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and Al-Akza had been built on the Temple Mount, surrounded by palaces and hostels for

Moslem pilgrims, the Jewish community naturally turned to the Mount of Olives, with its numerous religious associations and its spectacular view of the Eastern Wall of the Temple Mount, which had never been destroyed. The Mount of Olives then became the central site for prayer services. A plot of land was acquired on the mount and a synagogue erected, in which special prayers were recited. They are mentioned in a famous letter by the heads of the Jewish community in Jerusalem to the Diaspora, in which they write, "..We have no comfort but to go about the gates...praying for mercy and forgiveness...for the return of the Shechina, the coming of the Messiah, the ingathering of the exiles...form the holy sanctuary on the Mount of Olives." (A. Ya'ari, Igrot Eretz Yisrael, p.47) Naturally, prayers at that time concentrated on mourning the destruction of the Temple, particularly on Tishah B'Av, the fast day of the anniversary of the destruction.
Another custom was the pilgrimage to the Mount of Olives on Jewish holidays, in memory of the pilgrimage to Jerusalem during the Temple period. On Hoshanna Rabba., the seventh day of Succot, it was the custom to encircle the mountain seven times, blowing the shofar, with the Kohanim (priests) dressed in festive white garments, and the people carrying murbiot (willow branches) following them, to commemorate a similar ceremony formerly held in the Temple on that day. It was a festive occasion, with much singing and dancing, and many that were not Kohanim would also seek to join and even lead the procession. On Hoshanna Rabba, the leader of the Jewish community would sit on the spot on the Mt. Of Olives from which the Shechina ascended to Heaven and issue various rulings and announcements of important appointments. Another ceremony centered around the sighting of the new moon, a continuation of the ceremonies during the Second Temple period. These customs continued on throughout the Moslem and medieval periods. Even when Jews were allowed to pray at the Western Wall and the Temple Mount gates, the Mount of Olives retained its status as a holy site revered and visited by Jewish residents and pilgrims to Jerusalem.
Looking towards the future, the Mount of Olives plays a key role in the Jerusalem of Messianic times. It figures prominently in the apocalyptic vision of the prophet Zechariah 14. "And I shall gather all the nations to Jerusalem to battle...Then will the L-rd go out and fight against those nations...And His feet shall stand on that day upon the Mount of Olives which is opposite Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split along the middle of it by a very great valley from east to west, and half of the mountain will be moved towards the north, and half of it towards the south... And on that day, living waters will go forth from Jerusalem...And the L-rd shall be king over all the earth: on that day the L-rd will be One and His Name One..And Jerusalem shall dwell secure."
The Mount of Olives has traditionally been revered as the site from which the Redemption of the Dead will begin in the end of days (Bereishit Rabah 33:11 and Bavli Ketubot). This is one of the reasons why Jews have always wanted to be buried in Jerusalem, and particularly on the Mount of Olives. Many famous graves are located there, from the first Temple period in the Silwan, at its southern border (for example, the monolithic grave of "Pharoah's daughter) to the Second Temple period burial caves found intact in the Kidron Valley with inscriptions in Greek and Hebrew and the famous monumental graves from the Second Temple period in the Valley of Jehoshaphat in the North. These include the Tomb of Zechariah the prophet, Yad Avshalom, and the family grave of the priests of the House of Chizir (Chronicles 1 24:15). According to tradition, the royal graves of some of the kings of the House of David, and particularly that of King Uzziah, may have been nearby (See Tosephta to Baba Bathra 100) The prophet Isaiah is also said to be buried near the Kidron. Towards the to of the mount are ancient graves ascribed to the prophets Chulda, Chagai and Malachi.
This, then has been the burial ground of Jerusalem throughout the ages. Unfortunately, the problem of desecration of graves there has also continued throughout the ages. Rabbi Binyamin of Tudela was a famous Jewish traveler who visited Jerusalem at the end of the twelfth century. He writes that during the Crusader period, when Jews were once again forbidden to live in Jerusalem, many tombstones were stolen and were used to build houses for the Crusaders. A similar situation existed during the 16th and 17th centuries, leading one pilgrim to note that graves in Jerusalem "have no tombstones" (Elchanan, "Emek HaMelech"). Etchings and photographs from the 19th and first half of the 20th century show many many graves at the foot of the Mount of Olives which cannot be found at all today, the result of the destruction and defilement of the cemetery, along with so many other Jewish holy sites. Nonetheless, Jews throughout the ages have consistently chosen this sacred place above all others to be buried.
Indeed, there was only one period in which the Mount of Olives cemetery was not in use - from the war of Independence in 1948 until the Six-Day War in 1966, when the mountain was under Jordanian rule. Not only were burials there forbidden but the graves were desecrated and the tombstones used for public and private building projects, particularly by the Jordanian Legion army. Immediately after the re-unification of Jerusalem, the mountain was mapped, and many of the desecrated graves restored. Although there are other, newer cemeteries in Jerusalem today, the Mount of Olives still takes precedence over all, and the areas of the mount allocated as burial sites have been greatly expanded from the original sites, which were concentrated towards the bottom of the south-western range.
Numerous graves of famous rabbis and authors can be found in the cemetery, ranging from the tenth to the twentieth centuries, such as those of Rabbi Ovadiah of Bartenura of the 15th century, author of the famous commentary on the Mishna; Rabbi Kolonymos:

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