84 architecture: primary source documents (continues) against adverse currents in the Hellespont, awaiting with taut forestay the onslaught of a storm from Africadoes not guide his laden vessel by the light of Cynosure, or the circling Bear, but by the divine light of the church The Islamic World From: The Church of Sancta Sophia, Constantinople, trans W R Lethaby and Harold Swainson (New York: Macmillan and Co., 1894) • Ibn Battuta: Excerpt from Travels in Asia and Africa (1325–54) • From Gaza I travelled to the city of Abraham [Hebron], the mosque of which is of elegant, but substantial construction, imposing and lofty, and built of squared stones At one angle of it there is a stone, one of whose faces measures twenty-seven spans It is said that Solomon commanded the jinn to build it Inside it is the sacred cave containing the graves of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, opposite which are three graves, which are those of their wives I questioned the imam, a man of great piety and learning, on the authenticity of these graves, and he replied: “All the scholars whom I have met hold these graves to be the very graves of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and their wives No one questions this except introducers of false doctrines; it is a tradition which has passed from father to son for generations and admits of no doubt.” This mosque contains also the grave of Joseph, and somewhat to the east of it lies the tomb of Lot, which is surmounted by an elegant building In the neighbourhood is Lot’s lake [the Dead Sea], which is brackish and is said to cover the site of the settlements of Lot’s people On the way from Hebron to Jerusalem, I visited Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus The site is covered by a large building; the Christians regard it with intense veneration and hospitably entertain all who alight at it Jerusalem Itself Yet not only does it guide the merchant at night, like the rays from the Pharos on the coast of Africa, but it also shows the way to the living God and its holy sites We then reached Jerusalem (may God ennoble her!), third in excellence after the two holy shrines of Mecca and Medina and the place whence the Prophet was caught up into heaven Its walls were destroyed by the illustrious King Saladin and his Successors, for fear lest the Christians should seize it and fortify themselves in it The sacred mosque is a most beautiful building, and is said to be the largest mosque in the world Its length from east to west is put at 752 “royal” cubits and its breadth at 435 On three sides it has many entrances, but on the south side I know of one only, which is that by which the imam enters The entire mosque is an open court and unroofed, except the mosque al-Aqsa, which has a roof of most excellent workmanship, embellished with gold and brilliant colours Some other parts of the mosque are roofed as well The Dome of the Rock is a building of extraordinary beauty, solidity, elegance, and singularity of shape It stands on an elevation in the centre of the mosque and is reached by a flight of marble steps It has four doors The space round it is also paved with marble, excellently done, and the interior likewise Both outside and inside the decoration is so magnificent and the workmanship so surpassing as to defy description The greater part is covered with gold so that the eyes of one who gazes on its beauties are dazzled by its brilliance, now glowing like a mass of light, now flashing like lightning In the centre of the Dome is the blessed rock from which the Prophet ascended to heaven, a great rock projecting about a man’s height, and underneath it there is a cave the size of a small room, also of a man’s height, with steps leading down to it Encircling the rock are two railings of excellent workmanship, the one nearer the rock being artistically constructed in iron and the other of wood From: Ibn Battutah, Travels in Asia and Africa 1325–1354, trans and ed H A R Gibb (London: Broadway House, 1929)