Chapter fourteen

The Dome of the Rock as the Temple: Nineteenth Century Itinerary Sheets

During the early modern period, Jewish artists did not hesitate to use the image of the Dome of the Rock as a symbolic representation of the Mes- sianic Temple of the End of Days. On the Esther Scrolls the image of the polygonal Temple alludes to the Jewish people’s desire for redemption. On marriage contracts (Ketubbahs) it reminds the newly-weds that Jerusalem is not to be forgotten at joyous times. We saw that on the British Library marriage contract (fig. 13.8) the image of the Muslim shrine was labeled in Hebrew “Beit ha-Miqdash” (the Temple), and to the right of it, the al-Aqsa Mosque was labeled “Midrash Shlomo” (School of Solomon). What was to become the representation of the Western Wall was not yet indicated by a label. As we move into the nineteenth century, however, the Western Wall IS labeled. In the typical view, the Western Wall is depicted and inscribed “Kotel ha-Ma’aravi ” and appears right beneath the Dome of the Rock, which continues to be labeled “Beit ha-Miqdash.” The representation of the Dome of the Rock as the Temple in Jewish arts and crafts mirrors a similar phenomenon in Jewish folklore and writ- ten accounts. The visual evidence confirms what the texts imply: that until the late 1920s, Jews sometimes used an image of the Dome of the Rock to represent what they considered to be the holiest place on earth. By the early 1930s, the iconography would change. The Muslim shrine would no longer be found in Jewish art, or if it did appear, it would be more or less in the background, indistinguishable from other domed “exotic” buildings in a general view of Jerusalem. Until the late 1920s, however, Jews con- tinued to have a different understanding of the meaning of the image of the Dome of the Rock from that which would prevail later. This chapter continues the investigation of that different meaning. This “View of the Holy Places,” an Itinerary sheet from nineteenth- century Palestine, highlights various pilgrimage sites in the Holy Land. (fig. 14.1) These sheets were sometimes sold as “souvenirs” to travelers from abroad. The Temple Mount appears in the second row to the left. The Western Wall, labeled “Kotel ha-Ma’aravi,” is depicted by three courses of large stones, a naturalistic feature meant to characterize this Herodian 272 chapter fourteen

14.1. View of the Holy Places. Watercolor and Ink on Paper. Palestine. 19th century. Collection of The Israel Museum, Jerusalem. Photo © The Israel Museum, Jerusalem.