PreViews

The Dome of the Rock

Said Nuseibeh and Oleg Grabar (New York: Rizzoli, 1996) 180 pp., 200 ill. (150 in color), $60

Islamic authorities rarely allow photographers to take pictures inside the Dome of the Rock, the shrine on the highest point of the Temple Mount that covers the rock from which Mohammed is reputed to have risen up to visit heaven. So when Nuseibeh was given permission to photograph it, he made the most of it, documenting almost every feature of this important site—its marble plaques and precious stones, its gold and multicolored mosaics, its marble columns, the earliest existing script of the Koran worked into its interior mosaics and exterior surrounding tile, and of course, the famous rock itself. Historical travelers’ tales, maps, drawings, translations of the early Koran script and discussions of the Dome’s architecture and cultural and historical significance complete this volume’s elegant tribute to one of the world’s most famous sacred places.

The Dictionary of Ancient Egypt