•    THE ISLAMIC MUSEUM

                        PAST AND PRESENT CHRONICLE OF THE HARA

                                                      by Chuck Alberts

The movement of history is like the movement of a scroll," says Khader Salameh, head

 curator of the Islamic Museum, as he walks along Haram al-Sharif towards the museum."

That means that you can't always stay on top. Like the Romans and Greeks, the Arabs have

 had a long civilization. Inside the museum are some of the remains from that civilization."

Founded in 1922 by a decree of the Higher Islamic Legal Council in Palestine, the Islamic

Museum is located inside two former mosques from the Crusader and Mamluk eras. It is

the oldest museum in Jerusalem, and from its former location it was moved to its present

setting next to the Al-Aqsa Mosque on November 2, 1927. Outside its entrance is a

scattering of column capitals that were constructed during the Byzantine era.

The Museum's exhibit, housed in three perpendicular halls and financed by the Jordanian

government, covers 10 centuries of Islamic history. Most of the regions of the Islamic world

are represented in some way - North Africa, Arab Asia, Iran, Turkey and of course the

Middle East. The bulk of the material derives from endowments from wealthy Muslims and

collectors of Islamic art, and from objects dismantled and removed during renovations to

the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa mosque.

Many of the objects that are found are the Stained glass Windows dating back to the

Ottoman period. They are placed around the Dome of the Rock. Also Wooden Panels,

faded Ceramic Tiles, steel front doors, all built in 1564.

Underneath a glass case pressed up against a pillar are the charred remains of a 12^th

Century minbar- the pulpit where the imam delivers a sermon- that was transported from

Aleppo to Jerusalem and was a fixture in Al-Aqsa until 1969, when a mentally deranged

religious fanatic set it on fire. This, along with a display of blood-spattered clothes

belonging to 17 Palestinians killed during riots on the Haram in 1990, are two jarring notes

to an otherwise serene museum.

Held in a corner, large gigantic cooper soup kettles, used for cooking dating back to the

16^th Century by Khasseli Sultan, the wife of Suleiman the Magnificent, who cooked daily

hundreds of meals, which was called at that time Charitable Kitchen.

A few feet away, a cannon stands there, which was used to announce the breaking of

Ramadan. But the most impressive thing we find is the gigantic wax tree-trunk, which is

one of the 600 candles used to provide light until 1930.

Throughout Islamic history weapons were important because, wars were taken very

seriously. That's why we can see that the museum contains large collection of weapons.

In addition to a very large Koran; 100 centimeters by 90 centimeters dating back to the

14^th Century by the Emir Tankiz.

Whereas today almost all Korans are mass-produced, Salameh points out that in earlyIslam no two were exactly alike. This is probably the most impressive section of the museum and certainly the most beautiful. All-in-all 600 Korans dating back to as far as the 9^th Century are here (claims that one of them belonged to Mohammed's great-grandson cannot be absolutely verified).

This article was taken from the Jerusalem Post on October 6,2000 (You can see the complete article in Jerusalem Post Newspaper)