Query: Jewish people turn towards Temple Mount during prayer.

Relevant passages:
Temple Mount <=SEP=> The Temple Mount ( הַר הַבַּיִת , Har HaBáyit , `` Mount of the House -LSB- of God , i.e. the Temple -RSB- '' ) , known to Muslims as the Haram esh-Sharif ( الحرم الشريف , al-Ḥaram al-Šarīf , `` the Noble Sanctuary '' , or الحرم القدسي الشريف , al-Ḥaram al-Qudsī al-Šarīf , `` the Noble Sanctuary of Jerusalem '' ) , a hill located in the Old City of Jerusalem , is one of the most important religious sites in the world . It has been venerated as a holy site for thousands of years by Judaism , Christianity , and Islam . The present site is dominated by three monumental structures from the early Umayyad period : the al-Aqsa Mosque , the Dome of the Rock and the Dome of the Chain , as well as four minarets . Herodian walls and gates with additions dating back to the late Byzantine and early Islamic periods cut through the flanks of the Mount . Currently it can be reached through eleven gates , ten reserved for Muslims and one for non-Muslims , with guard posts of Israeli police in the vicinity of each .   The Temple Mount is the holiest site in Judaism , which regards it as the place where God 's divine presence is manifested more than in any other place . According to the rabbinic sages whose debates produced the Talmud , it was from here the world expanded into its present form and where God gathered the dust used to create the first human , Adam .   Since at least the first century CE , the site has been associated in Judaism with Mount Moriah ( הַר הַמוריה , Har HaMōriyā ) ; Mount Moriah is the name given by the Hebrew Bible to the location of Abraham 's binding of Isaac , this identification being perpetuated by Jewish and Christian tradition .   Several passages in the Hebrew Bible indicate that during the time when they were written , the Temple Mount was identified as Mount Zion . The Mount Zion mentioned in the later parts of the Book of Isaiah , in the Book of Psalms , and the First Book of Maccabees ( c. 2nd century BCE ) seems to refer to the top of the hill , generally known as the Temple Mount . According to the Book of Samuel , Mount Zion was the site of the Jebusite fortress called the `` stronghold of Zion '' , but once the First Temple was erected , according to the Bible , at the top of the Eastern Hill ( `` Temple Mount '' ) , the name `` Mount Zion '' migrated there too . The name later migrated for a last time , this time to Jerusalem 's Western Hill .   According to the Bible , both Jewish Temples stood at the Temple Mount , though archaeological evidence only exists for the Second Temple . However , the identification of Solomon 's Temple with the area of the Temple Mount is widespread . According to the Bible the site should function as the center of all national life -- a governmental , judicial and religious center . During the Second Temple period it functioned also as an economic center . According to Jewish tradition and scripture , the First Temple was built by King Solomon the son of King David in 957 BCE and destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BCE . The second was constructed under the auspices of Zerubbabel in 516 BCE and destroyed by the Roman Empire in 70 CE . In the 2nd century , the site was used for a temple to Jupiter Capitolinus . It was redeveloped following the Arab conquest . Jewish tradition maintains it is here a Third and final Temple will also be built . The location is the holiest site in Judaism and is the place Jews turn towards during prayer . Due to its extreme sanctity , many Jews will not walk on the Mount itself , to avoid unintentionally entering the area where the Holy of Holies stood , since according to Rabbinical law , some aspect of the divine presence is still present at the site . It was from the Holy of Holies that the High Priest communicated directly with God .   The Temple was of central importance in Jewish worship , in the Tanakh and the Christian Old Testament . In the New Testament it remains the site of several events in the life of Jesus , and Christian loyalty to it as a focal point remained long after his death . After the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE , which came to be regarded by early Christians , as it was by Josephus and the sages of the Jerusalem Talmud , to be a divine act of punishment for the sins of the Jewish people , the Temple Mount lost its significance for Christian worship with the Christians considering it a fulfillment of Christ 's prophecy at , for example , and . It was to this end , proof of a biblical prophecy fulfilled and of Christianity 's victory over Judaism with the New Covenant , that early Christian pilgrims also visited the site . Byzantine Christians , despite some signs of constructive work on the esplanade , generally neglected the Temple Mount , especially when a Jewish attempt to rebuild the Temple was destroyed by the earthquake in 363 . and it became a desolate local rubbish dump , perhaps outside the city limits , as Christian worship in Jerusalem shifted to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre , and Jerusalem 's centrality was replaced by Rome .   Almost immediately after the Muslim conquest of Jerusalem in 638 CE , Caliph ` Omar ibn al Khatab , disgusted by the filth covering the site , had it thoroughly cleaned , and granted Jews access to the site . Among Sunni Muslims , the Mount is widely considered the third holiest site in Islam . Revered as the Noble Sanctuary , the location of Muhammad 's journey to Jerusalem and ascent to heaven , the site is also associated with Jewish biblical prophets who are also venerated in Islam . Muslims preferred to the esplanade as the heart for the Muslim quarter since it had been abandoned by Christians , to avoid disturbing the Christian quarters of Jerusalem . Umayyad Caliphs commissioned the construction of the al-Aqsa Mosque and Dome of the Rock on the site . The Dome was completed in 692 CE , making it one of the oldest extant Islamic structures in the world . The Al Aqsa Mosque rests on the far southern side of the Mount , facing Mecca . The Dome of the Rock currently sits in the middle , occupying or close to the area where the Holy Temple previously stood .   In light of the dual claims of both Judaism and Islam , it is one of the most contested religious sites in the world . Since the Crusades , the Muslim community of Jerusalem has managed the site as a Waqf , without interruption . As the site is part of the Old City , controlled by Israel since 1967 , both Israel and the Palestinian Authority claim sovereignty over it , and it remains a major focal point of the Arab -- Israeli conflict . In an attempt to keep the status quo , the Israeli government enforces a controversial ban on prayer by non-Muslims .