5-The
Splendors of the Abbasids:
The Abbasids: The second major Islamic dynasty (750-1258), were the
descendants of al-‘Abbas, the Prophet's uncle, hence the name. Their effective rule lasted only for a
little more than a century. After
that they became the figureheads of an elusive Islamic unity that did not
exist in reality
Dar al-Salam (the Abode of Peace): The round city founded in 762 by al-Mansur (754-75),
the second Abbasid caliph, to be his royal center on the western bank of the
river Tigris. Its plan and symbolism
were the result of a synthesis of many previous traditions. What started as the enclosed, round city
of al-Mansur soon expanded on both banks of the river and its name reverted
to that of the ancient name of the site, Baghdad.
The Great Mosque at Dar al-Salam: built by al-Mansur in 762,
demolished and rebuilt in 808-9, then enlarged in 873-75.
Samarra: The new capital city established by caliph al-Mu‘tasim in 836 to
house his growing army of Turkish slave-warriors (mamluks) on the Tigris, 60 miles north of Baghdad. It developed into a conglomeration of
secluded caliphal palaces and houses for the troops on a grandiose scale. The city remained capital of the Abbasid
empire until 883, then it was abandoned and Baghdad regained its old position.
The Great Mosque of Samarra, or the Mosque of al-Mutawakkil: founded by caliph al-Mutawakkil (847-61) is the largest mosque in Islam (240 by 156 m).The Malwiyya: the famous spiralling, free-standing minaret of the Great Mosque of Samarra. It was repeatedly compared to Mesopotamian Ziggurats.The Qubbat al-Sulaibiyya: first monumental mausoleum in Islam, built for the caliph al-Muntasir (862).
Al-Qata’i‘ (the wards or the fiefs): the new settlement
built north of Fustat on the site of the future Cairo by Ahmad ibn-Tulun,
the Turkish governor of Egypt sent by the Abbasids.
The Mosque
of Ibn-Tulun: the furthest westerly evidence of the spread of the Abbasid
imperial style. This mosque is distinguished by its combination of columns
and piers (eastern and western influences) in its brick piers with four engaged brick columns on the four sides.
Stucco Decoration: Samarra Style:
A style that tended towards the abstraction of scrolls,
stems, and leaves that belonged to the decorative vocabulary of Antiquity.
Following the degree of abstraction, three styles have been identified:
Style A: vine-leave ornament bearing resemblance to the Hellenistic, naturalizing
origin.
Style B: vegetal ornament with some abstraction such as no stalks from
which the leaves grow.
Style C: moulded pattern, very abstract with a combination of vegetal and
geometric motifs. Patterns are normally inscribed within borders.