Excavation of Samarra (Iraq): Fragments of Wall-Paintings and Reconstructed Color Pattern, from the Palace of the Caliph (Dar al-Khilafa, Jawsaq al-Khaqani, Bayt al-Khalifah), Square Reception-Hall Block, Room Identified as a Harem

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Excavation of Samarra (Iraq): Fragments of Wall-Paintings and Reconstructed Color Pattern, from the Palace of the Caliph (Dar al-Khilafa, Jawsaq al-Khaqani, Bayt al-Khalifah), Square Reception-Hall Block, Room Identified as a Harem [graphic]
Excavation of Samarra (Iraq): Fragments of Wall-Paintings and Reconstructed Color Pattern, from the Palace of the Caliph (Dar al-Khilafa, Jawsaq al-Khaqani, Bayt al-Khalifah), Square Reception-Hall Block, Room Identified as a Harem [graphic]

Object Details

sova.fsa.a.06_ref26049

GUID

Local Numbers: FSA A.06 04.PF.21.104
General: - Title is provided by Xavier Courouble, FSg Archives cataloger, based on Friedrich Sarre's publication, "Die Ausgrabungen von Samarra, vol. 3: Die Malereien von Samarra."
Date/Time and Place of an Event Note: Prints related primarly to the second campaign of excavation at Sāmarrāʼ (Iraq), carried out by Ernst Herzfeld on behalf of the Kaiser Friedrich Museum in Berlin in 1912 and 1913.

Creator: Herzfeld, Ernst, 1879-1948
Names: Herzfeld, Ernst, 1879-1948
Collection Creator: Herzfeld, Ernst, 1879-1948

Place: Asia; Iraq; Mesopotamia; Sāmarrāʼ (Iraq); Iraq -- Salah ad-Din -- Samarra -- Dar al-Khilafa

Topic: Abbasids; Art of the Islamic World; Decoration and ornament; Excavations (Archaeology); Mural painting and decoration; Stucco

Creator: Herzfeld, Ernst, 1879-1948

See more items in: Ernst Herzfeld Papers; Ernst Herzfeld Papers / Series 4: Photographic Files / 4.21: Photo File 21: Samarra: Malereien

Extent: 1 Item (photographic print, b&w, 11.5 cm. x 16.2 cm.); 1 Print (ill., b&w, 11.9 cm. x 17.1 cm.)

Date: 1911-1913

Archival Repository: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives

Identifier: FSA.A.06, Item FSA A.06 04.PF.21.104

Type: Archival materials; Prints; Photographic prints

Collection Citation: Ernst Herzfeld Papers. FSA.A.06. National Museum of Asian Art Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Gift of Ernst Herzfeld, 1946.

Arrangement: Prints are organized in sequential number following publication series, "Die Ausgrabungen von Samarra." They are arranged in photo file folders which are housed in document boxes, and stored on shelves.

Collection Rights: Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.

Genre/Form: Photographic prints

Scope and Contents: Additional information from Archives staff reads, "Samarra was founded by the Abbasid Caliph al-Mu'tasim (r. 833-842) in 836 AD to serve as his imperial capital. [...] The construction of the many mosques and palaces at Samarra fostered an early flowering of architectural decoration. What mainly survives today are wall revetments in carved stucco and wall paintings on fine gypsum surfaces. Earlier Iranian (Sassanian) decorative styles influenced much of the carved stucco panels found at Samarra. The decoration was primarily based on vegetal forms but later developed into more abstract motifs. The wall paintings illustrate a wide range of subjects such as geometric patterns and courtly scenes with figurative representations of listening and playing music, banqueting and dancing. Depictions of animals, especially camels and birds also feature on fragments recovered from the site. [...] Construction halted at Samarra in about 880 AD and later was abandoned by the Caliph and his court in 892." [Lucia Burgio, Robin J.H. Clark, Mariam Rosser-Owen, "Raman analysis of ninth-century Iraqi stuccoes from Samarra", Journal of Archaelogical Science 34 (2007) 756-762."]; Additional information from Archives staff reads, "No existing negative. Possible Inventory Number, based on Finds Journal: IN-821."