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'He who sees it is delighted'
In the year 836 AD, equivalent to the year 221 of the Islamic calendar, the caliph al-Mu'tasim left Baghdad to found a new residence. He decided for a place on the left bank of the river Tigris, about 125 km upstream Baghdad, not far north of the unfinished octagonal city of al-Mubarak / Husn al-Qadisia build by al-Mu'tasim's father Harun ar-Rashid (reigned 170-193 H / 786-809 AD).
Al-Mu'tasim named his new residence 'Surra Man Ra'a' - 'he who sees it is delighted'. He ordered that canals to supply water, streets, mosques, splendid palaces, gardens and racecourses be built. He also allocated land to his clients, who built richly decorated houses and in a few years’ time Samarra, which is the modern name of the place, grew into a huge city and became the largest and most important of the residences of the Muslim caliphs within in the 3rd / 9th century.
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Bab al-'Amma in the Palace of the caliph al-Mu'tasim
Iraq, Samarra, 221-225 H / 836-839 AD
Photo: Ernst Herzfeld, German Samarra Expedition 1911-1913
Berlin, Museum for Islamic Art (SMB) Sam-45
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