The value and meaning of the Dome of the Rock changes according to which author is writing about it and when. The rock it covers was identified by certain sources as Mount Moriah, the site of the sacrifice of Isaac, the tomb of Adam, or the starting point of the night ascent of the Prophet Muhammad. The inscriptions decorating the interior of the monument are at odds with these meanings, and it is only in the 11^th century that a permanent literature develops and this place of pilgrimage takes on its definitive meaning for Muslims.