THE MOSQUE OF OMAR.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXIX, Issue 10764, 11 May 1911, Page 4

THE MOSQUE OF OMAR.

A'FAMOUS SANCTUARY.

(Lytteltdn' Times' Correspondent.) Greymouth, May 9. In connection with to-day's cablegrams regarding the explorations, in 'tile Holy Lah'd, the Von; Archdeacon York, who recently visited Palestine, ; writes to: the Star:—"The,, Mosque \ot Omar ,is a handsome Mohammedan church 'built of stone and marble, and surmounted bv a dome similar to that of St. Paul's, London, it was built to commemorate the, capture ,of .Jerusalem by the Qaliph Qniar, ile'arlv, in the seventh century. .;iTJbe ilMohiimincdau symbol of the .crescent for quarter-moon crowns the edifice. It is built, on. the ancient site of the •threshing. floor.- of Araunah or Ornan, the Jebusite, and the "oare rock, on 'which the ancient oxen trod out the corn is still to be seen, and is, indeed, the principal attraction in the mosque. one pArtioti. of it;, is; the rough impression" of "what appears to be a large foot, supposed to lie the footmark of ;tltc angel Gabriel, who, Mohammedans ' feliinlc/ g'avei to' ; the. prophet revelations. This ancient threshing floor was the -spot selected by Jehovah for the foundation of King Solomon's temple. It "wa« probablv on this same spot that Abraham erected the altar on which he was instructed to sacrifice his son 'lsaac, "< and close ,by. is, a bush rto be seen there to-day, '.; and winch.. is _ a descendant of the, bush, or .in which .Abraham s)iwjthe r,am which.; lie was Commanded-.-to. offer in the -st'ead of his son;, and; which- substitute prefigured the Go.cL-given,' substitute* theLord 'Jesus- Christ; Who," as the Lamb of God, was slain on Calvary, near by, for the sins of the world. King, Solomon's" temple was the first glorious, sanctuary to crown the summit .of Mount Moriah. It was the pride and jqv of ithe Jewish; people; and the; richest building.in the world. The 'niaterials for its erection'were provided during the reigns of Kings David; and Solomon, and the masons during. Solomon's, reign .completed .the. % work,; which ;vva's a building of marble and. i cedar :wqod;;overlaid withgold and pre-, '. cipus-- stories. Later ,on : in the .history ' of :G.od's-ipeople ;this building; was: de-; . s'trdyed, ,aiid?tsr.ael; taken into captivity, by their : enemies, the Babylonians. ■Cyrus, the Persian, ordered the restoration of" the temple, and:Zerubbabel rebuilt it, although not on so extensive a ptau.as tlie' first temple. This temple; was also destroyed, and King Herod"rebuilt, it, according to its former anagnificeiice, and this was the temple into which Christ" came, and which he described as the 'Father's House,' and which the Jews did not properly reverence. Jesus foretold its third destruction, when He said: 'There shall not be left here one stone upon another which shall not bo thrown down.' Jerusalem was again destroyed, and this i temple desecrated and burnt by Titus, the Rofnan general, in A.D. 70. The Jews have attempted many times to rebuild the ancient sanctuary, which is at present defiled in their sight by the presence, of the Mohammedan Mosque of Omar. "From the- foregoing one can well understand the desire on the part of arcbtpoli-igints and frensuie-seekers to '■xr-lore fh!p ancient site. The Meiianil)\r:]:\:i< keep a sirict gupi'd over their san.-luaiy. a lid only allow tourists within its sacred precincts on the payment el' a foe which, in the writer's c:w>. cost him 10s. and before entering what is e-dled llio ' Dene- of l!.e Rock.; eve.rv visitor is commanded to take off his shoes or else encase them in slippers provided for the purpose "