The Marwani Musalla in Jerusalem: New Findings

Shortly after Caliph ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab’s (579-644, caliph 634-644) arrival in Jerusalem in 638, he is said to have constructed a rudimentary mosque or prayer space south of the historical Rock now contained within the Dome of the Rock (completed 691) on the former Temple Mount or Bayt al-Maqdis known popularly since Mamluk and Ottoman times as the Haram al-Sharif. Though later textual evidence indicates that ‘Umar prayed somewhere south of the “rock” and later scholars suggest that he constructed a rudimentary prayer space on the site, there is no surviving physical evidence of that initial structure. After his appointment as Governor of Syria (bilad al-sham) by ‘Umar in 639/40, Mu‘awiya ibn Abi Sufyan (602-680, caliph 660-680) either expanded upon the Mosque of ‘Umar or constructed an entirely new mosque in Jerusalem between 640 and 660. This mosque was completed in time for his investiture in that mosque in 660 as the first Umayyad caliph. This article proposes that the seventh-century mosque of Jerusalem constructed between 640-660 has survived to today and that the official entrance to that mosque and the Bayt al-Maqdis precinct was the centrally placed eastern gate. Further, it will be demonstrated that there were four entrances to this mosque, one ceremonial and public from the east, leading to a northern entrance to the prayer space, a second public entrance and a third private entrance, both from south of the city. The physical evidence from the site itself, the newly established presence of Islamic rule in Jerusalem, and the persistence of religious memory of the earlier significance of the site contributed to the location of this mosque in the southeastern quadrant of the sanctuary. The building is variously known historically as masjid qadim, aqsa, Solomon’s Stables and is today the Marwani Musalla (prayer space)

The Imperial Museum of Antiquities in Jerusalem, 1890-1930: An Alternative Narrative

The creation of the first Museum of Antiquities in Jerusalem during the late Ottoman period is a fascinating story of archaeological pursuits in the region by both Ottoman government officialdom in Istanbul and foreign archaeologists working in Palestine for the British Palestine Exploration Fund. The Ottoman Museum called the Muze-I Humayun in Turkish or Imperial Museum (1901-1917) and its collection is continuous with the British Palestine Museum of Antiquities (1921-1930) and the Palestine Archaeological Museum. The construction of the last began in 1930 and was completed in 1935, but the museum, now known as the Rockefeller Museum, did not open until 1938. Between 1922 and 1935 the British encouraged the creation of a museum for Islamic Art (1922) and one for Jewish Art. The history of the museum from the Ottoman Period through the British Mandate Period (1917-1948) is well documented in sources located in the Ottoman National Archives in Istanbul, the Mandate Period Archives of the Department of Antiquities housed in the Rockefeller Museum in Jerusalem, the Palestine Exploration Fund (PEF) archives in London, and the Sijillat al-Mahkama al-Shar’iya (Religious Court Registers) of Jerusale

DMTs and Covid-19 severity in MS: a pooled analysis from Italy and France

We evaluated the effect of DMTs on Covid-19 severity in patients with MS, with a pooled-analysis of two large cohorts from Italy and France. The association of baseline characteristics and DMTs with Covid-19 severity was assessed by multivariate ordinal-logistic models and pooled by a fixed-effect meta-analysis. 1066 patients with MS from Italy and 721 from France were included. In the multivariate model, anti-CD20 therapies were significantly associated (OR = 2.05, 95%CI = 1.39–3.02, p < 0.001) with Covid-19 severity, whereas interferon indicated a decreased risk (OR = 0.42, 95%CI = 0.18–0.99, p = 0.047). This pooled-analysis confirms an increased risk of severe Covid-19 in patients on anti-CD20 therapies and supports the protective role of interferon