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73
By SETON LLOYD
The scale-model
constructed in the which forms
Laboratory of thethe
Iraq subject of the
Museum during thefollowing
early part notes was
of 1946, under the supervision of Sayyid Akram Shukri. It is composed for
the most part of plaster of Paris in solid castings and sawn strips, subsequently
carved and painted. The scale is one to four hundred, or one centimetre to
four metres.
The Jausaq al-Kh?q?ni or Dar al-'Amma, Palace of the Caliphs at S?marr?,
was first excavated in 1907 by Viollet, who published the results of his
investigations in 1909 and 1911.1 The work was soon afterwards resumed
for some months by Sarre and Herzfeld.2 The area of the Palace within its
main enclosure-wall is 432 acres ; so there could be no question of its complete
excavation in the short period of time occupied by the two consecutive attempts.
Viollet, however, by a careful study of the exposed remains and a minimum of
actual digging, was able to record his impression of the plan, and to reconstruct
in perspective the general appearance of the whole vast lay-out.3 Herzfeld's
excavations, which were on a much larger scale, resulted in the accurate
planning of the main buildings, and brought to light many details of their
architecture and ornament. Unfortunately, the sixth volume of Herzfeld's
Samarra publication,4 which was to contain the record of these excavations,
together with much other topographical matter, has to-day, thirty years after
the work was completed, not yet been published, though we understand that
it is now finally in the press. Meanwhile, his remarkable plan of the Palace,
together with some of his inferences in regard to its architecture, have been
incorporated by Creswell5 in a most important chapter of his magnum opus.
It is partly due to the long delay in the publication of Herzfeld's excavations
that this magnificent building has never until now occupied its correct place in
histories of architecture and works on monumental planning. In Baghdad
this has been much regretted, particularly since the ruins of so few 'Abbasid
buildings survive, to testify to the architectural accomplishment of the
Caliphate. It was accordingly, more than anything, the publication by
Creswell of Herzfeld's astonishing plan which seemed to justify some further
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74 SETON LLOYD
attempt at a restoration of t
of a scale-model seemed the
The scale selected, which w
the Museum for the exhib
reconstruction of much ar
the principal fa?ades and the
well as the interpretation fr
the actual buildings, presen
our approach to these, only
actual writings of the excava
were based on such very sca
disconcerting paucity of m
which incorporates his ow
verbatim description obtai
up-to-date and comprehensiv
to certain modifications re
investigations, was adopted a
A glance at the plan (Fig.
around a single main axis, st
overlooks the racecourse on
focal point in the plan to the
west. Looking westwards,
ultimately in the building k
beyond the Tigris. There i
and indeed only, approach to
itself. If, therefore, the B?
up to it be considered a su
building and the ' working
difficulty ; for the stairway
not obviously accessible from
On this subject, Herzfeld's
his plan, since his topograp
* The Tigris once washed
low-lying garden. The " Gr
the palace wall where it str
beach on the south. Ther
Gate." A road about 600
the great basin, measurin
1 Creswell, p. 232.
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U
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U
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U
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U
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Fig. 6
(Reproduced from ?. A. G Creswell, Early Muslim Architecture, Part II, Fig. 194,
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JAUSAQ AL-KHAQANI AT SAMARRA : A NEW RECONSTRUCTION 75
1 Viollet, * Description/ Plate XIV. countryside through arches with columns between,
* J.R.G.S., XI, p. 129. has only recently been revealed by clearance and is
8 Amurath to Amurath^ Fig. 153. not published.
4 The architectural arrangement of this pleasant
6 Creswell, Fig. 181.
little * ga2ebo ' chamber, with its view of the
(5898) A2
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76 SETON LLOYD
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JAUSAQ AL-KHAQANI AT SAMARRA : A NEW RECONSTRUCTION 77
Our domed compartment, then, marks the point at which the centre-line
of the building is traversed by an important cross-axis. Turning northward,
successive antechambers lead to the throneroom-court, and beyond to the
great w?ny in which the Caliph would no doubt take his place on State
occasions. This section of the building was for some reason never excavated,
but its plan is comprehensible from the ruins above ground. The w?n unit is
clearly recognisable as an example of what has come to be called the ' H?rite
Order/ a sadr and human with the court itself taking the place of the riw?q.1
Once the function of the w?n in this sense is understood, Herzfeld's reference
to the square compartment at the crossing as the ' throneroom ' must at once
be seen to be erroneous. In the model we have shown a pisht?q framing the
wcin archway and rising a little higher than the surrounding walls, as was the
case with a corresponding feature, for instance at al-Ukhaidir.2
Balancing the throneroom-court on the south side of the building was
another of the same size, surrounded by State apartments, evidently used by
the Queen and her entourage. Beyond again was a large square chamber
enclosed by a wide corridor. In the centre of this chamber was the great
ornamental water-basin of Egyptian granite, now exhibited in the courtyard
of the 'Abbasid Palace Museum, Baghdad.3 Four marble columns, surround-
ing this object, probably supported arches and ultimately a dome, which has
also been suggested in the model. A single ' basilica-hall ' led westwards to
the innumerable courtyards and bayt units of the Harim. Only small sections of
these have been excavated, but it is clear that they had no direct access to the
more public part of the building.
The cruciform unit on the main axis should logically bring one to the limit
of the building on this side. Yet, after passing through the basilica-hall
forming the eastern arm of the cross, the visitor would find himself still
separated from the great esplanade by an extraordinary architectural feature.
This gigantic portico, projecting beyond the fa?ade of the main building,
seems hardly to constitute a coherent adjunct to the plan, and was in fact not
improbably an afterthought. In the model it has been given five squat,
arched openings, in keeping with the great thickness of its walls, while the
space between it and the ' basilica ' fa?ade behind has been left open.
Little need be said about the esplanade itself, save to mention that the
ornamental bridge over the transverse water-channel has been reconstructed
very considerably out-of-scale. It was not possible to show the elaborate
cresting to the enclosure-wall, of which Herzfeld recovered fragments, but the
blind arcading is authentic, and must have given an impressive effect, somewhat
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78 S ETON LLOYD
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PLATE IX
Two isometric sketches for the model, shewing 1. Axial units from the great
2. Nuclear building and main approach from the west.
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PLATE ?
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PLATE XI
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PLATE XII
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PLATE XIII
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PLATE XIV
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JAUSAQ AL-KHAQANI AT SAMARRA : A NEW RECONSTRUCTION 79
1 Viollet, * Description/ Plate ?IV. 2 In the model the building is, I think, wrongly
oriented.
(5898) a 4
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8o SETON LLOYD
1 Viollet, ' Un Palais musulman du IXi?me si?cle/ 2 Choisy, Histoire de I*architecture, II, p. 134, p. 18.
p. 18.
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