D-1020: Samarra. Plan and topographical surroundings of unidentified palace

Object Details

Local Numbers: D-1020 FSA A.06 05.1020
General: - Title is provided by Xavier Courouble, FSg Archives cataloger, based on Thomas Leisten's publication, Excavation of Samarra, vol 1.
Date/Time and Place of an Event Note: Drawings related primarly to the first campaign of excavation at Sāmarrāʼ (Iraq), carried out by Ernst Herzfeld on behalf of the Kaiser Friedrich Museum in Berlin in 1911.

Place: Asia; Iraq; Mesopotamia; Sāmarrāʼ (Iraq); Iraq -- Salah ad-Din -- Samarra -- Qasr al-Ashiq

Topic: Abbasids; Architectural drawing; Architecture; Art of the Islamic World; Excavations (Archaeology)

See more items in: Ernst Herzfeld Papers; Ernst Herzfeld Papers / Series 5: Drawings and Maps

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

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: Drawings are arranged roughly in sequential number sequences, housed in document boxes or in flat file folders by size, and stored in the map case drawers.

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

Bibliography: Leisten, Thomas, 2003: "Excavation of Samarra, v. I. Architecture : final report of the first campaign 1910-1912. Verlag Philipp von Zabern, Mainz am Rhein, 2003. p.105-111."

Scope and Contents: Additional information reads, "Much smaller than other palaces, Qaṣr al-ʿĀshiq still has the charasteristic structural elements of the grand palace architecture of Samarra. the palace proper, built within an oblong perimeter wall, was protected by an outer enclosure. From Herzfeld's plan and photographs, one has the impression that a double row of rooms was attached to some of the interior segments of the outer wall. No building, however, was either excavated or could be traced completely on the ground. Both enclosure were separated from each other by a moat but also by the element of height: the inner enclosure was built on a plateau 4-5m higher than the surrounding area." [Leisten, Thomas, 2003: "Excavation of Samarra, v. I. Architecture : Final report of the first campaign 1910-1912. Verlag Philipp von Zabern, Mainz am Rhein, 2003. p.107-108."]; Excavation of Samarra (Iraq): Qasr al-Ashiq: Plan of Excavated Areas and Standing Walls [drawing]