These comprise a number of interconnected stone and marble columns, linked together through arches. They surround the platform housing the Dome of the Rock, facilitating accessibility for worshippers as well as serving a decorative function.
They are:
- Southern Arch: Built during Abbasid era and renovated during the Fatimid and Ottoman eras. It has a sundial that was carved in it in 1325H/1907CE
- Eastern Arch: Built in the Abbasid era and renovated by the Fatimids
- Western Arch: Built in 340H/951CE
- North-Western Arch: Built by the Mamluk King Ashraf Sha’ban in 778H/1376CE and renovated by the Ottoman Sultan, Suleiman the Magnificent
- North-Eastern Arch: Sultan Mohammad bin Qalawun built this in 726H/1325Ce
- South-Western Arch: Built by Prince Naser ad Din An Nashashibi, governor of al Quds during the reign of Sultan Qaitbay in 877H/1472-3CE
- South-Eastern Arch: Built in 421H/1030CE during the Fatimid era