Some texts are currently available in German only. We apologize
for any inconvenience. Fri 18 January - Sun 26 May 2013 Marking
the 100th anniversary of excavations at the site, the Museum für
Islamische Kunst (Museum of Islamic Art) presents an exhibition
on the legendary royal city of Samarra, which lay approx. 120 km
north of Bagdad on the banks of the Tigris, and which served as
the government capital of the powerful Abbasid Caliphate from
836 to 892. Samarra boasted one of most elaborate city plans in
the world at the time. With its gigantic palaces, mosques,
walled hunting parks, polo fields, and horse racing courses it
stretched to an astonishing length of almost 50 km. Prominent
ruins were excavated from 1911 to 1913 by the German
archaeologist and Orientalist, Ernst Herzfeld. It was the first
scientific excavation expressly dedicated to uncovering a site
dating from the Islamic period. Today's exhibition presents a
large selection of the finds that made their way to the Berlin
museums under the then