Solomon's Stables

Al-Marwani Mosque or Marwani Musalla (Arabic: المصلى المرواني), prior to its renovation it was known as Al-Masjid Al-Qadim (Arabic: المسجد القديم) (“the Old Mosque”) is an underground vaulted mosque in the Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound in Jerusalem. During the Crusader period it was named Solomon's Stables (Latin: Stabula Salomonis, Hebrew: אורוות שלמה) This name, of Crusader origin, was historically the standard Islamic name for the structure as well. 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 the Jerusalem Waqf renamed and renovated the area, since which the salvaged debris has provided a rare source of information for the Temple Mount's history, where archaeological research is heavily restricted. The current structure is considered to have been erected during the Umayyad period and rebuilt by the Fatimids after the 1033 earthquake.

History

The large almost rectangular platform above the slopes of the hill known as the Temple Mount, was constructed by building a substructure consisting of a series of vaulted arches in order to reduce pressure on the retaining walls. These vaults, according to Priscilla Soueck, were "supported by eighty-eight pillars resting on massive Herodian blocks and divided into twelve rows of galleries", and may have originally been storage areas of the Second Temple. According to the PEF Survey of Palestine, the vaulting and piers are of Byzantine origin. 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. Visitors are rarely permitted to enter the areas with Herodian finishes. The underground space for the most part remained empty except during Crusader rule over Jerusalem. It was probably first restored by the Fatimids, before the Crusaders converted it into a stable for the cavalry. According to John of Würzburg they contained more than 2,000 horses and 1,500 camels, while Theoderich gave the much more impressive number of 10,000 horses together with their grooms. 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' anachronistically refers to the First Temple built on the site, while the 'stables' refers to the functional usage of the space by the Crusaders in the time of Baldwin II (King of Jerusalem 1118–1131 CE). The structure also contains a small shrine known as the "Cradle of Jesus", within a larger hall known as the "Chamber of Mary". The site has been associated with Jesus and Mary by both Muslims and Christians since before the crusades, but it is in fact a Roman or Byzantine niche, carved from a single stone block and set on its back below a dome. Above the "cradle" is a richly adorned wooden dome supported by four marble pillars, probably from the era of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. The area has lost its imporantance In the aftermath of Saladin's capture of Jerusalem in 1187.

Modern construction of the Marwani prayer hall 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 four dunums, four point five acres, or precisely 3,750 square metres (40,400 sq ft). It can accommodate approximately 10,000 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 the al-Aqsa Mosque building, or down a newly constructed grand staircase to two northern arches near the east enclosure wall of al-Aqsa. In the winter of 1996 the Jerusalem 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. Later the Waqf declared that it aimed to create a mosque for 10,000 worshippers, making it the largest mosque in the country. This move has been alleged to have been designed to strengthen the Muslim claim over the Temple Mount. The Committee 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 a Jewish temple ever stood at the Temple Mount.

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