•  
  •  
 

Yuval Baruch

Abstract

This paper reviews the main architectural and artistic findings discovered in excavations conducted in the Umayyad buildings at the foot of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. These buildings were reconstructed to house this unique architectural system. The buildings were built atop the remains of ancient monuments, most likely from the Byzantine period, as is especially evident in Building II. The buildings’ plans adhere to several architectural principles: a closed architectural system, including four or five buildings separated by a system of streets; all buildings relate to the Temple Mount and are connected to it via the restored Temple Mount gates or a bridge that led to the mosque; on the west, they opened onto the Eastern Cardo; they were erected on leveled surfaces above a complex and sophisticated engineering system; the walls exhibit a secondary use of building stones and stylized architectural elements, which belonged to ancient monuments and perhaps also to churches that were dismantled for this purpose. The construction of these buildings, initiated at the beginning of the eighth century CE, was probably never completed, explaining why they were erased from the historical memory of the city. Around 1300 years later, archaeological excavations conducted south and southwest of the Temple Mount/Ḥaram el-Sharif restored these buildings to the city’s history and today they, dominate the landscape of the area at the foot of the Temple Mount.

Download

Share

COinS