Jerusalem, Israel
The Temple Mount Overlook
הַר הַבַּיִת Har HaBayit
The most contested thirty-five acres on earth, and the one place in Jerusalem where how you visit matters more than whether you do.
Platform in its present form from about 20 BCE; Dome of the Rock completed 691 CE
Visiting the Temple Mount Overlook
- What to wear
- Arms and legs fully covered for everyone. Women are often asked to cover their heads at the gate.
- Photography
- Buildings generally accepted, worshippers not. Restrictions change without notice.
- Cost
- Free. Non-Muslim visiting hours are short and vary by season, and there are none on Fridays, Saturdays or Muslim holidays.
- When to go
- The first hour of the morning slot, on a weekday, after checking that day’s status.
- Access
- Non-Muslims enter only by the wooden Mughrabi bridge from the Western Wall plaza: a long ramp and a security check. The platform itself is broad and mostly level.
What to wear at every Jerusalem site
Etiquette
- DoIf you go up, wear long sleeves and long trousers or a long skirt. Bags are searched at the bridge.
- AvoidReligious books, ritual objects and visible prayer are not permitted for non-Muslims on the platform, and attempting them causes real trouble for everyone at the gate.
- DoFollow the marked route and the instructions of police and Waqf staff without argument. Neither is negotiating.
- DoPhotograph the buildings, not the worshippers. Cameras are sometimes restricted entirely.
- DoIf you are Jewish and unsure whether to go up, ask your own rabbi first. Practice differs sharply and people feel it strongly.
- AvoidThis is not the place to debate the site with strangers. Conversations here escalate faster than anywhere else in the city.
Local tip
Whatever you decide about going up, walk the Ophel excavations at the southern wall first. The monumental staircase there is the ground pilgrims actually climbed, and you can stand on it.
Hours, prices, access and security arrangements change: check official sources before you go, and follow the instructions of site and security staff. In an emergency, call the local emergency number (in Israel: police 100, ambulance 101, or 112 from a mobile).
The history of the Temple Mount Overlook
One platform, two names
The walled compound is Har HaBayit to Jews and al-Haram al-Sharif, the Noble Sanctuary, to Muslims. The First and Second Temples stood here. The Dome of the Rock, finished in 691 CE, and al-Aqsa Mosque stand here now.
Who controls what
The site is administered by the Jordanian-appointed Islamic Waqf, with Israeli police at the gates. Non-Muslim visitors enter only at limited hours by the Mughrabi bridge, and non-Muslim prayer on the platform is not permitted under the arrangements in force.
A live question in Jewish law
Many Orthodox authorities, including the Chief Rabbinate, hold that Jews should not go up at all, because the position of the Holy of Holies is uncertain and ritual purity is not available today. Other rabbis permit entry to specified outer areas. Signs at the Western Wall state the Rabbinate’s ruling.
Seeing it without entering
Most visitors get their clearest view from the Mount of Olives, from the ramparts walk along the southern wall, or from the rooftops above the Cardo. The compound reads better from outside than from the middle of it.
Hebrew for the visit
Phrases
- אֶפְשָׁר?efshar?May I?A one-word request. Point at what you mean, add bevakasha, and it is a complete polite sentence.
- אֶפְשָׁר לְצַלֵּם?efshar letzalem?May I take a photograph?Usually fine outside prayer times, and not on Shabbat or festivals, when observant Jews do not use cameras.
- הַכֹּל סָגוּר בְּשַׁבָּת?hakol sagur beshabbat?Is everything closed on Shabbat?Most shops close from Friday afternoon. Tel Aviv, Haifa and Arab towns stay much busier, and Jerusalem goes very quiet.
- סְלִיחָהslichaExcuse me; sorryUse it to get attention, to apologise and to squeeze past. The most useful word in a crowd.
Words
- הַרharmountain; hill
- בַּיִתbayithouse; homeThe plural בָּתִּים is irregular. In compounds it becomes בֵּית, as in בֵּית סֵפֶר.
- שַׁעַרshaargateThe gates of the Old City walls all carry names built on this word.
- קָדוֹשׁkadoshholy; set apartFeminine: קְדוֹשָׁה. The root carries a sense of being separated for a purpose.
- תְּפִלָּהtefilaprayer
Please, Thanks, Sorry: all the phrases · All 157 phrases in the phrasebook
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