Dome Of The Rock Analysis
The Dome of the Rock; the Thrice-Holy Rock
1047
The Dome of the Rock: Thrice-Holy Rock
The Dome of the Rock is an example of how three conflicting religions can coexist in a single piece of art and its design maintains the identity of each culture as seen in its architectural elements and in the materials used to construct it. The Dome of the Rock is located on the summit of Mount Moriah in Jerusalem, one of the holiest Islamic sites in the world. It was first constructed around the year 688 AD and completed in 691 AD (Murphy O’Connor 85). The Dome of the Rock is a very sacred place for Christians, Jews and Muslims and this has led to conflict over who has authority over it and the right to worship there (Landay 11).
As outsiders traveling to the Holy Land for homage to this sacred site can see the glistening Dome projecting out over the old city walls of Jerusalem instilling the promise of paradise and spiritual destiny to pilgrims. This overpowering structure stands out once in the city walls catching your attention with bright mosaics and a large bronze dome. The structure sits of the highest point in Jerusalem on a platform; the spacious and peaceful area surrounding the dome is like a …show more content…
breath of fresh air coming from the crowded and busy streets (Gibbon 29). A drum that is penetrated by sixteen windows, letting light flow in, supports the Dome. The drum is supported by a core of four piers and twelve columns that encircling the rock and connect by arches.
Local Christians and new converts to Islam constructed the Dome of the Rock, as we know it today, under the authority of Abd-Al Malik around the year 690 (Murphy O’Connor 86). The structure is made of two parts: The first is a cylinder (20 meters in width and 25 meters in height) made of many materials such as marble, mosaic compositions, wooden beams, and a leather ceiling with a dome made of aluminum alloy resting on top (Grabar 1). The second is a ring in the shape of an octagon made of two ambulatories and columns placed around the central rock (Grabar 1). Modern reconstruction was necessary to repair the damage from weather and looters (Grabar 3). The final reconstruction of the Dome of the Rock took place in 1958; the tiles, mosaics, and walls were redone due to harsh weather and human raids (Grabar 1,3)
The center point of the Dome of the Rock is the sacred rock itself. A system of mathematical proportions relates to the center circle encompassing the rock. The second part is an octagonal ring; on the outside it is adorned with mosaics and marble. Inside the structure the sacred rock protected from a fence lies directly under the dome. Two ambulatories encompass the rock, all of the proportions of the structure center around the rock. It took careful planning and mathematical studies to create a Mathematical rhythm circumscribing the rock. This is similar to the shrine marking the burial place of Jesus, Holy Sepulcher, from the Byzantine period. It also echoes central plan domed churches from late Roman times. Hagia Sophia has a similar architectural plan. Its dome is place is placed mathematically so it stands out in its urban setting (Davies 258). Although this style is repeated what separates this architecture from these churches is the intense planning and mathematical procedure that went into constructing the Dome of the Rock (Murphy O’Connor 84).
A variety of materials were used such as; marble, mosaic compositions, wooden beams, and a leather ceiling with a dome made of aluminum alloy resting on top. The dome, built of wood and covered by gilded aluminum alloy, rests atop a cylinder made of mosaics (Grabar 1), the building is a perfect octagonal shape lined at the top with Arabic script and covered with mosaic and marble. The mosaic decoration on the inside consists of repeating geometric motifs and schematic vegetal and floral patterns. This stylized scene of the garden echoes classical style seen in late Roman and Christian religious art. Motifs of jewels and jeweled objects, representing royalty also reflects this time period. What truly separates the interior decoration from Christianity is the absence of any human or animal forms.
The Dome of the Rock has been a major influence and a hot spot for religious turmoil and holy wars over the past 14 centuries. It holds a sacred meaning to three major and conflicting religions. For Christians it is close to the location of Jesus’ Crucifixion according to the Bible Jesus of Nazareth came to Jerusalem and was proclaimed Messiah and heir to David’s throne. After being rejected by the religious leader and predicting the destruction of Jerusalem he was crucified on Mount Moriah (Linsey,57). According to Jewish tradition Abraham had offered to sacrifice his son, Isaac, upon the rock that protrudes the center of the platform that is now directly under the dome. King Solomon of Israel later erected his Jewish temple upon the level plateau to sanctify the area. (Davies 279) Finally for Muslims the mount is where god tested the devotion of Ibrahim to him and demanded he sacrifice his first-born son Ismail. The rock was later sanctified for all Muslims by the famous story of the Prophet Mohammed’s Night Journey to Jerusalem. He prayed on the sacred rock and was taken by the Archangel Gabriel on a spiritual journey to experience Heaven and Hell. Janson’s History of Art states “The inscriptions in the Dome of the Rock, taken from the Qur’an, were carefully chosen to underline the importance of the building itself, its symbolic location in a city holy to Jews and Christians as well as Muslims, and its place within a religion and society that saw itself as the culmination of the two earlier scriptural traditions, and which accorded tolerance and acceptance of both Christians and Jews,” (Davies 281).
The Dome of the Rock is an example of how art transcends the religious conflicts between the three major religions Islam, Christianity and Judaism, which have influenced its form and architecture over the centuries forming it into the piece of art it is
today.
Bibliography
1. Murphy O’Connor, Jerome. The Holy Land: An Oxford Archeological Guide from Earliest Times to 1700. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.
2. Landay, Jerry M., Dome of the Rock, New York: Newsweek, 1972.
3. Berger, Pamela. The Crescent on the Temple : The Dome of the Rock as Image of the Ancient Jewish Sanctuary. Leiden: Brill, 2012.
4. Smart, Ted. The Holy Land: A Picture Book to Remember Her By. New York, New York: Crescent Books, .
5. Lindsey, Hal. A Prophetical Walk Through the Holy Land. Eugene, Oregon: Harvest House Publishers, .
6. Roberts, Ann. Jansons history of Art. Englewood Cliffs: NJ: Prentice Hall, 2006.
7. Mayer, Fred. "Fred Mayer Photographer." http://www.fred-mayer.eu/moslems-in-jerusalem/moslems-in-jerusalem/ (accessed Feb 3, 2013).
1047
The Dome of the Rock: Thrice-Holy Rock
The Dome of the Rock is an example of how three conflicting religions can coexist in a single piece of art and its design maintains the identity of each culture as seen in its architectural elements and in the materials used to construct it. The Dome of the Rock is located on the summit of Mount Moriah in Jerusalem, one of the holiest Islamic sites in the world. It was first constructed around the year 688 AD and completed in 691 AD (Murphy O’Connor 85). The Dome of the Rock is a very sacred place for Christians, Jews and Muslims and this has led to conflict over who has authority over it and the right to worship there (Landay 11).
As outsiders traveling to the Holy Land for homage to this sacred site can see the glistening Dome projecting out over the old city walls of Jerusalem instilling the promise of paradise and spiritual destiny to pilgrims. This overpowering structure stands out once in the city walls catching your attention with bright mosaics and a large bronze dome. The structure sits of the highest point in Jerusalem on a platform; the spacious and peaceful area surrounding the dome is like a …show more content…
breath of fresh air coming from the crowded and busy streets (Gibbon 29). A drum that is penetrated by sixteen windows, letting light flow in, supports the Dome. The drum is supported by a core of four piers and twelve columns that encircling the rock and connect by arches.
Local Christians and new converts to Islam constructed the Dome of the Rock, as we know it today, under the authority of Abd-Al Malik around the year 690 (Murphy O’Connor 86). The structure is made of two parts: The first is a cylinder (20 meters in width and 25 meters in height) made of many materials such as marble, mosaic compositions, wooden beams, and a leather ceiling with a dome made of aluminum alloy resting on top (Grabar 1). The second is a ring in the shape of an octagon made of two ambulatories and columns placed around the central rock (Grabar 1). Modern reconstruction was necessary to repair the damage from weather and looters (Grabar 3). The final reconstruction of the Dome of the Rock took place in 1958; the tiles, mosaics, and walls were redone due to harsh weather and human raids (Grabar 1,3)
The center point of the Dome of the Rock is the sacred rock itself. A system of mathematical proportions relates to the center circle encompassing the rock. The second part is an octagonal ring; on the outside it is adorned with mosaics and marble. Inside the structure the sacred rock protected from a fence lies directly under the dome. Two ambulatories encompass the rock, all of the proportions of the structure center around the rock. It took careful planning and mathematical studies to create a Mathematical rhythm circumscribing the rock. This is similar to the shrine marking the burial place of Jesus, Holy Sepulcher, from the Byzantine period. It also echoes central plan domed churches from late Roman times. Hagia Sophia has a similar architectural plan. Its dome is place is placed mathematically so it stands out in its urban setting (Davies 258). Although this style is repeated what separates this architecture from these churches is the intense planning and mathematical procedure that went into constructing the Dome of the Rock (Murphy O’Connor 84).
A variety of materials were used such as; marble, mosaic compositions, wooden beams, and a leather ceiling with a dome made of aluminum alloy resting on top. The dome, built of wood and covered by gilded aluminum alloy, rests atop a cylinder made of mosaics (Grabar 1), the building is a perfect octagonal shape lined at the top with Arabic script and covered with mosaic and marble. The mosaic decoration on the inside consists of repeating geometric motifs and schematic vegetal and floral patterns. This stylized scene of the garden echoes classical style seen in late Roman and Christian religious art. Motifs of jewels and jeweled objects, representing royalty also reflects this time period. What truly separates the interior decoration from Christianity is the absence of any human or animal forms.
The Dome of the Rock has been a major influence and a hot spot for religious turmoil and holy wars over the past 14 centuries. It holds a sacred meaning to three major and conflicting religions. For Christians it is close to the location of Jesus’ Crucifixion according to the Bible Jesus of Nazareth came to Jerusalem and was proclaimed Messiah and heir to David’s throne. After being rejected by the religious leader and predicting the destruction of Jerusalem he was crucified on Mount Moriah (Linsey,57). According to Jewish tradition Abraham had offered to sacrifice his son, Isaac, upon the rock that protrudes the center of the platform that is now directly under the dome. King Solomon of Israel later erected his Jewish temple upon the level plateau to sanctify the area. (Davies 279) Finally for Muslims the mount is where god tested the devotion of Ibrahim to him and demanded he sacrifice his first-born son Ismail. The rock was later sanctified for all Muslims by the famous story of the Prophet Mohammed’s Night Journey to Jerusalem. He prayed on the sacred rock and was taken by the Archangel Gabriel on a spiritual journey to experience Heaven and Hell. Janson’s History of Art states “The inscriptions in the Dome of the Rock, taken from the Qur’an, were carefully chosen to underline the importance of the building itself, its symbolic location in a city holy to Jews and Christians as well as Muslims, and its place within a religion and society that saw itself as the culmination of the two earlier scriptural traditions, and which accorded tolerance and acceptance of both Christians and Jews,” (Davies 281).
The Dome of the Rock is an example of how art transcends the religious conflicts between the three major religions Islam, Christianity and Judaism, which have influenced its form and architecture over the centuries forming it into the piece of art it is
today.
Bibliography
1. Murphy O’Connor, Jerome. The Holy Land: An Oxford Archeological Guide from Earliest Times to 1700. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.
2. Landay, Jerry M., Dome of the Rock, New York: Newsweek, 1972.
3. Berger, Pamela. The Crescent on the Temple : The Dome of the Rock as Image of the Ancient Jewish Sanctuary. Leiden: Brill, 2012.
4. Smart, Ted. The Holy Land: A Picture Book to Remember Her By. New York, New York: Crescent Books, .
5. Lindsey, Hal. A Prophetical Walk Through the Holy Land. Eugene, Oregon: Harvest House Publishers, .
6. Roberts, Ann. Jansons history of Art. Englewood Cliffs: NJ: Prentice Hall, 2006.
7. Mayer, Fred. "Fred Mayer Photographer." http://www.fred-mayer.eu/moslems-in-jerusalem/moslems-in-jerusalem/ (accessed Feb 3, 2013).