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Dome of the Rock

Coordinates: 31°46′41″N 35°14′07″E / 31.7780°N 35.2354°E / 31.7780; 35.2354
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Not to be confused with Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount

The Dome of the Rock (Arabic: مسجد قبة الصخرة, translit.: Masjid Qubbat As-Sakhrah, Hebrew: כיפת הסלע, translit.: Kipat Hasela, Template:Lang-tr) is an Islamic shrine and a major landmark located on the Haram al-Sharif (Temple Mount) in Jerusalem. It was completed in 691, making it the oldest extant Islamic building in the world.[1]

Location, construction and dimensions

The Dome of the Rock is located at the visual center of an ancient man-made platform known as the Temple Mount (Hebrew, הַר הַבַּיִת – Har haBayit; literally, the Mountain of the House) to the Jews and the Haram al-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary) to the Muslims. The platform, greatly enlarged under the rule of Herod the Great, is the site of the Second Jewish Temple which was destroyed during the Roman Siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE. In 637 CE, Jerusalem was conquered by the Rashidun Caliphate army during the Islamic invasion of the Byzantine Empire.

The Dome of the Rock was erected between 685 and 691 CE. The names of the two engineers in charge of the project are given as: Yazid Ibn Salam from Jerusalem and Raja Ibn Haywah from Baysan. Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan who initiated construction of the Dome, hoped that it would “house the Muslims from cold and heat” [2] and intended the building to serve as a shrine for pilgrims and not as a mosque for public worship. [3] Historians contend that the Caliph wished to create a structure which would compete with the existing buildings of other religions in the city. al-Maqdisi writes that he

”sought to build for the Muslims a masjid that should be unique and a wonder to the world. And in like manner, is it not evident that Caliph Abd al-Malik, seeing the greatness of the martyrium of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and its magnificence was moved lest it should dazzle the minds of Muslims and hence erected above the Rock the dome which is now seen there.” [4]

Print from 1887. (Architect Frederick Catherwood was the first westerner known to have made detailed drawings of the Dome of the Rock, which he accomplished during a six-week period in 1833)[5]

Prof. Shlomo Dov Goitein of the Hebrew University states 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 intended to rival the many Christian domes. [6] A.C. Cresswell in his book Origin of the plan of the Dome of the Rock notes that those who built the shrine made use of the measurements of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The diameter of the dome of the shrine is 20m 20cm and its height 20m 48cm, while the diameter of the dome of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is 20m 90cm and its height 21m 5cm. Mark Crinson, a scholar of the architecture of imperialism, sees the Dome of the Rock as the "archetypal missionary and imperial building (with) its exterior covered with decoration and inscriptions directed by the new Muslim rulers at the local Christian population."[7]

The structure is basically octagonal. It comprises a wooden dome, approximately 60 feet (20 m) in diameter, which is mounted on an elevated drum consisting of a circle of 16 piers and columns. [3] Surrounding this circle is an octagonal arcade of 24 piers and columns. During his travels in Jerusalem, Mark Twain wrote that:

”Every where about the Mosque of Omar are portions of pillars, curiously wrought altars, and fragments of elegantly carved marble - precious remains of Solomon's Temple. These have been dug from all depths in the soil and rubbish of Mount Moriah, and the Moslems have always shown a disposition to preserve them with the utmost care.”[8]

Exterior detail

The outer side walls are made of porcelain [9] and mirror the octagonal design. They each measure approximately 60 feet (18 m) wide and 36 feet (11 m) high. Both the dome and the exterior walls contain many windows.[3]

The Dome

The Dome of the Rock, in 1913.
Exterior

The Dome is in the shape of a Byzantine martyrium, a structure intended for the housing and veneration of saintly relics, and is an excellent example of middle Byzantine art. al-Maqdisi reports that surplus funds consisting of 100,000 gold dinar coins were melted down and cast on the dome's exterior, “which at the time had a strong glitter that no eye could look straight at it.” [10] During the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent the exterior of the Dome of the Rock was covered with Iznik tiles. The work took seven years. Haj Amin Al-Husseini, appointed Grand Mufti by the British, along with Yacoub Al Ghussein implemented restoration of Dome of the Rock and Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.

In 1955 an extensive program of renovation was begun by the government of Jordan, with funds supplied by the 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 1960, as part of this restoration, the dome was covered with a durable aluminum and bronze alloy made in Italy. The restoration was completed in August 1964. In 1998 the golden dome covering was refurbished following a donation of $8.2 million by King Hussein of Jordan who sold one of his houses in London to fund the 80 kilograms of gold required.

Interior

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. sura Ya-Seen is inscribed across the top of the tile work and was commissioned in the 16th century by Suleiman the Magnificent. al-Isra is inscribed above this.

According to Prof. Shlomo Dov Goitein, the inscriptions decorating the interior clearly display a spirit of polemic against Christianity, while stressing at the same time the Qur'anic doctrine that Jesus Christ was a true prophet. The formula la sharika lahu 'God has no companion' is repeated five times, the verses from sura Maryam 16:34-37, which strongly deny Jesus' sonship to God, are quoted together with the remarkable prayer: Allahumma salli (with ya; read salli without ya) ala rasulika wa'abdika 'Isa bin Maryam - "In the name of the One God (Allah) Pray for your Prophet and Servant Jesus son of Mary". He believes that this shows that rivalry with Christendom, together with the spirit of Islamic mission to the Christians, was at the work at the creation of the famous Dome. [6]

History

File:Palestine Pound 1939 front.jpg
The Dome of the Rock featured on the Palestine Mandate banknote

Crusaders

During the Crusades the Dome of the Rock was given to the Augustinians, who turned it into a church, and the Al-Aqsa Mosque became the royal palace of Baldwin I of Jerusalem in 1104. The Knights Templar, who believed the Dome of the Rock was the site of the Temple of Solomon, set up their headquarters in the Al-Aqsa Mosque adjacent to the Dome for much of the 12th century. The "Templum Domini," as they called it, was featured on the official seals of the Order's Grand Masters (such as Evrard de Barres and Regnaud de Vichier), and it became the architectural model for Templar churches across Europe.

Ayyubids and Mamluks

Jerusalem was recaptured by Saladin on Friday, 2 October, 1187 and the Haram was reconsecrated as a Muslim sanctuary. The cross on top of the Dome of the Rock was replaced by a golden crescent and a wooden screen was placed around the rock below. Salah al-Din's nephew al-Malik al-Mu'azzam Isa (615-24/1218-27) carried out other restorations within the Haram and added the porch to the Aqsa mosque.

The Haram was the focus of extensive royal patronage by the sultans during the Mamluk period, which lasted from 1250 until 1510.

Ottoman Empire 1517 - 1917

Dome of the Rock viewed through the Old City's Cotton Gate (Bab al-Qattanin)

Large-scale renovation was undertaken during the reign of Mahmud II in 1817. Adjacent to the Dome of the Rock, the Ottomans built the free-standing Dome of the Prophet in 1620.

British Mandate 1917 - 1948

The Dome of the Rock was badly shaken during an earthquake in Palestine on Monday, 11 July, 1927 rendering useless many of the repairs that had taken place over previous years.

1948 to present

Under Jordanian rule of Jerusalem, Jews were forbidden from entering the Old City. Israel took control of the Dome of the Rock during its victory in the Six-Day War in 1967. According to a posthumously-published interview with Haaretz, General Uzi Narkiss reported that on June 7, 1967, a few hours after East Jerusalem fell into Israeli hands, Rabbi Shlomo Goren had told him "Now is the time to put 100 kilograms of explosives into the Mosque of Omar so that we may rid ourselves of it once and for all." His request was denied; according to Goren's aide Menahem Hacohen, he had not suggested blowing up the mosque, but had merely stated that "if, during the course of the war a bomb had fallen on the mosque and it would have – you know – disappeared – that would have been a good thing." Later that year, in a speech to a military convention, he added: "Certainly we should have blown it up. It is a tragedy for generations that we did not do so. […] I myself would have gone up there and wiped it off the ground completely so that there was no trace that there was ever a Mosque of Omar there."[11] Shlomo Goren also entered the Dome of the Rock with a Torah book and the shofar.[12]

A few hours after the Israeli flag was hoisted over the Dome of the Rock in 1967, at the conclusion of the Six-Day War, Israelis lowered it on the orders of General Moshe Dayan, and invested the Muslim Waqf (religious trust) with the authority to manage the Temple Mount-Haram al-Sharif in order to "keep the peace".[13]

Groups such as the Temple Mount and Eretz Yisrael Faithful Movement wish to relocate the Dome to Mecca and replace it with a Third Temple. Since Muslims consider the ground under the Dome to be sacred this would be a highly contentious move, and would provoke violence. Many Israelis are ambivalent about the movement's wishes. Some religious Jews, following a rabbinic dictum, feel 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 this a prerequisite to Armageddon and the Second Coming. This view is steeped in the belief that there will be a prophetic rebuilding of the Temple in place of the Dome of the Rock.

Accessibility

Sign at visitors entrance to Temple Mount.

It is formally owned and maintained by the Ministry of Awaqaf in Jordan.[14]

Until the mid-nineteenth century, non-Muslims were barred from the area. Since 1967, non-Muslims have been allowed some entry, but non-Muslim prayers on the Temple Mount are not allowed.[15]

After Ariel Sharon, then opposition leader, visited the Temple Mount in 2000, in what was considered by some a provocative gesture that set off Muslim rioting, non-Muslims were forbidden to enter the Temple compound.[16]

In 2006, the compound was reopened to non-Muslim visitors free of charge, between 7:30-11:30 a.m. and 1:30-2:30 p.m. during Summer and 7:30-10:30 a.m. and 1:30-2:30 p.m. during Winter. Non-muslims may never enter on Fridays, Saturdays, or Muslim holidays. Entry is through a covered wooden walkway next to the security entrance to the Western Wall known as the Mugrabi or Maimonides Gate. Entry to the mosques themselves is prohibited to non-Muslims, as is access to the Temple Mount through the Cotton Market. Visitors undergo strict security screening, and items such as Hebrew prayerbooks or musical instruments are not allowed.

In addition to these restrictions put in place by the Muslim Council, many Orthodox rabbis regard entry to the compound as a violation of Jewish law. This restriction is based on the belief that since the Temple was destroyed centuries ago, the precise location of the Holy of Holies, the sanctuary that was only entered by the High Priest, is not known. Hence the restriction is applied to the entire compound. However, some rabbis believe that modern archeological and other evidence have enabled them to identify areas that can be safely entered without violating Jewish law. [17]

Religious significance

Rock of Moriah, from the Dome.
The Dome of the Rock illustrated Jewish religious works as early as the 16th century

The Dome of the Rock, being among a complex of buildings on the Temple Mount, (the other being the Al-Aqsa Mosque) is one of the holiest sites in Islam. Its significance stems from the religious beliefs regarding the rock at its heart. According to Islamic tradition, the rock is the spot from where Muhammad ascended to Heaven accompanied by the angel Gabriel, even though the dome wasn't built until after Muhammad had passed away. In Judaism the location of the stone is venerated as the holiest spot on Earth, the site of the Holy of Holies during the Temple Period. In Christianity it is believed that during the time of the Byzantine Empire, the spot where the Dome was later constructed was where Constantine's mother built a small church, calling it the Church of St. Cyrus and St. John, later on enlarged and called the Church of the Holy Wisdom.[18] On the walls of the Dome of the Rock is an inscription in a mosaic frieze that includes the following words:

"Bless your envoy and your servant Jesus son of Mary and peace upon him on the day of birth and on the day of death and on the day he is raised up again. It is a word of truth in which they doubt. It is not for God to take a son. Glory be to him when he decrees a thing he only says be, and it is."[1]

This appears to be the earliest extant citation (verses 3:45-47) from the Qur'an, with the date recorded as 72 after the Hijra (or 691-692 AD), which historians view as the year of the Dome's construction.[1]

The dome of the rock in Jerusalem on the Temple Mount

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dome of the Rock.

Notes

  1. ^ a b c Rizwi Faizer (1998). "The Shape of the Holy: Early Islamic Jerusalem". Rizwi's Bibliography for Medieval Islam.
  2. ^ Abu-Bakr al-Wasiti, Fada'il Bayt al-Maqdis, pp. 80-81, vol 136
  3. ^ a b c Encyclopædia Britannica: Dome of the Rock
  4. ^ Shams al-Din al-Maqdisi, Ahsan al-Taqasim fi Mar'rifat al-Aqalim, 2nd ed. (Leiden, 1967) pp. 159-171
  5. ^ ""Drawings of Islamic Buildings: Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem."" (html). Victoria and Albert Museum. 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.
  6. ^ a b Goitein, Shlomo Dov; The Historication background of the erection of the Dome of the Rock, Journal of American Oriental Society, Vol. 70, No. 2, 1950
  7. ^ Mark Crinson, Empire Building, Routledge,London, 1996, p.8
  8. ^ Mark Twain, The Innocents Abroad, Chapter LIV
  9. ^ Dome of the Rock, The. Glass Steel and Stone.
  10. ^ Abu-Bakr al-Wasiti, Fada'il Bayt al-Maqdis, pp. 80-81, vol 136
  11. ^ The Political Role Of The Israeli Chief Rabbinate In The Temple Mount Question by Yoel Cohen
  12. ^ Photo of Shlomo Goren inside the Dome
  13. ^ Letter from Jerusalem: A Fight Over Sacred Turf by Sandra Scham
  14. ^ Hashemite Restorations of the Islamic Holy Places in Jerusalem - kinghussein.gov.jo - Retrieved January 21, 2008
  15. ^ Jerusalem's Holy Places and the Peace Process Marshall J. Breger and Thomas A. Idinopulos, Washington Institute for Near East Policy, 1998.
  16. ^ Eyewitness: Inside al-Aqsa (BBC) March 20, 2002
  17. ^ http://web.israelinsider.com/Articles/Politics/4839.html
  18. ^ Wilkinson, Jerusalem Pilgrims Before the Crusades, page 204

References

  • Peterson, Andrew (1994). Dictionary of Islamic Architecture. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-06084-2

31°46′41″N 35°14′07″E / 31.7780°N 35.2354°E / 31.7780; 35.2354

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