The Dome of the Rock (Qubbet el-Sakhra) in Jerusalem is one of the greatest of Muslim monuments. It was built by Abd el-Malik (685-705), the fifth Caliph: an octagonal structure with a high dome over the sacred rock of Moriah.According to Muslim tradition, the piece of black stone covers the mountain where Abraham tried to sacrifice Ishmael (not Isaac as Jews and Christians believe), the site of the temple of Solomon, and the place from which Mohammed departed skywards for his famous encounter with the heavenly—"The Night Journey". The building took three years to complete, from 688 to 691, and was erected as a deliberate snub to Christians and Jews, whose faith Islam had supposed to supersede. The location had shamelessly borrowed Judaism's heritage and most holy sight—the Temple Mount— the building was constructed to have a larger dome than that of the Holy Sepulcher's, and Syrian Christians were forced to Lay mosaics inside containing verses taken from the Koran about Christian misguided belief in the Trinity. The Dome of the Rock has survived all earthquakes thus far, being built firmly on rock, and has never been destroyed, merely renovated. The new external tiling was put on in 1963 and the dome was re-gilded in 1993-94.
The Dome of the Rock (Qubbet el-Sakhra) in Jerusalem is one of the greatest of Muslim monuments. It was built by Abd el-Malik (685-705), the fifth Caliph: an octagonal structure with a high dome over the sacred rock of Moriah.According to Muslim tradition, the piece of black stone covers the mountain where Abraham tried to sacrifice Ishmael (not Isaac as Jews and Christians believe), the site of the temple of Solomon, and the place from which Mohammed departed skywards for his famous encounter with the heavenly—"The Night Journey". The building took three years to complete, from 688 to 691, and was erected as a deliberate snub to Christians and Jews, whose faith Islam had supposed to supersede. The location had shamelessly borrowed Judaism's heritage and most holy sight—the Temple Mount— the building was constructed to have a larger dome than that of the Holy Sepulcher's, and Syrian Christians were forced to Lay mosaics inside containing verses taken from the Koran about Christian misguided belief in the Trinity. The Dome of the Rock has survived all earthquakes thus far, being built firmly on rock, and has never been destroyed, merely renovated. The new external tiling was put on in 1963 and the dome was re-gilded in 1993-94.