Overview
The golden dome at the heart of the sanctuary, known for its rich geometric and floral decoration. [3]
Commissioned by the Umayyad caliph Abd al-Malik and completed in 691–92, the Dome of the Rock encloses the rock within an octagonal building on the sanctuary’s raised platform. [3]
Its interior mosaics combine plant forms, jewels and inscriptions. Their technique and imagery show connections with Byzantine and Sasanian art. The exterior tiles belong to later restoration history, including Sultan Suleiman’s Ottoman programme. [3]
Muslim tradition associates the rock with the Prophet Muhammad’s Ascension. The religious association and the date of the surviving monument should be understood separately. A tile preserved in the Islamic Museum offers another way to study the building’s later changes. [3][4]
