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View looking north across the top of the Foundation Stone. The base of the circular Dome is visible in the upper portion of the image. It is supported by four large piers with three columns between each of them. The piers are covered with marble slabs. A wooden fence surrounds and protects the sacred stone. It is partially visible in the lower portion of the image.
The stone has many events associated with it in Jewish, Muslim, and Christian traditions: The binding of Isaac, the place of the Holy of Holies in the Solomonic and Herodian Temples; maybe a Roman Temple, the place from which Mohamed made his night journey to the "Distant Place," a Church Altar, etc.
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.
The photo is courtesy of David Padfield (www.Padfield.com) while the commentary is that of Carl Rasmussen.
