There is no single age for the whole site. Religious traditions concern its sacred origins, while buildings have different construction and restoration dates. The Dome of the Rock was completed in 691–692; Al-Qibli has several major building phases.[1][2][3]
First decide what is being dated
“Al-Aqsa” can refer to the wider sanctuary or, in some architectural usage, the southern congregational hall. A question about age may instead mean the sacred tradition, the use of the place for prayer, the current enclosure or a named monument. Combining those subjects produces a number that is precise but misleading.[4][3]
Religious reports and architectural dates answer different questions
Sahih al-Bukhari 3366 reports forty years between al-Masjid al-Haram and Al-Aqsa. The passage belongs to a religious account of sacred origins; it does not date the present stone buildings or identify their builders. Architectural chronology must be established from sources about the surviving structures.[1]
The monuments have several chronologies
The Dome of the Rock was completed in 691–692 under Abd al-Malik. Al-Qibli has Umayyad beginnings followed by major Abbasid and Fatimid rebuilding and later conservation. Gates, schools, domes, fountains and minarets have their own dates. Al-Aqsa is therefore historically layered rather than one object with one birthday.[2][3][5]
Sources & references
References are attached to the passages they support. Dates below record source consultation.
- Sahih al-Bukhari 3366 · The two mosques and forty years
Sunnah.com · Sahih al-Bukhari · Consulted 2026-09-14
- The Dome of the Rock · Ana Botchkareva
The Metropolitan Museum of Art · Consulted 2026-09-14
- Jamiʿ al-Aqsa
Archnet · Aga Khan Documentation Center, MIT · Consulted 2026-09-14
- A Guide to Al-Aqsa Mosque / Al-Haram Ash-Sharif (2015)
pp. 4–5
PASSIA · Jerusalem Awqaf · Hashemite Fund · Consulted 2026-09-14
- A Guide to Al-Aqsa Mosque / Al-Haram Ash-Sharif (2015)
pp. 24–57
PASSIA · Jerusalem Awqaf · Hashemite Fund · Consulted 2026-09-14