A date needs an event attached to it. Construction, dedication, restoration, acquisition and recognition are different events, even when they concern the same monument. Learn preserves source-specific citations and qualifications so that a short answer can be traced back to the evidence supporting it.[1][2][3]
In this guide
Ask what happened in the named year
For Nur al-Din’s minbar, manufacture in Aleppo, transfer to Al-Quds and damage in a fire occurred at different times. For the Aga Khan restoration, the recorded completion date and award cycle differ. A timeline that assigns only one year to each object or building loses these distinctions. A good date label names the event as well as the year.[2][3]
Keep the source’s degree of precision
A century, a range of years and an exact date are different levels of precision. The Dome of the Rock’s completion is commonly given as 691–692, while the southern mosque’s early building history is divided among campaigns. Converting every record to a single year can invent certainty. Timeline entries here retain ranges or approximate labels where the source calls for them.[4][5]
Conflicts need attribution
The custodial guide and the existing Ghawanima reference print different construction dates. The gate inventory also describes conditions at a dated moment rather than establishing permanent access. A source check should identify these limitations, not merely confirm that a URL works. Learn marks qualified accounts and states what additional comparison would be needed to resolve an uncertainty.[6][7]
Match the source to the claim
A museum object record is useful for material, dating and acquisition; a conservation project record for an intervention; and a religious text for the tradition it records. A photograph supports visible form but seldom a complete construction chronology. A broad heritage designation supplies context, not evidence for every building date within the designated area.[1][3][8][9][10]
Following a citation in Learn
Numbered references beside a passage lead to a source title and, where relevant, a printed page or section. The source record identifies its publisher and the consultation date. “Source checked” means the introduction was compared with the cited material; it does not claim independent archaeological verification or specialist peer review. When a reference offers a bibliography, use that as a route toward a deeper study.[11][12]
Sources & references
References are attached to the passages they support. Dates below record source consultation.
- Ceramic tile from the Dome of the Rock · Nazmi Al-Juʿbeh
Museum With No Frontiers · Discover Islamic Art · Consulted 2026-09-14
- Pieces from the Nur al-Din Zangi minbar · Nazmi Al-Juʿbeh
Museum With No Frontiers · Discover Islamic Art · Consulted 2026-09-14
- Restoration of Al-Aqsa Mosque
Aga Khan Trust for Culture · 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. 30, 46–53
PASSIA · Jerusalem Awqaf · Hashemite Fund · Consulted 2026-09-14
- Al-Ghawanima Minaret
Madain Project · Consulted 2026-09-14
- Qur’an 17:1 · The Night Journey
Quran.com · Arabic text and attributed translations · Consulted 2026-09-14
- Western portico and Chain Gate photograph
Jorge Láscar / Wikimedia Commons · Consulted 2026-09-14
- Old City of Jerusalem and its Walls
UNESCO World Heritage Centre · Consulted 2026-09-14
- Madrasa al-Ashrafiyya · Yusuf al-Natsheh
Selected bibliography
Museum With No Frontiers · Discover Islamic Art · Consulted 2026-09-14