It is always said that Archaeology and Architecture represent the existence and the identity of ancient people. Accordingly, history, sociology, chronology, dates, ethnics, etc. can be identified and understood. This is absolutely true anywhere in the world except in Islamicjerusalem. Archaeology and architecture of this city are misidentified and misinterpreted by most scholars. Objectivity is always restricted, not only as a result of the perplexing and contradictory ancient literary sources but also because of the current religious and political circumstances of the city. Consequently, the topic of this article is suggested, and the problem stated. In fact, what this article is attempting to address is very complicated; it deals with overlapping contradictory academic and non-academic layers of information existing in the city.

Conference Title

the 12th international academic conference on Islamicjerusalem studies (Orientalist approaches to Islamicjerusalem)

Conference Country

United Kingdom

Conference Date

Nov. 6, 2010 - Nov. 7, 2010

Conference Sponsor

SOAS, University of London and the Academy of Islamicjerusalem Studies, UK