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Dome of the Rock

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Dome of the Rock
Qubbat aṣ-Ṣakhra
قبّة الصخرة
Dome of the Rock
Dome of the Rock is located in Old City of Jerusalem
Dome of the Rock
Location within the Old City of Jerusalem
Religion
AffiliationIslam
Location
LocationJerusalem
AdministrationMinistry of Awqaf (Jordan)
Coordinates31°46′41″N 35°14′07″E / 31.7780°N 35.2354°E / 31.7780; 35.2354
Architecture
Architects
StyleUmayyad (with later exterior Ottoman decoration)
FounderAbd al-Malik ibn Marwan
Establishedc. 685–692

The Dome of the Rock (Arabic: قبة الصخرة, romanized: Qubbat aṣ-Ṣaḫra) is an octagonal Islamic shrine at the center of the Al-Aqsa mosque compound on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem. It is the world's oldest surviving work of Islamic architecture, the earliest archaeologically-attested religious structure to be built by a Muslim ruler and contains the earliest inscriptions proclaiming Islam and the prophet Muhammad.[1][2]

Its initial construction was undertaken by the Umayyad Caliphate on the orders of Abd al-Malik during the Second Fitna in 691–692 CE, and it has been built on top of the Foundation Stone (or Noble Rock). The site's significance for Muslims derives from the belief that the Night Journey of Muhammad began from the rock at the centre of the structure.[3][4] It is believed in Christianity and Judaism to be the site where Abraham attempted to sacrifice his son, and it is believed to be built on the site of the Second Jewish Temple (built in c. 516 BCE to replace the destroyed Solomon's Temple and expanded by Herod the Great), which was destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE, the temple over bears great significance in Judaism as the place where God created the world as well as the first human, Adam,[5] and as the place where God's divine presence is manifested more than in any other place, towards which Jews turn during prayer.

Its plan and original mosaic decoration were patterned after nearby Byzantine churches and palaces.[6] The octagonal plan may have been influenced by the Byzantine-era Church of the Seat of Mary (also known as Kathisma in Greek and al-Qadismu in Arabic), which was built between 451 and 458 on the road between Jerusalem and Bethlehem.[6] The large dome has a subtly bulbous form.[7] The original dome collapsed in 1015 and was rebuilt in 1022–23.[8] The monument's outside appearance was significantly changed during the early Ottoman period, when brightly coloured, mainly blue-and-white Iznik-style tiles were applied to the exterior,[9][10] and again in the modern period, notably with the addition of the gold-plated roof, in 1959–64 and again in the 1990s.

Designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, it has been called "Jerusalem's most recognizable landmark"[11] along with two nearby Old City structures: the Western Wall and the "Resurrection Rotunda" in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.[12] Its Islamic inscriptions proved to be a milestone, as afterward they became a common feature in Islamic structures and almost always mention Muhammad.[1] The Dome of the Rock remains a "unique monument of Islamic culture in almost all respects", including as a "work of art and as a cultural and pious document", according to art historian Oleg Grabar.[13]

Architecture

Panorama of the Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound, including its Qibli Mosque and the gold-roofed Dome of the Rock, from the Mount of Olives

Structure

Floor plan of the Dome of the Rock

The Dome of the Rock's basic plan is essentially octagonal. It is capped at its center by a dome, approximately 20 m (66 ft) in diameter, mounted on an elevated circular drum standing on 16 supports (4 piers and 12 columns).[14] Surrounding this circle is an octagonal arcade of 24 piers and columns.[15] The inner circular row of drum supports and the octagonal arcade create an inner ambulatory that encircles the holy rock. The outer walls are also octagonal. They each measure approximately 60 m (200 ft) wide and 36 m (118 ft) high.[14] The inner and outer octagon create a second, outer ambulatorium surrounding the inner one. Both the circular drum and the exterior walls contain many windows.[14] There are four entrances to the building, one for each cardinal direction, and the outer wall is pierced by 36 windows.[16]

Interior decoration

The interior of the dome is lavishly decorated with mosaic, faience and marble, much of which was added several centuries after its completion. The inner colonnade features ablaq light and dark stone voussoirs in its arches.[17][16] The origins of these marble treatments are controversial, with some scholars theorizing them to be from the original construction, and some saying they were later additions (and differing then as to the dates and identity of the builders).[18][17] The columns and capitals of both the inner and outer arcades were reused from older ancient buildings.[19]

Many surfaces are covered by mosaic decoration, in particular: both sides of the octagonal arcade (on and around the arches in the upper area above the columns), the outer side of the circular arcade (again along the upper parts), the lower drum of the dome (the zone below the windows), and the upper drum of the dome (the zone containing the windows).[20] In total, the mosaics cover approximately 1,200 square metres (13,000 sq ft) of surface.[21] The decorative motifs, inspired by late antique Byzantine and Sasanian art, mainly depict stylized plants and trees (sometimes growing from vases), geometric patterns, and jewellery.[16][22] The mosaics have undergone multiple restorations, additions, and modifications over the centuries but much of it still dates from the Umayyad period or retains the original Umayyad designs. The main exception is the mosaics of the upper drum, which have been significantly altered by later restorations, as well as several inscriptions added during later periods.[20][21]

Some other elements of original Umayyad decoration include a carved, painted, and gilded marble band that runs along the outer wall (at around mid-height),[20] as well as some of the gilded metal plaques (of either brass or bronze) that adorn the tie-beams along the octagonal arcade.[23][20] The flat ceilings of the ambulatories today are made of wood and feature painted decoration dating to various periods, though the actual wooden structure of the ceilings may date from the 14th century.[24] Some scholars believe that during the Umayyad and Abbasid periods the ambulatories did not have such a ceiling at all, meaning that the beams supporting the outer roof above were left exposed and may have supported lamps that better illuminated some of the mosaic decoration on the upper surfaces of the arcades.[25][24] The present-day painted and gilded decoration of the outer ambulatory ceiling dates from the Mamluk period, likely during al-Nasir Muhammad's restoration circa 1327–28,[26] while the painted decoration of the inner ambulatory ceiling mainly reflects 18th-century and 19th-century Ottoman styles.[27] The Mamluk decoration was restored faithfully in 1960–21[26] and the Ottoman decoration underwent restoration in 1963, with some minor changes.[27] An Ottoman inscription from 1780 and an eyewitness account from the 1860s both record that the small domelets or mini-domes in this ceiling were at one time filled with Chinese porcelain bowls that were inserted during the 1780 restoration.[27] The current painted and gilded decoration[16] inside the central dome itself is based on traditional Ottoman ornamentation.[28]

The interior decoration also contains Qur'anic inscriptions. They vary from today's standard text (mainly changes from the first to the third person) and are mixed with pious inscriptions not in the Quran.[29] The dedicatory inscription in Kufic script placed around the octagonal arcade contains the date believed to be the year the monument was first completed, 72 AH (691/2 CE), while the name of the corresponding caliph and builder of the Dome, Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan, was later erased and replaced by the name of the Abbasid caliph al-Ma'mun (r. 813–833).[30][31] A rectangular inscription panel added into the mosaics inside the drum of the dome records the restoration by the Fatimid caliph al-Zahir with the date 413 AH (1027/8 CE), though this may be only a fragment of the original Fatimid inscriptions.[32] An inscription band in a cursive Arabic script from the Ayyubid period can be found along the lower edge of the dome's drum and contains Qur'anic verses.[33] Further above, inside the dome, are two separate inscription bands from the Ottoman period. The upper/inner band, around the apex of the dome, contains the Throne Verse from the Qur'an and dates to 1874–75.[34] The lower/outer band records various restorations by different Ottoman, Mamluk, and Ayyubid rulers, preserving information from older inscriptions that had been repeatedly shortened or lost during earlier restorations.[28][34] The names and dates recorded in this band include: the Ayybud sultan Saladin in 586 AH (1191), the Mamluk sultan al-Nasir Muhammad in 717 AH (1317), and the Ottoman sultans Mahmud I in 1156 AH (1754) and Abdulaziz in 1291 AH (1874).[34]

Exterior decoration

The Dome of the Rock as seen from the north, and on its left the Dome of the Chain

The earliest written descriptions of the dome mention its golden appearance. According to Oleg Grabar, "the Umayyad structure probably displayed this gilded effect from the beginning, although how this was achieved is unknown."[35] According to traditional accounts compiled at a later period, a hundred thousand gold dinars from the funds granted by Abd al-Malik for the monument's construction remained unspent upon its completion, which the caliph then offered to the architects as a further reward. When they declined this payment, he instead ordered the dinars to be transformed into golden plates and used to adorn the dome.[36][37] The golden appearance was later lost but was restored in 1961 using copper. In 1995, the golden dome was covered again with real gold-plated segments of aluminum and copper.[38]

One of the vaulted porticos preceding the four entrances, dating from a 20th-century reconstruction[39]

The decoration of the outer walls went through two major phases: the initial Umayyad scheme comprised a revetment of marble panels along the lower walls while the upper walls were covered with mosaics, much like the interior walls.[40] Nothing of these exterior mosaics has survived[41] except for some small fragments discovered during restorations and now housed in the Islamic Museum of al-Aqsa.[40] The second major phase came in the 16th-century, when Ottoman sultan Suleiman the Magnificent renovated the building and replaced what remained of the exterior mosaics with Ottoman tile decoration.[42] The tiles seem to have been fabricated locally rather than at centers like Iznik,[10] while a small number of tiles were actual Iznik productions that were imported to Jerusalem.[43] This tilework was of many different styles and techniques, including cuerda seca tiles, multi-coloured underglaze tiles, and blue-and-white tilework,[10] resembling the Iznik tiles that were produced for the Ottoman capital.[9] The new tile revetment also included Qashani tiles.[44][clarification needed] The original tiles were replaced between 1960 and 1962 with copies produced in Italy.[45][42] According to Oleg Grabar, it is unclear to what extent these tiles faithfully reproduced the original Ottoman-era tilework.[45]

Surah Ya-Sin (the 'Heart of the Quran') is inscribed across the top of the tile work and was commissioned in the 16th century by Suleiman the Magnificent.[46] Surah 17, Al-Isra', which tells the story of the Isra or Night Journey, is inscribed above this.[citation needed]

History

Pre-Islamic background

The Dome of the Rock is situated in the center of the Temple Mount, the site of Solomon's Temple and the Second Jewish Temple, which had been greatly expanded under Herod the Great in the 1st century BCE. Herod's Temple was destroyed in 70 CE by the Romans, and after the Bar Kokhba revolt in 135 CE, a Roman temple to Jupiter Capitolinus was built at the site by Emperor Hadrian.[47]

Jerusalem was ruled by the Byzantine Empire throughout the 4th to 6th centuries. During this time, Christian pilgrimage to Jerusalem began to develop.[48] The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was built under Constantine in the 320s, but the Temple Mount was left undeveloped after a failed project of restoration of the Jewish Temple under Emperor Julian.[49]

In 638 CE, Byzantine Jerusalem was conquered by the Arab armies of Umar ibn al-Khattab,[50] second Caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate. Umar was advised by Ka'b al-Ahbar, a Jewish rabbi who converted to Islam,[51] that the site is identical with the site of the former Jewish Temples in Jerusalem.[52] Among the first Muslims, Jerusalem was referred to as Madinat bayt al-Maqdis ('City of the Temple').[53]

Umayyads

Original construction

Detail of mosaic decoration inside the Dome of the Rock. Much of the mosaic decoration visible today still preserves the original Umayyad designs.[20]

The initial octagonal structure of the Dome of the Rock and its round wooden dome had basically the same shape as it does today.[14] It was built by the order of the Umayyad caliph Abd al-Malik (r. 685–705).[54] According to Sibt ibn al-Jawzi (1185–1256), construction started in 685/6, while al-Suyuti (1445–1505) holds that its commencement year was 688.[55] A dedicatory inscription in Kufic script is preserved inside the dome. The date is recorded as AH 72 (691/2 CE), the year most historians believe the construction of the original Dome was completed.[56] An alternative interpretation of the inscription claims that it indicates the year when construction started.[57] In this inscription, the name of "al-Malik" was removed and replaced by the name of the Abbasid caliph al-Ma'mun (r. 813–833). This alteration of the original inscription was first noted by Melchior de Vogüé in 1864.[58] Some scholars have suggested that the dome was added to an existing building, built either by Muawiyah I (r. 661–680),[59] or indeed a Byzantine building dating to before the Muslim conquest, built under Heraclius (r. 610–641).[60]

The supervisor and engineer in charge of the project were Raja ibn Haywa, Yazid ibn Sallam, and the latter's son Baha.[61][6][62] Raja was a Muslim theologian and native of Beisan, and Yazid and Baha were mawali (non-Arab, Muslim converts; clients) of Abd al-Malik from Jerusalem. Abd al-Malik was represented in the supervision of the construction by his son Sa'id al-Khayr.[61] The Caliph employed expert workers from across his domain, at the time restricted to Syria and Egypt,[61] who were presumably Christians.[62] Construction cost was reportedly seven times the yearly tax income of Egypt.[63]

The Dome of the Rock's architecture and mosaics were patterned after nearby Byzantine churches and palaces.[6] The historian K. A. C. Creswell noted that those who built the shrine used the measurements of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The diameter of the dome of the shrine is 20.20 m (66.3 ft) and its height 20.48 m (67.2 ft), while the diameter of the dome of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is 20.90 m (68.6 ft) and its height 21.05 m (69.1 ft).[citation needed]

Motivations for construction

The smaller Dome of the Chain, erected in 691–92 CE,[64]

Narratives by the medieval sources about Abd al-Malik's motivations in building the Dome of the Rock vary.[13] At the time of its construction, the Caliph was engaged in war with Christian Byzantium and its Syrian Christian allies on the one hand and with the rival caliph Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr, who controlled Mecca, the annual destination of Muslim pilgrimage, on the other hand.[13][65] Thus, one series of explanations was that Abd al-Malik intended for the Dome of the Rock to be a religious monument of victory over the Christians that would distinguish Islam's uniqueness within the common Abrahamic religious setting of Jerusalem, home of the two older Abrahamic faiths, Judaism and Christianity.[13][66] The historian Shelomo Dov Goitein has argued that the Dome of the Rock was intended to compete with the many fine buildings of worship of other religions: "The very form of a rotunda, given to the Qubbat as-Sakhra, although it was foreign to Islam, was destined to rival the many Christian domes"[67] - and more specifically, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, according to others.[68]

The other main explanation holds that Abd al-Malik, in the heat of the war with Ibn al-Zubayr, sought to build the structure to divert the focus of the Muslims in his realm from the Ka'aba in Mecca, where Ibn al-Zubayr would publicly condemn the Umayyads during the annual pilgrimage to the sanctuary.[13][65][66] Though most modern historians dismiss the latter account as a product of anti-Umayyad propaganda in the traditional Muslim sources and doubt that Abd al-Malik would attempt to alter the sacred Muslim requirement of fulfilling the pilgrimage to the Ka'aba, other historians concede that this cannot be conclusively dismissed.[13][65][66]

Abbasids and Fatimids

Cross section of the Dome (print from 1887, after the first detailed drawings of the Dome, made by the English artist Frederick Catherwood in 1833).[69]

The building was severely damaged by earthquakes in 808 and again in 846.[70] It was during the Abbasid renovations of the building that the inscription of the patron of the building Abd al-Malik was removed and replaced with the Abbasid Al-Ma'mun (r. 813–833) although the inscribed date 72 AH (692–693 CE) was not removed or altered.[71]

The upper part of the dome collapsed in an earthquake in 1015 and was rebuilt in 1022–1023. The mosaics on the drum were repaired in 1027–1028.[8] The earthquake of 1033 resulted in the introduction of wooden beams to reinforce the dome.[72] These renovations and reconstructions were conducted during the reign of the Fatimid Al-Zahir (r. 1021–1036), who also rebuilt the Qibli (Al-Aqsa) Mosque.[73][74] The Fatimid restorations are recorded by mosaic epitaphs on the inner dome dated to 413 AH (1022–23) and 418 (1027–28).[34] The Qur'anic Throne Verse, inscribed in gilt silver, was observed by the Persian traveler Ali al-Harawi on the roof of the dome during the Crusader occupation. This inscription was most likely a renewed version of an earlier Umayyad inscription of the verse.[34]

Crusaders

Depiction of the Templum Domini on the reverse side of the seal of the Knights Templar

Jerusalem was captured by Crusaders in 1099 at the end of the First Crusade. The Dome of the Rock was given to the Augustinians, who turned it into a church, while the nearby Al-Aqsa main prayer hall or Qibli Mosque first became a royal palace for a while, and then for much of the 12th century the headquarters of the Knights Templar. The Templars, active from c. 1119, identified the Dome of the Rock as the site of the Temple of Solomon.[clarification needed] The Templum Domini, as they called the Dome of the Rock, featured on the official seals of the Order's Grand Masters (such as Everard des Barres and Renaud de Vichiers), and soon became the architectural model for round Templar churches across Europe.[75]

Ayyubids and Mamluks

Cursive Arabic inscription along the lower edge of the dome's drum, dating to Ayyubid restorations, containing Qur'anic verses.

Jerusalem was recaptured by Saladin on 2 October 1187, he requested a complete restoration of Al-Aqsa and ordered the marble cover of the rock which was added by the crusaders to be removed.[76] The Dome of the Rock was reconsecrated as a Muslim shrine. The cross on top of the dome was replaced by a crescent, and a wooden screen was placed around the rock below. Saladin's nephew al-Malik al-Mu'azzam Isa carried out other restorations within the building, and added the porch to the Jami'a Al-Aqsa.[citation needed]

As part of Saladin's restoration, a new inscription band consisting almost entirely of verses 1 to 21 of the 20th chapter (surah) of the Qur'an, Ta-Ha, were added along the inner face of the lower drum of the dome. Unlike earlier inscriptions, this one employs a cursive Arabic script which had only recently developed at the time.[33] These verses are believed to have supplanted Latin inscriptions dating to the Crusader period, which may themselves have replaced an earlier Umayyad inscription.[34] Saladin's restoration is still recorded explicitly in a later Ottoman inscription inside the dome, which gives the date of his restoration as 586 AH (1190 CE).[34] Another inscription on a wooden screen inside the building, no longer present, also recorded the name of one of Saladin's sons and a date corresponding to 1199 CE.[77]

The Temple Mount was the focus of extensive royal patronage by the sultans during the Mamluk period, which lasted from 1260 until 1516. The Dome of the Rock itself was not significantly modified.[26] Sultan Baybars (r. 1260–1277) restored the exterior decoration. Al-Nasir Muhammad re-gilded the dome during his second reign (1299–1309). The current wooden ceiling of the outer ambulatory and its gilded decoration likely dates to another restoration by al-Nasir Muhammad during his third reign, around 1327–1328. The dome was severely damaged in 1447, possibly by lightning, and its western side had to be rebuilt.[26]

Ottomans

During the Ottoman period, the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent (r. 1520–1566) brought Ottoman dynastic patronage to the city, around the same time that the sultan and his wife, Haseki Hürrem Sultan (Roxelana), were also commissioning works in the holy cities of Mecca and Medina.[78][79] Suleiman initiated a major renovation of the Dome of the Rock. The most visible legacy of this work was the covering of the exterior with Ottoman-style tiles, which replaced the old Umayyad mosaics.[10] This was likely part of an effort to impose a visibly Ottoman mark on this major Islamic holy site.[80] Inscriptions on the tiles provide the dates 952 AH (1545–6 CE) and 959 AH (1552 CE), but work continued until the end of Suleiman's reign, if not later.[10] Documents show repairs were still incomplete by the time of Murad III (r. 1574–1595) and the latter can probably be credited with finishing this work, which included repairs to the lead of the dome.[81]

The exterior is covered in decorative tiles

The tiles seem to have been fabricated locally rather than at centers like Iznik (famous for its production of Iznik pottery at this time), although there does not appear to have been a sophisticated ceramic production center in the region.[10] Robert Hillenbrand remarks that the workshops that produced the tiles must have been dedicated to this project alone, because there is no evidence that similar tilework was produced for other monuments in Jerusalem during this period.[9] The name of one of the craftsmen is recorded in an inscription as Abdallah of Tabriz.[10] This may indicate that the tiles were commissioned from a workshop of Iranian craftsmen from Tabriz who are thought to have produced many earlier Ottoman tiles.[82][83]

The Dome of the Chain, a free-standing structure next to the Dome of the Rock, was also renovated as part of Suleiman's project, in 1561–2.[84] Also nearby, the Ottomans built the Dome of the Prophet in its current form sometime in the 16th or 17th century.[85][86]

Further restorations to the building are recorded in 1720–1721, 1742,1754, 1780, 1817–1818, and 1853.[28] In another major restoration project undertaken in 1874–1875 during the reign of the Ottoman Sultan Abdülaziz, all the tiles on the west and southwest walls of the octagonal part of the building were removed and replaced by copies that had been made in Turkey.[87][88]

British Mandate

1920s photograph

Haj Amin al-Husseini, appointed Grand Mufti by the British in 1917, along with Yaqub al-Ghusayn, implemented the restoration of the Dome of the Rock and the Jami Al-Aqsa in Jerusalem.

Parts of the Dome of the Rock collapsed during the 11 July 1927 earthquake, and the walls were left badly cracked,[89] damaging many of the repairs that had taken place over previous years.[citation needed]

Jordanian rule

King Abdullah I of Jordan visiting Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in 1948 (left), and King Faisal of Saudi Arabia visiting in 1966 (right) with the Dome of the Rock visible in the background

Between 1959 and 1964, an extensive program of renovation was undertaken by the government of Jordan,[90] with funds supplied by Arab governments and Turkey. The work included replacement of large numbers of tiles dating back to the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent, which had become dislodged by heavy rain. In 1965, as part of this restoration, the dome was covered with a durable aluminium bronze alloy made in Italy that replaced the lead exterior. Before 1959, the dome was covered in blackened lead. In the course of substantial restoration carried out from 1959 to 1962, the lead was replaced by aluminum-bronze plates covered with gold leaf.

Israeli rule

A few hours after the Israeli flag was hoisted over the Dome of the Rock in 1967 during the Six-Day War, Israelis lowered it on the orders of Moshe Dayan and invested the Muslim waqf (religious trust) with the authority to manage the Al-Aqsa in order to "keep the peace".[91]

In 1993, the golden dome covering was refurbished following a donation of US$8.25 million by King Hussein of Jordan, who sold one of his houses in London to fund the 80 kilograms (180 lb) of gold required.[citation needed]

Accessibility

Sign at visitors entrance to Temple Mount (Al-Aqsa Compound)

The Dome is maintained by the Ministry of Awqaf in Amman, Jordan.[92]

Until the mid-20th century, non-Muslims were not permitted in the area. Since 1967, non-Muslims have been permitted limited access; however non-Muslims are not permitted to pray on the Al-Aqsa, bring prayer books, or wear religious apparel. The Israeli police help enforce this.[93] Israel restricted access for a short time during 2012 of Palestinian residents of the West Bank to the Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound. West Bank Palestinian men had to be over 35 to be eligible for a permit.[94] Palestinian residents of Jerusalem, who hold Israeli residency cards, and Palestinians with Israeli citizenship are permitted unrestricted access.

Some Orthodox rabbis encourage Jews to visit the site, while most forbid entry to the compound lest there be a violation of Jewish law. Even rabbis who encourage entrance to the Temple Mount prohibit entrance to the actual Dome of the Rock.[95]

Religious significance

The location of the Dome of the Rock is believed by many Muslims to be the site mentioned in Sura 17 of the Qur'an, which tells the story of the Isra and Mi'raj, the mythical Night Journey of Muhammad from the Great Mosque of Mecca to the Masjid Al-Aqsa ("the farthest place of prayer") where he prayed, and then to visit heaven where he leads prayers and rises to heaven to receive instructions from Allah. Although the city of Jerusalem is not mentioned by any of its names in the Qur'an, it is mentioned in hadiths as the place of Muhammad's Night Journey.[96]

The Foundation Stone viewed from the dome. Photograph was taken between 1900 and 1920, before the removal of the surrounding iron grill. The entrance to the Well of Souls can be seen on the top-left side.

Judging though by the early Muslim sources, this does not seem to have been yet a fully formulated part of the beliefs shared by Muslims during the construction of the Dome in the 8th century, and the inscriptions inside the dome attributing the building to Caliph 'Abd al-Malik in the year 691/2 do not refer at all to the Night Journey, but contain only the Quranic view on the nature of the prophet Isa (Jesus) instead.[4] The inscription is in a mosaic frieze that includes an explicit rejection of the divinity of Christ:

33. "So peace is upon me the day I was born, and the day I die, and the day I shall be raised alive!" 34. Such is Jesus, son of Mary. It is a statement of truth, about which they doubt. 35. It is not befitting to (the majesty of) Allah that He should take himself a child. Glory be to Him! when He determines a matter, He only says to it, "Be", and it is.

— Quran, 19:33–35

According to Goitein, the inscriptions decorating the interior clearly display a spirit of polemic against Christianity, whilst stressing at the same time the Qur'anic doctrine that Jesus was a true prophet. The formula la sharika lahu ('God has no companion') is repeated five times; the verses from Sura Maryam 19:35–37, which strongly reaffirm Jesus' prophethood to God, are quoted together with the prayer: Allahumma salli ala rasulika wa'abdika 'Isa bin Maryam – "O Lord, send your blessings to your Prophet and Servant Jesus son of Mary." He believes that this shows that rivalry with Christendom, together with the spirit of Muslim mission to the Christians, was at work at the time of construction.[67]

At the beginning of the 8th century, Ibn Ishaq codified the earliest Arabic source pertaining to the Jerusalem Rock, as part of his Sirat al-Nabi, a biography of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, introducing the notion that right after his Night Journey from Mecca to Jerusalem (isra'), he set off immediately and specifically from the Rock in his Ascension (mi'raj) to Heaven, where God instructed him in the doctrines of the new religion.[4]

Today, many Muslims believe the Dome serves for the commemoration of Muhammad's Ascension,[4] in accordance to the views shared by some Islamic scholars, that the Rock is indeed the spot[97] from which Muhammad ascended to Heaven accompanied by the angel Gabriel. Further, Muhammad was taken here by Gabriel to pray with Abraham, Moses, and Jesus.[98]

The Dome of the Rock, located at the center of the Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound (Al-Masjid al-Aqsa), whose sanctity is affirmed in both the Quran and the Hadith

Other Islamic scholars believe that Muhammad ascended to Heaven from the Masjid Al-Aqsa, of which the Dome of the Rock is a part.[99][100]

Though Muslims now pray towards the Kaaba at Mecca, they once faced the Temple Mount as the Jews do; Islamic tradition holds that Muhammad led prayers towards Jerusalem until the 16th or 17th month after his migration from Mecca to Medina, when Allah directed him to instead turn towards the Kaaba in Mecca.[101]

The Temple Institute wishes to relocate the Dome to another site and replace it with a Third Temple, a vision in line with the New Jerusalem prophecy.[102] Some religious Jews, following rabbinic teaching, believe that the Temple should only be rebuilt in the messianic era, and that it would be presumptuous of people to force God's hand. However, some Evangelical Christians consider rebuilding of the Temple to be a prerequisite to Armageddon and the Second Coming.[103] Jeremy Gimpel, a US-born candidate for The Jewish Home political party in the 2013 Israeli elections, caused a controversy when he was recorded telling a Fellowship Church evangelical group in Florida in 2011 to imagine the incredible experience that would follow were the Dome to be destroyed and the construction of the Third Temple begun. All evangelicals would immediately rush to go to Israel, he opined.[104]

Influence and depiction

Homages in art and architecture

Raphael, The Marriage of the Virgin

It was long believed that the Dome of the Rock echoed the architecture of the Temple in Jerusalem, as can be seen in Raphael's The Marriage of the Virgin and in Perugino's Marriage of the Virgin.[105]

For the same reason, the Dome of the Rock has inspired the architecture of a number of buildings. These include the 15th-century octagonal Church of St. Giacomo in Italy, the 19th-century octagonal Moorish Revival-style Rumbach Street Synagogue in Budapest,[105] as well as the Mausoleum of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent in Istanbul and the New Synagogue in Berlin, Germany.

On banknotes

The Dome of the Rock has been depicted on the obverse and reverse of several Middle Eastern currencies:

References

Citations

  1. 1 2 Johns 2003, p. 416.
  2. ↑ George, A. (2010). The Rise of Islamic Calligraphy. Saqi. p. 60. ISBN 978-0-86356-673-8. The answer to this question begins with the oldest surviving Islamic monument : the Dome of the Rock
  3. ↑ M. Anwarul Islam and Zaid F. Al-hamad (2007). "The Dome of the Rock: Origin of its octagonal plan". Palestine Exploration Quarterly. 139 (2): 109–128. doi:10.1179/003103207x194145. ISSN 0031-0328. S2CID 162578242.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Rabbat, Nasser (1989). Oleg Grabar (ed.). "The Meaning of the Umayyad Dome of the Rock" (PDF). Muqarnas. 6. Leiden: E.J. Brill: 12–21 [13–14]. doi:10.2307/1602276. JSTOR 1602276. Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 May 2021. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  5. ↑ Carol Delaney, Abraham on Trial: The Social Legacy of Biblical Myth, Princeton University Press 2000 p.120.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Avner, Rina (2010). "The Dome of the Rock in light of the development of concentric martyria in Jerusalem" (PDF). Muqarnas. Vol. 27: An Annual on the Visual Cultures of the Islamic World. Leiden: Brill. pp. 31–50 [43–44]. ISBN 978-900418511-1. JSTOR 25769691. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 March 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  7. ↑ Moore, Kathryn Blair (27 February 2017). The Architecture of the Christian Holy Land: Reception from Late Antiquity through the Renaissance. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-13908-4.
  8. 1 2 Necipoğlu 2008, p. 31.
  9. 1 2 3 Hillenbrand 2000, p. 21.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Blair, Sheila S.; Bloom, Jonathan M. (1995). The Art and Architecture of Islam 1250-1800. Yale University Press. p. 220. ISBN 978-0-300-06465-0.
  11. ↑ Goldberg, Jeffrey (29 January 2001). "Arafat's Gift". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on 14 July 2015. Retrieved 11 July 2015.
  12. ↑ "UNESCO World Heritage". Archived from the original on 4 August 2017. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Grabar 1986, p. 299.
  14. 1 2 3 4 "Dome of the Rock". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on 15 June 2008. Retrieved 4 April 2012.
  15. ↑ The Dome of the Rock. Glass Steel and Stone.
  16. 1 2 3 4 Milwright, Marcus (2014). "Dome of the Rock". In Fleet, Kate; Krämer, Gudrun; Matringe, Denis; Nawas, John; Rowson, Everett (eds.). Encyclopaedia of Islam, Three. Brill. ISBN 9789004161658.
  17. 1 2 Evangelatou, Maria (2021). "Hierochronotopy: Stepping into timeful space through Bonanno's twelfth-century door for the Pisa cathedral". In Bogdanović, Jelena (ed.). Icons of Space: Advances in Hierotopy. Routledge. pp. 171–172 (see note 77). ISBN 978-1-000-41086-0.
  18. ↑ Allen, Terry (2008). Pisa and the Dome of the Rock (electronic publication) (2nd ed.). Occidental, California: Solipsist Press. ISBN 978-0-944940-08-2. Retrieved 28 January 2012.
  19. ↑ Grabar 2006, pp. 66, 70.
  20. 1 2 3 4 5 Milwright 2016, p. 51.
  21. 1 2 Grabar 2006, p. 80.
  22. ↑ Grabar 2006, pp. 78–89.
  23. ↑ Grabar 2006, pp. 66–71.
  24. 1 2 Milwright 2016, p. 61.
  25. ↑ Kessler, Christel (1964). "Above the Ceiling of the Outer Ambulatory in the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. 96 (2): 83–94. doi:10.1017/S0035869X00123111. ISSN 2051-2066.
  26. 1 2 3 4 Grabar 2006, p. 184.
  27. 1 2 3 Allan, James W.; Abu Khalaf, Marwan (2000). "The Painted Wooden Ceiling in the Inner Ambulatory of the Dome of the Rock". Ottoman Jerusalem: The Living City: 1517-1917 Part 1 & 2. Council for British Research in the Levant (CBRL) & Al Tajir Trust. pp. 465–472.
  28. 1 2 3 Grabar 2006, p. 200.
  29. ↑ Schick, Robert (2001). "Archaeology and the Qurʾān". In McAuliffe, Jane Dammen (ed.). Encyclopaedia of the Qur'ān. Vol. 1. p. 156.
  30. ↑ Grabar 2006, pp. 59, 96, 127.
  31. ↑ Milwright 2016, pp. 35–36, 51, 65.
  32. ↑ Grabar 2006, pp. 131–132.
  33. 1 2 Grabar 2006, pp. 172–173.
  34. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Necipoğlu 2008, p. 46.
  35. ↑ Grabar 2006, p. 72.
  36. ↑ Rabbat, Nasser (1993). "The Dome of the Rock Revisited: Some Remarks on al-Wasiti's Accounts". Muqarnas. 10: 68. doi:10.2307/1523173. ISSN 0732-2992.
  37. ↑ Necipoğlu 2008, pp. 38, 90 (see note 95).
  38. ↑ Omar, Abdallah Marouf (2014). Fitzpatrick, Coeli; Walker, Adam Hani (eds.). Muhammad in History, Thought, and Culture: An Encyclopedia of the Prophet of God. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. pp. 147–148. ISBN 978-1-61069-178-9.
  39. ↑ Grabar 2006, p. 64.
  40. 1 2 Grabar 2006, pp. 77–78.
  41. ↑ Milwright 2016, p. 55.
  42. 1 2 "Qubba al-Sakhra". ArchNet. Archived from the original on 14 August 2019. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  43. ↑ Hillenbrand 2000, p. 31 (see plate XXIX caption).
  44. ↑ Mahmoud, Hawari (2013). Pilgrimage, Sciences and Sufism: Islamic Art in the West Bank and Gaza (in Catalan). Museum With No Frontiers, MWNF (Museum Ohne Grenzen). ISBN 978-3-902782-11-3.
  45. 1 2 Grabar 2006, p. 192.
  46. ↑ Palestine: Masjid al-Aqsa:The Dome of the Rock Archived 15 January 2019 at the Wayback Machine, at IslamicLandmarks.com, accessed 18 February 2019
  47. ↑ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Aelia Capitolina". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 256. Lester L. Grabbe (2010). An Introduction to Second Temple Judaism: History and Religion of the Jews in the Time of Nehemiah, the Maccabees, Hillel, and Jesus. A&C Black. p. 29.
  48. ↑ Davidson, Linda Kay and David Martin Gitlitz Pilgrimage: From the Ganges to Graceland : an Encyclopedia Volume 1, ABC-CLIO, Inc, Santa Barbara, CA 2002, p. 274.
  49. ↑ "Julian thought to rebuild at an extravagant expense the proud Temple once at Jerusalem, and committed this task to Alypius of Antioch. Alypius set vigorously to work, and was seconded by the governor of the province, when fearful balls of fire, breaking out near the foundations, continued their attacks, till the workmen, after repeated scorchings, could approach no more: and he gave up the attempt." Ammianus Marcellinus, Res Gestae, 23.1.2–3.
  50. ↑ Dan Bahat (1996). The Illustrated Atlas of Jerusalem. Carta. p. 71. ISBN 9789652203489.
  51. ↑ Yakub of Syria (Ka'b al-Ahbar) Last Jewish Attempt at Islamic Leadership Committee for Historical Research in Islam and Judaism, © 2004–2012, accessed July 2013. Archived 13 May 2015 at the Wayback Machine "He continued to follow Rabbinic tradition such that later Islamic historians questioned whether he ever 'converted' to Islam."
  52. ↑ Cohen, Hillel (1 January 2017). "The Temple Mount/al-Aqsa in Zionist and Palestinian National Consciousness". Israel Studies Review. 32 (1): 1–19. doi:10.3167/isr.2017.320102. ISSN 2159-0370. The encounter between Jews and Muslims on the Temple Mount/al-Aqsa began at the dawn of Islam and continues to this day. It began with a mixture of cooperation and competition; a Jewish convert to Islam, Ka'ab al-Ahbar, guided Caliph Umar to the site of the Temple.
  53. ↑ Ben-Dov, M. Historical Atlas of Jerusalem. Translated by David Louvish. New York: Continuum, 2002, p. 171
  54. ↑ Elad 1999, p. 45.
  55. ↑ Elad 1999, pp. 44–45, notes 98–99.
  56. ↑ Necipoğlu 2008, p. 22.
  57. ↑ Sheila Blair, "What Is The Date Of The Dome Of The Rock?" in J. Raby & J. Johns (ed.), "Bayt Al-Maqdis: 'Abd al-Malik's Jerusalem", 1992, Part 1, Oxford University Press: Oxford (UK), pp. 59-87.
  58. ↑ Vogüé 1864, p. 85.
  59. ↑ Oleg Grabar: The Meaning of the Dome of the Rock.
  60. ↑ Busse, Heribert (1991). "Zur Geschichte und Deutung der frühislamischen Ḥarambauten in Jerusalem". Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins (in German). 107: 144–154. JSTOR 27931418.
  61. 1 2 3 Gil 1997, p. 92.
  62. 1 2 Richard Ettinghausen; Oleg Grabar; Marilyn Jenkins (2001). Islamic Art and Architecture 650–1250. Yale University Press. p. 20. ISBN 978-0-300-08869-4.
  63. ↑ Lassner 2006, p. 176.
  64. ↑ Pringle (1993), pp. 182–185
  65. 1 2 3 Johns 2003, pp. 425–426.
  66. 1 2 3 Hawting 2000, p. 60.
  67. 1 2 Goitein, Shelomo Dov (1950). "The historical background of the erection of the Dome of the Rock". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 70 (2): 104–108. doi:10.2307/595539. JSTOR 595539.
  68. ↑ Ahmed, A.S.; Sonn, T. (2010). The SAGE Handbook of Islamic Studies. SAGE Publications. pp. 229–230. ISBN 978-1-4739-7168-4. Questions of visual domination and conversion were among the important factors in the construction of the oldest surviving Islamic monument, the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem.
  69. ↑ "Drawings of Islamic Buildings: Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem". Victoria and Albert Museum. Archived from the original on 9 March 2009. Until 1833 the Dome of the Rock had not been measured or drawn; according to Victor von Hagen, 'no architect had ever sketched its architecture, no antiquarian had traced its interior design...' On 13 November in that year, however, Frederick Catherwood dressed up as an Egyptian officer and accompanied by an Egyptian servant 'of great courage and assurance', entered the buildings of the mosque with his drawing materials... 'During six weeks, I continued to investigate every part of the mosque and its precincts.' Thus, Catherwood made the first complete survey of the Dome of the Rock, and paved the way for many other artists in subsequent years, such as William Harvey, Ernest Richmond and Carl Friedrich Heinrich Werner.
  70. ↑ Amiran, D.H.K.; Arieh, E.; Turcotte, T. (1994). "Earthquakes in Israel and adjacent areas: macroseismic observations since 100 B.C.E.". Israel Exploration Journal. 44 (3/4): 260–305 [267]. JSTOR 27926357.
  71. ↑ Nees, Lawrence (17 September 2015). Perspectives on Early Islamic Art in Jerusalem. BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-30207-5.
  72. ↑ "The Earthquake of 1033 CE". archpark.org.il. The Jerusalem Archaeological Park. Archived from the original on 26 May 2023. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
  73. ↑ Kaplony, Andreas (2002). The Ḥaram of Jerusalem, 324-1099: Temple, Friday Mosque, Area of Spiritual Power. Franz Steiner Verlag. ISBN 978-3-515-07901-3.
  74. ↑ Pruitt, Jennifer A. (1 January 2020). Building the Caliphate: Construction, Destruction, and Sectarian Identity in Early Fatimid Architecture. Yale University Press. p. 136. ISBN 978-0-300-24682-7.
  75. ↑ The Architecture of the Italian Renaissance, Jacob Burckhardt, Peter Murray, James C. Palmes, University of Chicago Press, 1986, p. 81
  76. ↑ Strange, Guy Le (1890). Palestine Under the Moslems: A Description of Syria and the Holy Land from A.D. 650 to 1500. Alexander P. Watt for the Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
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  82. ↑ Carswell 2006, p. 73.
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  102. ↑ Stephen Spector, Evangelicals and Israel: The Story of American Christian Zionism, Oxford University Press, 2008 p. 202.
  103. ↑ Andrew Esensten U.S.-born Knesset candidate, Jeremy Gimpel, and his Dome of the Rock 'joke', Haaretz 20 January 2013.
  104. 1 2 Burckhardt, Jacob (1986). Peter Murray (ed.). The Architecture of the Italian Renaissance. Translated by James C. Palmes. University of Chicago Press. p. 81. ISBN 0226080498.

Works cited

Further reading

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