UMAYYAD MOSAICS OF THE DOME OF THE ROCK

“The Umayyad Mosaics of the Dome of the Rock – A Closer Look” 

Under the Patronage of HRH Princess Sumaya bint El Hassan, the Jordan Museum and the Mosaic Centre – Jericho held an exhibition entitled “The Umayyad Mosaics of the Dome of the Rock - a closer look”. The Exhibition ran from the 30^th of Oct through to the 21^st of Nov 2010 at the Jordan Museum in Ras al-`Ayn, next to the Greater Amman Municipality, City Hall. The exhibition contained several full scale replicas of the Umayyad mosaics of the Dome of the Rock, using the same colours, materials and techniques as the originals. The exhibition highlighted the Hashemite restorations of the Islamic monuments in Jerusalem, which played a vital role in the conservation of the holy monuments.

The Dome of the Rock was constructed in 691 AD by the Umayyad Caliphate `Abd al-Malik bin Mawran and is the oldest Islamic monument in the world. The mosaics of the Dome of the Rock form a scheme which is admirable in its unity. Covering an area of around 1,200 square meters, they still retain their original glory as one of the most important masterpieces in the history of art. They also reflect the holy status of the Dome and its artistic traditions, including motifs derived from Byzantine and Sassanian/ Iranian art, and Kufic Arabic writings of Quranic verses.

The mosaics are at the very top of the Dome of the Rock interior walls, making it difficult for the public to see and enjoy their beauty, in addition to the difficulty of access due to the circumstances of the Israeli occupation. Thus emerged the project for the production of copies of these mosaics, replicating the originals in terms of size, colours and materials (glass and gold tesserae, and shells), in order to bring closer some parts of the mosaics of the Dome of the Rock and enable the public to see their artistic qualities, and to contribute to strengthening the awareness of the heritage of the city of Jerusalem. The project was adopted within the framework of "Jerusalem, Capital of Arab Culture 2009", and financed by the European Union(European Commission Technical Assistance Office for the West Bank and Gaza Strip).The exhibition has toured in a number of Palestinian cities in Palestine in 2009 and 2010. The event in Amman marked the first exhibition outside of Palestine, supported by FILS – National, International Packing and Removals, Grand Stores – dealers for Nikon and Fuji Film, and Hawa Amman Radio station.

The Mosaic Centre in Jericho is a branch of the Committee for Tourism Promotion in Jericho, a non-profit organisation for the preservation and enhancement of the Palestinian cultural heritage. The Centre was established in 2002 as part of a project financed by the Italian Cooperation, in collaboration with the Palestinian Department of Antiquities, under the scientific supervision of Prof. Michele Piccirillo of the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum.

The Jordan Museum is a national museum for the history and cultural heritage of Jordan. The Museum is still under construction in the dynamic new downtown area of Ras al-`Ayn. The Jordan Museum is an autonomous institution headed by a Board of Trustees chaired by HM Queen Rania Al-Abdullah and HRH Princess Sumaya bint El Hassan as vice-chair. Its aim is the establishment of a Jordanian museum of international standard for the presentation of Jordanian history and archaeology to Jordanians and international guests, and the creation among Jordanians of a better understanding of their national cultural heritage.