The Temple Mount / Haram al-Sharif

Abstract

The best view overlooking the Temple Mount (in Hebrew,Har Ha-Bayit), or the Haram al-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary), is either from the Mount of Olives to its east or from the Haas Promenade on the so-called Hill of Evil Counsel to its south. The raised platform, crowned by the golden cupola of the Dome of the Rock (Qubbat as-Sakhrah), as well as various monuments built throughout the 1,300 years of the city’s Islamic rule, visually dominate the Old City (see figures 1 and 36). Its sheer size and solid appearance compensate for its inferior elevation in comparison to the Western Hill