Southern Wall

Al-Aqsa Mosque, properly Jāmiʿ al-Aqṣā (Arabic: جامع الأقصى, lit. 'congregational mosque of Al-Aqsa [compound]'), also known as the Qibli Mosque or Qibli Chapel (Arabic: المصلى القبلي, romanized: al-muṣallā al-qiblī, lit. 'prayer hall of the qibla (south)'), is a congregational mosque or prayer hall in the Old City of Jerusalem. In some sources the building is also named al-Masjid al-Aqṣā, but this name and its English translation "Al Aqsa Mosque" itself, is disputed as it can instead apply to the whole compound in which the building sits. The wider compound is also known as the Haram al-Sharif, the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound (or simply Al-Aqsa), and the Temple Mount.During the rule of the Rashidun caliph Umar (r. 634–644) or the Umayyad caliph Mu'awiya I (r. 661–680), a small prayer house on the compound was erected near the mosque's site. The present-day mosque, located on the south wall of the compound, was originally built by the fifth Umayyad caliph Abd al-Malik (r. 685–705) or his successor al-Walid I (r. 705–715) (or both) as a congregational mosque on the same axis as the Dome of the Rock, a commemorative Islamic monument. After being destroyed in an earthquake in 746, the mosque was rebuilt in 758 by the Abbasid caliph al-Mansur. It was further expanded upon in 780 by the Abbasid caliph al-Mahdi, after which it consisted of fifteen aisles and a central dome. However, it was again destroyed during the 1033 Jordan Rift Valley earthquake. The mosque was rebuilt by the Fatimid caliph al-Zahir, who reduced it to seven aisles but adorned its interior with an elaborate central archway covered in vegetal mosaics; the current structure preserves the 11th-century outline. During the periodic renovations undertaken, the ruling Islamic dynasties constructed additions to the mosque and its precincts, such as its dome, façade, minarets, and minbar and interior structure. Upon its capture by the Crusaders in 1099, the mosque was used as a palace; it was also the headquarters of the religious order of the Knights Templar. After the area was conquered by Saladin in 1187, the structure's function as a mosque was restored. More renovations, repairs, and expansion projects were undertaken in later centuries by the Ayyubid Sultanate, the Mamluk Sultanate, the Ottoman Empire, the Supreme Muslim Council of British Palestine, and during the Jordanian occupation of the West Bank. Since the beginning of the ongoing Israeli occupation of the West Bank, the mosque has remained under the independent administration of the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf.Al-Aqsa Mosque is located in close proximity to various historical and holy sites in Judaism and Christianity, most notably that of the Temple in Jerusalem. The entire area has consequently held high geopolitical significance, and has been a primary flashpoint in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.

On 15 April 2022, clashes erupted between Palestinians and Israeli Security Forces on the Al-Aqsa Compound in the Old City of Jerusalem. According to the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, the clashes began when Palestinians threw stones, firecrackers, and other heavy objects at Israeli police officers. The policemen used tear gas shells, stun grenades and police batons against the Palestinians. Some Palestinians afterwards barricaded themselves inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque and proceeded to throw stones at the officers. In response, police raided the mosque, arresting those who had barricaded themselves inside. In addition, some damage was done to the mosque's structure.Over the course of the clashes, around 160 Palestinians were injured, including a waqf guard shot in the eye with a rubber bullet, 4 women, 27 children, and one journalist. Approximately 400 people were arrested; the majority of them were released later that day. Three Israeli police officers were also wounded. Concerns were raised about possible excessive use of force by Israeli forces.The break-in into the mosque caused a stir among the Palestinian public, and many reactions among the international community. The clashes were reported in the Arabic-speaking media as a storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, while Israeli authorities and media often use the term riots to refer to these events.Additional skirmishes, though more restricted, occurred in the days that followed at the Holy Sites and in and around the Old City.

The Al-Aqsa mosque fire was an arson attack on Jerusalem's al-Aqsa Mosque, the primary prayer hall within the Al-Aqsa compound, on 21 August 1969. The attack was carried out by Australian citizen Denis Michael Rohan, who initially set fire to the pulpit. The event has been described as "an act which plunged the Middle East into its worst crisis since the June, 1967, Arab-Israel war", and was a key catalyst for the creation of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. The 12th-century minbar of the al-Aqsa Mosque was destroyed in the fire. Initially, Israelis blamed the fire either on an accident related to ongoing renovations, or to a false flag attack by Palestinian group Fatah.

The Huldah Gates (Hebrew: שערי חולדה, Sha'arei Hulda) were one of the Gates of the Old City of Jerusalem leading into the Jerusalem Temple compound in the Hasmonean period and were named as such in the Mishnah. The term is currently being used for the remains of two later sets of gates, the Triple Gate and the Double Gate, known together as the Huldah Gates, built as part of the much extended Herodian Temple Mount, situated in Jerusalem's Old City. Both sets of gates were set into the Southern Wall of the Temple compound and gave access to the Temple Mount esplanade by means of underground vaulted ramps. Both were walled up in the Middle Ages.The western set is a double-arched gate (the Double Gate), and the eastern is a triple-arched gate (the Triple Gate). There still are a few Herodian architectural elements visible outside and inside the gates, while most everything else of what we see today is later, Muslim-period work.

The 1990 Temple Mount killings, or the Al Aqsa Massacre, also known as Black Monday, took place at the Temple Mount, Jerusalem at 10:30 am on Monday, 8 October 1990 before Zuhr prayer during the third year of the First Intifada. Following a decision by the Temple Mount Faithful to lay the cornerstone for the Temple, mass riots erupted, In the ensuing clashes, 17 Palestinians died, more than 150 Palestinians were wounded by Israeli security forces, and more than 20 Israeli civilians and police were wounded by Palestinians. United Nations Security Council Resolution 672, which was rejected by Israel, "condemned especially the acts of violence committed by the Israeli security forces" and United Nations Security Council Resolution 673 urged that Israel reconsider its refusal to allow United Nations Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar to carry out an investigation.

Al-Aqsa has been the site of frequent clashes between Palestinian Arab visitors and both Israeli security forces and Israeli groups, beginning with the 1990 Temple Mount killings, or Al-Aqsa Massacre, and most recently culminating in the 2023 Al-Aqsa clashes.

Al-Marwani Mushalla (Hebrew: אורוות שלמה, Arabic: المصلى المرواني) is an underground vaulted space now used as a Muslim prayer hall by the name of Al-Marwani Mosque, some 600 square yards (500 square metres) in area, at the bottom of stairs which lead down from the al-Aqsa Mosque, under the al-Aqsa Mosque, to the base of the southern wall of the enclave of al-Aqsa Mosque in Islamicjerusalem Jerusalem. Al-Marwani Mosque is located under the southeastern corner of the al-Aqsa Mosque compound, 12.5 m (41 ft) below the courtyard, and feature twelve rows of pillars and arches. In December 1996 the Waqf converted the area into a prayer hall by adding lights and floor tiles, and renamed it the El-Marwani Prayer Hall (Arabic: المصلى المرواني).

The al-Aqsa Library (مكتبة الأقصى Maktabat al-ʾAqṣā), also known as the al-Aqsa Mosque Library (مكتبة المسجد الأقصى Maktabat al-Masjid al-ʾAqṣā), is the assemblage of books in the al-Aqsa Compound (al-Ḥaram ash-Sharīf).

The Dome of Yusuf Agha (Arabic: قبة يوسف أغا Qubbat Yūsuf Agha) is a small square building with a dome in the al-Aqsa Compound (al-Ḥaram ash-Sharīf), in the courtyard between the Islamic Museum and al-Aqsa Mosque (al-Qibli).

The Islamic Museum (Arabic: متحف الآثار الإسلامية; Hebrew: מוזיאון האסלאם) is a museum at Al Aqsa in the Old City section of Jerusalem. On display are exhibits from ten periods of Islamic history encompassing several Muslim regions. The museum is west of al-Aqsa Mosque, across a courtyard.

The Large Stone Structure (Hebrew: מבנה האבן הגדול Mivne haEven haGadol) is the name given to a set of remains interpreted by the excavator, Israeli archaeologist Eilat Mazar, as being part of a single large public building in the City of David, presumably the oldest settlement core of Jerusalem. Mazar tentatively dated the findings to the tenth to ninth century BCE. Mazar chose this particular name for the alleged structure because of its proximity to another site known as the Stepped Stone Structure. Mazar announced the discovery on 4 August 2005, and stated that she believed it may be the remains of King David's palace as recorded in the Books of Samuel. The interpretation of the remains as those of one single building, the suggested date, and the association with King David have all been challenged by other well-known archaeologists. The archaeological dig was funded privately by Roger Hertog, an American banker.

Ophel (Hebrew: עֹ֫פֶל ‘ōp̄el), also Graecised to ophlas, is the biblical term given to a certain part of a settlement or city that is elevated from its surroundings, and probably means fortified hill or risen area. In the Hebrew Bible, the term is used in reference to two cities: Jerusalem, as in the Book of Chronicles (2 Chronicles 27:3; 33:14) and Book of Nehemiah (Nehemiah 3:26; 11:21), and Samaria, mentioned in the Books of Kings (2 Book of Kings 5:24). The Mesha Stele, written in Moabite, a Canaanite language closely related to Biblical Hebrew, is the only extra-biblical source using the word, also in connection to a fortified place.