THE BRITISH SCHOOLOF ARCHAEOLOGY T H IN IRAQ E Alastair Northedge is Professor of Islamic Art H The British School of Archaeology in Iraq The Historical Topography of and Archaeology at Université de Paris 1 I (BSAI) is a learned society founded in 1932 in S (Panthéon-Sorbonne). He has worked in Syria, T memory of Gertrude Bell, the distinguished O Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kazakhstan and archaeologist and administrator, who established R Turkmenistan, and conducted projects at the first National museum in Iraq. It is one of a I C S a m a r r a Amman in Jordan, and Ana in Iraq, in addition number of overseas Schools and Institutes A to Samarra. He is author of Studies on Roman sponsored by the British Academy. The School is L SAMARRA STUDIES I and Islamic Amman, and joint author of dedicated to the study of the civilisations of Iraq T Excavations at Ana. and its neighbours, and worked almost continu- O P ously in Iraq from its foundation until 1990. O The BSAI fosters closer academic links G between Iraq and the UK in archaeology, ancient R languages and related fields. It funds archaeolog- A ical and other research projects on relevant P H topics. It encourages support for such studies in Y the UK by means of lectures, conferences and O publicity. It publishes annually a major academic F journal, IRAQ, and it also publishes scholarly S monographs. A The School has recently launched a major M appeal to provide scholarships allowing students A from Iraq to study Near Eastern archaeology and R related subjects in the UK, fellowships allowing R scholars to travel to and from Iraq, and enabling A the purchase of books, materials and equipment , for museums and universities in Iraq. It will also S assist in the publication of previous School A M projects in Iraq. Eventually the School hopes to be able to set A up a new Iraqi/British Institute in Baghdad as a R R joint centre of scholarship, and to resume its A programme of fieldwork in Iraq (e-mail: S [email protected]). T U All correspondence, and enquiries concerning D membership, the work of the School and partici- I E pation in its activities should be addressed to the S Secretary, British School of Archaeology in Iraq, I c/o The British Academy, 10 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1Y5AH, UK; e-mail: [email protected] The Historical Topography of Samarra sets out to explain the second capital of the Abbasid caliphs at Samarra, on the Tigris above Baghdad, in the period 836 to 892 AD, by an analysis of the archaeological site and the medieval Arabic texts which describe it. The volume defines for the first time the nature of city construction by the Abbasid caliphs, one of the world powers of the time, and the foundation of modern Iraq. It is the first of a series of Samarra Studies; in the second, the Archaeological Atlas of Samarra, the archaeological remains will be catalogued, and in the third, Pottery from Samarra, the N ceramic finds from the archaeological survey will be published. O R T H COVER ILLUSTRATION: Minaret of the Abu E Dulaf Mosque (Photo: Paul Fox) D G BACK COVER ILLUSTRATION: Air photo of E Alastair Northedge the remains of the Abbasid city centre at Samarra British School of Archaeology in Iraq in 1953, with the modern city at the top Foundation Max van Berchem The Historical Topography of Samarra Alastair Northedge SAMARRA STUDIES I British School of Archaeology in Iraq Fondation Max van Berchem Erevan Erzurum Tabriz Ankara Kayseri Diyarbakir Malatya Nisibin Rayy Konya Balad Mosul Qumm Adana Hamadan Antalya CyHperraucsleia ALnattitoakchia AHlaeMmpapdaionatal-FaRrRusaaqKfqahaarabSKhaburayyar HSaLtaraAakesmsTuhraarthrKarrirakuk Diyala Kirmanshah Isfahan Yazd Tripoli Homs Palmyra Euphrates Baghdad Beirut Anjar Kerbala Tigris Damascus Ukhaydir BabylonWasit Ahwaz Kufa Bosra Basra Shiraz Ramla Amman Jerusalem Alexandria Petra Suez Aqaba Siraf Cairo Tabuk Amarna Riyadh Madina Aswan B U J J Nubia A Mecca Jeddah Fig. 1. Map of the Near East, showing the site of Samarra. CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 13 LISTOF TABLES LISTOF FIGURES LISTOF PLATES INTRODUCTION 15 Terminology used in the study 18 CHAPTER 1: SOURCES AND METHODS 27 The archaeological Survey of Samarra 27 Air photographs and satellite imagery 27 Evaluation of archaeological methods 28 Textual sources 28 Al-Ya(cid:255)qæb(cid:204)(cid:146)saccount of Samarra 29 The History of al-£abar(cid:204) 30 Ibn al-Faq(cid:204)h al-Hamadh“n(cid:204) 30 The Mu(cid:255)jam al-Buld“nofY“qæt 31 Court poetry 31 Principles for the identification of toponyms 32 CHAPTER 2: THE REGIONALENVIRONMENT 35 The geomorphology of the region 35 The steppe land 35 The Tigris and its flood-plain 37 The regime of the Tigris 37 The barrage 37 The ancient beds of the Tigris 39 The climate 42 CHAPTER 3: SAMARRABEFORE THE ABBASID PERIOD 43 Before the Sasanian period 43 The Sasanian period 49 Al-M“˚æza—Area C 49 Shaykh Wal(cid:204)(Karkh Fayræz)—Area D 55 Jubayriyya (al-Ma(cid:240)(cid:204)ra)—Area L 58 Towns to the north of the Nahr al-Ra(cid:238)“(cid:238)(cid:204) 58 The Christian topography of the Samarra region 61 Other Features of the Sasanian Period 62 The construction of the canals 62 The Q“(cid:240)ælal-Kisraw(cid:204)and the Nahraw“n 62 Monumental architecture and the Q“(cid:240)æl al-Kisraw(cid:204) 72 The Is˚“q(cid:204)canal system 80 CHAPTER 4: AL-QA|DISIYYAAND THE CITIES OF THE QA|£U|L 81 General topography of the area south of the Nahr al-Q“(cid:146)im 81 The archaeological evidence 81 Area N —Al-Q“disiyya 81 Area O —The Octagon of (cid:141)u(cid:238)nal-Q“disiyya 81 Area P—Unfinished developments east of the Octagon 90 The textual evidence 93 CHAPTER 5: SURRAMAN RA’A|:THECITYOF AL-MU(cid:255)TASIM 97 The foundation of Surra Man Ra(cid:146)“andits general layout 97 The site 98 The foundation 98 The expansion of the city 99 The central city and its avenues 100 The layout of the avenues 100 The location of toponyms in the avenues 106 The development of the city 120 CHAPTER 6: THE DA|RAL-KHILA|FA 133 Existing research 133 Description of the site 133 The topography of the Palace in the texts 135 The cantonments of the Palace servants 144 The Cantonments of al-Jawsaq (Area X) 144 Area G —al-Waz(cid:204)riyya 146 CHAPTER 7: AL-(cid:141)AYR 151 The Game Reserve, al-Dikka, and the general layout 151 The site of al-(cid:141)ayr 151 Buildings in al-(cid:141)ayr 152 The Racecourses 152 The archaeological evidence 152 An overall view of the evidence 161 The development of al-(cid:141)ayr 162 Appendix: Racecourse 4, the point-to-point track 166 CHAPTER 8: THE MILITARYCANTONMENTS 167 Composition of the army of Samarra 167 The Turks 167 Al-Ushræsaniyya 168 Al-Far“ghina 170 Al-Jund and al-Sh“kiriyya 170 Al-Magh“riba 171 Arabs and Sa(cid:255)“l(cid:204)k 171 The structure of the army 171 The Cantonment Sites 173 The cantonments of al-Karkh (Area F) 173 The cantonments of al-Dær(Area U) 180 The cantonments of al-Jawsaq (Area X) 183 The military cantonments in the Avenues 183 The cantonment of al-Ma(cid:240)(cid:204)ra(Area K) 185 The cantonment of Balkuw“r“(Area R) 191 Discussion 165 CHAPTER 9: THE PALACES OF AL-MUTAWAKKIL 195 The list of the palaces of al-Mutawakkil 195 The major projects 198 Balkuw“r“ 198 Al-I(cid:238)(cid:240)abl“t(al-(cid:255)Aræs) 200 Al-Musharra˚“t(al-Sh“h) 204 Sær(cid:255)(cid:149)s“(al-Burj) 207 The minor projects 207 Al-Bad(cid:204)(cid:255) 207 Al-Ghard 207 Al-Ghar(cid:204)b 207 Al-Ja(cid:255)far(cid:204)al-Mu˚dathoral-Mu˚dath 207 Al-Jawsaq al-Ibr“h(cid:204)m(cid:204) 208 Al-Jawsaq in Mayd“nal-Sakhr or Mayd“nal-Sa˚n 208 Al-Mukht“r 208 Al-Qal“y“and its buildings 208 Al-Tall, upper and lower 208 Al-Wa˚(cid:204)d 208 Bust“nal-(cid:149)t“khiyya 208 Al-Birka 208 CHAPTER 10: AL-JA(cid:255)FAR(cid:149)ANDAL-MUTAWAKKILIYYA 211 The foundation of al-Mutawakkiliyya 211 The site of al-Mutawakkiliyya 211 Al-Nahr al-Ja(cid:255)far(cid:204) 211 The palace of al-Ja(cid:255)far(cid:204) 213 The city of al-Mutawakkiliyya 216 Al-Ja(cid:255)far(cid:204)and al-Mutawakkiliyya in the textual sources 220 CHAPTER 11: AL-HA|R⁄N(cid:149)ANDTHEWESTBANK OF THE TIGRIS 227 Al-H“ræn(cid:204) 227 The agricultural estates and palaces of the west bank 228 Qubbat al-S‡ulaybiyya 231 Al-(cid:255)(cid:127)shiq (al-Ma(cid:255)shæq) 234 Industrial activities on the west bank 238 CHAPTER 12: THE END OF ABBASID SAMARRA: SAMARRAIN THE MEDIEVALAND MODERN PERIODS 239 The abandonment of the palaces of al-Mutawakkil 239 The abandonment of the city and the cantonments 240 The Middle Islamic and modern settlements 242 The medieval city of Samarra 242 The Shrine of the Imams (Marqad al-Im“mayn) 246 CHAPTER 13: SAMARRA, BAGHDAD AND OTHER ISLAMIC CITIES 247 BIBLIOGRAPHY 261 Abbreviations 261 Ancient Sources 261 Texts of the Premodern Period 261 Modern Works 262 APPENDICES 267 Appendix A: Al-Ya(cid:255)qæb(cid:204)(cid:146)sdescription of Samarra in the Kit“bal-Buld“n 267 Appendix B: The description of Samarra by Ibn al-Faq(cid:204)hal-Hamadh“n(cid:204) 274 Appendix C: Toponyms at Samarra known from texts 276 GLOSSARYOF ARABIC TERMS 446 SOURCE OF FIGURES 453