Islamic Monument Comparison Between the Essay

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Iconography:

In many ways, the iconography left behind at the Dome of the Rock for our evaluation provides only partial insight into the events that inspired it. We are left to interpret this based on the historical knowledge and immediate evidence available to us. According to Rabbat, "Muslims around the world believe it was built to commemorate a decisive event in the Prophet Muhammad's mission, namely his Night Journey from Mecca to Jerusalem, and his subsequent Ascension from the Rock to Heaven, where he received from God the doctrinal principles of the new religion."

It is this interpretation which is largely accepted by the world, marking the rock itself as the most important element of iconography in the structure. The Khirbat al-Mafjar, by contrast, offers a highly provocative mosaic in the main bath hall reserved from the prince-son of the caliph. This is considered the most important artifact left behind from the site and depicts a lion mounting a gazelle on the right side of a fruited tree while two other gazelles graze peacefully on the left side. According to our literature, "the theme of the 'conquering lion' is a very old one, dating to ancient Mesopotamia and Iran. Throughout the centuries it was given a multitude of meanings that evolved over time and place.

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In this case, it conforms with that which we have already come to understand about the palace. The secular space also had a highly sexual implication to its royal inhabitant. We are inclined to the view the mosaic as a symbolic reflection of this impulse. As Behrens-Abouseif continues on, "if we are to look for an antithesis between the two sides of the image, it is not good and evil that we should expect to find in a private room within a bath complex, but rather strength and weakness, or perhaps more particularly, the male symbolized by a 'conquering lion' and the female symbolized by the graceful gazelles."

Conclusion:

This imagery reinforces the overarching premise of our discussion, which identifies the traditions reflected in the two selected structures as being highly distinct from present-day Islamic values and aesthetic principles. This is true even to the extent that there is a less clear difference in cultural identity between the secular and sacred spaces examined than there is between both of these spaces and the traditions of Islamic monumental construction which would both precede and succeed these.

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