Al-Aqsa’s monuments survive through repeated repair and conservation. A documented modern example is the restoration of the southern mosque recognized by the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in the 1984–1986 cycle. Its work included the dome covering and interior paintings, alongside wider conservation activity.[1]
In this guide
Rebuilding, restoration and conservation
The southern mosque’s architectural record includes major historical reconstructions as well as more recent treatment of particular surfaces. These interventions differ in scale. Rebuilding after structural damage, replacing a roof covering and conserving surviving paint should not be reduced to the same event. A useful account names both the intervention and the element affected.[2][1]
The southern dome’s covering
The Aga Khan project record describes an aluminum outer covering being replaced with lead. It also identifies earlier changes to the dome’s construction. A present-day photograph therefore cannot, on its own, establish which metal covered the roof in every historical period. The conservation documentation is necessary for connecting the visible finish to the decisions behind it.[3]
Distinguishing restored paint from surviving paint
The same record describes the recovery and reconstruction of painted decoration using fine vertical strokes to distinguish reconstructed areas. The purpose is not simply to make a damaged surface look uniformly old. The treatment makes a distinction between original material and modern completion, allowing the repaired work to remain readable without concealing the fact that an intervention took place.[4]
Removed material can remain historical evidence
An 1817 tile from the Dome of the Rock entered the Islamic Museum during restoration in 1966. Fragments of Nur al-Din’s minbar entered the collection after the 1969 fire. Objects removed from a monument can therefore continue to document it, provided their origins and transfer histories are preserved. A building record and a museum record should be connected rather than treated as unrelated descriptions.[5][6]
Completion and recognition have different dates
The Aga Khan page lists project completion in 1983 and an award in the 1984–1986 cycle. These dates describe different events. Neither should be silently substituted for the other in a timeline. The same principle applies to every restoration: distinguish an initial decision, work on site, completion, documentation and later recognition whenever the sources make those distinctions possible.[7]
Sources & references
References are attached to the passages they support. Dates below record source consultation.
- Restoration of Al-Aqsa Mosque
Aga Khan Trust for Culture · Consulted 2026-09-14
- Jamiʿ al-Aqsa
Archnet · Aga Khan Documentation Center, MIT · Consulted 2026-09-14
- Ceramic tile from the Dome of the Rock · Nazmi Al-Juʿbeh
Acquisition
Museum With No Frontiers · Discover Islamic Art · Consulted 2026-09-14
- Pieces from the Nur al-Din Zangi minbar · Nazmi Al-Juʿbeh
Acquisition
Museum With No Frontiers · Discover Islamic Art · Consulted 2026-09-14