FINAL WARNING: The Shining Star
agree that this traditional location was the site of the Temple. In 1967,
even though Israel captured East Jerusalem during the Six-Day War, a
month later, as a gesture of peace and cooperation, Israeli Defense
Minister Moshe Dayan returned control of the Temple Mount back to
the Wakf (Islamic authority). It was later reported that he had an
underlying fear that the ground would be razed to make way for the
rebuilding of the Temple.Only the tip of the huge rock, on the summit of Mt. Moriah, juts up into
the center of the Dome of the Rock. It is unclear whether the rock was
the sacrificial altar, or the Holy of Holies where the Ark was placed, but
the presence of drain holes bored into the surface, which leads to a
cave below the Mosque, may indicate that it was the area of the Temple
used for sacrifices. The purpose of the holes was for the blood from
animal sacrifices to runoff into a canal which carried the fluids out of
the complex. This would place the Holy of Holies in an area which
slopes downward, and creates a conflict with archaeological evidence
and historical tradition.There is some support for the idea that the rock was the foundation
stone for the Holy of Holies. The argument for this is based on the
assumption that one of the Temple gates, known as Warren’s Gate
(which was beneath the Gate Babel-Mat’hara, and up to 1967 was the
location of an Arab latrine), opened directly in front of the Holy of
Holies. In 1867, Charles Warren found an ancient gate to the Temple
Mount, and since then, the entire Western Wall, and a tunnel running
along it, called the Rabbinic Tunnel, was discovered and excavated by
1986; along with four other entrances, by Israel’s Ministry of Religious
Affairs and the Western Wall Heritage Foundation. The Western Wall of
the Temple, left standing by Rome as a symbol of their authority, was
part of the retaining wall which was erected to support the immense
platform which held the Temple.In March, 1979, where excavations were being done at the Western
Wall, an unsubstantiated report was circulated, that a workman,
digging with his fingers, 80 feet below the existing floor, discovered
the Arch of King Solomon from the original Temple, which led to the
Holy of Holies. The archway of stone was constructed with a special
mortar containing broken glass, as per God’s instructions. Tests taken
of the glistening mortar indicated that it was produced during that