The mosque _Kubbet es-Sakharah_[348] stands upon an irregular quadrilateral platform, raised above the general level of the _Haram_, consisting almost wholly of rock, and surrounded by a low wall intended (most unsuccessfully) rather for ornament than use. Abutting on it, and in different parts of the platform itself, are several small buildings, crowned with elegant domes, and applied to various uses; some for oratories or schools, or for interviews between the faithful and their spiritual advisers; others for houses for the readers of the Koran, dervishes, and the keepers of the mosque; others again for stores. Two or three flights of steps on each side lead up to the platform, which is regarded by the Mohammedans as a sacred place. The number of steps in each flight is not the same, owing to the differences of level in the general surface of the _Haram_. They are made of white Palestine breccia, and at the head of each stands an elegant arcade of pointed arches, with columns of different materials, such as granite, or verd antique, or marble of less value; these generally differ both in height and diameter, in their bases and in the patterns of their capitals. Hence I am led to suppose that they formerly belonged to one of the Christian churches, which the Mohammedans destroyed and robbed of their ornaments to decorate their own sanctuary. These slender structures are not all alike; some have four arches and three columns, others six or seven arches with a corresponding number of columns; but their general effect is very good. The whole of the platform is paved with large slabs of white Palestine breccia, concealing the rough surface of the rock; which I saw underneath when some slight repairs were in progress, and also in the houses abutting on the wall, and in the cisterns; there is therefore no doubt that this is the actual summit of Moriah.