Ancient Muslim inscription proves Jewish ties to Temple Mount

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An ancient Arabic dedicatory inscription from the Mosque of Umar in Nuba, a village near Hebron, mentions the village as an endowment for the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Based on the orthography and formulation of the Arabic writing, the inscription dates back to the 9th or 10th century.

What is striking is that the Dome of the Rock is referred to in the text as “the rock of the Bayt al-Maqdis”.

The Arabic is derived from the biblical Hebrew term ‘Beit Hamikdash’, which is the Hebrew reference to the Holy Temple.

Nuba's Mosque of Umar inscription, dated to the 9th or 10th century CE.

Photo: Dr. Assaf Avraham

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Overview

An ancient Arabic dedicatory inscription from a mosque in Nuba near Hebron, dated to the 9th Century, mentions the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque. The Dome of the Rock is, however, referred to in the text as “the rock of the Bayt al-Maqdis,” derived from the biblical Hebrew term ‘Beit Hamikdash, ’ which is the Hebrew reference to the Holy Temple.

The Kufic script reads:

“In the name of Allah, the merciful God, this territory, Nuba, and all its boundaries and its entire area, is an endowment to the Rock of Bayt al-Maqdis and the al-Aqsa Mosque, as it was dedicated by the Commander of the Faithful, ̒Umar ibn al-Khattab, for the sake of Allah the Almighty.”