User:Davidbena/sandbox/mentorship

Ermete Pierotti shows a cave beneath the Dome of the Rock's cavern in his detailed cross-section diagram of the Golden Dome, with tunnels leading off from this lower chamber (known as 'Well of the Souls', or what is known in Arabic as Bir al Aruah) in opposite directions. The cavern in the center of the Dome of the Rock has a natural rock roof and walls but a man-made floor. Today it is carpeted and serves as part of this Muslim shrine and hosts the faithful wishing to pray. Ermete Pierotti discovered a much smaller chamber beneath the carpet and tiles of the floor. The lower chamber is connected horizontally on each side by a narrow tunnel. This cavern and subterranean cave are believed to have occupied the place of the Hearth (Beit ha-Moked), mentioned in the Mishnah. See article written by Leibel Reznick, Secret Chambers of the Temple Mount.

Excerpt: "At this point, it is important to reiterate that the gold-colored Dome of the Rock is built upon a large elevated platform about 545 feet square. There are flights of stairs on all sides leading up to the platform.

North of the Altar — which I now assume to be where the Rock in the Dome is located — was the Hearth. Under the Hearth was a large tunnel that connected to the mikvah of the Kohanim and led northward to the outer Tadi Gate." See in Plate XXVII

Plan of the Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem, by Pierotti