Monuments of Islamic Architecture Lectures delivered by Professors
Monuments of Islamic Architecture Lectures delivered by Professors Gülru Necipoğlu and David Roxburgh at Harvard University Specially adapted for the Aga Khan Trust for Culture Education Programme in collaboration with the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture, Harvard University
The Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem Lesson 1
THE FOUR RASHIDUN CALIPHS and UMAYYAD CALIPHATE First Sunni Dynasty of Islam (661 -750), capital Damascus ✤ Rashidun Caliphs or al-Khulafāʾ al-Rāshidun (632– 661) is a term used by Sunni Muslims to refer to the first four successors of the Prophet Muhammad as leaders of the Muslim community. The Shi’i Muslims only recognize the fourth caliph ‘Ali (the cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad) as a legitimate successor or Imam. Umayyads, the first Sunni dynasty of Islam, were not recognized as legitimate caliphs by some communities such as the Shi’is and the Abbasid caliphs (the second Sunni dynasty). ✤ The Umayyads adopted a royal ideology, creating luxurious monuments which reflected their power and authority.
The Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem is among the holiest pilgrimage sites of Islam, following the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina and the most holy site of the Ka’ba in Mecca.
Dome of the Rock: Highlights ✤ The construction of the building was completed in 692 by the order of the Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik (r. 646 – 705). ✤ It is the earliest remaining Islamic building with the earliest Qur’anic inscriptions. ✤ The Dome of the Rock is not a mosque, but a commemorative structure situated on the site of the Prophet-King Solomon’s Temple. ✤ The octagonal building was intended for circumambulation around the holy rock found at it’s center. ✤ It is not a single building but part of a pilgrimage complex made up of about 45 marked sites including the Al-Aqsa Mosque ("the Farthest Mosque”). ✤ The decorations of Islamic religious monuments, including the Dome of the Rock are aniconic (non-figural), such as inscriptions, geometric, vegetal, and crown motifs, rather than figural imagery. ✤ The site has undergone several stages of renovation and transformation which took place in the centuries following its initial completion.
Useful Terms ✤ masjid: mosque, place of prayer and prostration ✤ khutba: Friday sermon read in the name of the ruling caliph or imam at the noon prayer ✤ minbar: a short flight of steps used as a pulpit from which the Friday sermon is read ✤ qibla: direction of prayer oriented toward the holy shrine of the Ka’ba in Mecca ✤ mihrab: prayer niche pointing toward the Ka’ba in Mecca, which the congregation faces to pray ✤ spolia: the use of structural or decorative elements removed from former buildings or sites and reused in new monuments ✤ minaret: a tall tower, part of a mosque, from which a muezzin calls Muslims to prayer
✤ The centralized plan of the Dome of the Rock envelops a sacred rock, which is believed to mark the holy of holies in the former Jewish temple (the Temple of Solomon), that is, the inner sanctuary of the Jewish temple complex. ✤ The site is also believed to be the place of the Prophet Muhammad’s Night Journey and Ascension (al-’isrā’ wal-mi’rāj) to the Divine Throne. ✤ It is considered to be the future site of the Divine Throne in the Last Judgment.
Jerusalem is known as the center for three Abrahamic monotheistic faiths: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The construction of the Dome of the Rock served as a visual demonstration of Islam as a universal religion. The Dome of the Rock’s location, build the site of the ruins of the Temple of Solomon, expressed the identity of Islam as a continuation and culmination of former Abrahamic monotheistic religions. Within the urban landscape of Jerusalem, the monument was also in dialogue with the Christian Church of the Holy Sepulchre, built by the empress Helena, mother of the Roman-Byzantine emperor Constantine the Great, in the fourth century C. E.
“Master Plan” of the Umayyad Caliph ‘Abd al-Malik (c. 692) The Dome of the Rock is one building within Abd al-Malik’s “master plan” for the pilgrimage site which consists of about 45 marked sites. All of the gates surrounding the complex are named after Old Testament prophets, emphasizing the universalism of the Islamic religion. The Aqsa Mosque axially aligned with the Dome of the Rock was connected to a no longer extant Umayyad palace which was located south of the complex and had a direct passage to the mihrab area of the mosque (discovered during recent excavations).
Al-Aqsa Mosque ✤ The complex includes the Al-Aqsa Mosque, or "the Farthest Mosque. ” ✤ An Umayyad monument, the Al-Aqsa Mosque was completed under Abd al-Malik’s son, the caliph al-Walid around 701. ✤ The mosque is axially aligned with the Dome of the Rock. ✤ The mosque and its direction of prayer (the mihrab along the qibla wall) is located to the south of the precinct, facing toward the Ka’ba in Mecca, rather than toward the Dome of the Rock. Therefore, the Dome of the Rock was not intended as a replacement of the Ka’ba as some have assumed. ✤ The Al-Aqsa Mosque is a hypostyle mosque with marble columns taken from Greek and Byzantine ruins. The columns form multiple rows positioned perpendicular to the qibla wall. The central row (i. e. nave) is wider than the others and culminates in a domed space over the mihrab for the caliph (maqsura). ✤ Expanded and remodeled in the Fatimid period, the mosque has gold mosaics imitating earlier ones in the Umayyad style, which were replaced during the 11 th century restoration.
Dome of the Prophet Dome of the Ascension The Dome of the Rock sits on a raised platform along with two smaller domes that commemorate the Prophet’s miraculous night journey from Mecca to Jerusalem and then his ascension to heaven. The Dome of the Prophet commemorates the spot where the Prophet Muhammad was believed to have gathered and led all former prophets of the monotheistic religions in prayer. The Dome of the Ascension marks the place from which the Prophet is said to have ascended into the heavenly spheres.
The third dome on the same platform, known as the Dome of the Chain, sits to the east of the Dome of the Rock. It commemorates the place where two prophet-kings, King David and his son and successor King Solomon, administered justice. Like the Dome of the Rock, this building is octagonal and is composed of two concentric arcades resting on marble columns, which are spolia with Corinthian capitals. The Ottoman-period ceramic tiles replaced damaged Umayyad gold mosaics during repairs undertaken by Sultan Suleyman (1540 s-50 s).
The Cave under the Rock ✤ Under the holy rock exists a cave, which has two commemorative prayer niches (mihrab) with black stones in the center of each, datable to the 11 th-century Fatimid restoration. ✤ These two prayer niches commemorate the prayer places of the prophet-kings Solomon and his father David, who are revered in the Qur’an. ✤ Here, the mihrabs are just commemorative and do not serve the purpose of pointing the direction of daily prayer. ✤ As the first dynasty of Islam which passed the title of caliph from father to son, the Umayyads used the prophet-kings David his son Solomon as models of Umayyad religio-royal authority. The Umayyad caliphate was not, however, accepted by the followers of the Prophet’s son-in-law ‘Ali and the Imams descending from him. The Umayyads also had to legitimize themselves to non-Muslim powers, primarily the Byzantine emperors from whom they conquered Syria, making Damascus their new caliphal capital. This transformed Medina, the former capital of the Prophet Muhammad and the Rashidun caliphs into a primarily memorial city, where the Prophet and the first two caliphs (Abu Bakr and Umar) are buried in the Prophet’s mosque. Medina also was the site of a cemetery where many descendants and companions of the Prophet were buried.
The Dome of the Rock: Architectural Plan ✤ The octagonal building has a concentric space consisting of an outer octagon, inner octagon, and a circular innermost arcade supporting a double shell wooden dome. ✤ A double shell dome consists of an inner, smaller dome on top of which the outer dome protects the one inside and also makes it appear larger and more visible as a landmark from a distance. ✤ The original dome collapsed and was rebuilt by the Fatimids in the eleventh century. ✤ A series of connecting arches above the marble columns, known as arcade, makeup an octagon and an inner circle surrounding the rock. These arcades form two ambulatories for circumambulating the rock.
The Dome of the Rock: Interior Decoration ✤ The interior of the monument is made up of precious materials including gold mosaics, gilded bronze, and colored marble. ✤ The precious colored marble columns and Corinthian capitals of the Dome of the Rock were taken from earlier Christian buildings. This is an example of spolia, or the reuse of architectural elements from earlier monuments. ✤ The reuse of these prestigious materials raises questions about the craftsmen employed to lavishly decorate the monument. The use of marble and gold mosaics (the most expensive materials of the Roman. Byzantine tradition of Mediterranean architecture) implies that some Byzantine craftsmen were imported to carry out this work, particularly the mosaics.
Marble Decoration ✤ A technique known as bookmarking was used to form geometric patterns out of marble. It involves slicing the marble and aligning its naturally waving forms to create symmetrical patterns. ✤ As a wonder of nature, the natural waves of marble evoke the waves of sea, just as the gilding in the golden mosaic dome and arcades might suggest the dome of heaven.
Mosaic Decoration ✤ Mosaics cover the upper parts of the arcades and piers. ✤ Figural images are not used in Islamic religious spaces such as the Dome of the Rock. Instead, messages are communicated through inscriptions and non-figural imagery. ✤ The inner façade of the monument is covered in sumptuous mosaics including a continuous zone of sprouting leaves and scrolls, vegetal stems filled with jewels, trees with fruits, symbolic of an otherworldly garden of paradise. ✤ Fantastic mosaic crowns, drawing on both the Roman Byzantine and Iranian Sasanian traditions of divinely sanctioned kingship, decorate the octagonal arcade’s inner face. ✤ The repetitive quality of circling this paradisiacal, otherworldly “landscape” full of bountiful trees sought to create the experiential sensation of being in that landscape for the circumambulating visitor. ✤ A band of inscriptions from the Qur’an wrap around the arcades in an angular Kufic script of gold on a blue background. ✤ The Qur’anic inscriptions and litanies praise God, Muhammad, and Jesus Christ “the Son of Mary. ” They proclaim God as the one and only sovereign of the cosmos.
As is the case for most monuments in the early Islamic period, the Dome of the Rock has undergone many stages of renovation and redecoration. For example the wooden dome was rebuilt by the Fatimid dynasty in the eleventh century after it partially collapsed. An inscription of the Throne Verse (Qur'an 2: 255), which speaks of the absolute sovereignty of God over the heavens and the earth, encircles the top of the dome. The verse was renewed in the Fatimid epoch and again in the late Ottoman period, from which dates the circular band of seen today. The gold mosaics decorating the cylindrical drum supporting the dome depict crown motifs evoking theme of God’s divine kingdom, the source of legitimate earthly rulership or caliphate.
Sasanian style coins of Umayyad Caliphs: Star-and-crescent, crown with two wings The winged crown motifs of the mosaic decoration on the Dome of the Rock is seen on Umayyad coinage, as well. Umayyads readapted the earlier Sasanian style coins. In these examples the Umayyad caliph appears as wearing a Sasanian crown with two wings and a crescent and star. The gold mosaic crown motifs of the Dome of the Rock also feature Byzantine crowns in the form of tiaras, thereby alluding to the kingdoms defeated by the Muslims.
Byzantine and Umayyad coinage in Greater Syria Byzantine imagery was used on the Umayyad coins which were circulating at the Western part of the Umayyad Empire. Here, on the right is a Byzantine coin showing the emperor holding a cross as the representative of Christ on Earth and the holy cross in Golgotha. As it is seen on the left, Umayyads eliminated the horizontal part of the cross and through subtraction turned into a sign of their own. The person holding a sword is believed to be a representation of the prophet or caliph. A Qur'anic inscription surrounds the coin. This is a material evidence of the Umayyads’ attempt to transform the preexisting visual and cultural forms through “translation. ”
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