Excavation of Samarra (Iraq): Marble Fragment, Found in Palace of the Caliph (Dar al-Khilafa, Jawsaq al-Khaqani, Bayt al-Khalifah), Square Reception-Hall Block, Room Identified as a Harem

Object Details

Local Numbers: Ernst Herzfeld Papers, Photo File 22, Folder 2, Image 61 FSA A.06 04.PF.22.061
General: - Accession number and title are provided by Xavier Courouble, FSg Archives cataloger, based on Joseph Upton's Catalogue of the Herzfeld Archive.; - Photo File 22 and Photo File 23 were arranged in Albums labeled "Paläste und Moscheen-I and -II", respectively. These two Albums apparently were arranged by Herzfeld with a view to a publication of the architecture of the palaces, mosques and private houses of Samarra which was never prepared. According to Joseph Upton, the only identification, written on the backs of the prints which were glued to the Album page, had a first number in red crayon used in the captions as the negative number. In some cases, an additional number is given in blue crayon, possibly indicating a revision of the list or an alternative negative. A set of photograph duplicates, with handwritten annotations, in black, red, and blue, seem to confirm Upton's findings.
Date/Time and Place of an Event Note: Prints related primarly to the second campaign of excavation at Sāmarrāʼ (Iraq), carried out by Ernst Herzfeld on behalf of the Kaiser Friedrich Museum in Berlin in 1913.

Place: Asia; Iraq; Mesopotamia; Sāmarrāʼ (Iraq); Iraq -- Salah ad-Din -- Samarra -- Dar al-Khilafa

Topic: Abbasids; Architecture; Art of the Islamic World; Excavations (Archaeology)

See more items in: Ernst Herzfeld Papers; Ernst Herzfeld Papers / Series 4: Photographic Files / 4.22: Photo File 22: Samarra: Paläste und Moscheen--I / Mostly ruins and finds at Bait al-Khalifa

Archival Repository: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives

Collection Citation: Ernst Herzfeld Papers. FSA.A.06. National Museum of Asian Art Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Gift of Ernst Herzfeld, 1946.

Arrangement: In early 1970s, Joseph Upton has organized the prints in sequential number following planned but never published volumes of the "Die Ausgrabungen von Samarra" series to deal with the architecture of the palaces, mosques and private houses. In early 1990s, FSg Archives re-numbered the pages included in the photo file folders and re-housed them in document boxes, stored on shelves.

Collection Rights: Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.

Scope and Contents: Handwritten annotation on photograph reads, "634 [IN-634]."; Additional information from Archives staff reads, "No existing negative."