Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem

 

Sitting on top of the Haram al-Sharif, the highest point in Jerusalem sits the Dome of the Rock. This dome also is the most famous Islamic site in this region. It isn't intended to be a mosque, but a shrine, built over a sacred stone which was supposedly the place where the prophet Muhammad, the founder of Islam, ascended to heaven and is the oldest Islamic monument that is still standing to this day. Before the arrival of Islam, the sacred rock was considered holy by the Jews because they believed that it was the very place Abraham prepared to use Isaac as a sacrifice. It is also believed that this shrine stands directly over the site of both Solomon's temple and Herod's temple. 

Construction on the Dome of the Rock ended in 691 C.E. and was built by the Umayyad caliph, Abd al-Malik. In relation to tradition, this build was to pay tribute to the ascension of Muhammad, but there seems to be more to this because the Dome of Ascension was later built somewhere nearby. According to the Oxford Archaeological Guide to the Holy Land, Abd al-Malik wanted to construct a Muslim building that would be a symbolic statement to the new faith of Islam and the compete with churches of Christendom. He made his building stand out to the Jews by location, and Christians by decoration. 

By means of the 11th century, some myths had developed concerning the Dome of the Rock. One of which takes place in the Middle Ages, when both Muslims and Christians believed that the dome was the Temple of Solomon. There, the Knights Templar made their main base during the Crusades and even patterned churches after its design. 

Suffering from exposure to Jerusalem winters, the external mosaics once decorated the Dome of the Rock. Thankfully, the mosaics were repaired in the Mamluk period, but then completely replaced with tiles in 1545 by Sulieman the Magnificent. The windows date from this time period as well. At that same time, Sulieman created a barrier wall by filling up the 13 arches that was originally on the top of each facade with detailed engraving on each. The tiling was entirely replaced in 1956-62, the last major restoration. 

References

Barlow, G., & Barlow, G. (n.d.). Arts of the Islamic world: The early period. Retrieved September 24, 2020, from https://smarthistory.org/arts-of-the-islamic-world-the-early-period/

Sacred Destinations. (n.d.). Retrieved September 24, 2020, from http://www.sacred-destinations.com/israel/jerusalem-dome-of-the-rock