Iraq (Samarra)

The Great Mosque of Samarra — Spiraling Minaret (Malwiya) and Stucco Arabesque Ornament

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Abbasid Caliphate period, 848–852 CE. Commissioned by Caliph al-Mutawakkil (r. 847–861 CE); the mosque was the largest in the world at its construction.

The Great Mosque served as the Friday congregational mosque (jami masjid) for the Abbasid imperial capital at Samarra, accommodating tens of thousands of worshippers. Its scale and ornamental program projected the universal sovereignty and religious authority of the Abbasid Caliphs as successors to the Prophet Muhammad.