A 

Dome as an Architectural Element

Dr Uday Dokras
Architect Srishti Dokras

A dome (from Latin: domus) is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of

a sphere; there is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a
structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a matter of controversy
and there are a wide variety of forms and specialized terms to describe them.

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Aufriss und Mosaikflächen Dom des Heiligen Sava ABOVE

A dome can rest directly upon a rotunda wall, a drum, or a system

of squinches or pendentives used to accommodate the transition in shape from a rectangular or
square space to the round or polygonal base of the dome. A dome's apex may be closed or may
be open in the form of an oculus, which may itself be covered with a roof lantern and cupola.
Domes have a long architectural lineage that extends back into prehistory. Domes were built
in ancient Mesopotamia, and they have been found in Persian, Hellenistic, Roman,
and Chinese architecture in the ancient world, as well as among a number of indigenous building
traditions throughout the world. Dome structures were common in both Byzantine
architecture and Sasanian architecture, which influenced that of the rest of Europe and Islam,
respectively, in the Middle Ages. The domes of European Renaissance architecture spread from
Italy in the early modern period, while domes were frequently employed in Ottoman
architecture at the same time. Baroque and Neoclassical architecture took inspiration from
Roman domes.
Advancements in mathematics, materials, and production techniques resulted in new dome types.
Domes have been constructed over the centuries from mud, snow, stone, wood, brick, concrete,
metal, glass, and plastic. The symbolism associated with domes includes mortuary, celestial, and
governmental traditions that have likewise altered over time. The domes of the modern world
can be found over religious buildings, legislative chambers, sports stadiums, and various
functions.
The English word "dome" ultimately derives from the ancient Greek and Latin domus ("house"),
which, up through the Renaissance, labeled a revered house, such as a Domus Dei, or "House of
God", regardless of the shape of its roof. This is reflected in the uses of the Italian word duomo,
the German/Icelandic/Danish word dom ("cathedral"), and the English word dome as late as
1656, when it meant a "Town-House, Guild-Hall, State-House, and Meeting-House in a city."
The French word dosme came to acquire the meaning of a cupola vault, specifically, by 1660.
This French definition gradually became the standard usage of the English dome in the
eighteenth century as many of the most impressive Houses of God were built with monumental
domes, and in response to the scientific need for more technical terms.
Elements of a Dome: The word "cupola" is another word for "dome", and is usually used
for a small dome upon a roof or turret. "Cupola" has also been used to describe the inner side of
a dome. The top of a dome is the "crown". The inner side of a dome is called the "intrados" and
the outer side is called the "extrados". As with arches, the "springing" of a dome is the base level
from which the dome rises and the "haunch" is the part that lies roughly halfway between the
base and the top. Domes can be supported by an elliptical or circular wall called a "drum". If this
structure extends to ground level, the round building may be called a "rotunda". Drums are also
called "tholobates" and may or may not contain windows. A "tambour" or "lantern" is the
equivalent structure over a dome's oculus, supporting a cupola.
When the base of the dome does not match the plan of the supporting walls beneath it (for
example, a dome's circular base over a square bay), techniques are employed to bridge the two.
[8]
 One technique is to use corbelling, progressively projecting horizontal layers from the top of
the supporting wall to the base of the dome, such as the corbelled triangles often used in Seljuk
and Ottoman architecture. The simplest technique is to use diagonal lintels across the corners of
the walls to create an octagonal base. Another is to use arches to span the corners, which can

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support more weight.  A variety of these techniques use what are called "squinches".[11] A
squinch can be a single arch or a set of multiple projecting nested arches placed diagonally over
an internal corner. Squinches can take a variety of other forms, as well, including trumpet arches
and niche heads, or half-domes.[11] The invention of pendentives superseded the squinch
technique. Pendentives are triangular sections of a sphere, like concave spandrels between
arches, and transition from the corners of a square bay to the circular base of a dome. The
curvature of the pendentives is that of a sphere with a diameter equal to the diagonal of the
square bay.
Definitions:
Across the ancient world, curved-roof structures that would today be called domes had a number
of different names reflecting a variety of shapes, traditions, and symbolic associations. The
shapes were derived from traditions of pre-historic shelters made from various impermanent
pliable materials and were only later reproduced as vaulting in more durable materials. The
hemispherical shape often associated with domes today derives from Greek geometry and
Roman standardization, but other shapes persisted, including a pointed and bulbous tradition
inherited by some early Islamic mosques.
Modern academic study of the topic has been controversial and confused by inconsistent
definitions, such as those for cloister vaults and domical vaults. Dictionary definitions of the
term "dome" are often general and imprecise. Generally-speaking, it "is non-specific, a blanket-
word to describe an hemispherical or similar spanning element." Published definitions include:
hemispherical roofs alone; revolved arches; and vaults on a circular base alone, circular or
polygonal base, circular, elliptical, or polygonal base or an undefined area. Definitions
specifying vertical sections include: semicircular, pointed, or bulbous; semicircular, segmental or
pointed; semicircular, segmental, pointed, or bulbous; semicircular, segmental, elliptical, or
bulbous; and high profile, hemispherical, or flattened.

Comparison of a generic "true" arch (left) and a corbel arch (right)TYPES OF ARCHES

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Sometimes called "false" domes, corbel domes achieve their shape by extending each horizontal
layer of stones inward slightly farther than the lower one until they meet at the top.  A "false"
dome may also refer to a wooden dome. The Italian use of the term finto, meaning "false", can be
traced back to the 17th century in the use of vaulting made of reed mats and gypsum
mortar. "True" domes are said to be those whose structure is in a state of compression, with
constituent elements of wedge-shaped voussoirs, the joints of which align with a central point.
The validity of this is unclear, as domes built underground with corbelled stone layers are in
compression from the surrounding earth.
The precise definition of "pendentive" has also been a source of academic contention, such as
whether or not corbelling is permitted under the definition and whether or not the lower portions
of a sail vault should be considered pendentives. Domes with pendentives can be divided into
two kinds: simple and compound. In the case of the simple dome, the pendentives are part of the
same sphere as the dome itself; however, such domes are rare. In the case of the more
common compound dome, the pendentives are part of the surface of a larger sphere below that of
the dome itself and form a circular base for either the dome or a drum section.
The fields of engineering and architecture have lacked common language for domes, with
engineering focused on structural behavior and architecture focused on form and symbolism.
Additionally, new materials and structural systems in the 20th century have allowed for large
dome-shaped structures that deviate from the traditional compressive structural behavior of
masonry domes and popular usage of the term has expanded to mean "almost any long-span
roofing system"
Materials: The earliest domes in the Middle East were built with mud-brick and, eventually,
with baked brick and stone. Domes of wood allowed for wide spans due to the relatively light
and flexible nature of the material and were the normal method for domed churches by the 7th
century, although most domes were built with the other less flexible materials. Wooden domes
were protected from the weather by roofing, such as copper or lead sheeting.  Domes of cut stone
were more expensive and never as large, and timber was used for large spans where brick was
unavailable
Roman concrete used an aggregate of stone with a powerful mortar. The aggregate transitioned
over the centuries to pieces of fired clay, then to Roman bricks. By the sixth century, bricks with
large amounts of mortar were the principle vaulting materials. Pozzolana appears to have only
been used in central Italy.  Brick domes were the favored choice for large-space monumental
coverings until the Industrial Age, due to their convenience and dependability.  Ties and chains
of iron or wood could be used to resist stresses.
The new building materials of the 19th century and a better understanding of the forces within
structures from the 20th century opened up new possibilities. Iron and steel beams, steel cables,
and pre-stressed concrete eliminated the need for external buttressing and enabled much thinner
domes. Whereas earlier masonry domes may have had a radius to thickness ratio of 50, the ratio
for modern domes can be in excess of 800. The lighter weight of these domes not only permitted
far greater spans, but also allowed for the creation of large movable domes over modern sports
stadiums.[26]
Experimental rammed earth domes were made as part of work on sustainable architecture at
the University of Kassel in 1983

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Shapes and Internal Forces: A masonry dome produces thrusts downward and outward. They
are thought of in terms of two kinds of forces at right angles from one another: meridional forces
(like the meridians, or lines of longitude, on a globe) are compressive only, and increase towards
the base, while hoop forces (like the lines of latitude on a globe) are in compression at the top
and tension at the base, with the transition in a hemispherical dome occurring at an angle of 51.8
degrees from the top. The thrusts generated by a dome are directly proportional to the weight of
its materials. Grounded hemispherical domes generate significant horizontal thrusts at their
haunches.
The outward thrusts in the lower portion of a hemispherical masonry dome can be counteracted
with the use of chains incorporated around the circumference or with external buttressing,
although cracking along the meridians is natural. For small or tall domes with less horizontal
thrust, the thickness of the supporting arches or walls can be enough to resist deformation, which
is why drums tend to be much thicker than the domes they support.
Unlike voussoir arches, which require support for each element until the keystone is in place,
domes are stable during construction as each level is made a complete and self-supporting
ring. The upper portion of a masonry dome is always in compression and is supported laterally,
so it does not collapse except as a whole unit and a range of deviations from the ideal in this
shallow upper cap are equally stable. Because voussoir domes have lateral support, they can be
made much thinner than corresponding arches of the same span. For example, a hemispherical
dome can be 2.5 times thinner than a semicircular arch, and a dome with the profile of
an equilateral arch can be thinner still.
The optimal shape for a masonry dome of equal thickness provides for perfect compression, with
none of the tension or bending forces against which masonry is weak.[30] For a particular
material, the optimal dome geometry is called the funicular surface, the comparable shape in
three dimensions to a catenary curve for a two-dimensional arch. Adding a weight to the top of a
pointed dome, such as the heavy cupola at the top of Florence Cathedral, changes the optimal
shape to more closely match the actual pointed shape of the dome. The pointed profiles of many
Gothic domes more closely approximate the optimal dome shape than do hemispheres, which
were favored by Roman and Byzantine architects due to the circle being considered the most
perfect of forms.
Symbolism of domes
The symbolic meaning of the dome has developed over millennia. Although the precise origins
are unknown, a mortuary tradition of domes existed across the ancient world, as well as a
symbolic association with the sky. Both of these traditions may have a common root in the use of
the domed hut, a shape which was translated into tombs and associated with the heavens.
The mortuary tradition has been expressed in domed mausoleums, martyriums, and baptisteries.
The celestial symbolism was adopted by rulers in the Middle East to emphasize their divine
legitimacy and was inherited by later civilizations down to the present day as a general symbol of
governmental authority.
The meaning of the dome has been extensively analyzed by architectural historians. According to
Nicola Camerlenghi, it may not be possible to arrive at a single "fixed meaning and universal
significance" for domes across all building types and locations throughout history, since the

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shape, function, and context for individual buildings were determined locally, even if inspired by
distant predecessors, and meaning could change over time.
Mortuary tradition
According to E. Baldwin Smith, from the late Stone Age the dome-shaped tomb was used as a
reproduction of the ancestral, god-given shelter made permanent as a venerated home of the
dead. The instinctive desire to do this resulted in widespread domical mortuary traditions across
the ancient world, from the stupas of India to the tholos tombs of Iberia.
Celestial tradition
Smith also writes that in the process of transforming the hut shape from its original pliable
materials into more difficult stone construction, the dome had also become associated with
celestial and cosmic significance, as evident from decoration such as stars and celestial chariots
on the ceilings of domed tombs. This cosmological thinking was not limited to domed ceilings,
being part of a symbolic association between any house, tomb, or sanctuary and the universe as a
whole, but it popularized the use of the domical shape.
Divine rule

A circle/An octagon/A square

Herbert Howe writes that throughout the Middle East domes were symbolic of "the tent of the
ruler, and especially of the god who dwells in the tent of the heavens." Passages in the Old
Testament and inter-testamental literature document this, such as Psalms 123:1, Isaiah 40:22, I
Kings 8:30, Isaiah 66:1, Psalms 19:4, and Job 22:14. Domes and tent-canopies were also
associated with the heavens in Ancient Persia and the Hellenistic-Roman world. A dome over a
square base reflected the geometric symbolism of those shapes. The circle represented
perfection, eternity, and the heavens. The square represented the earth. An octagon was
intermediate between the two.
According to Michael Walter, a tradition of the "golden dome" identifying the ruler with the
cosmos, sun, and astrological values originated in Persia and spread to later Roman
and Turkic courts.[10] Persian kings used domed tents in their official audiences to symbolize their
divinity, and this practice was adopted by Alexander the Great. According to Smith, the distinct
symbolism of the heavenly or cosmic tent stemming from the royal audience tents
of Achaemenid and Indian rulers was adopted by Roman rulers in imitation of Alexander,
becoming the imperial baldachin. This probably began with Nero, whose Domus Aurea, meaning
"Golden House", also made the dome a feature of Roman palace architecture.
Michele Melaragno writes that the allegory of Alexander the Great's domical tent in Roman
imperial architecture coincided with the "divinification" of Roman emperors and served as a
symbol of this. According to Nicholas Temple, Nero's octagonal domed room in his Domus
Aurea was an early example of an imperial reception hall, the symbolism of which "signaled an
elevation of the status of the emperor as living deity, which in the case of Nero related
specifically to his incarnation as Helios and the Persian Mithra." The semi-domed apse became a

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symbol of Roman imperial authority under Domitian and depictions into the Byzantine period
used overhead domes or semi-domes to identify emperors. Karl Swoboda writes that even by the
time of Diocletian, the dome probably symbolized sovereignty over the whole world. Roman
imperial reception halls or throne rooms were often domed with circular or octagonal plans and,
according to Nicholas Temple, "functioned as a ceremonial space between the emperor, his court
and the gods", becoming a common feature of imperial palaces from the time
of Constantine onwards.
Acoustics:
Because domes are concave from below, they can reflect sound and create echoes. A dome may
have a "whispering gallery" at its base that at certain places transmits distinct sound to other
distant places in the gallery. The half-domes over the apses of Byzantine churches helped to
project the chants of the clergy. Although this can complement music, it may make speech less
intelligible, leading Francesco Giorgi in 1535 to recommend vaulted ceilings for the choir areas
of a church, but a flat ceiling filled with as many coffers as possible for where preaching would
occur.
Cavities in the form of jars built into the inner surface of a dome may serve to compensate for
this interference by diffusing sound in all directions, eliminating echoes while creating a "divine
effect in the atmosphere of worship." This technique was written about by Vitruvius in his Ten
Books on Architecture, which describes bronze and earthenware resonators. The material, shape,
contents, and placement of these cavity resonators determine the effect they have: reinforcing
certain frequencies or absorbing them.
Beehive dome
Also called a corbelled dome, or false dome, these are different from a 'true dome' in that they
consist of purely horizontal layers. As the layers get higher, each is slightly cantilevered,
or corbeled, toward the center until meeting at the top. A monumental example is the
Mycenaean Treasury of Atreus from the late Bronze Age.
Braced dome
A single/double layer space frame in the form of a dome, a braced dome is a generic term that
includes ribbed, Schwedler, 3way grid, lamella or Kiewitt, lattice, and geodesic domes. The
different terms reflect different arrangements in the surface members. Braced domes often have a
very low weight and are usually used to cover spans of up to 150 meters. Often prefabricated,
their component members can either lie on the dome's surface of revolution, or be straight
lengths with the connecting points or nodes lying upon the surface of revolution. Single-layer
structures are called frame or skeleton types and double-layer structures are truss types, which
are used for large spans. When the covering also forms part of the structural system, it is called
a stressed skin type. The formed surface type consists of sheets joined together at bent edges to
form the structure.
Cloister vault
Also called domical vaults (a term sometimes also applied to sail vaults), polygonal domes,
coved domes, gored domes, segmental domes (a term sometimes also used for saucer
domes), paneled vaults, or pavilion vaults, these are domes that maintain a polygonal shape in
their horizontal cross section. The earliest known examples date to the first century BC, such as

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the Tabularium of Rome from 78 BC. Others include the Baths of Antoninus in Carthage (145–
160) and the Palatine Chapel at Aachen (13th – 14th century).
Compound dome
Also called domes on pendentives or pendentive domes (a term also applied to sail vaults),
compound domes have pendentives that support a smaller diameter dome immediately above
them, as in the Hagia Sophia, or a drum and dome, as in many Renaissance and post-Renaissance
domes, with both forms resulting in greater height.
Crossed-arch dome
One of the earliest types of ribbed vault, the first known examples are found in the Great Mosque
of Córdoba in the 10th century. Rather than meeting in the center of the dome, the ribs
characteristically intersect one another off-center, forming an empty polygonal space in the
center. Geometry is a key element of the designs, with the octagon being perhaps the most
popular shape used. Whether the arches are structural or purely decorative remains a matter of
debate. The type may have an eastern origin, although the issue is also unsettled. Examples are
found in Spain, North Africa, Armenia, Iran, France, and Italy.

A corbel dome/ A domical vault/

A compound dome/ A crossed-arch dome

Ellipsoidal dome

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The ellipsoidal dome is a surface formed by the rotation around a vertical axis of a semi-ellipse.
Like other "rotational domes" formed by the rotation of a curve around a vertical axis, ellipsoidal
domes have circular bases and horizontal sections and are a type of "circular dome" for that
reason.
Geodesic dome
Geodesic domes are the upper portion of geodesic spheres. They are composed of a framework
of triangles in a polyhedron pattern. The structures are named for geodesics and are based upon
geometric shapes such as icosahedrons, octahedrons or tetrahedrons. Such domes can be created
using a limited number of simple elements and joints and efficiently resolve a dome's internal
forces. Their efficiency is said to increase with size. Although not first invented by Buckminster
Fuller, they are associated with him because he designed many geodesic domes and patented
them in the United States.
Hemispherical dome
The hemispherical dome is a surface formed by the rotation around a vertical axis of
a semicircle. Like other "rotational domes" formed by the rotation of a curve around a vertical
axis, hemispherical domes have circular bases and horizontal sections and are a type of "circular
dome" for that reason. They experience vertical compression along their meridians, but
horizontally experience compression only in the portion above 51.8 degrees from the top. Below
this point, hemispherical domes experience tension horizontally, and usually require buttressing
to counteract it. According to E. Baldwin Smith, it was a shape likely known to the Assyrians,
defined by Greek theoretical mathematicians, and standardized by Roman builders.
Onion dome
Bulbous domes bulge out beyond their base diameters, offering a profile greater than a
hemisphere. An onion dome is a greater than hemispherical dome with a pointed top in
an ogee profile. They are found in the Near East, Middle East, Persia, and India and may not
have had a single point of origin. Their appearance in northern Russian architecture predates
the Tatar occupation of Russia and so is not easily explained as the result of that influence. They
became popular in the second half of the 15th century in the Low Countries of Northern Europe,
possibly inspired by the finials of minarets in Egypt and Syria, and developed in the 16th and
17th centuries in the Netherlands before spreading to Germany, becoming a popular element of
the baroque architecture of Central Europe. German bulbous domes were also influenced by
Russian and Eastern European domes. The examples found in various European architectural
styles are typically wooden. Examples include Kazan Church in Kolomenskoye and the Brighton
Pavilion by John Nash. In Islamic architecture, they are typically made of masonry, rather than
timber, with the thick and heavy bulging portion serving to buttress against the tendency of
masonry domes to spread at their bases. The Taj Mahal is a famous example.
Oval dome
An oval dome is a dome of oval shape in plan, profile, or both. The term comes from the
Latin ovum, meaning "egg". The earliest oval domes were used by convenience in corbelled
stone huts as rounded but geometrically undefined coverings, and the first examples in Asia
Minor date to around 4000 B.C. The geometry was eventually defined using combinations of
circular arcs, transitioning at points of tangency.

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A geodesic dome/A hemispherical dome/An oval dome

Paraboloid dome
A paraboloid dome is a surface formed by the rotation around a vertical axis of a sector of a
parabola. Like other "rotational domes" formed by the rotation of a curve around a vertical axis,
paraboloid domes have circular bases and horizontal sections and are a type of "circular dome"
for that reason. Because of their shape, paraboloid domes experience only compression, both
radially and horizontally.
Sail dome
 Sail domes are based upon the shape of a hemisphere and are not to be confused with elliptic
parabolic vaults, which appear similar but have different characteristics.
Saucer dome
Also called segmental domes (a term sometimes also used for cloister vaults), or calottes,[8] these
have profiles of less than half a circle. Because they reduce the portion of the dome in tension,
these domes are strong but have increased radial thrust.[83] Many of the largest existing domes are
of this shape.
Umbrella dome
Also called gadrooned, fluted, organ-piped, pumpkin, melon, ribbed,
parachute, scalloped, or lobed domes, these are a type of dome divided at the base into curved
segments, which follow the curve of the elevation. "Fluted" may refer specifically to this pattern
as an external feature, such as was common in Mamluk Egypt. The "ribs" of a dome are the
radial lines of masonry that extend from the crown down to the springing. The central dome of
the Hagia Sophia uses the ribbed method, which accommodates a ring of windows between the
ribs at the base of the dome. The central dome of St. Peter's Basilica also uses this method.

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 A sail vaultA saucer domAn umbrella dome

Arabic and Western European domes

Umayyad Caliphate
The Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, the earliest surviving Islamic building, was completed in
691 by Umayyad caliph Abd Al-Malik. Its design was that of a ciborium, or reliquary, such as
those common to Byzantine martyria and the major Christian churches of the city. The rotunda
of the nearby Church of the Holy Sepulchre, in particular, has a similar design and almost the
same dimensions. The building was reportedly burned in the eleventh century and then rebuilt,
which would still make it one of the oldest timber buildings in the world. The dome, a double
shell design made of wood, is 20.44 meters in diameter. The dome's bulbous shape "probably
dates from the eleventh century." Several restorations since 1958 to address structural damage
have resulted in the extensive replacement of tiles, mosaics, ceilings, and walls such that "nearly
everything that one sees in this marvelous building was put there in the second half of the
twentieth century", but without significant change to its original form and structure. It is
currently covered in gilded aluminum.
In addition to religious shrines, domes were used over the audience and throne halls of Umayyad
palaces, and as part of porches, pavilions, fountains, towers and the calderia of baths. Blending
the architectural features of both the Byzantine and Persian architecture, the domes used both
pendentives and squinches and were made in a variety of shapes and materials. A dome stood at
the center of the palace-city of Baghdad and, similarly but on a smaller scale, there are literary
accounts of a domed audience hall in the palace of Abu Muslim in Merv at the meeting point of
four iwans arranged along the cardinal directions.
Muslim palaces included domical halls as early as the eighth century, well before domes became
standard elements of mosque architecture. The early eighth century palace of Khirbat al-
Minya included a domed gateway. The palace of Qasr Mshatta and a ninth century palace
at Samarra included domed throne rooms. A domed structure covered a shallow pool in the main
courtyard of the mid eighth century palace of Khirbat al-Mafjar. Similar examples at mosques,
such as the domed fountains at the Mosque of Ibn Tulun (destroyed in 987 and replaced with a
different structure), at Maarrat al-Numan,in Nishapur, Tripoli, and at the Mosque of
Damascus seem to be related to this element of palace architecture, although they were later used
as part of ritual ablution.

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The Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem
.
The calderia of early Islamic bath complexes at Amra, Sarraj, and Anjar were roofed with stone
or brick domes. The caldarium of the early Islamic bath at Qasr Amra contains "the most
completely preserved astronomical cupola decoration", a decorative idea for bath domes that
would long continue in the Islamic world.
The placement of a dome in front of the mihrab of a mosque probably began with the rebuilding
of the Prophet's Mosque in Medina by Umayyad Caliph Al-Walid. This was likely to emphasize
the place of the ruler, although domes would eventually become focal points of decoration and
architectural composition or indicate the direction of prayer. Later developments of this feature
would include additional domes oriented axially to the mihrab dome. Byzantine workmen built
the Umayyad Mosque of Damascus and its hemispherical dome for al Walid in 705. The dome
rests upon an octagonal base formed by squinches. The dome, called the "Dome of the Eagle" or
"Dome of the Gable", was originally made of wood but nothing remains of it. It is supposed to
have rested upon large cross beams.
Although architecture in the region would decline following the movement of the capital to Iraq
under the Abbasids in 750, mosques built after a revival in the late 11th century usually followed
the Umayyad model, especially that of the Mosque of Damascus. Domed examples include the
mosques at Sarmin (1305-6) and al-Bab (1305). The typical Damascus dome is smooth and
supported by a double zone of squinches: four squinches create an eight sided transition that
includes eight more squinches, and these create a sixteen-sided drum with windows in alternate
sides.
The Syria and Palestine area has a long tradition of domical architecture, including wooden
domes in shapes described as "conoid", or similar to pine cones. When the Arab
Muslim forces conquered the region, they employed local craftsmen for their buildings and, by
the end of the 7th century, the dome had begun to become an architectural symbol of Islam. In
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addition to religious shrines, such as the Dome of the Rock, domes were used over the audience
and throne halls of Umayyad palaces, and as part of porches, pavilions, fountains, towers and
the calderia of baths. Blending the architectural features of both Byzantine and Persian
architecture, the domes used both pendentives and squinches and were made in a variety of
shapes and materials. Although architecture in the region would decline following the movement
of the capital to Iraq under the Abbasids in 750, mosques built after a revival in the late 11th
century usually followed the Umayyad model. Early versions of bulbous domes can be seen in
mosaic illustrations in Syria dating to the Umayyad period. They were used to cover large
buildings in Syria after the eleventh century.

13
 CHAPTER
Mosque Architecture  of the Hypostyle Tradition
715 to the 10th century.

Interior of the Great Mosque of Córdoba, Spain, begun 785 CE. The building is now a Christian cathedral.Alfonso
Gutierrez Escera/Ostman Agency

Either in its simplest form, as in Medina, or in its more-formalized shape, as in Damascus, the
hypostyle tradition dominated mosque architecture from 715 to the 10th century. As it occurs
at Nīshāpūr (Neyshābūr) in northeastern Iran, Sīrāf in southern Iran, Kairouan in Tunisia,
and Córdoba in Spain, it can indeed be considered as the classic early Islamic type. Its
masterpieces occur in Iraq and in the West. The monumentalization of the early Iraqi hypostyle
is illustrated by the two ruined structures in Sāmarrāʾ, with their enormous sizes (790 by 510 feet
[240 by 156 metres] for one and 700 by 440 feet [213 by 135 metres] for the other), their
multiple entrances, their complex piers, and, in one instance, a striking separation of
the qiblah area from the rest of the building. The best-preserved example of this type is
the Mosque of Aḥmad ibn Ṭūlūn at Cairo (876–879), where a semi-independent
governor, Aḥmad ibn Ṭūlūn, introduced Iraqi techniques and succeeded in creating a masterpiece
of composition.

Two classic examples of early mosques in the western Islamic world of interest are preserved
in Tunisia and Spain. In Kairouan the Great Mosque was built in stages between 836 and 866. Its
most striking feature is the formal emphasis on the building’s T-like axis punctuated by two
domes, one of which hovers over the earliest preserved ensemble of mihrab, minbar,
and maqṣūrah. At Córdoba the earliest section of the Great Mosque was built in 785–786. It
consisted simply of 11 naves with a wider central one and a court. It was enlarged twice in
length, first between 833 and 855 and again from 961 to 965 (it was in the latter phase that the
celebrated maqṣūrah and mihrab, composing one of the great architectural ensembles of early

14
Islamic art, were constructed). Finally, in 987–988 an extension of the mosque was completed to
the east that increased its size by almost one-third without destroying its stylistic unity. The
constant increases in the size of this mosque are a further illustration of the flexibility of the
hypostyle and its adaptability to any spatial requirement. The most memorable aspects of the
Córdoba mosque, however, lie in its construction and decoration. The particularly extensive and
heavily decorated mihrab area exemplifies a development that started with the Medina mosque
and would continue: an emphasis on the qiblah wall.

Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba, Spain.Dome of the mihrab in the Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba, Spain.© borisb17/Fotolia

Although the hypostyle mosque was the dominant plan, it was not the only one. From very early
Islamic times, a fairly large number of aberrant plans also occur. Most of them were built in
smaller urban locations or were secondary mosques in larger Muslim cities. It is rather difficult,
therefore, to evaluate whether their significance was purely local or they were important for the
tradition as a whole. Because a simple type of square subdivided by four piers into nine-domed
units occurs at Balkh in Afghanistan, at Cairo, and at Toledo, it may be considered a pan-Islamic
type. Other types, a single square hall surrounded by an ambulatory, or a single long barrel-vault
parallel or perpendicular to the qiblah, are rarer and should perhaps be considered as purely
local. These are particularly numerous in Iran, where it does seem that the mainstream of
early Islamic architecture did not penetrate very deeply. Unfortunately, the archaeological
exploration of Iran is still in its infancy, and many of the mud-brick buildings from the early
Islamic period have been destroyed or rebuilt beyond recognition. As a result, it is extremely
difficult to determine the historical importance of monuments found at Neyrīz, Moḥammadīyeh
(near Nāʾīn), Fahraj (near Yazd), or Hazareh (near Samarkand). For an understanding of the
mosque’s development and of the general dynamics of Islamic architecture, however, an
awareness of those secondary types, which may have existed outside Iran as well, is essential.

Other types of religious buildings

The function of the mosque, the central gathering place of the Muslim community, became the
major and most original completely Muslim architectural effort. The mosque was not a purely
religious building, at least not at the beginning, but, because it was restricted to Muslims, it is
appropriate to consider it as such. This, however, was not the only type of early Islamic building
to be uniquely Muslim. Three other types can be defined architecturally and a fourth one only
functionally.

15
The first type, the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, is a unique building. Completed in 691, this
masterwork of Islamic architecture is the earliest major Islamic monument. Its octagonal plan,
use of a high dome, and building techniques are hardly original, although its decoration is
unique. Its purpose, however, is what is most remarkable about the building. Since the middle of
the 8th century, the Dome of the Rock has become the focal centre of the most mystical event in
the life of the Prophet: his ascension into heaven from the rock around which the building was
erected. According to an inscription preserved since the erection of the dome, however, it would
seem that the building did not originally commemorate the Prophet’s ascension but rather the
Christology of Islam and its relationship to Judaism. It seems preferable, therefore, to interpret
the Dome of the Rock as a victory monument of the new faith’s ideological and religious claim
on a holy city and on all the religious traditions attached to it.

Dome of the Rock, completed 691 CE, Jerusalem.-© 2006 Index Open

The second distinctly Islamic type of religious building is the little-known ribāṭ. As early as in
the 8th century, the Muslim empire entrusted the protection of its frontiers, especially the remote
ones, to warriors for the faith (murābiṭūn, “bound ones”) who lived, permanently or temporarily,
in special institutions known as ribāṭs. Evidence for these exist in Central Asia, Anatolia,
and North Africa. It is only in Tunisia that ribāṭs have been preserved. The best one is at Sousse,
Tunisia; it consists of a square fortified building with a single fairly elaborate entrance and a
central courtyard. It has two stories of private or communal rooms. Except for the prominence
taken by an oratory, this building could be classified as a type of Muslim secular architecture.

16
Because no later example of a ribāṭ is known, there is some uncertainty as to whether the
institution ever acquired a unique architectural form of its own.

The ribāṭ (monastery-fortress) of Sousse, Tunisia.-A.F. Kersting Royal mausoleum of the Samanids, completed

before 942 CE, Bukhara, Uzbekistan.© lisaveya/Fotolia

The last type of religious building to develop before the end of the 10th century is
the mausoleum. Originally, Islam was strongly opposed to any formal commemoration of the
dead. But three independent factors slowly modified an attitude that was eventually maintained
only in the most strictly orthodox circles. One factor was the growth of the Shīʿite heterodoxy,
which led to an actual cult of the descendants of the Prophet through his son-in-law ʿAlī. The
second factor was that, as Islam strengthened its hold on conquered lands, a wide variety of local
cultic practices and especially the worship of certain sacred places began to affect the Muslims,
resulting in a whole movement of Islamization of ancient holy places by associating them with
deceased Muslim heroes and holy men or with prophets. The third factor is not, strictly speaking,
religious, but it played a major part. As more or less independent local dynasties began to grow,
they sought to commemorate themselves through mausoleums. Not many mausoleums have
remained from those early centuries, but literary evidence is clear on the fact that the Shīʿite
sanctuaries of Karbalāʾ and Al-Najaf, both in Iraq, and Qom, Iran, already possessed
monumental tombs. At Sāmarrāʾ an octagonal mausoleum had been built for three caliphs. The
masterpieces of early funerary architecture occur in Central Asia, such as the royal mausoleum
of the Sāmānids (known incorrectly as the mausoleum of Esmāʿīl the Sāmānid)
at Bukhara (before 942), which is a superb example of Islamic brickwork. In some instances a
quasi-religious character was attached to the mausoleums, such as the one at Tim (976), which

17
already has the high facade typical of so many later monumental tombs. In all instances the
Muslims took over or rediscovered the ancient tradition of the centrally planned building as the
characteristic commemorative structure.

Interior of the dome of the 20th-century Muḥammad V Mausoleum in Rabat, Morocco.

© Michael Hynes
Building materials and technology
The early Islamic period, on the whole, did not innovate much in the realm of building materials
and technology but utilized what it had inherited from older traditions. Stone and brick continued
to be used throughout the Mediterranean, whereas mud brick usually covered with plaster
predominated in Iraq and Iran, with a few notable exceptions such as Sīrāf, where a masonry of
roughly cut stones set in mortar was more common. The most important novelty was the rapid
development in Iraq of a baked brick architecture in the late 8th and 9th centuries. Iraqi
techniques were later used in Syria at Al-Raqqah and Qaṣr al-Ḥayr East and in Egypt. Iranian
brickwork appears at Mshattā in Jordan. The mausoleum of the Sāmānids in Bukhara is the
earliest remaining example of the new brick architecture in northeastern Iran. Wood was used
consistently but usually has not been very well preserved, except in Palestine and Egypt, where
climatic (extreme dryness of Egypt), religious (holiness of Jerusalem sanctuaries), or historic
(Egypt was never conquered) factors contributed to the continuous upkeep of wooden objects
and architectural elements.

As supports for roofs and ceilings, early Islamic architecture used walls and single supports.

Walls were generally continuous, often buttressed with half towers, and rarely (with exceptions
in Central Asia) were they articulated or broken by other architectural features. The most
common single support was the base-column-capital combination of Mediterranean architecture.
Most columns and capitals either were reused from pre-Islamic buildings or were directly
imitated from older models. In the 9th century in Iraq a brick pier was used, a form that spread to

18
Iran and Egypt. Columns and piers were covered with arches. Most often these were semicircular
arches; the pointed, or two-centred, arch was known, but it does not seem that its property of
reducing the need for heavy supports had been realized. The most extraordinary technical
development of arches occurs in the Great Mosque at Córdoba, where, in order to increase the
height of the building in an area with only short columns, the architects created two rows of
superimposed horseshoe arches. Almost immediately they realized that such a succession of
superimposed arches constructed of alternating stone and brick could be modified to create a
variety of patterns that would alleviate the inherent monotony of a hypostyle building. A
certain ambiguity remains, however, as to whether ornamental effect or structural technology
was the predominate concern in the creation of those unique arched columns.

Mezquita, the great Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba, Spain.Photos.com/Thinkstock

The majority of early Islamic ceilings were flat. Gabled wooden roofs, however, were erected in
the Muslim world west of the Euphrates and simple barrel vaults to the east. Vaulting, either in
brick or in stone, was used, especially in secular architecture. Domes were employed frequently
in mosques, consistently in mausoleums, and occasionally in secular buildings. Almost all domes
are on squinches (supports carried across corners to act as structural transitions to a dome). Most
squinches, as in the Kairouan domes, are classical Greco-Roman niches, which transform the
square room into an octagonal opening for the dome. In Córdoba’s Great Mosque a complex
system of intersecting ribs is encountered, whereas at Bukhara the squinch is broken into halves
by a transverse half arch. The most extraordinary use of the squinch occurs in the mausoleum
at Tim, where the surface of this structural device is broken into a series of smaller three-
dimensional units rearranged into a sort of pyramidal pattern. This rearrangement is the
earliest extant example of muqarnas, or stalactite-like decoration that would later be an
important element of Islamic architectural ornamentation. The motif is so awkwardly constructed
at Tim that it must have derived from some other source, possibly the ornamental device of using
curved stucco panels to cover the corners and upper parts of walls found in Iran at Nīshāpūr.

Architectural decoration

19
Early Islamic architecture is most original in its decoration. Mosaics and wall paintings followed
the practices of antiquity and were primarily employed in Syria, Palestine, and Spain.
Stone sculpture existed, but stucco sculpture, first limited to Iran, spread rapidly throughout the
early Islamic world. Not only were stone or brick walls covered with large panels of stucco
sculpture, but this technique was used for sculpture in the round in the Umayyad palaces of Qaṣr
al-Ḥayr West and Khirbat al-Mafjar. The latter was a comparatively short-lived technique,
although it produced some of the few instances of monumental sculpture anywhere in the early
Middle Ages. A variety of techniques borrowed from the industrial arts were used for
architectural ornamentation. The mihrab wall of Kairouan’s Great Mosque, for example, was
covered with ceramics, whereas fragments of decorative woodwork have been preserved
in Jerusalem and Egypt.

Córdoba, Great Mosque of

Gold mosaics adorn the walls of the mihrab in the Great Mosque of Córdoba, Spain.
© Ron Gatepain (A Britannica Publishing Partner)
The themes and motifs of early Islamic decoration can be divided into three major groups. The
first kind of ornamentation simply emphasizes the shape or contour of an architectural unit. The
themes used were vegetal bands for vertical or horizontal elements, marble imitations for the
lower parts of long walls, chevrons or other types of borders on floors and domes, and even
whole trees on the spandrels or soffits (undersides) of arches as in the Umayyad Mosque
of Damascus or the Dome of the Rock; all these motifs tend to be quite traditional, being taken
from the rich decorative vocabularies of pre-Islamic Iran or of the ancient Mediterranean world.
The second group consists of decorative motifs for which a concrete iconographic meaning can
be given. In the Dome of the Rock and the Umayyad Mosque of Damascus, as well as possibly
the mosques of Córdoba and of Medina, there were probably iconographic programs. It has been
shown, for example, that the huge architectural and vegetal decorative motifs at Damascus were
meant to symbolize a sort of idealized paradise on earth, whereas the crowns of the Jerusalem
sanctuary are thought to have been symbols of empires conquered by Islam. But it is equally
certain that this use of visual forms in mosques for ideological and symbolic purposes was not
20
easily accepted, and most later mosques are devoid of iconographically significant themes. The
only exceptions fully visible are the Qurʾānic inscriptions in the mosque of Ibn Ṭūlūn at Cairo,
which were used both as a reminder of the faith and as an ornamental device to emphasize the
structural lines of the building. Thus, the early Islamic mosque eventually became austere in its
use of symbolic ornamentation, with the exception of the mihrab, which was considered as a
symbol of the unity of all believers.
Like religious architecture, secular buildings seem to have been less richly decorated at the end
of the early Islamic period than at the beginning. The paintings, sculptures, and mosaics of Qaṣr
al-Ḥayr West, Khirbat al-Mafjar, Qaṣr ʿAmrah, and Sāmarrāʾ primarily illustrated the life of the
prince. There were official iconographic compositions, such as the monarch enthroned, or ones
of pleasure and luxury, such as hunting scenes or depictions of the prince surrounded by dancers,
musicians, acrobats, and unclad women. Few of these so-called princely themes were
iconographic inventions of the Muslims. They usually can be traced back either to the classical
world of ancient Greece and Rome or to pre-Islamic Iran and Central Asia.

The third type of architectural decoration consists of large panels, most often in stucco, for which
no meaning or interpretation is yet known. Those panels might be called ornamental in the sense
that their only apparent purpose was to beautify the buildings in which they were installed, and
their relationship to the architecture is arbitrary. The Mshattā facade’s decoration of a huge band
of triangles is, for instance, quite independent of the building’s architectural parts. Next to
Mshattā, the most important series of examples of the third type of ornamentation come from
Sāmarrāʾ, although striking examples are also to be found at Khirbat al-Mafjar, Qaṣr al-Ḥayr
East and West, Al-Fusṭāṭ, Sīrāf, and Nīshāpūr. Two decorative motifs were predominately used
on those panels: a great variety of vegetal motifs and geometric forms. At Sāmarrāʾ those panels
eventually became so abstract that individual parts could no longer be distinguished, and the
decorative design had to be viewed in terms of the relationships between line and shape, light
and shade, horizontal and vertical axes, and so forth. Copied consistently from Morocco to
Central Asia, the aesthetic principles of this latter type of a complex overall design influenced
the development of the principle of arabesque ornamentation.

21
1.Triangular stone relief from the facade of Mshattā, early 8th century, Jordan; in the Museum of Islamic Art, Pergamon Museum, National
Museums of Berlin.
2.Ivory casket made for al-Mughīrah, son of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān III, from Córdoba, Spain, 968; in the Louvre, Paris. Height 15 cm. Courtesy of
the Musee du Louvre, Paris; photograph Mansell—Giraudon/Art Resource, New York
3. Bowl from Nīshāpūr, lead-glazed earthenware with a slip decoration, 9th–10th century; in the Victoria and Albert Museum,
London.Courtesy of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Islamic architectural ornamentation does not lend itself easily to chronological stylistic
definition. In other words, it does not seem to share consistently a cluster of formal
characteristics. The reason is that in the earliest Islamic buildings the decorative motifs were
borrowed from an extraordinary variety of stylistic sources: classical themes illusionistically
rendered (e.g., the mosaics of the Umayyad Mosque of Damascus), hieratic Byzantine themes
(e.g., the Umayyad Mosque of Damascus and Qaṣr ʿAmrah), Sāsānian motifs, Central Asian
motifs (especially the sculpture from Umayyad palaces), and the many regional styles of
ornamentation that had developed in all parts of the pre-Islamic world. It is the wealth of themes
and motifs, therefore, that constitutes the Umayyad style of architectural decoration. The
ʿAbbāsids, on the other hand, began to be more selective in their choice of ornamentation.

Decorative arts
Very little is known about early Islamic gold and silver objects, although their existence is
mentioned in many texts as well as suggested by the wealth of the Muslim princes. Except for a
large number of silver plates and ewers belonging to the Sāsānian tradition, nothing has
remained. Those silver objects were probably made for Umayyad and ʿAbbāsid princes, although
there is much controversy among scholars regarding their authenticity and date of manufacture.
For entirely different reasons it is impossible to present any significant generalities about the art
of textiles in the early Islamic period. Problems of authenticity are few. Dating from the 10th
century are a large number of Būyid silks, a group of funerary textiles with plant and animal
motifs as well as poetic texts. Very little order has yet been made of an enormous mass of often
well-dated textile fragments, and, therefore, except for the Būyid silks, it is still impossible to
identify any one of the textile types mentioned in early medieval literary sources. Furthermore,
because it can be assumed that pre-Islamic textile factories were taken over by the Muslims and
because it is otherwise known that textiles were easily transported from one area of the Muslim
world to the other or even beyond it, it is still very difficult to define Islamic styles as opposed to
Byzantine or to Coptic ones. The obvious exception lies in those fragments that are provided
with inscriptions, and the main point to make is, therefore, that one of the characteristic features
of early Islamic textiles is their use of writing for identifying and decorative purposes. But, while
true, this point in no way makes it possible to deny an Islamic origin to fragments that are not
provided with inscriptions, and one must thus await further investigations of detail before being
able to define early Islamic textiles.

The most important medium of early Islamic decorative arts is pottery. Initially Muslims
continued to sponsor whatever varieties of ceramics had existed before their arrival. Probably in
the last quarter of the 8th century, new and more elaborate types of glazed pottery were
produced. This new development did not replace the older and simpler types of pottery but added
a new dimension to the art of Islamic ceramics. Because of the still incompletely published
studies on the unfinished excavations carried out at Nīshāpūr, Sīrāf, Qaṣr al-Ḥayr East, and Al-
Fusṭāṭ, the scholarship on those ceramics is likely to be very much modified. Therefore, this

22
section will treat only the most general characteristics of Islamic ceramics, avoiding in particular
the complex archaeological problems posed by the growth and spread of individual techniques.
The area of initial technical innovation seems to have been Iraq. Trade with Central Asia
brought Chinese ceramics to Mesopotamia, and Islamic ceramicists sought to imitate them. It is
probably in Iraq, therefore, that the technique of lustre glazing was first developed in the Muslim
world. This gave the surface of a clay object a metallic, shiny appearance. Egypt also played a
leading part in the creation of the new ceramics. Because the earliest datable lustre object
(a glass goblet with the name of the governor who ruled in 773, now in the Cairo Museum of
Islamic Ceramics) was Egyptian, some scholars feel that it was in Egypt and not Iraq that lustre
was first used. Early pottery was also produced in northeastern Iran, where excavations at
Afrāsiyāb (Samarkand) and Nīshāpūr have brought to light a new art of painted underglaze
pottery. Its novelty was not so much in the technique of painting designs on the slip and covering
them with a transparent glaze as in the variety of subjects employed.

While new ceramic techniques may have been sought to imitate other mediums (mostly metal) or
other styles of pottery (mostly Chinese), the decorative devices rapidly became purely and
unmistakably Islamic in style. A wide variety of motifs were combined: vegetal arabesques or
single flowers and trees; inscriptions, usually legible and consisting of proverbs or of good
wishes; animals that were usually birds drawn from the vast folkloric past of the Middle East;
occasionally human figures drawn in a strikingly abstract fashion; geometric designs; all-over
abstract patterns; single motifs on empty fields; and simple splashes of colour, with or without
underglaze sgraffito designs (i.e., designs incised or sketched on the body or the slip of the
object). All these motifs were used on both the high-quality ceramics of Nīshāpūr and
Samarkand as well as on Islamic folk pottery.

Although ceramics has appeared to be the most characteristic medium of expression in the
decorative arts during the early Islamic period, it has only been because of the greater number of
preserved objects. Glass was as important, but examples have been less well preserved. A
tradition of ivory carving developed in Spain, and the objects dating from the last third of the
10th century onward attest to the high quality of this uniquely Iberian art. Many of those carved
ivories certainly were made for princes; therefore, it is not surprising that their decorative themes
were drawn from the whole vocabulary of princely art known through Umayyad painting and
sculpture of the early 8th century. Those ivory carvings are also important in that they exemplify
the fact that an art of sculpture in the round never totally disappeared in the Muslim world—at
least in small objects.

Assessment
There are three general points that seem to characterize the art of the early Islamic period. It can
first be said that it was an art that sought self-consciously, like the culture sponsoring it, to create
artistic forms that would be identifiable as being different from those produced in preceding or
contemporary non-Islamic artistic traditions. At times, as in the use of the Greco-Roman
technique of mosaics or in the adoption of Persian and Roman architectural building technology,
early Islamic art simply took over whatever traditions were available. At other times, as in the
development of the mosque as a building type, it recomposed into new shapes the forms that had
existed before. On the other hand, in ceramics or the use of calligraphic ornamentation, the early
Islamic artist invented new techniques and a new decorative vocabulary. Whatever the nature of

23
the phenomenon, it was almost always an attempt to identify itself visually as unique and
different. Because there was initially no concept about what should constitute an Islamic
tradition in the visual arts, the early art of the Muslims often looks like only a continuation of
earlier artistic styles, forms, subjects, and techniques. Many mosaics, silver plates, or textiles,
therefore, were not considered to be Islamic until recently. In order to be understood, then, as
examples of the art of a new culture, those early buildings and objects have to be seen in the
complete context in which they were created. When so seen, they appear as conscious choices by
the new Islamic culture from its immense artistic inheritance.

A second point of definition concerns the question of whether there is an early Islamic style or
perhaps even several styles in some sort of succession. The fascinating fact is that there is a clear
succession only in those artistic features that are Islamic inventions—nonfigurative ornament
and ceramics. For it is only in development of those features that one can assume to find the
conscious search for form that can create a period style. Elsewhere, especially in palace art, the
Muslim world sought to relate itself to an earlier and more universal tradition of princely art; its
monuments, therefore, are less Islamic than typological. In the new art of the
Muslim bourgeoisie, however, uniquely Islamic artistic phenomena began to evolve.
Finally, the geographical peculiarities of early Islamic art must be reiterated. Its centres were
Syria, Iraq, Egypt, northwestern Iran, and Spain. Of these, Iraq was probably the most originally
creative, and it is from Iraq that a peculiarly Islamic visual koine (a commonly accepted and
understood system of forms) was derived and spread throughout the Islamic world. This
development, of course, is logical, because the capital of the early empire and some of the first
purely Muslim cities were in Iraq. In western Iran, in Afghanistan, in northern Mesopotamia, and
in Morocco, the more atypical and local artistic traditions were more or less affected by the
centralized imperial system of Iraq. This tension between a general pan-Islamic vocabulary and a
variable number of local vocabularies was to remain a constant throughout the history of Islamic
art and is certainly one of the reasons for the difficulty, if not impossibility, one faces in trying to
define an Islamic style.

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Islamic-arts/Seljuq-art

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 Dome of the Rock
The Dome of the Rock is a 7th-century edifice located in Jerusalem.
It enshrines the rock from which Muḥammad is said to have ascended to heaven.
Sometimes erroneously called the Mosque of Umar, from a tradition that it was built by Caliph
Umar I, the Dome of the Rock was actually built by Caliph Abd al-Malik between 687 and 691.
The first domed shrine to be built, the Dome of the Rock is a masterpiece of Islamic architecture.
The octagonal plan and the rotunda dome of wood are of Byzantine design. The Persian tiles on
the exterior and the marble slabs that decorate the interior were added by Suleiman I in 1561.
The Dome of the Rock is located on a rocky outcrop known as Mount Moriah, where, according
to Jewish belief, Abraham offered his son Isaac as a sacrifice. The inscriptions inside the
building glorify Islam as the final true revelation and culmination of the faiths of Judaism and
Christianity. The building is actually not a mosque but a ciborium, erected over a sacred site.
According to later Islamic tradition, the Rock (al-Sakhra) in the midst of the building was the
spot from which Mohammed ascended to heaven after his miraculous night journey from Mecca
to Jerusalem on the winged steed al-Buraq.
A tradition states that by building the dome, Abd al-Malik was attempting to transfer the Islamic
hajj to Jerusalem from Mecca in Saudi Arabia. The 60-foot-diameter, timber-framed double
dome, covered internally with colored and gilded stucco and originally roofed with lead covered
in gold, rises 35 meters over the holy rock.
It is carried on a tall drum, originally faced with glass mosaics, which rests on a circular arcade
of 12 marble columns, set in threes between four large rectangular piers. At the top of the drum,
16 colored glass windows light the central space. Inside and outside, the Dome of the Rock was
enriched with marble columns and facings and floral mosaic patterns.
During the Crusades, the Dome of the Rock was commandeered as a Christian shrine before
returning to Islamic hands. Many medieval people believed it to be the famous Temple of King
Solomon.
Today, it is at the very core of a bitter dispute between Palestinians and Israelis. Although
sometimes referred to as the Mosque of Omar, the Dome of the Rock is in fact not a mosque.
Nevertheless, as the oldest extant Islamic monument, it served as a model for architecture and
other artistic endeavors across three continents for a millennium.
Built between 685 and 691 C.E., this shrine is the first piece of Islamic architecture sponsored by
a Muslim ruler that was created as a work of art.
Built to transcend its function by the quality of its forms and expression, the Dome is still
standing in much of its original shape and with a good portion of its original decoration.
Its wooden gilt dome, which is approximately 20 meters in diameter, rises to a height of some 30
meters above the surrounding stone-paved platform.
It is supported by a circular arcade of four piers and twelve columns. Surrounding this circle is
an octagonal arcade of eight piers and sixteen columns, which help support the dome.
The outer wall repeats this octagon, each of the eight sides being about 18 meters wide and 8
meters high. Both the dome and the exterior walls contain many windows.
Extensive decoration from a variety of periods, including mosaics, painted wood, marble, multi-
colored tiles, carpets, and carved stone, covers most of the exterior and interior of the building.
Many of the 45,000 blue and gold exterior tiles were installed under Suleiman the Magnificent in
the 1500s.

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Inside, 1,280 square meters of elaborate mosaics cover the walls that enshrine the mystical rock
under the dome.
The intricate patterns and geometric shapes of the mosaics replace figurative art since, according
to Muslim belief, it would be impossible to represent Allah in any figurative form.
Instead, the shrine conveys its own message through color and shape. In Islamic art, blue, the
color of the sky, suggests infinity, while gold represents the color of the knowledge of God.
The shape of the dome itself is a powerful symbol of the soaring ascent to heaven, its circle
representing the wholeness and balance essential to the Muslim faith.
riginally a mashhad, a shrine for pilgrims, the Dome of the Rock was commissioned for not only
religious but also political purposes.
Chaliph Abd El-Malik placed the monument on the Haram as-Sharif, the Noble Sanctuary, in
order to enshrine the sacred rock from which, Muslims believe, Muhammad made al-isra’, the
Night Journey and ascended to visit Allah in heaven (Koran 17:1).
Along with the theological component, however, there was also a political purpose for the
construction of the Dome.
During the late seventh century, the Muslim world was torn by conflict between a variety of
Muslim groups, each of which claimed to be Muhammad’s sole heir.
According to tradition, Muhammad first selected Jerusalem as theqibla, the direction the faithful
should face during prayer.
Later, the prophet redirected his followers to face the city of Mecca when praying, to symbolize
Islam’s independence from the other monotheistic religions that had chosen Jerusalem as their
most holy city.
In the late seventh century, however, Chaliph Abd El-Malik wanted to discourage his followers
from making the pilgrimage to Mecca because he feared that they might fall under the influence
of one of his Muslim rivals.
He, therefore, constructed the Dome in the hopes of establishing Jerusalem as the major Muslim
pilgrimage destination, so that he could keep his followers and attract new ones.
While Mecca has remained the qibla for Muslims, Jerusalem is revered by Muslims as the third
holiest place in the world.
The pilgrimage to Jerusalem, known as the taqdis, is the final destination of the main pilgrimage
(hajj), allowing Muslims to commemorate the significance of the city to their faith.
The golden Dome of the Rock, claimed and restored during a tumultuous century of conflict
between Muslims and Christians, rises above the Old City’s walls as an icon of Jerusalem’s
enduring significance to the Muslim faith.
The Dome of the Rock (Qubbat al-Sakhra)
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The Dome of the Rock (Qubbat al-Sakhra), Umayyad, stone masonry, wooden roof, decorated
with glazed ceramic tile, mosaics, and gilt aluminum and bronze dome, 691-2, with multiple
renovations, patron the Caliph Abd al-Malik, Jerusalem (photo: Orientalist, CC BY 3.0)
The Dome of the Rock (Qubbat al-Sakhra), Umayyad, stone masonry, wooden roof, decorated
with glazed ceramic tile, mosaics, and gilt aluminum and bronze dome, 691-2, with multiple
renovations, patron the Caliph Abd al-Malik, Jerusalem (photo: Orientalist, CC BY 3.0)
The Dome of the Rock is a building of extraordinary beauty, solidity, elegance, and singularity
of shape… Both outside and inside, the decoration is so magnificent and the workmanship so

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surpassing as to defy description. The greater part is covered with gold so that the eyes of one
who gazes on its beauties are dazzled by its brilliance, now glowing like a mass of light,
now flashing like lightning.                               
                                            —Ibn Battuta (14th century travel writer)
A glorious mystery
One of the most iconic images of the Middle East is undoubtedly the Dome of the Rock
shimmering in the setting sun of Jerusalem. Sitting atop the Haram al-Sharif, the highest point in
old Jerusalem, the Dome of the Rock’s golden-color Dome and Turkish Faience tiles dominates
the cityscape of Old Jerusalem and in the 7th century served as a testament to the power of the
new faith of Islam. The Dome of the Rock is one of the earliest surviving buildings from the
Islamic world. This remarkable building is not a mosque, as is commonly assumed and scholars
still debate its original function and meaning.

Interior of the Dome of the Rock (photo: Robert Smythe Hitchens, public domain)

Between the death of the prophet Muhammad in 632 and 691/2, when the Dome of the Rock was
completed, there was intermittent warfare in Arabia and Holy Land around Jerusalem. The first
Arab armies who emerged from the Arabian peninsula were focused on conquering and
establishing an empire—not building.

Thus, the Dome of the Rock was one of the first Islamic buildings ever constructed. It was built
between 685 and 691/2 by Abd al-Malik, probably the most important Umayyad caliph, as a
religious focal point for his supporters, while he was fighting a civil war against Ibn Zubayr.
When Abd al-Malik began construction on the Dome of the Rock, he did not have control of the
Kaaba, the holiest shrine in Islam, which is located in Mecca.

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The Dome is located on the Haram al-Sharif, an enormous open-air platform that now houses Al-
Aqsa mosque, madrasas and several other religious buildings. Few places are as holy for
Christians, Jews and Muslims as the Haram al-Sharif. It is the Temple Mount, the site of the
Jewish second temple, which the Roman Emperor Titus destroyed in 70 C.E. while subduing the
Jewish revolt; a Roman temple was later built on the site. The Temple Mount was abandoned in
Late Antiquity.The Rock in the Dome of the Rock
At the center of the Dome of the Rock sits a large rock, which is believed to be the location
where Abraham was prepared to sacrifice his son Ismail (Isaac in the Judeo/Christian tradition).
Today, Muslims believe that the Rock commemorates the night journey of Muhammad. One
night the Angel Gabriel came to Muhammad while he slept near the Kaaba in Mecca and took
him to al-Masjid al-Aqsa (the farthest mosque) in Jerusalem. From the Rock, Muhammad
journeyed to heaven, where he met other prophets, such as Moses and Christ, witnessed paradise
and hell and finally saw God enthroned and circumambulated by angels.

K.A.C. Creswell, Sectional axonometric view through dome, ©Creswell Archive, Ashmolean
Museum, Image courtesy of Fine Arts Library, Harvard College Library
K.A.C. Creswell, Sectional axonometric view through dome, ©Creswell Archive, Ashmolean
Museum, Image courtesy of Fine Arts Library, Harvard College Library
The Rock is enclosed by two ambulatories (in this case the aisles that circle the rock) and an
octagonal exterior wall. The central colonnade (row of columns) was composed of four piers and
twelve columns supporting a rounded drum that transitions into the two-layered dome more than
20 meters in diameter.
The colonnades are clad in marble on their lower registers, and their upper registers are adorned
with exceptional mosaics. The ethereal interior atmosphere is a result of light that pours in from
grilled windows located in the drum and exterior walls. Golden mosaics depicting jewels
shimmer in this glittering light. Byzantine and Sassanian crowns in the midst of vegetal motifs
are also visible.
The Byzantine Empire stood to the North and to the West of the new Islamic Empire until 1453,
when its capital, Constantinople, fell to the Ottoman Turks. To the East, the old Sasanian Empire
of Persia imploded under pressure from the Arabs, but nevertheless provided winged crown
motifs that can be found in the Dome of the Rock.

Mosaics
Wall and ceiling mosaics became very popular in Late Antiquity and adorn many Byzantine
churches, including San Vitale in Ravenna and Hagia Sophia in Constantinople. Thus, the use of
mosaics reflects an artistic tie to the world of Late Antiquity. Late Antiquity is a period from
about 300-800, when the Classical world dissolves and the Medieval period emerges.

The mosaics in the Dome of the Rock contain no human figures or animals. While Islam does
not prohibit the use of figurative art per se, it seems that in religious buildings, this proscription
was upheld. Instead, we see vegetative scrolls and motifs, as well as vessels and winged crowns,
which were worn by Sasanian kings. Thus, the iconography of the Dome of the Rock also
includes the other major pre-Islamic civilization of the region, the Sasanian Empire, which the
Arab armies had defeated.
A reference to Burial Places

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The building enclosing the Rock also seems to take its form from the imperial mausolea (the
burial places) of Roman emperors, such as Augustus or Hadrian. Its circular form and Dome also
reference the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. The circular Church of the Holy Sepulcher in
Jerusalem was built to enclose the tomb of Christ. The Church of the Holy Sepulcher and the
Dome of the Rock have domes that are almost identical in size; this suggests that the elevated
position of the Dome of the Rock and the comparable size of its dome was a way that Muslims in
the late 8th century proclaimed the superiority of their newly formed faith over Christians.
The Inscription
The Dome of the Rock also contains an inscription, 240 meters long, that includes some of the
earliest surviving examples of verses from the Qur‘an – in an architectural context or otherwise.
The bismillah (in the name of God, the merciful and compassionate), the phrase that starts each
verse of the Qu’ran, and the shahada, the Islamic confession of faith, which states that there is
only one God and Muhammad is his prophet, are also included in the inscription. The inscription
also refers to Mary and Christ and proclaim that Christ was not divine but a prophet. Thus the
inscription also proclaims some of the core values of the newly formed religion of Islam.
Below the Rock is a small chamber, whose purpose is not fully understood even to this day. For
those who are fortunate enough to be able to enter the Dome of the Rock, the experience is
moving, regardless of one’s faith.
Essay by Dr. Elizabeth Macaulay-Lewis

The Temple Mount and the National Geographic

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The Temple of Jerusalem
For a Christian, the Holy City brings together the most precious memories of the passage on
earth of our Savior, because in Jerusalem Jesus died and rose from the dead. It was also the
setting for his preaching and miracles and the place where the Church was born.

Traces of our faith

30
Once the time for the purification of the Mother has been completed, according to the Law of
Moses, it is necessary to go with the Child to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord . (Holy
Rosary, IV joyful mystery).
For a Christian, the Holy City brings together the most precious memories of the passage on
earth of our Savior, because in Jerusalem Jesus died and rose from the dead. It was also the scene
of his preaching and miracles, and of the intense hours that preceded his Passion, during which
he instituted the madness of love of the Eucharist. In that same place - the Cenacle - the Church
was born which, gathered around Mary, received the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost.
Download the article in pdf format
History of the Holy City

The Cedron stream seen from the Mount of Olives. Photo: Alfred Driessen
In reality, the protagonism of Jerusalem in the history of salvation had already begun much
earlier, with the reign of David, between the years 1010 and 970 before Christ. Due to its
topographical situation, the city had constituted as an enclave of the Jebusite people,
impregnable to the Israelites in their conquest of the promised land. It occupied the top of a
series of hills arranged as steps in ascending order: in the southern part of the highest area - still
known today as Ofel or City of David - was the Jebusite fortress; in the northern part, Mount
Moria, which the Jewish tradition identified with the place of the sacrifice of Isaac (Cfr. Gn 22,
2; and 2 Cr 3,1).
The massif, with an average height of 760 meters above sea level, was surrounded by two deep
streams: the Cedron on the eastern side - which separates the city from the Mount of Olives -,
and the Ginon or Gehenna on the western and southern side. The two joined with a third, the
Tiropeòn, which crossed the hills from north to south.
When David took Jerusalem, he settled in the fortress and built several buildings (cf. 2 Sam 5, 6-
12), making it the capital of the kingdom. He also converted it as a religious center of Israel by
carrying the Ark of the Covenant, which was the sign of God's presence among his people (Cf.
Sam 6, 1-23), and by deciding to build Lord a temple that would serve as his dwelling (cf. 2 Sam
7, 1-7. And also 1 Cr 22, 1-19; 28, 1-21; and 29, 1-9). According to biblical sources, his son
Solomon began the construction works of the Temple in the fourth year of his reign, and
consecrated it in the eleventh year (cf. 1 Kings 6, 37-38), that is to say around 960 BC. C.
Although it is not possible to arrive at archaeological evidence - due to the difficulty of
excavating in that area -,
Place of encounter with God

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 From Herod's
Temple to the present day. From "National Geographic".
The Temple was the place of encounter with God through prayer and, above all, through
sacrifices; it was the symbol of divine protection over the people, of the presence of the Lord
always willing to listen to requests and to help those who resorted to him in need. This is evident
in God's words to Solomon:
-I listened to your prayer; I have chosen this place as a home to sacrifice. (…). Now my eyes will
be open and my ears attentive to the prayer made in this place. Now I have chosen myself and

32
consecrated this house so that my name will always remain there; my eyes and my heart will be
there every day. As for you, if you walk ahead of me as your father David walked, doing what I
commanded you, and keep my laws and regulations, I will establish the throne of your kingdom
as I promised your father David, saying : "A descendant who reigns in Israel will not be taken
away from you." But if you deviate and abandon the laws and regulations that I have proposed to
you, if you go and serve other gods and bow down to them, I will exterminate you from the land
that I have given you, I will repudiate this temple which I have consecrated to my name, I will
make it the fable and the laughing stock of all peoples. This Temple, which appeared so exalted
to the eyes of those who passed in front of it, will be converted into ruins- (Cfr. 2 Cr 7, 12-21. 1
Kings 9, 1-9).
The history of the following centuries shows the extent to which these words were
fulfilled. After Solomon's death, the kingdom was divided in two: that of Israel in the north, with
Samaria as its capital, which was conquered by the Assyrians in 722 BC. C .; and the kingdom of
Judah to the south, with Jerusalem as its capital, which was subjected to vassalage by
Nebuchadnezzar in 597. His army razed the city, including the Temple, in the year 587, and
deported most of the population to Babylon.
Before the destruction of Jerusalem, there was no lack of prophets sent by God who denounced
formalistic worship and idolatry, and led to a profound interior conversion; they also
remembered that God had conditioned his presence in the Temple on fidelity to the Covenant,
and they exhorted us to keep hope in a definitive restoration. In this way the conviction, inspired
by God, grew that salvation would come through the fidelity of a servant of the Lord who, by
obeying, would take upon himself the sins of the people.
The second temple and the arrival of the Romans
It did not take many years for the Israelites to feel the protection of the Lord again: in 539
BC. C., Cyrus, king of Persia, conquered Babylon and granted them the freedom to return to
Jerusalem: in the same place where the first temple was built, the second, more modest one was
built, which was dedicated in 515. The lack of independence politics for nearly two centuries did
not prevent the development of an intense religious life. This relative tranquility continued
during the invasion of Alexander the Great in 332 BC. C. and also during the rule of his Egyptian
successors, the Ptolemaic dynasty.

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Jerusalem in the time of Jesus Christ.  J. Gil
The situation changed in 200 BC. C. with the conquest of Jerusalem by the Seleucids, another
dynasty of Macedonian origin that had settled in Syria. His attempts to impose Hellenization on
the Jewish people, which culminated in the desecration of the Temple in 175, provoked a popular
uprising. The triumph of the Maccabean revolt allowed not only to restore the worship of the
Temple in 167, but also favored their descendants, the Hasmoneans, to reign in Judea.
In 63 a. C., Palestine fell into the hands of the Roman general Pompey, starting a new era. Herod
the Great made himself king by Rome who provided him with an army. In 37, after consolidating
his power also using means not exempt from brutality, he conquered Jerusalem and began to
embellish it with new buildings: the most ambitious of all was the restoration and expansion of
the Temple, which he carried out starting from 20 BC. C.
The pilgrimage of the Holy Family to the Temple

Pilgrims used to arrive at the temple from the southwest. Photo: Alfred Driessen
Saint Mary and Saint Joseph will have made pilgrimages to the Temple in their childhood, and
therefore they already knew the Temple when, having completed the days of purification, they
went there with Jesus to present it to the Lord (Lk 2:22). It took several hours to cover the ten
kilometers that separate Bethlehem from the Holy City on foot or on horseback. They were
probably impatient to fulfill the prescription of which they did not suspect the true meaning: "the
presentation of Jesus in the Temple shows him as the Firstborn who belongs to the Lord"
(Catechism of the Catholic Church, n.529).
In order to remember the liberation from Egypt, the Law of Moses ordered the consecration to
God of the first male child (Cfr. Ex 13, 1-2 and 11-16); his parents had to redeem him through an
offer, which consisted of an amount of silver equivalent to twenty days' wages. The Law also
established the legal purification of mothers after giving birth (Cfr. Lv 12, 2-8); Mary
Immaculate, always a virgin, wanted to submit with simplicity to this precept, even if in fact she
was not obliged to do so.

34
 Archaeological excavation area south of the Temple Mount. Photo: Leobard Hinfelaar
The road to Jerusalem follows the undulation of the hills with a slight slope. By the time they
were close, they would have seen the Temple Mount looming on the horizon from some
bend. Herod had doubled the area of the esplanade by building enormous retaining walls - some
four and a half meters thick - and filling the spaces with earth or a structure of underground
arches. He thus formed a quadrangular platform whose sides measure 485 meters to the west,
314 to the north, 469 to the east and 280 to the south. In the center, surrounded in turn by another
enclosure, stood the Temple proper: it was an imposing building, covered with white stone and
gold plates, 50 meters high.
The road from Bethlehem ended at the Jaffa Gate, located on the west side of the city
walls. From here, several narrow streets led almost in a straight line to the Temple. Pilgrims used
to enter from the south side. At the foot of the wall there were numerous shops where St. Joseph
and the Madonna could buy the offer for the purification prescribed for the poor: a couple of
turtle doves or pigeons. Going up one of the wide stairways and crossing what was called the
Double Door, one entered the esplanade through some monumental underground corridors.
The passage led into the courtyard of the Gentiles, the largest part of that gigantic surface. It was
divided into two areas: the one that occupied the extensions ordered by Herod, whose external
perimeter was equipped with some magnificent arcades; and the one corresponding to the
extension of the previous esplanade, the walls of which had been respected. Always noisy from
the shouting of the multitudes, the courtyard indiscriminately welcomed those who wished to
gather there, foreigners and Israelites, pilgrims and inhabitants of Jerusalem. This noise was also
mixed with the noise of the workers, who continued to work in many areas not yet finished.
The enclosure of the Temple: the meeting with Simeon

Dome of the Rock Mosque. Photo: Alfred Driessen

St. Joseph and the Madonna did not stay there. Crossing through the gates of Hulda the wall that
divided the atrium, and leaving behind the soreg - the balustrade that delimited the part forbidden
to Gentiles under penalty of death -, they finally reached the temple enclosure, which was
entered from the eastern side. . It was probably then, in the women's hall, that the elderly Simeon
approached them. He had gone there "moved by the Spirit" (Lk 2:27), sure that day he would see
the Savior, and he sought him among the multitude. "Vultum tuum, Domine, requiram!" St.
Josemaría repeated at the end of his life to express his keen desire for contemplation.
I would be lying if I denied that I am so moved by the desire to contemplate the face of Jesus
Christ.  Vultum tuum, Domine, requiram. I will seek, Lord, your face. It fills me with joy to close
my eyes, and to think that the moment will come, when God wills, when I will be able to see him,
not "as in a mirror or through opaque images ... but face to face" (1 Cor, 13-12) (St. Josemaría,
Notes collected in a family reunion, 10 April 1974).
In the end Simeon recognized the Messiah in the Child, took him in his arms and blessed God,
saying: - Now you can let your servant go in peace, according to your word, because my eyes

35
have seen your salvation. , prepared by you before all peoples - (Lk 2, 28-31).

36
37
From the Temple of Solomon to
the Dome of the Rock. From "National Geographic"
“In this evangelical scene - Benedict XVI teaches - the mystery of the Son of the Virgin is
revealed, the consecrated one of the Father, who came into the world to faithfully carry out his
will (cf. Heb 10: 5-7). Simeon points to him as "light to illuminate the nations" (Lk 2:32) and
announces his supreme offering to God and his final victory with a prophetic word (cf. It is the
meeting of the two Testaments, Old and New. Jesus enters the ancient temple, He who is the new
Temple of God: he comes to visit his people, fulfilling obedience to the Law and inaugurating
the last times of salvation. (Benedict XVI, Homily in the celebration of Vespers on the feast of
the Presentation of the Lord, 2-II-2011).
Simeon blessed the young spouses and then turned to Our Lady: - "Behold, he is here for the fall
and resurrection of many in Israel and as a sign of contradiction - and a sword will pierce your
soul too - so that the thoughts of many hearts revealed. " (Lk 2, 34-35). In the environment of
light and joy that surrounds the coming of the Redeemer, these words complete what God has
revealed: they remind us that Jesus was born to offer a perfect and unique oblation, that of the
Cross (Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 529). As for Mary, “her role in the history of
salvation does not end in the mystery of the Incarnation, but is completed in the loving and
painful participation in the death and resurrection of her Son. Carrying the Son to Jerusalem,
.
The purification of the Virgin

Model of Herod's Temple, located in the Israel Museum. Photo: Alberto Peral- Israel
Tourism.
Still struck by the words of Simeon, which was followed by the meeting with the prophetess
Anna, St. Joseph and the Madonna will have headed to the door of Nicanore, located between the
atrium of the women and that of the Israelites. They will have climbed the fifteen steps of the
semicircular staircase to present themselves before the priest, who would have received the
offerings and blessed the young bride with a sprinkling rite. With this ceremony the Son was
redeemed and the Mother purified.
You see?  wrote St. Josemaría contemplating the scene, She - the Immaculate!  - submits to the
Law as if it were impure.
My child, will you also learn from this example not to be foolish and to carry out the Holy Law
of God despite all the sacrifices it requires?
Purify yourself! The two of us need purification! - Atone, to find love beyond the expiation. - A
love that cauterizes, that burns the dross of our soul, that is a fire that lights up the misery of our
heart with a divine flame (Holy Rosary, IV joyful mystery).
The Church condenses the aspects of this mystery in her liturgical prayer: "Almighty and eternal
God, look upon your faithful gathered on the feast of the Presentation in the temple of your only
Son made man, and allow us too to be presented to you fully renewed in the spirit ”(Cf. Roman
Missal, Collect prayer on the feast of the Presentation of the Lord).
The destruction of the Temple
Jesus Christ had prophesied that no stone upon stone would remain of the Temple (cf. Mt 24, 2;
Mk 13, 2; Lk 19, 44 and 21, 6). These words were fulfilled in 70, when it was set on fire during
the siege of the Roman legions. Fifty years later, the second uprising was suppressed and the
Jews from Jerusalem expelled, on pain of death, the emperor Hadrian ordered to build a new city
on the ruins of the ancient one. He called her Aelia Capitolina. Monuments with the statues of
Jupiter and the emperor himself were erected above the ruins of the Temple.

38
In the 4th century, when Jerusalem became a Christian city, numerous churches and basilicas
were built in the Holy Places. However, the Temple Mount remained abandoned, although Jews
were allowed access once a year to pray at the foot of the western wall, in front of what is still
called the Wailing Wall today.
The expansion of Islam, which reached Jerusalem in 638, six years after Muhammad's death,
changed everything. The first rulers focused their attention on the Temple esplanade. According
to one tradition, Muhammad ascended to heaven from there. Two mosques were immediately
built: one in the center, above the place that must have previously been occupied by the Holy of
Holies, that of the dome of the Rocca, completed in the year 691, which still retains the original
architecture; to the south, where the largest portico of Herod's time was located, the Al-Aqsa
mosque, which was finished in 715, although it has undergone several important restorations
throughout history.
Since then, except for the brief reigns of the crusaders of the 12th and 13th centuries, Muslims
have always held the right to this place: called Haram al-Sharif - the Noble Sanctuary - they
consider it the third holiest place in Islam, after Mecca and Medina.

39
40
Jerusalem in the time of Jesus Christ.  From "National Geographic"

The Acts of the Apostles have given us numerous testimonies of how the Twelve and the first
Christians went to the Temple to pray and give testimony of the resurrection of Jesus before the
people (cf. Acts 2, 46; 3, 1; 5, 12.20-25) . At the same time they gathered in the houses for the
breaking of bread (Cfr. Acts 2, 42 and 46), that is, to celebrate the Eucharist: from the beginning,
they were aware of the fact that “the age of the temple has passed. A new cult arrives in a temple
not built by men. This temple is his Body, the Risen One who gathers peoples and unites them in
the sacrament of his Body and Blood "(Joseph Ratzinger / Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth.
From the Entry into Jerusalem to the Resurrection, p. 32) . https://opusdei.org/it-it/article/il-
tempio-di-gerusalemme/

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42
Gates of Jerusalem

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From: James Fleming - Biblical Archeology Review (Accordance Bible Software)

44
LION’S GATE – The Lions Gate is also known as St. Stephen’s Gate, it is the location that Paul
(Saul) witnessed the stoning of Steven. The Lion’s Gate is located in the east wall, and leads to
the Via Dolorosa. Near the top of the Lion’s Gate are four figures of lions, two on the left and
two on the right. Israeli paratroops from the 55th Paratroop Brigade came through this gate
during the Six Day War in 1967.
 

HEROD’S GATE – Herod’s Gate is in East Jerusalem located on the North Wall of the Old City
and leads into the Moslem quarter of the Old City.
 

45
DAMASCUS GATE – The road to Damascus once came out of this Gate, you will also notice a
smaller Roman Gate to the left, it would have been the Gate the Messiah came through with the
Cross. The Damascus Gate is located on the northern wall, it is the busiest and most magnificent
of all Jerusalem’s gates. It consists of one large center gate originally intended for use by persons
of high station, and two smaller side entrances for commoners.
 

NEW GATE – The New Gate is located on the Northwest corner of the old city walls. Yes, the
New Gate is about 600 years old. It is the newest gate and it was remodeled in 1889.
 

46
JAFFA GATE – The Jaffa Gate is located on the Western wall of the Old City. This gate has a
lot of history over the past 100 years. The Jaffa gate marked the end of the highway leading from
the Jaffa coast and now leads into the Muslim and Armenian quarters. A road allows cars to enter
the Old City through a wide gap in the wall between Jaffa Gate and the Citadel. This passage
was originally opened in 1898 when Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany visited Jerusalem. The ruling
Ottoman Turks opened it so the German Emperor would not have to dismount his carriage to
enter the city.

ZION GATE – The Zion Gate is located in the south part of the Old City. The Zion Gate was
used by the Israel Defense Forces in 1967 to enter and capture the Old City. The stones

47
surrounding the gate are still pockmarked by weapons fire. This entrance leads to the Jewish and
Armenian quarters. You can see the bullet holes in the gate from the 6 day war in 1967.
 

DUNG GATE – This Gate leads into the Temple Mount Area and the Western Wall of the
Temple Mount. Solomon’s stables were close to this gate. The Dung Gate is located in the south
wall. Since the 2nd century, refuse has been hauled out of the city through this gate, hence the
name Dung Gate.
 

GOLDEN GATE – You will notice is closed, The Moslems know the Jewish Messiah will come
through this Gate, so they filled it with 16 feet of cement. They also know a Gadol Cohen (High
Priest) can’t walk in a graveyard so they bury their dead there. The Golden Gate faces the Mount

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of Olives on the East wall of the Old City. The Golden Gate was constructed in the post-
Byzantine period and the Muslims sealed the gate during the rule of Suleiman.
 

The area around the Golden Gate, above and below ground. [From Accordance Bible Software—
Biblical Archeology Review Archive—January/February 1893 • Volume 9 Number 1]

How to Understand the Golden Gate (Excerpt from "The Undiscovered Gate Beneath
Jerusalem's Golden Gate" by James Fleming—BAR, Jan/Feb 1983 Issue)
The Golden Gate is located in a turret protruding from the eastern wall of the Old City of
Jerusalem. The two arched portals of the Golden Gate are now mortared closed, but if you could
walk through them, you would find yourself on the Temple Mount, which is located in the
southeastern corner of the Old City. In short, the southern part of the eastern wall of the Old City
is also the eastern wall of the Temple Mount, and if it were open, the Golden Gate would lead
into the Old City directly onto the Temple Mount.
On the interior (western side) of the Gate is an elaborate structure that includes domed chambers
that may be entered from steps leading down from the Temple Mount.

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Outside the Golden Gate is a Moslem cemetery. It covers the slope down to the Kidron Valley
(also called the Valley of Jehosaphat).

In the drawing [above], we see, above ground, the Golden Gate and the eastern wall. We also see
several structures below ground—in particular, the sealed Lower Gate below the Golden Gate,
an underground eastern wall, and a massive curving wall in front (east) of the Lower Gate.
The author [James Fleming] of this article stumbled into the large tomb in front of the left portal
of the Golden Gate. At the bottom of the tomb, on the face of the wall, he observed wedge-
shaped stones, indicating the top of an arch. In the drawing above, the stones that he actually saw
are drawn in solid lines inside the tomb. If the partial arch he saw is, in fact, complete, it forms
an arched gateway exactly under the left portal of the Golden Gate. Presumably, a similar arched
portal is under the right portal of the Golden Gate, thus forming a double-portaled Lower Gate.
Except for the stones in the left arch of the Lower Gate that were actually observed, the Lower
Gate is drawn with dotted lines to show that it is a reconstruction.
[Below is one of the actual pictures taken by James Fleming inside the tomb in 1969.]

The Lower Gate was built on a stone foundation and was set into an earlier city wall. The present
16th-century A.D. wall was built on top of this earlier wall. Two to three courses of this earlier
wall may still be seen above ground level and are shown in the drawing as rectangular stones
with rough, projecting faces and three-to six-inch margins around their edges. These stones are
much larger than and different from the masonry in the wall built on top of them...
Forty-one feet below ground level and 46 feet in front of the eastern wall of the Old City is a
wall discovered in 1867 by Captain Charles Warren. Warren encountered the wall after he sank a
shaft 143 feet east of the Golden Gate and then burrowed westward underground along bedrock
toward the Temple Mount. This underground wall obstructed his progress, so he tried to chisel
through it in order to reach the Old City wall. After penetrating 5.5 feet into the underground
wall and failing to come out on the other side, he decided to tunnel south to try to get around the
wall. After tunneling 14 feet south without coming to the end, Warren turned around and dug
north for 55 feet until an earthfall in the tunnel stopped him. Shortly before he was forced to stop
tunneling, Warren observed that this underground wall obstructing his progress had started to
curve west toward the Golden Gate and the Old City wall.

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Warren further observed that the masonry in this curving underground wall resembles the
masonry of the earlier Old City wall exposed above ground in courses numbered 1 and 2 on
either side of the Golden Gate. It also resembles the masonry in the seven lower courses
immediately north of the Straight Joint.
The author uses these comparisons of masonry to try to date the earlier wall and the Lower Gate
that was built into it.
http://www.templemount.org/jerusalem-gates/gates.html

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