|
This magnificent golden dome is seen in most views of the Old City of Jerusalem. One of the earliest and most beautiful of the edifices of Islam, the Dome of the Rock was built in the 7th century AD by the Caliph Omar to protect the "Rock of Foundation", a large outcropping of bedrock revered by Muslims and Jews as the spiritual center of the universe, from where the world was created. It stands atop the Biblical Mount Moriah, and is the traditional place of the Sacrifice/Binding of Isaac by the Patriarch Abraham, and is the site of the Holy of Holies, the inner sanctum of both Jewish Temples built by Solomon in the 10th century BCE and by Herod in the 1st century BCE.
The Rock is also revered by Muslims as the place from which the Prophet Muhammed ascended to Heaven after his night journey from Mecca.
Close This Window
|