Publication Date
The building is undated, but it was likely built after 1017 / 1608
Type
Other
Language
Undetermined
Digital
Yes
Manuscript
No
Library
Museum With No Frontiers
Record ID
monument;ISL;pa;Mon01;10;ar
Library Location
The building is adjacent to the eastern wall of the Noble Sanctuary, and is located to the north of the Gate of Repentance and the Gate of Mercy - one of the gates of the Noble Sanctuary, Jerusalem.
Date
The building is undated, but it was likely built after 1017 / 1608
Notes
Solomon’s Chair is a memorial building. The purpose of its construction may have been to encourage visits to the Holy Mosque and to link its many sites with the righteous prophets of God. The building has only three facades, as the fourth eastern facade is integrated with the eastern wall of the Holy Mosque, which also forms the wall of the Old City of Jerusalem. The three facades are built of carefully laid stones. In the main northern façade, a door 1.1 m wide and 2 m high was opened. It was surmounted by a lintel above which there was a relief arch composed of three cymbals. This door is surrounded on each side by a rectangular window, and to the east of the eastern window is opened another window. The three windows are of equal dimensions, and are fitted with metal grilles of identical design. There is a sunken, rectangular stone panel measuring 75 cm x 50 cm at a height of four courses from the window sills. A longitudinal window measuring 25 cm x 90 cm was opened above this painting. The facade ends with a stone frame that protrudes slightly from the level of the facade and extends to the western and southern facades. The western part of the building is topped with two shallow domes. The western and southern facades are similar to the northern facade in the building fabric, but differ from it in the layout of the window openings. The interior of the building consists of a large hall with a rectangular plan, divided by two pointed arches into two parts: western and eastern. The arches rest on a central support on the one hand, and on the walls of the building where the arches are located on the other hand. The western part of the hall is a prayer hall that extends from north to south and consists of two spaces, each of which is covered by a shallow dome without a transitional area. In the southern wall of the western section there is a niche, 1 m wide and 50 cm deep, crowned with a pointed arch and a cardboard ceiling decorated with floral plaster decorations. The eastern part of the hall was roofed with a barrel vault, resting on the western side on the two arches that define the two sections of the hall, and on the eastern side on the eastern wall of the building. There is a huge stone shrine in this section, 9.5 meters long and 2 meters high. It is likely that this shrine was built from a rock to which two stone ends, each 50 cm in diameter, were added to become a symbolic shrine for the shrine or seat of the Prophet Solomon. On the eastern facade of the shrine is a rectangular plaque on which verses 30-33 of Surat An-Naml (No. 27) are written.
Sample Text
Yusuf al-Natsheh “Solomon’s Chair” in Discover Islamic Art. Museum Without Borders, 2026. 2026. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=monument;ISL;pa;Mon01;10;ar
