Muslim 9th C inscription names Jerusalem as Solomon’s Temple site
A 9th century inscription recently discovered by archeologists at a village mosque in the Hebron district names Jerusalem’s Temple Mount as the site where King Solomon built his holy temple. The finding was displayed at the annual archeologists’ meeting at the Hebrew University, Jerusalem Thursday. Research of the inscription’s provenance traced how over the years the Jewish tradition sanctifying Temple Mount influenced Muslim perceptions and led them to adopt and re-label Jerusalem as a city holy to Muslims.
Asaf Avraham and Peretz Reuven who conducted the research found numerous 8th century Arabic documents and inscriptions, when the Muslim faith was founded, naming the Dome of the rock “Solomon’s temple” Even coins of that period found on Temple Mount and other parts of Jerusalem bore the Jewish temple’s seven-branched candelabra emblem.
