Publication Date
Around the year 595 / 1198
Type
Other
Language
Undetermined
Digital
Yes
Manuscript
No
Library
Museum With No Frontiers
Record ID
monument;ISL;pa;Mon01;5;ar
Library Location
The building is located on the top of the western side of the Mount of Olives, next to Al-Zawiya Al-Asadiyya, Jerusalem
Date
Around the year 595 / 1198
Notes
The Dome of the Ascension is an independent memorial building with an octagonal plan on the outside and circular on the inside. The building is located in the middle of an irregular walled square. It was built of medium-sized, white, polished stones that turned gray due to weather factors. The origin of the building of the Dome of the Ascension was Byzantine (324 AD - 17 / 638) and circular in shape. The Franks (492 - 583 / 1099 - 1187) replaced it with an octagonal plan without a roof. The building was restored and modified in the Ayyubid period after the Battle of Hattin (583 / 1187), and was converted into a mosque, while all Christian sects are still allowed to visit the site on holidays and occasions and even on ordinary days without any restrictions or conditions. The current building has eight stone facades, and it consists of three sections. The first section is the "body", consisting of eight pointed arches resting on supports with integrated marble columns that end with capitals decorated with floral and animal motifs linked to the Christian faith. The arches were open, but in the Ayyubid era they were closed with a group of stone courses, except for the door opening on the western side, while the capitals and their various decorations were preserved. The second section of the building is the neck of the dome, which is circular in shape and forms a transition area between the octagonal body and the dome. This section of the building is solid and does not have any openings, except for a longitudinal window on the western side. The third section of the building is the hemispherical dome, which was covered on the outside with small stone tiles and crowned with a short stone crescent. The building can be entered through a paved corridor from the door that opened on the western side. The interior floor of the building is paved with small stone tiles, but what is known as the site of the foot of Christ is surrounded by a rectangular stone frame of low height. On the southern side of the octagon there is a mihrab that was added to the building in the Ayyubid period, making the site an Islamic landmark, in addition to its importance in the Christian faith as the spot from which Jesus Christ ascended to heaven.
Sample Text
Yusuf al-Natsheh “The Dome of the Ascension” in Discover Islamic Art. Museum Without Borders, 2026. 2026. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=monument;ISL;pa;Mon01;5;ar
