Samarra ( ar, سَامَرَّاء, ') is a city in
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
. It stands on the east bank of the
Tigris
The Tigris () is the easternmost of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of the Armenian Highlands through the Syrian and Arabian Deserts, and empties into the ...
in the
Saladin Governorate, north of
Baghdad
Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...
. The
city of Samarra was founded by
Abbasid
The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Mutta ...
Caliph
A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...
Al-Mutasim for his Turkish professional army of around 3,000 soldiers which grew to tens of thousands later. In 2003 the city had an estimated population of 348,700. During the
Iraqi Civil War, Samarra was in the "
Sunni Triangle" of resistance.
In
medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
times, Samarra was the
capital
Capital may refer to:
Common uses
* Capital city, a municipality of primary status
** List of national capital cities
* Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences
* Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used fo ...
of the
Abbasid Caliphate
The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttal ...
and is the only remaining Islamic capital that retains its original plan, architecture and artistic relics. In 2007,
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...
named Samarra one of its
World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...
s.
History
Prehistoric 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.
Neo-Assyrian period
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
Assyria
Assyria ( Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , romanized: ''māt Aššur''; syc, ܐܬܘܪ, ʾāthor) was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state at times controlling regional territories in the indigenous lands of the A ...
n site 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
Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importanc ...
V.19,
Zosimus III, 30), Latin ''Sumere'', a fort mentioned during the
retreat of the army of Julian in 363 AD (
Ammianus Marcellinus
Ammianus Marcellinus (occasionally anglicised as Ammian) (born , died 400) was a Roman soldier and historian who wrote the penultimate major historical account surviving from antiquity (preceding Procopius). His work, known as the ''Res Gestae ...
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
The Tigris () is the easternmost of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of the Armenian Highlands through the Syrian and Arabian Deserts, and empties into the ...
in the region of Samarra, attributed by
Yaqut al-Hamawi (''Muʿjam'', 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
Ad-Dawr ( ar, الدور) is a small agricultural town in Saladin Governorate, Iraq, near Tikrit. It includes a great number of people from 4 tribes, al-Shuwaykhat, al-Mawashet, al-Bu Haydar and al-Bu Mdallal. Al-Mawashet tribe is famous for sup ...
. A supplementary canal, the Qatul Abi al-Jund, excavated by the
Abbasid Caliph
The Abbasid caliphs were the holders of the Islamic title of caliph who were members of the Abbasid dynasty, a branch of the Quraysh tribe descended from the uncle of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, Al-Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib.
The family came ...
Harun al-Rashid
Abu Ja'far Harun ibn Muhammad al-Mahdi ( ar
, أبو جعفر هارون ابن محمد المهدي) or Harun ibn al-Mahdi (; or 766 – 24 March 809), famously known as Harun al-Rashid ( ar, هَارُون الرَشِيد, translit=Hārūn ...
, 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.
Image:Female Statuette Halaf Culture 6000-5100 BCE.jpg, Female statuette, Samarra, 6000 BC
File:Samarra bowl.jpg, The Samarra bowl at the Vorderasiatisches Museum
The Vorderasiatisches Museum (, ''Near East Museum'') is an archaeological museum in Berlin. It is in the basement of the south wing of the Pergamon Museum and has one of the world's largest collections of Southwest Asian art. 14 halls distri ...
, Berlin. The swastika
The swastika (卐 or 卍) is an ancient religious and cultural symbol, predominantly in various Eurasian, as well as some African and American cultures, now also widely recognized for its appropriation by the Nazi Party and by neo-Nazis. I ...
in the center of the design is a reconstruction.
File: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
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
.
Abbasid capital
In 836
CE, the
Abbasid
The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Mutta ...
Caliph
A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...
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
Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes the fo ...
and
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
(most famously the
Turks, as well as the Khurasani ''
Ishtakhaniyya
The Ishtakhaniyya ( ') were a regiment in the regular army of the Abbasid Caliphate during the ninth century. The regiment consisted of soldiers who were originally from the town and district of Ishtikhan in Transoxania. The exact name of the Isht ...
'', ''
Faraghina The Faraghina ( ', definite plural of ''Farghānī'', "inhabitant of Farghanah") were a regiment in the regular army of the Abbasid Caliphate which was active during the ninth century A.D. Consisting of troops who originated from the region of Far ...
'' and ''
Ushrusaniyya The Ushrusaniyya ( ar, ٱلْأُشْرُوسَنْيَّة, al-Ushrūsaniyya) were a regiment in the regular army of the Abbasid Caliphate. Formed in the early ninth century A.D., the unit consisted of soldiers who were originally from the region o ...
'' regiments) or North Africa (like the ''
Maghariba''). Although quite often called
Mamluk
Mamluk ( ar, مملوك, mamlūk (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural), translated as "one who is owned", meaning " slave", also transliterated as ''Mameluke'', ''mamluq'', ''mamluke'', ''mameluk'', ''mameluke'', ''mamaluke'', or ''marmeluke'') ...
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
A minaret (; ar, منارة, translit=manāra, or ar, مِئْذَنة, translit=miʾḏana, links=no; tr, minare; fa, گلدسته, translit=goldaste) is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generall ...
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
The Church of the East ( syc, ܥܕܬܐ ܕܡܕܢܚܐ, ''ʿĒḏtā d-Maḏenḥā'') or the East Syriac Church, also called the Church of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, the Persian Church, the Assyrian Church, the Babylonian Church or the Nestorian C ...
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
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
Shiʿi 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
Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, most ...
. This has made it an important pilgrimage centre for the Imami Shias. In addition, Hakimah and
Narjis
Narjis ( ar, نَرْجِس) is believed by the Twelvers to have been the mother of their Hidden Imam, Muhammad al-Mahdi. His birth is said to have been providentially concealed by his father, Hasan al-Askari, out of fear of Abbasid persecution ...
, female relatives of the Prophet
Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mon ...
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
In the eighteenth century, one of the most violent battles of the 1730–1735
Ottoman–Persian War, the
Battle of Samarra
The Battle of Samarra took place in June 363, during the invasion of the Sasanian Empire by the Roman Emperor Julian. After marching his army to the gates of Ctesiphon and failing to take the city, Julian, realizing his army was low on provisio ...
, 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
The Samarra Barrage ( ar, سد سامَرّاء) is a multi-purpose barrage on the Tigris River adjacent (west) of Samarra and north of Baghdad, Iraq. The main purpose of the dam is to divert floodwater in the Tigris River to Lake Tharthar thro ...
, 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.
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
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish)
, partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...
.
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
, native_name_lang = ara
, image = Al-Asakari Mosque 4.jpg
, image_upright = 1.4
, alt =
, caption = Al-Asakari Mosque in January 2017
, map_type = Iraq
, map_size = 240
, map_alt =
, map_relief = 1
, map_caption = Location in Iraq
, ...
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
minaret
A minaret (; ar, منارة, translit=manāra, or ar, مِئْذَنة, translit=miʾḏana, links=no; tr, minare; fa, گلدسته, translit=goldaste) is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generall ...
s that flanked the dome's ruins.
On July 12, 2007, the clock tower was blown up. No fatalities were reported. Shiʿi cleric
Muqtada al-Sadr called for peaceful demonstrations and three days of mourning.
He stated that he believed no Sunni
Arab
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
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. The historic
Imam Dur Mausoleum, dedicated to
Muslim ibn Quraysh
Abu'l-Makarim Muslim ibn Qirwash ( ar, أبو المكارم مسلم بن قرواش) also known by the honorific title Sharaf al-Dawla (), was the Uqaylid emir of Mosul and Aleppo. He died in June 1085.
History
Muslim's father Qirwash ...
, a Shi'i ruler was also destroyed.
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
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...
. In June 2014, the city was attacked by the
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic ter ...
(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
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...
''BWh''). Most rain falls in the winter. The average annual temperature in Samarra is . About 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
The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cent ...
and transcribed by
W. Somerset Maugham
William Somerset Maugham ( ; 25 January 1874 – 16 December 1965) was an English writer, known for his plays, novels and short stories. Born in Paris, where he spent his first ten years, Maugham was schooled in England and went to a German un ...
, 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.
[John O'Hara, ''Appointment in Samarra'', Harcourt, Brace & Co., . L., "The Destined Hour" in ''From Many Times and Lands'' (London, 1953); reprinted in ''Every Poem Tells a Story: A Collection of Stories in Verse'', ed. Raymond Wilson (London, 1988; / 0-670-82086-5).] The story is told in "
The Six Thatchers
"The Six Thatchers" is the first episode of the fourth series of the British television programme '' Sherlock'' and the eleventh episode overall. The episode was first broadcast on BBC One, BBC First, PBS and Channel One on 1 January 2017.
Plo ...
", a 2017 episode of ''
Sherlock''.
See also
*
List of places in Iraq
This is a list of places in Iraq. Governorates of Iraq lists the governorates, and Districts of Iraq lists the subdivisions of those governorates.
Modern cities and towns
* Afak (عفك)
* Al `Awja (العوجا)
*Baghdad (ܒܓܕܐܕ) (ب� ...
References
Selected bibliography
* De la Vaissière, Étienne (2007): ''Samarcande et Samarra. Élites d’Asie central dans l’empire abbaside'' (Studia Iranica, Cahier 35), Paris.
*
* Northedge, Alastair (2005): ''The historical topography of Samarra'', London.
* Robinson, Chase (ed.) (2001): ''A Medieval Islamic City Reconsidered: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Samarra'' (Oxford Studies in Islamic Art 14). Oxford.
External links
Ernst Herzfeld Papers, Series 7: Records of Samarra Expeditions, 1906–1945Smithsonian Institution, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives, Washington, D.C.
Ernst Herzfeld Papers, Series 7: Records of Samarra Expeditions, 1906–1945Collections Search Center, S.I.R.I.S., Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
Destruction of Askari MosqueSamarra on Google Earth
{{Authority control
Arabic architecture
Archaeological sites in Iraq
Archaeological type sites
Capitals of caliphates
Cities in Iraq
District capitals of Iraq
Holy cities
Levant
Populated places in Saladin Governorate
Populated places on the Tigris River
Samarra culture
Shia holy cities
World Heritage Sites in Danger
World Heritage Sites in Iraq