Mount Moriah

The elevated platform in Jerusalem where Abraham bound Isaac for sacrifice and where Solomon built the First Temple. Mount Moriah is the holiest site in Judaism, a central location in Christian salvation history, and Islam’s third holiest site—making it perhaps the most contested sacred space on earth.

Jewish tradition identifies “the land of Moriah” (Genesis 22:2) where God tested Abraham with Isaac’s binding (the Akedah) as the same mount where Solomon later built the Temple. 2 Chronicles explicitly states: “Solomon began to build the house of the LORD in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the LORD had appeared to David his father, at the place that David had prepared, on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite” (2 Chronicles 3:1). This connection established Moriah as the place where God provides (Genesis 22:14, “The LORD will provide”) and where He chose to dwell among His people.

The Temple Mount served as the geographical and theological center of Judaism for a millennium. Solomon’s Temple (957-586 BCE) and the Second Temple (516 BCE - 70 CE) stood here, housing the Holy of Holies where God’s presence (Shekinah) dwelt above the Ark of the Covenant. Three times yearly, Jews pilgrimaged to this mount for the festivals. Jesus taught in the Temple courts, drove out money changers, and wept over Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives overlooking this site. After Rome destroyed the Second Temple in 70 CE, only the Western Wall (retaining wall of Herod’s expansion) remained, becoming Judaism’s holiest prayer site.

In Islamic tradition, Mount Moriah (Haram al-Sharif) marks where Muhammad ascended to heaven during the Night Journey (Isra and Mi’raj). The Dome of the Rock, built in 691 CE, enshrines the Foundation Stone from which Muslims believe Muhammad ascended and Jews believe the world was created. Nearby stands Al-Aqsa Mosque (“the farthest mosque” referenced in Quran 17:1), Islam’s third holiest site. This layered sanctity makes the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif the focal point of Israeli-Palestinian tensions and the symbol of competing claims to the Holy Land.