According to the Tanakh, it was from this mount that Abraham was about to sacrafice his son Isaac, whom he loved very much, to G-d. Howver, an angel quickly stopped him and informed him that he had passed the test of faith.
Mount Moriah was also where Solomon's Temple once stood. After the Jews returned to Isreal after their exile in Babylonia, the Temple of Solomon was in ruins, so a new temple known as the second Temple was built on the site. Many years later, King Herod refurbished the Temple on a grander scale and it became known as the Temple of Herod. The Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE.
The Old City of Jerusalem did not form part of the State of Israel when it was founded in 1948. At that time Jews were forbidden to enter the Temple Mount and most of the Old City. After the Six-Day War in 1967, the Old City of Jerusalem was captured by Israeli forces but the Temple Mount was soon handed back under Muslim control.
The area remains a focal point of tensions between Jews and Muslims.