المصلى المرواني | |
 In December 1996 the new mosque was officially inaugurated as El-Marwani Mosque. | |
  El-Marwani Mosque Shown within Jerusalem | |
| Alternative name | Named afterMarwan I, founder of theMarwanid dynasty of theUmayyads |
|---|---|
| Location | Old City of Jerusalem |
| Region | Levant,Middle East |
| Coordinates | 31°46′35″N35°14′13″E / 31.77639°N 35.23694°E /31.77639; 35.23694 |
| Type | Vaulted prayer hall |
| Area | 500 square metres (600 square yards) |
| History | |
| Builder | Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan (Umayyad) |
| Periods | Umayyad Caliphate |
| Cultures | Islamic culture,Arab culture |
| Site notes | |
| Public access | No |
| Architecture | |
| Architectural styles | Umayyad architecture |
Al-Marwani Mosque or simplyMarwani Mosque (Arabic:المصلى المرواني)[1][2][3] is an underground vaulted prayer hall in theAl-Aqsa mosque compound inJerusalem.[4][5] It is 600 square yards (500 square metres) in area, and is located under the southeastern corner of the compound, 12.5 m (41 ft) below the courtyard, and features twelve rows of pillars and arches. In December 1996 theJerusalem Waqf renovated the area.[6] The area was known to theCrusaders asSolomon's Stables (the name by which it was also officially known until 1996 and still colloquially known today) and to earlier Muslims as theOld Mosque.[7][8]
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The large almost rectangular platform above the slopes of the hill known as theTemple Mount, was constructed by building a substructure consisting of a series of vaulted arches in order to reduce pressure on the retaining walls.[9] These vaults, according to Priscilla Soueck, were "supported by eighty-eight pillars resting on massive Herodian blocks and divided into twelve rows of galleries",[10] and may have originally been storage areas of theSecond Temple. According to thePEF Survey of Palestine, the vaulting and piers are of Byzantine origin.[8] Some of the original interior survives in the area of the Herodian staircases, although not in the area now renovated for use as a mosque.[9] Visitors are rarely permitted to enter the areas with Herodian finishes.[9]
The underground space for the most part remained empty except duringCrusader rule over Jerusalem.[11] The Crusaders converted it into a stable for thecavalry. The rings for tethering horses can still be seen on some of the pillars. The structure has been called Solomon's Stables since the time of the Crusades as a historical composite: 'Solomon's' refers to theFirst Temple built on the site, while the 'stables' refers to the functional usage of the space by the Crusaders in the time ofBaldwin II (King of Jerusalem 1118–1131 CE).[12]
Al-Marwani consists of two parts: The first section, corridors of the triple gate, consists of three corridors. The first corridor runs from the main door, the second is a hallway with storage, and the third is now closed with stone, possibly dating to the same period of the Umayyad. The second section, a large settlement area, consists of thirteen terraces of giant pillars. The weight of some of those stones is several tons. There is a high ceiling and a small door connecting the two sections. The area of Marwani is about fourdunums, four point fiveacres, or precisely 3,750 square metres (40,400 sq ft).[13] It can accommodate approximately 4,000 worshipers.
This Musalla is the largest roofed area in Al-Aqsa and has 16 standing stone towers on strong stone pillars. It is entered by going down a flight of stairs near Bi'r al-Waraqah (under al-Qibli musalla) to the northeast of theal-Aqsa Mosque building, or down a newly constructed grand staircase to two northern arches near the east enclosure wall of al-Aqsa.[13]
In the winter of 1996 theJerusalem Islamic Waqf acquired a permit to use Solomon's Stables as an alternative place of worship for occasional rainy days of the holy month of Ramadan.[11] Later the Waqf declared that it aimed to create a mosque for 10,000 worshippers, making it the largest mosque in the country.[11] This move was designed to strengthen the Muslim claim over the Temple Mount.[11] TheCommittee for the Prevention of Destruction of Antiquities on the Temple Mount, a group of Israeli archeologists, alleged that construction of the new prayer hall was an attempt by the Waqf to remove archeological evidence that aJewish temple ever stood at the Temple Mount.[14]
The Waqf began digging a huge hole in the southeastern area of the Temple Mount, without a permit from the Jerusalem municipality or archaeological supervision using tractors and heavy vehicles.[11] This action drew criticism from archaeologists, who said that archaeological strata and artifacts were being damaged in the process and the excavations weakened the stability of the Southern Wall. The excavations are thought to have been responsible for creating a large, visible bulge in theSouthern Wall that threatened the structural integrity of the Temple Mount, necessitating major repairs.[15] The repairs were called "unsightly" because they appear as a large, bright, white patch of smooth stones in a golden tan wall of rusticatedashlar.[15]
In December 1996 the new mosque was officially inaugurated as Al-Marwani Mosque and names after theUmayyadAl-Marwani family, the family ofAbd al-Malik ibn Marwan, the Umayyad caliph that built theAl-Aqsa Compound where the Al-Marwani Mosque is located at.[citation needed]
In 1999, construction began on an emergency exit for the Al-Marwani Mosque. In doing so, bulldozers dug a pit more than 40 metres (131 ft) long and nearly 12 metres (40 ft) deep, with lorry trucks carting away hundreds of tons of soil and debris from the area. In order to preserve the archaeological integrity of the site, the soil that had been carted away was reclaimed by Israeli archaeologists, who began sifting through the removed earth in search of undisclosed artefacts, a project that became known as theTemple Mount Sifting Project.[16]
On April 15, 2019, a minor fire broke out in the guard room in the courtyard of Al-Marwani Mosque. The Waqf fire brigade succeeded in putting out the fire. From some angles it appeared as if smoke was coming out of the underground mosque itself.[17]
The soil removed from the dig was dumped near theMount of Olives and asalvage operation, theTemple Mount Sifting Project, was undertaken in order to sift through the debris for archaeological remains. Many important finds have turned up.[18] Israeli Antiques Authority published a report in 1999. According to this report:[11]
In a June 2000 interview withThe Jerusalem Post, the chief Waqf archaeologist said that his colleagues examined the material taken out of the dig "either before or after the excavation" and "found nothing of special interest".[11] In 2016 exquisite floor tiles of the Romanopus sectile type discovered during the sifting process were published and interpreted as likely belonging to the Herodian Temple complex, where they were adorning the floors of theporticos.[19]
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