We will now proceed to an examination of the exterior and interior of the building itself. The façade has a porch with seven arches[336], corresponding to the seven aisles of the mosque itself. The centre arch is much larger than the others; all are acutely pointed. The form of the battlements crowning the walls, the details of the niches, and the ornamental painting characterise the architecture of this part as Saracenic. On entering the mosque the keeper points out the sepulchre of the sons of Aaron, opposite to the middle door. The central or more ancient part of the building retains traces of a cruciform Christian church, being a nave with two side aisles and a transept[337]; the dimensions of the different parts also agree perfectly with this plan[338]. The walls of the nave are supported by columns bearing Corinthian capitals, which are rather overloaded with ornamental detail, in the usual bad taste of Byzantine art. From these spring pointed arches, and above them are two rows of windows with semicircular heads, of which the lower range is open, the upper built up. The pillars supporting the walls and aisles on each side are square, and very plain, except on their faces to the east, which are relieved by projecting half-columns. The two outermost aisles on each side are much lower than the others, and shew in their rough walls a very different and later style of masonry, thus proving that they were added at a subsequent period. The transept is divided from the nave by a large pointed arch, and at their intersection is a dome, rising from a cylindrical drum supported by four pillars ornamented with shafts of verd antique with Corinthian capitals. The section of the dome is slightly ovoid and the drum has pointed windows, which prove that it must have been wholly rebuilt at a date later than the original foundation of the church. Its walls on the inside are adorned in the Saracenic style with arabesques, flowers, landscapes, and mosaics (executed during the reign of Selim I. and Solyman). This mass of ornament, though devoid of taste, when combined with the coloured glass in the windows, produces an agreeable and at first sight striking effect. Behind the south arch and under the dome in the south wall is the Mikhereb of the Mohammedans, indicating the Kibla or direction of Mecca. This is ornamented with small shafts of porphyry and verd antique; the wall being faced with slabs of very valuable marbles of different colours; the keeper asserts that the black stone in the middle was brought from Mecca, and was taken from that given by God to Abraham, as a token of His covenant with him. On the right of this is the Minbar or tribune for prayers, a magnificent work in cedar wood, executed in former times by the carvers of Aleppo; it is called Borkan-ed-din-Khadki, and to the right of it, is the stone with the print of our Saviour's foot, mentioned above; to speak the truth, it requires a vivid fancy to see the impression. In the arms of the transept are fine columns of granite, verd antique, travertine, and lumachello[339], supporting capitals of different patterns and unquestionable antiquity. In the western arm, on the left hand, are two columns of verd antique, a small distance apart, called by the Mohammedans the 'Columns of Proof,' because, according to our guide, all who enjoy the favour of God can pass through the narrow space between them, but not those who are wicked. The worn state of their inner sides shews the great number of the faithful who have passed the test. This arm terminates in a long hall, whose low vaulted roof is supported by pointed arches springing from many-sided pillars; it is called the mosque of Abu-Bekr, but is really an ancient gallery built by the Crusaders. Our guide tells us that in their time it was used as an armoury, which is doubtless the truth, as the mosque el-Aksa itself was converted into a dwelling-house. At the end of the eastern arm is a small vaulted hall, resting on the city wall and lighted by windows commanding a fine view of the slopes of Ophel, part of the Kidron valley, and the Mount of Offence with the village of Siloam. This chamber is supposed to be the place in which Omar prayed for the first time within the walls of the Haram: by the spot where he knelt there is a niche, ornamented with two columns of clouded grey marble, which have been inverted by the architect, so that the capitals richly carved with leaves serve as bases. This is called especially the mosque of Omar, as it continued to be the private oratory of the Khalif. On turning back to enter the main building, we see on the right a kind of chapel, wherein is a niche ornamented with marble, called Bâb er-Rahma (Gate of Mercy), near it are the Mikhereb of S. John (Baptist) and Zacharias. On quitting the mosque by the great northern door, and turning to the right, we find a flight of steps leading down to the subterranean vaults below it.
These consist of two large corridors running below and parallel to the mosque. The floor slopes from north to south, and near the latter extremity there is a change in the level[340]. At the entrance they are separated by a wall entirely of Arab work, and farther on by an arcade supported by square pillars; the vaulting is not quite circular, being slightly flattened; it is very regular, and composed of stones of moderate dimensions, well chiselled with sharp edges. They are not of an uniform size, but nevertheless perfectly correspond with Roman work, as do the two pillars, and cannot belong to an earlier period; being laid with mortar and with great accuracy. The east wall is formed of oblong blocks, all of moderate dimensions and laid with mortar. The stones are well squared and smoothed by the hammer, without the least trace of rustic work; the surface of the wall is smooth and perpendicular to the ground and cannot be considered anything but Roman masonry. The west wall differs somewhat from the above in the form of its materials; these are large blocks of stone resembling in their size those attributed to the Herodian age. On some the rustic work remains, on others there are but slight traces of it, and after a very minute and careful examination, I think that there has been an attempt to destroy it on all, with the intention of smoothing the face of the wall: these blocks are all laid with mortar, but not arranged in regular courses; and the wall is perpendicular to the ground. It is quite evident that, though materials found among the extensive ruins have been used in constructing this wall, the present building is not of the age of Herod, still less of Solomon, but without doubt of Justinian. At the south end of the vault the two galleries unite, the line of the arcade dividing them being only marked by a large monolithic column and two half-columns; one attached to the last pillar on the north, the other to a wall on the south. The vaulting of this chamber consists of four hemispherical cupolas, divided by arches springing from the central pillar, with a shell ornament on the pendentives. Two doors, still remaining in the south wall, communicated with the outside. The one on the east is the Gate of Huldah, which we noticed during our survey of the exterior, inside it is marked by a marble pillar built into the wall; the other opens into a chamber, and is flanked by two marble pillars with elegant capitals[341]. The east and west walls in this lower portion of the gallery are a continuation of those described above, and of similar masonry; but the face of the south wall which divides the two doors is entirely formed by four great blocks, laid without mortar. This, then, together with the monolith and its capital[342], I consider a fragment of Herod's magnificent building; but I attribute the cupolas in the vaulting and the two doors to Justinian's restoration. It is very probable that the gates and the gallery were built in the days of Solomon, either as an entrance to the Temple from the south, or perhaps as part of the substructure of the palace of Pharaoh's daughter, which may have occupied this position. The whole was, no doubt, destroyed by the Chaldeans and repaired to the best of his ability by Nehemiah. It is very probable that the south gate and the galleries were rebuilt by Herod, when he undertook his great work of the restoration of the Temple, to form a communication between it (especially the Court of the Gentiles) and the south part of the city. We need not suppose that it was entirely destroyed when the Romans razed the sacred buildings, because, though the ruins which fell upon it might injure the vaulting, they would also cover and so preserve it. In the gate at the south extremity we recognise the Middle Gates of Josephus; the position of which is defined by the words of the historian: "the fourth front of the Temple, which was southwards, had gates in the middle[343]." Justinian was, I think, the person who repaired and adorned these gates, and rebuilt the vaults, to support the foundations of his basilica, and serve at the same time for a communication between Moriah and the south part of the city. The east wall of the galleries is underneath the row of pillars, on the east of the first side aisle in the same direction; that is, under one of the outer walls of the ancient basilica; while the west wall is exactly under the line running down the middle of the great nave. The architect must have rebuilt them to serve for this purpose, and not simply availed himself of what was already there, because, as I have already said, the character of the masonry in the walls shews that it is not older than the age of Justinian.
Let us now refer to the account given by Procopius[344], who, after stating that the Emperor Justinian had ordered a Temple, dedicated to the Virgin, to be built at Jerusalem on the most prominent of the hills, goes on to say, "The hills however had not sufficient space for the completion of the work according to the Emperor's order; but a fourth part of the Temple was deficient, towards the south and the east, just where it is lawful for the priests to perform their rites. Hence the following device was conceived by the persons who had charge of the work—they laid the foundations at the extreme of the flat ground and raised a building of equal height with the rock. When, then, they had brought it as high as the extremity, they placed over the intervening space arches from the top of the walls, and connected the building with the remainder of the Temple's foundation. In this way the Temple is in part founded on solid rock and in part suspended; the Emperor's power having contrived a space in addition to the hill." He also states that this is the only building in the city situated in this way. I agree with what the historian says of the want of space, on the south and east (where the ruined vault was), and that the persons in charge of the work built the side walls as described, but do not believe that they were the first persons to construct them; they found them existing, but in ruins, and made use of the excellent materials which were lying on the spot, to rebuild them to suit their purpose; repairing such parts as they found standing upright and firm.
As I agree in almost every point with the opinion of M. de Vogüé, I quote his words[345]: "This gallery is a Byzantine building, and is roofed with two parallel barrel vaults, the inner sides of which are supported by a row of semicircular arches springing from square piers. The south end is covered by four domes arranged in a square, resting on pendentives; and the four arches dividing and supporting them spring from an isolated central column. This arrangement is characteristic, so that though the end of the building is ancient, and probably of the age of Herod, it is impossible to assign that date to a vestibule vaulted with domes. This portion of the passage has then been rebuilt at a comparatively modern period, namely that of the foundation of the basilica."
The only point on which I differ from the above is, that I believe the monolith, the south wall, and perhaps some portion (in the lower parts) of the side walls of the end gallery to be of the age of Herod. Near the entrance, on the west side, I discovered a dark room; the Arab wall above mentioned has been built to enclose it, and, at the same time, conceal a doorway, leading into an underground passage, which runs to the west, and formerly came out inside the city, to the south of the Mekhemeh. It is possible that the doorway, half buried in the ground, near the Jews' wailing place, is its other extremity. I endeavoured to clear a passage to it, but was prevented by the mass of rubbish by which it had designedly been blocked up, and obliged to abandon my attempt; the keeper however assured me that I was right in my conjecture. There is also an aperture in the east wall, now closed with loosely built stones and rubbish, which seems to have been the entrance to a passage leading into the vault at the south-east corner of the Haram. In the west wall of the western corridor, just before reaching the steps leading down into the chamber of the monolith, is a small arch, rising about four feet above the ground. A Mohammedan tradition asserts this to be the entrance to an underground passage, leading to the Tomb of David; it is now however impossible to explore it. There is also a space in the east wall of the above chamber, formerly occupied by a doorway, which no doubt communicated with a passage into the vaults we have already visited, in the south-east corner of the Haram; it is exactly in a line with the door I pointed out in them. Hence we see how the stables were reached from inside the enclosure. Opposite to this doorway is another, in the west wall, leading into the vaults below the mosque Abu-Bekr or the armoury of the Templars. These are very likely the underground passages in which the Jews took refuge during a riot[346]; that they communicated with Mount Sion seems established by the account given by Josephus[347] of the attempted escape of the tyrant Simon from that place; who appeared on the spot where the Temple had stood, dressed in purple and white, in the hope of terrifying the Roman guard. This is also an additional proof that the architects of Justinian were not the original builders of these vaults.
Returning to the outer air and going towards the south-west angle of the Haram we see the mosque of the Mogarabins, or western Mohammedans. It is a plain edifice without aisles, with some buildings attached to it serving as a hospice for pilgrims; in which Abd-el-Kader resided during his visit to the city in 1857. On the west side of the enclosure are various buildings, chiefly of the dates of the Crusaders, of Saladin, or of Solyman; with a chapel dedicated to Cobba-Moussa (Moses), a fountain for ablutions, and several small edifices which may be seen in the plan.
The mosque Kubbet es-Sakharah[348] stands upon an irregular quadrilateral platform, raised above the general level of the Haram, consisting almost wholly of rock, and surrounded by a low wall intended (most unsuccessfully) rather for ornament than use. Abutting on it, and in different parts of the platform itself, are several small buildings, crowned with elegant domes, and applied to various uses; some for oratories or schools, or for interviews between the faithful and their spiritual advisers; others for houses for the readers of the Koran, dervishes, and the keepers of the mosque; others again for stores. Two or three flights of steps on each side lead up to the platform, which is regarded by the Mohammedans as a sacred place. The number of steps in each flight is not the same, owing to the differences of level in the general surface of the Haram. They are made of white Palestine breccia, and at the head of each stands an elegant arcade of pointed arches, with columns of different materials, such as granite, or verd antique, or marble of less value; these generally differ both in height and diameter, in their bases and in the patterns of their capitals. Hence I am led to suppose that they formerly belonged to one of the Christian churches, which the Mohammedans destroyed and robbed of their ornaments to decorate their own sanctuary. These slender structures are not all alike; some have four arches and three columns, others six or seven arches with a corresponding number of columns; but their general effect is very good. The whole of the platform is paved with large slabs of white Palestine breccia, concealing the rough surface of the rock; which I saw underneath when some slight repairs were in progress, and also in the houses abutting on the wall, and in the cisterns; there is therefore no doubt that this is the actual summit of Moriah.
From this esplanade there is a fine view of the mosque[349], a structure whose lightness, elegance, and richness is surpassed by very few. Its plan is very simple: a circular drum, rising above a regular octagonal base, supports a pointed dome, whose form is enough to characterise the building as Saracenic. The upper part of the dome is slightly pointed, while the lower is almost imperceptibly contracted. Its gracefulness is thus increased, without loss of grandeur. It is covered with zinc; the drum is inlaid with small glazed tiles of different colours (called Damascenes by the Levantines), which, being made expressly for the purpose, bear on them arabesques and maxims from the Koran with other inscriptions, standing out clearly from a blue background. The octagon is faced with slabs of veined white marble for a height of five feet from the ground; and then incrusted with coloured bricks, which terminate in a cornice covered with Arabic inscriptions. The south-west face of the octagon is uncovered, and exposes the original rough wall; whose stones and masonry prove that the whole, without exception, is the work of Saracenic artists. All the doors and windows are pointed; but their original shape was slightly altered during the restorations in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries; especially in the case of the windows of the drum, whose outside moulding is now square.
Opposite to the Gate of David (on the east side) is a small building with a dodecagonal dome, supported by columns of valuable marbles with very old capitals. Their bases are of different heights, to compensate for the inequality in the length of the shafts. It is called Kubbet es-Silsileh (the dome of the chain) or Kubbet el-Berareh (the dome of justice), being, according to Mohammedan tradition, the site of the judgement seat of David, to which he will return on the Last Day[350]. After stamping on the floor and carefully examining the interior of this edifice, I have come to the conclusion that there is a vault below it, in the middle, which however is of no great size, and is very probably part of a conduit. The south door has a porch supported by eight columns of verd antique with Corinthian capitals; on the west, near to this, the Santon points out a slab of veined marble called 'the Bird of Solomon[351].'
In my description of the interior of the mosque[352], I shall, in a great measure, follow the account of M. de Vogüé[353], with several additions and omissions. It is divided into three concentric spaces, by two arcades, the inner circular, the outer octagonal in plan. The first, which supports the drum of the dome, is formed by four large quadrangular piers and twelve columns; the second by eight piers and sixteen columns; these two outer galleries have flat ceilings of painted wood; the shafts of the columns are made of valuable marbles, the majority of verd antique. I think they may have been taken from Constantine's church of the Resurrection, when it was lying in ruins, after its destruction by Chosroes; for many of them have been broken, and are united again by iron hoops; others shew chips and bruises apparently produced by a fall; besides, they do not correspond one with another, either in diameter or in height. The history of the other Christian edifices in Jerusalem supplies us with not a few instances of a similar spoliation; while we have no record in the Mohammedan chronicles, that valuable foreign marbles were brought by them to the city; as was done by Constantine according to Eusebius. The bases of the columns in the inner range are Attic, those in the second are different, and of a debased style; very frequently the shaft rests on a cubical plinth of white marble without any base moulding. Their capitals are Byzantine, that is, resemble more or less closely an order which is a coarse copy of the Corinthian[354]. The arches of the inner arcade spring directly from the capitals of the columns; but the arrangement in the outer one is very peculiar. On the capitals is placed a large block, resembling a truncated pyramid (base square), supporting a horizontal entablature, from which springs a series of slightly pointed arches: their form and ornamentation are thoroughly Saracenic, as is the mosaic work over the arches[355]. The quasi-capitals of the piers are formed by an arcade in low relief, enclosing a series of palm trees, rudely executed. The drum is inlaid with mosaic of various leaf patterns. The upper part of the dome is profusely adorned with gilded arabesques on different coloured grounds. The shape of the building, its ornamentation in carved wood, mosaic, pictures and gilding; in a word, its whole appearance bears a Turco-Arabian character of various periods, more especially from that of Saladin to that of Solyman.