Bridgewater Review

Volume 17 | Issue 2 Article 8

Dec-1998 The omeD of the Rock and the Politics of Restoration Beatrice St. Laurent Bridgewater State College, [email protected]

Recommended Citation St. Laurent, Beatrice (1998). The omeD of the Rock and the Politics of Restoration. Bridgewater Review, 17(2), 14-20. Available at: http://vc.bridgew.edu/br_rev/vol17/iss2/8

This item is available as part of Virtual Commons, the open-access institutional repository of Bridgewater State University, Bridgewater, Massachusetts. also to be the site of Mount Moriah where , according to the , was to have sacrificed his son , though the Koran, the holy book of , indicates that it was his son . decided to commemorate tl1e site of Golgotha, which was nearby but outside the con­ fines of the ancient sanctuary. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, built in the fourth century C. E, includes a chapel at the top of Golgotha and the Anastasis or round of Christ. The site of the ancient temple thus lay abandoned until the arrival of the in the late seventh century. A temporary congregational , THE OF THE which does not survive, was con­ structed from the ruins of the stoa of Herod on the lower platform of the ROCK AND THE Temple sanctuary built by Herod. Also, according to Muslim tradition, the rock contains the footprint of POLITICS OF when he paused to pray in on his way to visit the seven levels of heaven during his Miraj or night vision. RESTORATION Jerusalem was the first qiblah or for Muslims; later, BY BEATRICE ST. LAURENT the Prophet Muhammad changed the direction to , the birthplace of the revelation. Thus,Abd al-Malik rom 1990 to the of 1996, I was Throughout its Islamic history the constructed his as a testi­ fortunate in obtaining permission to has been politically mony to Islamic rule in Jerusalem and engage in a research project on the and religiously significant; first to its II celebrated Jerusalem's status as the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, the Umayyad patrons, then to its Abbasid, third holiest city in Islam after Mecca oldest surviving Islamic monument. Fatimid, Ayyubid, Mamluk, Ottoman, and . Jerusalem is still the third My project was to determine the extent British, Jordanian and Palestinian pro­ holiest city ofislam, and Muslims con­ to which restorations of the Dome of tectors. Jerusalem's history beginning tinue to make to Jerusalem the Rock, from the sixteenth century to with the advent of Islam is reflected in along with the official to Mecca the present, were politically motivated the 1300 year history of the Dome of and Medina. at key moments in the region's history. the Rock, and the Dome stands as the The Dome of the Rock sits atop the After an initial period of research in symbol of Jerusalem and thus figures second smaller and higher platform in Jerusalem during the summer of 1990, prominently in the current peace nego­ the northern part of the al­ I moved to Jerusalem during the sum­ tiations. Sharif. The Dome's form is that of a mer of 1992 and began the project and Shortly after the establishment of the commemorative structure, a double­ remained in the region until the spring Umayyad , the Caliph entered ambulatoried octagonal structure cov­ of 1996. My research was sponsored Jerusalem and wanted to pray on the ered by a double shelled wooden dome, by a National Endowment of the site of the ancient Jewish Temple of a form utilized in earlier Christian Humanities Grant, a Van Berchem and later the structures in the region of Greater Foundation Grant and two successive of , which had been or Bilad al-Sham, buildings such as the United States Information Agency destroyed in 70 C. E. by the Roman Church of the Ascension on the nearby Grants. Titus. The Dome of the Rock , just to the east of the I lived in , in al-Ram, a is located on the Haram al-Sharif or the platform; or the church commemorat­ viJJage in the West Bank, and in Most Noble Sanctuary, the platform ing the house of St. Peter in Capernaum , . In order to obtain that is the core of the of on the Sea of Galilee. The dome was archaeological field experience, for two Jerusalem. Completed in 692 C. E. by covered with , the most precious seasons I participated in the excavation Caliph Abd al-Malik, the Dome is the of materials, to signal the imperial of Tel Miqne, the ancient Philistine oldest surviving Islamic monument presence ofislam in the city. The Dome town of Ekron, directed by Dr. Trude and marks the religio-political presence of the Rock dominated the cityscape as Dothan of Hebrew University in of the in Jerusalem. It Jerusalem. is constructed around a rock believed

BRIDGEW ATER REVIEW 14 the traveler approached from every the Dome was a strong religio-political Crusader period, ' al-Harawi (of direction, surpassing in stature and statement establishing the city as a Herat) states that there were two location the formerly dominant dome center of religious pilgrimage and paintings on the interior of the Dome, of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. proclaiming the sovereignty of Islam one of Solomon opposite the stairs The commemorative form of the in Jerusalem. leading to the cave and also one of building provides one of the possible The late Umayyad and Abbasid Christ covered with jewels. The Aqsa reasons for the Dome's construction. began a long process of major Mosque was converted into the palace The Dome may have been built by the additions and restorations continuing of the and the area Umayyads in their newly acquired through the fourteenth century under the platform became stables for northern territory as an alternative Mamluk period. In the eighth century, the Crusaders' horses. to the in Mecca for pilgrimage. the Umayyads constructed the Aqsa The Ayyubid Kurdish The commemorative form of the struc­ Mosque, the new congregational al-Din, from northern Syria, recon­ ture suits the ritual requirements of mosque of Jerusalem. The Abbas ids, quered Jerusalem for and thus, Jerusalem, the next major Muslim dynasty ruling in 1187, and re-dedicated the Haram already respected as the first qiblah, the region, added new construction to by purging all structures of Christian became the third holiest city of Islam the sanctuary and effected repairs to the imagery and constructing new build­ and the spiritual capital of the Dome, with four bronze plates origi­ ings and restoring others. An inscrip­ Umayyad Empire. nally placed on the lintels above each tion in the cupola indicates that he Both the exterior and interior of the entrance which included inscriptions regilt the interior dome decoration. He Dome were covered with deco­ with Ma'mun's name and the date 831. also added a new pulpit or to ration. The exterior were cov­ The Abbasid Caliph al-Ma'mum laid the Aqsa Mosque, which survived, until ered over with tiles in a later restoration claim over the site by excising the name the 1969 fire in the Aqsa, as a symbol of but the interior mosaics survive in all of the original builder and patron of his reconquest of the city. His victory of their splendor. Mosaics covered the the building and having his name was not merely over the Christian interior of many Byzantine churches inserted into the large inscription intruders but rather also in the ongoing in the region and logically became a leaving the original date of construc­ struggle for supremacy of Sunni part of the decorative scheme of local tion intact. What better way to indicate orthodoxy over the Shia Fa ti mids. Umayyad structures. The drum of the new imperial sovereignty of the site In the fourteenth and fifteenth dome and the upper area of the arcades and the region? centuries, the Marni uks of are filled with delicate vinescrolls New construction and the many dominated in what was probably one spilling out of golden vases, conform­ restorations of the Haram demonstrate of the most brilliant periods of ing with the dictum against figural the desire of successive rulers from new construction on the Haram and in the imagery in Muslim religious structures. dynasties to mark their presence. The Old City of Jerusalem, establishing a Parallels for such mosaics appear in the Shia heterodox Fa timid rulers of Egypt, strong regional building tradition and fourth century who wrested control from the Sunni that persists to the present day. in nearby . A long Koranic orthodox Abbasids, effected many Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad in 1318 inscription in gold runs around the changes on the Haram, including the sponsored the re-leading of the exterior base of the arcade of the outer ambula­ modification of the Aqsa Mosque, dome and other buildings on the tory and also provides the date of the making it smaller and aligning it Haram, and the re-gilding of the dome structure's completion in 692 C. E. directly with the Dome of the Rock. interior decoration. Sultan Baybars, in The inclusion of the crowns of the In I022, the Fatimid Caliph al-Zahir the late thirteenth century, restored the Byzantine and Sasanian Empires in rebuilt the dome of the Dome of the mosaics of the Dome of the Rock, the mosaics prominently situated in Rock after an earthquake, redecorating including those of the east portal. between the windows of the drum of and gilding the dome interior with the Sultan al- 'Adil Kitbugha (I 294-97) the dome provides another possible typically Fatimid decor tl1at, though also repaired the mosaics. In 1318-19, reason for the construction of the restored, survives to the present. He Sultan al-Nal1ir Muhammad restored building, uniting under Islamic domin­ re-covered the dome, not with gold but and regilded the interior of the dome. ion the two great empires of Byzantium with less precious black lead, giving the In 1447, Sultan al-Zahir Jaqmaq rebuilt and Sasanian Iran which had previ­ building a new profile with its black a part of the roof over the octagon after ously dominated the region. The Dome dome, a profile that would endure for a fire started by someone chasing thus was a suitable monument testify­ 940 years. pigeons with a candle. Mujir al-Din ing to the sovereignty of Islam in the In the twelfth century the Crusaders reports in 1496 that there were two region dominating the cityscape and took Jerusalem and drove the Muslims , one on the interior that was competing in form with the major and from the city. During this painted and gilded and an exterior one Christian monument of the city- time, the Dome was converted into that was covered with lead. The final the Holy Sepulchre and uniting the a church and paintings were added Mamluk renovation was in 1509-10, three religions of the book (, to its walls. In 1173, during the when al- Qansl1h al -Ghl1ri Christianity and Islam) on a site renovated the lead of the outer dome. to all three. Thus the construction of

BRIDGEWATER. REVIEW 15 In the 16th century, the Ottomans took control of Jerusalem and the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. Like the Abbasid, Fa timid, Ayyubid, and Mamluk rulers before him, the Ottoman Sultan embellished the city in small ways by restoring and adding to its edifices. It was in the reign of his son and successor Sultan Si.il eyman Kaniini, however, that the underwent renovations on a major scale. Si.ileyman's symbolic appropriation ofJerusalem fo r the O ttomans, by redecorating its most fa mous Islamic in the Ottoman manner and enclosing them within massively rebuilt city wa lls, is the best known O ttoman contribution to the built form of the third of Islam's sacred cities. Moreover, throughout the entire Ottoman period of 1517 to 19 17 , there was active O ttoman engagement with Jerusalem and its . Above: Beatrice St. Laurent on the scaffolding at the top of the Dome of the Rock, atthe beginning Sultan Siileyman the Magni fice nt of Hussein ofJ ordan 's second major restoration project in 1993. Also in the photograph is the rebuilt the , installed Palestin ian Chief Engineer in charge of the project. The process of removal of the old anodized stained glass windows and covered the aluminum panels had just begun. building with a skin of til es. These ti les, also appearing on buildings in Mecca and Medina, were the stamp of Otto­ research on the peri od fro m the ea rl y held by the project's supervisors. Tax man imperial identity in the lands of eighteenth century to the present revenues from Jaffa and Tripoli paid fo r early Islam. Furthermore, the tiles proves that major restoration projects two-thirds of the cost. The document declare Siileyman's [or Solomon in continued th ro ugh those centuries at lists, in painful detail fo r the translator, English] connection to the Biblical politically signi fica nt moments. By the all the materials sent from Anatoli a and Solomon and his . eighteenth century more concessions . All of the stained glass win­ Sii leyman is thus procl ain1ing himself were given to Europeans fo r control dows were replaced, using methods and the Solomon of a new Ottoman imper­ over their monuments, and local nota­ materials that demonstrate European ial age in the Holy City. At that ti me, bles usurped regional administrative influence, and since a large amount of the O ttomans granted permission fo r power fro m the central authority, lead was shi pped from Istanbul, the a Christian restoration of the Holy thereby accumulating land and wealth. domes were no doubt repaired at the Sepulchre. Si.ileyrnan establi shed rela­ This res ulted in locall y sponsored and same time. From a later inventory, one ti ons with the French king, granted funded maintenance and restorations can ass ume that tiles fo und in storage French subjects religious freedom of the Islamic monuments of the city­ under the Haram were made on site and the Latin clergy custody of the notablythe Dome, with partial credit in Jerusalem . Christian holy places. Thus bega n always given to the Sultan. Religious The restoration coincides with a the process of fore ign in tervention and poli tical co ntrol and maintenance ge neral tightening of central authori ty in Je rusalem , a process that escala ted of the Dome of the Rock and the over the province of , and during the next three centuri es of monuments of the Haram al-Sharif with increased requests by the Euro­ Ottoman rule. during the British mandate Period pean powers fo r control over the The period fro m the late 16th cen­ from 1917- 1948, the Jo rd anian nation­ Christian monuments of the city. tu ry to the present has been little stud­ alist governance from 1948 to 1967 The contemporary Ottoman historian ied. Western histori ography presents and during the period oflsraeli domi­ Rashid discusses the struggle between the last fo ur centuries of Islamic rule nance since 1967, refl ect the nationalist the French, Austrians, and Russians to in Jerusa lem as an unbroken slide into aspirati ons of these respective periods control repairs of the Church of the neglect and decline, broken only by of governance. Holy Sepulchre. After having made the benign interve ntion of Europea ns, One of the most significant restora­ vague promises to the Austrians in the starting in the nineteenth centu ry and tions was that of Sultan Ahmed III Treaty of Passarowitz, the Ottomans co ntin uing with consistent co ntempo­ in 1720-21, as recorded in a document forestalled both the Hapsburgs and rary nati onalist attempts to control the in the Turki sh Nati onal Archives in the Russians by granting permission Haram and its monuments. My current Istanbul. Its importance is reflected to the French, who were their allies. by the major positions previously

BR. I DGEW A TER. R EV l EW 16 Above: the Dome of the Rock, in 1954, with the black lead of the dome clearly visible. The restoration ofc. 1000 C. E. replaced the original gold with black lead, which remained for almost 1000 years. The yellow-toned anodized aluminum panels of King Hussein ofJordan 's first restoration in 1964 can be seen in the cover photo.

Right: the gleaming gold dome of the Dome of the Rock after the completion ofKing Hussein's recent restoration in 1993-94. The new gilt panels replace the yellow anodized aluminum panels of the 1964 restoration as seen in the cover photo.

Under the order of Sultan Mahmud probably placed there for future use. stripping the southwest and west sides II, Suleyman Pasha, the governor of This restoration comes not long after of the Dome of the Rock's exterior and Saida, undertook another major the Russians in 1810 constructed a new the replacement of the tiles by ones restoration of the Dome of the Rock closed dome for the Church of the produced in an Istanbul workshop. In in 1817-18. The Dome's exterior Holy Sepulchre, when the Ottomans 1876 Abdulhamid II bought carpets for marble revetment was restored, a conceded to pressure from abroad to the Dome, and successive Hamidian new portico was built over the south control Christian holy sites and for the projects in 1897 included ornamenta­ entrance, and kilns [ovens] for the fir­ ownership ofland. The Europeans tion of the arcades on the stairs of the ing of ceramic tiles were constructed continued to vie for power in the Dome's slightly elevated platform and and clay was brought from , this time the Russians of the facade of the al-Aqsa Mosque. and Solomon's Pools, near Jerusalem, winning out, and shortly thereafter, These restorations all occurred as for the production of ceramics. The in 1840, constructed the large Russian part of the Istanbul government's tilemakers' names also appear in a Compound, which looms grandly centralization of control over the document as do their signatures on overlooking the Old City from outside provinces during the Tanzimat period dated tiles, examples of which are in the walls. of modernizing reform and reign of the collection of the Islamic In 1853, Sultan Abdwmecid began Abdulhamid II. The initiation of the on the Haram in Jerusalem, signed yet another major project at the Dome large-scale restoration of the exterior Mustafa Ali Efendi. These tiles are not of the Rock, completed by Abdulaziz in tiles by Abdulmecid in 1853 reflects the of high quality, and recently similar tiles 1874-75. It included the repair of the reinstatement of the Ottomans in were found stored under the Haram, wooden ceiling of the inner arcade, the Jerusalem after a hiatus of Egyptian

BRIDGEWATER REVIEW 17 occupation from 1831-40, as well as the restoration of the tiles, was never which required the replacement of the rejoicing at the end of the Crimean accomplished. The group of Christian dome's covering. There were also major War. The restorations of the Haram Armenian ceramists from , leakage problems with the roof of the monuments, the addition ofHamidian brought in by the British, was not octagonal part of the building. These style buildings to the Kaaba in Mecca, accepted by the Muslim Turkish were badly repaired by the addition of between 1876 and 1907, and his assum­ architect in charge of the project, 6 inches of concrete over the roof. ing of the title of Caliph can be seen as who wanted to emphasize the Islamic The restoration method applied was expressions of Abdi.ilhamid II's policy qualities of the site. In addition, the to return the building to its original of Islamization of the Empire. The earthquake of 1927 diverted funds form with a gold dome and new tiles sprucing up of monuments and other to other projects. which matched the original design. urban projects in 1897-1898 for the At that time the British wanted Ultimately, the old tiles dating from visit of The Kaiser, reflects the increased to offer a conciliatory gesture to the the sixteenth through the twentieth strength of the Europeans and the Muslim community of . century were removed without record weakening of Ottoman control over Written statements about the destruc­ and an entirely new design created in the region. tion of the Dome to make way for the the workshops of Kutahya Turkey. As the British were gaining a re-building of another important This brings us to the most recent stronger foothold in the region, they religious edifice-namely the third restoration of 1993. Though discus­ became gradually impatient with an Temple-were beginning to appear sions began in the late l 980's, it was not Ottoman officialdom that they saw as [the first reference that I've found is until 1990 that serious debate began as bungling and inferior. The result was from 1918] . The restoration and to the nature of the new covering. Allenby's entry into Jerusalem on preservation of the Dome and sur­ Once the decision was made to gild 5December1918. The British, in rounding monuments thus became the Dome, King Hussein's Restoration conjunction with the Supreme Muslim a powerful deterrent to the destruction Committee, based in Amman, Jordan, Council ofJerusalem, undertook a of the Dome of the Rock. corresponded with experts to deter­ major restoration ofJerusalem and From 1960 to 1967, the Jordanian mine the appropriate technique of the Haram. The Dome and the Aqsa government sponsored and supervised gilding the Dome for the first time since Mosque were structurally stabilized, a new plan carried out by a team of spe­ the tenth century Fatimid period. The the mosaics and stained glass restored. cialists from Egypt: replacing the inte­ decision was to employ a brush-plating The most important part of the plan, rior wooden ceilings of the arcades and technique used successfuLly elsewhere the entire wooden rib structure of the in Europe and Canada and the was outer dome and roof substructure of given to the lowest bidder, an Irish the octagon with aluminum, painting company called MIVAN from Belfast. the interior of the dome, and replacing The selection of a European company all of the tiles with new ones produced rather than a Middle Eastern firm in Turkey. It was also at this time that resulted from the lack of requisite the dome obtained its gold color for the expertise in the region. Work began first time since the early years of its exis­ by February of 1993. tence. The dome was covered by large A new wooden substructure, much anodized aluminum plates which had closer to the original, replaces the been colored gold. Since then, the aluminum ribs of the octagon. The "gold" dome has become the symbol of concrete was removed with great diffi­ Jerusalem. The significance of a major culty and the roof covered with lead. restoration during this period hardly A lining of wood covers tl1e aluminum needs explanation. After years of British ribs of the dome over which are two domination, the Haram was once again layers of insulation to control heat and under the nationalized Muslim rule moisture, all of which are covered by A poster purchased in the Jewish Quarter of ofJordan. gilt-plated copper panels. The initial the Old City ofJ erusalem. The image is a There were major problems with test panels were too bright and needed clever photo-montage showing a photograph the building, beginning almost imme­ abrasion to reduce the glare. The pro­ of the old wa lled city ofJeru salem with the diately after the completion of the cess involved plating the brass panels Dome of the Rock and all other monuments of restoration. The I 960's restoration with a layer of pure copper; plating a the Haram al-Sharif replaced with a model of made no accommodation for expan­ layer of nickel over this; brush-plating the Third Jewish Temple. Radicalized right sion and contraction of the large alu­ a gold layer t\¥0 microns thick. Quality wing religio-political gro ups constantly seek to minum sheets on the dome resulting control was achieved by computer begin the re-building of the Temple destroyed in water leakage, which damaged the testing to assure consistency in the in 70 C. E. With the goal of rebuilding, more than forty attempts have been made to destroy interior mosaics. There were reports thickness of gold. The new plates are the monuments in the Sanctuary in the last of leakage beginning very shortly after smaller, ridged on all sides, and joined fifty yea rs. the completion of the restoration. by ribs allowing movement, solving Patchwork repairs provided only a the problems of contraction, expansion partial solution to the main problem, and leakage.

BRID GEWATER RE V IEW 18 administration th ro ugh UNESCO fo r hege mony over the site. Here we see the restoration . Since 1947, the in this cl ever photo montage [see ofJordan have had exclu­ illustrati on), the replac­ sive contro l over the site and its ing the golden-domed monument, employees. Normally the moneys con­ signi fyin g the aspirati ons of such ri ght­ tributed would be th ro ugh the Awqaf in wing reli gio us Jewish groups as the Amman. The instead attempted Fa ithful and the Ataret to bypass Has hemite autho ri ty. This Cohanim. The fo rmer is actively Saudi attempt at interve ntion created preparing the Temple vestments in a seri ous repercussions in the struggle fo r workshop in the Jewish Quarter and control of the Dome between the their leader Gershon Solomon attempts Hashemites ofJord an and Kin g Fahd's each yea r at Succoth to enter the Haram ruling ud fa mily. The struggle was to lay the fo undati on stone of the both over contro l of the holy sites and third temple. part of the ongoing fa mily ri valry o less ardent are the voices fro m the between the Hashemites and the House Islamic world. The stress has been to MI VAN, a Belfast Irish firm, produced gold panels. Th e main tain Islamic hegemony of the site. workshop was on site beside the Dome of the Rock. This of Sa ud, a dispLite dating to the early photo shows the pressure plating of2 micron thickn ess ofgo ld yea rs of this century. Yassir Arafat sup­ For Muslim Jerusalemites who have held in emulsion to panels which had already been plated ported the Sa udi offer. Israeli concerns made the hajj or pilgrimage to Mecca, with copper and nickel. Co mputer regulated quality control we re clea rl y stated in Jerusalem the Dome usually appears beside the of the thickn ess ofg old took place in an adjoining room. Teddy Ko llek's chall enge fo r jurisdic­ Kaaba of Mecca, the monument toward tion if the Saudis gave the money. The whi ch all Muslims pray, in the adorn­ had, up to this time, stayed out ment of their doorway once the pilgrim The restoration provided the oppor­ of any major co nfrontations over the has returned. The image became politi­ tunity to examine parts of the building holy sites of Jerusalem, particularly the cized, used in graffiti of the Intifa dah not normally visibl e. The ti le window Dome. In 1967, even did fo und on the walls ofJerusalem, the grilles of the dome drum removed.for not raise the Israeli fl ag on the Haram . West Bank and Gaza; in posters in Iran the restoration exposed the ori ginal Since then, the Israeli Supreme Court, advocating reconquest of the holy city; Umayyad round-arched windows. The in the many court cases brought by in postage stamps in the existence of holes in the stone on the primarily right-wing Israeli groups, promoting the return of sides of the suggests that, prior always ruled in favo r of the status quo to their homeland and the creati on of a to the sTh.1:eenth century, there were ofJordani an contro l. Thus, this offer Palestinian state with Jerusalem and the originally metal, stone or marble grill es. had more se ri ous political implications Dome as the symbol of that goal. Thus, The question arises as to why the than were initially apparent. The iss ue over the last decades, the Dome has dome was gilded. Current restorati on was resolved when King Hussein raised become the focus of many proposed methods would not advocate the return the requisite $8.25 million by selling a solutions to the issue ofJerusalem. to the o riginal gold, not used since the house in London. The most recent restoration cam e tenth century, but, rather, since lead had A third compelling reason is that at a most historic moment, during the covered the dome fo r a thousa nd yea rs, the return to a gold-colored dome in initial peace negotiations betvveen the this should have been the materi al of the mid-1960's heralded a new . Palestinians, the Jordanians and the choice. In the Aqsa Mosque dome The gold dome prolife rated on tourist Israeli s. The Jordanian-funded project restoration, the decision had been posters advertising , on postcards was coordinated with the negotiations made to use lead for the dome, regard­ sent home as souvenirs, on fo r peace in the , with the less of the original silve r of the dome. cards. There would be such hue and gold Dome standing as the symbol of There were, however, overriding rea­ outcry fro m all parts of the world­ that peace. Many speculate that the sons other than purely restoration con­ not just the - but as iss ue of peace was being discussed long cerns to utilize gold! well the Judeo-Christi an world if the before the news was made public, a The fo remost reason is that gold is dome was not gold. For the gold dome specul ation now confirmed by the the most lavish of materi als to adorn has become a symbol, the symbol of secret meetings in at least a yea r the oldest Islamic monument in the Jerusalem fo r people all over the world. prior to the signing and even before third holiest city of Islam. Another rea­ The fl ood of tourists that appear each that in London. An institute for social so n fo r the use of gold is that it is the day testifies to the international recog­ and economic development for peace precious material symbolizing sover­ nition of this gold -domed structure in the Middle East had existed fo r a yea r eignty. This restoration was funded by as central to the iss ue ofJerusalem. and a half at Harvard's Kennedy School Kin g Hussein ofJordan but his spon­ There exist many strong cl aims­ of Government, including among its sorship was not without controversy. In both religious and political- that chal­ members Jordani ans, Palestinians, May of 1992, Sa udi Arabia attempted to lenge Islamic hegemony of the Haram Israeli s and Americans. This group contribute ten million dollars directly in the twentieth century. There are traveled to Syria, Jordan and the Gul f in to the Jerusalem Awqaf or religious those who would like to extend Israeli

B R I DGEWATER R EV I EW 19 February 1993 and met with Arafat in of Palestine. Feisal Husseini's head­ Tunis to polish the wording two weeks quarters, New Orient House in occu­ before the September 1993 signing of pied East Jerusalem, is called by some the agreement, suggesting that discus­ the new government house of the sions were indeed underway. Thus Palestinian state in Jerusalem. King Hussein's restoration was timed appro­ Hussein's agreement with Israel over priately to coincide with the peace plan. maintenance of the holy sites of The second day after the signing of Jerusalem is seen by the Palestinians the peace agreement of September a sovereign claim supported by 1993, by Rabin and Arafat, King the Israelis. Hussein proffered a plan to reconstruct Abba Eban (former foreign Minister the pulpit of Salah al-Din in the Aqsa oflsrael) noted on 27 October, 1994, Mosque, which had been destroyed in that "whatever structure emerges in the 1969 fire. This pulpit had been the future, there are always going to be brought by Salah al-Din to Jerusalem three, not two, parties in the complex when he reconquered the city from the equation" between Jordan and Israel. Crusaders. We can infer from this that "Israeli, Jordanian and Palestinian King Hussein intends to exert contin­ leaders are climbing a high mountain ued Hashemite control over the Haram together inextricably. Geography, in Jerusalem. Palestinian opposition to Painting placed as decoration ofa doorway in history and mutual interest give them these claims was clearly expressed two the Muslim Quarter of the Old City of no escape from their proximity." In days before the April 1994 dedication Jerusalem after the pilgrim owner of the resi­ Casablanca, Prince Hassan of Jordan ceremonies in Amman in the damaging dence has returned from the hajj or pilgrim­ on Tuesday the I st of November stated of the inscription of the blue cover of age to Mecca. The Dome of the Rock is that "Jordan will hand over Jerusalem the dome prepared for the unveiling displayed alongside the Kaaba in Mecca, the shrines to Palestinians when they reach ceremony and in the destruction with center ofpilgrimage, suggesting that the two final accord" on Jerusalem. shared equal status in the eyes of the sledgehammers of two dedication In conclusion, the successive restora­ Jerusalem pilgrim. inscriptions in King Hussein's name tion projects of the Dome of the placed to the left and right of the Rock from the si.x'teenth through the (PNA) announced that employ­ entrance of the Dome. The one to the twentieth century, sponsored by the ees would be paid by the PNA. When left of the entrance, put in place by the Ottomans, the British and the Supreme asked the source of funding, one Waqf artisan who carved it not twenty min­ Mus[jm Council are part of a contin­ employee responded that the money utes prior to its destruction, documents uum that began with Ottoman, and would come from the Saudis. The Arab the most recent gilding of the dome. later British, Arab, and Israeli claims on League stressed the need to restore Interestingly, this incident was not Jerusalem. These restorations ­ Jerusalem to Palestinian sovereignty. mentioned in the Jordanian or Palestin­ strate continuous Muslim maintenance In mid-October, after the death of the ian press, only in the Israeli press. King of the site from 692 to 1994. The Dome of Jerusalem, both Jordan Hussein's meeting with Yitzhak Rabin of the Rock, in line with its early his­ and the PNA appointed new muftis, in Washington and subsequent signing tory, continuously has been appropri­ suggesting that this discussion is of the peace agreement in Aqaba con­ ated as the symbol of sovereignty in ongoing. At an October 25th 1994 firms Jordanian interest in retaining the region and the golden dome meeting in his Gaza headquarters, control of the Islamic monuments of remains today the symbol of Jerusalem. Yassir Arafat reiterated to all of us Jerusalem as well as Israeli interest in As such, the Dome figures prominently present Palestinian claims for control support of those claims. Palestinian in the decisions to be made in future of Jerusalem's monuments. assertions in this direction have and peace negotiations on the final status At the signing of the agreement in continue to be discussed as part of the of Jerusalem. Aqaba between Jordan and Israel, ongoing negotiations for peace. Jordan reasserted its claims to religious The creation of a Palestinian Waqf guardianship of the Haram, reinforced in August and the appointment, in by the Israelis. The discussion of September 1994, of Hasan Tahboub Jordan's role effectively raises the sub­ as the new Minister of Waqf in the Beatrice St. Laurent is currently a visiting ject ofJerusalem in the negotiations, Palestinian National Authority declares lecturer at Bridgewater. a topic not to be addressed until the Palestinian goals to establish indepen­ final status of the 1993 peace agree­ dent control over the Islamic holy sites ment. The issue is Jerusalem as a sover­ ofJerusalem. At the end of September, eign capital. Jerusalem is seen by Israelis the Palestinian National Authority as the unified capital oflsrael, but not recognized as such internationally; it is also seen as the capital of a new state

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