The Author

Lawrence Nees, Ph.D. (1977), Harvard University, Professor of Art History at the University of Delaware, and former President of the International Center of Medieval Art, has published many studies of medieval and Islamic art, including Early Medieval Art (Oxford, 2002).

presentation

Through its material remains, Perspectives on Early Islamic Art in Jerusalem analyzes several overlooked aspects of the earliest decades of Islamic presence in Jerusalem, during the seventh century CE. Focusing on the Haram al-Sharif, also known as the Temple Mount, Lawrence Nees provides the first sustained study of the Dome of the Chain, a remarkable eleven-sided building standing beside the slightly later Dome of the Rock, and the first study of the meaning of the columns and column capitals with figures of eagles in the Dome of the Rock. He also provides a new interpretation of the earliest mosque in Jerusalem, the Haram as a whole, with the sacred Rock at its center.

Table of contents

• Acknowledgements
• Preface on Sources
• List of Illustrations

Chapter 1. Introduction
Chapter 2. The earliest mosque in Jerusalem
Chapter 3. The problem of “Arculf” and the earliest mosque in Jerusalem
Chapter 4. The Dome of the Chain
Chapter 5. Columns and eagle capitals in the Dome of the Rock
Chapter 6. Conclusion

Bibliography

Index