page_title: Abbasid architecture
section_title: Innovations
hierarchical_section_title: Abbasid architecture / Innovations
caption_attribution_description: English: 1: Fragment with part of a figure looking left, reverse with herringbone design English: 2: Fragment with part of a figure looking right English: 3: Fragmentary head of a camel (?) English: 4: Fragment with a female face English: 5: Vegetal ornament English: 6: Fragment with part of figure of goose, neck bearing Sasanianising scarf. English: 7: Fragment with part of figure of gazelle, neck bearing Sasanianising-style scarf. English: 8: Fragment with geometrical pattern
context_page_description: Abbasid architecture developed in the Abbasid Caliphate between 750 and 945, primarily in its heartland of Mesopotamia.
  The Abbasids evolved distinctive styles of their own, particularly in decoration of their buildings.
  While the Abbasids lost control of large parts of their empire after 870, their architecture continued to be copied by successor states in Iran, Egypt and North Africa.
context_section_description: Abbasid cities were laid out on huge sites.
  The palaces and mosques of Samarra sprawled along the shores of the Tigris for 40 kilometres (25 mi).
  To match the scale of the sites, monumental buildings were erected, such as the huge spiral minarets of the Abu Dulaf Mosque and the Great Mosque of Samarra, which had no counterparts elsewhere.  
  The two-centered pointed arch and vault had appeared before the Abbasids took power, but became standard in Abbasid architecture, with the point becoming more prominent.
  The first fully developed example of the four-centered pointed arch was at the Qasr al-'Ashiq, built between 878 and 882.
  Three new types of stucco decoration were developed in Samarra and rapidly became popular elsewhere.
  The first two styles may be seen as derivative from Late Antique or Umayyad decorative styles, but the third is entirely new.  
  Style C used molds to create repeating patterns of curved lines, notches, slits, and other elements. 
  The fluid designs make no use of traditional vegetal, geometric or animal themes. 
  The stucco work was sometimes colored in red or blue, and sometimes incorporated a glass mosaic.
  The patterns cut into the stucco surface at an angle.
  This is the first and purest example of the arabesque.
  It may represent a deliberate attempt to make an abstract form of decoration that avoids depiction of living things, and this may explain its rapid adoption throughout the Muslim world.
caption: Fragments of stucco from Samarra, including paintings, carvings and abstract patterns
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