Aspects of luxury in the urban aspect of Samarra city

Aims: This study aims to shed light on the luxury in the urban aspect of the city of (Sarra Man Ra’a), which has a great historical importance. This importance came from its being the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate for nearly six decades. During the rule of the Islamic state, number of caliphs alternated, the first of whom was Caliph Al-Mu'tasim, who began building the city, and the last of whom was Caliph Al-Mu'tamid, who ended his era in the city of Samarra. He finally moved to Baghdad at the end of his rule. The Abbasid caliphs in Samarra showed a clear and great interest in the field of construction, as we find a large number of palaces built during the period between (221 - 279 AH). These buildings had exceeded the state's need for palaces in construction to the point that a life of luxury and extravagance entered the field of construction in a very large way. Other buildings like large mosques and other facilities of the city had also been constructed, in addition to the interest in irrigation by digging many water channels and short rivers until the city became a model. Methodology: This study adopted the descriptive historical method in presenting the manifestations of luxury in the construction of palaces, mosques, luxurious buildings, and architectural arts that indicate luxury. Results: The results of the study show clearly that the Abbasid Caliphs were interested in the arts of architecture and put a great deal of work to build the city in a modern way. the results also showed that the beginning of the growth of Samarra was in the form of a group of palaces that extended from the north of the city to its south, and these palaces took several names, some according to the spatial location of the palace, and some according to the name of the commander who supervised the construction of the palace. Conclusions: it can be concluded that the difference in the names of the palaces gave a clear impression that there was no central palace that would be a specific headquarters for the Caliph, which could be considered the headquarters of the Caliphate. Thus, the multiplicity of palaces became one of the basic features that some of the Abbasid Caliphs created during this period.