Jerusalem’s Challenging Geography

At the heart of the conflicts among religious groups in Southwest Asia lies the city of Jerusalem, an important place for several religions (Figure 6-70). Geography makes it difficult to settle long-standing disputes over access to Jerusalem by Jews and Muslims. The challenge is that the most sacred space in Jerusalem for Muslims was literally built on top of the most sacred space for Jews.

Old City of Jerusalem

The Old City of Jerusalem is less than 1 square kilometer (0.4 square miles). It is divided into four quarters. The Stations of the Cross mark the route that Christians believe was taken by Jesus on his way to his crucifixion.

Judaism’s Jerusalem

Jerusalem is Judaism’s holiest city, established as the capital of the Kingdom of Israel approximately 3,000 years ago, and home to the Temple, their center of life and worship for hundreds of years. The First Temple, built by King Solomon in approximately 957 B.C.E., was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 B.C.E. After the Persian Empire, led by Cyrus the Great, gained control of Jerusalem, Jews were allowed to build a Second Temple, which was completed in 515 B.C.E. The Romans destroyed the Jewish Second Temple in 70 C.E. The Western Wall of the Temple and an elevated plaza above the wall known as the Temple Mount survive.

Christians and Muslims call the Western Wall the Wailing Wall because for many centuries Jews were allowed to visit the surviving Western Wall only once a year to lament the Temple’s destruction. After Israel captured the entire city of Jerusalem during the 1967 Six-Day War, officials removed the barriers that had prevented Jews from visiting and living in the Old City of Jerusalem, including the Western Wall. The Western Wall soon became a site for daily prayers by observant Jews.

Islam’s Jerusalem

The most important Muslim structure in Jerusalem is the Dome of the Rock, which was completed in 691 C.E. Muslims believe that the large rock beneath the building’s dome is the place from which Muhammad ascended to heaven, as well as the altar on which Abraham prepared to sacrifice his son Isaac (according to Jews and Christians) or his son Ishmael (according to Muslims). Immediately south of the Dome of the Rock is the al-Aqsa Mosque. The challenge facing Jews and Muslims is that al-Aqsa Mosque was built on the Temple Mount, which is holy to Jews and Muslims.

Israel allows Muslims unlimited access to that religion’s holy structures in Jerusalem and the Temple Mount is under Muslim control. A ramp and passages patrolled by Palestinian guards provide Muslims access to the Dome of the Rock and the al-Aqsa Mosque without requiring them to walk in front of the Western Wall, where Jews are praying. However, because the holy Muslim structures sit literally on top of the holy Jewish structure, the two sets of holy structures cannot be logically divided by a line on a map

Western Wall and Dome of the Rock

Jews are praying at the Western Wall (foreground), situated immediately below the Mount containing Islam’s Dome of the Rock (top left) and al-Aqsa Mosque (top right). The ramp to the right in the image provides Muslims access to the Mount without requiring them to walk in front of the Western Wall.

Pause & Reflect 6.4.4

Why is the Western Wall important in Judaism, and why is the Dome of the Rock important in Islam?