The minaret of the #great_mosque_of_samarra, Malwiya Tower is a spiralling cone 52 metres (171 ft) high and 33 metres (108 ft) wide with a spiral ramp.
The mosque had 17 aisles, and its walls were paneled with mosaics of dark blue glass. It was part of an extension of Samarra eastwards. The art and architecture of the mosque were influential; stucco carvings within the mosque in floral and geometric designs represent early Islamic decoration.
The Abbasids favoured mud brick and baked brick for construction, allowing for enormous architectural complexes to be built at relatively low cost, as most clearly exemplified by Samarra, which was made up of vast palaces and monumental mosques spread across some 40 km (25 mi).
The mind behind the mosque, Al-Mutawakkil, was assassinated in 861, and structures like this mosque were then difficult to credit to a subsequent caliph. There was unrest and a ten year period of trouble, including a civil war in 865–866. This Great Mosque was one of the last buildings with a known name attributed to it in this period.
The mosque was destroyed in 1278 AD, after Hulagu Khan’s invasion of Iraq.
#Explore_Mesopotamia
#tower #tourguide #nature #visitmesopotamia #ninewa #baghdad #malwiya #mountain #exploring
#Cradle_of_civilization #Tour_management #discovering #home #tourism #peace #culture #History #lecturing #ExploreMesopotamia #abbasid #islamic #historical #kingdom #silk #road #mousqe #iraq #samera
Starting as early as the 6th millennium BC, the fertile alluvial plains between Iraq’s Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, referred to as Mesopotamia, gave rise to some of the world’s earliest cities, civilizations, and empires in Sumer, Akkad, and Assyria.
Mesopotamia was a “Cradle of Civilisation” that saw the inventions of a writing system, mathematics, timekeeping, a calendar, astrology, and a law code.
Following the Muslim conquest of Mesopotamia, Baghdad became the capital and the largest city of the Abbasid Caliphate, and during the Islamic Golden Age, the city evolved into a significant cultural and intellectual center, and garnered a worldwide reputation for its academic institutions, including the House of Wisdom.
The city was largely destroyed at the hands of the Mongol Empire in 1258 during the siege of Baghdad, resulting in a decline that would linger through many centuries due to frequent plagues and multiple successive empires.
#Explore_Mesopotamia
#iraq #tourguide #nature #visitmesopotamia #samara #hatra #mountain #exploring
#Cradle_of_civilization #Tour_management #discovering #home #tourism #peace #culture #History #lecturing #historical #archeology #oldcity #baghdad #karbala #celebration
#ctesiphon #emc
Ur was one of the first cities in human history and as such is of incredible importance to archaeologists, historians, and people all over the world. The site ‘disappeared’ sometime after 400 BC when the river that gave it life, the mighty Euphrates, had eventually wandered on its inexorable course too far away from the city to allow for irrigation. After that, the desert took its toll.
#explore_mesopotamia #explore #ur #iraq🇮🇶
#guide #uruk #history #EM
