@jeffcliff @tyler @BowsacNoodle @MeBigbrain
Wikipedia says that the Dome of the Rock / al Aqsa was built to form a center of pilgrimage to rival #Mecca
Just like in the biblical account, Rehoboam, the first king of Israel in the Divided Kingdoms period, established a Baal shrine to discourage pilgrimage to Jerusalem (in Judah). Similar motivations