Raqqada
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Raqqāda () is the site of the second capital of the 9th-century
dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a monarchy, monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A dynasty may also be referred to as a "house", "family" or "clan", among others. H ...
of
Aghlabids The Aghlabid dynasty () was an Arab dynasty centered in Ifriqiya (roughly present-day Tunisia) from 800 to 909 that conquered parts of Sicily, Southern Italy, and possibly Sardinia, nominally as vassals of the Abbasid Caliphate. The Aghlabids ...
, located about ten kilometers southwest of Kairouan,
Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...
. The site now houses the National Museum of Islamic Art.


History

In 876, the ninth Aghlabid emir Ibrahim II ibn Ahmad (875-902) felt the need to change residence from al-Abbasiyya to find a quiet place away from city noise. The new city is provided with several palaces and a mosque. The Aghlabids founded a factory of textile and paper to supply the House of Wisdom and Science (Bayt al-Hikma). At a time, Raqqada became even larger than Kairouan. In 909,
Abdullah al-Mahdi Billah Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Ḥusayn (; 31 July 874 – 4 March 934), better known by his regnal name al-Mahdī biʾllāh (, "The Mahdi, Rightly Guided by God"), was the founder of the Isma'ilism, Isma'ili Fatimid Caliphate, the only major ...
, founder of the dynasty of the
Fatimids The Fatimid Caliphate (; ), also known as the Fatimid Empire, was a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries CE under the rule of the Fatimid dynasty, Fatimids, an Isma'ili Shi'a dynasty. Spanning a large area of North Africa ...
, who had moved to Kairouan, finally settled in Raqqada. He chose another capital and founded the town of
Mahdia Mahdia ( ') is a Tunisian coastal city with 76,513 inhabitants, south of Monastir, Tunisia, Monastir and southeast of Sousse. Mahdia is a provincial centre north of Sfax. It is important for the associated fish-processing industry, as well as w ...
. He proclaimed himself as the Imam in 909. The 7 July 969, the troops of the fourth Fatimid Caliph Al-Muizz Lideenillah entered Fustat in Egypt. The caliph founded a new city
Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...
, which was now to be the capital. Raqqada was demolished after the construction of Cairo. After 1960, a presidential palace was built on a site of twenty acres, some remains of which are still visible, it houses since 1986 the National Museum of Islamic Art Raqqada.Caroline Gaultier-Kurhan, ''Le patrimoine culturel africain'', éd. Maisonneuve et Larose, Paris, 2001, p. 151
/ref> Excavation campaigns initiated in the early 1960s on the site of ancient palaces have yielded abundant fragments of pottery to glaze, including shards and tiles with a metallic sheen with floral and plant ( vine leaf stylized) and carefully decorated cuts (cutting the bird dating from the second half of the 9th century).


Archeological remains

The remains of the historic palaces at Raqqada have only been partially excavated. Remains have been found across a site of approximately 9 square kilometers, suggesting that the city grew fairly large at the time. Fragments of carved stucco decoration similar to that of
Abbasid Samarra Samarra is a city in central Iraq, which served as the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate from 836 to 892. Founded by the caliph al-Mu'tasim, Samarra was briefly a major metropolis that stretched dozens of kilometers along the east bank of the Tigr ...
have been found at the site. Only one palace building has been investigated by archeologists. It was built of
mudbrick Mudbrick or mud-brick, also known as unfired brick, is an air-dried brick, made of a mixture of mud (containing loam, clay, sand and water) mixed with a binding material such as rice husks or straw. Mudbricks are known from 9000 BCE. From ...
and went through multiple phases of construction and expansion. It was first constructed as a roughly square walled enclosure, measuring 55 by 55 meters, whose exterior was reinforced with round towers or buttresses. Buttressed walls like this were a feature of Roman ''
castrum ''Castra'' () is a Latin language, Latin term used during the Roman Republic and Roman Empire for a military 'camp', and ''castrum'' () for a 'Fortification, fort'. Either could refer to a building or plot of land, used as a fortified milita ...
'' architecture and were also found in early
Islamic architecture Islamic architecture comprises the architectural styles of buildings associated with Islam. It encompasses both Secularity, secular and religious styles from the early history of Islam to the present day. The Muslim world, Islamic world encompasse ...
. The building had a central rectangular courtyard surrounded by rooms, including a large reception room in the middle of the north side. Judging by its layout, this building may correspond to what historical sources refer to as the ''Qaṣr aṣ-Ṣaḥn'' ("Courtyard Palace"). The building was entered from the south via a bent entrance (a passage turning 90 degrees twice), a feature which became common in the Abbasid period as both a defensive measure and as a means to preserve the privacy of the inhabitants inside. The entrance led directly into the courtyard. A
cistern A cistern (; , ; ) is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. To prevent leakage, the interior of the cistern is often lined with hydraulic plaster. Cisterns are disti ...
existed under the center of the courtyard where rainwater was collected and stored for future use. The reception room to the north, roughly square in shape, was divided into three north-to-south naves by two rows of four columns. A small
apse In architecture, an apse (: apses; from Latin , 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek , , 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical Vault (architecture), vault or semi-dome, also known as an ' ...
or semi-circular niche at the back of the hall probably marked the location of the emir's seat or throne. This type of
basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica (Greek Basiliké) was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek Eas ...
l columned hall became a recurring feature of palatial architecture in the western Islamic world. In a later building phase, this palace enclosure was expanded to the north and west until it measured 105 by 105 meters. The additional space was filled with living quarters. The interior underwent further reorganization later during the Fatimid and Zirid occupations of the site. This courtyard palace was surrounded by a residential district and many other structures. To its northeast was a large irregular quadrilateral water basin measuring between 90 and 130 meters wide. It likely functioned as a reservoir for the royal city's water supply, but it may have also been integrated into the architectural landscape of the palaces. Of the other palaces mentioned in historical sources, one was the ''Qaṣr aṣ-Baḥr'' ("Water Palace" or "Palace of the Sea"), which would indicate a palace associated with a large water basin. This palace has not yet been found at Raqqada, but there is evidence of structures existing next to the aforementioned quadrilateral water basin, which could be identified as a part of this palace. Large bodies of water would have played an aesthetic role by reflecting the images of adjoining buildings and giving them a lighter appearance. The water basin at Raqqada may have also been used for boat parties and water jousting events. The ''Qaṣr aṣ-Baḥr'' at Raqqada is the earliest example of such a "water palace" in the Mediterranean region, with later examples found at the Fatimid capital al-Mansuriyya and the Hammadid capital Qal'at Bani Hammad. It may have been inspired by the palaces of Abbasid Samarra, where a large pool existed in front of the ''Bab al-'Amma'' gate, and it probably had its origins in older
Sassanian The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranian peoples, Iranians"), was an List of monarchs of Iran, Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, th ...
palace architecture, such as '' Qaṣr e-Shirin'' in Iran. A third named palace, the ''Qaṣr al-Fatḥ'' ("Palace of Victory"), was the residence of emir Ibrahim II, but its location is unknown.


National Museum of Islamic Art

The museum specializes in medieval Islamic art and includes works from Kairouan and Raqqada sites and Al-Mansuriya, a former princely city built in the Fatimid period. Admission is vested in the Great Mosque of Kairouan and presents a reproduction of its mihrab and a model of the monument.Musée des arts islamiques de Kairouan (Musée sans frontières)
/ref> The next room contains collections of ceramics dating from the times when Raqqada was occupied (9th and 10th centuries). Another room contains collections of
numismatic Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, medals, and related objects. Specialists, known as numismatists, are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, but the discipline also inclu ...
coins from different eras that illustrate the economic history of the
Ifriqiya Ifriqiya ( '), also known as al-Maghrib al-Adna (), was a medieval historical region comprising today's Tunisia, eastern Algeria, and Tripolitania (roughly western Libya). It included all of what had previously been the Byzantine province of ...
for more than six centuries.Musée national d’art islamique de Raqqâda (Patrimoine de Tunisie)
/ref> The largest collection is that of Korans of exceptional calligraphy and a collection of manuscripts and pages belonging originally to the library of the Great Mosque of Kairouan. Among the gems of this collection, are the leaves of the Blue Koran dating from the 10th century.


References

{{Islamic museums Archaeological sites in Tunisia Museums in Tunisia Art museums and galleries in Tunisia Kairouan Governorate Islamic museums 876 establishments Populated places established in the 9th century 9th century in Ifriqiya Aghlabids