The Dome of the Rock is a dazzling sanctuary glittering in the sunlight, as if hovering over Jerusalem. It stands on the Temple Mount next to the al-Aqsa Mosque. This place is a bone of contention between Jews and Muslims. It is called the most disputed real estate in the world.
Almost three thousand years ago, King Solomon built the First Temple here, in the Holy of Holies of which stood the Ark with the stone tablets received by Moses from the Lord. In 586 B.C. the Babylonians captured Jerusalem, drove the Jews into slavery and destroyed the sanctuary. In 368 B.C. the people returned from Babylonian captivity and began to build the Second Temple. Its construction was completed in 20 years by King Herod the Great, known from the biblical beating of babies. Half a century later the Romans, having taken Jerusalem, destroyed the Second Temple. Among the ruins remained a powerful artificial platform, on which in the VII century Muslims began to build their religious buildings.
At the command of the fifth caliph of the Umayyad dynasty, Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan, in 687-691 here was erected the Dome of the Rock. It was built over the Foundation Stone indicating the location of the Holy of Holies of the Jewish Jerusalem Temple. In Jewish tradition, the rock (more precisely, a rock about eighteen metres long and more than thirteen metres wide) is considered the cornerstone of the universe. In Islam, however, it has a completely different meaning: it is believed that from this stone made his ascension to heaven (miraj) prophet Mohammed.
This event dates back to 621. According to hadiths (legends), one day the angel Jabrail appeared to the prophet. Together with Muhammad, they made a night journey to Jerusalem (1,240 kilometres one way) on horseback on the intelligent winged animal al-Buraq. From here Muhammad ascended to the throne of Allah. Having received important instructions from Allah, he returned to Mecca the same night. The journey itself, according to the Hadith, lasted only a moment - the jug accidentally knocked over by the angel Jabrael had no time to spill.
The Dome of the Rock is a marvellous structure built by Islamic engineers. They used the measurements of the Christian Church of the Holy Sepulchre to design it, almost exactly replicating its dome, which is more than twenty metres in diameter. During the time of Suleiman the Magnificent, the facades of the building were covered with marvellous tiles. The dome itself was re-covered with bronze-coloured aluminium alloy in 1965, but it was replaced with gold in 1993. King Hussein of Jordan sold one of his homes in London to buy the required 80 kilograms of the precious metal.
The interior of the Dome is richly decorated with mosaics inscribed with suras of the Koran. The sacred stone is surrounded by a gilded grid - it is strictly forbidden to touch it.
During the Six-Day War in 1967, an Israeli paratrooper broke through here. The Israeli flag was raised over the Dome, and Rabbi Goren entered the building with a Torah scroll and a shofar (a ritual horn that was trumpeted on special occasions). However, the territory of the Temple Mount was soon transferred to the Islamic Awqaf (a special form of real estate use), managed by Muslims.
