Legends of the
Dome of the Rock:
12 / WHEN THE CANDELABRUM FELL
In the Middle Ages there hung in the Dome of the Rock
a large, beautiful candelabrum with hundreds of branches. During the hours of
prayer it would illuminate the whole mosque brightly. In 1060, when Moslems
ruled in Palestine, the candelabrum suddenly fell, and all five hundred
branches broke into splinters. The Moslems interpreted this as an evil omen.
About forty years later, Jerusalem was conquered by
the Crusaders, and the Dome of the Rock mosque was converted into a Christian
church, called Templum Domini —Temple of our Lord (Jesus).
Source:
Journal of the Ropyal Asiatic Society, XIX, 1887, p. 287.
Culled
from: Zev Vilnay: Legends of Jerusalem, Jewish Publication Society,
1973.
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