The Dome of the Rock
Anyone who has studied the history of Jerusalem will appreciate how the Dome of the Rock holds a unique place with a multi-layered past. It is a Muslim shrine (not a mosque), built in the form a Christian martyrium of Late Antiquity. The Crusaders repurposed it as the Templum Domini (the Temple of the Lord), believing it to have some connexion to the Temple mentioned in the Bible. And indeed, it sits on the old Temple Mount of that Biblical Temple. After the Ottomans took control of the region, they renovated and enhanced the shrine with the glazed tiles and golden roofing we see today. The cultural and historical backstory to the location of the Dome of the Rock is worth summarizing to highlight its significance in Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and even in Roman paganism. When David took the Canaanite city of Salem, he renamed it Jerusalem and brought the Ark of the Covenant there from Shiloh where...