The Dome of the Rock: Jerusalem - Literature review Example

The Dome of the Rock – Jerusalem The Dome of the Rock is absolutely the most significant Islamic structure on earththat is perched high above Jerusalem on the Temple Mount that is known as Haram al-Sharif (Grabar 7-12). The golden dome and brilliant exterior mosaic that was sponsored by a Muslim ruler Umayyad caliph Abd al-Malik to be of spiritual and political significance depicts an agreement, promise, victory, and splendor of the Islamic faith. It is undeniable that the Dome of the Rock is one of the greatest artistic works and its visual indicates that the structure’s religious function is surpassed by its physical manifestation. Many meanings and history relate to the Dome of the Rock but what remains significant is the location on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem as well as the beauty and monumentality. According to Grabar, the Jews believe Temple Mount in Jerusalem is Mount Moriah where Abraham’s sacrifice took place and that it is the center of the world as well as the presumed site of Solomon’s Temple built under Solomon’s reign (10-19). It is therefore apparent that the Dome of the Rock is looked at in terms of its relationship with existing beliefs and the sacredness connected to it including prevailing principle of Islam, Abrahamic faiths, Judaism and Christianity. Berger explains that the Dome of the Rock has significance in Islam, Jewish and Christian beliefs even though it was constructed to show the superiority and legitimacy of Islam especially the power the religion has over Jerusalem (21-29). The Dome of the Rock is seen as Solomon’s Temple rebuilt and that it has drawn parallels between Islam and Judaism because Muslims view the Koran, as ‘True Torah’ and that Muslims are the true people of Israel. By looking at the Dome of the Rock’s location, there is evidence of the religious landscape of Israel on the Temple Mount and the awareness of the sacredness and spirituality is also integrated with social and political implications (Bell & Avner 35-39). The expansive rectangular structure is about 500 by 300 meters and covers an area of almost 37 acres while sitting on a smaller trapezoidal platform that is west of center on the Temple Mount. The Dome of the Rock dominates the surrounding topography and is surrounded by huge Al-Aqsa mosque and many other tiny Islamic structures (Grabar 23-31). The structure has been labeled many with many architectural terms but is popularly known as the ciborium that symbolizes the vault of heaven and has a large slab of bedrock that protrudes from below the Temple Mount up into the Dome of the Rock. The large slab of bedrock serves the main function of the structure of housing the rock because Muslims believe that the prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven thus making it a commemorative structure The Dome of the Rock is one of the greatest architectural works due to the aesthetical utilization of geometrical strategy and great size as well as its external legibility. The centrally planned structure is octagonal in plan with two octagonal ambulatories that flank a circular opening where the rock decides and the outer ambulatory is made up of eight piers and twelve columns while the rock projects approximately five feet above the building level (Graff & Lambert 154-155). The Rock of the Dome’s structural layout tends to inhibit viewing of the rock and the dome from outside the building, something that reinforces the dominating opinion that main issue was to focus on the building’s exterior as a symbol of Islam’s strength and authority (Bell & Avner 35-39). 240-metre long inscription in the mosaic frieze circling the octagonal arcade and part of the inner praises God and the Prophet and mostly use Koranic quotations. The inscriptions symbolizes decorative motifs that are reminiscent of the styles of late Antiquity in the Mediterranean and its magnificently colored exterior sets it from other monuments thus commanding a stately appearance. Sacred Interpretations The Dome of the Rock’s location on Temple Mount is associated with the Islamic conquest during the time in 638 CE after almost 300 years of Christian dominancy. The Muslim leader Umar ibn al-Khattab who was led on a tour by the Christian patriarch Sophronious ex-ruler of Jerusalem was interested in “islamization” of Jerusalem and in the Temple Mount. During the reign of Umayyad caliph Abd al-Malik, plans were put forward to develop on the Temple Mount and finally the Dome of the Rock was constructed though the building was motivated by both religious and secular motives (Berger 31-36). Clearly, the Temple Mount means a lot to each of the Abrahamic faiths and the Roman pagans whereas the Jews believed that it was a site of the Jewish Temple and the location where Abraham almost sacrificed Isaac as well as a representative of sacred time (Bell & Avner 35-39). The Temple stood for the past, future and that the Jews believed that the Temple will be rebuilt and Messiah will come but during the reign of Hadrian, it symbolized the authority and influence of Rome and victory over Judaism. On the other hand, Christians saw the Temple Mount as a testament to the superiority of Christianity over Judaism but Umar ibn was interested in the site because it was an ancient Jewish holy site (Berger 75-86). Umar was convinced that Jewish traditions hugely influenced the development of early Islam and therefore being at the site would mean a lot to the Islamic religion. Role played by the Rock In these early associations, the rock plays a crucial role and beginning in 17th century, the rock appeared mainly as a symbol of the Jewish Temple even though at that time, there were no attachment to the rock during the Islamic conquest. The rock was initially not a point of focus on the Temple Mount even though it later merited an extravagant commemorative feature. Abd al-Malik only became interested in the rock after ascending to power, almost 60 years after the Islamic conquest because of his belief on the authority and power of the Islam as well as the association of the place with the Jewish religion. It was apparent that the jewish association with Mount Moriah and the Rock influenced Abd al-Malik to build in that particular location especially the identification of the Mount as omphalos or the center of the earth, something that meant a lot to the Jews (Bell & Avner 35-42). Sacrifice of Abraham that took place at that specific location was also crucial to both the Jewish and Muslim because of the sacred association of the event. The rock therefore means a lot to both the religions because they wanted to capitalize on the sacred nature of the place although Abd al-Malik did it to symbolize Islam’s superiority. Abraham was the center of interest because he was perceived differently by both the religions, for Muslims, Abraham was a hanif which meant a truly devout monotheist that was pre-Islamic, non-Jewish and non-Christian but was treated as the first Muslim. Muslims therefore believed that the Dome of the Rock is much more than a sanctuary for the rock and that it would help in symbolizing the Muslim ancestor of the three monotheistic faiths. Moreover, the Muslims have accredited their own association with the location over time and relate it with Prophet Muhammad’s Night Journey (isra) and his ascension to Heaven from the Haram and therefore his footsteps are imprinted in the rock and therefore He would return to similar place for the last Judgment. Muslims therefore regard the rock as a commemoration of the place of Muhammad’s ascension and a place where He would return. This is the most significant meaning and function of the Dome of the Rock according to the Muslims. The claim that the prophet’s Night Journey existed immediately after the Dome’s construction and is connected to the fact that the Herodian Temple that initially stood on the Haram was the Masjid al-Aqsa as justified by a statement that is found in the Kuran. This is however, a very controversial issue among Muslims especially the association of Jerusalem with the masjid al-Aqsa and whether the event took place at the exact location, where the rock is situated. It is also worth noting that the Dome of the Rock is positioned in a place perceived to be the highest echelon of Christian’s sacred space for their Christianity and biblical beliefs. The physical appearance of the Dome of the Rock as well as its geographical position hugely reflects the traditions of Christianity and by the time it was built, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre surrounded the place (Berger 75-83). Construction of the structure on the Temple Mount brought rivalry in the place because Jerusalem’s spiritual life revolved around the church, which dominated the Christian city on the west. He relocated the idea of holy rock because they desired a sharp division between Christianity and Judaism and this imbued the church with additional sacred significance. According to Berger the Christians believed that Adam was buried under the rock and all these believes, in addition to the Jewish place-myths, made Christians to value the place as a sacred place (80-88). The Jewish narratives played an important role in believing in the Temple Mount as a sacred and significant place to them. Interestingly, all the religions claimed Adam as their own and Muslims claimed that he was not created from the earth surrounding the rock as Jews asserted, something that altered the role the rock played in Islam. The need to conquer the place and transforming the place made Muslims believe that they are spiritually and politically superior; this led to the development of a communal identity for the Islamic faithful of Jerusalem. The structure was built in a predominant Christian city as a way of showing the superiority of the Muslims over Christians especially through its size, beauty, and dominant location. The Temple Mount acted as a sacred place for early Christians because they were convinced that Mary took Jesus to the place when she was making her new mother’s offering and the New Testament indicates that Jesus studied and preached on the Temple Mount as a young man (Berger 78-88). Christians therefore believe that Temple Mount occupies a significant place in their religion and initially adopted the notion of a holy rock before transferring the idea to the hill of Golgotha where they commemorated the crucifixion, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Generally, the Dome of the Rock is made of many passages from Koran that tend to challenge the Christian belief in the Trinity and the divinity of Jesus and it tends to call Christians and Jewish accept Islam and recognize the true place of Islam as well as their respective religions. The structure was mainly built to proclaim the key tenets of Islam and the Arab conquest of what had been a Christian city for a very long time. The structure is positioned where rabbinic traditions associated with Abraham and co-opt the patriarch for the new faith and biblically, it stands where the Solomon temple once stood (Grabar 45-57). It is also an indication that Islam has replaced Judaism thus suggesting its apparent, then original purpose of the structure. Dome of the Rock signified transformation of Jerusalem changing what was then a Jewish and Christian city becoming a Muslim City. Jerusalem maintained Islamic identity until the start of the 20th century when it became a diversified city comprising of people from different religions. It is therefore apparent that Dome of the Rock is the earliest existing Islamic monuments and occupies a position as the main architectural work of the Umayyads, which is connected with many Islamic beliefs including the miraculous Night Journey of the prophet at the masjid al-Aqsa. The building is indeed admirably situated on an artificial platform, which is ascended, by six flights of stairs, tow on the southern and western sides, things that can only be documented from the tenth century (Grabar 95-108). The Dome of the Rock therefore acts as a commonplace of classical Islamic religious beliefs that Jerusalem is one of the holiest cities apart from Mekkah and Madinah and therefore the structure presents architectural expression that date from the earliest times of Islam. Currently, the Dome of the Rock does not occupy an integral position as the other Arabian sanctuaries even though it signified dominance of Islam over other religions such as Christianity. The building represents the religious war that was fought and won by the Islam and further signifies different beliefs that were held by different religious beliefs regarding the issue of the Foundation Stone at the heart of the Dome. Works Cited Bell, Daniel, and Avner De-Shalit. The Spirit of Cities: Why the Identity of a City Matters in a Global Age. Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press, 2011. Print. Berger, Pamela C. The Crescent on the Temple: The Dome of the Rock As Image of the Ancient Jewish Sanctuary. Leiden: Brill, 2012. Print. Grabar, Oleg. The Dome of the Rock. Cambridge, Mass: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2006. Print. Graff, Ronald A, and Lambert T. Dolphin. Connecting the Dots: A Handbook of Bible Prophecy. Longwood, Fla: Xulon Press, 2010. Print. Read More