Private Collection
The Dome of the Rock is located on the Mount Moriah (the Temple Mount). The first Jewish Temple was built here by King Solomon, and the second in the 8th century B.C. Abd al-Malik, the caliph of the Umayyads, an Arab dynasty ruling the Muslim world from 661 to 750, built in 691 a shrine named Dome of the Rock to mark the sacredness of this place. The Dome of the Rock is regarded as one of the most beautiful architectures of the Middle East. The caliph’s faith incarnated itself as the balance of forms, the harmony of interior and the richness of decoration of the mosque. The caliph devoted seven years to this construction. He wanted this mosque to serve the unity of the three monotheistic religions: their root comes from Abraham.
The American Colony was a colony established in Jerusalem in 1881 by members of the Christian Utopian Society led by Anna and Horatio SPAFFORD. Around 1900, Elijiah MEYER, a member of the American Colony, began to take photographs of Jerusalem city. His work was fast-growing, it was therefore divided into two projects led respectively by Hol Lars (Lewis) Larsson and G. Eric Maston. The latter created the Matson Photographic Service.
