The word ' jerusalem ' is one of the most evocative and emotive in our language. It is not merely the name of a trubulent city. Since the defeat o... f the original Jebusite inhabitants, with their pantheon of Canaanite deities, by the Semitic Israelites, led by David, it has represented a part of Man's dream of association with God. Within the Old City, girt by walls built by Suleiman the Magnificient upon earlier foundations built by Hadrian and by Herod the Great, three of the world's major...

The word ' jerusalem ' is one of the most evocative and emotive in our language. It is not merely the name of a trubulent city. Since the defeat o... f the original Jebusite inhabitants, with their pantheon of Canaanite deities, by the Semitic Israelites, led by David, it has represented a part of Man's dream of association with God. Within the Old City, girt by walls built by Suleiman the Magnificient upon earlier foundations built by Hadrian and by Herod the Great, three of the world's major religions have a point of focus anf of confrontation. Except for less than a century when it was occupied by the Crusaders, the site of this focal point on Mount Moriah has been for over 1300 years a centre of Islamic devotion. In the middle stands the Dome of the Rock. Built with marked Byzantine influence in its architecture, by wholly oriental in its lavish decoration, Al Qubbat al-Sakhra, to give the Dome its Arabic name, is as magnificent a monument to the glory of God as can be seen anywhere in the world. This book by Alistair Duncan, with 36 illustrations in full colour, offers an opportunity to observe the mastery of skills by which men have born witness to their faith throughout many centuries. The accompanying text follows the various phases of construction and of restoration. The history of the place is set out for the reader to appreciate and to reflect upon the inspiration and the handiwork of his fellow men within the Noble Sanctuary.