SAMARRA
![](samarra.jpg)
Samarra
![](Samarra-Wielki_Meczet_ze_spiralnym_minaretem_-_panoramio.jpg)
The
spiral minaret of the Great Mosque of Samarra
Coordinates
: 34°11'54 N 43°52'27 E
Country : Iraq
Governorate : Saladin Governorate
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Official name : Samarra Archaeological City
Criteria Cultural : ii, iii, iv
Samarra
is a city in Iraq. It stands on the east bank of the Tigris in the
Saladin Governorate, 125 kilometers (78 mi) north of Baghdad. In
2003 the city had an estimated population of 348,700. During the
Iraqi Civil War, Samarra was in the "Sunni Triangle" of
violence.
In
the medieval times, Samarra was the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate
and is the only remaining Islamic capital that retains its original
plan, architecture and artistic relics. In 2007, UNESCO named Samarra
one of its World Heritage Sites.
History
:
Ancient Samarra :
The remains of prehistoric Samarra were first excavated between
1911 and 1914 by the German archaeologist Ernst Herzfeld. Samarra
became the type site for the Samarra culture. Since 1946, the notebooks,
letters, unpublished excavation reports and photographs have been
in the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.
The
civilization flourished alongside the Ubaid period, as one of the
first town states in the Near East. It lasted from 5,500 BCE and
eventually collapsed in 3,900 BCE.
A
city of Sur-marrati (refounded by Sennacherib in 690 BC according
to a stele in the Walters Art Museum) is insecurely identified with
a fortified Assyrian site of Assyrian at al-Huwaysh on the Tigris
opposite modern Samarra. The State Archives of Assyria Online identifies
Surimarrat as the modern site of Samarra.
Ancient
place names for Samarra noted by the Samarra Archaeological Survey
are Greek Souma (Ptolemy V.19, Zosimus III, 30), Latin Sumere, a
fort mentioned during the retreat of the army of Julian in 363 AD
(Ammianus Marcellinus XXV, 6, 4), and Syriac Sumra (Hoffmann, Auszüge,
188; Michael the Syrian, III, 88), described as a village.
The
possibility of a larger population was offered by the opening of
the Qatul al-Kisrawi, the northern extension of the Nahrawan Canal
which drew water from the Tigris in the region of Samarra, attributed
by Yaqut al-Hamawi (Mu?jam, see under "Qatul") to Khosrau
I (531–578). To celebrate the completion of this project,
a commemorative tower (modern Burj al-Qa'im) was built at the southern
inlet south of Samarra, and a palace with a "paradise"
or walled hunting park was constructed at the northern inlet (modern
Nahr ar-Rasasi) near ad-Dawr. A supplementary canal, the Qatul Abi
al-Jund, excavated by the Abbasid Caliph Harun al-Rashid, was commemorated
by a planned city laid out in the form of a regular octagon (modern
Husn al-Qadisiyya), called al-Mubarak and abandoned unfinished in
796.
![](399px-Female_Statuette_Halaf_Culture_6000-5100_BCE.jpg)
Female
statuette, Samarra, 6000 BC
![](Samarra_bowl.jpg)
The
Samarra bowl at the Vorderasiatisches Museum, Berlin. The swastika
in the center of the design is a reconstruction
![](491px-Chinese_sancai_sherd_9th_10th_century_found_in_Samarra.jpg)
Chinese-made
sancai pottery shard, 9th–10th century, found in Samarra,
an example of Chinese influences on Islamic pottery. British Museum
Abbasid
capital :
![](Dirhem_of_al-Muntasir,_AH_247-248.jpg)
Dirham
of Al-Muntasir minted in Samarra, 861/862 AD
In 836 CE, the Abbasid Caliph Al-Mu'tasim founded a new capital
at the banks of the Tigris. Here he built extensive palace complexes
surrounded by garrison settlements for his guards, mostly drawn
from Central Asia and Iran (most famously the Turks, as well as
the Khurasani Ishtakhaniyya, Faraghina and Ushrusaniyya regiments)
or North Africa (like the Maghariba). Although quite often called
Mamluk slave soldiers, their status was quite elevated; some of
their commanders bore Sogdian titles of nobility.
The
city was further developed under Caliph al-Mutawakkil, who sponsored
the construction of lavish palace complexes, such as al-Mutawakkiliyya,
and the Great Mosque of Samarra with its famous spiral minaret or
Malwiya, built in 847. For his son al-Mu'tazz he built the large
palace Bulkuwara.
Samarra
remained the residence of the caliph until 892, when al-Mu'tadid
eventually returned to Baghdad. The city declined but maintained
a mint until the early 10th century.
The
Nestorian patriarch Sargis (860–72) moved the patriarchal
seat of the Church of the East from Baghdad to Samarra, and one
or two of his immediate successors may also have sat in Samarra
so as to be close to the seat of power.
During
the long decline of the Abbasid empire, Samarra was largely abandoned
starting in AD 940. Its population returned to Baghdad and the city
rapidly declined. Its field of ruins is the only world metropolis
of late antiquity which is available for serious archaeology.
Religious
significance :
![](AL-ASKARIYYAIN_SHRINE_IN_SAMARRA.jpg)
Shrine of Al-Askari
The city is also home to al-Askari Shrine, containing the mausolea
of the Imams Ali al-Hadi and Hasan al-Askari, the tenth and eleventh
Shi?i Imams, respectively, as well as the place from where Muhammad
al-Mahdi, known as the "Hidden Imam", reportedly went
into The Occultation in the belief of the Twelver or Shias. This
has made it an important pilgrimage centre for the Imami Shias.
In addition, Hakimah and Narjis, female relatives of the Prophet
Muhammad and the Imams, held in high esteem by Muslims, are buried
there, making this mosque one of the most significant sites of worship.
Modern
era :
![](640px-Les_d%F4mes_de_Samarra_en_1970_(2).jpg)
Men
walk down a street in Samarra in 1970
In the eighteenth century, one of the most violent battles of the
1730–1735 Ottoman–Persian War, the Battle of Samarra,
took place, where over 50,000 Turks and Persians became casualties.
The engagement decided the fate of Ottoman Iraq and kept it under
Istanbul's suzerainty until the First World War.
During
the 20th century, Samarra gained new importance when a permanent
lake, Lake Tharthar, was created through the construction of the
Samarra Barrage, which was built in order to prevent the frequent
flooding of Baghdad. Many local people were displaced by the dam,
resulting in an increase in Samarra's population.[citation needed]
Samarra
is a key city in Saladin Governorate, a major part of the so-called
Sunni Triangle where insurgents were active during the Iraq War.
Though
Samarra is famous for its Shi'i holy sites, including the tombs
of several Shi'i Imams, the town was traditionally and until very
recently, dominated by Sunni Arabs. Tensions arose between Sunnis
and the Shi'a during the Iraq War. On February 22, 2006, the golden
dome of the al-Askari Mosque was bombed, setting off a period of
rioting and reprisal attacks across the country which claimed hundreds
of lives. No organization claimed responsibility for the bombing.
On June 13, 2007, insurgents attacked the mosque again and destroyed
the two minarets that flanked the dome's ruins. On July 12, 2007,
the clock tower was blown up. No fatalities were reported. Shia
cleric Muqtada al-Sadr called for peaceful demonstrations and three
days of mourning. He stated that he believed no Sunni Arab could
have been behind the attack, though according to the New York Times
the attackers were likely Sunnis linked to Al-Qaeda. The mosque
compound and minarets had been closed since the 2006 bombing. An
indefinite curfew was placed on the city by the Iraqi police.
Ever
since the end of Iraqi civil war in 2007, the Shia population of
the holy city has increased exponentially. However, violence has
continued, with bombings taking place in 2011 and 2013. In June
2014, the city was attacked by the Islamic State of Iraq and the
Levant (ISIL) as part of the Northern Iraq offensive. ISIL forces
captured the municipality building and university, but were later
repulsed.
Geography
:
Climate :
Samarra has a hot desert climate (Köppen climate classification
BWh). Most rain falls in the winter. The average annual temperature
in Samarra is 22.7 °C (72.9 °F). About 171 mm (6.73 in)
of precipitation falls annually.
In
popular culture :
The metaphor of "Having an appointment in Samarra", signifying
death, is a literary reference to an ancient Babylonian myth recorded
in the Babylonian Talmud and transcribed by W. Somerset Maugham,
in which Death narrates a man's futile attempt to escape him by
fleeing from Baghdad to Samarra. The story "The Appointment
in Samarra" subsequently formed the germ of a novel of the
same name by John O'Hara. The story is told in "The Six Thatchers",
a 2017 episode of Sherlock.
Source
:
https://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Samarra