Al-Aqsa Library
library of al-Aqsa Mosque
The al-Aqsa Library (مكتبة الأقصى Maktabat al-ʾAqṣā), also known as the al-Aqsa Mosque Library (مكتبة المسجد الأقصى Maktabat al-Masjid al-ʾAqṣā), is the assemblage of books in the Al-Aqsa mosque compound (al-Ḥaram ash-Sharīf) in Jerusalem.
Locations
The library has two components:
The main library: west of al-Aqsa Mosque (al-Qibli).
The al-Khutniyya Library: south of al-Aqsa Mosque.
Both locations are only accessible from within the compound.
Main library
The main al-Aqsa library is a general library.
It is in a building immediately west of al-Aqsa Mosque (al-Qibli Mosque), inside the compound's south wall. This structure went by many names:
the "White Mosque" and al-baqʿa al-bayḍa (البقعة البيضا, lit. 'the white place') because of its stones' color.
the "Women’s Mosque" (جامع النساء Jāmiʿ an-Nisāʾ), muṣallan an-nisāʾ (مصلى النساء "women's musalla") and "women's hall" because of its former use by women.
the "Templars' Armory", because of its use before c. 1193 as a hall or monastic quarters or refectory or armory by the Templars, who might have it constructed in the 1160s. After 1193 (during the Ayyubid dynasty), a mihrab was installed in the south wall.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Al-Aqsa Library” as library of al-Aqsa Mosque. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as library of al-Aqsa Mosque. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jan 26, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q22684743. VIAF identifies the subject as 155316187. The Library of Congress control number is n85133578. Authority coordinates are 31.776, 35.236. 2 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 2 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1193.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Al-Aqsa Library”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Al-Aqsa Library primary sources, Al-Aqsa Library archive and Al-Aqsa research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Al-Aqsa Library”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Al-Aqsa Library” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.