Re: demise of the Templars???

["John S. Quarterman" <jsq@quarterman.org>]

>Hi!
>
>    The area on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem where the Knights Templar had 
>their headquarters is now occupied by the El-Aqsa Mosque.  My husband and I 
>visited Syria, Jordan and Israel in 1995 and our Jewish guide in Jerusalem 
>told me so.  He wanted to know why I was asking him this and I told him my 
>mother's family were Sinclairs and that we were members of the Knights 
>Templar and had fought in the Crusades. 

The stone Al-Aqsa Mosque was originally completed in ca. 705 A.D.
The present structure was completed shortly after an earthquake in 1033 A.D.

 http://www.noblesanctuary.com/AQSAMosque.html

 http://www.stanford.edu/~pwineman/JHP-presentation.htm

So the present building was there when the First Crusade arrived in
Jerusalem in 1099, and when the Templars were founded in 1118.
It was the building the Templars referred to as the Temple of Solomon.

>Sincerely,
>
>Susan Grady
>Alexandria, Virginia

John S. Quarterman <jsq@quarterman.org>