Cupola Stâncii
The exact location of the Holy of Holies is a contentious issue, as elements of questioning the exact placement of the Temple is often associated with Temple denial. There are three main theories as to where the Temple stood: where the Dome of the Rock is now located, to the north of the Dome of the Rock (Professor Asher Kaufman), or to the east of the Dome of the Rock (Professor Joseph Patrich of the Hebrew University). Since the Holy of Holies lay at the center of the complex as a whole, the Temple's location is obviously connected with the location of the Holy of Holies. The location of the Temple was even a question less than 150 years after the Second Temple's destruction, as detailed in the Talmud. Chapter 54 of the Tractate Berakhot states that the Holy of Holies was directly aligned with the Golden Gate, which would have placed the Holy of Holies slightly to the north of the Dome of the Rock, as Kaufman postulated. However, chapter 54 of the Tractate Yoma and chapter 26 of the Tractate Sanhedrin asserts that the Holy of Holies stood directly on the Foundation Stone, which agrees with the consensus theory that the Dome of the Rock stands over the Holy of Holies.