Essay - Dome of the Rock Medium (Pl. Media or Mediums). a...

Dome of the Rock medium (pl. media or mediums). A particular material along with its accompanying technique; a specific type ***** ********** technique ***** means of expression determined by the use ***** particular ********** style ***** characteristic handling of media and elements of form that gives a work its identity as the product of a particular person, group, art movement, period, or culture.

***** to tradition, Muhammad took a night journey ***** the Angel Gabriel to the Tem*****e Mount in Jerusalem, where he led Moses, Abraham, Jesus and other prophets in prayer. Gabriel then led Muhammad to the pinnacle ***** the rock ***** a ladder of gold appeared. ***** then climbed to the heavens to the presence ***** Allah, where he received instructions for his followers. Gabriel then carried him back to Mecca.

At this site, Haram al Sharif, the 9th Caliph, Abd al-Malik, built ***** great Dome of the ***** between 687 and 691. In addition to religious reasons, ***** ***** was being constructed here in order to dissuade pilgrims to Mecca. Although designed in an Arabic style of religious architecture, it is not a mosque for public worship but ***** shrine ***** pilgrims.

The Dome of the Rock remains one ***** the most extraordinary examples of humanity's creations. The dome ***** 20 meters high, 10 meters in diameter. Its supporting structure, made ***** lead, was originally covered in pure gold and now is anodized aluminum. The sacred foundation st***** has 16 encircled arches previously from different Jerusalem churches that were destroyed during ***** 614 Persian occupation. Architects and artists write of this perfect structure with its heavenly dome, rare marble columns and startling mosaics. Every part of the Dome is intricately woven into o*****r *****s, becoming one harmonious whole. ***** proportions are basic to the natural world, yet complex in their construction (Places of Peace and Power website).

The author ***** Muslim Religious Architecture Dogan Kuban explains how the building ***** a combin*****tion of the Muslim ***** Roman motifs. "***** the context ***** Islamic ***** it remains unique, but in that of ***** arch*****ecture its ***** is directly in line with the late ***** in Syria. All ***** its important features, from ***** interior double colonnades ***** the great wooden *****, have been s*****n to be faithful reproductions of features of the Cathedral of Bosra in southern *****. Its well-k*****n mosaic decoration is Islamic only in the sense that the vocabulary is syncretic and does not *****clude representation of men or animals. The entire building might be viewed as the last blossoming of the Hellenistic tradition before the ***** synthesis created its own formulas" (Places of Peace and Power *****).

As with many other architectural wonders in Jerusalem, the Dome of the ***** is also part of the Biblical traditions. In ***** 1999 VHS "Mysteries of the Bible: Abraham

One Man, One God" (1999), Abraham's unwavering faith is depicted ***** his covenant with God ***** ultimate test of devotion of sacrificing his son at the fabled ***** of