SAMARRA'

town, central Iraq. Located on the Tigris River, it is the site of a prehistoric settlement of the 5th millennium BC. The town was founded between the 3rd and 7th centuries AD. In 836, when the 'Abbasid caliph al-Mu'tasim was pressured to leave Baghdad, he made Samarra' his new capital. He built a palace and gardens, and under his successors the town grew until it stretched along the Tigris for 20 miles (32 km). In 892 the caliph al-Mu'tamid transferred the capital back to Baghdad, causing the subsequent decline of Samarra'. By 1300 most of the town was in ruins; it has since revived. Samarra' is a pilgrimage centre for Shi'ite Muslims. The Great Friday Mosque and the nearby Abu Dulaf mosque, both now in ruins, were built in the 9th century, when Samarra' was the seat of the 'Abbasid caliphate. The great minaret, Al-Malwiyah, still stands. Pop. (1985 est.) 20,002.