Middle East - Anthony Ham [220]
The Temple Mount (Haram ash-Sharif; Map; noblesanctuary.com, templemount.org; admission free; 7.30-11am & 1.30-2.30pm Sun-Thu) is one of the most instantly recognisable icons of the Middle East. The massive, open stone plaza, dotted with cypress trees, was built over the biblical Mt Moriah, the location, according to Jewish tradition, of the foundation stone of the world itself. It was here, says the Talmud, that Adam, Cain, Abel and Noah performed ritual sacrifices, and where Abraham offered his own son, Isaac, to God in a supreme test of faith. And its significance doesn’t stop there. It was also the location of Solomon’s First Temple, where the Ark of the Covenant was housed, and the site of the Second Temple (home to the ‘Holy of Holies’, the sacred altar to which only high priests were permitted), destroyed by the Romans in AD 66. Later, the Romans erected a temple to Zeus on the site, which then became a Christian church.
But Temple Mount is not only holy to Jews. To Muslims, it’s the 7th-century site of Mohammed’s ascension to heaven (miraj) to join Allah, making it Islam’s third-holiest site after Mecca and Medina. The site is still in the custody of Muslim leaders today, having been handed over to them by Israeli commander Moshe Dayan, following the 1967 Six Day War. This has never gone down well in extreme Jewish circles, whose plots to destroy the Muslim sites and build a Third Temple (thirdtemple.com) have increased tensions at the now heavily guarded site, but have so far failed.
The centrepiece of the Temple Mount today is the gold-plated, mosaic-adorned Dome of the Rock (Map), completed in AD 691, which covers the slab of stone on which Abraham prepared his sacrifice, and from which Mohammed ascended to heaven. The nearby Al-Aqsa Mosque (Map) is a functioning house of worship, believed to be a partial conversion of a 6th-century Byzantine church, with columns donated – oddly enough – by Benito Mussolini.
Entrance to the Temple Mount by non-Muslims is through the Bab al-Maghariba gate (Gate of the Moors), at the Western Wall. Non-Muslims can walk around the Temple Mount, but are barred from entering the Dome of the Rock or the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Remember that the area is closed to visitors on Islamic holidays, and that conservative dress, including a headscarf for women, is required. Always be prepared for random closures, and for long waits due to security checks.
CHRISTIAN QUARTER
The quiet, soothing Christian Quarter, with its mixture of souvenir shops (crowns of thorns, holy water, pieces of the true cross, anyone?), pilgrims’ hostels and religious institutions, makes a calm antidote to the excitements of the Muslim Quarter. Its centrepiece is the sombre, stately Church of the Holy Sepulchre (Map; 5am-9pm Apr-Sep, 4am-7pm Oct-Mar), at the site also known as Calvary or Golgotha – the place where the Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Ethiopian and Coptic churches all believe that Jesus was crucified, buried and resurrected. The church itself represents a collision of architectural traditions. The original Byzantine structure was extensively rebuilt by the Crusaders and tweaked by numerous others over the years; today, its keys are in the hands of a Muslim family who open and shut-up-shop each day, to prevent rivalry between the notoriously uppity Christian factions in residence. It’s open daily to anyone who’s modestly dressed, and with its blend of candles, robed figures, icons and incense, might seem to some worthy of an Indiana Jones opening scene.
It’s also worth visiting the tower of the neighbouring Lutheran Church of the Redeemer (Map) for excellent views over the Old City, and the Ethiopian Monastery (Map), on the northwest corner of the Holy Sepulchre complex, where a few Ethiopian monks reside in a highly atmospheric Medieval cloister.
The Jaffa Gate area is dominated by the Crusader Citadel (Map), which includes Herod’s Tower and the Tower of David minaret. The tower is occupied by the highly worthwhile Tower of David Museum (Map;