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.
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. 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 bears great significance in Judaism as the place where God created the world as well as the first human, Adam, 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. 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. The large dome has a subtly bulbous form. The original dome collapsed in 1015 and was rebuilt in 1022–23. 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, 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" Its golden dome dominates Jerusalem’s skyline, and remains visible from all approaches to the city. Its Islamic inscriptions proved to be a milestone, as afterward they became a common feature in Islamic structures and almost always mention Muhammad. 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.
Architecture
Structure
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). Surrounding this circle is an octagonal arcade of 24 piers and columns. 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. 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. There are four entrances to the building, one for each cardinal direction, and the outer wall is pierced by 36 windows.
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. 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). The columns and capitals of both the inner and outer arcades were reused from older ancient buildings.
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). In total, the mosaics cover approximately 1,200 square metres (13,000 sq ft) of surface. 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. 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, which includes the mosaics around the inner circular and outer octagonal arcades. 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.
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), as well as some of the gilded metal plaques (of either brass or bronze) that adorn the tie-beams along the octagonal arcade. 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. 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. 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, while the painted decoration of the inner ambulatory ceiling mainly reflects 18th-century and 19th-century Ottoman styles. The Mamluk decoration was restored faithfully in 1960–21 and the Ottoman decoration underwent restoration in 1963, with some minor changes. 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. The current painted and gilded decoration inside the central dome itself is based on traditional Ottoman ornamentation.
Octagonal arcade inscriptions
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 (Shahada) inscriptions. The Umayyad-era inscriptions on the upper outer and inner octagonal arcades were written using early Kufic script with very minimal diacritical marks which was the case with early Quranic scripts and Arabic writing. 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).
Dome and drum inscriptions
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. 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. 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. 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. 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).
Exterior decoration
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." 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. 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.
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. Nothing of these exterior mosaics has survived except for some small fragments discovered during restorations and now housed in the Islamic Museum of al-Aqsa. 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. The tiles seem to have been fabricated locally rather than at centers like Iznik, while a small number of tiles were actual Iznik productions that were imported to Jerusalem. This tilework was of many different styles and techniques, including cuerda seca tiles, multi-coloured underglaze tiles, and blue-and-white tilework, resembling the Iznik tiles that were produced for the Ottoman capital. The new tile revetment also included Qashani tiles. The original tiles were replaced between 1960 and 1962 with copies produced in Italy. According to Oleg Grabar, it is unclear to what extent these tiles faithfully reproduced the original Ottoman-era tilework.
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. Surah 17, Al-Isra', which tells the story of the Isra or Night Journey, is inscribed above this.
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.
Jerusalem was ruled by the Byzantine Empire throughout the 4th to 6th centuries. During this time, Christian pilgrimage to Jerusalem began to develop. 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.
In 638 CE, Byzantine Jerusalem was conquered by the Arab armies of Umar ibn al-Khattab, second Caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate. Umar was advised by Ka'b al-Ahbar, a Jewish rabbi who converted to Islam, that the site is identical with the site of the former Jewish Temples in Jerusalem. Among the first Muslims, Jerusalem was referred to as Madinat bayt al-Maqdis ('City of the Temple').
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. It was built by the order of the Umayyad caliph Abd al-Malik (r. 685–705). 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. 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. An alternative interpretation of the inscription claims that it indicates the year when construction started. 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. Some scholars have suggested that the dome was added to an existing building, built either by Muawiyah I (r. 661–680), or indeed a Byzantine building dating to before the Muslim conquest, built under Heraclius (r. 610–641).
The supervisor and engineer in charge of the project were Raja ibn Haywa, Yazid ibn Sallam, and the latter's son Baha. 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. The Caliph employed expert workers from across his domain, at the time restricted to Syria and Egypt, who were presumably Christians. Construction cost was reportedly seven times the yearly tax income of Egypt.
The Dome of the Rock's architecture and mosaics were patterned after nearby Byzantine churches and palaces. 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).