The Historical Topography of Samarra.

• Author: Tohme, Lara
• Position: Book review

The Historical Topography of Samarra. 2nd edition. By ALASTAIR NORTHEDGE. Samarra Studies I. London: BRITISH SCHOOL OF ARCHAEOLOGY IN IRAQ, 2007. Pp. 426. plates, illus. $110 (cloth): S80 (paper).

In this first monograph on Samarra to be published in the past fifty years. Alastair Northedge offers a major and welcome contribution for the understanding of this medieval Islamic city. Originally published in 2005 by the Fondation Max Van Berchem, The Historical Topography of Samarra has been republished by the British School of Archaeology. This edition includes some minor revisions and a new preface in which Northedge addresses and comments on recent events in Samarra. where the important Shi'i al-'Askari shrine (built ca. 944) had its Golden Dome and two minarets destroyed by bombs in February 2006 and June 2007, respectively.

Samarra was the capital of the 'Abbasid caliphate between 836 and 892 C.E. The archaeological finds from this large urban site, which spread over an area of around 150 [km.sup.2], have long been recognized for the important role that they play in understanding medieval Islamic archaeology, architecture, and art. Even though there are over six thousand known structures in Samarra, less than a dozen buildings survive heyond the foundation level due to the rapid deterioration of the main construction materials (brick and stucco). This, combined with the fact that caliphal Samarra only lasted for around sixty years, makes it one of the most challenging cities to understand. By drawing extensively from archaeological and textual sources. Northedge offers a clear and authoritative history of Samarra, its geography, and its main buildings. In the thirteen chapters that make up this book. Northedge gives a detailed and systematic account of this site from its pre-Islamic occupation until its abandonment in the last decade of the ninth century.

The first chapter introduces the reader to the primary literary sources and archaeological evidence that are available for the study of Samarra. Chapter two focuses on the geographical features and environmental changes...