The Western Wall

Jerusalem, Israel

December 20, 2004 ; 12:50 Israel Time (UTC+2)

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Caption

This panorama was taken in front of the Western Wall, the holiest building in Judaism now days and the remaining of the outer court-yard wall of the second Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. The Jewish Temples were located in the Temple Mount or Noble Sanctuary. The first temple was build by King Solomon in the 10th century BCE and replaced the Tabernacle of Moses (known in Hebrew as the Mishkan "place of [divine] dwelling"), the first Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BCE.

The second temple was rebuild decades later at the same location after the return from the Babylonians captivity 536-515 BCE, King Herod the Great start expanding the second temple at 19 BCE, The second temple was destroyed by Roman troops under Titus in 70 AD.

On the Temple Mount, encompassed by the wall, the Muslims over the centuries built the Dome of the Rock and the nearby Al-Aqsa Mosque, from which they believe that Mohammed ascended to heaven on a horse in a mysterious vision. For Muslims it is their third holiest spot on Earth, after Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia.

The Western Wall continues to have a powerful hold on the devotion of Jews all over the world. Over the decades, millions have come as tourists and pilgrims to be able to touch the Wall with their hands and feel the sanctity that emanates from it.

The Middle East Peace Edition of the World Wide Panorama is a cooperative effort by VR photographers living in United Arab Emirates (UAE), Lebanon, Israel, and Egypt. We have organized, worked together and produced QTVRs that are linked together. Our message is clear, we cannot ignore each other any more since we all benefit from peace. This is our way to contribute to the Middle East peace efforts.

The members of this family are (in alphabetical order): Eldar Sharir (Israel), Fadi Saikali (Lebanon), Loyd Almeda (Dubai), Rana Mahmood (Dubai), Samir Ahmed (Dubai), Waleed Nassar (Egypt) and Yaniv Sirton (Israel). Thanks go to all participants for contributing to this effort, to Samir Ahmed for designing and wiring the flash in our QTVR's, and to Waleed Nassar for coming up with the idea of this edition.

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