Dome of the Rock 4

Dome of the Rock 4

View looking east northeast at the Dome of the Rock from the Jewish Quarter in the Old City


The Dome of the Rock was completed about A.D. 691 by the Moslem Umayyad Dynasty which was headquartered in Damascus.  The Dome structure was intended to portray the glories of Islam and to divert pilgrim traffic to Jerusalem - from Mecca and Medina.Many believe that the Holy of Holies of both Solomon's and later Herod's Temple was located on top of the raised bedrock - which is now covered by the Dome.