ABSTRACT
Visual and material culture is an integral part of the expression of identity and interaction between Christian and Muslim communities in the Middle Ages. It takes many forms, from the use of figural and aniconic religious symbols in churches and mosques to forms employed in diplomacy and war and the accoutrements of everyday life. The Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem was the first major Islamic building erected after Jerusalem was taken during the Muslim invasions of the mid-seventh century. Architecturally, the Dome of the Rock is a double octagon surmounted by a dome. The relationship between the Dome of the Rock and the Holy Sepulchre is a particularly striking one, with the rounded domes of the two structures dominating the architectural landscape of Old Jerusalem to this day. The discussion of the Dome of the Rock demonstrates the Islamic theological, polemical and political uses of aniconic art.
