It is "one of the most ancient sacred spots on earth" and has been venerated by Jews, Christians, and Muslims for a number of reasons. The monument was constructed over a projecting rock on the Haram al-Sharif to which various traditions were, or have become, attached. Two of the rock's principal connections to the Islamic faith derive from its role in biblical history. It is venerated in memory of Abraham who, it was believed, "betook himself to Mount Moriah to sacrifice his son" and because it was the site of the Jewish temple, in which the rock itself is held by some to have played an important role. Most significantly, however, the rock had come to be believed to be the spot from which Muhammad ascended into heaven. According to the Quran God "carried His servant [i.e., Muhammad] by night from the masjid al-haram [i.e., Mecca] to the masjid al-aqsa [i.e., the farthest place of worship]" and this night journey has, since the early Islamic period, been connected with the Ascension of the Prophet and the most distant place of worship was held to be Jerusalem--a distant third, after Mecca and Medina, among the sacred places of Islam.
The Dome of the Rock consists of two octagonal ambulatories that surround a circular center (Fig. 2). The drum that rises from the center supports a tall dome that is approximately 25 meters high and 20 meters in diameter (Fig. 2). The dome was made of "two wooden shells originally gilded on the outside [and] pierced by sixteen windows in its upper part." The use of this type of lightweight dome "comes from the tradition of the Syrian builders" and eliminates the need for the unattractive buttresses which were essential for most large stone domes in buildings of this type found elsewhere. The drum rests on a circle of four piers and twelve columns and the rest of the space is divided into two ambulatories by an octagonal arcade, which consists of eight piers and sixteen columns. The inter...