Dome of the Ascension

Dome of the Ascension

The Dome of the Ascension (Arabic: قبة المعراج Qubbat al-Miraj; Hebrew: כִּיפָּת הַעֲלִיָּיה Kippat Ha'Aliyah) is a small, free-standing domed structure built by Crusaders that stands just north the Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

Although called Dome of the Ascension in Arabic, and said by Arabic tradition to mark the spot from which Muhammad ascended to Heaven during his "Night Journey," it is understood by scholars as having been built as part of the Christian Templum Domini, probably as a baptismal font. An Arabic inscription dated it to 1200-1 describes it as rededicated as a waqf.[1][2]

The structure and, notably, the column capitals are of Frankish style and construction, but some repair or renovation was done in or after the Ayyubid dynasty period.[2]

References

  1. Pawer, Jonathan (1996). The History of Jerusalem: The Early Muslim Period (638-1099). New York University Press. p. 86. ISBN 0814766390.
  2. 1 2 Simon Sebag Montefiore, Jerusalem: The Biography, p. 276.

Coordinates: 31°46′41.58″N 35°14′05.96″E / 31.7782167°N 35.2349889°E / 31.7782167; 35.2349889

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