Name of Object:

Excavation of Samarra

Other name of the Object (second name):

Great Mosque with the famous minaret (Malwiya) of the caliphal city of Samarra, groundbreaking excavation by E. Herzfeld 1911–13

Location:

Berlin, Germany

Holding Institution:

Museum of Islamic Art at the Pergamon Museum, State Museums

 About Museum of Islamic Art at the Pergamon Museum, State Museums, Berlin

Date of Object:

City: AD 8th – 9th century; photo: 19th century

Description:

Of great importance for the collection of the first Museum of Islamic Art in the western world are the findings made during the excavations in Samarra, which were conducted by Ernst Herzfeld and the museum’s first director, Friedrich Sarre, between 1911 and 1913. The study of the Abbasid’s temporal second capital has contributed to an understanding of the developments and changes in Islamic art at the time.

Type of Object

Photograph

Citation of this web page:

Stefan Weber "Excavation of Samarra" in "Sharing History", Museum With No Frontiers, 2026.
https://sharinghistory.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;AWE;de;4;en

Prepared by: Stefan Weber

MWNF Working Number: DE 004