The Palace of Pleasure

Khalīfah al-Wathiq at the Ḥarīm, Samarra, Abbasid Caliphate, 842

Al-Wāthiq was the 9th Abbasid caliph, reigning from 842 to 847. Al-Wathiq is one of the lesser-known Abbasid caliphs. According to the Encyclopaedia of Islam, "his brief reign was not distinguished by remarkable events". The caliphate flourished as usual, particularly at the new capital of Samarra. Al-Wathiq is said to have been generous to the poor and to have reduced taxes on maritime trade. These episodes demonstrate his reign's prosperity.

According to al-Tabari, al-Wathiq was of medium height, handsome and well-built. He was fair with a ruddy complexion. It is described that he was a well-educated and mild-mannered man. He was a talented poet and composer who also played the oud well. He was also a patron of poets, singers and musicians, frequently inviting them to the palace. He was also a sedentary ruler who was preoccupied with the luxuries and pleasures of court life. He drank excessively, to the point of becoming inebriated and falling asleep.

However, he was also intellectually curious, as described by al-Mas'udi as "interested in scientific learning and facilitating disputes among physicians". The Graeco-Arabic translation movement flourished during his reign, and the sources also mention some episodes that show al-Wathiq's own intellectual curiosity.

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The colorful murals of the Jawsaq al-Khāqānī (Dār al-Khilāfa) palace at Samarra served as the primary inspiration for this drawing. This palace was built by al-Mutaṣim (833~84, father of al-Wāthiq) in 836, and remained the seat of the government and the private residence of the Caliphs until 884. The mural depicts the pleasures of court life, including the nude dancers, and court girls pouring wine. Contrary to the popular misconception, pre-modern Islamic art was full of living creatures. Especially the early Islamic art of the Umayyad (661~750) and early Abbasid periods is famous for its eroticism. Prominent nudity and sexual themes are well demonstrated in Umayyad palaces like Qusayr Amra. Although the Abbasids highly criticized the Umayyads' "material excess", after their ascendance to the throne they continued this glamorous lifestyle -as seen by the aforementioned murals.

The most noticeable feature of the Jawsaq al-Khāqānī murals are bare-breasted dancers, which bears a strong resemblence with the art of the prior Umayyad period. In the murals, the dancers are wearing only a skirt and a sash. These dancers may represent court entertainers, but their attire was not a conventional fashion of an Abbasid woman.

So, I also included more traditional clothing of the period. They are based on illuminated manuscripts like the Maqamat al-Hariri and the Kitab al-Diryaq. The typical urbanite Abbasid woman normally wore qamiṣ (transparent undershirt), sirwāl (pants), thawb (tunic), and qabā' (overcoat). They also wore various types of overwrap mantles (izār, milḥafa, ridā') and headscarves (khimār, qinā', sha'riyya). The fashions depicted in the drawing are a various combination of these basic layers.

Many women are unveiled because the ḥarīm (harem) was essentially a domestic space for the women of the house. The ḥarīm of the palace was occupied by queen mother, female relatives, wives and concubines of the caliph, female entertainers, female servants, and eunuchs. The women in this drawing are wives, concubines, and entertainers.

The young caliph's appearance is based on ceramic bottles discovered in the harem complex of Jawsaq al-Khāqānī. The man is dressed in a black 'imāma (turban, black was an Abbasid dynastic color), a blue striped ridā' (outer cloak), and a red qufṭān (turkish overcoat). I added the white qalansuwa (skull cap), transparent qamiṣ and sirwāl.

The background is based on surviving buildings from Abbasid Samarra, including the Jawsaq al-Khāqānī. The murals are based on Jawsaq al-Khāqānī, and mosaic decoration of the Great Mosque of Damascus. The mosaics of the Damascus Mosque were traditionally thought to be from the Umayyad period, but some scholars now believe they are from the early Abbasid period.

The carpet is based on the 'Fustat Lion' carpet from San Francisco Fine Arts Museums. The central design is a geometrically stylized lion; the border is filled with running vines with palmettes, and there is a single outer stripe with a jewel pattern. The dating based on radiocarbon analysis is 8~9th centuries. Although no consensus has yet been reached on the origin of this piece, a number of features point to northeastern Iran. Because there are no carpets from the Abbasid heartland, I had to use this carpet instead.

Sources

· 'Fustat Lion Carpet', The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (8~9th century)

· Murals of Jawsaq al-Khāqānī (Dār al-Khilāfa) Palace, Samarra (mid-9th century)

· Painted ceramic jars of Samarra (mid-9th century)

· "Kitâb al-Diryâq", Bibliothèque nationale de France, Arabe 2964 (1198)

· "The Maqamat al-Hariri", Bibliothèque nationale de France, Arabe 3929 (1240)

· Ernst Herzfeld, 'Die Ausgrabungen von Samarra I', "Der Wandschmuck der Bauten von Samarra und seine Ornamentik" (1923)

· Ernst Herzfeld, 'Die Ausgrabungen von Samarra III', "Die Malereien von Samarra" (1927)

· David Nicolle, Armies of the Muslim Conquest (1993)

· Garth Fowden, "Qusayr Amra: Art and the Umayyad Elite in Late Antique Syria" (2004)

· Encyclopædia of Islam, 3rd Edition. (2007)

· David Nicolle, Saracen Strongholds AD 630~1050 (2008)

· Eva R. Hoffman, Between East And West: The Wall Paintings Of Samarra And The Construction Of Abbasid Princely Culture (2008)

· Barbara Schimtz, 'CARPETS vii. Islamic Persia to the Mongols', Encyclopædia Iranica (2012)

· John P. Turner, 'The Enigmatic Reign of al-Wāthiq', "Abbasid Studies IV" (2013)

· Fatma Dahmani, The Painted Jars of Samarra: A Reconsideration (2014)

· Matt Saba, The Architectural Ornament of Abbasid Samarra: Newly Released Depictions by Ernst Herzfeld (2014)

· Bea Leal, The Abbasid Mosaic Tradition and the Great Mosque of Damascus (2020)