descriptions of a mosque it is taken for granted that the visitor is standing in the Court (as Sahn) of the mosque, and facing the Kiblah. Fronting him therefore is the Main-building, called the “covered-part” (al Mughattâ), or the “fore-part" (al Mukaddamah) of the mosque (A to a); while in his rear is the colonnade (B), single or double, against the wall of the courtyard, furthest from the Makkah-side, and this is called the “back" of the mosque (al Muakhkharah). The "right-hand side " of the mosque is in the neighbourhood of the colonnades (C), along the wall on the right of the Court when you face the Mihrab, and the "left-hand side" is on the opposite side (D). In the Court (as Sahn) thus enclosed, are often other buildings, such as tombs or minor chapels. In the Mosque of Ibn Tulan there is a domed building (E), originally intended to serve as the mausoleum of the founder, but which, as he died far away in Syria, was.subsequently fitted up with a water-tank to serve as a place for the ablution before prayer. Turning now to the Arab descriptions of the Haram Area at Jerusalem, the point it is of importance to remember is that the term Masjid (whence through the Egyptian pronunciation of Masgid, and the Spanish Mezquita, our word “mosque") applies to the whole of the Haram Area, not to the Aksâ alone. Masjid in Arabic means "a place of prostration (in prayer);" and therefore to revert once again to Ibn Tûlûn's Mosque, (1) the Mainbuilding, A; (2) the Court, and (3) the Colonnades at the back, B; with those (4) to the right, C; to the left, D; as also (5) the Dome E in the Court-one and all form essential parts of the mosque, and are all comprehended by the term “Al Masjid.' Bearing these points in mind, and coming to the Noble Sanctuary at Jerusalem, we find that the term “Masjid," as already stated, is commonly applied not only to the Aksâ Mosque (more properly the Jâmi', or “place of assembly," for prayer), but to the whole enclosure of the great Court, with the Dome of the Rock in the middle, and all the other minor domes, and chapels, and colonnades. The Dome of the Rock (misnamed by the Franks “the Mosque of 'Omar"), is not itself a mosque or place for public prayer, but merely the largest of the many cupolas in the Court of the Mosque, and in this instance was built to cover and do honour to the Holy Rock which lies beneath it.}}</ref> Other sources and maps have used the term ''al-Masjid al-'Aqṣā'' to refer to the congregational mosque itself.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Yavuz |first=Yildirim |date=1996 |title=The Restoration Project of the Masjid Al-Aqsa by Mi̇mar Kemaletti̇n (1922–26) |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1523257 |journal=Muqarnas |volume=13 |pages=149–164 |doi=10.2307/1523257 |jstor=1523257 |issn=0732-2992|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Salameh |first=Khader |date=2009 |title=A New Saljuq Inscription in the Masjid al-Aqsa, Jerusalem |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1179/175638009x427620 |journal=Levant |volume=41 |issue=1 |pages=107–17 |doi=10.1179/175638009x427620 |s2cid=162230613 |issn=0075-8914|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>1936 [[Survey of Palestine]] map of the Old City of Jerusalem.</ref>
[[File:Solomon's_Stables_in_the_1936_Old_City_of_Jerusalem_map_by_Survey_of_Palestine_map_1-2,500_(cropped).jpg|thumb|Extract of a [[Survey of Palestine|1936 British map]] showing the entire site as "Moriah" or "Haram esh-Sharif"; the Al-Aqsa Mosque shown as "Mesjid el-Aksa"]]
The term "al-Aqsa" as a symbol and brand-name has become popular and prevalent in the region.<ref name=Reiter2>{{cite book | last=Reiter | first= Yitzhak |author-link= Yitzhak Reiter|title=Jerusalem and Its Role in Islamic Solidarity | publisher=Palgrave Macmillan US | year=2008 | isbn=978-0-230-61271-6 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bZbFAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA23 | pages=21–23|ref=none|quote=During the Middle Ages, when the issue of Jerusalem's status was a point of controversy, the supporters of Jerusalem's importance (apparently after its liberation from Crusader control) succeeded in attributing to al-Quds or to Bayt-al-Maqdis (the Arabic names for Jerusalem) the status of haram that had been accorded to the sacred compound. The site was thus called al-Haram al-Sharif, or al-Haram al-Qudsi al-Sharif. Haram, from an Arabic root meaning "prohibition," is a place characterized by a particularly high level of sanctity{{snd}}a protected place in which blood may not be shed, trees may not be felled, and animals may not be hunted. The status of haram was given in the past to the Sacred Mosque in Mecca and to the Mosque of the Prophet in al-Madina (and some also accorded this status to the Valley of Wajj in Ta'if on the Arabian Peninsula?). Thus, al-Masjid al-Aqsa became al-Haram al-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary) in order to emphasize its exalted status alongside the two other Muslim sanctuaries. Although, as noted before, Ibn-Taymiyya refuted the haram status of the Jerusalem mosque, al-Aqsa's upgrading to haram status was successful and has prevailed. It became a commonly accepted idea and one referred to in international forums and documents. It was, therefore, surprising that during the 1980s the Palestinians gradually abandoned the name that had been given to the Haram/Temple Mount compound in apparent honor of Jerusalem's status as third in sanctity – al-Haram al-Sharif – in favor of its more traditional name-al-Aqsa. An examination of relevant religious texts clarifies the situation: since the name al-Aqsa appears in the Quran, all Muslims around the world should be familiar with it; thus it is easier to market the al-Aqsa brand-name. An additional factor leading to a return to the Qur'anic name is an Israeli demand to establish a Jewish prayer space inside the open court of the compound. The increased use of the name al-Aqsa is particularly striking against the background of what is written on the Web site of the Jerusalem Waqf, under the leadership of (former) Palestinian mufti Sheikh Ikrima Sabri. There it is asserted that "al Masjid al-Aqsa was erroneously called by the name al-Haram al-Qudsi al-Sharif," and that the site's correct name is al-Aqsa. This statement was written in the context of a fatwa in response to a question addressed to the Web site's scholars regarding the correct interpretation of the Isra' verse in the Quran (17:1), which tells of the Prophet Muhammad's miraculous Night Journey from the "Sacred Mosque to the Farthest Mosque" – al-Aqsa. In proof of this, Sabri quotes Ibn-Taymiyya, who denied the existence of haram in Jerusalem, a claim that actually serves those seeking to undermine the city's sacred status. Sabri also states that Arab historians such as Mujir al-Din al-Hanbali, author of the famed fifteenth-century work on Jerusalem, do not make use of the term "haram" in connection with the al-Aqsa site. Both Ibn-Taymiyya and Mujir al-Din were affiliated with the Hanbali School of law-the relatively more puritan stream in Islam that prevailed in Saudi Arabia. The Hanbalies rejected innovations, such as the idea of a third haram. One cannot exclude the possibility that the Saudis, who during the 1980s and 1990s donated significant funds to Islamic institutions in Jerusalem, exerted pressure on Palestinian-Muslim figures to abandon the term "haram" in favor of "al-Aqsa". The "al-Aqsa" brand-name has thus become popular and prevalent. Al-Haram al-Sharif is still used by official bodies (the Organization of the Islamic Conference [OIC], the Arab League), in contrast to religious entities. The public currently uses the two names interchangeably. During the last generation, increasing use has been made of the term "al-Aqsa" as a symbol and as the name of various institutions and organizations. Thus, for example, the Jordanian military periodical that has been published since the early 1970s is called al-Aqsa; the Palestinian police unit established by the PA in Jericho is called the Al-Aqsa Division; the Fatah's armed organization is called the Al-Aqsa Brigades; the Palestinian Police camp in Jericho is called the Al-Aqsa Camp; the Web sites of the southern and northern branches of the Islamic movement in Israel and the associations that they have established are called al-Aqsa; the Intifada that broke out in September 2000 is called the al-Aqsa Intifada and the Arab summit that was held in the wake of the Intifada's outbreak was called the al-Aqsa Summit. These are only a few examples of a growing phenomenon.}}</ref> For example, the [[Al-Aqsa Intifada]] (the uprising of September 2000), the [[al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades]] (a coalition of Palestinian nationalist militias in the West Bank), [[al-Aqsa TV]] (the official Hamas-run television channel), [[al-Aqsa University]] (Palestinian university established in 1991 in the Gaza Strip), [[Jund al-Aqsa]] (a Salafist jihadist organization that was active during the Syrian Civil War), the Jordanian military periodical published since the early 1970s, and the associations of both the southern and northern branches of the [[Islamic Movement in Israel]] are all named Al-Aqsa after this site.<ref name=Reiter2/>

===Haram al-Sharif===
During the period of [[Mamluk Sultanate|Mamluk]]<ref>St Laurent, B., & Awwad, I. (2013). [https://vc.bridgew.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1006&context=art_fac The Marwani Musalla in Jerusalem: New Findings]. ''Jerusalem Quarterly''.</ref> (1260–1517) and [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] rule (1517–1917), the wider compound of the Temple Mount began to also be popularly known as the Haram al-Sharif, or ''al-Ḥaram ash-Sharīf'' ({{langx|ar|اَلْـحَـرَم الـشَّـرِيْـف|link=no}}), which translates as the "Noble Sanctuary". It mirrors the terminology of the [[Masjid al-Haram]] in [[Mecca]];<ref>{{cite book |first1=Sabri|last1=Jarrar|title=Muqarnas: An Annual on the Visual Culture of the Islamic World|chapter=Suq al-Ma'rifa: An Ayyubid Hanbalite Shrine in Haram al-Sharif|editor-first=Gülru|editor-last=Necipoğlu|edition=Illustrated, annotated |publisher=Brill |year=1998 |isbn=978-90-04-11084-7 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FG6ZlkRjD2IC&pg=PA71|page=85|quote=
Al-Masjid al-Aqsa' was the standard designation for the whole sanctuary until the Ottoman period, when it was superseded by 'al-Haram al-Sharif'; 'al-Jami’ al-Aqsa' specifically referred to the Aqsa Mosque, the mughatta or the covered aisles, the site on which ‘Umar founded the first mosque amidst ancient ruins.}}
</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author-link=Oleg Grabar|last=Grabar|first=Oleg|title=The Haram al-Sharif: An Essay in Interpretation|url= http://archnet.org/system/publications/contents/5052/original/DPC1775.pdf?1384787486 |journal=Bulletin of the Royal Institute for Inter-Faith Studies|series=Constructing the Study of Islamic Art|volume=2|issue=2|year=2000|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160414045823/http://archnet.org/system/publications/contents/5052/original/DPC1775.pdf?1384787486 |archive-date=2016-04-14 |quote=It is only at a relatively late date that the Muslim holy space in Jerusalem came to be referred to as al-haram al-sharif (literally, the Noble Sacred Precinct or Restricted Enclosure, often translated as the Noble Sanctuary and usually simply referred to as the Haram). While the exact early history of this term is unclear, we know that it only became common in Ottoman times, when administrative order was established over all matters pertaining to the organization of the Muslim faith and the supervision of the holy places, for which the Ottomans took financial and architectural responsibility. Before the Ottomans, the space was usually called al-masjid al-aqsa (the Farthest Mosque), a term now reserved to the covered congregational space on the Haram, or masjid bayt al-maqdis (Mosque of the Holy City) or, even, like Mecca's sanctuary, al-masjid al-ḥarâm.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Schick |first=Robert |title=Geographical Dimensions of Islamic Jerusalem |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publisher |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-4438-0834-7 |editor=Khalid El-Awaisi |pages=91–106 |language=en |chapter=Geographical Terminology in Mujir al-Din's History of Jerusalem |quote=Mujir al-Din defined al-Masjid al-Aqsā as the entire compound, acknowledging that in common usage it referred to the roofed building at the south end of the compound. As he put it (1999 v. 2, p. 45; 1973 v. 2, p. 11), the jami' that is in the core of al-Masjid al-Aqsa at the qiblah where the Friday service takes place is known among the people as "al-Masjid al-Aqsa", and (1999 v. 2, pp. 63–64; 1973 v. 2, p. 24) what is known among the people as "al-Aqsa" is the jami in the core of the masjid in the direction of the giblah, where the minbar and the large mihrab are. The truth of the matter is that the term "al-Aqsa" is for all of the masjid and what the enclosure walls surround. What is intended by "al-Masjid al-Aqsā" is everything that the enclosure walls surround. Mujir al-Din did not identify al-Masjid al-Aqsā by the alternative term "al-Haram al-Sharif". That term began to be used in the Mamluk period and came into more general use in the Ottoman period. He only used the term when giving the official title of the government-appointed inspector of the two noble harams of Jerusalem and Hebron (Nazir al-Haramavn al-Sharifayn). While Mujir al-Din did not explicitly discuss why the masjid of Bayt al-Magdis 'is not called the haram' (1999 v. 1, p. 70; 1973 v. 1, p. 7), he may well have adopted the same position as Ibn Taymiyah, his fellow Hanbali in the early 14th century (Ziyarat Bayt al-Maqdis Matthews 1936, p. 13; Iqtida' al-Sirat al-Mustaqim Mukhalafat Ashab al-Jahim Memon 1976: 316) in rejecting the idea that al-Masjid al-Aqsa (or the tomb of Abraham in Hebron) can legitimately be called a haram, because there are only three harams (where God prohibited hunting): Makkah, Madinah, and perhaps Täif. However Mujir al-Din was not fully consistent and also used al-Masiid al-Aqsã to refer to the roofed building, as for example when he referred to al-Nasir Muhammad installing marble in al-Masjid al-Aqsà (1999 v. 2, p. 161; 1973 v. 2, p. 92); he used the term al-Jami al-Aqsa in the parallel passage (1999 v. 2, p. 396; 1973 v. 2, p. 271). |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=APMYBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA121}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last=Wazeri | first=Yehia Hassan | title=The Farthest Mosque or the Alleged Temple an Analytic Study | journal=Journal of Islamic Architecture | publisher=Maulana Malik Ibrahim State Islamic University | volume=2 | issue=3 | date=2014-02-20 | issn=2356-4644 | doi=10.18860/jia.v2i3.2462| s2cid=190588084 |url=https://www.academia.edu/7333141|quote=Many people think that Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa is only the mosque established south of the Dome of the Rock, where the obligatory five daily prayers are performed now. Actually, Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa is a term that applies to all parts of the Masjid, including the area encompassed within the wall, such as the gates, the spacious yards, the mosque itself, the Dome of the Rock, Al-Musalla Al-Marawani, the corridors, domes, terraces, free drinking water (springs), and other landmarks, like minarets on the walls. Furthermore, the whole mosque is unroofed with the exception of the building of the Dome of the Rock and Al-Musalla Al-Jami`, which is known by the public as Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa. The remaining area, however, is a yard of the mosque. This is agreed upon by scholars and historians, and accordingly, the doubled reward for performing prayer therein is attained if the prayer is performed in any part of the area encompassed by the wall. Indeed, Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa, which is mentioned in Almighty Allah's Glorious Book in the first verse of Sura Al-Isra' is the blessed place that is now called the Noble Sanctuary (Al-Haram Al-Qudsi Ash-Sharif) which is enclosed within the great fence and what is built over it. Moreover, what applies to the mosque applies by corollary to the wall encircling it, since it is part of it. Such is the legal definition of Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa. Regarding the concept (definition) of Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa, Shaykh `Abdul-Hamid Al-Sa'ih, former Minister of (Religious) Endowments and Islamic Sanctuaries in Jordan said: "The term Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa, for the Muslim public, denotes all that is encircled by the wall of Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa, including the gates". Therefore, (the legally defined) Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa and Al-Haram Al-Qudsi Ash-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary) are two names for the same place, knowing that Al-Haram Ash-Sharif is a name that has only been coined recently.| doi-access=free }}</ref> This term elevated the compound to the status of [[Haram]], which had previously been reserved for the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca and the [[Al-Masjid an-Nabawi]] in [[Medina]]. Other Islamic figures disputed the haram status of the site.<ref name="Reiter2" /> Usage of the name Haram al-Sharif by local Palestinians has waned in recent decades, in favor of the traditional name of Al-Aqsa Mosque.<ref name=Reiter2/>

===Jerusalem's sacred esplanade===
Some scholars have used the terms Sacred [[Esplanade]] or Holy Esplanade as a "strictly neutral term" for the site.<ref name="Kedar 20122">{{cite conference |last=Kedar |first=Benjamin |author-link=Benjamin Z. Kedar |date=2012 |title=Rival Conceptualizations of a Single Space: Jerusalem's sacred esplanade |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/313532683 |publisher=Nehru Memorial Museum and Library |quote=The author intends … to deal with a single space{{snd}}the space which, if we wish to use a strictly neutral term, may be called ‘Jerusalem’s sacred esplanade’.}}</ref><ref name="Weaver 2018 p. 7722">{{cite book |last=Weaver |first=A.E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LcpwDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT77 |title=Inhabiting the Land: Thinking Theologically about the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict |publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers |year=2018 |isbn=978-1-4982-9431-7 |series=Cascade Companions |page=77 |quote=The conflict about sovereignty over Jerusalem encompasses conflict over control of the Holy Esplanade, called al-Haram ash-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary) by Muslims and Har HaBayit (the Temple Mount) by Jews. |access-date=2022-05-21}}</ref> A notable example of this usage is the 2009 work ''[[Where Heaven and Earth Meet|Where Heaven and Earth Meet: Jerusalem's Sacred Esplanade]]'', written as a joint undertaking by 21 Jewish, Muslim and Christian scholars.<ref name="Ole09">{{cite book |last1=Grabar |first1=Oleg |author-link1=Oleg Grabar |url=https://ixtheo.de/Record/604430256 |title=Where Heaven and Earth Meet: Jerusalem's Sacred Esplanade |last2=Binyamin |first2=Kedar |author-link2=Benjamin Z. Kedar |date=2009 |publisher=[[University of Texas Press]] |isbn=978-0-292-72272-9 |location=Austin}}</ref><ref name=Day12>{{cite journal |first=John |last=Day |author-link=John Day (biblical scholar) |date=2012 |title=Review: Where Heaven and Earth Meet: Jerusalem's sacred esplanade |journal=Journal of Modern Jewish Studies |volume=11 |issue=2 |pages=293–95 |doi=10.1080/14725886.2012.689206 |s2cid=144286697 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14725886.2012.689206?journalCode=cmjs20|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

===Jerusalem's Holy Esplanade===
In recent years, the term "Holy Esplanade" has been used by the [[United Nations]], by its [[Secretary-General of the United Nations|Secretary-General]] and by the UN's subsidiary organs.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/press/en/2022/sgsm21238.doc.htm |title=Provocations on Jerusalem's Holy Esplanade Must Stop Now, Secretary-General Says, Stressing Need to Respect, Uphold Status Quo at Holy Sites |date=15 April 2022}}<br />{{bullet}}{{cite web |url=https://reliefweb.int/report/israel/middle-east-report-n-159-status-status-quo-jerusalem-s-holy-esplanade |title=Middle East Report N°159 – The Status of the Status Quo at Jerusalem's Holy Esplanade |date=15 April 2022}}<br />{{bullet}}{{cite web |url=https://unsco.unmissions.org/statement-un-special-coordinator-middle-east-peace-process-tor-wennesland-security-situation |title=Statement By UN Special Coordinator For The Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland, On The Security Situation In Jerusalem |date=15 April 2022}}</ref>

== Location and dimensions ==
[[File:JerusalemTopography.png|thumb|Topographical map of Jerusalem, showing the Temple Mount on the eastern peak]]
The Temple Mount forms the northern portion of a narrow spur of hill that slopes sharply downward from north to south. Rising above the [[Kidron Valley]] to the east and [[Tyropoeon Valley]] to the west,{{sfn|Gonen|2003|p=9–11}} its peak reaches a height of {{cvt|740|m|ft|0}} above sea level.<ref name="Lundquist2007p.103">[[Temple Mount#ref Lundquist2007|Lundquist (2007)]], p. 103.</ref> In around 19 BCE, [[Herod the Great]] extended the Mount's natural [[plateau]] by enclosing the area with four massive retaining walls and filling the voids. This artificial expansion resulted in a large flat expanse which today forms the eastern section of the [[Old City of Jerusalem]]. The [[Trapezoid|trapezium]] shaped platform measures {{cvt|488|m}} along the west, {{cvt|470|m}} along the east, {{cvt|315|m}} along the north and {{cvt|280|m}} along the south, giving a total area of approximately {{cvt|150000|m2|acre}}.<ref name="Finkelstein1999p43">[[Temple Mount#refFinkelstein1999|Finkelstein, Horbury, Davies & Sturdy (1999)]], p. 43.</ref> The northern wall of the Mount, together with the northern section of the western wall, is hidden behind residential buildings. The southern section of the western flank is revealed and contains what is known as the [[Western Wall]]. The retaining walls on these two sides descend many meters below ground level. A northern portion of the western wall may be seen from within the [[Western Wall Tunnel]], which was excavated through buildings adjacent to the platform. On the southern and eastern sides, the walls are visible almost to their full height. The platform itself is separated from the rest of the Old City by the Tyropoeon Valley, though this once deep valley is now largely hidden beneath later deposits and is imperceptible in places. The platform can be reached via Gate of the Chain Street – a street in the [[Muslim Quarter (Jerusalem)|Muslim Quarter]] at the level of the platform, actually sitting on a monumental bridge;<ref>{{Cite web |title=Temple Mount – Other sites |url=https://www.biblewalks.com/templemountsites}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=September 2015}} the bridge is no longer externally visible due to the change in ground level, but it can be seen from beneath via the Western Wall Tunnel.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Montefiore |first=Simon Sebag |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QO0-lV0rxsQC&dq=%22Gate+of+the+Chain+Street%22&pg=PA371 |title=Jerusalem: The Biography |date=2011 |publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-307-59448-8 |page=371 |language=en}}</ref>

== Heritage site ==
In 1980, [[Jordan]] proposed that the Old City be listed as a [[UNESCO]] [[World Heritage Site]]<ref>{{Cite web |last=Centre |first=UNESCO World Heritage |title=Old City of Jerusalem and its Walls |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/148/ |access-date=2024-03-09 |website=UNESCO World Heritage Centre |language=en}}</ref> and it was added to the List in 1981.<ref>{{cite web |title=Report of the 1st Extraordinary Session of the World Heritage Committee |url=https://whc.unesco.org/archive/repext81.htm#148 |access-date=2013-10-14 |publisher=Whc.unesco.org}}</ref> In 1982, it was added to the [[List of World Heritage in Danger]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Justification for inscription on the List of World Heritage in Danger, 1982: Report of the 6th Session of the World Heritage Committee |url=https://whc.unesco.org/archive/repcom82.htm#jerusalem |access-date=2013-10-14 |publisher=Whc.unesco.org}}</ref>

On 26 October 2016, UNESCO passed the [[Occupied Palestine Resolution]] that condemned what it described as "escalating Israeli aggressions" and illegal measures against the waqf, called for the restoration of Muslim access and demanded that Israel respect the historical status quo<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://arabcenterdc.org/resource/jerusalems-status-quo-agreement-history-and-challenges-to-its-viability/|title=Jerusalem's Status Quo Agreement: History and Challenges to Its Viability|first=Nabil|last=Sharaf|website=Arab Center Washington DC|date=15 May 2023 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=UNESCO. Executive Board; 200th; Decisions adopted by the Executive Board at its 200th session; 2016 |url=https://www.un.org/unispal/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/UNESCOEX200.pdf |access-date=7 October 2023 |website=[[United Nations]]}}</ref><ref name="AJUNESCO">{{cite news |title=UNESCO adopts anti-Israel resolution on al-Aqsa Mosque |work=aljazeera.com |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/10/unesco-adopts-anti-israel-resolution-al-aqsa-mosque-161018120610946.html |url-status=live |access-date=21 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161021132706/http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/10/unesco-adopts-anti-israel-resolution-al-aqsa-mosque-161018120610946.html |archive-date=21 October 2016}}</ref> and also criticized Israel for its continuous "refusal to let the body's experts access Jerusalem's holy sites to determine their conservation status".<ref>{{cite book |author=Meskell |first=Lynn |author-link=Lynn Meskell |title=A Future in Ruins:UNESCO, World Heritage, and the Dream of Peace |date=2018 |publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=165–66 |language=en |quote=mention is made of “illegal archaeological excavations” and the “continuous, intrusive archaeological demolitions and excavations in and around the Mughrabi Gate Ascent.” The text notes that “damage caused by the Israeli security forces ... to the historic Gates and windows of the Qibli Mosque inside Al-Aqsa Mosque” occurred in 2014.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=UNESCO approves new Jerusalem resolution |work=www.aljazeera.com |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/10/unesco-approves-anti-israel-resolution-jerusalem-161026173149575.html |url-status=live |access-date=27 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161027112839/http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/10/unesco-approves-anti-israel-resolution-jerusalem-161026173149575.html |archive-date=27 October 2016}}</ref> While the text acknowledged the "importance of the Old City of Jerusalem and its walls for the three monotheistic religions", it referred to the sacred hilltop compound in Jerusalem's Old City only by its Muslim name Al-Haram al-Sharif.

In response, Israel denounced the UNESCO resolution for its omission of the words "Temple Mount" or "Har HaBayit", stating that it denied Jewish ties to the site.<ref name="AJUNESCO" /><ref>{{cite web |title=Commission report |url=http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0024/002462/246215e.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161016131113/http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0024/002462/246215e.pdf |archive-date=16 October 2016 |access-date=19 October 2016 |website=unesdoc.unesco.org}}</ref> Israel froze all ties with UNESCO.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Eichner |first1=Itamar |date=13 October 2016 |title=UNESCO fails to acknowledge Jewish ties to Temple Mount |newspaper=Ynetnews |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4866113,00.html |url-status=live |access-date=19 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161018225443/http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4866113,00.html |archive-date=18 October 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Netanyahu leads angry denunciations of 'absurd' UNESCO decision |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-leads-angry-denunciations-of-absurd-unesco-decision/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161018211628/http://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-leads-angry-denunciations-of-absurd-unesco-decision/ |archive-date=18 October 2016 |access-date=19 October 2016 |website=[[The Times of Israel]]}}</ref> In October 2017, Israel and the United States announced they would withdraw from UNESCO, citing anti-Israel bias.<ref>{{Cite news |title=The United States Withdraws From UNESCO |publisher=[[U.S. Department of State]] |url=https://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2017/10/274748.htm |url-status=dead |access-date=12 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190408053146/https://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2017/10/274748.htm |archive-date=8 April 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Harris |first1=Gardiner |last2=Erlangeroct |first2=Steven |date=12 October 2017 |title=U.S. Will Withdraw From Unesco, Citing Its 'Anti-Israel Bias' |work=The New York Times |agency=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/12/us/politics/trump-unesco-withdrawal.html |url-status=live |access-date=8 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171021190452/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/12/us/politics/trump-unesco-withdrawal.html |archive-date=21 October 2017}}</ref>

On 6 April 2022, UNESCO unanimously adopted a resolution reiterating all 21 previous resolutions concerned with Jerusalem.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.jordantimes.com/news/local/unesco-unanimously-adopts-resolution-old-jerusalem | title=UNESCO unanimously adopts resolution on old Jerusalem | date=7 April 2022 }}</ref>

==Religious significance==
{{see also|Religious significance of Jerusalem}}
The Temple Mount has historical and religious significance for all three of the major [[Abrahamic religions]]: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. It has particular religious significance for Judaism and Islam.

===Judaism===
{{see also|Jerusalem in Judaism}}

The Temple Mount is considered the holiest site in Judaism.<ref name=":112"/><ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last1=Cohen-Hattab |first1=Kobi |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nizvDwAAQBAJ&q=holiest+site+in+judaism |title=The Western Wall: The Dispute over Israel's Holiest Jewish Site, 1967–2000 |last2=Bar |first2=Doron |date=2020 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-43133-1 |language=en}}</ref>{{sfn|Gonen|2003|p=4}} According to Jewish tradition, both [[Temple in Jerusalem|Temples]] stood at the Temple Mount.<ref name="BBC - Science & Nature - Horizon">{{cite web |title=BBC – Science & Nature – Horizon |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/tvradio/programmes/horizon/solomon_qa.shtml |work=BBC}}</ref> Jewish tradition further places the Temple Mount as the location for a number of important events which occurred in the Bible, including the [[Binding of Isaac]], Jacob's dream, and the prayer of Isaac and [[Rebekah]].<ref>[[Toledot]] 25:21.</ref> According to the Talmud, the [[Foundation Stone]] is the place from where the world was created and expanded into its current form.<ref name=":16" /><ref name=":17" /> [[Orthodox Jew]]ish tradition maintains it is here that the [[Third Temple|third and final Temple]] will be built when the [[Messiah in Judaism|Messiah]] comes.<ref name=":12">Baker,&nbsp;Eric W.&nbsp;''The Eschatological Role of the Jerusalem Temple: An Examination of the Jewish Writings Dating from 586 BCE to 70 CE''.&nbsp;Germany:&nbsp;Anchor Academic Publishing,&nbsp;2015, pp. 361–62.</ref>

The Temple Mount is the place Jews turn towards during prayer. Jewish attitudes towards entering the site vary. Due to its extreme sanctity, many Jews will not walk on the Mount itself, to avoid unintentionally entering the area where the [[Holy of Holies]] stood, since, according to rabbinical law, there is still some aspect of the [[Shekhinah|divine presence]] at the site.<ref name="ReferenceA2"/><ref name=":13">[[Sidra DeKoven Ezrahi]], [[Bernard Avishai]], [https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium.HIGHLIGHT-jews-don-t-have-a-holiest-site-1.10797092 'Jews Don’t Have a ‘Holiest’ Site,'] [[Haaretz]] 13 May:’The point is, this kind of recklessness not only offended secular democrats, it vulgarized what “holy” has meant for most observant Jews, too. Not coincidentally, more than 85 percent of Israel’s Haredi Jews oppose prayer on the Mount, for reasons having to do with purity and impurity that cannot be resolved in “our time.” Advocates of such prayer and sacrifice tend to be, like Goren, Orthodox-nationalist zealots educated in local yeshivas and identified with the neo-Zionist settlement project. They are, like Islamists, fanatics warped by violence and nationalist fantasy – “Jewists,” not Jews.‘</ref><ref name=":142"/>

==== The Temple ====
{{see also|Temple in Jerusalem}}[[File:Jerusalem Modell BW 2.JPG|thumb|The [[Holyland Model of Jerusalem]] depicts [[Jerusalem during the Second Temple Period|Jerusalem during the late Second Temple period]]. The Temple Mount and Herod's Temple are shown in the middle. View from the east.]]According to the [[Hebrew Bible]], the Temple Mount was originally a [[threshing-floor]] owned by [[Araunah]], a [[Jebusite]].<ref>{{bibleverse|2 Samuel|24:18–25|HE}}.</ref> The Bible narrates how [[David]] united the [[Twelve Tribes of Israel|twelve Israelite tribes]], conquered Jerusalem and brought the [[Israelites]]' central artifact, the [[Ark of the Covenant]], into the city.<ref>{{harvnb|Pruitt|2014|ps=. King David later took the Ark to Jerusalem.}}</ref> When a great plague struck Israel, a [[Destroying angel (Bible)|destroying angel]] appeared on Araunah's threshing floor. The prophet [[Gad (Bible prophet)|Gad]] then suggested the area to David as a fitting place for the erection of an altar to [[Yahweh|Yawheh]].<ref>II Sam. xxiv. 16 et seq.; I Chron. xxi. 15 et seq.</ref> David bought the property from Araunah, for fifty pieces of silver, and erected the altar. God answered his prayers and stopped the plague. David subsequently chose the site for a future temple to replace the [[Tabernacle]] and house the Ark of the Covenant;{{sfn|''Temple of Jerusalem''}}<ref name="eastons">{{cite encyclopedia |title=Moriah |encyclopedia=[[Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897)|Easton's Bible Dictionary]] |url=http://www.ccel.org/ccel/easton/ebd2.html?term=Moriah |access-date=July 14, 2008}}</ref> [[God in Judaism|God]] forbade him from building it, however, because he had "shed much blood".{{sfn|Jonker|1990|p=656}}

The [[Solomon's Temple|First Temple]] was instead constructed under David's son [[Solomon]],<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Garfinkel |first1=Yosef |last2=Mumcuoglu |first2=Madeleine |date=2019-03-15 |title=The Temple of Solomon in Iron Age Context |journal=Religions |volume=10 |issue=3 |pages=198 |doi=10.3390/rel10030198 |issn=2077-1444 |doi-access=free}}</ref> who became an ambitious builder of public works in [[History of ancient Israel and Judah|ancient Israel]]:{{sfn|Stefon|2020}}

{{blockquote|Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD at Jerusalem in Mount Moriah, where [the LORD] appeared unto David his father; for which provision had been made in the Place of David, in the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.|source=2 Chronicles 3:1<ref>{{bibleverse|2 Chronicles|3:1|ESV}}</ref>}}

Solomon placed the Ark in the Holy of Holies – the windowless innermost sanctuary and most sacred area of the temple in which God's presence rested;{{sfn|''Britannica: Holy of Holies''}} entry into the Holy of Holies was heavily restricted, and only the [[High Priest of Israel]] entered the sanctuary once per year on [[Yom Kippur]], carrying the blood of a sacrificial lamb and burning [[Incense offering in rabbinic literature|incense]].{{sfn|''Britannica: Holy of Holies''}} According to the Bible, the site functioned as the center of all national life – a governmental, judicial and religious center.<ref>Deuteronomy 12:5–26; 14:23–25; 15:20; 16:2–16; 17:8–10; 26:2; 31:11; Isaiah 2:2–5; Obadiah 1:21; Psalms 48.</ref>

The [[Genesis Rabba]], which was probably written between 300 and 500 CE, states that this site is one of three about which the nations of the world cannot taunt Israel and say, "you have stolen them," since it was purchased "for its full price" by David.<ref>[[Genesis Rabba]] 79.7: "And he bought the parcel of ground, where he had spread his tent...for a hundred pieces of money." Rav Yudan son of Shimon said: 'This is one of the three places where the non-Jews cannot deceive the Jewish People by saying that they stole it from them, and these are the places: Ma'arat HaMachpela, the Temple and Joseph's burial place. Ma'arat HaMachpela because it is written: 'And Abraham hearkened unto Ephron; and Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver,' ([[Book of Genesis|Genesis]], 23:16); the Temple because it is written: 'So David gave to Ornan for the place,' ([[I Chronicles]], 21:26); and Joseph's burial place because it is written: 'And he bought the parcel of ground...Jacob bought Shechem.' (Genesis, 33:19)." See also: [[Abraham Isaac Kook|Kook, Abraham Issac]], ''Moadei Hare'iya'', pp. 413–15.</ref>

The First Temple [[Siege of Jerusalem (587 BC)|was destroyed in 587/586 BCE]] by the [[Neo-Babylonian Empire]] under the second Babylonian king, [[Nebuchadnezzar II]], who subsequently [[Babylonian captivity|exiled the Judeans to Babylon]] following the fall of the [[Kingdom of Judah]] and [[Yehud (Babylonian province)|its annexation as a Babylonian province]]. The Jews who had been deported in the aftermath of the Babylonian conquest of Judah were eventually [[Return to Zion|allowed to return]] following [[Edict of Cyrus|a proclamation]] by the Persian king [[Cyrus the Great]] that was issued after the [[fall of Babylon]] to the [[Achaemenid Empire]]. In 516 BCE, the returned Jewish population in Judah, under [[Yehud (Persian province)|Persian provincial governance]], rebuilt the Temple in Jerusalem under the auspices of [[Zerubbabel]], producing what is known as the [[Second Temple]].

During the [[Second Temple period|Second Temple Period]], Jerusalem was the center of religious and national life for Jews, including those in the [[Jewish diaspora|Diaspora]].<ref name=":62">{{Cite book |last=Levine |first=Lee I. |title=Jerusalem: portrait of the city in the Second Temple period (538 BCE – 70 CE) |date=2002 |publisher=Jewish Publication Society, published in cooperation with the Jewish Theological Seminary of America |isbn=978-0-8276-0956-3 |edition=1st |location=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |pages=15–20 |language=en-us |oclc=698161941 |quote=}}</ref> The Second Temple is believed to have attracted tens and maybe hundreds of thousands during the [[Three Pilgrimage Festivals]].<ref name=":62"/> The holiday of [[Hanukkah]] commemorates the rededication of the Temple at the beginning of the [[Maccabean revolt]] in the 2nd century BCE. During the first century BCE, the Temple was renovated by [[Herod the Great|Herod]]. It [[Siege of Jerusalem (70 CE)#Destruction|was destroyed]] by the [[Roman Empire]] at the height of the [[First Jewish–Roman War|First Jewish-Roman War]] in 70 CE. [[Tisha B'Av]], an annual [[Ta'anit|fast day]] in [[Judaism]], marks the destruction of the First and Second Temples, which according to Jewish tradition, occurred on the same day on the [[Hebrew calendar]].

==== In prophecy ====
The [[Book of Isaiah]] foretells the international importance of the Temple Mount:
{{blockquote|And it shall come to pass in the end of days, that the mountain of the LORD'S house shall be established as the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.
And many peoples shall go and say: 'Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths.' For out of [[Zion]] shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.|source=Isaiah 2:2–3<ref>{{bibleverse|Isaiah|2:2–3|ESV}}</ref>}}

==== Binding of Isaac ====
In Jewish tradition, the Temple Mount is also believed to be the location of Abraham's [[binding of Isaac]]. [[Books of Chronicles|2 Chronicles]] 3:1<ref name=":15" /> refers to the Temple Mount in the time before the construction of the temple as '''Mount Moriah''' ({{langx|he|הַר הַמֹּורִיָּה}}, {{transliteration|he|har ha-Môriyyā}}). The "[[Moriah|land of Moriah]]" ({{lang|he|אֶרֶץ הַמֹּרִיָּה}}, {{transliteration|he|ereṣ ha-Môriyyā}}) is the name given by [[Book of Genesis|Genesis]] to the location of the binding of Isaac.<ref name="Delaney">Carol Delaney, ''Abraham on Trial: The Social Legacy of Biblical Myth,'' Princeton University Press, 2000, p. 120.</ref> Since at least the first century CE, the two sites have been identified with one another in Judaism, this identification being subsequently perpetuated by [[Jewish legend|Jewish]] and [[Christian legend|Christian tradition]]. Modern scholarship tends to regard them as distinct (see [[Moriah]]).

==== Creation of the world ====
[[File:The rock of the Dome of the Rock Corrected.jpg|thumb|upright|Picture showing what is presumed to be the [[Foundation Stone]], or a large part of it]]
According to the rabbinic sages whose debates produced the [[Talmud]], the [[Foundation Stone]], which sits below the [[Dome of the Rock]], was the spot from where the world was created and expanded into its current form,<ref name=":16">[[Babylonian Talmud]] [[Yoma]], 54b.</ref><ref name=":17">{{cite web |title=Jerusalem: Eye of the Universe |url=http://www.torah.org/features/israelmatters/eye.html# |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100616185037/http://torah.org/features/israelmatters/eye.html |archive-date=2010-06-16 |work=torah.org}}</ref> and where God gathered the dust used to create the first human, [[Adam (Bible)|Adam]].<ref name="Delaney" />

==== Third Temple ====
Jewish texts predict that the Mount will be the site of a [[Third Temple|Third and final Temple]], which will be rebuilt with the coming of the [[Messiah in Judaism|Messiah]]. The rebuilding of the Temple remained a recurring theme among generations, particularly in thrice daily [[Amidah]] (Standing prayer), central prayer of the [[Jewish liturgy]], which contains a plea for the building of a Third Temple and the restoration of [[Korban|sacrificial services]]. A number of vocal Jewish groups now advocate building the Third Temple without delay in order to bring to pass God's "end-time prophetic plans for Israel and the entire world."<ref>[[Todd Gitlin]], [http://tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/186741/apocalypse-soonest 'Apocalypse Soonest,'] [[Tablet (magazine)|Tablet]] 11 November 2014.</ref>

===Christianity===
{{See also|Jerusalem in Christianity}}
The Temple was of central importance in Jewish worship in the [[Tanakh]] ([[Old Testament]]). In the [[New Testament]], [[Herod's Temple]] was the site of several events in the life of [[Jesus]], and Christian loyalty to the site as a focal point remained long after his death.<ref>Jonathan Klawans, [https://books.google.com/books?id=zJpwA3EareUC&pg=PA236 ''Purity, Sacrifice, and the Temple: Symbolism and Supersessionism in the Study of Ancient Judaism,''] Oxford University Press, US, 2006 p. 236: "Some analyses rest on the assumption that the ancient Jewish temple was inherently flawed, and in need of replacement. This kind of approach is contradicted by the rather significant evidence that can be marshaled to the effect that early Christians remained loyal to the Jerusalem temple, long after Jesus' death."</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Jervell |first=Jacob |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H8TLCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA45 |title=The Theology of the Acts of the Apostles |date=1996 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-316-58247-3 |page=45 |language=en-uk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Anderson |first=Jeff S. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VWnc_I4quw0C&pg=PA132 |title=The Internal Diversification of Second Temple Judaism: An Introduction to the Second Temple Period |date=2002 |publisher=University Press of America |isbn=978-0-7618-2327-8 |page=132 |language=en}}</ref> After the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE, which came to be regarded by early Christians, as it was by [[Josephus]] and the sages of the [[Jerusalem Talmud]], to be a divine act of punishment for the sins of the Jewish people,<ref>[[Catherine Hezser]], 'The (In)Significance of Jerusalem in the Yerushalmi Talmud,' in Peter Schäfer, Catherine Hezser (eds.) [https://books.google.com/books?id=_mkWzIlrwDoC&pg=PA17 ''The Talmud Yerushalmi and Graeco-Roman Culture,''] Mohr Siebeck, Vol. 2, 2000, pp. 11–49 [17].</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Klawans |first=Jonathan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xKpHDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA13 |title=Josephus and the Theologies of Ancient Judaism |date=2013 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-992862-0 |page=13 |language=en}}</ref> the Temple Mount lost its significance for Christian worship with the Christians considering it a fulfillment of Christ's prophecy at, for example, Matthew 23:38<ref>{{bibleverse|Matthew|23:28|NRSV}}.</ref> and Matthew 24:2.<ref>{{bibleverse|Matthew|24:2|NRSV}}.</ref> It was to this end, proof of a biblical prophecy fulfilled and of Christianity's [[supersessionism|victory]] over Judaism with the [[New Covenant]],<ref name="Marsham">Andrew Marsham, 'The Architecture of Allegiance in Early Islamic Late Antiquity,' in Alexander Beihammer, Stavroula Constantinou, Maria G. Parani (eds.), [https://books.google.com/books?id=0WJTAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA106 ''Court Ceremonies and Rituals of Power in Byzantium and the Medieval Mediterranean: Comparative Perspectives''], Brill, 2013, pp. 87–114 [106].</ref> that early Christian pilgrims also visited the site.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kofsky |first=Arieh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jmzC2VEIXgIC&pg=PA303 |title=Eusebius of Caesarea Against Paganism |date=2000 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-11642-9 |page=303 |language=en}}</ref> Byzantine Christians, despite some signs of constructive work on the esplanade,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Avni |first=Gideon |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2aTFAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA132 |title=The Byzantine-Islamic Transition in Palestine: An Archaeological Approach |date=2014 |publisher=Oxford University Press Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-150734-2 |location=Oxford, England |page=132 |language=en}}</ref> generally neglected the Temple Mount, especially when a Jewish attempt to rebuild the Temple was destroyed by the [[Galilee earthquake of 363|earthquake of 363]].<ref name="Shick">Robert Shick, 'A Christian City with a Major Muslim Shrine: Jerusalem in the Umayyad Period,' in Arietta Papaconstantinou (ed.), [https://books.google.com/books?id=JhOrCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA300 ''Conversion in Late Antiquity: Christianity, Islam, and Beyond: Papers from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Sawyer Seminar'', University of Oxford, 2009–2010 pp. 299–317, 300], Routledge 2016.</ref> It became a desolate local rubbish dump, perhaps outside the city limits,<ref>Shick, p. 301.</ref> as Christian worship in Jerusalem shifted to the [[Church of the Holy Sepulchre]], and Jerusalem's centrality was replaced by Rome.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lundquist |first=John M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R9VeCEwbNvsC&pg=PA158 |title=The Temple of Jerusalem: Past, Present, and Future |date=2008 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn=978-0-275-98339-0 |page=158 |language=en}}</ref>

During the [[Byzantine]] era, Jerusalem was primarily Christian and pilgrims came by the tens of thousands to experience the places where Jesus walked.{{citation needed|date=July 2017}} After the [[Sasanian conquest and occupation of Jerusalem|Persian invasion]] in 614 many churches were razed, and the site was turned into a dump. The Arabs [[Siege of Jerusalem (637)|conquered]] the city from the Byzantine Empire which had retaken it in 629. The Byzantine ban on the Jews was lifted and they were allowed to live inside the city and visit the places of worship. Christian pilgrims were able to come and experience the Temple Mount area.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Davidson |first1=Linda Kay |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YVYkrNhPMQkC&q=Pilgrimage:+From+the+Ganges+to+Graceland+:+an+Encyclopedia,+Volume+1 |title=Pilgrimage [2 Volumes]: From the Ganges to Graceland, An Encyclopedia |last2=Gitlitz |first2=David M. |date=2002 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn=978-1-57607-004-8 |location=Santa Barbara, CA |page=274 |language=en}}</ref> The war between Seljuqs and Byzantine Empire and increasing Muslim violence against Christian pilgrims to Jerusalem instigated the [[Crusades]]. The Crusaders captured Jerusalem in 1099 and the Dome of the Rock was given to the [[Augustinians]], who turned it into a church, and al-Aqsa Mosque became the royal palace of [[Baldwin I of Jerusalem]] in 1104. The [[Knights Templar]], who believed the Dome of the Rock was the site of [[Temple of Solomon|Solomon's Temple]], 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.{{citation needed|date= April 2015}}

In [[Christian art]], the [[circumcision of Jesus]] was conventionally depicted as taking place at the Temple, even though European artists until recently had no way of knowing what the Temple looked like and the Gospels do not state that the event took place at the Temple.<ref>Schiller, Gertud. ''Iconography of Christian Art, Vol. I'', 1971 (English trans from German), Lund Humphries, London, {{ISBN|978-0-85331-270-3}}; [[Nicholas Penny|Penny, Nicholas]]. National Gallery Catalogues (new series): ''The Sixteenth Century Italian Paintings, Volume I'', 2004, National Gallery Publications Ltd., {{ISBN|978-1-85709-908-9}}.</ref>

Though some Christians believe that the Temple will be reconstructed before, or concurrent with, the [[Second Coming]] of Jesus (also see [[dispensationalism]]), pilgrimage to the Temple Mount is not viewed as important in the beliefs and worship of most Christians. The New Testament recounts a story of a Samaritan woman asking Jesus about the appropriate place to worship, Jerusalem (as it was for the Jews) or [[Mount Gerizim]] (as it was for the [[Samaritans]]), to which Jesus replies:

{{blockquote|Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.|source=John 4:21–24<ref>{{bibleverse|John|4:21–24|ESV}}</ref>}}

This has been construed to mean that Jesus dispensed with physical location for worship, which was a matter rather of spirit and truth.<ref>Andreas J. Köstenberger, 'The Destruction of the Second Temple and the Composition of the Fourth Gospel,' in John Lierman (ed.)[https://books.google.com/books?id=fWXC2krd_6IC&pg=PA101 ''Challenging Perspectives on the Gospel of John,''] Mohr Siebeck, 2006, pp. 69–108 [101–02].</ref>

===Islam===
[[File:Dan Hadani collection (990040387040205171).jpg|thumb|{{circa}}300,000 Muslims praying at [[Ramadan]], 1996]]
[[File:Al-Aqsa05.JPG|thumb|Façade of al-Aqsa's main praying hall, the [[Qibli Mosque]], viewed from the north.]]
[[File:Interior view of Aqsa main dome.jpeg|thumb|Interior decoration of the Dome of the Rock]] 
[[File:Quds,jerusalem.jpeg|thumb|The [[Dome of the Rock]] as an Islamic shrine, as seen from the north]]
{{see also|Jerusalem in Islam}}
{{Main|Holiest sites in Islam}}
{{See also|Holiest sites in Sunni Islam|Holiest sites in Shia Islam}}

Among both [[Sunni Islam|Sunni]] and [[Shia Islam|Shia]] Muslims,{{Citation needed|date=July 2022}} the entire plaza, known as the al-Aqsa Mosque, also known as Haram al-Sharif or "the Noble Sanctuary", is considered the [[Holiest sites in Sunni Islam|third holiest site in Islam]].<ref name=":22" /> According to Islamic tradition, the plaza is the location of [[Muhammad]]'s [[Isra and Mi'raj|ascension to heaven from Jerusalem]], and served as the first "''[[qibla]]''", the direction Muslims turn towards when praying. As in Judaism, Muslims also associate the site with [[Abraham]], and other prophets who are also venerated in Islam.<ref name="Quran 2:4, 34:13-14" /> Muslims view the site as being one of the earliest and most noteworthy places of worship of [[Islamic concept of God|God]]. They preferred to use the esplanade as the heart for the Muslim quarter, since it had been abandoned by Christians, to avoid disturbing the Christian quarters of Jerusalem.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Avni |first=Gideon |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZLucAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA136 |title=The Byzantine-Islamic Transition in Palestine: An Archaeological Approach |date=2014 |publisher=Oxford University Press Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-968433-5 |page=136 |language=en}}</ref> Umayyad Caliphs commissioned the construction of al-Aqsa Mosque on the site, including the shrine known as the "[[Dome of the Rock]]".<ref name="Nicolle, David 19942"/> The Dome was completed in 692 CE, making it one of the oldest extant Islamic structures in the world. The [[Qibli Mosque|Al-Aqsa Mosque]], sometimes known as the Qibli Mosque, rest on the far southern side of the Mount, facing [[Mecca]].

==== In early Islam ====
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.<ref name=":18" /> Almost immediately after the [[Muslim conquest of Syria#Capturing Jerusalem|Muslim conquest of Jerusalem]] in 638 CE, [[Umar|Caliph 'Omar ibn al Khatab]], reportedly disgusted by the filth covering the site, had it thoroughly cleaned,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Coogan |first=Michael D. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gM-tZeEO4wgC&pg=PA443 |title=The Oxford History of the Biblical World |date=2001 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-988148-2 |page=443 |language=en}}</ref> and granted Jews access to the site.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Frank |first=Daniel |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MzqwUksGUrkC&pg=PA209 |title=Search Scripture Well: Karaite Exegetes and the Origins of the Jewish Bible Commentary in the Islamic East |date=2004 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-13902-2 |page=209 |language=en}}</ref> According to early Quranic interpreters and what is generally accepted as Islamic tradition, in 638 CE Umar, upon entering a conquered Jerusalem, consulted with [[Ka'ab al-Ahbar]] – a Jewish convert to Islam who came with him from [[Medina]] – as to where the best spot would be to build a mosque. Al-Ahbar suggested to him that it should be behind the Rock "...&nbsp;so that all of Jerusalem would be before you." Umar replied, "You correspond to Judaism!" Immediately after this conversation, Umar began to clean up the site – which was filled with trash and debris – with his cloak, and other Muslim followers imitated him until the site was clean. Umar then prayed at the spot where it was believed that Muhammad had prayed before his night journey, reciting the Quranic ''sura'' ''[[Sad (sura)|Sad]]''.<ref name="Mosaad">Mosaad, Mohamed. [http://www.godsholymountain.org/papers/bayt.pdf Bayt al-Maqdis: An Islamic Perspective] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080910050432/http://www.godsholymountain.org/papers/bayt.pdf|date=10 September 2008}} pp. 3–8</ref> Thus, according to this tradition, Umar thereby reconsecrated the site as a mosque.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History of Al-Aqsa Mosque: Chapter one – The History of Palestine |url=https://www.mustaqim.co.uk/ipb-archive/alaqsa/chapone.htm |access-date=2024-03-09 |website=www.mustaqim.co.uk}}</ref>

Muslim interpretations of the Quran agree that the Mount is the site of the Temple originally built by [[Solomon]], [[Solomon in Islam|considered a prophet in Islam]], that was later destroyed.<ref>"The Farthest Mosque must refer to the site of the [[Solomon's Temple]] in Jerusalem on the hill of [[Moriah]], at or near which stands the [[Dome of the Rock]]... it was a sacred place to both Jews and Christians... The chief dates in connection with the [[Temple in Jerusalem]] are: It was finished by [[Solomon]] about 1004 BCE; destroyed by the [[Babylonians]] under [[Nebuchadnezzar]] about 586 BCE; rebuilt under [[Ezra]] and [[Nehemiah]] about 515 BCE; turned into a heathen idol temple by one of [[Alexander the Great]]'s successors, [[Antiochus Epiphanes]], 167 BCE; restored by [[Herod the Great|Herod]], 17 BCE to 29; and completely razed to the ground by the Emperor [[Titus]] in 70. These ups and downs are among the greater signs in religious history." ([[Abdullah Yusuf Ali|Yusuf Ali]], ''Commentary on the Koran'', p. 2168.)</ref><ref name=":9">Khalek, N. (2011). "Jerusalem in Medieval Islamic Tradition". ''Religion Compass'', 5(10), pp. 624–30, {{doi|10.1111/j.1749-8171.2011.00305.x}}. "One of the most pressing issues in both medieval and contemporary scholarship related to Jerusalem is whether the city is explicitly referenced in the text of the Qur'an. Sura 17, verse 1, which reads [...] has been variously interpreted as referring to the miraculous Night Journey and Ascension of Muhammad, events recorded in medieval sources and known as the isra and miraj. As we will see, this association is a rather late and even a contested one. [...] The earliest Muslim work on the Religious Merits of Jerusalem was the Fada'il Bayt al-Maqdis by al-Walid ibn Hammad al-Ramli (d. 912 CE), a text which is recoverable from later works. [...] He relates the significance of Jerusalem vis-a-vis the Jewish Temple, conflating 'a collage of biblical narratives' and comments pilgrimage to Jerusalem, a practice which was controversial in later Muslim periods."</ref> After the construction, Muslims believe, the temple was used for the worship of the one God by many prophets of Islam, including Jesus.<ref>"The city of Jerusalem was chosen at the command of Allah by Prophet David in the tenth century BCE. After him his son, the Prophet Solomon built a mosque in Jerusalem according to the revelation that he received from Allah. For several centuries this mosque was used for the worship of Allah by many Prophets and Messengers of Allah. It was destroyed by the Babylonians in the year 586 BCE., but it was soon rebuilt and was rededicated to the worship of Allah in 516 BCE. It continued afterwards for several centuries until the time of Prophet Jesus. After he departed this world, it was destroyed by the Romans in the year 70 CE." (Siddiqi, Dr. Muzammil. [http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?pagename=IslamOnline-English-Ask_Scholar/FatwaE/FatwaE&cid=1119503544626 Status of Al-Aqsa Mosque] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110211205231/http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?pagename=IslamOnline-English-Ask_Scholar%2FFatwaE%2FFatwaE&cid=1119503544626|date=2011-02-11}}, [[IslamOnline]], May 21, 2007. Retrieved July 12, 2007.)</ref><ref>"Early Muslims regarded the building and destruction of the Temple of Solomon as a major historical and religious event, and accounts of the Temple are offered by many of the early Muslim historians and geographers (including Ibn Qutayba, Ibn al-Faqih, Mas'udi, Muhallabi, and Biruni).

Fantastic tales of Solomon's construction of the Temple also appear in the Qisas al-anbiya', the medieval compendia of Muslim legends about the pre-Islamic prophets." (Kramer, Martin. [http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Peace+Process/Guide+to+the+Peace+Process/The+Temples+of+Jerusalem+in+Islam.htm The Temples of Jerusalem in Islam], Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, September 18, 2000. Retrieved November 21, 2007.)

* "While there is no scientific evidence that Solomon's Temple existed, all believers in any of the Abrahamic faiths perforce must accept that it did." (Khalidi, Rashid. ''Transforming the Face of the Holy City: Political Messages in the Built Topography of Jerusalem'', [[Bir Zeit University]], November 12, 1998.)</ref><ref>''A Brief Guide to al-Haram al-Sharif'', a [http://www.templeinstitute.org/1925-wakf-temple-mount-guide.pdf booklet published in 1925] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090105172459/http://www.templeinstitute.org/1925-wakf-temple-mount-guide.pdf|date=2009-01-05}} (and earlier) by the "Supreme Moslem Council", a body established by the British government to administer [[waqf]]s and headed by Hajj [[Amin al-Husayni]] during the [[Mandatory Palestine|British Mandate]] period, states on page 4: "The site is one of the oldest in the world. Its sanctity dates from the earliest (perhaps from pre-historic) times. Its identity with the site of Solomon's Temple is beyond dispute. This, too, is the spot, according to universal belief, on which 'David built there an altar unto the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.'(''2 Samuel 24:25'')"</ref> Other Muslim scholars have used the Torah (called {{transliteration|ar|[[Tawrat]]}} in Arabic) to expand on the details of the temple.<ref>"The Rock was in the time of Solomon the son of David 12 cubits high and there was a dome over it... It is written in the Tawrat [Bible]: 'Be happy Jerusalem,' which is Bayt al-Maqdis and the Rock which is called Haykal." al-Wasati, ''Fada'il al Bayt al-Muqaddas'', ed. Izhak Hasson (Jerusalem, 1979) pp. 72ff.</ref> The term ''Bayt al-Maqdis'' (or ''Bayt al-Muqaddas''), which frequently appears as a name of Jerusalem in early Islamic sources, is a cognate of the Hebrew term ''bēt ha-miqdāsh'' (בית המקדש), the Temple in Jerusalem.<ref>Di Cesare, M. (2017). "A Lost Inscription from the Dome of the Rock?: the Western Attitude Towards Islamic Epigraphy in 17th-Century Jerusalem", pp. 77–86.</ref><ref>Jacobson, D.M. The Enigma of the Name Īliyā (= Aelia) for Jerusalem in Early Islam. ''Dio'', ''69'', 1.</ref><ref name=":02">{{Cite book |last=Carroll |first=James |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yZvTLDOgc1EC&pg=PA117 |title=Jerusalem, Jerusalem: How the Ancient City Ignited Our Modern World |date=2011 |publisher=HMH |isbn=978-0-547-54905-7 |language=en}}</ref> [[Mujir al-Din]], a 15th-century Jerusalemite chronicler, mentions an earlier tradition related by al-Wasti, according which "after David built many cities and the situation of the [[Israelites|children of Israel]] was improved, he wanted to construct Bayt al-Maqdis and build a dome over the rock in the place that [[God in Islam|Allah]] sanctified in Aelia."<ref name=":18" />

==== Isra and Mi'raj ====
According to the [[Quran|Qur'an]], [[Muhammad]] was transported to a site named Al-Aqsa Mosque – "the furthest place of prayer" (''al-Masjid al-'Aqṣā'') during his [[Isra and Mi'raj|Night Journey]] (''[[Al-Isra|Isra]] and Mi'raj'').<ref name="17th2">{{Cite book |last=Buchanan |first=Allen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bntCSupRlO4C&pg=PA192 |title=States, Nations, and Borders: The Ethics of Making Boundaries |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-521-52575-6 |author-link=Allen Buchanan}}</ref> The Qur'an describes how Muhammad was taken by the miraculous steed [[Buraq]] from the [[Great Mosque of Mecca]] to al-Aqsa Mosque where he prayed.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Vuckovic |first=Brooke Olson |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AB6lPcjgSzwC |title=Heavenly Journeys, Earthly Concerns: The Legacy of the Mi'raj in the Formation of Islam |date=2003 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-0-203-48747-1 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="17th2" /><ref name="enc">{{cite book |title=Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World |date=2003 |publisher=[[Macmillan Publishers (United States)|Macmillan Reference USA]] |isbn=978-0-02-865603-8 |editor1=Martin |editor-first=Richard C. |page=482 |editor2=Arjom |editor-first2=Said Amir |editor3=Hermansen |editor-first3=Marcia |editor4=Tayob |editor-first4=Abdulkader |editor5=Davis |editor-first5=Rochelle |editor6=Voll |editor-first6=John Obert}}</ref> After Muhammad finished his prayers, the angel [[Jibril]] ([[Gabriel]]) traveled with him to heaven, where he met several other [[Prophets in Islam|prophets]] and led them in prayer:<ref>Religion and the Arts, Volume 12. 2008. pp. 329–42.</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Vuckovic |first=Brooke Olson |title=Heavenly Journeys, Earthly Concerns: The Legacy of the Mi'raj in the Formation of Islam (Religion in History, Society and Culture) |year=2004 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-0-415-96785-3}}</ref><ref>{{Href|bukhari|7517|b=yl}}.</ref>

{{blockquote|Glory be to the One Who took His servant ˹Muḥammad˺ by night from the [[Masjid al-Haram|Sacred Mosque]] to the Farthest Mosque whose surroundings We have blessed, so that We may show him some of Our signs. Indeed, He alone is the All-Hearing, All-Seeing.|{{Qref|17|1|c=y}}}}

The Qur'an does not mention the exact location of "the furthest place of prayer", and the city of Jerusalem is not mentioned by any of [[Names of Jerusalem|its names]] in the Qur'an.<ref name="Khatib">{{cite journal |last=el-Khatib |first=Abdallah |date=1 May 2001 |title=Jerusalem in the Qur'ān |url=http://taylorandfrancis.metapress.com/openurl.asp?genre=article&issn=1353-0194&volume=28&issue=1&spage=25 |url-status=dead |journal=British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies |volume=28 |issue=1 |pages=25–53 |doi=10.1080/13530190120034549 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121209133352/http://taylorandfrancis.metapress.com/openurl.asp?genre=article&issn=1353-0194&volume=28&issue=1&spage=25 |archive-date=9 December 2012 |access-date=17 November 2006 |s2cid=159680405|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name=":9" /> According to the [[Encyclopaedia of Islam]], the phrase was originally understood as a reference to a site in the heavens.<ref name=":8">{{Cite book |title=The Encyclopaedia of Islam |publisher=Brill |year=2006 |edition=New  |volume=7 |pages=97–105 |chapter=Miʿrād̲j̲ |quote=For this verse, tradition gives three interpretations: The oldest one, which disappears from the more recent commentaries, detects an allusion to Muhammad's Ascension to Heaven. This explanation interprets the expression al-masjid al-aksa, "the further place of worship" in the sense of "Heaven" and, in fact, in the older tradition isra is often used as synonymous with miradj (see Isl., vi, 14). The second explanation, the only one given in all the more modern commentaries, interprets masjid al-aksa as "Jerusalem" and this for no very apparent reason. It seems to have been an Umayyad device intended to further the glorification of Jerusalem as against that of the holy territory (cf. Goldziher, Muh. Stud., ii, 55–56; Isl, vi, 13 ff), then ruled by Abd Allah b. al-Zubayr. Al-Tabarl seems to reject it. He does not mention it in his History and seems rather to adopt the first explanation.}}</ref> A group of Islamic scholars understood the story of Muhammad's ascension from al-Aqsa Mosque as relating to the [[Temple in Jerusalem|Jewish Temple in Jerusalem]]. Another group disagreed with this identification and preferred the meaning of the term as referring to heaven.<ref name="Colby2008">{{cite book |author=Colby |first=Frederick S. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sasZCjcTisIC&pg=PA15 |title=Narrating Muhammad's Night Journey: Tracing the Development of the Ibn 'Abbas Ascension Discourse |year=2008 |publisher=SUNY Press |isbn=978-0-7914-7788-5 |page=15 |quote=If Muslims interpret the qur'anic phrase "the sacred place of prayer" in diverse ways, one encounters even more debate over the destination of the night journey, the "furthest place of prayer". From the earliest extant Muslim texts, it becomes clear that a group of Muslims from the beginning interpreted "furthest place of prayer" with the city of Jerusalem in general and its Herodian/Solomonic Temple in particular. It is equally clear that other early Muslims disputed this connection, identifying the "furthest place of prayer" instead as a reference to a site in the heavens. Eventually a general consensus formed around the idea that Muhammad's journey did indeed take him to Jerusalem. Even if the night journey verse were thought to refer first and foremost to the terrestrial portion of Muhammad's journey, nevertheless for centuries scholars and storytellers also continued to connect this verse with the idea of an ascent through the levels of the heavens. |access-date=14 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200715080148/https://books.google.com/books?id=sasZCjcTisIC&pg=PA15 |archive-date=15 July 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref> [[Muhammad al-Bukhari|Al-Bukhari]] and [[Al-Tabari]], for example, are believed to have rejected the identification with Jerusalem.<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":10" /> Eventually, a consensus emerged around the identification of the "furthest place of prayer" with Jerusalem, and by implication the Temple Mount.<ref name="Colby2008" /><ref>Busse, H. (1968). The sanctity of Jerusalem in Islam. ''Judaism'', ''17''(4), 441. "Tradition varies as to the location of the Ascension; Syrian local tradition was able to prevail, by maintaining that the Ascension started in Jerusalem rather than in Mecca, directly following the Night Journey".</ref> Later ''[[hadith]]s'' referred to Jerusalem as the site of the Al-Aqsa Mosque:<ref>''Historic Cities of the Islamic World,'' edited by Clifford Edmund Bosworth, p. 226.</ref>

{{blockquote|Narrated Jabir bin `Abdullah:<br>
That he heard Allah's Messenger saying, "When the people of Quraish did not believe me (i.e. the story of my Night Journey), I stood up in Al-Hijr and Allah displayed Jerusalem in front of me, and I began describing it to them while I was looking at it."|{{Href|bukhari|3886|b=yl}}}}[[File:Miraj_by_Sultan_Muhammad.jpg|thumb|A depiction of Muhammad's ascent to heaven by [[Sultan Mohammed]]]]
Some scholars point to the political motives of the [[Umayyad dynasty]] which led to the sanctification of Jerusalem in Islam. According to the Encyclopaedia of Islam, the Night Journey was associated with Jerusalem by the Umayyads as a political means to advance the glory of Jerusalem to compete with the glory of the sanctuary in Mecca then controlled by [[Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr]].<ref name=":8" /><ref>{{cite news |last=Silverman |first=Jonathan |date=6 May 2005 |title=The opposite of holiness |newspaper=Ynetnews |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3095122,00.html |url-status=live |access-date=17 November 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060912145223/http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3095122,00.html |archive-date=12 September 2006 |quote=<!--After the prophet died in June 632 a series of successors, or caliphs, assumed authority as Islam's leaders. Between 661 and 750 the Umayyad Dynasty held the Caliphate and ruled from Damascus. ''During the time they ruled, on account of various internal and external pressures, the Umayyads exerted enormous effort to elevate Jerusalem's status'', perhaps even to the level of Mecca ... the Palestinian historian A.L. Tibawi writes, that building an actual Al Aqsa Mosque "gave reality to the figurative name used in the Koran ..." As Pipes points out, moreover, "it had the hugely important effect of giving Jerusalem a place in the Koran post hoc which naturally imbued the city with a higher status in Islam." Which is another way of saying, before the Umayyads built Dome of the Rock and Al Aksa, Jerusalem had no status at all in Islam. Israeli scholar Izhak Hasson says: "construction of the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa mosque, the rituals instituted by the Umayyads on the Noble Sanctuary and the dissemination of Islamic-oriented Traditions regarding sanctity of the site, ''all point to the political motives which underlay the glorification of Jerusalem among the Muslims''." In other words the sanctification of Jerusalem in Islam is based on the Umayyad building program.-->}}</ref> The construction of the Dome of the Rock was interpreted by [[Ya'qubi]], a 9th-century [[Abbasid Caliphate|Abbasid]] historian, as an Umayyad attempt to redirect the [[Hajj]] from Mecca to Jerusalem by creating a rival to the [[Kaaba|Ka'aba]].<ref>Nuha N. N. Khoury, [https://www.jstor.org/stable/1523172 ''The Dome of the Rock, the Kaʿba, and Ghumdan: Arab Myths and Umayyad Monuments,''] in ''Muqarnas, Vol. 10, Essays in Honor of Oleg Grabar,'' Brill (1993), pp. 57–65. "The Abbasid historian al Ya'qubi (d. 874) accused Abd al-Malik of attempting to divert the pilgrimage from Mecca to Jerusalem, thus characterizing the Umayyad Dome of the Rock as a rival to the Kaaba"</ref>

Other academics attribute the holiness of Jerusalem to the rise and expansion of a certain type of literary genre, known as ''al-Fadhail'' or history of cities. The Fadhail of Jerusalem inspired Muslims, especially during the Umayyad period, to embellish the sanctity of the city beyond its status in the holy texts.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Talhami |first=Ghada Hashem |date=February 2000 |title=The Modern History of Islamic Jerusalem: Academic Myths and Propaganda |url=http://www.mepc.org/journal_vol7/0002_talhami.asp |journal=Middle East Policy Journal |publisher=Blackwell Publishing |volume=VII |issue=14 |issn=1061-1924 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061116144218/http://www.mepc.org/journal_vol7/0002_talhami.asp |archive-date=16 November 2006 |access-date=17 November 2006 |quote=<!--The holiness of Jerusalem was related to the rise and expansion of a certain type of literary genre, known as al-Fadhail or history of cities. The Fadhail of Jerusalem preserved the traditions of the Prophet regarding Jerusalem, the statements of various holy personages, and the city's popular lore. All of these inspired Muslims to ''embellish the sanctity of the city beyond its status in the holy texts''. The greatest source of information for al-Fadhail was the hadith, the Prophet's traditions, which were beginning to be quoted extensively in the last third of the first Muslim century (the seventh century of the Christian era). The traditions were used to enumerate the values of visiting the city and al-Aqsa Mosque. Circulating widely during the Umayyad period, these traditions were often a reflection of the ''Umayyad policy of enhancing the religious status of Jerusalem''.-->}}
</ref> Based on the writings of the eighth century historians [[Al-Waqidi]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wāqidī |first=Muḥammad ibn ʻUmar, or 748–823 |title=The life of Muḥammad : al-Wāqidī's Kitāb al-maghāzī |date=2011 |publisher=Routledge |others=Rizwi Faizer, Amal Ismail, Abdulkader Tayob, Andrew Rippin |isbn=978-0-415-57434-1 |location=Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon |pages=469 |oclc=539086931 |quote=When he desired to turn back to Medina, he set out from al-Jirrana on Wednesday night, twelve nights remaining in Dhul-Qada. He donned his ihram at the furthest mosque (al-masjid al-Aqsa), which was below the wadi on a remote slope. It was the place of prayer of the Messenger of God when he was in al-Jiranna. As for the closest mosque, a man from the Quraysh built it and he marked that place with it. }}</ref> and [[al-Azraqi]], some scholars have suggested that al-Aqsa Mosque mentioned in the Qur'an is not in Jerusalem but in the village of [[Al-Juʽranah|al-Ju'ranah]], 18 miles northeast of Mecca.<ref name=":10">{{Cite journal |last=Grabar |first=Oleg |date=1959 |title=The Umayyad Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4629098 |journal=Ars Orientalis |volume=3 |pages=33–62 |jstor=4629098 |issn=0571-1371 |quote=Bevan has shown that among early traditionists there are many who do not accept the identification of the masjid al-aqsd, and among them are to be found such great names as al-Bukhari and Tabarl. Both Ibn Ishaq an al-Ya'qubi precede their accounts with expressions which indicate that these are stories which are not necessarily accepted as dogma. It was suggested by J. Horovitz that in the early period of Islam there is little justification for assuming that the Koranic expression in any way referred to Jerusalem. But while Horovitz thought that it referred to a place in heaven, A. Guillaume's careful analysis of the earliest texts (al-Waqidi and al-Azraqi, both in the later second century A.H.) has convincingly shown that the Koranic reference to the masjid al-aqsa applies specifically to al-Ji'ranah, near Mekkah, where there were two sanctuaries (masjid al-adnai and masjid al-aqsa), and where Muhammad so-journed in dha al-qa'dah of the eighth year after the Hijrah.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Israel applauds Egyptian writer's remarks on Jerusalem |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/12/27/israel-applauds-egyptian-writers-remarks-on-jerusalem |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220202170026/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/12/27/israel-applauds-egyptian-writers-remarks-on-jerusalem |archive-date=2 February 2022 |access-date=2022-02-02 |website=www.aljazeera.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Kasraoui |first=Safaa |title=Saudi Lawyer Claims Al Aqsa Mosque Is In Saudi Arabia, Not Jerusalem |url=https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2020/11/326128/saudi-lawyer-claims-al-aqsa-mosque-is-in-saudi-arabia-not-jerusalem |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201117142238/https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2020/11/326128/saudi-lawyer-claims-al-aqsa-mosque-is-in-saudi-arabia-not-jerusalem/ |archive-date=17 November 2020 |access-date=2022-02-02 |website=www.moroccoworldnews.com/ |date=16 November 2020 |language=en}}</ref>

Later medieval scripts, as well as modern-day political tracts, tend to classify al-Aqsa Mosque as the third holiest site in Islam.<ref name="Webster">{{cite book |last=Doninger |first=Wendy |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780877790440/page/70 |title=Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of World Religions |date=1 September 1999 |publisher=[[Merriam-Webster]] |isbn=978-0-87779-044-0 |page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780877790440/page/70 70] |url-access=registration}}</ref>

====First qibla====
[[File:Al-aqsa mosque 06.jpg|thumb|Al-Aqsa Mosque in 2019]]
The historical significance of al-Aqsa Mosque in Islam is further emphasized by the fact that Muslims turned towards al-Aqsa when they prayed for a period of 16 or 17 months after [[Hijra (Islam)|migration]] to [[Medina]] in 624; it thus became the ''[[qibla]]'' ("direction") that Muslims faced for prayer.<ref name="17th">{{Cite book|last=Buchanan|first=Allen |author-link=Allen Buchanan |year=2004 |title=States, Nations, and Borders: The Ethics of Making Boundaries |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-52575-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bntCSupRlO4C&pg=PA192}}</ref> Muhammad later prayed towards the [[Kaaba]] in [[Mecca]] after receiving a revelation during a prayer session<ref>{{Qref|2|142-151}}.</ref><ref>Shah, 2008, p. 39.</ref> in the [[Masjid al-Qiblatayn]].<ref>Raby, 2004, p. 298.</ref><ref>Patel, 2006, p. 13.</ref> The ''qibla'' was relocated to the Kaaba where Muslims have been directed to pray ever since.<ref>Asali, 1990, p. 105.</ref>

==== Religious status ====
The [[Organisation of Islamic Cooperation]] refers to al-Aqsa Mosque as the third holiest site in Islam (and calls for Arab sovereignty over it).<ref>{{cite web |date=24 February 1974 |title=Resolution No. 2/2-IS |url=http://www.oic-oci.org/english/conf/is/2/2nd-is-sum.htm#2 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061014111124/http://www.oic-oci.org/english/conf/is/2/2nd-is-sum.htm |archive-date=14 October 2006 |access-date=17 November 2006 |work=Second Islamic Summit Conference |publisher=Organisation of the Islamic Conference}}</ref>

== History ==
{{Main|Archaeological remnants of the Jerusalem Temple}}

===Pre-Israelite===
The hill is believed to have been inhabited since the [[4th millennium BCE]].{{citation needed|date=June 2022}} An amulet bearing the [[cartouche]] of [[Thutmose III]] (r. 1479–1425 BCE) was discovered by the [[Temple Mount Sifting Project]] at the site in 2012.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/news/amulet-with-cartouche-of-thutmose-iii-discovered-in-jerusalem/ |title=Amulet with Cartouche of Thutmose III Discovered in Jerusalem |last=Ngo |first=Robin |date=26 April 2016 |website=[[Biblical Archaeology Society]]|access-date=8 September 2023}}</ref>

=== Israelite period ===
{{Main|First Temple}}

According to archeologists, the Temple Mount served as the center of the religious life of biblical Jerusalem as well as the royal acropolis of the [[Kingdom of Judah]].<ref name=":2">David Ussishkin (2003). The Temple Mount in Jerusalem during the First Temple Period: An Archaeologist's View. In: A.G. Vaughn and A.E. Killebrew (eds.), ''Jerusalem in Bible and Archaeology; The First Temple Period'', Atlanta, Georgia, 2003, pp. 103–15.</ref> The [[Solomon's Temple|First Temple]] is believed to have once been a part of a much larger royal complex.<ref name=":6">{{Cite journal |last1=Patrich |first1=Joseph |last2=Edelcopp |first2=Marcos |date=2013 |title=Four Stages in the Evolution of the Temple Mount |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44092217 |journal=Revue Biblique (1946–) |volume=120 |issue=3 |pages=321–61 |issn=0035-0907 |jstor=44092217}}</ref> The Bible also mentions several other buildings constructed by Solomon at the site, including the royal palace, the "House of the Lebanon Forest", the "Hall of Pillars", the "Hall of Throne" and the "House of Pharaoh's Daughter".<ref name=":20" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Rocca |first=Samuel |title=The fortifications of ancient Israel and Judah, 1200–586 BC |date=2010 |publisher=Osprey |others=Adam Hook |isbn=978-1-84603-508-1 |location=Oxford, England |pages=28–29 |language=en-uk |oclc=368020822 |quote=Solomon built a palace, and his famous temple on Mount Moriah, which came to be known as the Temple Mount. The Temple was a rectangular-shaped structure, divided into three parts: the Ulam, the Hechal and the Gvir. Two pillars in bronze stood in front of the Temple. Together with the Temple, Solomon erected a palace, described in Kings 7: 1–11. The palace included various halls, the 'House of the Forest of Lebanon', the 'Hall of Pillars', the 'Hall of the Throne', 'his own House', for dwelling, and 'the other court', and was probably inspired by contemporary Cypro-Phoenician architecture.}}</ref> 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.<ref name=":2" />&nbsp;Knauf argued that the Temple Mount already served as the cultic and governmental center of Jerusalem as early as in the [[Late Bronze Age]].<ref>Ernst Axel Knauf, “Jerusalem in the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages: A Proposal,” TA 27 (2000): 75–90.</ref> Alternatively, Na'aman suggested that Solomon built the Temple on a much smaller scale than the one described in the Bible, which was enlarged or rebuilt during the 8th century BCE.<ref>Na'aman, “Contribution of the Amarna Letters,” p. 23.</ref> In 2014, [[Israel Finkelstein|Finkelstein]], Koch and [[Oded Lipschits|Lipschits]] proposed that the [[Tell (archaeology)|tell]] of ancient Jerusalem lies beneath the modern-day compound, rather than the nearby archeological site known as the [[City of David (archaeological site)|City of David]], as mainstream archaeology believes;<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Finkelstein |first1=Israel |last2=Koch |first2=Ido |last3=Lipschits |first3=Oded |date=2011-08-22 |title=The Mound on the Mount: A Possible Solution to the Problem with Jerusalem |journal=The Journal of Hebrew Scriptures |volume=11 |doi=10.5508/jhs.2011.v11.a12 |issn=1203-1542|doi-access=free }}</ref> however, this proposal was rejected by other scholars of the subject.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Geva |first1=Hillel |last2=De Groot |first2=Alon |date=2017 |title=The City of David Is Not on the Temple Mount After All |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44474016 |journal=Israel Exploration Journal |volume=67 |issue=1 |pages=32–49 |jstor=44474016 |issn=0021-2059}}</ref>
[[File:Imer_bulla.JPG|thumb|The Immer Bulla (7th–6th century BCE), written in the [[Paleo-Hebrew alphabet|Paleo-Hebrew script]], was discovered during the [[Temple Mount Sifting Project]]. It bears the name [[Pashhur|Immer]], recorded in the Bible as the name of a major office holder in Solomon's Temple.]]
All scholars agree that the Iron Age Temple Mount was smaller than the Herodian compound still visible today. Some scholars, such as [[Kathleen Kenyon|Kenyon]] and [[Leen Ritmeyer|Ritmeyer]], argued that the walls of the First Temple compound extended eastward as far as the [[Eastern Wall]].<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":6" /> Ritmeyer identifies specific courses of visible [[ashlars]] located to the north and south of the [[Golden Gate (Jerusalem)|Golden Gate]] as Judean Iron Age in style, dating them to the construction of this wall by [[Hezekiah]]. More such stones are supposed to survive underground.<ref name="RitmeyerMount">Leen Ritmeyer, Kathleen Ritmeyer, ''Jerusalem; The Temple Mount,'' Carta, Jerusalem, 2015, {{ISBN|978-965-220-855-2}}.</ref><ref name="ShanksHouse">{{Cite book |last=Shanks |first=Hershel |title=Jerusalem, an Archaeological Biography |publisher=Random House |year=1995 |isbn=978-0-679-44526-5 |pages=47–65}}</ref> Ritmeyer has also suggested that one of the steps leading to the Dome of the Rock is actually the top of a remaining stone course of the western wall of the Iron Age compound.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gershom |first=Gorenberg |title=The End of Days: Fundamentalism and the Struggle for the Temple Mount |date=2014 |publisher=Free Press |isbn=978-0-7432-1621-0 |page=78 |oclc=893162043 |quote=To locate the Temple, Ritmeyer used Mazar’s work, and the explorations of Captain Warren, and more evidence he found himself. A key clue: On the northwest corner of the platform where the Dome of the Rock stands, there’s a set of stairs. The stairs are at an odd angle to the platform{{snd}}because the bottom step, Ritmeyer discovered, is really a building stone marking a pre-Herodian wall. The wall, he found, was precisely parallel to the eastern wall of the Mount, and by one standard measure of a cubit, the two walls are five hundred cubits apart. Ritmeyer was beginning to map out the original Temple Mount, from before the time of Herod. Another clue: In the eastern wall, Warren had found just the slightest bend, marking the point where the wall once ended. That was the southeastern corner of the original Mount.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ritmeyer |first=Leen |date= 24 August 2015|title=Locating the Original Temple Mount |url=https://www.baslibrary.org/biblical-archaeology-review/18/2/1 |journal=Biblical Archaeology Review |publication-date=1992 |volume=18 |issue=2 |quote=Accordingly, the ashlar in this step/wall gave a strong impression of being pre-Herodian. It looked very much like the lowest masonry in the central section of the eastern wall of the Temple Mount, near the Golden Gate. I therefore proposed that this step was actually a section of a wall{{snd}}part of the western wall of the pre-Herodian, perhaps First Temple-period, Temple Mount.}}</ref>
[[File:שרידים_מבית_המקדש_בהר_הבית.jpg|thumb|Remains of a wall in the northwest part of the elevated platform; [[Leen Ritmeyer|Ritmeyer]] suggested that it is the top of a remaining stone course of the western wall of the Iron Age compound.]]
The First Temple [[Siege of Jerusalem (587 BC)|was destroyed in 587/586 BCE]] by the [[Neo-Babylonian Empire]] under [[Nebuchadnezzar II]].

=== Persian, Hellenistic and Hasmonean periods ===
{{Main|Second Temple|}}

Construction of the [[Second Temple]] began under [[Cyrus the Great|Cyrus]] in around 538 BCE and was completed in 516 BCE. It was built at the original site of Solomon's Temple.<ref name="Schiffman">{{cite book |last=Schiffman |first=Lawrence H. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nQDkLzQimk8C&pg=PA48 |title=Understanding Second Temple and Rabbinic Judaism |date=2003 |publisher=[[KTAV Publishing House]] |isbn=978-0-88125-813-4 |location=New York |pages=48–49 |language=en-us}}</ref><ref name=":20" />

According to Patrich and Edelcopp, the ideal area of the complex, described in [[Book of Ezekiel|Ezekiel]] as 50x50 cubits, was attained by the [[Hasmonean dynasty|Hasmoneans]], perhaps under [[John Hyrcanus]]; this is the same size later mentioned by the [[Mishnah]].<ref name=":20" />

Evidence of a Hasmonean expansion of the Temple Mount has been recovered by archaeologist [[Leen Ritmeyer]].

In 67 BCE [[Hasmonean Civil War|a quarrel]] broke out between [[Aristobulus II]] and [[Hyrcanus II]] on the Hasmonean throne. [[Roman Republic|Roman]] general [[Pompey]], who had been invited to intervene in the conflict, sided with Hyrcanus; Aristobulus and his followers barricaded themselves inside the Temple Mount and destroyed the bridge linking it to the city. When the Roman Army arrived in Jerusalem, Pompey ordered the moat defending the Temple Mount from the north to be filled in. To accomplish this, Pompey waited for [[Sabbath]]s, so the defenders would not disrupt the work. After a [[Siege of Jerusalem (63 BC)|three-month siege]], the Romans were able to topple one of the guard towers and storm the Temple Mount. Pompey himself entered the [[Holy of Holies]], but did not harm the Temple, and allowed the priests to continue their work as usual.<ref>[[Josephus]], ''[[the Jewish War]]'', 1.7.141.</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Regev |first=E. |date=1997 |title=How Did the Temple Mount Fall to Pompey? |url=https://pascal-francis.inist.fr/vibad/index.php?action=getRecordDetail&idt=2463714 |journal=Journal of Jewish Studies |volume=48 |issue=2 |pages=276–289 |doi=10.18647/1998/JJS-1997 |issn=0022-2097|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Sharon |first=Nadav |date=2014 |title=The Conquests of Jerusalem by Pompey and Herod: On Sabbath or »Sabbath of Sabbaths«? |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1628/094457014x14056845341069 |journal=Jewish Studies Quarterly |volume=21 |issue=3 |page=193 |doi=10.1628/094457014x14056845341069 |issn=0944-5706|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

=== Herodian and early Roman periods ===
{{Main|Second Temple#Herod's Temple|Archaeological remnants of the Jerusalem Temple|}}
Around 19 BCE, [[Herod the Great]] further expanded the Temple Mount and [[Herod's Temple|rebuilt the temple]]. The ambitious project, which involved the employment of 10,000 workers,{{sfn|Gonen|2003|p=69}} more than doubled the size of the Temple Mount to approximately {{convert|36|acre|m2}}. Herod leveled the area by cutting away rock on the northwest side and raising the sloping ground to the south. He achieved this by constructing huge buttress walls and vaults and filling the necessary sections with earth and rubble.<ref name="Negev2005p265">[[Temple Mount#refNegev2005|Negev (2005)]], p. 265.</ref> The result was the largest [[temenos]] in the ancient world.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Feissel |first=Denis |title=Corpus Inscriptionum Iudaeae/Palaestinae: Volume 1 1/1: Jerusalem, Part 1: 1–704 |publisher=De Gruyter |others=Hannah M. Cotton, Werner Eck, Marfa Heimbach, Benjamin Isaac, Alla Kushnir-Stein, Haggai Misgav |year=2010 |isbn=978-3-11-174100-0 |location=Berlin |page=41 |oclc=840438627}}</ref>

The main entrances to the Herodian Temple Mount were [[Huldah Gates|two sets of gates]] built into the southern wall, together with four other gates reachable from the western side by stairs and bridges. Grand [[stoa]]s encircled the platform on three sides, and on its southern side stood a magnificent basilica [[Josephus]] referred to as the [[Royal Stoa (Jerusalem)|Royal Stoa]].<ref name=":0" /> The Royal Stoa served as a center for the city's commercial and legal transactions, and was provided with separate access to the city below via the [[Robinson's Arch]] overpass.<ref>[[Temple Mount#Mazar1975|Mazar (1975)]], pp. 124–26, 132.</ref> The Temple itself and its courts were located on an elevated platform in the middle of the larger compound. In addition to the restoration of the Temple, its courtyards and porticoes, Herod also built the [[Antonia Fortress]], which dominated the northwestern corner of the Temple Mount, and a rainwater reservoir, [[Birket Israel]], in the northeast. A monumental street, today referred to as the "[[Stepped street (Jerusalem)|Stepped Street]]", took pilgrims from the city's southern gate via the Tyropoeon Valley to the western side of the Temple Mount. It has been proposed in 2019 that [[Pontius Pilate]] constructed the road during the 30s.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Szanton |first1=Nahshon |last2=Hagbi |first2=Moran |last3=Uziel |first3=Joe |last4=Ariel |first4=Donald T. |date=2019-07-03 |title=Pontius Pilate in Jerusalem: The Monumental Street from the Siloam Pool to the Temple Mount |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03344355.2019.1650491 |journal=Tel Aviv |language=en |volume=46 |issue=2 |pages=147–66 |doi=10.1080/03344355.2019.1650491 |s2cid=213854356 |issn=0334-4355|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

During the early phases of the [[First Jewish–Roman War|First Jewish-Roman War]] (66–70 CE), the Temple Mount became a center of fighting for various Jewish factions struggling for control of the city, with different factions holding the area during the conflict. In April 70, the Roman army under [[Titus]] reached Jerusalem and began [[Siege of Jerusalem (70 CE)|besieging the city]]. It took the Romans four months to defeat the Temple Mount's defenders and take the site. The Romans completely destroyed the Temple and all the other structures on the platform.<ref name=":7">{{Cite book |last=Maclean Rogers |first=Guy |title=For the Freedom of Zion: The Great Revolt of Jews against Romans, 66–74 CE |publisher=Yale University Press |year=2021 |isbn=978-0-300-26256-8 |location=New Haven, CN and London |pages=356–61 |oclc=1294393934}}</ref> Massive stone collapses from the upper walls were discovered laying over the Herodian street that runs along the southern part of the Western Wall,<ref>Reich, R. and Billig, Y. 2008. "Jerusalem, The Robinson’s Arch Area". NEAEHL 5: 1809–1811.</ref> with some of the stones burned at temperatures reaching 800&nbsp;°C (1472&nbsp;°F).<ref>Aryeh Shimron and Orit Peleg-Barkat. 2010. “New evidence of the Royal Stoa and Roman flames.” ''Biblical Archaeology Review'', 36, 2, pp. 57–62.</ref> The [[Trumpeting Place inscription]], a monumental Hebrew inscription which was thrown down by Roman legionnaires, was found in one of these stone piles.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Demsky |first=Aaron |author-link=Aaron Demsky |year=1986 |title=When the Priests Trumpeted the Onset of the Sabbath |url=https://www.baslibrary.org/biblical-archaeology-review/12/6/3 |access-date=2022-05-22 |website=The BAS Library |language=en}}</ref>
[[File:NinthAvStonesWesternWall.JPG|thumb|Stone piles (along the western wall, near the southern end) from the walls of the Temple Mount]]
[[File:To the trumpeting place.jpg|upright=1.2|thumb|The [[Trumpeting Place inscription]], a stone (2.43x1 m) with [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] inscription לבית התקיעה להב "To the Trumpeting Place" excavated by [[Benjamin Mazar]] at the southern foot of the Temple Mount is believed to be a part of the Second Temple.]]

=== Middle Roman period ===
The city of [[Aelia Capitolina]] was built in 130 CE by the Roman emperor [[Hadrian]] and occupied by a [[Roman colony]] on the site of Jerusalem, which was still in ruins from the [[First Jewish Revolt]] in 70 CE. ''Aelia'' came from Hadrian's ''[[Roman naming convention|nomen gentile]]'', ''[[Aelia (gens)|Aelius]]'', while ''Capitolina'' meant that the new city was dedicated to [[Jupiter Capitolinus]], to whom [[Church of the Holy Sepulchre#History|a temple was built]] overlapping the site of the former second Jewish temple, the Temple Mount.<ref>{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Aelia Capitolina|volume=1|page=256}}</ref>

Hadrian had intended the construction of the new city as a gift to the Jews, but since he had constructed a giant statue of himself in front of the Temple of Jupiter and the Temple of Jupiter had a huge statue of Jupiter inside it, there were on the Temple Mount now two enormous [[Idolatry|graven images]], which Jews considered idolatrous. It was also customary in [[Ancient Roman religion|Roman rites]] to sacrifice a [[pig]] in land purification ceremonies.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Incigneri |first=Brian J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aDQCYZs0oOQC&pg=PA192 |title=The Gospel to the Romans [electronic resource]: the setting and rhetoric of Mark's Gospel |date=2003 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-13108-8 |page=192 |language=en}}</ref> After the [[Third Jewish Revolt]], all Jews were forbidden on pain of death from entering the city or the surrounding territory around the city.<ref name="Lester2010">{{cite book |author=Grabbe |first=Lester L. |author-link=Lester L. Grabbe |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i89-9fdNUcAC&pg=PA20 |title=An Introduction to Second Temple Judaism: History and Religion of the Jews in the Time of Nehemiah, the Maccabees, Hillel, and Jesus |publisher=A&C Black |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-567-55248-8 |pages=19–20, 26–29 |language=en}}</ref>

=== Late Roman period ===
[[File:Roman_Centaur_Tile_of_Al-Aqsa_Mosque.jpg|thumb|Roman centaur relief (135–325 CE) reused as a floor panel in the al-Aqsa Mosque, was found during restoration work in the 1930s.]]
From the first through the seventh centuries Christianity spread throughout the Roman Empire, gradually became the predominant religion of Palestine and under the Byzantines Jerusalem itself was almost completely Christian, with most of the population being [[Miaphysitism|Jacobite Christians of the Syrian rite]].<ref name="Marsham" /><ref name =Shick/>

Emperor [[Constantine the Great|Constantine I]] promoted the Christianization of Roman society, giving it precedence over pagan cults.<ref>[[Timothy Barnes (classicist)|Timothy D. Barnes]], ''Constantine and Eusebius,'' Harvard University Press, 1981, pp. 50–53, 201ff, 211, 245ff</ref> One consequence was that Hadrian's Temple to [[Jupiter (mythology)|Jupiter]] on the Temple Mount was demolished immediately following the [[First Council of Nicea]] in 325 CE on orders of Constantine.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lundquist |first=John M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R9VeCEwbNvsC&pg=PA156 |title=The Temple of Jerusalem: Past, Present, and Future |date=2008 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn=978-0-275-98339-0 |page=156 |language=en}}</ref>

The [[Itinerarium Burdigalense|Bordeaux Pilgrim]], who visited Jerusalem in 333–334, during the reign of Emperor Constantine I, wrote that "There are two statues of Hadrian, and, not far from them, a pierced stone to which the Jews come every year and anoint. They mourn and rend their garments, and then depart."<ref>{{Cite book | author = F.E. Peters | title = Jerusalem | publisher = Princeton University Press | year = 1985 | page=143}}</ref> The occasion is assumed to have been [[Tisha b'Av]], since decades later [[Jerome]] related that that was the only day on which Jews were permitted to enter Jerusalem.<ref name="Tasfrir">{{Cite book |author=Tsafrir |first=Yoram |title=Where Heaven and Earth Meet: Jerusalem's Sacred Esplanade |publisher=University of Texas Press |year=2009 |editor=Grabar |editor-first=Oleg |editor-link=Oleg Grabar |pages=86–87 |chapter=70–638: The Temple-less Mountain |editor-last2=Kedar |editor-first2=Benjamin Z. |editor-link2=Benjamin Z. Kedar}}</ref>

Constantine's nephew Emperor [[Julian the Apostate|Julian]] granted permission in the year 363 for the Jews to rebuild the Temple.<ref name="Tasfrir"/><ref>{{Cite book |last=Har-El |first=Menashe |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9Z2cFY9iGqgC&pg=PA29 |title=Golden Jerusalem |date=2004 |publisher=Gefen Publishing House Ltd |isbn=978-965-229-254-4 |page=29 |language=en}}</ref> In a letter attributed to Julian he wrote to the Jews that "This you ought to do, in order that, when I have successfully concluded the war in Persia, I may rebuild by my own efforts the sacred city of Jerusalem, which for so many years you have longed to see inhabited, and may bring settlers there, and, together with you, may glorify the Most High God therein."<ref name="Tasfrir"/> Julian saw the Jewish God as a fitting member of the pantheon of gods he believed in, and he was also a strong opponent of Christianity.<ref name="Tasfrir"/><ref>{{Cite book |author=Sivan |first=Hagith |title=Palestine in Late Antiquity |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2008 |page=205}}</ref> 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.<ref name="PetersJulian">{{Cite book |author=Peters |first=F.E. |title=Jerusalem |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=1985 |pages=145–47 |language=en-us}}</ref> However, no contemporary Jewish sources mention this episode directly.<ref name="Tasfrir"/>

=== Byzantine period ===

During his excavations in the 1930s, [[Robert Hamilton (archaeologist)|Robert Hamilton]] uncovered portions of a multicolor mosaic floor with geometric patterns, but did not publish them.<ref name=Baruch13>Baruch et al. (2018). pp. 13-14.</ref> The date of the mosaic is disputed: [[Zachi Dvira]] considers that they are from the pre-Islamic Byzantine period, while Baruch, Reich and Sandhaus favor a much later [[Umayyad]] origin on account of their similarity to a mosaic from an Umayyad palace excavated adjacent to the Temple Mount's southern wall.<ref name=Baruch13/> By comparing the photographs to Hamilton's excavation report, Di Cesare determined that they belong to the second phase of mosque construction in the Umayyad period.<ref name=DiCesare>{{cite book | author = Michelina Di Cesare | chapter = The mosaic pavement beneath the floor of al-Aqṣā mosque: A case study of late antique artistic ''koiné'' | title = A Globalised Visual Culture? | editor = Fabio Guidetti and Katharina Meinecke | publisher = Oxbow | year = 2020 | pages = 289–320 }}</ref> Moreover, the mosaic designs were common in Islamic, Jewish and Christian buildings from the 2nd to the 8th century.<ref name=DiCesare/> Di Cesare suggested that Hamilton didn't include the mosaics in his book because they were destroyed to explore beneath them.<ref name=DiCesare/>

=== Sassanid period ===
{{See also|Jewish revolt against Heraclius|Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628}}

In 610, the [[Sassanid Empire]] drove the [[Byzantine Empire]] out of the Middle East, giving the Jews control of Jerusalem for the first time in centuries. The Jews in Palestine were allowed to set up a vassal state under the Sassanid Empire called the ''Sassanid Jewish Commonwealth'' which lasted for five years. Jewish rabbis ordered the restart of animal sacrifice for the first time since the time of Second Temple and started to reconstruct the Jewish Temple. Shortly before the Byzantines took the area back five years later in 615, the [[Sassanid Empire|Persians]] gave control to the Christian population, who tore down the partially built Jewish Temple edifice and turned it into a garbage dump,<ref>{{cite book|title=Jerusalem Today: What Future for the Peace Process?|first=Ghada|last=Karmi|year=1997|publisher=Garnet & Ithaca Press|isbn=978-0-86372-226-4|page=116}}</ref> which is what it was when the [[Rashidun]] [[Caliph]] [[Umar]] took the city in 637.

=== Early Muslim period ===
[[File:SWqanatirTempleMount.JPG|thumbnail|The Southwest ''[[Al-Mawazin|qanatir]]'' (arches) of the Haram al Sharif; Qubat al-Nahawiyya is also partially visible to the right.]]
In 637, Arabs [[Siege of Jerusalem (637)|besieged]] and captured the city from the Byzantine Empire, which had defeated the Persian forces and their allies, and reconquered the city. There are no contemporary records, but many traditions, about the origin of the main Islamic buildings on the mount.<ref name="BahatAtlas">{{cite book |author=Bahat |first=Dan |title=The Illustrated Atlas of Jerusalem |publisher=Simon & Schuster |year=1990 |pages=81–82 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Kaplony |first=Andreas |title=Where Heaven and Earth Meet: Jerusalem's Sacred Esplanade |publisher=Yad Ben-Zvi Press |year=2009 |editor=Grabar |editor-first=Oleg |editor-link=Oleg Grabar |pages=100–31 |chapter=635/638–1099: The Mosque of Jerusalem (Masjid Bayt al-Maqdis) |editor-last2=Kedar |editor-first2=Benjamin Z. |editor-link2=Benjamin Z. Kedar}}</ref> A popular account from later centuries is that the [[Rashidun Caliphate|Rashidun]] [[Caliph]] [[Umar]] was led to the place reluctantly by the Christian patriarch [[Sophronius of Jerusalem|Sophronius]].<ref name="PetersJ">{{cite book |author=Peters |first=F.E. |url=https://archive.org/details/jerusalemholycit00pete |title=Jerusalem |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=1985 |isbn=978-0-691-07300-2 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/jerusalemholycit00pete/page/186 186–192] |language=en-us |url-access=registration}}</ref> He found it covered with rubbish, but the sacred Rock was found with the help of a converted Jew, [[Ka'b al-Ahbar]].<ref name = PetersJ/> Al-Ahbar advised Umar to build a mosque to the north of the rock, so that worshippers would face both the rock and Mecca, but instead Umar chose to build it to the south of the rock.<ref name = PetersJ/> It became known as al-Aqsa Mosque. According to Muslim sources, Jews participated in the construction of the haram, laying the groundwork for both al-Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock mosques.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Meddeb |first1=Abdelwahab |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wbg1AAAAQBAJ&pg=PA108 |title=A History of Jewish-Muslim Relations: From the Origins to the Present Day |last2=Stora |first2=Benjamin |date=2013 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-1-4008-4913-0 |page=108 |language=fr}}</ref> The first known eyewitness testimony is that of the pilgrim [[Arculf]] who visited about 670. According to Arculf's account as recorded by [[Adomnán]], he saw a rectangular wooden house of prayer built over some ruins, large enough to hold 3,000 people.<ref name=BahatAtlas/><ref>{{cite book |author=Wilkinson |first=John |title=Jerusalem Pilgrims before the Crusades |year=2002 |page=170}}</ref>

In 691, an octagonal Islamic building topped by a dome was built by the Caliph [[Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan|Abd al-Malik]] around the rock, for a myriad of political, dynastic and religious reasons, built on local and Quranic traditions articulating the site's holiness, a process in which textual and architectural narratives reinforced one another.<ref>''The Dome of the Rock as Palimpsest'', Necipoglu, Muqarnas, 2008.</ref> The shrine became known as the [[Dome of the Rock]] ({{lang|ar|قبة الصخرة}}, ''[[Qubbat]] as-Sakhra''). (The dome itself was covered in gold in 1920.) In 715, the Umayyads, led by the Caliph [[al-Walid I]], built al-Aqsa Mosque ({{lang|ar|المسجد الأقصى}}, ''al-Masjid al-'Aqṣā'', {{abbr|lit.|literally}}&nbsp;"Furthest Mosque"), corresponding to the Islamic belief of Muhammad's miraculous [[Isra and Mi'raj|nocturnal journey]] as recounted in the [[Quran]] and [[hadith]]. The term "Noble Sanctuary" or "Haram al-Sharif", as it was called later by the [[Mamluks]] and [[Ottoman Turks|Ottomans]], refers to the entirer area that surrounds that Rock.<ref>Oleg Grabar, [http://www.riifs.org/journal/essy_v2no2_grbar.htm ''The Haram ak-Sharif: An essay in interpretation'', BRIIFS vol. 2, no. 2 (Autumn 2000)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121004035552/http://www.riifs.org/journal/essy_v2no2_grbar.htm|date=2012-10-04}}.</ref>

=== Crusader and Ayyubid period ===
[[Image:Baldwin II ceeding the Temple of Salomon to Hugues de Payens and Gaudefroy de Saint-Homer.jpg|thumb|[[Baldwin II of Jerusalem]], assigning the captured [[Qibli Mosque|Al-Aqsa Mosque]] to [[Hugues de Payens]] and Godfrey]]
The Crusader period began in 1099 with the [[First Crusade]]'s capture of Jerusalem. After the city's conquest, the Crusading order known as the [[Knights Templar]] was granted use of Al-Aqsa Mosque to use as their headquarters. This was probably by [[Baldwin II of Jerusalem]] and [[Warmund, Patriarch of Jerusalem]] at the [[Council of Nablus]] in January 1120.<ref>{{cite web|last=Selwood|first=Dominic|title=Birth of the Order|url=http://www.dominicselwood.com/birth-of-the-order/|access-date=20 April 2013|archive-date=17 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131217105335/http://www.dominicselwood.com/birth-of-the-order/|url-status=dead}}</ref> The Temple Mount had a mystique because it was above what were believed to be the ruins of the [[Solomon's Temple|Temple of Solomon]].<ref name=HC>[[History (U.S. TV channel)|The History Channel]], ''Decoding the Past: The Templar Code'', 7 November 2005, video documentary written by Marcy Marzuni.</ref><ref>Barber, ''The New Knighthood'', p. 7.</ref> The Crusaders therefore referred to al-Aqsa Mosque as Solomon's Temple, and it was from this location that the new Order took the name of "Poor Knights of Christ and the Temple of Solomon", or "Templar" knights.

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 Muslim purposes. It remained in Muslim hands thereafter, even during the relatively short periods of Crusader rule following the [[Sixth Crusade]].

=== Mamluk period ===
There are several Mamluk buildings on and around the Haram esplanade, such as the late 15th-century [[al-Ashrafiyya Madrasa]] and [[Fountain of Qayt Bay|Sabil (fountain) of Qaytbay]]. The Mamluks also raised the level of Jerusalem's Central or Tyropoean Valley bordering the Temple Mount from the west by constructing huge substructures, on which they then built on a large scale. The Mamluk-period substructures and over-ground buildings are thus covering much of the Herodian western wall of the Temple Mount.

=== Ottoman period ===

Following the Ottoman conquest of Palestine in 1516, the Ottoman authorities continued the policy of prohibiting non-Muslims from setting foot on the Temple Mount until the early 19th century, when non-Muslims were again permitted to visit the site.<ref name=MeyerMessner>{{Cite journal|title = Entering the Temple Mount – in Halacha and Jewish History|last1 = Meyer|first1 = Gedalia|date = 2010|journal = Hakirah|last2 = Messner|first2 = Henoch|volume = 10|page = 29|isbn = 978-0-9765665-9-5 |url=https://hakirah.org/Vol%2010%20Messner.pdf}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=August 2022}}
[[File:Dome_of_the_Rock,_from_Governor's_House,_Francis_Bedford_1862.jpg|thumb|Temple Mount, photographed by [[Francis Bedford (photographer)|Francis Bedford]], 1862]]
In 1867, a team from the [[Royal Engineers]], led by Lieutenant [[Charles Warren]] and financed by the [[Palestine Exploration Fund]] (P.E.F.), discovered a series of tunnels near the Temple Mount. Warren secretly{{Citation needed|date=April 2015}} excavated some tunnels near the Temple Mount walls and was the first one to document their lower courses. Warren also conducted some small-scale excavations inside the Temple Mount, by removing rubble that blocked passages leading from the [[The Double Gate|Double Gate]] chamber.

=== British Mandatory period ===
{{Main|1929 Palestine riots}}
Between 1922 and 1924, the Dome of the Rock was restored by the Islamic Higher Council.<ref name=Hashemite/> The Zionist movement at the time was strongly opposed to any notion that the Temple itself might be rebuilt. Indeed, its armed wing, the [[Haganah]] militia, assassinated a Jewish man when his plan to blow up the Islamic sites on the Haram came to their attention in 1931.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Wallach |first=Yair |date=2021-05-13 |title=The violence that began at Jerusalem's ancient holy sites is driven by a distinctly modern zeal |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/may/13/violence-jerusalem-holy-sites-israeli-right-temple-mount |access-date=2024-03-10 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> Renovations were also conducted at the [[Al-Aqsa Mosque]] from 1938–1942, following an earthquake in the summer of 1937.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hamilton |first=R. W. |author-link=Robert Hamilton (archaeologist) |title=The structural history of the Aqsa Mosque: a record of archaeological gleanings from the repairs of 1938–1942 |date=1949 |publisher=Oxford University Press (for the Government of Palestine by Geoffrey Cumberlege) |location=London |url=http://www.iaa-archives.org.il/zoom/zoom.aspx?id=6681&folder_id=83&loc_id=15330 |oclc=913480179 |page=Introductory note |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201023045404/http://www.iaa-archives.org.il/zoom/zoom.aspx?id=6681&folder_id=83&loc_id=15330 |archive-date=2020-10-23 |url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Jordanian period ===
[[File:King Hussein flying over Temple Mount when it was under Jordanian control.jpg|thumb|[[Hussein of Jordan|King Hussein]] flying over the Temple Mount while it was under [[Jordanian annexation of the West Bank|Jordanian control]], 1965]]

Jordan undertook two renovations of the Dome of the Rock, replacing the leaking, wooden inner dome with an aluminum dome in 1952, and, when the new dome leaked, carrying out a second restoration between 1959 and 1964.<ref name=Hashemite>[http://www.kinghussein.gov.jo/islam_restoration.html "Hashemite Restorations of the Islamic Holy Places in Jerusalem"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080223104713/http://www.kinghussein.gov.jo/islam_restoration.html |date=2008-02-23 }}, Jordanian government website.</ref>

Neither Israeli Arabs nor Israeli Jews could visit their holy places in the Jordanian territories during this period.<ref name=Gilbert254>Martin Gilbert, Jerusalem in the Twentieth Century (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1996), p. 254.</ref><ref name=Israeli23>{{Cite book
 | last = Israeli
 | first = Raphael
 | title = Jerusalem Divided: The Armistice Regime, 1947–1967
 | year = 2002
 | publisher = [[Routledge]]
 | location = [[Jerusalem]]
 | isbn = 978-0-7146-5266-5
 | page = 23
 | chapter = Introduction: Everyday Life in Divided Jerusalem
 }}</ref>

=== Israeli period ===
[[File:IDF Paratroopers UNIT. X.jpg|thumb|Israeli paratroopers entering the Temple Mount through the Lions Gate in 1967]]
On 7 June 1967, during the [[Six-Day War]], Israeli forces advanced beyond the [[1949 Armistice Agreement Line]] into [[West Bank]] territories, taking control of the [[Old City of Jerusalem]], inclusive of the Temple Mount.

The Chief Rabbi of the [[Israeli Defense Forces]], [[Shlomo Goren]], led the soldiers in religious celebrations on the Temple Mount and at the Western Wall. The Israeli Chief Rabbinate also declared a religious holiday on the anniversary, called "[[Yom Yerushalayim]]" (Jerusalem Day), which became a national holiday to commemorate the [[reunification of Jerusalem]]. Many saw the capture of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount as a miraculous liberation of biblical-messianic proportions.<ref>{{Cite book |last=New |first=David S. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bso4Rco54isC&pg=PA140 |title=Holy War: The Rise of Militant Christian, Jewish and Islamic Fundamentalism |date=2015 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-1-4766-0391-9 |pages=140ff |language=en}}</ref> A few days after the war over 200,000 Jews flocked to the Western Wall in the first mass Jewish pilgrimage near the Mount since the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE. Islamic authorities did not disturb Goren when he went to pray on the Mount until, on the [[Tisha B'Av|Ninth Day of Av]], he brought 50 followers and introduced both a [[shofar]], and a portable ark to pray, an innovation which alarmed the Waqf authorities and led to a deterioration of relations between the Muslim authorities and the Israeli government.{{sfn|Gonen|2003|p=[https://archive.org/details/contestedholines00rivk/page/149 149–155]}}

In June 1969, [[Al-Aqsa mosque fire|an Australian set fire to the Jami'a al-Aqsa]]. On April 11, 1982, a Jew hid in the Dome of the Rock and sprayed gunfire, killing 2 Palestinians and wounding 44; in 1974, 1977 and 1983 groups led by [[Yoel Lerner]] conspired to blow up both the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa. On 26 January 1984 Waqf guards detected members of B'nei Yehuda, a messianic cult of former gangsters turned mystics based in [[Lifta]], trying to infiltrate the area to blow it up.<ref name="Klein" /><ref>Urî Huppert, ''Back to the ghetto: Zionism in retreat,'' Prometheus Books 1988, p. 108.</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Seliktar |first=Ofira |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-j2sCQAAQBAJ&pg=PT267 |title=New Zionism and the Foreign Policy System of Israel (RLE Israel and Palestine) |date=2015|publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-44284-4 |page=267 |language=en}}</ref>

On 15 January 1988, during the [[First Intifada]], [[Israeli troops]] fired [[rubber bullet]]s and [[tear gas]] at protesters outside the mosque, wounding 40 worshipers.<ref>[http://domino.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/2ee9468747556b2d85256cf60060d2a6/03a0ba144d71e526852573700066e774 OpenDocument Letter] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110628180644/http://domino.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/2ee9468747556b2d85256cf60060d2a6/03a0ba144d71e526852573700066e774 |date=28 June 2011 }} Dated 18 January 1988 from the Permanent Observer for the Palestine Liberation Organization to the United Nations Office at Geneva Addressed to the Under-Secretary-General for Human Rights Ramlawi, Nabil. Permanent Observer of the Palestine Liberation Organization to the United Nations Office at Geneva.</ref><ref>[http://www.passia.org/palestine_facts/chronology/19631988.htm Palestine Facts Timeline, 1963–1988] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080929033140/http://www.passia.org/palestine_facts/chronology/19631988.htm |date=29 September 2008 }} [[Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs]].</ref>

On October 8, 1990, Israeli forces patrolling the site blocked worshippers from reaching it. A tear gas canister was set off among the female worshippers, which caused events to escalate. On 12 October 1990 Palestinian Muslims protested violently the intention of some extremist Jews to lay a cornerstone on the site for a New Temple as a prelude to the destruction of the Muslim mosques. The attempt was blocked by Israeli authorities but demonstrators were widely reported as having stoned Jews at the Western Wall.<ref name="Klein">{{Cite book |last=Klein |first=Menachem |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nBnPuy2GxuQC&pg=PA54 |title=Jerusalem: The Contested City |date=2001 |publisher=C. Hurst |isbn=978-1-85065-576-3 |pages=54–63 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
 |url=https://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/C6AA06BDFB5B5453052566DB0055512F
 |title=Reconstruction of Events (Revised) Al-Haram Al-Sharif, Jerusalem Monday, 8 October 1990
 |access-date=April 12, 2012
 |date=October 8, 1990
 |publisher=[[United Nations]]
 |url-status=dead
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150109002959/http://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/C6AA06BDFB5B5453052566DB0055512F
 |archive-date=9 January 2015
}}</ref> According to Palestinian historian [[Rashid Khalidi]], investigative journalism has shown this allegation to be false.<ref>[[Rashid Khalidi]], [https://books.google.com/books?id=YDPKFyZ38qsC&pg=PA215 ''Palestinian Identity: The Construction of Modern National Consciousness,''] Columbia University Press, 2010 pp. 215–16, n. 22: 'The pretext later invoked for the shootings was that the Palestinians inside the ''Haram'' were throwing stones at Jewish worshippers at the Wailing Wall plaza below, an allegation that careful journalistic investigation later revealed was false. It is impossible to be able to see the plaza from the ''Haram'', given the high arcade that surrounds that latter, and the Palestinians were in fact throwing stones at Israeli security forces shooting at them from atop the ''Haram's'' western wall and adjacent roofs. It has since been established that most Jewish worshippers were gone before stones thrown at the soldiers went over the arcade and into the plaza. See Michael Emery,"New videotapes Reveal Israeli Cover-up," ''The Village Voice,'' November 13, 1990, pp. 25–29 and the reportage by Mike Wallace on ''60 Minutes'', December 2, 1990. For a detailed account based on testimonies of eyewitnesses, see Raja Shehadeh ''The Sealed Room,'' (London: Quartet, 1992) pp. 24–99'.</ref> Rocks were eventually thrown, while security forces fired rounds that killed 21 people and injuring 150 more.<ref name="Klein" /> An Israeli inquiry found Israeli forces at fault, but it also concluded that charges could not be brought against any particular individuals.<ref>{{cite web
|url = http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1991-07-19/news/9101260807_1_criminal-charges-killings-ezra-kama
|title = Judge Blames Israeli Police In Killing Of Palestinians
|access-date = April 12, 2012
|date = July 19, 1991
|work = [[Sun Sentinel]]
|archive-date = June 19, 2013
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130619003713/http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1991-07-19/news/9101260807_1_criminal-charges-killings-ezra-kama
|url-status = dead
}}</ref>

On 8 October 1990, [[1990 Temple Mount riots|22 Palestinians were killed]] and over 100 others injured by [[Israeli Border Police]] during protests that were triggered by the announcement of the [[Temple Mount Faithful]], a group of religious Jews, that they were going to lay the cornerstone of the Third Temple.<ref>Dan Izenberg, ''The Jerusalem Post'', 19 July 1991.</ref><ref name="Ahram">Amayreh, Khaled. [http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2007/832/re63.htm Catalogue of provocations: Israel's encroachments upon the Al-Aqsa Mosque have not been sporadic, but, rather, a systematic endeavor] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081115224345/http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2007/832/re63.htm |date=15 November 2008 }} ''[[Al-Ahram Weekly]]''. February 2007.</ref> Between 1992 and 1994, the Jordanian government undertook the unprecedented step of gilding the dome of the Dome of the Rock, covering it with 5000 gold plates, and restoring and reinforcing the structure. [[Minbar of the al-Aqsa Mosque|Saladin's minbar]] was also reconstructed. The project was paid for by [[Hussein of Jordan|King Hussein]] personally, at a cost of $8 million.<ref name=Hashemite/> The Temple Mount remains, under the terms of the 1994 [[Israel–Jordan peace treaty]], under [[Hashemite custodianship of Jerusalem holy sites|Jordanian custodianship]].<ref name="Itamar" /> In December 1997, Israeli security services preempted an attempt by Jewish extremists to throw a pig's head wrapped in the pages of the Quran into the area, in order to spark a riot and embarrass the government.<ref name="Klein" />

On 28 September 2000, then-opposition leader of Israel [[Ariel Sharon]] and members of the [[Likud Party]], along with 1,000 armed guards, visited the al-Aqsa compound. The visit was seen as a provocative gesture by many Palestinians, who gathered around the site. After Sharon and the Likud Party members left, a demonstration erupted and Palestinians on the grounds of the [[Haram al-Sharif]] began [[Palestinian stone throwing|throwing stones]] and other projectiles at Israeli riot police. Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at the crowd, injuring 24 people. The visit sparked a five-year uprising by the Palestinians, commonly referred to as the [[al-Aqsa Intifada]], though some commentators, citing subsequent speeches by Palestinian Authority officials, particularly Imad Falouji and [[Yasser Arafat|Yasar Arafat]], claim that the Intifada had been planned months in advance, as early as July upon Arafat's return from Camp David talks in the United States.<ref>{{cite news |title=Provocative' mosque visit sparks riots |work=BBC News |date=28 September 2000 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/28/newsid_3687000/3687762.stm |access-date=1 July 2008 |archive-date=29 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190129133239/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/28/newsid_3687000/3687762.stm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="toameh">{{cite web |author=Abu Toameh |first=Khaled |title=How the war began |url=http://www.mafhoum.com/press3/111P55.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060328023742/http://www.mafhoum.com/press3/111P55.htm |archive-date=28 March 2006 |access-date=29 March 2006}}</ref><ref name=atlantic>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/doc/prem/200509/samuels|date=September 2005|work=[[The Atlantic Monthly]] Online|title=In a Ruined Country|access-date=5 March 2017|archive-date=30 August 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080830024459/http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/prem/200509/samuels|url-status=live}}</ref> On 29 September, the Israeli government deployed 2,000 riot police to the mosque. When a group of Palestinians left the mosque after [[Jumu'ah|Friday prayers]] (''Jumu'ah,'') they hurled stones at the police. The police then stormed the mosque compound, firing both live ammunition and rubber bullets at the group of Palestinians, killing four and wounding about 200.<ref>Dean, 2003, p.&nbsp;560.</ref>

On 3 January 2023, Israeli Minister of National Security [[Itamar Ben-Gvir]] visited the Temple Mount in [[Jerusalem]], sparking protests by [[Palestinians]] and the condemnation of several [[Arab countries]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=2023-01-03 |title=Jerusalem: Palestinian anger over far-right Israeli minister's holy site visit |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-64150409 |access-date=2023-01-03}}</ref>

== Status quo ==

=== Under Muslim control ===
Jews were not allowed to visit for approximately one thousand years.{{When|date=November 2023}}<ref>{{cite report |url=https://jerusaleminstitute.org.il/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/PUB_ERODINGSTATUSQUO-2017_eng.pdf |title=The eroding status quo:power struggles on the Temple Mount |author=Reiter |first=Yitzhak |date=2017 |publisher=Jerusalem Institute for Policy Research and Multieducator Inc |pages=15–16}}</ref>

===British Mandate===
In the first ten years of British rule in Palestine, all were allowed entry to the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif complex. Sometimes violence broke out at the entrance between Jews and Muslims. During the [[1929 Palestine riots]], Jews were accused of violating the status quo.<ref name="AmericanJewish1929">{{cite book |title=Judah L. Magnes: An American Jewish Nonconformist |publisher=Syracuse University Press |author=Kotzin, Daniel P. |year=2010 |page=222 |isbn=978-0-8156-5109-3}}</ref><ref name="Jerusalem one city">{{cite book |title=Jerusalem: One City, Three Faiths |publisher=Random House Digital, Inc. |author=Armstrong, Karen |year=2011 |page=382 |isbn=978-0-307-79859-6}}</ref> Following the riots, the [[Supreme Muslim Council]] and the [[Jerusalem Islamic Waqf]] prohibited Jews from entering the site's gates. During the mandate period, Jewish leaders celebrated ancient religious practices at the Western Wall. The ban on visitors continued until 1948<ref>{{cite report |url=https://jerusaleminstitute.org.il/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/PUB_ERODINGSTATUSQUO-2017_eng.pdf |title=The eroding status quo: power struggles on the Temple Mount |author=Reiter |first=Yitzhak |date=2017 |publisher=Jerusalem Institute for Policy Research and Multieducator Inc |page=10}}</ref>

===Jordanian control===
Although the 1949 Armistice Agreement called for "resumption of the normal functioning of the cultural and humanitarian institutions on Mount Scopus and free access thereto; free access to the Holy Places and cultural institutions and use of the cemetery on the Mount of Olives", in practice, wire and concrete barriers were the reality. Cultural and religious sites in both sides of the city were destroyed and neglected and the Jewish community barred from its sacred places.<ref>{{cite book |author=Jakubowski |first=Andrzej |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=90X9CQAAQBAJ&pg=PT151 |title=State succession in cultural property |date=2015 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-105800-4 |page=133 |language=en}}</ref>

=== Under Israeli control ===

A few days after the [[Six-Day War]], on June 17, 1967, a meeting was held at the al-Aqsa mosque between [[Moshe Dayan]] and Muslim religious authorities of Jerusalem reformulating the status quo.{{sfn|Gonen|2003|p=[https://archive.org/details/contestedholines00rivk/page/149 149–55]}} Jews were given the right to visit the Temple Mount unobstructed and free of charge if they respected Muslims' religious feelings and acted decently, but they were not allowed to pray. The Western Wall was to remain the Jewish place of prayer. 'Religious sovereignty' was to remain with the Muslims while 'overall sovereignty' became Israeli.{{sfn|Gonen|2003|p=[https://archive.org/details/contestedholines00rivk/page/149 149–155]}} The Muslims objected to Dayan's offer, as they completely rejected the Israeli conquest of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount. Some Jews, led by [[Shlomo Goren]], then the military chief rabbi, had objected as well, claiming the decision handed over the complex to the Muslims, since the Western Wall's holiness is derived from the Mount and symbolizes exile, while praying on the Mount symbolizes freedom and the return of the Jewish people to their homeland.{{sfn|Gonen|2003|p=[https://archive.org/details/contestedholines00rivk/page/149 149–55]}} The President of the High Court of Justice, [[Aharon Barak]], in response to an appeal in 1976 against police interference with an individual's putative right to prayer on the site, expressed the view that, while Jews had a right to prayer there, it was not absolute but subject to the public interest and the rights of other groups. Israel's courts have considered the issue as one beyond their remit, and, given the delicacy of the matter, under political jurisdiction.{{sfn|Gonen|2003|p=[https://archive.org/details/contestedholines00rivk/page/149 149–55]}} Barak wrote:

{{blockquote|The basic principle is that every Jew has the right to enter the Temple Mount, to pray there, and to have communion with his maker. This is part of the religious freedom of worship, it is part of the freedom of expression. However, as with every human right, it is not absolute, but a relative right... Indeed, in a case where there is near certainty that injury may be caused to the public interest if a person's rights of religious worship and freedom of expression would be realized, it is possible to limit the rights of the person in order to uphold the public interest.{{sfn|Gonen|2003|p=[https://archive.org/details/contestedholines00rivk/page/149 149–155]}}}}

Police continued to forbid Jews to pray on the Temple Mount.{{sfn|Gonen|2003|p=[https://archive.org/details/contestedholines00rivk/page/149 149–55]}} Subsequently, several prime ministers also made attempts to change the status quo but failed. In October 1986, an agreement between the [[Temple Mount Faithful]], the Supreme Muslim Council and police, which would allow short visits in small groups, was exercised once and never repeated, after 2,000 Muslims armed with stones and bottles attacked the group and stoned worshipers at the Western Wall. During the 1990s, additional attempts were made for Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount, which were stopped by Israeli police.{{sfn|Gonen|2003|p=[https://archive.org/details/contestedholines00rivk/page/149 149–55]}}

Until 2000, non-Muslim visitors could enter the Dome of the Rock, al-Aqsa Mosque and the Islamic Museum by getting a ticket from the {{transliteration|ar|Waqf}}. This procedure ended when the [[Second Intifada]] erupted. Fifteen years later, negotiation between Israel and Jordan might result{{update inline|date=April 2022}} in reopening of those sites once again.<ref>{{cite news|title=Report: Israel, Jordan in Talks to Readmit non-Muslim Visitors to Temple Mount Sites|url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.663644|newspaper=Haaretz|date=June 30, 2015}}</ref>

In the 2010s, fear arose among Palestinians that Israel planned to change the status quo and permit Jewish prayers or that al-Aqsa mosque might be damaged or destroyed by Israel. Al-Aqsa was used as a base for attacks on visitors and the police from which stones, firebombs and fireworks were thrown. The Israeli police had never entered al-Aqsa Mosque until November 5, 2014, when dialog with the leaders of the {{transliteration|ar|Waqf}} and the rioters failed. This resulted in imposing strict limitations on entry of visitors to the Temple Mount. Israeli leadership repeatedly stated that the status quo would not change.<ref name="Shragai">{{cite web |author1=Shragai |first=Nadav |author-link=Nadav Shragai |date=November 13, 2014 |title=The 'Status Quo' on the Temple Mount |work=Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs |url=http://jcpa.org/article/status-quo-on-temple-mount/ |publisher=JCPA}}</ref> According to then Jerusalem police commissioner Yohanan Danino, the place is at the center of a "holy war" and "anyone who wants to change the status quo on the Temple Mount should not be allowed up there", citing an "extreme right-wing agenda to change the status quo on the Temple Mount"; Hamas and Islamic Jihad continued to erroneously assert that the Israeli government planned to destroy the al-Aqsa Mosque, resulting in chronic terrorist attacks and rioting.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2014-11-25 |title=It's a mistake to allow right-wing MKs on Temple Mount, Police Chief Danino says |url=https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/its-a-mistake-to-allow-right-wing-mks-on-temple-mount-police-chief-danino-says-382799 |access-date=2024-03-10 |website=The Jerusalem Post {{!}} JPost.com |language=en}}</ref>

There have been several changes to the status quo:

# Jewish visits are often prevented or considerably restricted.
# Jews and other non-Islamic visitors can only visit from Sunday to Thursday, for four hours each day.
# Visits inside the mosques are not allowed.
# Jews with religious appearance must visit in groups monitored by {{transliteration|ar|Waqf}} guards and policemen.<ref name=Shragai/>

Many Palestinians believe the status quo is threatened since right-wing Israelis have been challenging it with more force and frequency, asserting a religious right to pray there. Until Israel banned them, members of [[Murabitat]], a group of women, cried 'Allah Akbar' at groups of Jewish visitors to remind them the Temple Mount was still in Muslim hands.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Staton|first1=Bethan|title=The women of al-Aqsa: the compound's self-appointed guardians|url=http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/women-al-aqsa-meet-murabitats-2039073489|website=Middle East Eye}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Israel Bans Two Muslim Activist Groups From Temple Mount|url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.675329|newspaper=Haaretz|date=September 9, 2015}}</ref> In October 2021, a Jewish man, Aryeh Lippo, who was banned by Israeli police from the Temple Mount for fifteen days after being caught quietly praying, had his ban overturned by an Israeli court on the grounds that his behavior had not violated police instructions.<ref>{{cite news |title=Judge's approval of Jewish man's 'quiet prayer' on Temple Mount stirs Arab anger |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/judges-approval-of-jewish-mans-quiet-prayer-on-temple-mount-stirs-arab-anger/ |access-date=8 October 2021 |work=www.timesofisrael.com |date=2021}}</ref> Hamas called the ruling "a clear declaration of war".<ref>{{cite news |title=Palestinians outraged over ruling allowing Jewish prayer on Temple Mount |url=https://www.jpost.com/arab-israeli-conflict/palestinians-outraged-over-court-ruling-allowing-jewish-prayer-on-temple-mount-681322 |access-date=8 October 2021 |work=The Jerusalem Post}}</ref> A higher Israel court quickly reversed the lower court's ruling.<ref>{{cite news |title=Court reinstates police ban on Jewish man who prayed on Temple Mount |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/court-reinstates-police-ban-on-jewish-man-who-prayed-on-temple-mount/ |access-date=9 October 2021 |work=www.timesofisrael.com |date=8 October 2021}}</ref>

== Management and access ==
{{See also|Temple Mount entry restrictions}}
[[File:Temple Mount entry restrictions 2.jpg|thumb|A security gate guarding the entrance to the site]]
An [[Jerusalem Waqf|Islamic Waqf]] has managed the Temple Mount continuously since the Muslim reconquest of the [[Kingdom of Jerusalem|Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem]] in 1187. On June 7, 1967, soon after Israel had taken control of the area during the [[Six-Day War]], Prime Minister [[Levi Eshkol]] assured that "no harm whatsoever shall come to the places sacred to all religions". Together with the extension of Israeli jurisdiction and administration over east Jerusalem, the [[Knesset]] passed the Preservation of the Holy Places Law,<ref>[http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Peace%20Process/Guide%20to%20the%20Peace%20Process/Protection%20of%20Holy%20Places%20Law Preservation of the Holy Places Law], 1967.</ref> ensuring protection of the Holy Places against desecration, as well as freedom of access thereto.<ref>''[http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Peace%20Process/Guide%20to%20the%20Peace%20Process/Jerusalem-%20Legal%20and%20Political%20Background Jerusalem – The Legal and Political Background]'', Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of Israel.</ref> The site remains within the area controlled by the [[Israel|State of Israel]], with administration of the site remaining in the hands of the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf.

Although freedom of access was enshrined in the law, as a security measure, the Israeli government now enforces a ban on non-Muslim prayer on the site. Non-Muslims who are observed praying on the site are subject to expulsion by the police.<ref>Nadav Shragai, [http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=335211&contrassID=2&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y "Three Jews expelled from Temple Mount for praying"].</ref> At various times, when there is fear of Arab rioting upon the mount resulting in [[Palestinian stone-throwing|throwing stones]] from above towards the Western Wall Plaza, Israel has prevented Muslim men under 45 from praying in the compound, citing these concerns.<ref>"[http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/10/200910572553875419.html Heavy security around al-Aqsa]," [[Al Jazeera English]], October 5, 2009.</ref> Sometimes such restrictions have coincided with [[Jumuah|Friday prayers]] during the Islamic holy month of [[Ramadan]].<ref>"[http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_protection_of_civilians_weekly_report_2009_09_29_english.pdf Protection of Civilians 16–29 September 2009] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924055156/http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_protection_of_civilians_weekly_report_2009_09_29_english.pdf |date=24 September 2015 }}", ''United Nations  Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs occupied Palestinian territory''.</ref> Normally, West Bank Palestinians are allowed access to Jerusalem only during Islamic holidays, with access usually restricted to men over 35 and women of any age eligible for permits to enter the city.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.yahoo.com/palestinians-flock-jerusalem-israeli-restrictions-eased-152403694.html |title=Palestinians flock to Jerusalem as Israeli restrictions eased  |website=news.yahoo.com |access-date=17 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120818090425/http://news.yahoo.com/palestinians-flock-jerusalem-israeli-restrictions-eased-152403694.html |archive-date=18 August 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Palestinian residents of Jerusalem, which because of Israel's annexation of Jerusalem, hold Israeli permanent residency cards, and Israeli Arabs, are permitted unrestricted access to the Temple Mount.{{citation needed|date=July 2017}} The [[Gates of the Temple Mount|Mughrabi Gate]] is the only entrance to the Temple Mount accessible to non-Muslims.<ref name="Mughrabi">{{cite news|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|title=Tourism Min. plan to widen Jewish access to Temple Mount angers Palestinians|url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/1.619776|access-date=5 November 2014|work=Haaretz|date=7 October 2014}}</ref><ref name="MughrabiAlJazeera">{{cite news|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|title=Israel issues tender for new settlement units|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2011/12/2011121814475327918.html|access-date=5 November 2014|work=Al Jazeera|date=18 December 2011}}</ref><ref>Elaine McArdle, [https://www.thewholeworldisaplayground.com/how-to-visit-temple-mount-tourist-non-muslim-israel-jerusalem/ "How to visit Temple Mount as a tourist: Old City, Jerusalem, Israel,"] ''[https://www.thewholeworldisaplayground.com/ The Whole World is a Playground]'', January 1, 2015.</ref>

== Jewish attitudes towards entering the site ==
[[File:Hebrew domeEntrance sign.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.8|Sign in [[Hebrew]] and English outside the Temple Mount stating that "According to the [[Torah]], it is forbidden for any person to enter the area of the Temple Mount due to its sacredness"]]
Due to religious restrictions on entering the most sacred areas of the Temple Mount (see following section), the [[Western Wall]], a retaining wall for the Temple Mount and remnant of the [[Second Temple]] structure, is considered by some rabbinical authorities to be the holiest accessible site for Jews to pray. A 2013 [[Knesset]] committee hearing considered allowing Jews to pray at the site, amidst heated debate. [[Arab-Israeli]] MPs were ejected for disrupting the hearing, after shouting at the chairman, calling her a "pyromaniac". Religious Affairs Minister [[Eli Ben-Dahan]] of [[Jewish Home]] said his ministry was seeking legal ways to enable Jews to pray at the site.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/11/israel-mps-mull-jewish-prayer-at-al-aqsa-site-201311413318362256.html|title=Israel MPs mull Jewish prayer at al-Aqsa site|work=aljazeera.com}}</ref>

=== Jewish religious law concerning entry to the site ===
{{Main|Temple Warning inscription}}
During Temple times, entry to the Mount was limited by a complex set of [[Tumah|purity laws]]. Persons suffering from [[corpse uncleanness]] were not allowed to enter the inner court.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Danby |first=Herbert |url=http://archive.org/details/DanbyMishnah |title=The Mishnah |date=1933 |publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref> Non-Jews were also prohibited from entering the inner court of the Temple.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Flavius Josephus, The Wars of the Jews, Book V, Whiston chapter 5, section 2 |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0148:book=5:whiston+chapter=5:whiston+section=2 |access-date=2024-03-10 |website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref> A hewn stone measuring {{cvt|60x90|cm}} and engraved with [[Uncial script|Greek uncials]] was discovered in 1871 near a court on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem in which it outlined this prohibition:

{{poemquote|
{{lang|grc|ΜΗΟΕΝΑΑΛΛΟΓΕΝΗΕΙΣΠΟ
ΡΕΥΕΣΟΑΙΕΝΤΟΣΤΟΥΠΕ
ΡΙΤΟΙΕΡΟΝΤΡΥΦΑΚΤΟΥΚΑΙ
ΠΕΡΙΒΟΛΟΥΟΣΔΑΝΛΗ
ΦΘΗΕΑΥΤΩΙΑΙΤΙΟΣΕΣ
ΤΑΙΔΙΑΤΟΕΞΑΚΟΛΟΥ
ΘΕΙΝΘΑΝΑΤΟΝ}}}}

Translation: "Let no foreigner enter within the parapet and the partition which surrounds the Temple precincts. Anyone caught [violating] will be held accountable for his ensuing death." Today, the stone is preserved in [[Museum of Antiquities, Istanbul|Istanbul's Museum of Antiquities]].

[[Maimonides]] wrote that it was only permitted to enter the site to fulfill a religious precept. After the destruction of the Temple there was discussion as to whether the site, bereft of the Temple, still maintained its holiness. Jewish codifiers accepted the opinion of Maimonides who ruled that the holiness of the Temple sanctified the site for eternity and consequently the restrictions on entry to the site remain in force.<ref name=MeyerMessner/> While secular Jews ascend freely, the question of whether ascending is permitted is a matter of some debate among religious authorities, with a majority holding that it is permitted to ascend to the Temple Mount, but not to step on the site of the inner courtyards of the ancient Temple.<ref name=MeyerMessner/> The question then becomes whether the site can be ascertained accurately.<ref name=MeyerMessner/>{{better source needed|date=August 2022}}

There is debate over whether reports that [[Maimonides]] himself ascended the Mount are reliable.<ref>''Sefer HaCharedim Mitzvat Tshuva'', Chapter 3; Shu"t Minchas Yitzchok, vol. 6.</ref> One such report{{Citation needed|date=November 2014}} claims that he did so on Thursday, October 21, 1165, during the Crusader period. Some early scholars however, claim that entry onto certain areas of the Mount is permitted. It appears that [[David ben Solomon ibn Abi Zimra|Radbaz]] also entered the Mount and advised others how to do this. He permits entry from all the gates into the 135 x 135 [[cubits]] of the Women's Courtyard in the east, since the biblical prohibition only applies to the 187 x 135 cubits of the Temple in the west.<ref>''Shaarei Teshuvah'', [[Orach Chaim]] 561:1; cf. ''Teshuvoth Radbaz'' 691.</ref> There are also Christian and Islamic sources which indicate that Jews visited the site,<ref>[[Moshe Sharon]]. "Islam on the Temple Mount" ''Biblical Archaeology Review'' July/August 2006. pp. 36–47, 68. "Immediately after its construction, five Jewish families from Jerusalem were employed to clean the Dome of the Rock and to prepare wicks for its lamps."</ref> but these visits may have been made under duress.<ref>The ''[[Yaakov Chaim Sofer|Kaf hachaim]]'' ([[Orach Chaim]] 94:1:4 citing [[Radvaz]] Vol. 2; Ch. 648) mentions a case of a Jew who was forced onto the Temple Mount.</ref>

Those persons who suffered a [[nocturnal emission]] and who have not yet [[Ritual washing in Judaism#Full-body immersion (Tevilah)|immersed]] themselves in a [[Mikveh|ritual bath]] were permitted to enter the Court of the Israelites, but were prohibited from entering the Court of the Levites and the Court of the Priests until they had immersed.<ref>{{cite book|last=Eisenstein|first=Judah D.|author-link=Julius Eisenstein|title=A Digest of Jewish Laws and Customs - in Alphabetical Order (Ozar Dinim u-Minhagim) |publisher=Ḥ. mo. l. |year=1970|location=Tel-Aviv|pages=48–49 (s.v. בעל קרי)|language=he|oclc=54817857}}, citing [[Babylonian Talmud]], ''Pesaḥim'' 67b{{ndash}}68a (reprinted from 1922 and 1938 editions of the Hebrew Publishing Co., New York)</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=Aharon HaLevi|author-link1=Aharon HaLevi |title=Sefer ha-Chinuch |publisher=Eshkol |location=Jerusalem|year=1958 |page=338 (''mitzvah'' no. 565) |language=he |oclc=233044594 |title-link=Sefer ha-Chinuch}}</ref> Entrance into the areas of the other two courts was strictly forbidden to those who had not immersed themselves and who had been defiled by [[corpse uncleanness]] and who had not yet been purified. Since the latter state of impurity is pervasive, and since there is an inability to be purified from its effects, many rabbis forbid entrance into the Temple Mount altogether as a safeguard.<ref>[[Ovadiah Yosef]], Questions & Responsa ''Yabia' 'Omer'', part 5, ''responsum'' # 15, end of letter "beth" ({{OCLC|959573257}}); ibid, ''responsum'' # 26; Ovadiah Yosef, Questions & Responsa ''Yeḥaveh Da'at'', part 1, ''responsum'' # 25 ({{OCLC|13159493}}); [[Yitzhak Yosef]], ''Yalqūt Yosef'', Section Mo'adim, ''Hil. Chol Ha-Mo'ed'', §4 ({{OCLC|16128842}})</ref>

=== Opinions of contemporary rabbis concerning entry to the site ===
[[File:הר_הבית_עלית_יהודים.jpg|thumb|[[Haredi Judaism|Haredi Jews]] visiting the Temple Mount during [[Passover]]]]
A few hours after the Temple Mount came under Israeli control during the Six-Day War, a message from the [[Chief Rabbinate of Israel|Chief Rabbis of Israel]], [[Isser Yehuda Unterman]] and [[Yitzhak Nissim]] was broadcast, warning that Jews were not permitted to enter the site.<ref name="Inbari22">{{cite book |author=Inbari |first=Motti |title=Jewish Fundamentalism and the Temple Mount |publisher=SUNY Press |year=2009 |pages=22–24}}</ref> This warning was reiterated by the Council of the Chief Rabbinate a few days later, which issued an explanation written by Rabbi Bezalel Jolti (Zolti) that "Since the sanctity of the site has never ended, it is forbidden to enter the Temple Mount until the Temple is built."<ref name=Inbari22/> The signatures of more than 300 prominent rabbis were later obtained.<ref name="CohenTemple">{{cite journal |author=Cohen |first=Yoel |year=1999 |title=The Political Role of the Israeli Chief Rabbinate in the Temple Mount Question |journal=Jewish Political Studies Review |volume=11 |pages=101–26 |number=1–2}}</ref>

A major critic of the decision of the Chief Rabbinate was Rabbi Shlomo Goren, the chief rabbi of the IDF.<ref name=Inbari22/> According to General [[Uzi Narkiss]], who led the Israeli force that conquered the Temple Mount, Goren proposed to him that the Dome of the Rock be immediately blown up.<ref name=CohenTemple/> After Narkiss refused, Goren unsuccessfully petitioned the government to close off the Mount to Jews and non-Jews alike.<ref name=CohenTemple/> Later he established his office on the Mount and conducted a series of demonstrations on the Mount in support of the right of Jewish men to enter there.<ref name=Inbari22/> His behavior displeased the government, which restricted his public actions, censored his writings, and in August prevented him from attending the annual Oral Law Conference at which the question of access to the Mount was debated.<ref name="Hassner">{{cite book |author=Hassner |first=Ron E. |url=https://archive.org/details/waronsacredgroun00hass |title=War on Sacred Grounds |publisher=Cornell University Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-8014-4806-5 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/waronsacredgroun00hass/page/113 113–133] |language=en-us |url-access=registration}}</ref> Although there was considerable opposition, the conference consensus was to confirm the ban on entry to Jews.<ref name=Hassner/> The ruling said "We have been warned, since time immemorial [{{lit|for generations and generations}}], against entering the entire area of the Temple Mount and have indeed avoided doing so."<ref name=CohenTemple/><ref name=Hassner/> According to Ron Hassner, the ruling "brilliantly" solved the government's problem of avoiding ethnic conflict, since those Jews who most respected rabbinical authority were those most likely to clash with Muslims on the Mount.<ref name=Hassner/>

Rabbinical consensus in the post-1967 period, held that it is forbidden for Jews to enter any part of the Temple Mount,<ref>Rabbis who support this opinion include: [[Mordechai Eliyahu]], former Sefardi Chief Rabbi of Israel; [[Zalman Baruch Melamed]], rosh yeshiva of the [[Beit El yeshiva]]; [[Eliezer Waldenberg]], former rabbinical judge in the Rabbinical Supreme Court of the State of Israel; [[Avraham Yitzchak Kook]], Chief Rabbi of Palestine ([http://www.kadosh.co.il/mkdsh026.html Mikdash-Build (Vol. I, No. 26)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927090658/http://kadosh.co.il/mkdsh026.html |date=2013-09-27 }}); [[Avigdor Nebenzahl]], Rabbi of the [[Old City (Jerusalem)|Old City]] of Jerusalem.</ref> and in January 2005, a declaration was signed confirming the 1967 decision.<ref>These rabbis include: Rabbis [[Yona Metzger]] (Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel); [[Shlomo Amar]] (Sefardi Chief Rabbi of Israel); [[Ovadia Yosef]] (spiritual leader of Sefardi Haredi Judaism and of the [[Shas]] party, and former Sefardi Chief Rabbi of Israel); [[Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron]] (former Sefardi Chief Rabbi of Israel); Shmuel Rabinowitz (rabbi of the [[Western Wall]]); [[Avraham Shapiro]] (former Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel); [[Shlomo Aviner]] ([[rosh yeshiva]] of [[Ateret Cohanim]]); [[Yisrael Meir Lau]] (former Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel and current Chief Rabbi of [[Tel Aviv]]). Source: [http://www.templeinstitute.org/archive/25-01-05.htm Leading rabbis rule Temple Mount is off-limits to Jews] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120924071750/http://www.templeinstitute.org/archive/25-01-05.htm|date=2012-09-24}}.</ref>

Most [[Haredi]] rabbis are of the opinion that the Mount is off limits to Jews and non-Jews alike.<ref>These rabbis include: [[Yaakov Yisrael Kanievsky]] ([http://chareidi.shemayisrael.com/archives5763/bamidbar/ojerslm.htm Thoughts on the 28th of Iyar – Yom Yerushalayim] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100310172234/http://chareidi.shemayisrael.com/archives5763/bamidbar/ojerslm.htm|date=March 10, 2010}}); [[Yosef Sholom Eliashiv]] ([http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3787113,00.html Rabbi Eliashiv: Don't go to Temple Mount]).</ref> Their opinions against entering the Temple Mount are based on the current political climate surrounding the Mount,<ref>{{Cite magazine|url = http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/furor-temple-mount|title = The Politics of Prayer at the Temple Mount|last = Margalit|first = Ruth|date = 2014|magazine = The New Yorker}}</ref> along with the potential danger of entering the hallowed area of the Temple courtyard and the impossibility of fulfilling the ritual requirement of cleansing oneself with the ashes of a [[Red Heifer|red heifer]].<ref name="rabbinaterole">{{Cite web |last=Cohen |first=Yoel |title=The Israeli Chief Rabbinate and the Temple Mount Question |url=https://www.jcpa.org/jpsr/s99-yc.htm |access-date=2024-03-10 |website=www.jcpa.org}}</ref><ref name="aharbay"/> The boundaries of the areas which are completely forbidden, while having large portions in common, are delineated differently by various rabbinic authorities.

However, there is a growing body of [[Modern Orthodox]] and [[Religious Zionism|national religious]] rabbis who encourage visits to certain parts of the Mount, which they believe are permitted according to most medieval rabbinical authorities.<ref name=MeyerMessner/>{{better source needed|date=August 2022}} These rabbis include: Shlomo Goren (former Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel); Chaim David Halevi (former Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv and Yafo); [[Dov Lior]] (Rabbi of [[Kiryat Arba]]); [[Yosef Elboim]]; [[Yisrael Ariel]]; [[She'ar Yashuv Cohen]] (Chief Rabbi of [[Haifa]]); [[Yuval Sherlo]] ([[rosh yeshiva]] of the [[hesder]] yeshiva of [[Petah Tikva]]); [[Meir Kahane]]. One of them, Shlomo Goren, held that it is possible that Jews are even allowed to enter the heart of the Dome of the Rock in time of war, according to Jewish Law of Conquest.<ref name="haaretz">{{cite news |author=Shragai |first=Nadav |author-link=Nadav Shragai |date=May 26, 2006 |title=In the Holy of Holies |url=http://www.haaretz.com/in-the-holy-of-holies-1.188745 |newspaper=Haaretz}}</ref> These authorities demand an attitude of veneration on the part of Jews ascending the Temple Mount, [[Ritual washing in Judaism|ablution]] in a [[mikveh]] prior to the ascent, and the wearing of non-leather shoes.<ref name=MeyerMessner/>{{better source needed|date=August 2022}} Some rabbinic authorities are now of the opinion that it is imperative for Jews to ascend in order to halt the ongoing process of [[Islamization of the Temple Mount]]. Maimonides, perhaps the greatest codifier of Jewish Law, wrote in ''Laws of the Chosen House ch 7 Law 15'' "One may bring a dead body in to the (lower sanctified areas of the) Temple Mount and there is no need to say that the ritually impure (from the dead) may enter there, because the dead body itself can enter". One who is ritually impure through direct or in-direct contact of the dead cannot walk in the higher sanctified areas. For those who are visibly Jewish, they have no choice, but to follow a peripheral route<ref>{{cite web|title=The Temple Mount:Mount Moriah|url=http://www.templeinstitute.org/birds_eye.htm|access-date=2010-07-27|archive-date=2010-06-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100602193154/http://www.templeinstitute.org/birds_eye.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> as it has become unofficially part of the status quo on the Mount. Many of these recent opinions rely on archaeological evidence.<ref name=MeyerMessner/>{{better source needed|date=August 2022}}

In December 2013, the two Chief Rabbis of Israel, [[David Lau]] and [[Yitzhak Yosef]], reiterated the ban on Jews entering the Temple Mount.<ref name="DLYY">{{cite news |author=Sharon |first=Jeremy |date=December 2, 2013 |title=Chief Rabbis reimpose ban on Jews visiting Temple Mount |url=http://www.jpost.com/Jewish-World/Jewish-News/Chief-Rabbis-reimpose-ban-on-Jews-visiting-Temple-Mount-333741 |newspaper=Jerusalem Post}}</ref> They wrote, "In light of [those] neglecting [this ruling], we once again warn that nothing has changed and this strict prohibition remains in effect for the entire area [of the Temple Mount]".<ref name=DLYY/> In November 2014, the Sephardic chief rabbi Yitzhak Yosef reiterated the point of view held by many rabbinic authorities that Jews should not visit the Mount.<ref name="Itamar" >Itamar Sharon, [http://www.timesofisrael.com/jews-must-stop-going-to-temple-mount-sephardic-chief-rabbi-says/ 'Jews must stop Temple Mount visits, Sephardi chief rabbi says'], ''[[The Times of Israel]]'', 7 November 2014.</ref>

On the occasion of an upsurge in Palestinian knifing attacks on Israelis, associated with fears that Israel was changing the status quo on the Mount, the Haredi newspaper Mishpacha ran a notification in Arabic asking, 'their cousins', Palestinians, to stop trying to murder members of their congregation, since they were vehemently opposed to ascending the Mount and consider such visits proscribed by Jewish law.<ref>[http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=768542 'Orthodox Jewish newspaper asks Arabs to avoid killing Haredi Jews,'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151031114850/http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=768542|date=2015-10-31}} [[Ma'an News Agency]] 29 October 2015. In Arabic.</ref>

== Features ==

=== Courtyard ===
The large courtyard (''[[sahn]]'')<ref name="Prawer"/> can host more than 400,000 worshippers, making it one of the [[List of largest mosques|largest mosques in the world]].<ref name=NG/>

====Upper platform====
The upper platform surrounds the [[Dome of the Rock]], beneath which lies the [[Well of Souls]], originally accessible only by a narrow hole in the [[Sakhrah]], the foundation stone on which the Dome of the Rock site and after which it is named, until the [[Crusades|Crusaders]] dug a new entrance to the cave from the south.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dome of the Rock Platform – Madain Project (en) – Well of Souls |url=https://madainproject.com/dome_of_the_rock_platform#well-of-souls |access-date=2023-04-24 |website=madainproject.com}}</ref> The platform is accessible via eight staircases, each of which is topped by a free-standing [[Arcade (architecture)|arcade]] known in Arabic as the [[Al-Mawazin|''qanatir'' or ''mawazin'']]. The arcades were erected in different periods from the 10th to 15th centuries.<ref name=":21">{{Cite book |last=Murphy-O'Connor |first=Jerome |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KKIUDAAAQBAJ |title=The Holy Land: An Oxford Archaeological Guide from Earliest Times to 1700 |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-19-923666-4 |page=98 |language=en}}</ref>

There is also a smaller domed building on the upper platform, to the east of the Dome of the Rock, known as the [[Dome of the Chain]] (''Qubbat al-Sisila'' in Arabic).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dome of the Chain – Madain Project (en) |url=https://madainproject.com/dome_of_the_chain |access-date=2023-04-24 |website=madainproject.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Dome of the Rock Platform – Madain Project (en) – Dome of the Rock |url=https://madainproject.com/dome_of_the_rock_platform#dome-of-the-rock |access-date=2023-04-24 |website=madainproject.com}}</ref> Its exact origin and purpose is uncertain but historical sources indicate it was built under the reign of Abd al-Malik, the same Umayyad caliph who built the Dome of the Rock.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Rosen-Ayalon |first=Myriam |date=1989 |title=The Early Islamic Monuments of Al-Ḥaram Al-Sharīf: An Iconographic Study |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43588798 |journal=Qedem |volume=28 |pages=III–73 |jstor=43588798 |issn=0333-5844}}</ref> Two other small domes stand to the northwest of the Dome of the Rock. The Dome of the Ascension (''Qubbat al-Miraj'' in Arabic) has an inscription with a date corresponding to 1201 CE.<ref name=":21" /><ref name=":23">{{Cite book |last=Bahat |first=Dan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-qQUCgAAQBAJ&dq=jerusalem+temple+mount+dome+of+the+ascension&pg=PA86 |title=The History of Jerusalem: The Early Muslim Period (638–1099) |publisher=New York University Press |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-8147-6639-2 |editor-last=Prawer |editor-first=Joshua |pages=86 |language=en |editor-last2=Ben-Shammai |editor-first2=Haggai}}</ref> It may have been a former Crusader structure, possibly a [[baptistery]], that was repurposed at this time,<ref name=":23" /> or it may be a structure that was built after [[Saladin]]'s capture of the city and reused some Crusader-era materials, including its columns.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mourad |first=Sulaiman A. |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tBUHEAAAQBAJ&dq=jerusalem+%22dome+of+the+ascension%22&pg=PA396 |title=The Umayyad World |publisher=Routledge |year=2020 |isbn=978-1-317-43005-6 |editor-last=Marsham |editor-first=Andrew |pages=396 |language=en |chapter=Umayyad Jerusalem: from a religious capital to a religious town}}</ref> Per its name, this dome commemorates the spot where, according to some, Muhammad ascended to heaven.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Boehm |first1=Barbara Drake |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ay30DAAAQBAJ&dq=jerusalem+%22dome+of+the+ascension%22&pg=PA275 |title=Jerusalem, 1000–1400: Every People Under Heaven |last2=Holcomb |first2=Melanie |publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-58839-598-6 |language=en}}</ref> The Dome of the Spirits or Dome of the Winds (''Qubbat al-Arwah'' in Arabic) stands a little further north and is dated to the 16th century.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Goldhill |first=Simon |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S5svEAAAQBAJ&dq=jerusalem+qubbat+al-arwah&pg=PA348 |title=Jerusalem: City of Longing |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-674-26385-7 |pages=110 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":21" />
[[File:Jerusalem Temple Mount (43195424811).jpg|thumb|Southern edge of the upper platform, with view of the Summer Pulpit (left) and the southern ''qanatir'' behind it]]
In the southwest corner of the upper platform is a quadrangular structure which includes a portion topped by another dome. It is known as the Dome of Literature (''Qubba Nahwiyya'' in Arabic) and dated to 1208.<ref name=":21" /> Standing further east, close to one of the southern entrance arcades, is a stone ''[[minbar]]'' known as the "Summer Pulpit" or Minbar of Burhan al-Din, used for open-air prayers. It appears to be an older [[Ciborium (architecture)|ciborium]] from the Crusader period, as attested by its sculptural decoration, which was then reused under the [[Ayyubid dynasty|Ayyubids]]. Sometime after 1345, a Mamluk judge named Burhan al-Din (d. 1388) restored it and added a stone staircase, giving it its present form.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Burgoyne |first=Michael Hamilton |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qR_qAAAAMAAJ |title=Mamluk Jerusalem: An Architectural Study |publisher=British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem by the World of Islam Festival Trust |year=1987 |isbn=978-0-905035-33-8 |pages=319–20 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Neci̇poğlu |first=Gülru |date=2008 |title=The Dome of the Rock as Palimpsest: ʻabd Al-Malik's Grand Narrative and Sultan Süleyman's Glosses |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27811114 |journal=Muqarnas |volume=25 |pages=17–105 |doi=10.1163/22118993_02501004 |jstor=27811114 |issn=0732-2992|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

==== Lower platform ====
[[File:TM washing.JPG|thumb|The ''al-Kas'' ablution fountain for Muslim worshippers on the southern portion of the lower platform]]
The 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. Gardens take up the eastern and most of the northern side of the platform; the far north of the platform houses an Islamic school.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://campsci.com/museum/images/43e.jpg |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020718222845/http://campsci.com/museum/images/43e.jpg |url-status=dead |archive-date=2002-07-18 |title=Photograph of the northern wall area |access-date=2018-04-05}}</ref>

The lower platform also houses an [[sebil (fountain)|ablution fountain]] (known as ''al-Kas''), originally supplied with water via a long narrow aqueduct leading from the so-called ''[[Solomon's Pools]]'' near [[Bethlehem]], but now supplied from Jerusalem's water mains.

There are several [[cisterns]] beneath the lower platform, designed to collect rainwater as a water supply. These have various forms and structures, seemingly built in different periods, ranging from vaulted chambers built in the gap between the bedrock and the platform, to chambers cut into the bedrock itself. Of these, the most notable are (numbering traditionally follows Wilson's scheme<ref>{{cite web|url=http://campsci.com/museum/images/map.gif |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011214121205/http://campsci.com/museum/images/map.gif |url-status=dead |archive-date=2001-12-14 |title=Wilson's map of the features under the Temple Mount |access-date=2018-04-05}}</ref>):
* Cistern 1 (located under the northern side of the upper platform). There is a speculation that it had a function connected with the altar of the Second Temple (and possibly of the earlier Temple),<ref name=Kaufman>{{cite news
|url = https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/jpost/access/99716364.html?dids=99716364:99716364&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=May+12%2C+1991&author=Asher+Kaufman&pub=Jerusalem+Post&edition=&startpage=13&desc=THE+TEMPLE+SITE
|title = The Temple Site
|last = Kaufman
|first = Asher
|date = May 23, 1991
|work = [[The Jerusalem Post]]
|format = Abstract
|page = 13
|access-date = March 4, 2007
|quote = The most important findings of the superposition of the Second Temple on the Temple area are that the Dome of the Rock was not built on the site of the Temple, and that the Temple was taper-shaped on the western side, a form hitherto unknown to the scholars.
|archive-date = September 30, 2007
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070930220816/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/jpost/access/99716364.html?dids=99716364:99716364&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=May+12,+1991&author=Asher+Kaufman&pub=Jerusalem+Post&edition=&startpage=13&desc=THE+TEMPLE+SITE
|url-status = dead
}}</ref> or with the ''[[Molten Sea|bronze sea]]''.
* Cistern 5 (located under the southeastern corner of the upper platform){{snd}}a long and narrow chamber, with a strange anti-clockwise curved section at its northwestern corner and containing within it a doorway currently blocked by earth. The cistern's position and design is such that there has been speculation it had a function connected with the altar of the Second Temple (and possibly of the earlier Temple), or with the ''bronze sea''. [[Charles Warren]] thought that the ''altar of burnt offerings'' was located at the northwestern end.<ref name=Patrich>{{cite news | url = http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3362927,00.html
|title = Researcher says found location of the Holy Temple | date = February 9, 2007
|newspaper = [[Ynetnews]] | access-date = March 4, 2007 | quote = Archaeology Professor Joseph Patrich uncovered a large water cistern that points, in his opinion, to the exact location of the altar and sanctuary on the Temple Mount. According to his findings, the rock on which the Dome of the Rock is built is outside the confines of the Temple.}}</ref>
* Cistern 8 (located just north of the al-Aqsa Mosque){{snd}}known as the ''Great Sea'', a large rock hewn cavern, the roof supported by pillars carved from the rock; the chamber is particularly cave-like and atmospheric,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://campsci.com/museum/images/48c.jpg |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020719185830/http://campsci.com/museum/images/48c.jpg |url-status=dead |archive-date=2002-07-19 |title=Under the Temple Mount |access-date=2018-04-05}}</ref> and its maximum water capacity is several hundred thousand gallons.
* Cistern 9 (located just south of cistern 8, and directly under the al-Aqsa Mosque){{snd}}known as the ''Well of the Leaf'' due to its leaf-shaped plan, is also rock hewn.
* Cistern 11 (located east of cistern 9){{snd}}a set of vaulted rooms forming a plan shaped like the letter E. Probably the largest cistern, it has the potential to house over 700,000 gallons of water.
* Cistern 16/17 (located at the centre of the far northern end of the Temple Mount). Despite the currently narrow entrances, this cistern (17 and 16 are the same cistern) is a large, vaulted chamber, which Warren described as looking like the inside of the cathedral at [[Córdoba, Spain|Cordoba]] (which was previously a mosque). Warren believed that it was almost certainly built for some other purpose and was only adapted into a cistern at a later date; he suggested that it might have been part of a general vault supporting the northern side of the platform, in which case substantially more of the chamber exists than is used for a cistern.

=== Gates ===
{{Main|Gates of the Temple Mount}}
[[File:Hulda gates.jpg|thumb|The eastern set of Hulda gates]]
[[File:RobinsonsArchMay2009.jpg|thumb|[[Robinson's Arch]], situated on the southwestern flank, once supported a staircase that led to the Mount.]]
:'''Sealed gates'''
The retaining walls of the platform contain several gateways, all now blocked. In the eastern wall is [[Golden Gate (Jerusalem)|the Golden Gate]], through which legend states the [[Jewish Messiah]] would enter Jerusalem. On the southern face are the [[Hulda Gates]] – the ''triple gate'' (which has three arches) and the ''double gate'' (which has two arches and is partly obscured by a Crusader building); these were the entrance and exit (respectively) to the Temple Mount from [[Ophel]] (the oldest part of Jerusalem), and the main access to the Mount for ordinary Jews. In the western face, near the southern corner, is the Barclay's Gate – only half visible due to a building (the "house of Abu Sa'ud") on the northern side. Also in the western face, hidden by later construction but visible via the recent [[Western Wall Tunnels]], and only rediscovered by Warren, is [[Warren's Gate]]; the function of these western gates is obscure, but many Jews view Warren's Gate as particularly holy, due to its location due west of the Dome of the Rock. The current location of the Dome of the Rock is considered one of the possible locations where the [[Holy of Holies]] was placed; numerous alternative opinions exist, based on study and calculations, such as those of Tuvia Sagiv.

Warren was able to investigate the inside of these gates. Warren's Gate and the Golden Gate simply head toward the centre of the Mount, giving access to the surface by steps.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://campsci.com/museum/images/38g.jpg |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020719154856/http://campsci.com/museum/images/38g.jpg |url-status=dead |archive-date=2002-07-19 |title=Photograph of the inside of the Golden Gate |access-date=2018-04-05}}</ref> Barclay's Gate is similar, but abruptly turns south as it does so; the reason for this is unknown. The double and triple gates (the ''Huldah Gates'') are more substantial; heading into the Mount for some distance they each finally have steps rising to the surface just north of al-Aqsa Mosque.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://campsci.com/museum/images/45o.jpg |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020719013944/http://campsci.com/museum/images/45o.jpg |url-status=dead |archive-date=2002-07-19 |title=image of the double gate passage |access-date=2018-04-05}}</ref> The passageway for each is vaulted, and has two aisles (in the case of the triple gate, a third aisle exists for a brief distance beyond the gate); the eastern aisle of the double gates and western aisle of the triple gates reach the surface, the other aisles terminating some way before the steps. Warren believed that one aisle of each original passage was extended when al-Aqsa Mosque blocked the original surface exits.

In the process of investigating Cistern 10, Warren discovered tunnels that lay ''under'' the Triple Gate passageway.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://campsci.com/museum/images/47a.jpg |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020719033733/http://campsci.com/museum/images/47a.jpg |url-status=dead |archive-date=2002-07-19 |title=Photograph of one of the chambers ''under'' the Triple Gate passageway |access-date=2018-04-05}}</ref> These passages lead in erratic directions, some leading beyond the southern edge of the Temple Mount (they are at a depth below the base of the walls); their purpose is unknown – as is whether they predate the Temple Mount – a situation not helped by the fact that apart from Warren's expedition no one else is known to have visited them.

Altogether, there are six major sealed gates and a postern, listed here counterclockwise, dating from either the Roman/Herodian, Byzantine, or Early Muslim periods:
* Bab al-Jana'iz/al-Buraq (Gate of the Funerals/of al-Buraq); eastern wall; a hardly noticeable [[postern]], or maybe an improvised gate, a short distance south of the Golden Gate
* Golden Gate (Bab al-Zahabi); eastern wall (northern third), a double gate:
::Bab al-Rahma (Door of Mercy) is the southern opening,
::Bab al-Tauba (Door of Repentance) is the northern opening
* Warren's Gate; western wall, now only visible from the Western Wall Tunnel
* Bab an-Nabi (Gate of the Prophet) or Barclay's Gate; western wall, visible from al-Buraq Mosque inside the Haram, and from the Western Wall plaza (women's section) and the adjacent building (the so-called house of Abu Sa'ud)
* Double Gate (Bab al-Thulathe; possibly one of the Huldah Gates); southern wall, underneath al-Aqsa Mosque
* Triple Gate; southern wall, outside Solomon's Stables/Marwani Mosque
* Single Gate; southern wall, outside Solomon's Stables/Marwani Mosque

:'''Open gates of the Haram'''
{{Main|Gates of the Temple Mount}}
There are now eleven open gates offering access to the Muslim Haram al-Sharif.
* Bab al-Asbat (Gate of the Tribes); north-east corner
* Bab al-Hitta/Huttah (Gate of Remission, Pardon, or Absolution); northern wall
* Bab al-Atim/'Atm/Attim (Gate of Darkness); northern wall
* Bab al-Ghawanima (Gate of Bani Ghanim); north-west corner
* Bab al-Majlis / an-Nazir/Nadhir (Council Gate / Inspector's Gate); western wall (northern third)
* Bab al-Hadid (Iron Gate); western wall (central part)
* Bab al-Qattanin (Gate of the Cotton Merchants); western wall (central part)
* Bab al-Matarah/Mathara (Ablution Gate); western wall (central part)
Two twin gates follow south of the Ablution Gate, the Tranquility Gate and the Gate of the Chain:
* Bab as-Salam / al-Sakina (Tranquility Gate / Gate of the Dwelling), the northern one of the two; western wall (central part)
* Bab as-Silsileh (Gate of the Chain), the southern one of the two; western wall (central part)
* Bab al-Magharbeh/Maghariba (Moroccans' Gate/Gate of the Moors); western wall (southern third); the only entrance for non-Muslims
A twelfth gate still open during Ottoman rule is now closed to the public:
* Bab as-Sarai (Gate of the Seraglio); a small gate to the former residence of the Pasha of Jerusalem; western wall, northern part (between the Bani Ghanim and Council gates).

=== Solomon's Stables/Marwani Mosque ===
East of and joined to the triple gate passageway is a large vaulted area, supporting the southeastern corner of the Temple Mount platform – which is substantially above the bedrock at this point – the vaulted chambers here are popularly referred to as [[Solomon's Stables]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://campsci.com/museum/images/46e.jpg |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020719023533/http://campsci.com/museum/images/46e.jpg |url-status=dead |archive-date=2002-07-19 |title=Photograph of King Solomon's Stables |access-date=2018-04-05}}</ref> They were used as stables by the Crusaders, but were built by Herod the Great – along with the platform they were built to support.

=== Northern and western porticos ===
The complex is bordered on the south and east by the outer walls of the Old City of Jerusalem. On the north and west it is bordered by two long porticos (''[[riwaq (arcade)|riwaq]]''), built during the Mamluk period.<ref>M.H. Burgoyne, D.S. Richards'', Mamluk Jerusalem: An Architectural Study'', pp. 104–07 (North Portico); and West Portico, pp. 192–94.</ref> A number of other structures were also built along these areas, mainly also from the Mamluk period. On the north side, they include the Isardiyya Madrasa, built before 1345, and the Almalikiyya Madrasa, dated to 1340.<ref name=":212">{{Cite book |last=Murphy-O'Connor |first=Jerome |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KKIUDAAAQBAJ |title=The Holy Land: An Oxford Archaeological Guide from Earliest Times to 1700 |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-19-923666-4 |pages=90–92 |language=en}}</ref> On the west side, they include the Ashrafiyya Madrasa, built by Sultan Qaytbay between 1480 and 1482,<ref name=":03">{{Cite book |last1=Blair |first1=Sheila S. |author-link1=Sheila Blair |title=The Art and Architecture of Islam: 1250–1800 |last2=Bloom |first2=Jonathan |author-link2=Jonathan Bloom |publisher=Yale University Press |year=1995 |location=New Haven, CN; London |pages=92–93}}</ref> and the adjacent [[Al-Uthmaniyya Madrasa (Jerusalem)|Uthmaniyya Madrasa]], dated to 1437.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Burgoyne |first=Michael Hamilton |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qR_qAAAAMAAJ |title=Mamluk Jerusalem: An Architectural Study |publisher=British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem by the World of Islam Festival Trust |year=1987 |isbn=978-0-905035-33-8 |pages=544–547 |language=en}}</ref> The Sabil of Qaytbay, contemporary with the Ashrafiyya Madrasa, also stands nearby.<ref name=":03" />

=== Minarets ===
{{Main|Minarets of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound}}
The existing four minarets include three along the western perimeter of the esplanade and one along the northern wall. The earliest dated minaret was constructed on the northwest corner of the Temple Mount in 1298, with three other minarets added over the course of the 14th century.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Grabar |first1=Oleg |author-link=Oleg Grabar |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CW6U921i4fEC&q=ghawanima+minaret+sultan+lajin |title=Where Heaven and Earth Meet: Jerusalem's Sacred Esplanade |last2=Ḳedar |first2=Benjamin Z. |author-link2=Benjamin Z. Kedar |date=2009 |publisher=University of Texas Press |isbn=978-0-292-72272-9 |location=United States |pages=191 |language=en-us}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Murphy-O'Connor |first=Jerome |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KKIUDAAAQBAJ&dq=ghawanima+minaret&pg=PA90 |title=The Holy Land: An Oxford Archaeological Guide from Earliest Times to 1700 |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-19-923666-4 |page=90 |language=en}}</ref>

==Archaeology, site alterations==
{{Main|Excavations at the Temple Mount}}
{{see also|Temple Denial|Islamization of the Temple Mount|Judaization of Jerusalem}}
Due to the extreme political sensitivity of the site, no real archaeological excavations have ever been conducted on the Temple Mount itself. Protests commonly occur whenever archaeologists conduct projects near the Mount. This sensitivity has not, however, protected both Jewish and Muslim works from accusations of destroying archeological evidence on a number of occasions.<ref>{{cite web |title=Jerusalem's Temple Mount Flap – Archaeology Magazine Archive |url=http://www.archaeology.org/0003/newsbriefs/flap.html |work=archaeology.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/880761.html|title=Waqf Temple Mount excavation raises archaeologists' protests|date=11 July 2007|work=Haaretz.com}}</ref><ref>National Geographic, {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20191114151655/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/2019/11/jerusalems-massive-digs-reveal-new-treasures-and-stoke-ancient-conflicts-feature/ Maze of tunnels reveals remains of ancient Jerusalem: Controversial excavations under the Holy City uncover layers of history and stoke long-standing tensions]}}, November 14, 2019: "Some excavations, however, were overtly religious... after the Six Day War, the Ministry of Religion began an effort to expose its entire length by digging tunnels... For almost two decades there was little archaeological supervision of the tunnel work, and untold data were lost, says Israeli archaeologist Dan Bahat, who agitated successfully for archaeological control over the digs... Guards from the waqf encountered a prominent rabbi knocking down a crusader-era wall that sealed an ancient subterranean gate beneath the sacred platform... Fifteen years later, it was the turn of Israeli Jews to express outrage. In 1996 the waqf turned one of Jerusalem’s most impressive underground spaces, an enormous columned hall beneath the southeastern end of the platform known as Solomon’s Stables, from a dusty storeroom into the large Al Marwani Mosque. Three years later, the Israeli prime minister’s office granted a waqf request to open a new exit to ensure crowd safety{{snd}}Israel controls security on the platform{{snd}}but without informing the IAA. Heavy machinery quickly scooped out a vast pit without formal archaeological supervision. “By the time we got wind of it and stopped the work, a huge amount of damage had been done,” recalls the IAA’s Jon Seligman, then in charge of Jerusalem archaeology. Nazmi Al Jubeh, a Palestinian historian and archaeologist at Birzeit University, disagrees. “Nothing was destroyed,” he says. “I was there, monitoring the digging to be sure they did not expose archaeological layers. Before they did, I yelled, ‘Khalas!’ ”{{snd}}Enough! in Arabic."</ref> Aside from visual observation of surface features, most other archaeological knowledge of the site comes from the 19th-century survey carried out by [[Charles William Wilson|Charles Wilson]] and [[Charles Warren]] and others. Since the Waqf is granted almost full autonomy on the Islamic holy sites, Israeli archaeologists have been prevented from inspecting the area, and are restricted to conducting excavations around the Temple Mount.
[[File:South Temple Mount.jpg|thumb|upright=1.6|[[Southern Wall]] of Temple Mount, southwestern corner]]
After the Six-Day War of 1967, Israeli archeologists began a series of excavations near the site at the [[southern wall]] that uncovered finds from the Second Temple period through Roman, [[Umayyad]] and Crusader times.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Schaalje |first=Jacqueline |title=Temple Mount in Jerusalem |url=http://www.jewishmag.com/42mag/templemount/templemount.htm |access-date=2024-03-10 |website=www.jewishmag.com}}</ref> Israeli archaeological digs at the southwestern corner of Temple Mount discovered traces of four Muslim palaces built under the [[Umayyad Caliphate]], though the remains have not been well preserved but instead had a museum built upon them. The former UN envoy to Jerusalem, [[Raymond M. Lemaire]], criticised "the construction of a metallic pergola in the middle of the courtyard of one of the Umayyad palaces, which disfigures the site." Upon visiting Jerusalem in September 1999, medieval art historian [[Léon Pressouyre]] noted that the palaces had lost their archaeological features due to neglect, "for in the guise of highlighting the remains of previous periods [the Israeli authorities] trivialise the Umayyad palaces, major monuments in the area".<ref>{{cite web|publisher=Al-Ahram Weekly |url=http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2001/543/fo2.htm |title=Revoking the death warrant |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130517100521/http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2001/543/fo2.htm |archive-date=2013-05-17 }}</ref>

Over the period 1970–1988, a number of tunnels were excavated in the vicinity, including one that passed to the west of the Mount and became known as the [[Western Wall Tunnel]], which was opened to the public in 1996.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article1358753.ece |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070211175919/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article1358753.ece |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 11, 2007 | title=Violent clashes at key Jerusalem mosque on 'day of anger' |work=[[timesonline]] |access-date=5 May 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/548443.stm | title=Mayor halts Temple Mount dig |work=[[BBC]] |access-date=5 May 2009}}</ref> The same year the Waqf began construction of a new mosque in the structures known since Crusader times as [[Solomon's Stables]]. Many Israelis regarded this as a radical change of the status quo, which should not have been undertaken without first consulting the Israeli government. The project was done without attention to the possibility of disturbing historically significant archaeological material, with stone and ancient artifacts treated without regard to their preservation.<ref>{{cite web |last=McCormack |first=Michael |date=February 8, 2005 |title=Temple Mount destruction stirred archaeologist to action |url=http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID%3D20094 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140726151231/http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?Id=20094 |archive-date=2014-07-26 |access-date=2016-02-06 |publisher=Baptist Press}}</ref>

Israeli organizations such as the [[Committee for the Prevention of Destruction of Antiquities on the Temple Mount|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.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |last=Borschel-Dan |first=Amanda |title=Muslim cleanup project 'illegally disturbed, removed' ancient soil on Temple Mt |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/muslim-cleanup-project-illegally-disturbed-removed-ancient-soil-on-temple-mt/ |access-date=2022-07-01 |website=The Times of Israel |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Palestinians mark Ramadan by destroying Temple Mount antiquities |url=https://www.israelhayom.com/2022/04/29/palestinians-mark-ramadan-by-destroying-temple-mount-antiquities/ |access-date=2022-07-01 |website=www.israelhayom.com}}</ref> Since the late 1990s, the [[Temple Mount Sifting Project]] has been reclaiming earth from similar illegal excavations on the mount that had been dumped in the nearby Kidron Valley that had yielded important finds, including Iron Age figurines, an 8th or 7th centuries BCE clay sealing inscribed in Hebrew, [[Yehud (Persian province)|Persian period]] [[Yehud coinage|YHD coins]], Herodian [[opus sectile]] tiles, Byzantine [[tessera]]e, and arrowheads, mostly from the Crusader period.<ref name=":5" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Amanda |first=Borschel-Dan |date=2019-07-09 |title=Temple Mount Sifting Project reboots, aims to salvage ancient temple artifacts |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/temple-mount-sifting-project-reboots-to-seek-more-direct-evidence-of-1st-temple/ |access-date=2022-07-01 |website=The Times of Israel |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last1=Snyder |first1=Frankie |last2=Barkay |first2=Gabriel |last3=Dvira |first3=Zachi |title=Opus Sectile Floors on Jerusalem's Herodian Temple Mount |url=http://www.bavlionline.org/articles/opus_sectile%20_floors_on_jerusalems_herodian_temple_mount_english_abstract.pdf |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220716011959/https://www.bavlionline.org/articles/opus_sectile%20_floors_on_jerusalems_herodian_temple_mount_english_abstract.pdf |archive-date=2022-07-16 |access-date=2022-07-01 |website= |via=The Martin (Szusz) Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology, Bar-Ilan University}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Dvira |first1=Zachi |last2=Barkay |first2=Gabriel |date=2021 |title=Jerusalem, The Temple Mount Sifting Project |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27131715 |journal=Hadashot Arkheologiyot: Excavations and Surveys in Israel / חדשות ארכיאולוגיות: חפירות וסקרים בישראל |volume=133 |jstor=27131715 |issn=1565-043X}}</ref>
[[File:Gabriel_Barkay_with_Moshe_Ya'alon.jpg|thumb|[[Gabriel Barkay]] presents [[Moshe Ya'alon]] with the reconstructions of the [[opus sectile]] floors of the Herodian period plaza]]
In late 2002, a bulge of about {{cvt|700|mm}} was reported in the southern retaining wall part of the Temple Mount. A Jordanian team of engineers recommended replacing or resetting most of the stones in the affected area.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hecht |first=Esther |title=Battle of the Bulge – Archaeology Magazine Archive |url=https://archive.archaeology.org/0207/newsbriefs/templemount.html |access-date=2024-03-10 |website=archive.archaeology.org}}</ref> In February 2004, the eastern wall of the Mount was damaged by an earthquake. The damage threatened to topple sections of the wall into the area known as Solomon's Stables.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://fr.jpost.com/Tags/satellite|title=Satellite News and latest stories &#124; The Jerusalem Post|website=fr.jpost.com}}</ref> A few days later, a portion of retaining wall, supporting the earthen ramp that led from the Western Wall plaza to the [[Mugrabi Gate|Gate of the Moors]] on the Temple Mount, collapsed.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=57924|title=On-the-Spot Report from the Kotel Women´s Section Construction|work=Arutz Sheva|date=16 February 2004 }}</ref> In 2007 the [[Israel Antiquities Authority]] started construction of a temporary wooden pedestrian pathway to replace the [[Gates of the Temple Mount|Mugrabi Gate]] ramp after a landslide in 2005 made it unsafe and in danger of collapse.<ref>{{cite web
|url = http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=121064
|title = Jerusalem Arabs Riot, Kassams Fired, After Old City Excavations
|access-date = February 7, 2007|last = Fendel|first = Hillel|date = February 7, 2007|publisher = [[Arutz Sheva]]
}}</ref> The works sparked condemnation from Arab leaders.<ref>{{cite news |last=Weiss |first=Efrat |date=February 7, 2007 |title=Syria slams Jerusalem works |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3362024,00.html |access-date=February 7, 2007 |work=[[Yedioth Ahronoth]] |quote=Israeli excavation works near the al-Aqsa mosque in the holy city of Jerusalem have led to a dangerous rise in Middle East tensions and could derail revival of Arab-Israeli peace talks...what Israel is doing in its practices and attacks against our sacred Muslim sites in Jerusalem and al-Aqsa is a blatant violation that is not acceptable under any pretext.}}</ref>

In July 2007 the [[Waqf|Muslim religious trust]] which administers the Mount began digging a {{convert|400|metre|ft|-long|adj=mid}}, {{convert|1.5|metre|ft|-deep|adj=mid}} [[trench]]<ref name="AS1">{{cite web
| url = http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/123622
| title = Silence in the Face of Continued Temple Mount Destruction
| access-date = 2007-09-07
| last = Fendel
| first = Hillel
| date = September 9, 2007
| publisher = [[Arutz Sheva]]
}}</ref> from the northern side of the Temple Mount compound to the [[Dome of the Rock]]<ref name="H1">{{cite web
| url = http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/880761.html
| title = Waqf Temple Mount excavation raises archaeologists' protests
| access-date = 2007-07-11
| last = Rapoport
| first = Meron
| date = July 7, 2007
| work = [[Haaretz]]
}}</ref> in order to replace 40-year-old<ref name="G1">{{cite web
| url = https://www.theguardian.com/worldlatest/story/0,,-6887208,00.html
| title = Jerusalem Holy Site Dig Questioned
| access-date = 2007-09-07
| last = Teible
| first = Amy
| date = August 31, 2007
| work = [[The Guardian]]
}}{{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}}</ref> electric cables in the area. Israeli archaeologists accused the waqf of a deliberate act of cultural vandalism.<ref name="H1" /> Accusations of vandalism at the site resurfaced in 2018 and again in 2022.<ref name=":5" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Saban |first=Itzik |title=Palestinians mark Ramadan by destroying Temple Mount antiquities |url=https://www.israelhayom.com/2022/04/29/palestinians-mark-ramadan-by-destroying-temple-mount-antiquities/ |access-date=2022-07-01 |website=www.israelhayom.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Saban |first=Itzik |title='Damage to Jewish antiquities on Temple Mount keeps me up at night' |url=https://www.israelhayom.com/2022/05/27/damage-to-temple-mount-antiquities-keeps-me-up-at-night/ |access-date=2022-07-01 |website=www.israelhayom.com}}</ref>

== Noteworthy events ==
;February 2004: ''Partially collapsed [[Mughrabi-Bridge]]:'' An 800-year-old wall holding back part of the hill jutting out from the [[Western Wall]] leading up to the Mughrabi Gate partially collapsed. Authorities believed a recent earthquake may have been responsible.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3494035.stm|title=Middle East – Warning over Jerusalem holy site|work=BBC News}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/02/16/1076779901850.html|title=Jerusalem wall collapse sparks Jewish-Muslim row|work=smh.com.au|date=17 February 2004}}</ref>

;March 2005: ''Allah inscription:'' The word "[[Allah]]", in approximately a {{convert|1|ft|m|-tall|adj=mid|spell=in}} Arabic script, was found newly carved into the ancient stones, an act viewed by Jews as vandalism. The carving was attributed to a team of [[Jordan]]ian engineers and Palestinian laborers in charge of strengthening that section of the wall. The discovery caused outrage among Israeli archaeologists and many Jews were angered by the inscription at Judaism's holiest site.<ref>{{cite web
|url = http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/79391
|title = Arabs Vandalize Judaism's Holiest Site
|access-date = July 11, 2007
|date = March 31, 2005
|publisher = [[Arutz Sheva]]
}}</ref>

;October 2006:''Synagogue proposal:'' [[Uri Ariel]], a member of the Knesset from the [[National Union (Israel)|National Union party]] (a right-wing opposition party) ascended to the mount,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/772340.html|title=Rightist MK Ariel visits Temple Mount as thousands throng Wall|date=9 October 2006|work=Haaretz.com|access-date=11 October 2006|archive-date=7 December 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081207092904/http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/772340.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> and said that he is preparing a plan where a synagogue will be built on the mount. His proposed [[synagogue]] would not be built instead of the mosques but in a separate area in accordance with rulings of 'prominent rabbis.' He said he believed that this will be correcting a historical injustice and that it is an opportunity for the Muslim world to prove that it is tolerant to all faiths.<ref>Wagner, Matthew (October 10, 2006). {{usurped|1=[https://archive.today/20130706010812/http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1159193411784 Rabbis split on Temple Mount synagogue plan]}}. ''[[The Jerusalem Post]]''.</ref>

:''Minaret proposal:'' Plans are mooted to build a new minaret on the mount, the first of its kind for 600 years.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,251-2403700,00.html/|archive-url=https://archive.today/20110805092311/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,251-2403700,00.html/|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 5, 2011|title=UK News, World News and Opinion|work=[[The Times]]}}</ref> King [[Abdullah II of Jordan]] announced a competition to design a fifth minaret for the walls of the Temple Mount complex. He said it would "reflect the Islamic significance and sanctity of the mosque". The scheme, estimated to cost $300,000, is for a seven-sided tower – after the seven-pointed Hashemite star – and at {{convert|42|m|ft}}, it would be {{convert|3.5|m|ft}} taller than the next-largest minaret. The minaret would be constructed on the eastern wall of the Temple Mount near [[Golden Gate (Jerusalem)|the Golden Gate]].

;February 2007: ''[[Excavations at the Temple Mount#Mughrabi Gate ramp replaced by a bridge (2007-)|Mugrabi Gate ramp reconstruction]]:'' Repairs to an earthen ramp leading to the [[Mugrabi Gate]] sparked Arab protests.

;May 2007: ''Right-wing Jews ascend the Mount:'' A group of right-wing Religious Zionist rabbis entered the Temple Mount.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3399356,00.html|title=Rabbis visiting Temple Mount 'hope for an awakening'|work=ynet|date=13 May 2007|last1=Sela|first1=Neta}}</ref> This elicited widespread criticism from other religious Jews and from secular Israelis, accusing the rabbis of provoking the Arabs. An editorial in the newspaper ''[[Haaretz]]'' accused the rabbis of 'knowingly and irresponsibly bringing a burning torch closer to the most flammable hill in the Middle East,' and noted that rabbinical consensus in both the Haredi and the Religious Zionist worlds forbids Jews from entering the Temple Mount.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/859573.html|title=A provocation in religious clothing|date=15 May 2007|work=Haaretz.com}}</ref> On May 16, Rabbi [[Avraham Shapira]], former Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel and [[rosh yeshiva]] of the [[Mercaz HaRav]] [[yeshiva]], reiterated his opinion that it is forbidden for Jews to enter the Temple Mount.<ref>{{cite news
|url = http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3400750,00.html
|title = Rabbi Shapira forbids visiting temple Mount
|access-date = May 17, 2007
|last = Sela
|first = Neta
|newspaper = Ynetnews
|date = May 16, 2007
|publisher = [[Ynet]]
}}</ref> The Litvish Haredi newspaper ''[[Yated Ne'eman (Israel)|Yated Ne'eman]]'', which is controlled by leading Litvish Haredi rabbis including Rabbi [[Yosef Shalom Eliashiv]] and Rabbi [[Nissim Karelitz]], accused the rabbis of transgressing a decree punishable by 'death through the hands of heaven.'<ref name="aharbay">[http://chareidi.shemayisrael.com/aharbaybmd67.htm "Yated Ne'eman" article] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100310132150/http://chareidi.shemayisrael.com/aharbaybmd67.htm|date=March 10, 2010}}.</ref>

;July 2007: ''[[Temple Mount cable replacement controversy|Temple Mount cable replacement]]'': The [[Waqf]] began digging a ditch from the northern side of the Temple Mount compound to the Dome of the Rock as a prelude to infrastructure work in the area. Although the dig was approved by the police, it generated protests from archaeologists.

;October 2009: ''Clashes'': Palestinian protesters gathered at the site after rumours that an extreme Israeli group would harm the site, which the Israeli government denied.<ref>Kyzer, Liel (October 25, 2009). [http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1123399.html Israel Police battle Arab rioters on Temple Mount; PA official arrested]. ''[[Haaretz]]''.</ref> Israeli police assembled at the Temple Mount complex to disperse Palestinian protesters who were throwing stones at them. The police used [[stun grenade]]s on the protesters, of which 15 were later arrested, including the Palestinian President's adviser on Jerusalem affairs.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2009-10-25 |title=Arrests at holy site in Jerusalem |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8324539.stm |access-date=2024-03-10 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>[http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/World/Story/STIStory_446454.html Jerusalem holy site stormed]. ''[[The Straits Times]]''. October 25, 2009.</ref> Eighteen Palestinians and 3 police officers were injured.<ref>[http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/10/20091025154543922901.html Clashes erupt at Aqsa compound]. [[Al Jazeera Arabic|Al Jazeera]]. October 25, 2009.</ref>

;July 2010: ''A public opinion poll'' in Israel showed that 49% of Israelis want the Temple to be rebuilt, with 27% saying the government should make active steps towards such reconstruction. The poll was conducted by channel 99, the government-owned Knesset channel, in advance of the ninth day of the Hebrew month of Av, on which Jews commemorate the destruction of both the first and second Temples, which stood at this site.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/138655|title=Half the Public Wants to See Holy Temple Rebuilt|work=Arutz Sheva|date=18 July 2010 }}</ref>

:Knesset Member [[Danny Danon]] visited the Temple Mount in accordance with rabbinical views of Jewish Law on the ninth of the Hebrew Month of Av. The Knesset member condemned the conditions imposed by Muslims upon religious Jews at the site and vowed to work to improve conditions.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-palestinians-israel-jerusalem-idUSTRE66J3UF20100720|title=Israeli lawmaker visits flashpoint religious site|work=Reuters|date=20 July 2010|access-date=2017-07-02|archive-date=2015-10-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016111805/http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/07/20/us-palestinians-israel-jerusalem-idUSTRE66J3UF20100720|url-status=live|last1=Fisher-Ilan|first1=Allyn}}</ref>

;July 2017
:''[[2017 Temple Mount shooting|Temple Mount shooting]]'': Three men from the Israeli-Arab city of Umm al-Fahm opened fire on two Israeli [[Druze in Israel|Druze]] policemen at the Lions' Gate.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Ariel|first1=Omri|title=Temple Mount terrorists named, identified as 3 Israeli Arabs from Umm al-Fahm|url=http://www.jerusalemonline.com/news/middle-east/israeli-palestinian-relations/3-temple-mount-terrorists-identified-as-israeli-arabs-29717|access-date=19 July 2017|work=Jerusalem Online|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170717051953/http://www.jerusalemonline.com/news/middle-east/israeli-palestinian-relations/3-temple-mount-terrorists-identified-as-israeli-arabs-29717|archive-date=2017-07-17|url-status=dead}}</ref> Gun attacks have been unusual at the Temple Mount in recent decades.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Unattributed|title=Israeli police killed in attack near Jerusalem holy site|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-40604452|access-date=19 July 2017|work=BBC}}</ref>

:Following the July 14 attack, the site was shut down, and reopened on July 16 with metal detector-equipped checkpoints, spurring calls for protests by Muslim leaders associated with the site.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Shaham|first1=Udi|title=Muslim authority protests Temple Mount security measures, blocks entrance |url=http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Temple-Mount-reopens-for-prayer-following-deadly-Friday-attack-499842|access-date=19 July 2017|work=The Jerusalem Post}}</ref>

;April 2022
:[[2022 Al-Aqsa clashes|''Al-Aqsa Mosque clashes'']]: On 15 April 2022, clashes erupted between Palestinians and Israeli Security Forces on the Temple Mount. The clashes began when Palestinians threw stones, firecrackers, and other heavy objects at Israeli police officers. The policemen responded with various riot control measures.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=Tor Wennesland Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Briefing to the Security Council on the Situation in the Middle East – occupied Palestinian territory |url=https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/tor-wennesland-special-coordinator-middle-east-peace-process-8 |access-date=2022-04-29 |website=ReliefWeb |date=25 April 2022 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=20 April 2022 |title=Jerusalem clashes destabilising for Israel and Palestine |url=http://country.eiu.com/article.aspx?articleid=832038866&Country=Israel&topic=Politics&subtopic=Forecast&subsubtopic=International+relations |publisher=[[The Economist Group]] |quote=On both days, however, Israeli police stormed Al Aqsa in order to stop stone‑throwing and make arrests, crossing what many Palestinians regard as a red line.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last1=Kingsley |first1=Patrick |last2=Abdulrahim |first2=Raja |date=April 17, 2022 |title=Israeli Government Crisis Deepens After Closing of Major Mosque |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/17/world/middleeast/jerusalem-al-aqsa-mosque.html |quote=The clashes on Sunday followed a more intense incident on Friday, when Israeli riot police officers, firing rubber-tipped bullets and stun grenades, stormed the main mosque in the compound to detain hundreds of Palestinians, many of whom had been throwing stones at them.}}</ref> Some Palestinians then barricaded themselves inside al-Aqsa Mosque and continued throwing stones at the policemen.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4">{{Cite news |title=Gantz ends West Bank closure amid Temple Mount violence |url=https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-704234 |access-date=2022-04-22 |newspaper=The Jerusalem Post &#124; Jpost.com  |language=en-US}}</ref> In response, police raided the mosque, arresting those who had barricaded themselves inside. Some damage was done to the mosque's structure.<ref name=":3" /><ref name="auto2">{{Cite news |last1=Kingsley |first1=Patrick |last2=Abdulrahim |first2=Raja |date=2022-04-15 |title=Clashes Erupt at Jerusalem Holy Site on Day With Overlapping Holidays |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/04/15/world/jerusalem-al-aqsa-mosque |access-date=2022-04-16 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref name="AlArabiya1">{{Cite web |date=15 April 2022 |title=Clashes erupt at Jerusalem's al-Aqsa mosque, at least 152 injured |url=https://english.alarabiya.net/News/middle-east/2022/04/15/Clashes-erupt-at-Jerusalem-s-al-Aqsa-mosque-at-least-59-injured |publisher=[[Al Arabiya]]}}</ref>

;April 2023
:[[2023 Al-Aqsa clashes|''Al-Aqsa Mosque clashes'']]

== Panorama ==
{{Wide image|Jerusalem BW 1.JPG|1000px|align-cap=center|Panorama of the Temple Mount, seen from the [[Mount of Olives]]}}

==See also==
{{columns-list|
* [[List of national symbols of Palestine]]
* [[Committee for the Prevention of Destruction of Antiquities on the Temple Mount]]
* [[HALIBA]], Israeli organization supporting Jewish free access and worship rights on the Temple Mount
* [[Hashemite custodianship of Jerusalem holy sites]]
* [[Jerusalem in Judaism]]
* [[As-Sirāt]], in Islam, the narrow bridge for the souls on the Day of Judgment
* [[Temple Mount Sifting Project]]
}}

== References ==
===Notes===
{{notelist}}

===Citations===
{{reflist}}

=== Sources ===
{{Refbegin|colwidth=60em}}
* {{cite journal | last1=Gibson | first1=Shimon | last2=Jacobson | first2=David M. | title=The Oldest Datable Chambers on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem | journal=The Biblical Archaeologist | publisher=University of Chicago Press | volume=57 | issue=3 | year=1994 | issn=0006-0895 | doi=10.2307/3210410 | pages=150–60| jstor=3210410 | s2cid=164027682 |url= https://www.academia.edu/40183020}}
* <cite id=refEliav2005>{{cite book|first=Yaron Z. |last=Eliav|title=God's Mountain: The Temple Mount in Time, Place, and Memory|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_8VtAAAAMAAJ|year= 2005|publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press|isbn=978-0-8018-8213-5}}</cite>
* <cite id=refEliav2008>{{cite book|first=Yaron Z. |last=Eliav|author-mask=3|editor=Tamar Mayer and Suleiman A. Mourad|title=Jerusalem: Idea and Reality|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qOf7tKmL_SAC&pg=PA47|date=2008|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-10287-7|pages=47–66|chapter=The Temple Mount in Jewish and Early Christian Traditions: A New Look}}</cite>
* <cite id=refFinkelstein1999>Finkelstein, Louis; Horbury, William; Davies, William David; Sturdy, John. ''The Cambridge History of Judaism'', [[Cambridge University Press]], 1999. {{ISBN|978-0-521-24377-3}}</cite>
*{{Cite book |first=Rivka |last=Gonen |title=Contested Holiness: Jewish, Muslim, and Christian Perspectives on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem |publisher=KTAV Publishing House, Inc. |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-88125-798-4 |location=Jersey City, NJ |page=4 |oclc=1148595286}}
* <cite id=refHa'ivri2006>[[David Ha'ivri|Ha'ivri, David]]. ''Reclaiming the Temple Mount'', HaMeir L'David, 2006 {{ISBN|978-965-90509-6-3}}</cite>
* <cite id=refHassner2009> Hassner, Ron E., "War on Sacred Grounds," Cornell University Press, 2009. {{ISBN|978-0-8014-4806-5}}</cite>
* {{cite journal 
 | last=Jonker | first=Louis 
 | title=The Chronicler's portrayal of Solomon as the King of Peace within the context of the international peace discourses of the Persian era 
 | journal=Old Testament Essays | volume=21 | issue=3 
 | date=6 January 1990 | issn=1010-9919 
 | pages=653–69 
 | url=http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1010-99192008000300006 
 | access-date=29 November 2020
}}
* <cite id="ref">Lundquist, John. ''The Temple of Jerusalem'', Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007. {{ISBN|978-0-275-98339-0}}</cite>
* <cite id=Mazar1975> [[Benjamin Mazar|Mazar, Benjamin]]: ''The Mountain of the Lord''. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1975. {{ISBN|978-0-385-04843-9}}</cite>
* <cite id=refNegev2005> Negev, Avraham & Gibson, Shimon. ''Archaeological Encyclopedia of the Holy Land'', Continuum International Publishing Group, 2005. {{ISBN|978-0-8264-8571-7}}</cite>
* {{cite web | last=Pruitt | first=Sarah | title=Fate of the Lost Ark Revealed? | website=history.com | date=10 January 2014 | url=https://www.history.com/news/fate-of-the-lost-ark-revealed | access-date=29 November 2020 }}
* {{cite web 
 | title=Solomon 
 | website=Encyclopædia Britannica 
 | url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Solomon 
 | first=Matt 
 | last=Stefon 
 | date=30 April 2020 
 | access-date=29 November 2020 
 }}
* {{cite web 
 | title=Holy of Holies 
 | website=Encyclopædia Britannica 
 | url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Holy-of-Holies 
 | access-date=29 November 2020 
 | ref={{sfnref|Britannica: Holy of Holies}} 
 }}
* {{cite web 
 | title=Temple of Jerusalem 
 | website=Encyclopædia Britannica 
 | url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Temple-of-Jerusalem 
 | ref={{sfnref|Temple of Jerusalem}} 
 | access-date=29 November 2020 
 | date=17 September 2020 
 }}
{{Refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* [http://www.templemount.org/ Templemount.org]
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20120229232623/http://www.bib-arch.org/bar/article.asp?PubID=BSBA&Volume=36&Issue=2&ArticleID=10 New Evidence of the Royal Stoa and Roman Flames]}}. Biblical Archaeology Review.
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20141026142036/http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/200901/ Virtual Walking Tour of Al-Haram Al-Sharif ("The Noble Sanctuary")]}}
* [https://tmsifting.org/en/ Temple Mount Sifting Project]

{{Temple Mount}}
{{Old City (Jerusalem)}}
{{Holy sites in Judaism}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Temple Mount| ]]
[[Category:Mountains of Jerusalem]]
[[Category:Historic sites in Jerusalem]]
[[Category:Islam in Jerusalem]]
[[Category:Jerusalem in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict]]
[[Category:Conversion of non-Christian religious buildings and structures into churches]]
[[Category:Religious buildings and structures converted into mosques]]
[[Category:Ministry of Endowments and Islamic Affairs (Jordan)]]
[[Category:National symbols of Palestine]]
[[Category:Tabernacle and Temples in Jerusalem]]