The most conspicuous monument in Jerusalem today is the Dome of the Rock, a golden-domed structure in the middle of the Temple Mount. In Arabic the Temple Mount is called al-Haram al-Sharif, which means “the noble enclosure," and Jerusalem's sacred status in Islam is reflected by its Arabic name, al-Quds: the holy [city]. The Dome of the Rock is one of the earliest surviving Muslim monuments anywhere. It was built in the last decade of the seventh century by an Umayyad caliph named Abd al-Malik (ruled 685—705). The Dome of the Rock almost certainly occupies the site of the earlier Jewish temples, although it was constructed centuries after the second temple was destroyed. During the Byzantine period there were no buildings on the Temple Mount, which ancient sources suggest was lying in ruins and used as a garbage dump.
Abd al-Malik cleared the debris and enshrined a rocky outcrop in a domed, octagonal building. This rocky outcrop (a natural high point in the center of the Temple Mount) is venerated by Muslims as the place where Abraham offered his son for sacrifice (Muslim tradition identifies the son as Ishmael instead of Isaac). Later Muslim tradition came to identify this as the spot from which
17.2 Interior of the Dome of the Rock. National Geographic Image ID 1002978, by Ira Block/National Geographic Stock.
Muhammed was transported by a magical horselike creature to heaven, where he met with the Old Testament prophets. According to the Quran, Muhammed's night journey took him from “the farthest mosque" (Arabic al-masjid al-aqsa) to heaven. Eventually Muslim tradition located the site of the farthest mosque on Jerusalem's Temple Mount.
The rocky outcrop in the center of the Dome of the Rock is encircled by two concentric rows of columns enclosed within octagonal walls (the outer circle of columns follows the octagonal layout of the walls). The inner circle of columns supports a clerestory with a dome above. Although some elements have been replaced since the seventh century (including the dome and the exterior tiles), the structure has survived intact and still retains much of its original interior decoration. The colorful marble columns and Corinthian capitals are spolia — reused architectural pieces taken from Byzantine churches in Jerusalem, some of which may have been lying in ruins at the time of the Muslim conquest. The flat surfaces (lower parts of the walls) of the interior are covered with marble revetment (veneer), with the slabs cut to display the patterns of the veins. The curved surfaces (upper parts of the walls, undersides of arches, and the clerestory of the dome) are covered with colored mosaics. There is extensive use of gold leaf in the mosaic cubes, which glitters in the dimly lit interior. Many of the mosaics are geometric and floral patterns, but there are also depictions of jeweled crowns and other pieces of jewelry. Myriam Rosen-Ayalon, an Israeli art historian and archaeologist, has suggested that these represent the Byzantine crown jewels, symbolizing the Muslim victory over the Byzantines.
Although the Temple Mount was desolate when Jerusalem came under Muslim rule, its history and significance were well known. Abd al-Malik clearly chose this site because of its biblical associations. However, when Jerusalem surrendered to the Muslims it was a Christian city. In fact, Jerusalem was a jewel in the crown of the Byzantine Empire, the seat of a Patriarch and the place where Jesus spent his final days. Byzantine Jerusalem was filled with dozens of monumental churches and monasteries, among them the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. The new religion of Islam had to define its relationship to Christianity and compete for converts with the wealthy and firmly established religion. Abd al-Malik chose the most conspicuous spot in Jerusalem to make his statement.
Many years ago a prominent French-born scholar of Islamic art, Oleg Grabar, who spent most of his life in the United States, made an important observation. He noted that the Dome of the Rock and the Rotunda of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher are similar in dimensions and are both centralized buildings (martyria). Furthermore, the architectural elements and decoration of the Dome of the Rock, including the marble columns and capitals, marble revetment, and gold and colored mosaics are characteristic of Byzantine churches (and ultimately derive from Roman art and architecture). Grabar speculated that Abd al-Malik modeled the Dome of the Rock after the Rotunda of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, in an attempt to surpass Christianity's most famous shrine. Indeed, the interior of the Dome of the Rock gives a much better impression of the original appearance of the Rotunda, which has suffered greatly and no longer has its original decoration. The mosaic above the inner face of the outer circle of columns in the Dome of the Rock contains a long inscription from the time of Abd al-Malik, consisting of verses from the Quran (a later caliph replaced Abd al-Malik's name with his own). The passages cited include several dealing with the death and resurrection of Jesus and the nature of the virgin birth — that is, questions of dogma on which Islam had to clarify its position versus Christianity. For example, Jesus is recognized as a prophet but not as the son of God.
The Dome of the Rock is much more complex than simply an Islamic imitation of the Rotunda of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Scholars have pointed to different sources of influence, including Sasanid Persia (the jewelry depicted in the mosaics) and Arabia (the circumambulation of a sacred monument such as the Kaaba in Mecca). Nevertheless, Grabar put it best when he said, “The Dome of the Rock appears as a monument constructed in order to make a statement for the whole city of Jerusalem and for its surroundings. . . . It became the visual rival of the Holy Sepulchre and the Nea church. It is seen immediately as one leaves the Holy Sepulchre, signaling the rebirth, under a new Muslim guise, of the old Jewish Temple area" (The Shape of the Holy, p. 104).
World History
