It was initially completed in 691 CE at the order of Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik during the Second Fitna, built on the site of the Roman temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, which had in turn been built on the site of Herod's Temple, destroyed during the Roman Siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE. The Dome of the Rock is in its core one of the oldest extant works of Islamic architecture. Its architecture and mos
aics were patterned after nearby Byzantine churches and palaces, although its outside appearance has been significantly changed in the Ottoman period and again in the modern period, notably with the addition of the gold-plated roof, in 1959–1961 and again in 1993. The octagonal plan of the structure may also have been influenced by the Byzantine Church of the Seat of Mary (also known as Kathisma in Greek and al-Qadismu in Arabic) built between 451 and 458 on the road between Jerusalem and Bethlehem. The site's significance stems in part from religious traditions regarding the rock, known as the Foundation Stone, at its heart, which bears great significance for Jews and Muslims as the site of Abraham's attempted sacrifice of his son (Isaac according to Genesis 22:2, Ishmael according to Islamic tradition). It has been called "Jerusalem's most recognizable landmark," and it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, along with two nearby Temple Mount structures, the Western Wall, and the "Resurrection Rotunda" in the nearby Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
