The Dome of the Rock

Nearly five decades after the Muslim conquest of Jerusalem in 638 A.D., Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan initiated construction of the Dome of the Rock. While the reason for its construction is disputed, most historians believe that it was erected as a shrine for pilgrims to take shelter, rather than a bona fide place of worship. Today, the Temple Mount area houses several Muslim sanctuaries, a building complex that the Muslims named Haram al-Sharif.

At the time that the Dome was built, religious tensions still existed in Jerusalem between the Muslim conquerors and the Byzantine Christians who had lost the city. These tensions were to escalate in subsequent centuries: during the Crusades, the Dome was co-opted for use as a Christian church. It was only after Saladin’s conquest of Jerusalem in 1187 that the Dome was again consecrated a Muslim holy sanctuary.

At the time of its construction, the Dome was plated with 100,000 gold dinar coins, so that it appeared then much as it does today. The interior of the dome is lavishly decorated with mosaic tiles. An inscription within the dome is condemnatory of Christianity, most likely because Jerusalem was predominantly Christian at the time.

The eponymous rock enshrined within the Dome of the Rock has special significance for Jews and Muslims. Muslims believe that it was from the Foundation Stone that Mohammed rose to heaven after his Night Journey to Jerusalem.

Jews believe that the Foundation Stone was used to create the world. For this reason, when the Jews’ Holy Temples were constructed here, the Holy of Holies--the innermost sanctuary of the Temple--was built over this stone.