 | |
| Editors | Oleg Grabar Benjamin Z. Kedar |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | University of Texas Press |
Publication date | 2009 |
| ISBN | 9780292722729 |
Where Heaven and Earth Meet: Jerusalem's Sacred Esplanade is a controversial 2009 interdisciplinary book concerning the history of the Temple Mount (referred to as al-Haram al-Sharif in Islam) written from an interfaith perspective.
The subject matter of the book is the esplanade in Jerusalem "known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif, or the Noble Sanctuary". [1]
The book was edited by Oleg Grabar, the French art historian, archeologist and Harvard professor, and Benjamin Z. Kedar, the Israeli professor emeritus of history and vice-president of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. It was published by the University of Texas Press in Austin, Texas. [2] [3]
The book was composed by means of a joint undertaking by 21 Jewish, Muslim and Christian scholars from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Al Quds University and the Center for Jerusalem Studies, and the École biblique et archéologique française de Jérusalem under the sponsorship of Israeli, Palestinian and Dominican Catholic institutions in Jerusalem. [2] [3]
Over the course of twenty or so chapters in the form of chronologically ordered interdisciplinary essays – taking in history, archaeology, biblical and Islamic studies, geography, art, architecture and religion – the books narrates the transformation of the site and the stories around it over the ages, from the first temple period through to the present-day contestation of the space between Arabs and Israelis. [4]
Included among the contributors was Sari Nusseibeh, president of Al-Quds University and "a well-known Palestinian personality" and Mustafa Abu Sway, director of the institution's Islamic Research Center. [1]
Zvi Zameret, director of Israeli research institute Yad Ben Zvi, one of the project's sponsors, said: "We took on a complicated challenge" tackling one of "the most sensitive subject in the world." [1]
The book was formulated in the aftermath of Ariel Sharon's 2000 visit to the site with a heavy police presence. The act, which sparked protests and riots, was one of the triggers for the Second Intifada. [1]
The work introduces the term "Sacred Esplanade" as a politically neutral wording "for the open space where the Dome of the Rock, the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the walls of the Jewish Temple are located", otherwise known in its totality as al-Haram al-Sharif or the Temple Mount. [4] Given the sensitive nature of the book, TheNew York Times noted that the wording "required exceptional tact" from the co-editors, and it was Kedar that came up with the descriptive phrase "sacred esplanade", which, he noted, was a "compromise" that "should be acceptable to all". [1]
In a sign of the tensions at play, as the book was in the process of going to press the board of Al-Quds University boycotted Israeli academic institutions in protest at Israel's policies and the stalling of peace, though projects that were already under way were not affected, and the Palestinian chapters of this work had long since been submitted. [1] Ultimately published amid both Palestinian pushback against Jewish claims of attachment to the site and persistent encroachment on the space by radical Jewish groups, the aim of the book is to eliminate the inconsiderateness that results from a lack of understanding of the topic or as Kedar has stated: "It is a call for mutual tolerance, acceptance and understanding." [1]
In a review by John Day, Professor of Old Testament Studies at Oxford University, the work is described as "a comprehensive history of what is commonly known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Haram al-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary)". [3]
Jacqueline Swansinger, a professor of History department at the State University of New York at Fredonia, called it "a worthy, if conspicuously politically neutral, work of perception, historical and artistic breadth" and "a book of surprising power and utility". [4]
Jerusalem is a city in West Asia, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the oldest cities in the world, and is considered holy to the three major Abrahamic religions—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Both the State of Israel and Palestine claim Jerusalem as their capital; Israel maintains its primary governmental institutions there, and Palestine ultimately foresees it as its seat of power. Neither claim, however, is widely recognized internationally.
The Temple Mount, also known as Haram al-Sharif, al-Aqsa Mosque compound, or simply al-Aqsa, and sometimes as Jerusalem's holyesplanade, is a hill in the Old City of Jerusalem that has been venerated as a holy site in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam for thousands of years.
The Dome of the Rock is an Islamic shrine at the center of the Al-Aqsa mosque compound on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem. It is the world's oldest surviving work of Islamic architecture, the earliest archaeologically attested religious structure to be built by a Muslim ruler and its inscriptions contain the earliest epigraphic proclamations of Islam and of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.
The Aqsa Mosque, also known as the Qibli Mosque or Qibli Chapel, is the main congregational mosque or prayer hall in the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in the Old City of Jerusalem. In some sources the building is also named al-Masjid al-Aqṣā, but this name primarily applies to the whole compound in which the building sits, which is itself also known as "Al-Aqsa Mosque". The wider compound is known as Al-Aqsa or Al-Aqsa mosque compound, also known as al-Ḥaram al-Sharīf.
The Israʾ and Miʿraj are the two parts of a Night Journey that Muslims believe the Islamic prophet Muhammad took during a single night around the year AD 621. Within Islam, the majority of scholars agree that the journey was both a physical and spiritual one in spite of the physics required for such a journey making it essentially impossible. A brief mention of the story is found in the 17th surah (chapter) of the Quran, called al-Isra', while details of the story are found in the hadith.
The city of Jerusalem is sacred to many religious traditions, including the Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam which consider it a holy city. Some of the most sacred places for each of these religions are found in Jerusalem, most prominently, the Temple Mount/Haram Al-Sharif.
Oleg Grabar was a French-born art historian and archeologist, who spent most of his career in the United States, as a leading figure in the field of Islamic art and architecture in the Western academe.
The Temple Mount, a holy site in the Old City of Jerusalem, also known as the al-Ḥaram al-Sharīf or Al-Aqsa, contains twelve gates. One of the gates, Bab as-Sarai, is currently closed to the public but was open under Ottoman rule. There are also six other sealed gates. This does not include the Gates of the Old City of Jerusalem which circumscribe the external walls except on the east side.
Dome of the Chain is an Islamic free-standing domed building located adjacently east of the Dome of the Rock in the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the Old City of Jerusalem. It is one of many small buildings that can be found scattered around the Al Aqsa Mosque. Its exact historical use and significance are under scholarly debate. Erected in 691–92 CE, the Dome of the Chain is one of the oldest surviving structures at the al-Aqsa Mosque compound.
The Jerusalem Waqf and Al-Aqsa Mosque Affairs Department, also known as the Jerusalem Waqf, the Jordanian Waqf or simply the Waqf, is the Jordanian-appointed organization responsible for controlling and managing the current Islamic edifices on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, known to Muslims as Al-Aqsa, which includes the Dome of the Rock. The Jerusalem Waqf is guided by a council composed of 18 members and headed by a director, all appointed by Jordan. The current director of the Waqf, since 2005, is Sheikh Azzam al-Khatib.
Temple denial is the claim that the successive Temples in Jerusalem either did not exist or they did exist but were not constructed on the site of the Temple Mount, a claim which has been advanced by Islamic political leaders, religious figures, intellectuals, and authors.
The Islamization of Jerusalem refers to the process through which Jerusalem and its Old City acquired an Islamic character and, eventually, a significant Muslim presence. The foundation for Jerusalem's Islamization was laid by the Muslim conquest of the Levant, and began shortly after the city was besieged and captured in 638 CE by the Rashidun Caliphate under Umar ibn al-Khattab, the second Rashidun caliph. The second wave of Islamization occurred after the fall of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, a Christian state that was established after the First Crusade, at the Battle of Hattin in 1187. The eventual fall of the Crusader states by 1291 led to a period of almost-uninterrupted Muslim rule that lasted for seven centuries, and a dominant Islamic culture was consolidated in the region during the Ayyubid, Mamluk and early Ottoman periods. Beginning in the late Ottoman era, Jerusalem’s demographics turned increasingly multicultural, and regained a Jewish-majority character during the late-19th and early-20th centuries that had not been seen since the Roman period, which largely ended the Jewish presence in the region.
At present, the Government of Israel controls access to the Temple Mount, also known as Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, in East Jerusalem's Old City, which is a holy place for Muslims, Jews, and Christians and an Islamic religious endowment under the management of the Jordan-based Jerusalem Islamic Waqf. There are entry limits to the Temple Mount for political and security reasons. In addition, Jewish religious law imposes restrictions on religious Jews on entering the compound.
Al-Quds University is a Palestinian public university in the Jerusalem Governorate, Palestine. It is largest the Palestinian university in the city of Jerusalem. The main campus is located in Abu Dis town of Jerusalem, with three more such campus in Jerusalem and other campuses in Ramallah and Hebron.
Benjamin Ze'ev Kedar is professor emeritus of History at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He was president of the international Society for the Study of the Crusades and the Latin East (1995–2002), chairman of the board of the Israel Antiquities Authority (2000–12) and vice-president of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities (2010–15). He is 2019 The EMET Prize for Art, Science and Culture laureate in history , the 2020 Israel Prize laureate in history research. and in 2024 he won the Prix Gustave Schlumberger de l’Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres.
The Al-Aqsa mosque compound in the Old City of Jerusalem has four minarets in total: three on the western flank and one on the northern flank.
On 15 April 2022, clashes erupted between Palestinians and Israeli Security Forces on the Al-Aqsa Compound in the Old City of Jerusalem. According to the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, the clashes began when Palestinians threw stones, firecrackers, and other heavy objects at Israeli police officers. The policemen used tear gas shells, stun grenades and police batons against the Palestinians. Some Palestinians afterwards barricaded themselves inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque and proceeded to throw stones at the officers. In response, police raided the mosque, arresting those who had barricaded themselves inside. In addition, some damage was done to the mosque's structure.
Al-Aqsa or al-Masjid al-Aqṣā is the compound of Islamic religious buildings that sit atop the Temple Mount, also known as the Haram al-Sharif, in the Old City of Jerusalem, including the Dome of the Rock, many mosques and prayer halls, madrasas, zawiyas, khalwas and other domes and religious structures, as well as the four encircling minarets. It is considered the third holiest site in Islam. The compound's main congregational mosque or prayer hall is variously known as Al-Aqsa Mosque, Qibli Mosque or al-Jāmiʿ al-Aqṣā, while in some sources it is also known as al-Masjid al-Aqṣā; the wider compound is sometimes known as Al-Aqsa mosque compound in order to avoid confusion.
The Khātūniyya Madrasa is a mausoleum in Jerusalem and was a school. It is by the western esplanade of the al-Aqsa Compound. It was built between 1354 and 1380.