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The Temple Mount (Haram al-Sharif)
The walled platform in Jerusalem's Old City, holy to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif
Few places on Earth hold so much meaning in so small a space. The raised stone platform in the southeast corner of Jerusalem's Old City is known to Jews as the Temple Mount, Har HaBayit, the site of the First and Second Temples and the holiest place in Judaism. Muslims know it as al-Haram al-Sharif, the Noble Sanctuary, or as al-Aqsa, and regard it as the third-holiest site in Islam, the destination of the Prophet Muhammad's Night Journey. Christians associate it with episodes in the life of Jesus. The golden Dome of the Rock that crowns it is the best-known image of Jerusalem, and the rules on who may pray here are among the most closely watched arrangements in the world.
The platform, about 14 hectares in area, is largely the work of King Herod, who enlarged the hilltop with massive retaining walls from about 19 BCE. At its center, the Dome of the Rock, an octagonal shrine faced with blue and turquoise tiles beneath a gilded dome, encloses the bedrock that Jewish tradition identifies as the Foundation Stone and Muslim tradition as the place from which Muhammad ascended to heaven. At the southern end stands the al-Aqsa Mosque, the main congregational mosque, under a lead-covered dome, and Muslims regard the entire compound as part of al-Aqsa. Fountains, arcades, small domed shrines, and olive and cypress trees fill the open esplanade. Non-Muslim visitors enter through the Mughrabi Gate above the Western Wall plaza during limited hours, while Muslim worshippers use the other gates.
The Babylonians destroyed the First Temple in 587 or 586 BCE, and the Romans destroyed the Second Temple in 70 CE. After the Muslim conquest, the Umayyad caliph Abd al-Malik completed the Dome of the Rock in 691 or 692. Crusaders held the site from 1099 to 1187. Israel captured East Jerusalem from Jordan in 1967, and the status of East Jerusalem remains disputed. Israel controls security and access, the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf under Jordan administers the compound, and the 1994 Israel–Jordan peace treaty recognizes Jordan's special role. Under the status quo, Muslims pray and non-Muslims visit. Israeli police have increasingly allowed Jewish prayer, in 2026 including prayer books. Israel's government says the status quo is unchanged, while Jordan, the Waqf, and Palestinian leaders call the changes violations.