Dome of the Rock

The Dome of the Rock (Arabic: قبة الصخرة, romanized: Qubbat aṣ-Ṣaḵra) is an 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 its inscriptions contain the earliest epigraphic proclamations of Islam and of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.^[1][2]

Dome of the Rock
Qubbat aṣ-Ṣakhra قبّة الصخرة
The Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount (Al-Aqsa) in the Old City of Jerusalem
Religion
Affiliation	Islam
Location
Location	Jerusalem
Location within the Old City of Jerusalem
Administration	Ministry of Awqaf (Jordan)
Geographic coordinates	31.7780°N 35.2354°E / 31.7780; 35.2354
Architecture
Type	Shrine
Style	Umayyad (with later Ottoman decoration)
Date established	c. 685–692[lower-alpha 1]
Dome(s)	1

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 since been situated on top of the site of the Second Jewish Temple (built in c. 516 BCE to replace the destroyed Solomon's Temple and rebuilt by Herod the Great), which was destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE.^{[citation needed]} The original dome collapsed in 1015 and was rebuilt in 1022–23.^{[citation needed]}

Its architecture and mosaics were patterned after nearby Byzantine churches and palaces.^[3] Its 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,^[4][5] and again in the modern period, notably with the addition of the gold-plated roof, in 1959–61 and again in 1993. The octagonal plan of the structure 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.^[3]

The Foundation Stone (or Noble Rock) that the temple was built over bears great significance in the Abrahamic religions as the place where God created the world as well as the first human, Adam.^[6] It is also believed to be the site where Abraham attempted to sacrifice his son, and as the place where God's divine presence is manifested more than in any other place, towards which Jews turn during prayer. The site's great significance for Muslims derives from traditions connecting it to the creation of the world and the belief that the Night Journey of Muhammad began from the rock at the centre of the structure.^[7][8]

Designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, it has been called "Jerusalem's most recognizable landmark"^[9] along with two nearby Old City structures: the Western Wall and the "Resurrection Rotunda" in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.^[10] 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.^[11]

Architecture

Basic structure

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).^[12]

The Dome of the Rock's basic plan is essentially octagonal. It is capped at its centre by a dome, approximately 20 m (66 ft) in diameter, mounted on an elevated circular drum standing on 16 supports (4 tiers and 12 columns).^[13] Surrounding this circle is an octagonal arcade of 24 piers and columns.^[14] The inner circular row of drum supports and the octagonal arcade create an inner ambulatorium that encircles the holy rock.

The outer walls are also octagonal. They each measure approximately 18 m (60 ft) wide and 11 m (36 ft) high.^[13] 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.^[13]

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. It 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.^[15]

The dedicatory inscription in Kufic script placed around the dome contains the date believed to be the year the Dome was first completed, AH 72 (691/2 CE), while the name of the corresponding caliph and builder of the Dome, al-Malik, was deleted and replaced by the name of Abbasid caliph Al-Ma'mun (r. 813–833) during whose reign renovations took place.

Exterior decoration

The decoration of the outer walls went through two major phases: the initial Umayyad scheme comprised marble and mosaics, much like the interior walls.^[16] 16th-century Ottoman sultan Suleyman the Magnificent replaced it with Ottoman tile decoration.^[16] This tilework was of many different styles and techniques, including cuerda seca tiles, multi-coloured underglaze tiles, and blue-and-white tilework,^[5] resembling the Iznik tiles that were produced for the Ottoman capital.^[4] A small number of tiles were actual Iznik productions that were imported to Jerusalem.^[17] The original tiles were replaced in the 1960s with faithful copies produced in Italy.^[16]

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.^[18] Surah 17, Al-Isra, which tells the story of the Isra or Night Journey, is inscribed above this.

History

Pre-Islamic background

Main articles: Temple Mount, Herod's Temple, and Aelia Capitolina

Reconstruction of Herod's Temple as seen from the east (Holyland Model of Jerusalem, 1966)

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.^[19]

Jerusalem was ruled by the Byzantine Empire throughout the 4th to 6th centuries. During this time, Christian pilgrimage to Jerusalem began to develop.^[20] 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.^[21]

In 638 CE, Byzantine Jerusalem was conquered by the Arab armies of Umar ibn al-Khattab,^[22] second Caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate. Umar was advised by Ka'b al-Ahbar, a Jewish rabbi who converted to Islam,^[23] that the site is identical with the site of the former Jewish Temples in Jerusalem.^[24] Among the first Muslims, Jerusalem was referred to as Madinat bayt al-Maqdis ('City of the Temple').^[25]

Umayyads

Original construction

The initial octagonal structure of the Dome of the Rock and its round wooden dome had basically the same shape as it does today.^[13] It was built by the order of the Umayyad caliph Abd al-Malik (r. 685–705).^[26] 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.^[27] 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.^[28] An alternative interpretation of the inscription claims that it indicates the year when construction started.^[29] 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.^[30] Some scholars have suggested that the dome was added to an existing building, built either by Muawiyah I (r. 661–680),^[31] or indeed a Byzantine building dating to before the Muslim conquest, built under Heraclius (r. 610–641).^[32]

The Dome of the Rock's architecture and mosaics were patterned after nearby Byzantine churches and palaces.^[3] The supervisor and engineer in charge of the project were Raja ibn Haywa, Yazid ibn Salam, and the latter's son Baha.^[33][3][34] 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.^[33] The Caliph employed expert works from across his domain, at the time restricted to Syria and Egypt,^[33] who were presumably Christians.^[34] Construction cost was reportedly seven times the yearly tax income of Egypt.^[35] 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).

Motivations for construction

Narratives by the medieval sources about Abd al-Malik's motivations in building the Dome of the Rock vary.^[11] 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.^[11][36] 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.^[11][37] 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"^[38] - and more specifically, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, according to others.^[39]

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.^[11][36][37] 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.^[11][36][37]

Abbasids and Fatimids

The building was severely damaged by earthquakes in 808 and again in 846.^[40] The dome collapsed in an earthquake in 1015 and was rebuilt in 1022–1023. The mosaics on the drum were repaired in 1027–1028.^[41] The earthquake of 1033 resulted in the introduction of wooden beams to enforce the dome.^[42]

Crusaders

Main article: Templum Domini

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

For centuries Christian pilgrims were able to come and experience the Temple Mount, but escalating violence against pilgrims to Jerusalem (Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, who ordered the destruction of the Holy Sepulchre, was an example) resulted in the Crusades.^[43] The Crusaders captured Jerusalem in 1099 and 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.^[44]

Ayyubids and Mamluks

Jerusalem was recaptured by Saladin on 2 October 1187, and 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.

The Dome of the Rock was the focus of extensive royal patronage by the sultans during the Mamluk period, which lasted from 1260 until 1516.

Ottoman period (1517–1917)

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.^[45][46] 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.^[5] This was likely part of an effort to impose a visibly Ottoman mark on this major Islamic holy site.^[47] 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.^[5] 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.^[48]

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.^[5] 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.^[4] The name of one of the craftsmen is recorded in an inscription as Abdallah of Tabriz.^[5] 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.^[49][50]

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.^[51] Also nearby, the Ottomans built the Dome of the Prophet in its current form sometime in the 16th or 17th century.^[52][53]

Further restorations to the building are recorded in 1720–1721, 1742,1754, 1780, 1817–1818, and 1853.^[54] 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.^[55][56]

• 
  The first-ever photograph of the building, 1842–1844
• 
  View from the north, Francis Bedford (1862)
• 
  West front in 1862. By this date many of the 16th century tiles were missing.
• 
  Interior showing mosaic decoration (1914)
• 
  Tiled façade (2013)
• 
  Interior showing rock (1915)

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,^[57] damaging many of the repairs that had taken place over previous years.^{[citation needed]}

Jordanian rule

In 1955, an extensive program of renovation was begun by the government of Jordan, 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

The Dome of the Rock in 2018

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 Temple Mount in order to "keep the peace".^[58]

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.^[59]

Accessibility

Sign at visitors entrance to Temple Mount

The Dome is maintained by the Ministry of Awqaf in Amman, Jordan.^[60]

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 Temple Mount, bring prayer books, or wear religious apparel. The Israeli police help enforce this.^[61] Israel restricted access for a short time during 2012 of Palestinian residents of the West Bank to the Temple Mount. West Bank Palestinian men had to be over 35 to be eligible for a permit.^[62] 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.^[63]

Religious significance

The Temple in Jerusalem depicted as the Dome of the Rock on the printer's mark of Marco Antonio Giustiniani, Venice 1545–52

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.^[64]

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.^[8] 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.^[38]

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.^[8]

Today, many Muslims believe the Dome serves for the commemoration of Muhammad's Ascension,^[8] in accordance to the views shared by some Islamic scholars, that the Rock is indeed the spot^[65] 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.^[66]

The Foundation Stone viewed from the dome. Photograph was taken between 1900 and 1920, before the removal of the surrounding iron grill.

Other Islamic scholars believe that Muhammad ascended to Heaven from the Masjid Al-Aqsa, of which the Dome of the Rock is a part.^[67][68]

In traditional Jewish sources, it is believed to be the place from which the creation of the world began.^[69] Moreover, many Jews believe the site to be where Abraham prepared to sacrifice his son Isaac. The Foundation Stone and its surroundings which lie at the center of the dome, are considered the holiest site in Judaism.^{[citation needed]} Jews traditionally regard the location of the stone as the holiest spot on Earth, the site of the Holy of Holies of the First and the Second Temple.^{[citation needed]}

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.^[70]

The Temple Institute wishes to relocate the Dome to another site and replace it with a Third Temple.^[71] Many Israelis are ambivalent about the Movement's wishes.^{[weasel words]} 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.^[72] 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.^[73]

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.^[74]

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,^[74] 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:

• 
  Reverse of a 1,000 Iranian rial banknote (1992).
• 
  Reverse of a 1 Jordanian dinar banknote (1959). Since 1992, the 20 dinar note bears the Dome's depiction.
• 
  Obverse of a 50 Saudi riyal banknote (1983).
• 
  Obverse of a 1 Palestinian pound banknote (1939).

Images

Panorama of the Temple Mount, including Jami Al-Aqsa and the gold-roofed Dome of the Rock, from the Mount of Olives

• 
  Panorama of the Temple Mount, including Al-Aqsa Mosque and Dome of the Rock, from the Mount of Olives
• 
  Aerial view
• 
  General view with Old City from Mount of Olives
• 
  General view from SW
• 
  Stereo card of the Dome of Rock (late 19th century)
• 
  Dome of the rock, Samuel Hirszenberg, 1908 (Tel Aviv Museum of Art); with qas
• 
  View through Cotton Merchants' Gate
• 
  On a rainy day, with Dome of the Chain
• 
  Dome of the Chain: ceiling
• 
  Dome of the Rock from Dome of the Chain
• 
  Exterior from N
• 
  Exterior: northern door
• 
  Exterior from S
• 
  Exterior: detail southern facade, door, gilded dome
• 
  Exterior: detail southern facade with door
• 
  Exterior: gilded dome
• 
  Exterior: detail, Turkish tiles
• 
  Exterior: detail, Turkish tiles
• 
  Exterior: detail, Turkish tiles
• 
  Exterior: window with tiled lattice
• 
  Exterior: western entrance vault
• 
  Foundation Stone
• 
  Interior: inner colonnade, dome
• 
  Interior: drum and dome
• 
  Interior: detail decorated drum and dome
• 
  Interior: drum mosaic, vessel with floral motif
• 
  Interior: detail of the dome

See also

• Islam portal
• Christianity portal
• Judaism portal

• Ablaq
• History of medieval Arabic and Western European domes
• List of the oldest mosques
• New Jerusalem
• Well of Souls

Notes

1. See History section for details.

References

Citations

1. 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. 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.
4. Hillenbrand 2000, p. 21.
5. Blair, Sheila S.0; Bloom, Jonathan M. (1995). The Art and Architecture of Islam 1250-1800. Yale University Press. p. 220. ISBN 978-0-300-06465-0.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
6. Carol Delaney, Abraham on Trial: The Social Legacy of Biblical Myth, Princeton University Press 2000 p.120.
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. Goldberg, Jeffrey (29 January 2001). "Arafat's Gift". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on 14 July 2015. Retrieved 11 July 2015.
10. "UNESCO World Heritage". Archived from the original on 4 August 2017. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
11. Grabar 1986, p. 299.
12. "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.
13. "Dome of the Rock". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on 15 June 2008. Retrieved 4 April 2012.
14. The Dome of the Rock^[usurped]. Glass Steel and Stone.
15. Robert Schick, Archaeology and the Quran, Encyclopaedia of the Qur'an
16. "Qubba al-Sakhra". ArchNet. Archived from the original on 14 August 2019. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
17. Hillenbrand 2000, p. 31 (see plate XXIX caption).
18. Palestine: Masjid al-Aqsa:The Dome of the Rock Archived 15 January 2019 at the Wayback Machine, at IslamicLandmarks.com, accessed 18 February 2019
19. 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.
20. 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.
21. "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.
22. Dan Bahat (1996). The Illustrated Atlas of Jerusalem. Carta. p. 71. ISBN 9789652203489.
23. 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."
24. 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.
25. Ben-Dov, M. Historical Atlas of Jerusalem. Translated by David Louvish. New York: Continuum, 2002, p. 171
26. Elad 1999, p. 45.
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Works cited

• Creswell, K.A.C. (1924). The Origin of the Plan of the Dome of the Rock (2 Volumes). London: British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem. OCLC 5862604.
• Peterson, Andrew (1994). Dictionary of Islamic Architecture. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-06084-2
• Braswell, G. (1996). Islam – Its Prophets, People, Politics and Power. Nashville, TN: Broadman and Holman Publishers.
• Carswell, John (2006). Iznik Pottery (Second ed.). British Museum Press. ISBN 9780714124414.
• Clermont-Ganneau, Charles (1899). "Chapter VIII The Kubbet es Sakhra". Archaeological Researches in Palestine During the Years 1873–1874. Vol. 1. London: Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund. pp. 179–227.
• Elad, Amikam (1999). Medieval Jerusalem and Islamic Worship: Holy Places, Ceremonies, Pilgrimage (2nd ed.). Leiden: Brill. ISBN 90-04-10010-5.
• Gil, Moshe (1997). A History of Palestine, 634–1099. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-59984-9. Archived from the original on 6 March 2017. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
• Goodwin, Godfrey (1971). A History of Ottoman Architecture. Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0-500-27429-0.
• Grabar, O. (1986). "Kubbat al-Ṣakhra". In Bosworth, C. E.; van Donzel, E.; Lewis, B. & Pellat, Ch. (eds.). The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Volume V: Khe–Mahi. Leiden: E. J. Brill. pp. 298–299. ISBN 978-90-04-07819-2.
• Grabar, Oleg (2006). The Dome of the Rock. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Belknap Press. ISBN 978-0-674-02313-0.
• Hawting, Gerald R. (2000). The First Dynasty of Islam: The Umayyad Caliphate AD 661–750 (Second ed.). London and New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-24072-7.
• Hillenbrand, Robert (2000). "Introduction: Structure, style and context in the monuments of Ottoman Jerusalem". In Auld, Sylvia J.; Hillenbrand, Robert (eds.). Ottoman Jerusalem. The Living City: 1517-1917. London: Altajir World of Islam Trust. pp. 21, ill. XXIX. ISBN 1901435032. Retrieved 23 June 2024 – via academia.edu.
• Johns, Jeremy (January 2003). "Archaeology and the History of Islam: The First Seventy Years". Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient. 46 (4): 411–436. doi:10.1163/156852003772914848.
• Lassner, Jacob (2006). "Muslims on the Sanctity of Jerusalem: Preliminary Thoughts on the Search for a Conceptual Framework". Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam. 31: 176.
• Necipoğlu, Gülru (2008). "The Dome of the Rock as palimpsest: 'Abd al-Malik's grand narrative and Sultan Süleyman's glosses". In Necipoğlu, Gülru; Bailey, Julia (eds.). Muqarnas: An Annual on the Visual Culture of the Islamic World. Vol. 25. Leiden: Brill. pp. 17–105. ISBN 978-900417327-9. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
• Necipoğlu, Gülru (2011) [2005]. The Age of Sinan: Architectural Culture in the Ottoman Empire (Revised ed.). Reaktion Books. ISBN 9781861892539.
• Ali, A. (1946). The Holy Qur’an – Translation and Commentary. Bronx, NY: Islamic Propagation Centre International.
• Islam, M. Anwarul; Al-Hamad, Zaid (2007). "The Dome of the Rock: origin of its octagonal plan". Palestine Exploration Quarterly. 139 (2): 109–128. doi:10.1179/003103207x194145. S2CID 162578242.
• Christoph Luxenberg: Neudeutung der arabischen Inschrift im Felsendom zu Jerusalem. In: Karl-Heinz Ohlig / Gerd-R. Puin (Hg.): Die dunklen Anfänge. Neue Forschungen zur Entstehung und frühen Geschichte des Islam, Berlin (Verlag Hans Schiler) 2005, S. 124–147. English version: "A New Interpretation of the Arabic Inscription in Jerusalem's Dome of the Rock". In: Karl-Heinz Ohlig / Gerd-R. Puin (eds.): The Hidden Origins of Islam: New Research into Its Early History, Amherst, N.Y. (Prometheus Books) 2010
• Vogüé, Melchior de (1864). Le Temple de Jérusalem : monographie du Haram-ech-Chérif, suivie d'un essai sur la topographie de la Ville-sainte (in French). Paris: Noblet & Baudry.

Further reading

• Flood, Finbarr B. (2000). "The Ottoman windows in the Dome of the Rock and the Aqsa Mosque" (PDF). In Auld, Sylvia; Hillenbrand, Robert (eds.). Ottoman Jerusalem: The Living City: 1517–1917. Vol. 1. London: Altajir World of Islam Trust. pp. 431–463. ISBN 978-1-901435-03-0.
• Kessler, Christel (1964). "Above the ceiling of the outer ambulatory in the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. 96 (3/4): 83–94. doi:10.1017/S0035869X00123111. JSTOR 25202759. S2CID 163146618.
• Kessler, Christel (1970). "'Abd Al-Malik's inscription in the Dome of the Rock: a reconsideration". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. 102 (1): 2–14. doi:10.1017/S0035869X00127947. JSTOR 25203167. S2CID 162711475.
• Richmond, Ernest Tatham (1924). The Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem: A Description of its Structure and Decoration. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
• St. Laurent, Beatrice (1998). "The Dome of the Rock and the politics of restoration". Bridgewater Review. 17 (2): 14–20.

External links

• "Qubba al-Sakhra, Jerusalem". Archnet Digital Archive.
• Dome of the Rock Sacred sites
• The Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem Masterpieces of Islamic Architecture
• Ochs, Christoph (2010). "Dome of the Rock". Bibledex in Israel. Brady Haran for the University of Nottingham.
• Allen, Terry (2014). "The Marble Revetment of the Piers of the Dome of the Rock". Occidental, CA: Solipsist Press. Retrieved 26 March 2017.