Samarra Archaeological City
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Samarra Archaeological City
Location
Samarra Township
Country
Iraq
Year of Research
2007
Culture
- It is the site of a influential Islamic capital city that ruled over the provinces of the Abbasid Empire extending from Tunisia to Central Asia for a century.
- situated on both sides of the River Tigris 130 km north of Baghdad, the length of the site from north to south is 41.5 km; its width varying from 8 km to 4 km.
- It testifies to the architectural and artistic innovations that developed there and extend to the other regions of the Islamic world and beyond.
- The 9th-century Great Mosque and its curved minaret are among the numerous outstanding architectural monuments of the site, 80% of which remain to be excavated.
- The earliest capital of Samarra dating from 836-892 provides excellent evidence of the Abbasid Caliphate which was the major Islamic empire of the period, extending from Tunisia to Central Asia.
- It is the only existing Islamic capital that retains its original plan, architecture and arts, such as mosaics and carvings.
- It has the best sealed plan of an ancient large city, being abandoned relatively early and so avoiding the constant rebuilding of longer lasting cities.
