ABSTRACT
The Dome of the Rock, poised over the landscape of Jerusalem, is the earliest monument of Islam standing. The Dome of the Rock thus stands as a palimpsest of the history of Jerusalem since the rise of Islam. Yet despite its iconic status and the numerous historical studies devoted to it, its original meaning and purpose remain elusive. The famed mosaics of the Dome of the Rock are largely a work of the 7th century, with repairs and losses from later periods. The Dome of the Rock was one of the first experiments of early Muslims with monumental architecture, and a tremendously successful one at that, judging by its posterity. The Dome of the Rock was built at a turning point in the history of the Umayyad empire. Under the Crusaders, the Dome of the Rock was converted into a church known as the Templum domini, and identified with the Holy of Holies of the Solomonic temple.
