Jausaq Al-Khaqani At Samarra: A New Reconstruction

Abstract

The scale-model which forms the subject of the following notes was constructed in the Laboratory of the Iraq Museum during the early part 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-Khāqānī or Dār al-‘Amma, Palace of the Caliphs at Samaria, was first excavated in 1907 by Viollet, who published the results of his investigations in 1909 and 1911. The work was soon afterwards resumed for some months by Sarre and Herzfeld. 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.