Al-Aqsa basics: your questions

Al-Aqsa is in the southeastern part of the Old City of Al-Quds. Here the name refers to the whole enclosed Muslim sanctuary, including its buildings and open courtyards.[1]

In the broad usage followed here, no: Al-Aqsa is the whole sanctuary. Architectural sources also use “Al-Aqsa Mosque” for the southern congregational hall, so the intended meaning depends on context.[2][3]

Yes. The custodial guide includes the open courtyards and platforms within Al-Aqsa Mosque. A roof does not define the boundary of the sanctuary in that account.[1]

Al-aqsa is commonly translated as “farthest,” as in translations of Qur’an 17:1. The name’s wording should be distinguished from the later architectural use of “Al-Aqsa Mosque” for the southern prayer hall.[4][2]

Al-Haram al-Sharif, often translated as the Noble Sanctuary, is a widely used name for the precinct. The custodial guide uses it while distinguishing its theological status from the harams of Mecca and Medina.[2][3]

Qubbat al-Sakhra is the Arabic name of the Dome of the Rock. It identifies the gold-domed, octagonal monument, not the separate southern Al-Qibli prayer hall.[5]

Temple Mount, or Har HaBayit, is the name used in Jewish historical and religious contexts for this geographical site. UNESCO places that name alongside Al-Aqsa Mosque / Al-Haram al-Sharif while attributing each to its religious context; the names should be recognized without treating the traditions as interchangeable.[6][7]

A 2015 custodial guide and a UNESCO-hosted institutional dossier both describe the whole enclosure as approximately 144 dunums: 144,000 square metres, or about 14.4 hectares. This approximate site figure includes open space and is not the floor area of the southern mosque.[3][8]

The Aga Khan page lists a restoration project size of 140,000 square metres. That scope should not be treated as a new boundary survey or averaged with the custodial guide’s 144,000-square-metre compound figure.[9][3]

No. The guide distinguishes the main courtyards, the raised platform, subterranean prayer spaces and lower water infrastructure. A flat map does not show all of that vertical arrangement.[1]

No. Explore uses an illustrative diagram with displaced labels, not surveyed coordinates or a route network. Use it to identify landmarks; the sanctuary’s different levels also limit what a flat overview can convey.[10]

It is part of Al-Aqsa when the name means the whole sanctuary. It is not the same building as Al-Qibli, which some architectural sources call Al-Aqsa Mosque. The answer depends on the scope of the name.[2][3]

The gold dome belongs to the Dome of the Rock on the raised platform. The gray or silver dome belongs to Al-Qibli Mosque at the southern side of the sanctuary.[5]

It means the introduction was compared with the cited material. It does not claim independent archaeological verification or specialist peer review. The references and their qualifications remain available for readers to examine.[11]

Check whether they date the same event and component. If they still conflict, retain both attributions rather than averaging them. Ghawanima’s conflicting guide and reference dates are explicitly flagged for this reason.[12][13]

No. Acquisition or transfer records when an object entered a collection. The Ashrafiyya copper panel was transferred in 1928 but belongs to a much earlier architectural commission.[14]

No. UNESCO’s Old City listing supplies heritage context. Specific construction dates, materials and religious claims need sources suited to those subjects, such as object records, architectural studies or the religious text itself.[15][16][4]