Filistin Araştırmaları Dergisi

Öz

Building inscriptions or monumental writings with religious content such as verses and hadiths give clues about the characteristics, function or purpose of the architectural work. This is sometimes achieved by selecting a verse related to the function of the building at the beginning of the construction, repair or renovation inscription, sometimes by including a few words describing the architectural work after the construction statement, and sometimes by engraving religious texts directly on the building. Considering that inscriptions contribute to the definition of spaces, the question ‘What is the effect of these inscriptions, which are visual representations of sacred texts, on space?’ gains importance. It is also possible to ask the question in reverse as ‘Does an architectural structure affect the inscriptions on it?’ and discover a two-way interaction. One of the most suitable places to search for the answers to these two questions is undoubtedly the Harem-i Sharif in Jerusalem, which has hosted many Islamic states from the Umayyad period to the present day.
In the literature review, it is seen that the majority of academic studies that examine Jerusalem inscriptions in depth belong to Western scholars. These studies generally belong to a certain period and focus on the architectural structures and writings of Jerusalem. In Turkey, on the other hand, publications on the inscriptions focus on content, historical information and the art of Islamic writing. Although there are valuable studies in both categories, the insufficiency of studies on the inscriptions of Al-Aqsa Mosque, the first Qibla of Islam and the third Haram al-Sharif, is evident. Starting with the Umayyad inscription of the Dome of the Rock, which is the oldest existing inscription in architecture, this article aims to provide examples in the case of Al-Aqsa Mosque that the inscriptions were not engraved ‘randomly and only for ornamental purposes’ as the early orientalists claimed, but that their locations were carefully selected and engraved for a purpose. In doing so, in order not to exceed the size of the study, not all the inscriptions of Al-Aqsa Mosque, but the ones that are remarkable in terms of the content, ornamentation and monumentality, starting from the oldest chronologically, have been selected. The current status of the inscriptions is shown with new photographs. At the same time, the historical background of the period in which the inscriptions were engraved has been taken into account together with their meanings.