The Dome of the Rock

Descriptive Essay # 104390

History > Religion
Religion and Theology > Islam

An analysis of the true purpose and meaning of the Dome of the Rock.

3,668 words () | 6 sources | MLA | 2008 United States

Paper Summary:

The paper discusses how the Dome of the Rock was built to propose new religion and to place it atop of two older ones - Christianity and Judaism. The paper also discusses how the Dome of the Rock was also builty because Abd Al-Malik wanted to build a temple that would compete in its significance with Ka'ba. Lastly, the paper examines a third view, which represents the traditional Muslim belief that the Rock is the place from where Muhammad ascended to heaven and that the Dome was built over it to commemorate this event.

From the Paper:

" The historical background of the Dome of the Rock may direct us to the conclusion about the real meaning of this splendid structure. The construction of the Dome of The Rock, or the Qubbat as-Sakhra, was ordered by the Umayyad caliph 'Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan and was completed in 692 CE (72 AD). The building is located in the eastern part of the city of Jerusalem, on the rocky platform generally known as Temple Mount, or as Mount Moriah to Jewish people and as Haram al-Sharif ("Noble Sanctuary") to Muslims. The Dome of the Rock was built on the ruins of the Solomon's Temple destroyed long before Muslims entered Jerusalem by Babilonians. Around 640 CE Jerusalem fell under the Muslim rule of the Umayyads, however historians agree that there was not any kind of the battle before conquering the city and that Muslims entered the city rather peacefully. "

Sample of Sources Used:

Bloom, Jonathan., Blair Sheila. Islamic Arts. Phaidon Press Inc, New York, NY 2006.
Dov Goiten, Shelomo, "The Historical Background of the Erection of the Dome of the Rock". Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 70, No. 2 (Apr. - Jun. 1950), pp. 104 - 108.
Grabar, Oleg. The Dome of the Rock. Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2006.
Grabar, Oleg. The Shape of the Holy: Early Islamic Jerusalem. Princeton University Press, 2006.
Rabbat Nasser, "The Dome of the Rock Revisited: Some Remarks on al-Wasiti's Accounts", Muqarnas, Vol. 10, Essays in Honor of Oleg Grabar. (1993), pp. 66-75.