Mount Moriah

Mount Moriah is an elongated stretch of land running north-south and lying between Kidron Valley and "Hagai" Valley, between Mount Zion to the west and the Mount of Olives to the east.

The Jebusite "Zion" lay on the southern slope of Mount Moriah, above the Gihon Spring. After conquering the city and making it his capital, King David renamed it for himself: the "City of David". Later David paid full value for the northern area of the summit of Mount Moriah. The mountain was considered very holy, many of the traditions which had sprung up around it dating its sacred status all the way back to the Creation. The best-known tradition related to Mount Moriah is the Binding of Isaac for sacrifice by his father Abraham (Genesis 22).

The tradition of Jacob's Dream, which is also connected with Mount Moriah, is the most colorful representation of the essential nature of the site which some would later view as the navel of the world. In a similar tradition, the summit of Mount Moriah is considered the Foundation Stone, the symbolic fundament of the world's creation, and reputedly the site of the Temple s Holy of Holies, the supreme embodiment of the relationship between God and the people of Israel.

Upon the completion of King Solomon's Temple, famed for its sumptuous splendor, the Ark of the Covenant was placed within its confines. Solomon built his palace in the "miloh" (infill) area which separated the summit of the mountain and the Temple from the city below. This was also a concrete expression of the divine inspiration that was attributed to his kingship.