Haram Al-Sharif (Temple Mount), Jerusalem

After the Muslim armies conquered Jerusalem in 638 Omar - originally a bitter opponent of Mohammed and later his second successor (Caliph = "Successor") - visited the city. Simply dressed, and accompanied by Archbishop Sophronius, he entered the Temple precinct and said a prayer on Abraham's rock. This to the Muslims was sacred, for the 17th sura of the Koran tells of the Prophet's miraculous night journey "from the holy temple in Mecca to the distant temple" in Jerusalem; from the rock of Moriah Mohammed ascended to the seven heavens, and from there returned to Mecca.To the Muslims, therefore, the Haram esh-Sharif is a place of great significance. It has acquired further associations in the present century, for King Hussein I (1853-1931), a pioneer of the contemporary Arab movement, was buried here and in 1951 his successor Abdullah was murdered here.The brilliant period of the Omayyad Caliphs, whose capital was in Damascus, saw the erection on the Temple platform of the two buildings which have become the landmarks and emblems of Jerusalem - the Dome of the Rock, built over the rock of Moriah by Abd el-Malik in 687-691, and the El-Aqsa Mosque, converted by his son El-Walid I (705-715) from Justinian's church dedicated to the Mother of God.The period of Muslim rule on the Temple Mount was interrupted by the coming of the Crusaders, who held Jerusalem from 1099 to 1187 and plundered the Dome of the Rock and the El-Aqsa Mosque (less generous than Caliph Omar, who had spared the church of the Holy Sepulcher). The first kings of Jerusalem resided in the El-Aqsa Mosque, but later made it over to the Order of the Temple (founded 1149), which took its name from the Templum Salomonis (El-Aqsa) and Templum Domini (Dome of the Rock).After Jerusalem was recaptured for Islam by Saladin in 1187 there was much further building on the Temple platform, particularly by the Mamelukes. The Dome of the Rock was damaged by grenades during the fighting between Israelis and Arabs in 1948 but was restored, with a new golden dome, by Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia between 1958 and 1964. During the Six Day War Israeli troops reached the Wailing Wall on June seventh 1967, since when it has been freely accessible again to Jews.The wallsThe walls enclosing the Temple Mount reach their highest point (65m/213ft) at the southeast corner, where there is a clear view of the massive blocks of dressed stone of the Herodian walls and the overlying courses of smaller stones of later restorations and rebuildings. The entrances to the Temple Mount for non-Muslims are on the west side, in the 490m/535yd long stretch of wall extending southward from the Antonia fortress. In addition to Bab el- Magharibeh there are six other gates, the most important of which are the Chain Gate (Bab es- Silsileh), the Cotton-Merchants' Gate (Bab el-Qattanin) with its stalactitic corbelling, the Iron Gate (Bab el-Hadid) and the Watchman's Gate (Bab en-Nazir), the entrance for visitors coming from the Damascus Gate by way of King Solomon Street and Ala-ud-Din Street. On the western and northern walls of the Haram esh-Sharif are four minarets, at the southwest corner (1278, altered 1622), above Bab es-Silsileh (1329), at the northwest corner (1297) and - the youngest of the four - on the north wall (1937).Temple platformEntering the Haram esh-Sharif by the Moroccans' Gate (Bab el-Magharibeh), we find ourselves in a spacious square. On the west side of the square are arcaded buildings of the Mameluke period occupied by various Muslim institutions. In the building between Bab el-Qattanin and Bab el-Hadid are a number of tombs, including that of King Hussein I Ibn Ali (1853-1931). Hussein was a member of the Hashemite family, descended from Mohammed's grandfather Hashem, which ruled in Mecca from the 10th century. In 1916 he declared his independence from the Ottoman Empire, calling himself king of Arabia (though he was recognized only as king of the Hejaz), and in 1924 took the style of Caliph. In October 1924 he gave up both dignities in favor of his son Ali, who at the end of 1925 was compelled to resign authority over Arabia to Ibn Saud of the Wahabite tribe. Hussein's second son Abdullah (b. 1882), ruler of Transjordan from 1921 and king of Jordan from 1948, was assassinated in 1951 when entering the El-Aqsa Mosque with his grandson Hussein, the present king of Jordan. His younger brother Feisal (1883- 1933) became king of Syria in 1920 and king of Iraq in 1921. The principal buildings on the Temple platform are the El-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock.