The Dome of the Rock: The Story Behind Jerusalem's Golden Dome
Set on the great raised platform in the old city of Jerusalem, its dome sheathed in gold and its walls in blue and green tile, the Dome of the Rock is one of the oldest works of Islamic architecture still standing, and after more than thirteen centuries it remains among the most recognisable buildings anywhere in the world.
Built by Abd al-Malik
The Umayyad caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan had the Dome of the Rock built, with completion dated by an inscription inside to around 691 or 692 of the common era. That makes it one of the earliest surviving monuments of Islam, raised within a few decades of the Prophet's lifetime. It stands at the centre of the wide sacred enclosure Muslims call the Haram al-Sharif, the Noble Sanctuary, the same elevated platform that holds the al-Aqsa Mosque at its southern end.
A shrine, not a mosque
It is often assumed to be a mosque, but it was built as a shrine, a building meant to be entered and walked around rather than to hold rows of worshippers at prayer. Its plan is an octagon wrapped around the rock at its heart, with an inner walkway that lets visitors circle the stone. The rock itself carries deep meaning across the Abrahamic traditions, and in Islamic tradition is associated with the Prophet's Night Journey. The interior is lined with mosaics of gold and vegetation, and the building's early Arabic inscriptions are among the oldest surviving examples of Quranic text set into a monument.
Gold that keeps being renewed
The dome that gives the building its name has been repaired, rebuilt and recovered many times across the centuries, by Abbasid, Mamluk and Ottoman patrons, and in the modern era its golden covering was restored with funding from Jordan. The structure beneath all that maintenance is essentially the one Abd al-Malik raised, which means a visitor today is looking at the shape of a building conceived in the first century of Islam, kept alive by the care of every generation since.
The Dome of the Rock print belongs to the Riwayah Sacred Spaces collection. You can view the print.
The Dome of the Rock is one of the three great sanctuaries of Islam. For the others, see the sacred sites of Islam.